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To stop Kishin from resurrecting, we anxiously kept on attacking. But we never thought about what would happen after you knew Kishin was resurrected for certain...that moment when you felt a sense of accomplishment, you showed a weak point. What irony. I won because of Kishin. But Kishin resurrected. I lost in the end.
— Dr. Franken Stein after defeating Medusa, Soul Eater
So, your reports say you were victorious? Ignorance is a frightening thing.
— The Beast Titan after the raid on Liberio, Attack on Titan
Comic Books
The Champion of the Universe: [clinging to an asteroid] I WON! No one can stand against Champion's might! I'VE WON IT ALL!
Thanos: Have you now? It looks to me that all you've managed to do is destroy Tamarata, the prize we fought over, and strand yourself in outer space.
— The Thanos Quest
[On Lady Death] I could force her to speak directly to me. I have the power to bend even her to my will. But what good would that do? That's not the way I wanted it to be. I desire her love, not her blind subservience. How could I have miscalculated so badly?
Thanos, the master schemer and deceiver. I set out on a quest beyond the reach of any but myself, an impossible mission. And I succeeded at it. I have wrestled the reins of power from the hands of the Supreme Being. No sentient could ever dream or hope for more than I have accomplished.
Who could have guessed that becoming God would prove to be such a hollow victory?
Thanos, the master schemer and deceiver. I set out on a quest beyond the reach of any but myself, an impossible mission. And I succeeded at it. I have wrestled the reins of power from the hands of the Supreme Being. No sentient could ever dream or hope for more than I have accomplished.
Who could have guessed that becoming God would prove to be such a hollow victory?
— Thanos, The Thanos Quest
"If this is a victory, I'd hate to see a defeat!"
—Backstreet, The Transformers (Marvel), "Kings of The Wild Frontier"
You won't be their messiah anymore. Your zealots, so blind to the truth. I will open their eyes. Whatever you do from now on, you will do it without admiration, without those who once respected you. You will do it without your friends. You might still manage to force your arrogant vision onto the world. But you will do so broken, unloved... And completely alone.
— Pepper Potts, Superior Iron Man
Fan Works
Your combat telemetry died a whopping 3.5 seconds before mine! You died first! I won!
— Asuka to Mari, Evangelion 303
"Nightmare slain." He said to himself.
It didn't feel like victory in the slightest.
It didn't feel like victory in the slightest.
Nightmare stood up slowly and made her way to the window to gaze down upon the ruins of Ponyville below.
She had the throne, she had her daughter, her enemies were scattered or imprisoned, and ponies were coming to fear her sister’s sun. There was nothing that she had desired a thousand years ago that was not in her possession now.
She was…not content though. Though instead of desiring more, she now didn’t realize what she truly wanted. What Luna did know was that what she had now did not bring her the satisfaction she thought she would have. She didn’t know how to proceed with her daughter. Twilight was unfeeling and everything between them now was strictly formal. Everything had been going so well until Twilight had challenged her, and now…
“What do I do?”
She had the throne, she had her daughter, her enemies were scattered or imprisoned, and ponies were coming to fear her sister’s sun. There was nothing that she had desired a thousand years ago that was not in her possession now.
She was…not content though. Though instead of desiring more, she now didn’t realize what she truly wanted. What Luna did know was that what she had now did not bring her the satisfaction she thought she would have. She didn’t know how to proceed with her daughter. Twilight was unfeeling and everything between them now was strictly formal. Everything had been going so well until Twilight had challenged her, and now…
“What do I do?”
Film — Animation
"I can't believe you got him! You expert, rootin'-tootin', eagle-eyed, Goth-loving marksman! I love it — you managed to find a way to win, and everybody still loses!"
— The Joker, Batman: Under the Red Hood
"Hey, you all right? Come on, pal, cheer up, we did it! We got Boo home! Sure, we put the company in the toilet, and, gee, hundreds of people will be out of work now. Not to mention the angry mob that'll come after us when there's no more power, but hey... at least we had some laughs, right?"
— Mike Wazowski, Monsters, Inc.
Film — Live-Action
Bruce: That bandit, in the forest in Burma. Did you catch him?
Alfred: Yes, Master Bruce.
Bruce: How?
Alfred: We burned the forest down.
Alfred: Yes, Master Bruce.
Bruce: How?
Alfred: We burned the forest down.
Sometimes when you win, you lose.
— Chris Nielsen, What Dreams May Come
So this is the number of combat troops available for these figures, twelve thousand troops [...] But that's not enough. That's the amount that are going to die. And at the end of a war you need some soldiers left, really, or else it looks like you've lost.
—Gen. Miller, In the Loop
"I was fifteen when the first kaiju made land in San Francisco. By the time tanks, jets and missiles took it down, six days and 35 miles later, three cities were destroyed. Tens of thousands of lives were lost."
—Raleigh Becket, Pacific Rim
Everett Ross: So how does it feel, to spend all that time and all that effort, and to see it fail so spectacularly?
Helmut Zemo: Did it?
Literature
But it is entirely possible to win against the enemy, it is possible even to kill the enemy, and still to be defeated by the battle.
The first rule of prosperity is not to let yourself weaken so much in battle that you can't defend yourself against another threat.
I've lost a hand, a father, a son, a sister, and a lover, and soon enough I will lose a brother. And yet they keep telling me House Lannister has won this war.
— Jaime Lannister, A Song of Ice and Fire: A Storm of Swords
And even as he lay dead, his mother heard her brother's voice saying to her, "My God, Hester, you're eighty-odd thousand to the good, and a poor devil of a son to the bad. But, poor devil, poor devil, he's best gone out of a life where he rides his rocking-horse to find a winner."
— The Rocking Horse Winner
"They don’t have your back, Cherie. They’re going to kill you someday. Probably sooner than later, when you’re no longer useful and they want the thrill of the hunt again. You’ve probably seen what they can do. Fates worse than death. Just don’t ask for my help when you realize it’s happening. You just screwed me over, Cherie. Don’t know why you did it, but I think you did a pretty fucking good job of it. You trying to be like Jack? Trying to act like them, pretend you have a place there? Rest assured, you screwed yourself ten times as bad as you screwed me."
"If we burn, you burn with us!"
Live-Action TV
You know, we were baited – baited – into an unnecessary war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. And, what did it really get us besides an Oscar nomination for Bradley Cooper?
— Bill Maher, Real Time with Bill Maher
Kira: This war is over. You lost.
Founder: Have I? I think you'll find that neither the Jem'Hadar or the Breen will agree with that assessment. They will fight to the last man.
Kira: And what will that accomplish?
Founder: Isn't it obvious? You may win this war, Commander; but I promise you, when it is over, you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your victory will taste as bitter as defeat.
Founder: Have I? I think you'll find that neither the Jem'Hadar or the Breen will agree with that assessment. They will fight to the last man.
Kira: And what will that accomplish?
Founder: Isn't it obvious? You may win this war, Commander; but I promise you, when it is over, you will have lost so many ships, so many lives, that your victory will taste as bitter as defeat.
Worf: Kahless himself said "Destroying an Empire to win a war is no victory."
Gowron: "And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat."
Gowron: "And ending a battle to save an Empire is no defeat."
When Rhaenyra's last son wed Aegon's only daughter, the Dance of Dragons officially ended.
Ash and burned men: all that was left of the Riverlands.
Two scared children spouting oaths they didn't understand: all that was left of the mighty House Targaryen.
Ancient skulls and hatchlings that grow no bigger than cats: all that was left of the dragons.
Ash and burned men: all that was left of the Riverlands.
Two scared children spouting oaths they didn't understand: all that was left of the mighty House Targaryen.
Ancient skulls and hatchlings that grow no bigger than cats: all that was left of the dragons.
—Princess Shireen Baratheon, History and Lore of Westeros: The Dance of Dragons
Music
You see me now a veteran of a thousand psychic wars.
My energy is spent at last, and my armor is destroyed.
I have used up all my weapons, and I'm helpless and bereaved.
Wounds are all I'm made of...
Did I hear you say that this is victory?
My energy is spent at last, and my armor is destroyed.
I have used up all my weapons, and I'm helpless and bereaved.
Wounds are all I'm made of...
Did I hear you say that this is victory?
— Blue Öyster Cult, "Veteran of the Psychic Wars"
His only son,
Cut down, but the battle won,
Oh, what is it worth,
When all that's left is hurt?
Cut down, but the battle won,
Oh, what is it worth,
When all that's left is hurt?
— Florence + the Machine, "Queen of Peace"
You've crossed the finish line,
Won the race but lost your mind,
Was it worth it after all?
Won the race but lost your mind,
Was it worth it after all?
— Lazlo Bane, "Superman"
So tell me who won here tonight
The price of winning worthless fight
The price of winning worthless fight
— Sonata Arctica, "Destruction Preventer"
For years and years I wandered the earth
Until I died and went to hell
But my despair had ascended to heaven
That's how I finally got rid of it.
Until I died and went to hell
But my despair had ascended to heaven
That's how I finally got rid of it.
— They Might Be Giants, "Hopeless Bleak Despair"
Newspaper Comics
Dilbert: I had a great day at work. For some reason, no one interrupted me so I got a lot done.
Garbage Man: Today is a holiday.
(Beat Panel)
Dilbert: All my victories are tainted.
Garbage Man: Today is a holiday.
(Beat Panel)
Dilbert: All my victories are tainted.
— Dilbert
Poetry
The entrance fee cost me
Two dollars, and then
It cost twenty more
For those burgers and fries.
My hospital bill
Was a hundred and ten.
But I won—
The five-dollar first prize!
Two dollars, and then
It cost twenty more
For those burgers and fries.
My hospital bill
Was a hundred and ten.
But I won—
The five-dollar first prize!
— Shel Silverstein, "Big Eating Contest"
With their tails tucked proudly 'tween their legs
Advancing towards the exit march the dregs
Of empire, whose retreat this question begs
No promised omelette, just the broken eggs?
Advancing towards the exit march the dregs
Of empire, whose retreat this question begs
No promised omelette, just the broken eggs?
— Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller,"
Tabletop Games
Lands ravaged, cities in ruins, so many lives sacrificed, and yet there was no other word for it but victory.
The enemy has been destroyed, sir. So have the forest, the city, your palace, your dog...
— Keldon Soldier, Magic: The Gathering, "Obliterate"
They found themselves alive again, still bearing their mortal wounds.
Sometimes the only victory possible is to keep your opponent from winning.
— The Emperor of Mankind, Warhammer 40,000
We "won" in so far as we just beat the Traditions to the hearts and and minds (and wallets and schools) of the populace. They're still out there, and we're still out there, and both groups are having a hell of a time with all the shit that's come down on our heads lately. "Won" is such a stretch. We "won" the Ascension War much like Pyrrhus won.
— Mage: The Ascension - Convention Book: Iteration X (Revised)
My escape was miraculous; the Emperor must have rewarded my undying faith in those times. However, though I am physically free, my body bears the scars, the many, many scars. Every breath takes me to a new plane of agony, every heartbeat sets my jagged nerves writhing with pain. I cannot see. I cannot speak. Most horrid of all, I cannot forget. Nightmares and waking visions plague me, the drip of my own blood, the cries of anguish haunt me.
No-one escapes the Dark City.
—Warhammer 40,000: Codex - Dark Eldar (2nd ed)
Video Games
"One of my own people has been feeding Ryan evidence of my activities, and now I am to be detained. As a religion, they merely monitored us. But as a commune, they would see us crucified. And yet... though he will be the last to see it, Andrew Ryan has already lost the people. Wherever I am sent, Rapture will follow."
— Sofia Lamb, Bioshock 2
The defense of the Bastion was the longest and most grueling battle I've ever fought. We staved off the Blighted hordes, defended the kingdom. But none were left to thank us. Now we're trapped in our own undying shells, just like the Blighted themselves. I've dreamt of dying on the battlefield for so long. Now I'll never die at all.
— Ulv, the Mad Knight, ENDER LILIES: Quietus of the Knights
Livia: Always remember, [Gadd] gave us a great victory.
Vekk: I don't know how many such victories I can stand.
Vekk: I don't know how many such victories I can stand.
— Guild Wars Eye of the North
"The triumph of the Jedi teachings is a cold thing when there is no one left alive to appreciate them."
— The Exile, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
The enemy has cost you dearly. Do you even deserve to call it a victory?
— Description for battles won by a Pyrrhic Victory, Total War: Warhammer
Erador: ...It's over. We've won.
Serenoa: And what have we won? Landroi has seen to it that nothing shall escape these flames... What victory can be had over ashes?
Serenoa: And what have we won? Landroi has seen to it that nothing shall escape these flames... What victory can be had over ashes?
Congratulations! You are safe... for now.
Kratos: There was... a horse. The horse sought vengeance against his enemy, a stag. But he could not kill the stag alone. The horse met a man, a hunter, and made a deal. He took the man's bit and bridle, and allowed him to ride in a saddle on his back. Together, they killed the stag, and the horse tasted victory...But the hunter would not release the horse, and made a slave of him.
Atreus: So getting revenge cost him his freedom. Hope it was worth it.
Kratos: It was not.
Atreus: So getting revenge cost him his freedom. Hope it was worth it.
Kratos: It was not.
Your vision fades and you hear a soft 'pbffffff' as you shit, but your pants are off. So... congratulations?
— Don't Shit Your Pants if you type "die", "suicide", "seppuku", or "kill self" while not wearing pants
Web Animation
"Victory comes with no certain satisfaction. I may never know why we were made to fight, if violence is ever truly justified. Perhaps there is something... worthy in a battle, something beyond...my...understanding."
Webcomics
Kevyn: So we're losing?
Petey: No, we're winning expensively.
Petey: No, we're winning expensively.
Cale: After everything... you'd think more people would have come out to say farewell. After everything we've done.
Benny: Were you expecting a parade? They're literally still burying their dead.
Benny: Were you expecting a parade? They're literally still burying their dead.
Grey Goo Avatar: You do not understand, isolated one. I come to undo a great injustice.
Grey Goo Avatar: No, isolate. That way is behind me. It is true I consumed the cosmos. I spread my body until I became the very light that speckles the night sky. I became all and all became one. And then I was alone. Do you know what it means to literally be alone in the universe? To wonder what's out there, and know without question that the answer is me. To seek a higher power and know that I am both the peak and nadir? Be the void that stares back at itself… To say "Good morning" but know you are both morning and the measure of good. To wish to talk about the weather only to realize you are raining on yourself…
— Vexxarr meeting the future version of the nanobot swarm he's currently fighting
Web Original
Here lies everything
The world I wanted at my feet
My victory's complete
So hail to the king...
The world I wanted at my feet
My victory's complete
So hail to the king...
— Dr Horrible, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
I mean, anybody who has beaten this incredibly hard piece of shit will not have any sense of satisfaction, but rather regrets, because it is a complete waste of fuckin' time. I mean, it's like coming out of a brutal fight, being the winner, but achieving nothing for all your troubles but some bloody bruises and broken bones. It's just not worth it.
— The Angry Video Game Nerd, on The Karate Kid on NES
Game Grumps: Died
Jon still won though
because...
put that in the books
Jon still won though
because...
put that in the books
— Game Grumps, playing Mario Power Tennis
Nothing will make me feel better, even the victory will be bittersweet!
— Arin, after dying to the purple plant boss for the millionth time in Battle Kid: Fortress of Peril, Game Grumps
Senate Member: What?! We lost 30,000?! We're the worst! But we won, right?
War Counselor: Yes, sir!
Senate Member: But we...also got our asses kicked?
War Counselor: Yes, sir!
Senate Member: So are we the best or the worst?
[Beat]
War Counselor: Yes, sir!
War Counselor: Yes, sir!
Senate Member: But we...also got our asses kicked?
War Counselor: Yes, sir!
Senate Member: So are we the best or the worst?
[Beat]
War Counselor: Yes, sir!
— Oversimplified, "The First Punic War"
I am a competitive woman.
I was a married woman who had an affair with a married man.
I was in competition with the wife for her husband and I had to win... well
I won the man, but
I lost my soul, my family, my self-respect, my everything.
Many people hate me for what I did, but not as much as I hate myself.
I'm a worthless piece of shit.
But I won.
I was a married woman who had an affair with a married man.
I was in competition with the wife for her husband and I had to win... well
I won the man, but
I lost my soul, my family, my self-respect, my everything.
Many people hate me for what I did, but not as much as I hate myself.
I'm a worthless piece of shit.
But I won.
— A Postsecret postcard
Oh?! Really? REEEAAALLLYYY?! I... you... sack of shit, god dammit! Okay, I guess that's how we're gonna end this. Anticlimactically! Even when I win, you don't let me feel good about it! I ran out of power. I - god - of course, you let me win in the most INFURIATING!! POSSIBLE!! WAY!! God, I don't need your pity! I don't need your lucky pity win! Gah-ha-ha-had dammit!
[George Lucas] had made Star Wars because he had dreamed of movies like those he'd seen in his youth. He made it into a trilogy because he dreamed of an independent film-maker's paradise in Skywalker Ranch. He had risked everything, sacrificed so much, given up six years of his life in order to make this dream a reality. But in the end... all he had was a building. The facility was so state-of-the-art that the only ones who could use it were big Hollywood film-makers, not little independents, and its remoteness, no doubt meant to encourage the Northern California film industry, instead discouraged people from making the long trip there. Skywalker Ranch would be used, but mostly by Lucasfilm to serve their own film-making needs and really only because it was already there and, of course, could not be sold. And in his attempt to fulfill this dream, so many people were gone now: Francis Ford Coppola, Gary Kurtz, Charles Lippincott, John Dykstra, Ralph McQuarrie... Marcia Lucas. And there remained George Lucas. His friends and colleagues wanted to make Citizen Kane, but Lucas? He lived it. After that, he was done.
— SF Debris, The Shadow's Journey
The Vietnam War was America's second longest, finally ending only in 1978 with the diplomatic agreement mediated by President James E. Carter under which the guerrilla forces of the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam (formerly the North Vietnamese Army) agreed to lay down arms in exchange for the right to field their own political candidates. Only the Cuban conflict would last longer: at the time of the Vietnam memorial's groundbreaking, the guerrilla war which had begun following the April 1961 Bay of Pigs "intervention" is still in progress.
The Linebacker operations of the early seventies had broken the formal power of the Communist regime then in power in Hanoi, at the cost of several million Vietnamese dead from flooding, disease and starvation following the bombing of the North's dike system. The North Vietnamese had refused to simply surrender, however, and they and their Viet Cong allies had waged a fierce guerrilla struggle even after the occupation first of Hanoi and then of the Communists' second capital, Haiphong. At home, the seemingly endless conflict had grown increasingly unpopular, as American troops continued to fight and die even after "victory" had supposedly been won.
President Carter's negotiation of the Vietnam accords had been sharply criticized by, among others, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who said that the peace agreement "granted the Communists what they could not win on the battlefield" and predicted that Vietnamese leftists would now try to subvert the unified government of Vietnam from within. Among the critics was former governor Ronald Reagan of California, who in 1980 would exploit anger over the pact in his successful run for the White House.
The influence of Reagan and his supporters would be revealed in the final design of the memorial, which featured a group of soldiers planting a flag atop a broken wall and bore the names of every American killed in the conflict.
The Linebacker operations of the early seventies had broken the formal power of the Communist regime then in power in Hanoi, at the cost of several million Vietnamese dead from flooding, disease and starvation following the bombing of the North's dike system. The North Vietnamese had refused to simply surrender, however, and they and their Viet Cong allies had waged a fierce guerrilla struggle even after the occupation first of Hanoi and then of the Communists' second capital, Haiphong. At home, the seemingly endless conflict had grown increasingly unpopular, as American troops continued to fight and die even after "victory" had supposedly been won.
President Carter's negotiation of the Vietnam accords had been sharply criticized by, among others, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who said that the peace agreement "granted the Communists what they could not win on the battlefield" and predicted that Vietnamese leftists would now try to subvert the unified government of Vietnam from within. Among the critics was former governor Ronald Reagan of California, who in 1980 would exploit anger over the pact in his successful run for the White House.
The influence of Reagan and his supporters would be revealed in the final design of the memorial, which featured a group of soldiers planting a flag atop a broken wall and bore the names of every American killed in the conflict.
— Today in Alternate History, "Pyhrric Victory"
Our homes have been returned to us... but not before they were looted. Ransacked by a megalomaniacal ship with designs to become a ruler, just like its brain-diseased masters.
...And even though Hal claims to view this as victory for us... I just can't. I really can't. Innocent people still died from the first invasion of Arkanea, the riots caused over that supposedly incurable disease, the second invasion, all the other invasions on the neighboring kingdoms... our home and many of our friends' homes have been destroyed then rebuilt into something utterly alien... many people will still be homeless or wrecked due to all the economic destruction wrought by the pilfering...
...All for what?
Because we had metal. Just because we had metal.
...And even though Hal claims to view this as victory for us... I just can't. I really can't. Innocent people still died from the first invasion of Arkanea, the riots caused over that supposedly incurable disease, the second invasion, all the other invasions on the neighboring kingdoms... our home and many of our friends' homes have been destroyed then rebuilt into something utterly alien... many people will still be homeless or wrecked due to all the economic destruction wrought by the pilfering...
...All for what?
Because we had metal. Just because we had metal.
— Rowan Hunter, We Are Our Adventuring Avatars
i've won......
but at what cost?
but at what cost?
Well, OK. You were killed in the nuclear explosion too, but every last one of those damned communist pokemon [sic] has been blown to smithereens. The revolution has been crushed and most of Brazil has been vapourised [sic], which can't be a bad thing. Unfortunately, the fight has only just begun; literally millions of those little bastard pokemon [sic] still infest the universe...
— Very old Adobe Flash parody game Pokémon: The Revolution
Western Animation
We can put this defeat to political use. The charred ruins of Ryloth will demonstrate to the galaxy the cost of a Republic victory.
— Count Dooku, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, "Liberty on Ryloth"
Savor your moment of triumph Superman, but remember, victory has its price.
"Whatever; before, you were always talking about Chaos and Freedom! Then you took out the Earth Queen and created the worst dictatorship the Earth Kingdom has ever seen! Thanks for that!"
— Korra to Zaheer, The Legend of Korra
Thrawn: But the Jedi's death came at a cost, did it not? Did you really believe that holding a parade would hide the fact that you destroyed our entire fuel supply? In defeating Kanan Jarrus, you have accomplished what the rebels failed to, and given them a victory. The operation on Lothal, my TIE defender project, has been compromised.
Pryce: Uh, Grand Admiral, I-
Thrawn: I will deal with you when I return, Governor.
Pryce: Uh, Grand Admiral, I-
Thrawn: I will deal with you when I return, Governor.
Real Life
Another such victory over the Romans and we are undone.
The loser of a knife fight dies at the scene. The winner of a knife fight dies in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
— Origin unknown
Once you hear the details of victory, it is hard to distinguish it from a defeat.
