The Remnant / Western Animation

• The Archer Season 6 opener, appropriately enough titled "The Holdout", has Archer encounter Kentaro Sato, a Japanese officer defending an isolated island in the South Pacific decades after the Second World War ended. He only finds out the war has ended by stealing Archer's smartphone and looking up old newsreels which displayed the dropping of the bombs on Japan, although Archer reunites Kentaro with his still-alive family.
  • When trying to convince him, Archer shows him, among other things, an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man dealing with the exact same situation, even saying that it's "this exact thing we're doing right now."
• A variation in Ben 10: Alien Force, in the episode "If All Else Fails": a Highbreed commander had been chosen when the war still raged to stay in a hibernation-like state on Earth, to awake only should his kind lose the war. An earthquake awoke him however, and thinking he was woken up due to the Highbreed losing the fight (which was actually resolved peacefully), the commander unleashed a fail-safe doomsday weapon on all of humankind. It wasn't until the new Highbreed Supreme briefed him on the situation and ordered him to stop the weapon that he ceased acting as an antagonist to the main cast.
• In the Captain Planet and the Planeteers episode "Mission to Save Earth", the Planeteers come to an island and stumble upon Commander Clash. This soldier had been assigned to guard the island and prepare for a possible invasion of America by the Soviets. After they manage to convince him that the Cold War has been over for a while, he goes into a Heroic BSoD when he realizes his superiors had long forgotten about him and he had been fighting for nothing. Clash eventually finds a new purpose in helping the Planeteers protect the Earth from pollution and such.
• The DuckTales (1987) episode "Launchpad's Civil War" similar in plot to The Magnificent Seven example given above. Re-enactments, Launchpad McQuack, and hot air balloons are involved.
• In Exo Squad, after Terran retake Venus, some of the Neosapien garrisons become guerrillas, hoping that Phaeton would send more reinforcements to rescue them. The reinforcements never reach the Venusian surface.
  • More directly, the Exo Fleet itself, having been deployed to the Outer Planets when the Neosapiens launched their conquest of the Homeworlds, continues to carry the fight for several years after the government they were loyal to had been disbanded, despite suffering several major defeats in their early attempts to liberate Earth.
• Final Space: In "The Hidden Light", it's revealed that the Arachnitects (the benevolent engineers of the universe's creation) send hundreds of their own kind into Final Space to act as sentries against Invictus and the Titans' efforts to get out. But the Titans broke through their defences and slaughtered them, leaving only three Arachnitects alive in hiding, and the Lord Commander kills them too when he finds them.
• G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero:
  • "The Great Alaskan Land Rush" features a Hidden Elf Village of Alaskan cossacks, descended from the crew of a ship that got lost when Russia owned Alaska and later decided to remain separate from the outside world. They initially take the Joes prisoner in the name of the long-dead Tsar Alexander II, but ultimately work with them to thwart Cobra.
  • In "Raise the Flagg", a Cobra cook has spent months trapped in the eponymous sunken ship, managing to recycle air and grow food with the help of several robotic soldiers. He believes that he is the last survivor of Cobra and is determined to keep the organization alive. This goes out the window when he learns that 1) Cobra still exists at the same strength as before and 2) they never sent any rescue parties to see if there was anyone left alive on the Flagg (only diving down to the wreck for an unrelated salvage job). His dedication to preserving and following Cobra rapidly vanishes.
• The Godzilla Power Hour: The Calico discovers a perfectly preserved WW1 era U-Boat trapped in Arctic ice. The crew, upon exiting suspended animation sometime after the ship is freed, still think the Great War is still happening and fire upon the marked American vessel. The usually villainous aspect of the trope is averted soon after however, after the U-Boat captain and first-mate board the surrendering Calico and are shown future technology. While shocked, they realize the Calico crew is telling the truth, immediately call off hostilities and apologize for the misunderstanding. The ending of the episode has them looking forward to returning to a new peaceful Germany.
• Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures: In "The Spectre of the Pine Barrens", it is revealed that during The American Revolution, a Redcoat named Rodney stole the original Declaration of Independence and demanded a ransom of 12,000 pounds from General George Washington. The Founding Fathers didn't tell Washington about this, but sent a Minuteman named Williams to steal the document back (not knowing that he was sent on a suicide mission by his superiors to keep him from revealing the truth while they copied the Declaration). Williams and Rodney began a feud in the Pine Barrens, cut off from civilization and unaware that the war ended. To keep their family lines and feud going, they would dress up as The Jersey Devil and kidnap children once in a while. In the present, Team Quest gets involved and attempts to convince both sides that the war is over and their feud is pointless. In the end, the Minuteman Josiah's wife, Sarah, who was weary of the neverending war, ends up Taking the Bullet for a Redcoat. She survives, and the act causes both groups to reconcile.
• In the Looney Tunes cartoon "Southern Fried Rabbit", Yosemite Sam was told to guard the Mason-Dixon Line and is still doing so... in 1953. On being told by Bugs Bunny that the War Between the States has been over for nearly 90 years, he responds "I'm no clockwatcher!" and that he will never stop unless he gets new orders from General Robert E. Lee (which is of course impossible as Lee is long dead) before trying to blast the rascally rabbit.
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Queen Solaria's army was enchanted with a spell to make them stronger in order to fulfill her goal to destroy all monsters. However, this enchantment also suppressed any fear, foresight or conscience, which led to these super-soldiers recklessly throwing themselves into deadly situations. Mina Loveberry is the last surviving member of the Solarian army, and she's determined to complete their mission.
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch: During "The Solitary Clone", a Battle Droid battalion led by Governor Ames of Desix, a former Separatist planet, take Grotton, the newly appointed Imperial governor, hostage until the Empire leaves Desix alone. Fortunately for Grotton, help arrives in the form of Crosshair, Commander Cody, and a squad of Clones, who defeat the droids and secure the planet for their Stormtrooper successors after Crosshair shoots Ames to save Cody the effort of having to do so in order to appease Grotton.
• Star Wars Rebels: The third season episode "The Last Battle" centers on the Rebels of Phoenix Squadron going to the abandoned planet Agamar, which had been a base during the Clone Wars, in search of munitions they could use to help the Rebellion. After arriving, they find an army of still-operational battle droids led by super tactical droid General Kalani, who refused the shut-down order issued to the droid armies at the end of the war and is still fighting for the Separatist Alliance. He forces Ezra, Kanan, and Rex to fight him in a staged battle to finally decide the true victor of the Clone Wars, but they join forces when the Empire shows up.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003): The Foot Clan are seemingly reduced to this during the 7th season, as they display none of the massive resources they had in earlier seasons. During Seasons 1-5, the Foot frequently used vehicles, mecha and scientifically created mutants. In Back to the Sewer, all that remains are Khan, a bunch of Foot Ninja and a digital clone of the Shredder. To add insult to injury, even Karai and Chaplin turned their backs to the organization.
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): 16 years before the start of the series, the Shredder rebuilt the Foot Clan by convincing most of the Hamato Clan members, sans Splinter and their father, to join the Foot. By present day, the Hamato Clan now consists of Splinter and the Turtles, with April and Casey becoming allies and honorary members. With Splinter's death, Leo heads the clan now.
  • Interestingly enough, it was heavily implied the Hamato Clan was this regarding shinobi in general, especially with their victory over the Foot Clan. Tang Shen even notes the end of the age of ninja clans. This certainly casts a new light on why many likely sided with the Shredder.
  • Ironically, the Foot Clan themselves are mostly reduced to this by the end of the series. More specifically, it's been divided into two factions, with Tiger Claw trying to take over Shredder's forces after the latter's death, while Karai established her own faction with Shinigami and hired several mercenaries, intending to regain the Foot Clan's honor (although Tatsu briefly tried to take them from her). For his part, Tiger Claw decided to make a truce with the Hamato Clan once the other remaining lieutenants bail out.
• In an odd twist on the usual show theme, the Decepticons are the outnumbered La Résistance in Transformers: Animated, fighting to retake their homeland after losing the war the first time around. However, it is All There in the Manual that they technically left by choice, because doing that gave them amnesty for the war-crimes they committed during said war.
• The Quirky Mini Boss Squad Knights of Vengeance in W.I.T.C.H., at least until they try to free Phobos and end up in prison.