History HopeSpot / AnimeAndManga

** Sasuke manages to [[spoiler:defeat Itachi after a long and gruelling battle, and begins to second-guess his entire [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty ideology for vengeance]], possibly wanting to return to Konoha]] as his life's work is done, then Tobi stops Itachi's failsafe and [[spoiler:tells him the truth that Itachi murdered his clan because they were planning a war on the village.]] This breaks Sasuke so much he arguably becomes ''[[SanitySlippage worse]]'' by the time he is reunited with his old team.]]

** The Dressrosa had an in-universe example; As part of his plan to trap the Straw Hats and Law, Doflamingo used his connections to publish an newspaper article announcing that he was quitting the Seven Warlords of the Sea. For the slaves of Dressrosa who suffered under his reign, this was a godsend because it meant he would have to leave the throne. Then they found out that the announcement was false, sending them into the pit of despair. It was so bad the rebels decided to begin their revolt against Doflamingo even if it meant dying.

* ''Franchise/Gundam'':

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' does this on a regular basis.

* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]'' features the battle between the new Gundam model, the NT-01 Alex piloted by Christina, and Bernard's non-customized Zaku. [[spoiler:Thanks to a great deal of preparation, cunning, ingenuity and sheer HeroicResolve, Bernard manages to put the Gundam on the ropes and even seems about to score the killing blow... when Christina rams a beam saber into his cockpit, and all that remains of poor Bernie is a ''pile of hamburger''.]] [[{{Anvilicious}} Remember, kids,]] [[WarIsHell war sucks.]]
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' may contain the shortest one ever near the end of the series: [[spoiler:[[BigBad Rau le Creuset]] nearly destroys Flay's escape pod, but the shot is conveniently blocked by the Freedom's free-floating shield, saving her...until Rau destroys the escape pod with his [[AttackDrone DRAGOONS]] instead, leading to her fiery death.]]

* ''Manga/SevenSeeds'' has multiple ones throughout the series.
** After Mitsuru [[SnowMeansDeath commits suicide]] in the backstory of Team Winter, we see that Fubuki is back and has survived being attacked by the saber-tooth tiger earlier. [[spoiler:It's revealed to be a hallucination that Aramaki made himself in an attempt to not go insane.]]
** The Ryugu Shelter arc reveals that there are multiple shelters throughout Japan, used to keep people safe from [[ApocalypseHow the meteorite impact]], although they lost contact with them early on. It could be, though, that the communication lines simply failed and there are still people living somewhere in the other shelters in Japan.
** During the events on [=OSP=], several characters wake up from unconsciousness, dreams or simulation machines. Oh, how wonderful! The world hasn't suffered an apocalypse, no characters have actually died. It was [[AllJustADream all just a dream]]. It's made clear few chapters later that their 'awakening' was a hallucination created by spider eggs and they really are in the terrible situation they were in before, if not worse.

* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** The ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' two-part episode "That day, Riot Force Six" is filled with Hope Spot after Hope Spot as [[spoiler:the characters unleash their power and teamwork like they're supposed to... but Shamal and Zafira still get shot, the TSAB headquarters still gets destroyed, and Ginga and Vivio still get "confiscated"]].
** Part way through episode 4 of ''Anime/VividStrike'', Rinne's bullies tell her that they're sorry for what they've been doing and she finds out that [[DotingGrandparent her grandfather's]] health is improving which would allow her to spend more time with him. [[spoiler:The very next day it turns out that the bullies were lying and they beat her so badly that she's knocked unconscious and [[NeverGotToSayGoodbye unable to be there when her grandfather suffers a sudden fatal heart attack]].]]
** During the latter parts of Episode 8, Rinne has Vivio on the ropes and is seemingly poised to finally get the victory over the one the broke her 57 consecutive win streak. Seeing Vivio's difficulty in defending herself because of a leg injury caused by her earlier assault, Rinne continues to attack, knowing it'll only be a matter of time before Vivio falls. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for her, Vivio hits Rinne with a well timed counter, which she follows with [[RapidFireFisticuffs Accel Smash Infinity]]. Rinne is unable to defend herself or endure the barrage of blows to the head, and suffers her first KO defeat.]]
* Subverted (along with one of the usual episode formulas) in ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5''. Cure Aqua is fighting Hadeenya and the MonsterOfTheWeek alone and losing badly. Suddenly, the other four Cures arrive! [[TheWorfEffect And it takes the bad guys about thirty seconds to kick their asses thoroughly]]. Well, that didn't help. ...Except that they bought Aqua the time she needed to recover and figure out how to even the odds.
* Dispensing {{Hope Spot}}s is part of the fighting style of Alucard of ''Anime/{{Hellsing}}''. Often a group of enemies has dismembered him, [[LudicrousGibs if not worse]], and think he's down and out... And then his superb HealingFactor kicks in, he's up again, [[MookHorrorShow and the would-be victors have little time to gawk in fear before they die]]. Of course, he also almost always lets the enemy shoot first.
* ''Manga/{{Is}}'' has Ichitaka waking up in class, back in highschool and back to the beginning of the story's events. Wondering if everything that has happened since the beginning was [[AllJustADream a dream]] or a miracle has happened and he's been given a second chance, Ichitaka gladly takes it. He's intent on being much more open and honest to people than he originally was, will protect Iori from everything that hurt her during highschool and even confess to her sooner. [[spoiler:Ichitaka suffered a pretty hard blow from The Marionette King and is lying unconscious in the snow, comatose and is rushed to the hospital. It takes Iori's voice to get him to wake up again.]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** When Ichigo tries to stop Renji and Byakuya from taking Rukia back to Soul Society, he gets pummeled by Renji for a while, but as just as his SuperpoweredEvilSide is hinted at and he starts to turn it around, Byakuya comes from literally nowhere using flash-step and cuts him down.
** In the Soul Society arc, Gin {{in|vokedTrope}}tentionally does this to Rukia, making an offer to rescue her and her friends, then admitting he was only joking. He does it as a cruel mind game to break her resignation to her fate, and it works.
** The united front of Ichigo and Renji fighting against Aizen. Just as Renji pulls off his last-ditch technique and Ichigo uses the opening to charge in, [[ThemeMusicPowerUp theme music playing]], Aizen blocks Ichigo's Bankai with ''one finger'' (and ''cuts off the theme music'' in the process), nearly cuts Ichigo in half, and does the same to Renji. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9dk61JZ598 This clip]] comprises the essence of said scene in about ten seconds.
** In the Arrancar arc, Ichigo's second battle against Ulquiorra stands out for the number of exceptionally brutal Hope Spots it crams into just 6 chapters, since it includes Orihime's HeroicBSOD and a hollowfied Ichigo blindly attacking Uryuu.
** Unsurprisingly (given it's the culmination of 300 chapters of buildup), the battle against Aizen includes many of these. Yamamoto gets involved at long last only to find out Aizen was prepared to face him, Aizen's finally distracted enough for Ichigo to attack him but it's AllAccordingToPlan, Isshin interrupts Aizen's BreakingSpeech to Ichigo only to get flicked away like a bug a few chapters later...
** To prove its DarkerAndEdgier[=/=]BloodierAndGorier cred, the first major assault in the Thousand Year Blood War arc opens with a rapid-fire series of Hope Spots... [[spoiler:and ends with Seireitei a pile of bloody rubble, in the GrayRainOfDepression.]]
** Ryuuken's disaffection with the Quincies begins when Aizen's activities ruin his Quincy future, forcing him to choose self-imposed exile from both his family and the Quincies. Katagiri prevents this by making him realise he's not as abandoned, and his future not as bleak, as he thought. [[spoiler:That hope lasts only as long as Katagiri lives: when she is murdered by the [[TheEmperor Quincy King]], Ryuuken exiles himself somewhere beyond the DespairEventHorizon.]]
** Ichigo is pushed to the wall in a clash with Yhwach, who appears to have the advantage with his sight of the near future. The enemy urges his "son" to not give in to despair quite yet, not because he thinks Ichigo has a chance, but because seeing him jump from one possible future to another made it more interesting. Ichigo responds by citing all the other times he's fought despair and come out on top, sometimes alone and sometimes with a friend's help, and busts out the Bankai of his re-forged Tensa Zangetsu... [[spoiler:only for Yhwach to completely and utterly shut that down by finding a "Tensa Zangetsu is broken" future and pulling that into the present, then proceeding to beat both him and Orihime to a pulp, ending the HumiliationConga by draining all of Ichigo's strength. That clash ends with Ichigo broken, powerless, and convinced that there is absolutely no way to win this. Worst of all, Yhwach twists the knife by telling him that NOW'S the time to despair.]]
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is really fond of this trope:
** When Rock Lee goes all out, removes his [[PowerLimiter power limiters]], and hits Gaara with his final attack, only for Gaara to barely survive it and respond by crippling and nearly killing the weakened Rock Lee.
** When [[spoiler:the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen,]] fights [[spoiler:Orochimaru]], he seems to have gained the upper hand, only for Orochimaru's [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Kusanagi Sword]] (which he can [[{{Telekinesis}} mentally control without having to touch it]]) to fly at Sarutobi from behind.Sarutobi's summoned partner, the Monkey King Enma, desperately reaches out to catch the sword while being restrained by Orochimaru's snakes. There's a splash of blood, seeming to indicate that Enma failed, but then the Hope Spot comes: the scene pans up to show that Enma caught the sword ''by the blade''. It was ''his'' blood, not Sarutobi's, that we saw. Or so it seems, until the scene pans up even further, showing that Enma got to the sword too late, and didn't catch it until after it had stabbed into Sarutobi's back.
** Later, [[spoiler:Asuma]] is saved from a killing blow only for his opponent to come at him again and succeed with the exact same attack.
** After infiltrating the Akatsuki home base, [[spoiler:Jiraiya]] pulls out all the stops and manages to kill off the three bodies of Akatsuki leader Pain... only for Pain to reveal that [[spoiler:he has ''six'' bodies, and that he can resurrect the ones that die.]]
** In the manga [[spoiler:Pain shoots a nail at Kakashi's head]] only for Kakashi to use his Mangekyō Sharingan to teleport [[spoiler:the nail]] away. However, he then has to [[HeroicSacrifice use it again to save Choji from one of Pain's attacks and dies of (presumably) exhaustion]].
** [[spoiler:Pain]] does a few of these. [[spoiler:After kicking the crap out of the entire village of Konoha for several straight chapters, Pain has finally found Naruto's location and seems like he's getting ready to withdraw, giving the village some much-needed time to regroup and recover. However, right before leaving, he has a talk with Tsunade and decides they 'haven't experienced enough pain', and decides to show off his Shinra Tensei technique... which in this case is the equivalent of a [[FantasticNuke chakra nuke]], letting him wipe out of most of the city in one shot.]]
** [[spoiler:Fukasaku and Shima's plan to use Genjutsu to defeat the Deva Path also fails because Pain has seen the technique used on him before, and manages to use gravity to draw Fukasaku to him and then {{impale|dWithExtremePrejudice}} him]].
** [[spoiler:After bringing Naruto to heel]] and when no one appears able to help Naruto, [[spoiler:Pain is confronted by Hinata, who has finally overcome her crippling shyness and [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove sincerely confesses her love to Naruto]], and prepares to show us once and for all what she can really do, and save the man she loves! She then gets defeated and [[OnlyMostlyDead nearly]] killed (she was fully aware that she wasn't going to win), [[BerserkButton prompting Naruto's]] [[UnstoppableRage fox mode]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide to progress further]] than ever before--specifically, he goes from nothing to six-tails, then eight-tails, and then [[DespairEventHorizon nearly releases the Nine-Tails]]]].
** [[spoiler:When Konan faces off against Tobi, she releases her ultimate attack: billions of explosive notes capable of exploding continuously for ten minutes. Tobi takes some damage but survives and [[BreakThemByTalking breaks her by talking]]. The rain overhead breaks and a rainbow shines through, giving Konan the will to shout out her defiance and prepare a--Tobi grabs her, finishes his lecture, and [[MindRape tears the vital information out of her mind]].]]
** Sasuke vs Itachi. Sasuke hits Itachi with his best attack and thinks he is finally dead, until Itachi getting to his feet and reveals his final trump card.
** [[spoiler:Madara]] summons a '''''meteorite''''' to hit the entire Fourth Division. The titanic efforts of O'onoki (the Tsuchikage) and Gaara succeed in stopping it, saving everyone below. Then...
--->'''[[spoiler:Madara]]''':Now then, O'onoki... [[WhamLine What will you do about the second one?]]\\
''[Second meteorite falls on top of the first one]''
** [[spoiler:Edo Tensei has been cancelled and everybody is disappearing--except for the biggest threat, Madara, [[DiabolusExMachina who just so happens to know the combination of hand signs to emancipate himself from the jutsu caster.]]]]
** In chapter 609, [[spoiler:Madara]] is seemingly put out of action for a brief moment while the good guys can use Kakashi's eye to [[spoiler:face Obito]]. They are finally given the chance to attack the Gedo Mazo with a combined bijuu dama from Kurama and Gyuki nuking the thing and saving the world, right? [[spoiler:Nope, the Juubi (Ten-Tails) is back and the {{end of the world as we know it}} begins.]]

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has quite a few of this.
** Jonathan has finally discovered proof that [[spoiler: Dio was poisoning his father to get the inheritance of the Joestars]], and the police finally managed to arrest Dio. Well, by that time [[spoiler: Dio has already figured out the Stone Mask's purpose, killed Jonathan's father [[TakingTheBullet when he was gunning for Jonathan]] and turned himself to a vampire at the first chance, killed all the cops there, and survived a pretty gruesome battle with Jonathan himself.]]
** At the end of the first part, Jonathan has defeated [[spoiler: Dio]] after a gruelling battle with many of his minions and finally him, while avenging his [[spoiler: mentor and father]] who both fell to [[spoiler: Dio's]] hands. It seems like Jonathan has got his happy ending while he marries Erina, right? [[spoiler: HaHaHaNo. Dio survives his final defeat by literally [[OffWithHisHead severing his own head]] while his surviving minion takes him away, and several months later, Dio himself makes an appearance at the cruise ship and turns most of the passengers into zombies, and [[HeroKiller kills Jonathan himself]] pretty brutally during his own honeymoon. Jonathan has to literally [[TakingYouWithMe blow himself along with the ship to finally stop Dio]], leaving only Erina and a [[ChekhovsGunman little baby girl]] as the only survivors of the doomed cruise.]]
** Following from the previous point, [[spoiler: even Jonathan's HeroicSacrifice turned out to be moot]], as one who has watched [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]] can attest to.
** In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'', Shigechi manages to survive his confrontation with the villainous Kira, although heavily wounded, and he makes it all the way to a classroom where Josuke is, who can heal him... at which point [[spoiler:Kira pops up and informs Shigechi that his Stand has already turned the classroom's doorknob into a bomb. He then promptly detonates the bomb, killing Shigechi.]] At least Shigechi [[spoiler:managed to pass a vital clue to Kira's identity to Josuke before his death.]]
** In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Part 6]], the heroes finally get a work-around of the BigBad Pucci's [[GravityMaster C-Moon]] and finally manages to corner him, with even [[HesBack Jotaro with Star Platinum]] back at its 5 seconds of TimeStop! [[spoiler:Then Pucci unlocks Made in Heaven...]]

* When Guts leaves Griffith in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'', he hopes that Griffith will get over his leaving. He doesn't.
** The people of Albion in the Conviction arc think that Mozgus is an angel sent from God. They can only watch him fight Guts who they perceive as evil during a demonic sacrifice and are absolutely convinced that Mozgus will deliver them from evil. Guts then brutally kills him and they all have a few moments of absolute horror before the demons consume them. And ironically, as monstrous as he might have been, Mozgus was doing a decent job of that. He and his disciples were fighting off the demons pretty well, and even after his death, Mozgus' body is consumed in the flames he was able to breathe, and those keep back the demons from killing the few people who huddle around his body thinking him a fallen angel/saint.
** At the end of the non-canon Dreamcast game, Casca briefly regains her sanity before she reverts to her child-like post-Eclipse state.
** The nuanced and sympathetic way the buildup is presented for [[spoiler:Griffith]]'s inevitable [[spoiler:FaceHeelTurn]] makes us somehow believe he will not do it after all (Bullshit! He would NEVER do such a thing!), even though [[ForegoneConclusion we just know better]] already.
** And speaking of the Eclipse, the Hope Spots that especially stand out in that part happen when [[spoiler:Guts sees Casca naked and in the clutches of a tentacled Apostle and surrounded by monsters after he's just gone to town on a good number of others. Guts goes berserk and goes into a FoeTossingCharge to get to her, but before he can reach her, a demon snaps its massive jaws on his left arm and nips any hope of pulling that off in the bud. Guts can only watch helplessly as Casca is about to get raped, only for the demons to drop what they're doing and freeze -- because Griffith has been reborn as Femto, the fifth member of the Godhand. And then, as Femto flies down and starts [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty having his way with Casca]], Guts first tries to kill the demon that's got his arm, but when the sword breaks, he's forced to ''chisel off the arm'' with what's left of it in a serious badass moment to get free so that he can save Casca and kill Femto. But when he finally gets free and goes after Femto, Femto, being the utter ''bastard'' he is, has him pinned down by a whole mess of demons, which [[ForcedToWatch force him to watch]] as Femto rapes Casca to insanity right in front of him and the demons claw out his right eye]].
*** The movie adds another HopeSpot right on top of that by [[spoiler:having Guts get within ''inches'' of putting out Femto's eye with the broken sword, just before Femto telekinetically hurls him back and makes with the dogpile]].
* ''Manga/{{Kaiji}}'' is ''built'' on Hope Spots. ''Every time'' it looks like Kaiji's finally gotten the advantage and is about to turn his luck around, [[CrapsackWorld life beats him right back down again]].
* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' is way too fond of these:
** Pulled twice the end of the first season: Zagato's spell, Lightning Summon, blasts even the [[MechanicalLifeforms Rune God]]-wearing PowerTrio nearly into oblivion... but they regroup on sheer will and recover well enough to push him back. Zagato ''himself'' summons his overwhelming willpower and blasts them with ''Lightning Surge'' (several dozen bolts as powerful as the single one from before, hard enough to turn the screen black for several seconds.) [[spoiler:That, in itself, constitutes a Hope Spot for Zagato, as the Knights then obliterate him with a combined spell.]] Then, after the Knights believe they've won and are happy about [[SaveThePrincess saving the Princess]] and going home, [[spoiler:Princess Emeraude [[StartOfDarkness goes evil]] and proceeds to beat seven kinds of hell out of them.]]
** At the end of the ''second'' season: [[spoiler:the Knights and Eagle have freed Lantis from Nova's [[MechanicalLifeforms Rune God]], and have returned to Cephiro. Although Eagle's [[HumongousMecha FTO]] is heavily damaged, and Eagle himself is injured, it's a great victory all around. Then Debonair shows up and one-shots FTO.]]
** ''Anime/RayearthOVA'' is absolutely ''riddled'' with these.
* ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'':
** The entirety of episode 46 is one giant Hope Spot. After a quick pep talk from Cain and Leo, [=GaoGaiGar=] itself blasts out of Jupiter boosted with The Power, which quickly spreads to the rest of the Braves who promptly beat down and purify the remaining Primevals. Until the last one merges with ''Jupiter'', takes The Power for itself, re-absorbs the rest of the Primeval cores, and becomes the biggest, baddest monster yet seen in the series.
** In ''FINAL'', one line can be identified as the concentrated essence of Hope Spot: "I will show you... '''THE POWER OF TRUE COURAGE!!'''"
** Triple-subverted in the final episode of FINAL when each of the Yuushabots are fighting their respective EvilCounterpart. Initially, it seems as though the heroes have won, blasting straight through their enemies with the power of awesome without breaking a sweat... Then the bad guys ''regenerate'' and proceed to beat the stuffing out of our heroes, seemingly killing each one. THEN Mamoru kicks Cain's ass, prompting the Yuushabots into unleashing their [[HeroicSacrifice true ultimate attacks]] and blow the 11 Planetary Masters of Sol into oblivion. Then resubverted when Pisa Sol resurrects the Planetary Masters...And duplicates them, forming armies of clones, each more powerful than the original. This is all the worse since the good guys are practically dead from the effort of defeating a single original. Finally re-resubverted when it's revealed that this situation is EXACTLY what the heroes wanted, since Pisa Sol, and thus by extension everything made by Pisa Sol, is now vulnerable since it has to re-charge. '''[[DropTheHammer LET'S BREAK STUFF!]]'''
%%** Episode 31: [=GaoGaiGar=]'s attempt to defeat the first 3 Primevals.
* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]'' features the battle between the new Gundam model, the NT-01 Alex piloted by Christina, and Bernard's non-customized Zaku. [[spoiler:Thanks to a great deal of preparation, cunning, ingenuity and sheer HeroicResolve, Bernard manages to put the Gundam on the ropes and even seems about to score the killing blow... when Christina rams a beam saber into his cockpit, and all that remains of poor Bernie is a ''pile of hamburger''.]] [[{{Anvilicious}} Remember, kids,]] [[WarIsHell war sucks.]]
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' may contain the shortest one ever near the end of the series: [[spoiler:[[BigBad Rau le Creuset]] nearly destroys Flay's escape pod, but the shot is conveniently blocked by the Freedom's free-floating shield, saving her...until Rau destroys the escape pod with his [[AttackDrone DRAGOONS]] instead, leading to her fiery death.]]
* ''Anime/FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' has an extremely striking version of this near the end. [[spoiler:After Michio Hino, already fairly high on the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality from the start thanks to being the [[BigBrotherMentor older vet]] who [[HeelFaceTurn started off on]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath the wrong team]], racks up a few more points by resuming his relationship with and getting engaged to his ex, insisting that he remain in the fight despite being over the age to pilot a [[HumongousMecha Fafner]], and promising that he'll always return alive. Sure enough, an extremely powerful Festum arrives soon after he makes this promise, completely sweeps the entire team, and starts devastating the entire island. Michio grapples the Festum as they separate the section of the island he and the Festum are on, activates his [[SelfDestructMechanism Fenrir system]], loses his always-worn {{Hachimaki}} to reveal a photo of his ex that he had been carrying all of these years, and generally appears ready for a grand HeroicSacrifice dramatic even for this AnyoneCanDie series. He then appears to [[SubvertedTrope subvert it]] by ejecting his cockpit, shooting free with seconds to spare...right until the Festum grabs his pod out of midair and smash it to pieces against his own Fafner. The Fenrir system then [[SphereOfDestruction blows both units to nothing]], just for good measure.]] And the episode still has a post-credits scene to make it even worse.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'':
** A great one: a match is lit and then dropped onto some gasoline to commit a heinous act of arson. The match extinguishes on hitting the gas and then bounces away. Just when you think that the fuel wasn't ignited, the flame pops up and spreads down the stream. The timing is great: it's long enough to give the hope spot, but not too long that it looks ridiculous when the flame does pop up.
** ''Monster'' is full of these. For example, during the Be My Baby arc, Nina briefly befriends a captured Turkish woman and promises to save her. And then, [[spoiler:just a few seconds after this happens, the woman dies]].
* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'' has ''entire arcs'' made of of this. Kenji thwarting the EvilPlan of [[BigBad Friend]]? [[spoiler:He figures out the plot, but dies in an explosion, loses several of his posse (they get better) and Friend becomes a national hero]]. Kanna stopping the Pope assassination? [[spoiler:Well, yes, but the event is just another EvilPlan to turn Friend [[AGodAmI into a God]]. Also, a virus is released and world-wide pandemic gets created.]]
* Also happens several times in ''Manga/{{Pluto}}''. The most heart-wrenching one may be when [[spoiler:the Sun rises during the second Epsilon/Pluto fight. It's still not enough to save the solar-powered pacifist, Epsilon]].
* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', [[spoiler:Euphemia and Lelouch/Zero agree to work together to create a special zone of equality for Japanese and Brittanians. Too bad they didn't realize there were 3 episodes left in the season.]]
** ''R2'' has another one: [[spoiler:In desperation, Lelouch asks Suzaku, who has been his enemy all season, to help him. After a bit of raging and confrontation, Suzaku begins to see through Lelouch's lies, and realise what he's been doing. Suzaku and Lelouch are about to agree to work together... and along comes Schneizel and his minions to interrupt in the worst possible way.]]
** ''R2'' even has a world-wide one: [[spoiler:Lelouch declares himself the Emperor of Justice and seems to be undoing all the evil of Brittania... only to start systematically crushing all opposition and generally being worse than his predecessor.]] Of course, this is partially subverted since [[spoiler:he is actually setting himself up as a HeroicSacrifice... sorta.]]
* The ''Literature/BattleRoyale'' manga has a ''lot'' of these. Notable examples:
** The "that was a close one!"/SPLAT type of Hope Spot occurs when, [[spoiler:after being dumped down a well by another student, Hirono manages to escape and is found by several classmates who tell her that they have beaten the Program and can go home. She then drowns in the well, the previous events revealed to be a hallucination.]]
** And [[spoiler:Hiroki Sugimura's battle with [[BigBad Kazuo Kiriyama]] is one big ''string'' of "I can do this!" Hope Spots]].
** [[spoiler:Whenever somebody turns their back after a supposed 'victory' over Kiriyama, something bad's ''bound'' to happen. Or they'll just sit and talk a while when they should be running away like kids from homework.]]
** As well as [[spoiler:Yoji deciding not to kill his girlfriend, Yoshimi. "I love you t-" BANG]].
** Also, in the lighthouse, [[spoiler:Shuya managed to grab Yuko Sakaki's hand just in time to save her from a DisneyVillainDeath and lifted her. Then, [[DrivenToSuicide she decides to let go]] [[DespairEventHorizon because]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she involuntarily caused the death of her friends]]...]]
--->[[spoiler:'''Yuko:''']] [[DrivenToSuicide When it comes down to it... what else can I do?]]
---> '''Shuya:''' [[TearJerker You could have lived!]]
* This appears to be the entire strategy of the [[spoiler:Anti-Spirals]] in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. Seeing as how [[spoiler:Spiral Power is genuinely derived from hope and courage]], their plans generally revolve around dangling victory in front of the protagonists, then snatching it away in the cheapest, most unfair manner possible.
** From the first major WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Kamina]] is apparently killed in battle, sending Simon into a HeroicBSOD-induced rampage that threatens to ruin their efforts. Out of nowhere, [[spoiler:Kamina]] [[DisneyDeath wakes up]], [[GetAholdOfYourselfMan knocks Simon back into reality]], and, with Simon, kills the enemy general. [[spoiler:Then, he [[KilledOffForReal really dies]].]] The battle was won, but the victory was {{Pyrrhic|Victory}}.
* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': Look! Beelzemon got past the D-Reaper! Jeri's going to be saved now! Hooray! [[spoiler:Except she's too traumatized to [[TakeMyHand take his hand]] and the D-Reaper has the opening it needs to stab him down the spine. This forces the Tamers to retreat, since Beelzemon's wounds need to be treated '''''right now'''''. The end result was the Tamers failing to save Jeri, having one of their best fighters being taken out of commission, and taking a big hit to morale.]] Yeah, that battle went to the D-Reaper.
* ''Anime/SailorMoon Stars'', the final season of ''Sailor Moon'' has one of these. Of course it turns out [[spoiler:that it's all a [[TragicDream dream]], and nothing has changed]].
** To a lesser extent, later on when it turns out that [[spoiler:Sailor Uranus and Neptune hadn't betrayed Sailor Moon with their DealWithTheDevil. However their [[BatmanGambit gambit fails]] and [[DeathIsCheap they die]]]].
* Used in ''Manga/DeathNote'' in that the VillainProtagonist Light Yagami gets one of these. Even after it appears Near's completely beaten him, he pulls a hidden notebook piece, and even after the pen he was holding is shot away he attempts to at the very least take out Near by ''writing in his own blood''. [[spoiler:Matsuda, madder than hell at being played for a fool by Light, doesn't give him the opportunity, blasting the hell out of him and nearly killing him before the others stop him]].
** And then in the second to final chapter, Ryuk shows up, and Light sees one final chance to kill Near and the others by demanding that he write their names down in his own Death Note. But while Ryuk seemingly agrees, starts writing, and completely {{No Sell}}s every attempt by the cops to take him down, [[spoiler:it's not ''their'' names he's writing down. It's Light's own, as Ryuk finally makes good on the promise he made in the very first chapter, triggering Light's final VillainousBreakdown and a truly UndignifiedDeath for the so-called "God of the New World"]].

* Quite a few of the fights in ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'' manga feature one or several Hope Spots, sometimes because villains dispense them intentionally. [[PsychoForHire Vocal]] once pretends to be killed for quite a few panels, when in reality the only thing that took damage was the weapon that struck him. [[BigBad Chestra]] seems to be blown away by [[spoiler:Oboe]]'s barrage of blows before revealing that he is unscratched and smugly commenting that he doesn't even need to close his eyes to not be hurt by punches of such level. [[spoiler:A bit later, it seems like Hamel drained Chestra's power and killed him for real, but no; just as the main cast reunites and is full of relief and joy, Chestra regenerates -- from being [[FromASingleCell blown to dust]] -- and starts slaughtering them.]] In a few cases this also happens when a villain is seemingly overpowered, but then reveals his OneWingedAngel form.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has a giant series of hope spots which make the fight between Mustang and Lust all the more well-choreographed. Mustang shoots Lust? Healing kicks in and she slashes the gun in half and catches Mustang. Mustang pulls out his glove? [[AchillesHeel She strikes the pipes to flood the room and take out his ability to use flames and forces them to run.]] Mustang pulls out a spare glove and decomposes the water in the room into hydrogen and oxygen while using Havoc's lighter to create a giant explosion, burning her alive? Healing factor again AND sneak attack from behind, taking down Havoc. Mustang hits her with a shotgun to the chest, reaches into her, and rips the Philosopher's Stone inside her out? It's her core and she revives from there, stabs him through the side, and rips up his glove, then leaves both of them to die. After ALL of that, Mustang finally does overcome her by returning, having carved his flame alchemy sigil on his hand and using said lighter to help him repeatedly burn her alive until she stays dead.
** Similarly, the finale had also one HopeSpot after another. Izumi and Sig arrive to help defeat Sloth. Buccaneer and his team manage to successfully defend the Gate, everybody cheers. Then Wrath arrives and wreaks havoc. During his fight with Greed, another HopeSpot: Fu rushes in to save the day. (He doesn't.) Meanwhile, Roy and the others have defeated Envy. Suddenly, they are faced with the Doctor's cronies, and Ed, Al and Izumi are taken away. Riza has her throat slit in order to force Roy to commit human transmutation. But then, HopeSpot, the chimerae and May arrive, and Riza is healed. And then everything goes to hell again when Wrath and Pride arrive and force Roy through the Gate. After the nation-wide transmutation circle is activated, another HopeSpot: Hohenheim's reverse-transmutation circle is activated, and shortly afterwards Scar activates his brother's transmutation circle. But the actual fight against father has only just begun, and it's not looking very good for the heroes.
* One of the mooks (Chess) gets one in the ''[[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Shin Hokuto no Ken OVA]]''. The BigBad hit one of his {{Pressure Point}}s to kill him later on, but temporarily undoes it before gaining Chess' servitude. When Chess begs him to undo it permanently, he actually does so, and Chess does a HappyDance that lasts all the way until Ken punches through the door, incidentally hitting the same PressurePoint. YouAreAlreadyDead ensues.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Luffy finally, after [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle failing to get his brother out of Impel Down]], a long drawn-out battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines, and beating his way past foe after foe, [[spoiler:rescues his big brother Ace from execution and gets him out of the seastone cuffs so he can fight! Ace dies [[HeroicSacrifice saving Luffy]] in the escape]].
** Then it got one upped in Whole Cake Arc [[spoiler:when Big Mom finally gets to taste the ultimate wedding cake made specifically to stop her rampage. The cake itself was so incredibly tasty and delicious that even Big Mom could would testify it's a flavor to die for, and reminded her back of her childhood dream. But then Oven came in from the mirror with the bullet that can penetrate through Vinsmoke children's outer skeleton, and proceeded to boil off the sea and defeated the Sun Pirates in an instant. Then the Queen Mama Chanter proceed to (seemingly) sink the Thousand Sunny, leaving only the tattered pirate flag behind.]]
** A flashback details an in-universe example: Just before the God Valley Incident, it is revealed that the [[AristocratsAreEvil Celestial Dragons]] have a tournament of HuntingTheMostDangerousGame, with the 'rabbits' being the natives of an island not part of the World Government and troublesome slaves. The targets are told that they will be spared if they survive the next three weeks. But as one slave notes, ''none'' of the past hunts have had survivors; the promise of survival is just a lie to make their victims struggle, so the hunt will be more challenging and fun.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'': Negi, though injured, has defeated Dynamis, Kotarou and the others have rescued Asuna, Nodoka has the Great Grand Master Key, and Chachamaru has just blasted Fate Averruncus with her Satellite Cannon artifact. Things are looking up! ... And then the Averrunci of Wind, Water, and Fire show up. One of them blows Chachamaru in half, another erases Johnny, and Kaede sacrifices herself to get the Great Grand Master Key they had just stolen back. Then Fate shows up and takes it back anyway.
** Topped horrifically by what follows. After a totally epic climactic battle between Fate and Negi, Negi finally succeeds in defeating Fate and convincing Fate to [[HeelFaceTurn side with Negi's plan]]. Cue the series's [[TheManBehindTheMan real]] Big Bad showing up and blasting the hell out of Fate ''and'' Negi in one shot, followed by reviving Every. Single. One of the previous members of Cosmo Entelechia and setting them against the two utterly exhausted fighters.
** Subverted: Evangeline, Eishun, Konoemon, Albireo, Takamichi, Kurt and '''RAKAN''' all return to kick some ass.
* ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'': after the elite soldiers attack the La Lunga and make it sink underwater, one of them asks, "Did we get it?" At that moment the creature surges back up from below the ice, ready to attack again.
* In the third episode of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', following a heartwarming conversation with Madoka, [[spoiler:Mami]] goes into battle with [[MonsterOfTheWeek the episode's witch]] feeling light on her feet and full of confidence. She effortlessly dispatches the witch [[spoiler:[[NotSoHarmlessVillain only for it to reveal a new form]] and [[OffWithHisHead bite her head off]]]].
** Kyoko's speech about how it might be possible to save Sayaka, who has [[spoiler:turned into a Witch]].
-->"Wouldn't that be somethin'? It'd be like one of those stories [[ThePowerOfLove where love and courage triumph]] and stuff. Wanna know something, and this is between us? The reason I became a MagicalGirl was because I love stories like those. Can't believe I forgot that."
* The ''Manga/{{Planetes}}'' anime has a hum dinger. All at once [[spoiler:in the finale, it looks as though Goro will restart the engine thanks to having held off the boarders, Fee (who has just managed to regain control of the Toy Box) and Kho will push the Von Braun out of the way, Hachi will beat Hakim, and Ai will make the final 11th mile of her carrying Claire before running out of oxygen..]]. But ALL of them fail, only saved by a last second compromise and two astounding coincidences.
* In ''[[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai]]'' The Massacre Chapter it seems like Rika and her friends will win against [[spoiler:[[BigBad Takano]]]], but no, they all get snuffed. Fortunately they get to try again.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'' throws out Hope Spot after Hope Spot in the S-Class arc.
** Probably the best is Natsu getting his standard "unexpected" power-up from an outside source and going apeshit on the BigBad, only for the latter to emerge essentially unharmed and promising to actually go all out now while Natsu is so spent he can't even move.
** Elfman and Evergreen are facing Rustyrose, who wears glasses that protect him from Evergreen's [[TakenForGranite petrifying gaze]]. Elfman manages to trick Rustyrose and get close enough to steal his glasses and destroy them. Rustyrose panics as Evergreen looks into his eyes... then Rustyrose gives them a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown and ''his glasses are back on his face''. Rustyrose reveals that he just pretended to panic to toy with them and he's a ''RealityWarper''.
** Cana arrives to save her friends from Bluenote, armed with the legendary Fairy Glitter spell. Before she can fire it, Bluenote casually knocks her out of the air. Natsu manages to distract Bluenote enough for Cana to power up and fire the spell, complete with epic ThemeMusicPowerUp, the storm clouds splitting to let in the heaven's light, and Bluenote going OhCrap... only for him to be completely unharmed. [[spoiler:Fortunately, [[BigDamnHeroes it was enough to allow Gildarts to arrive and save them]].]]
** In the [[TournamentArc Grand Magic Games]]' first day, Fairy Tail is performing very poorly, mainly due to deliberate attacks by their EvilCounterpart Raven Tail. Midway through the day, Lucy has to fight Raven Tail member Flare. At first Lucy seems to have the upper hand, but then Flare threatens to use her PrehensileHair to [[WouldHurtAChild attack Asuka]], who is watching the match, unless Lucy stops fighting. As it looks like all hope is lost, [[BigDamnHeroes Natsu]] understands what's happening and protects the child, allowing Lucy to summon Gemini and use her ultimate spell [[StarPower Urano Metria]] while Flare can do nothing but watch in terror... and then Obra uses his AntiMagic to make the spell fade away, leaving Lucy completely powerless and ridiculed by most of the audience (bar the few who understood Raven Tail cheated, [[NotCheatingUnlessYouGetCaught but couldn't point their finger on how]]).
* ''Manga/YuGiOh'' features one in the duel between [[TheLancer Joey]] and [[BigBad Marik]]. Marik has just attacked with [[PhysicalGod The Winged Dragon of Ra]], which destroys Joey's Gilford the Lightning before returning to the graveyard from which it had been summoned. [[YourMindMakesItReal Because it's a Shadow Game]], [[{{Synchronization}} Joey's mind is nearly broken by the attack]]. When the dust settles...[[{{Determinator}} Joey is still standing]]. He even has enough strength to summon Gearfried the Iron Knight, [[VillainousBreakdown while Marik is completely freaking out]] and defenseless against the upcoming attack... [[HeroicRROD and then Joey collapses]].
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' season 4, Fubiki gets the upper hand in his duel with Yusuke, with Yusuke having a pitiful VillainousBreakdown and begging Fubiki not to finish him off... until Yusuke reveals he was joking and most of the duel was an illusion, winning with ease.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'': Towards the end of Aoi's and Spectre's duel in Episode #34, [[HopeSpot Spectre made Aoi believe that she was about to win and was about to save him]]. However, it was only a façade as Spectre's ''Sunbloom Doom'' made him nowhere near losing. [[BreakThemByTalking He even mocked her, calling her a pathetic girl who couldn't become a Blue Angel and claiming he was the Blue Angel who defeated the villain—her]]. He then [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown tore up the copy of the ''Blue Angel'' book he materialized and burned the shreds]]. The story meant the world to Aoi and gave her comfort after her parents died about ten years before the start of the series. To see it be so carelessly destroyed, in addition to [[BreaktheCutie her being so cruelly manipulated and mocked just moments ago]], [[DespairEventHorizon destroyed her]]. [[spoiler:Seeing as the Tower of Hanoi would absorb those who lose duels in ''Link VRAINS'' and leave their real bodies in a comatose state with little hope of waking up, [[{{Sadist}} Spectre]] [[MindRape essentially tortured her mentally]] before [[MoralEventHorizon murdering]] her in cold blood.]]
* ''Anime/{{Windaria}}'': Zigzagged. Alan fears his wife is dead because of the war but doesn't see any signs of battle and thinks that the war didn't reach The Valley, then he notices his neighbor's houses in ruins and thinks his own is the same. Then he gets home and sees it ''is'' in ruins, but his wife is alive. Then she turns out to be a ghost.
* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'':
** Teresa is fighting Priscilla in order to preserve her own life as well as to protect Clare. Although Priscilla is absurdly powerful--and was promoted to #2 in the organization--she is still inexperienced and a bit naive, much to Teresa's advantage. Teresa, who is #1 at the time, isn't even using most of her yōki (demon energy) to beat her, and she eventually gets Priscilla on her knees. At this point, Priscilla is [[SuperPowerMeltdown on the verge of becoming an awakened being]] and is [[ICannotSelfTerminate begging Teresa to end her life]] before she becomes so, to which Teresa complies. However, it only took ONE MOMENT of hesitation from Teresa for Priscilla to take advantage and disarm Teresa by chopping off her hands and then [[spoiler:[[TooCoolToLive decapitating her]], [[AlasPoorYorick right in front of little Clare.]]]]
** Another example happens to adult Clare, herself, after she's sent to work on a job with #4, Ophelia, who turns out to be AxCrazy and hellbent on killing her, just because. After realizing she is outmatched, Clare decides to fake her death by letting Ophelia cut off her arm and send her off a steep cliff. Just when it seems like the ploy worked, Ophelia appears and tells Clare that she saw right through her tactics, leaving her terrified. Fortunately, a BigDamnHeroes moment happens shortly afterwards.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
** Aporia suffers from this in his duel against Z-ONE. After being torn apart for almost the entire duel, facing what he believes is his opponent's trump card, and suffering from an enormous life point disadvantage, he succeeds in emptying his entire deck and activating a card that is shuffled in his deck and will [[OneHitKill one turn kill]] his opponent should he draw it. Z-ONE counters by revealing his supposed 'ace' is just one of ten cards, and proceeds to summon the next, with the effect of shuffling Aporia's entire graveyard into his deck, and inflicting enough damage to defeat him the next time he draws a card. After the usual huge buildup, Aporia draws...Machine Emperor Granel, [[{{Irony}} the embodiment of his first despair.]]
** Earlier, during the Dark Signer Arc, Jack manages to snap Carly out of her BrainwashedAndCrazy state. He asks her if she's alright, she says she is, he starts to plan a way to get out of their DuelToTheDeath...[[spoiler:and then the Earthbound Immortal [[DemonicPossession possesses her]] and forces them to keep fighting]]. The result [[TearJerker is predictably heart-wrenching]].
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', when Yusuke plans to [[spoiler:be killed by Sensui to motivate his team]]. Kuwabara tries to tap into his new power and break out of the uraotoko. He succeeds and frees himself and his allies before Sensui deals the finishing blow, but not quickly enough to save him.
* In ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'', after [[{{Brainwashing}} unwillingly]] betraying their friends during the rebellion the remaining Saint Beasts get one when they think they will succeed in rescuing Judas and Luca from hell with the help of the Goddess. [[spoiler:She betrays them and they are separated and [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] instead.]]
* ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' have numerous ones scattered throughout, but one particularly cruel one happens in DBZ during the Frieza fight. Finally realizing his limits against Frieza, Vegeta is helplessly and slowly beaten by the tyrant. A rejuvenated Goku then comes in and exchanges a few initial blows with Frieza, proving to be even with him while everyone else has been outmatched. Despite his weakened condition, Vegeta takes consolation in the fact that he'll at least be able to watch Frieza finally get his comeuppance. Frieza then proceeds to shoot an energy blast right through Vegeta's heart.
** The entire (long) battle against Frieza is ''filled'' with one Hope Spot after another. Every time one of the heroes seems to have victory in hand, Frieza [[OneWingedAngel transforms again]], [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat shrugs off an attack that "no one could survive"]], or in some other way reveals that he was in control of the fight all along. This continues right up until Goku [[SuperMode finally becomes a Super Saiyan]] and is actually strong enough to overpower him. At that point, it's ''Frieza'' who gets a few Hope Spots before Goku beats him.
* ''Anime/SonicX'' has one in the VideoGame/SonicBattle arc. Emerl goes crazy after getting his hands on a Chaos Emerald and starts destroying everything in sight while Cream begs him to stop and Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge can't do anything to stop him. When Cream steps up and tries to talk Emerl into his good self again, it seems her words are affecting him as his eyes go from red to his usual blue, but the second Emerl takes a step forward he starts malfunctioning again, and attacks Cream just for Sonic to take the blow for her. [[TearJerker Cream gives up on making Emerl good again and works together with Cheese to destroy him.]]
* In ''Manga/ProjectARMS'', a huge fight goes down in New York City, and it looks like [[spoiler:Dark Alice]] and Keith White have been defeated. Everyone goes home, the dead are buried, and it looks like everyone is ready to kick back and have an ordinary life. [[spoiler:Then, it's revealed that Dark Alice is actually living inside of Katsumi now, and that she has been kidnapped by Keith White (who did survive, of course) to blow up the planet. And their ARMS have been deactivated, so they have no powers. Ouch.]]
* In the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' movie ''Paint it, White!'', there is a moment where it looks like the Nations have successfully made the Pictonians enjoy their acts of hospitality and can get them to agree to leave the planet. And then, England decides to give them all some of his [[LethalChef scones]]. They were not happy.
* In ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito learns of a rare item that can resurrect a dead player. He fights the monster that drops it in the hopes of resurrecting Sachi, whom he was unable to protect earlier. Though he does obtain the item, it's of no use, as the item has to be used within ten seconds of a player's death and by the time Kirito gets it Sachi has already been dead for six months.
* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has several in the fight against Acqua of the Back. The guy has been effortlessly shrugging off everything that gets thrown at him like it was nothing. Part of this is because he's a Saint: basically a magical OneManArmy. So the Amakusas bring out a spell designed ''specifically'' and ''exclusively'' to kill Saints... and Acqua {{No Sell}}s it like everything else because he managed to prevent it from striking him correctly. Then Kanzaki, another Saint, shows up to aid and attacks Acqua with a level of force never before seen in the story... and though he has to actually put a bit of effort into it, Acqua ''still'' [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomps]] her. [[spoiler:Luckily, the Amakusas jump in to help Kanzaki, and then Touma still badly injured joins in, finally distracting and hitting Acqua directly with the Saint Breaker to defeat him.]]
* ''Anime/GraveOfTheFireflies'' has a really cruel one. [[spoiler:Throughout the movie we see the 4 year old Setsuko becoming weaker and weaker due to hunger and sickness. Then Seita finally buys some real food and after giving Setsuko a watermelon slice goes to prepare the food. The audience then expect a cut showing Setsuko wolfing down the food Seita has prepared, but instead the scene just lingers on and on until Seita says [[WhamLine four simple]] and [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] words: "She never woke up."]]
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' does this on a regular basis.
** After surviving as a refugee for two years and enduring three grueling years in [[TheSpartanWay boot camp]], Eren and the other members of the 104th graduate. Having successfully given his comrades hope and convinced many to join the [[RedShirtArmy Survey Corps]], Eren stands atop Wall Rose and proudly declares that it's humanity's turn to devour the Titans. .....moments before the Colossal Titan appears right behind him and kicks open Wall Rose. The trainees are quickly sent to the front lines, with many brutally killed in the opening hours of the battle.
** During the 57th Expedition, [[spoiler:they successfully lure the Female Titan into a trap]]. Petra tells Eren that this is ThePowerOfTrust, thanking him for being able to put his trust in his comrades. [[spoiler:Then the Female Titan escapes, lures them into a trap, and slaughters Eren's entire squad before kidnapping him]].
** The unarmed rookies manage to barely survive the attack on Castle Utgard, thanks to Hange's squad showing up [[BigDamnHeroes in the nick]] of time. The soldiers retreat to the Wall and take stock of everything that has happened, preparing to catch their breath and start planning their next move. Then [[spoiler:Reiner has a VillainousBSOD, confessing his SecretIdentity to Eren and proceeds to kidnap him]]. The military, already stretched thin and exhausted, is forced to mount a desperate mission into Titan-infested lands [[spoiler:to rescue Eren before the traitors make their escape]]. The battle ends up costing them [[spoiler:most of the Senior officers of the Survey Corps, all of the Military Police sent with them, as well as Eren's surrogate "uncle", Hannes. Erwin ends up losing an arm in the battle, but survives. They manage to retrieve Eren, but the traitors escape]]. No one feels like it's a victory.
** After the [[spoiler:Liberio battle]], in which the Survey Corps have to rescue Eren and help [[spoiler:Zeke Yeager]] fake his death, they make their seemingly successful escape [[spoiler:on an airship they stole]]. Most of the members of the Survey Corps are celebrating... until [[spoiler:Marley's ChildSoldiers Gabi and Falco hijack the airship]] and, in the process, shoot [[spoiler:Sasha Braus]], who doesn't make it home.
* In Episode 5 of ''Anime/PlasticMemories'', Tsukasa was on the verge of calming down [[spoiler:Marcia]], a Giftia who has turned into a Wanderer. [[spoiler:And then Souta calls out her name, which drives a berserk Marcia to ''strangle her adoptive younger brother'']]. At that point, Tsukasa has little choice but to open fire on [[spoiler:Marcia]] with a gun that would irreversibly crash her functions and effectively kill her.
* Wavess in ''Manga/StealthSymphony'' likes to {{invoke|dTrope}} this. [[spoiler:She will infiltrate groups of slaves in transport posing as a fellow slave, giving them words of encouragement to make them feel that they can escape.]] She does this because [[ForTheEvulz she loves seeing people have hope for her to crush]], as she finds it no fun to psychologically wreck someone who's already depressed.
* In episode 11 of ''Anime/UmiMonogatari'', Marin and Kanon try to combine their powers to save Urin from Sedna. She just absorbs it, draining them completely and shattering their [[TransformationTrinket transformation stones]].
* At the end of the episode "Doba" in ''Anime/{{Kagewani}}'', Takeru was able to get away from whatever was chasing him. [[spoiler:When he briefly dives into the river water, he spots the cryptid behind him with its jaws open.]]
* ''Manga/SchoolLive'' uses this frequently once CerebusSyndrome hits. It was always a dark manga however it things tend to go FromBadToWorse frequently:
** The ending to a chapter hints at a might new addition to the School Life Club. She has a detailed design, is treated as important, and is the first new, major survivor since Miki. [[spoiler:She becomes a zombie before the girls can even meet her. They travel to find her but she locked herself in a closet when she knew she would turn.]]
** [[spoiler:Kurumi]] gets bit by a zombie but is saved by a vaccine. [[spoiler:...Except she wasn't truly "saved". The vaccine postponed the infection but as the manga goes on it becomes more obvious she will eventually [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie turn]] soon.]]
** A rescue helicopter arrives at the school. [[spoiler:He subccumbs to the zombie infection and the copter crashes. It causes a fire and the girls need to exacuate the school, leaving them [[TeenageWasteland a bunch of high schoolers]] stuck alone in a ZombieApocalypse]].
** [[CoolBigSis Rii]] rescues [[spoiler:her little sister]] from a zombie infested elementary school and she is a TagalongKid. [[spoiler:Ruu is dead, or at the very least missing, and Rii has {{s|anitySlippage}}napped. She's hallucinating and the others are playing along.]]
** The girls meet a group of new survivors however it becomes clear that their new home is probably even more dangerous than their last, thanks to a gang of other survivors who are incredibly hostile [[spoiler:and the fact one of them is infected (even ignoring Kurumi)]].
** In an anime-only example, TeamPet Taromaru is seen [[spoiler:recovering from his zombie state]] in episode 12, after Miki gives him the antidote. [[spoiler:He dies minutes later while on Miki's lap.]]
* Near the end of ''{{Manga/Uzumaki}}'', a naval detachment shows up to rescue the people of Kurozu-cho. [[MegaMaelstrom This does not end well for the naval detachment]].
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Kamanosuke broke down Kuchiba's LotusEaterMachine and cut him in half! Finally, there's one Brave who survived the Iga Five -- [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle Not So Fast, Bucko]], Kuchiba reveals his [[BloodyMurder other ability]] and finishes off Kamanosuke... [[DoubleSubversion Until the end.]]
* Played with in ''Anime/YourName''. Near the end of the film, [[spoiler:Mitsuha takes a look at what Taki has written on her hand... Instead of his name, it's just "I love you", which gives her a HeroicSecondWind but, as she immediately points out, is useless for trying to find him, which was the very purpose of writing on her hand in the first place.]]
* In Episode 10 of ''Anime/DanganRonpa3 Side: Despair'', [[spoiler:Chiaki Nanami is fatally injured and wandering through a deadly maze. She opens the final door and is greeted with the sight of her teacher extending an arm to help her escape... which turns out to be an illusion as she's instead stabbed to death by dozens of spears coming from the ground.]]
* In ''Manga/BlackButler'', in the Luxury Liner Arc, as well as in Black Butler: Book of The Atlantic, Sebastian Michaelis and Ciel Phantomhive attempt to reach for each other after The Undertaker throws Ciel away, knowing that Sebastian would come over to save Ciel. [[spoiler:Sebastian only manages to grasp two of Ciel's fingers before he is impaled by The Undertaker's Death Scythe, who then proceeds to view Sebastian's record. This gets subverted later, as after Sebastian's record has been shown, Sebastian manages to grab Ciel's hand mid-air and protect him from falling onto the floor.]]
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' has a particularly cruel one during the fight between [[TheLancer Rei]] and [[DarkMessiah Raoh]]: after the initial exchange made clear that Raoh was immensely superior (as in, he literally bitchslapped Rei away ''without using his hands, as '''his BattleAura was more than enough'''''), Rei decided to use the ''[[DeathOrGloryAttack Dankou Sousai Ken]]'' (Resolute Mutual Death Fist), an attack that [[TakingYouWithMe would surely kill Raoh but completely expose him to his counterattack and make sure he'd die too]], we see the scene changing color and them killing each other... And then it's revealed that it was ''Raoh's ImagineSpot'': he was playing Rei's impending attack in his mind to analyze it, and after that he threw at him his BadassCape to distract him for the split second it took him to [[CruelAndUnusualDeath hit him in such a way he'd die after three days of horrible pain and suffering]].
* The villains from the Kingdom of Falmuth got one in ''Literature/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime''. As Rimuru Tempest was slaughtering the army down to the last man, King Edmalis was panicking and wondering how they would get out of this. Captain Folgen offered to use his Unique Skill [[MindManipulation Spearhead]] to make the survivors into [[HumanShield Human Shields]] for the leadership. He left the tent to rally the surviving soldiers...BoomHeadshot! Just like that, their last chance of escaping was KilledOffForReal.
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'':
** While delving into an unexplored ruin, Akira comes across what appears to be the remains of an old jewelry store and happily rushes over to see what he can pocket. But when he arrives he discovers that the entire shop is nothing more than an excessively advanced holographic poster. To rub the salt in the wound, he can't even take the poster with him since it's embedded in the wall. Then it's DoubleSubverted when Akira discovers what is implied to be a convenience store full of toys, utensils, and knickknacks, which he manages to sell to Katsuragi for a respectable (but somewhat disappointing) 2 million aurum.
*** Reina and Togami both get their hopes dashed by a holographic advertisement in a similar way.
** The ButtMonkey hunter Revin gets a number of these:
*** Revin getting rescued from deep in some ruins by Akira and TheSquad only to find he’s now buried in debt due to the medicine he was forced to buy and be lied to that Akira will brutally make an example of him if he doesn’t do well enough at paying up.
*** Being tricked into believing he can strike it rich by flipping relics from Sheryl’s relic shop to another store only to find himself locked out and Akira being sent to handle the ruckus he’s causing, then finding out that Sheryl is working with his debt master Katsuragi
*** Revin crawling his way out of the rubble from a BigBadassBattleSequence after making a DoNotGoGentle resolution, laughing, only to find that all of his equipment has been ruined, dramatically increasing his debt even further.
** The government official Inabe catching a glimpse of the pristine inner Kuzusuhara ruins after his forces break their way in, being ecstatic that he’ll get all the artifacts from it under his jurisdiction. Then after communications cut out, upon their return he's shocked to see nothing but the carnage that's left over of his forces.
* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'':
** After David and Gloria get into a car crash, Gloria is left lying on the street badly wounded. Trauma Team arrive on the scene within minutes and check on Gloria, with David briefly believing they will rescue her. However, because she doesn't have Platinum insurance, the Trauma Team ignore her for their actual client and leave her for the "meat wagon".
** Once [[spoiler:David]] rescues [[spoiler:Lucy]] from Arasaka, it looks like he and his friends will be able to get away scot free. [[spoiler:[[KnightOfCerebus And then Adam Smasher drops in.]]]]
* In ''Manga/ICantBelieveISleptWithYou'' Chiyo Koduka, having quit her job, is struggling to find another one, and thus is behind on her rent, leading her to make a deal with her landlady to pay the back rent by doing favors for her. A little less than a third of the way through the series, Chiyo goes to an interview, where the hiring manager says he'd love to have her in the company, and for a little while, it seems as though she's gotten the job. Not long afterward, though, the hiring manager calls Chiyo back and reveals that she was not selected, and he only says that he'd "love to have" every interviewee.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Luffy finally, after [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle failing to get his brother out of Impel Down]], a long drawn-out battle between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Marines, and beating his way past foe after foe, [[spoiler:rescues his big brother Ace from execution and gets him out of the seastone cuffs so he can fight! Ace dies [[HeroicSacrifice saving Luffy]] in the escape]].

* A great one in ''Anime/{{Monster}}'': a match is lit and then dropped onto some gasoline to commit a heinous act of arson. The match extinguishes on hitting the gas and then bounces away. Just when you think that the fuel wasn't ignited, the flame pops up and spreads down the stream. The timing is great: it's long enough to give the hope spot, but not too long that it looks ridiculous when the flame does pop up.

* The ''Manga/BattleRoyale'' manga has a ''lot'' of these. Notable examples:

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'':

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Kirito learns of a rare item that can resurrect a dead player. He fights the monster that drops it in the hopes of resurrecting Sachi, whom he was unable to protect earlier. Though he does obtain the item, it's of no use, as the item has to be used within ten seconds of a player's death and by the time Kirito gets it Sachi has already been dead for six months.
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has several in the fight against Acqua of the Back. The guy has been effortlessly shrugging off everything that gets thrown at him like it was nothing. Part of this is because he's a Saint: basically a magical OneManArmy. So the Amakusas bring out a spell designed ''specifically'' and ''exclusively'' to kill Saints... and Acqua {{No Sell}}s it like everything else because he managed to prevent it from striking him correctly. Then Kanzaki, another Saint, shows up to aid and attacks Acqua with a level of force never before seen in the story... and though he has to actually put a bit of effort into it, Acqua ''still'' [[CurbStompBattle Curb-Stomps]] her. [[spoiler:Luckily, the Amakusas jump in to help Kanzaki, and then Touma still badly injured joins in, finally distracting and hitting Acqua directly with the Saint Breaker to defeat him.]]

* The villains from the Kingdom of Falmuth got one in ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime''. As Rimuru Tempest was slaughtering the army down to the last man, King Edmalis was panicking and wondering how they would get out of this. Captain Folgen offered to use his Unique Skill [[MindManipulation Spearhead]] to make the survivors into [[HumanShield Human Shields]] for the leadership. He left the tent to rally the surviving soldiers...BoomHeadshot! Just like that, their last chance of escaping was KilledOffForReal.
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'':

* In ''[[VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai]]'' [[KillEmAll The Massacre Chapter]] it seems like Rika and her friends will win against [[spoiler:[[BigBad Takano]]]], but no, they all get snuffed. Fortunately they get to try again.

** [[spoiler:After bringing Naruto to heel]] and when no one appears able to help Naruto, [[spoiler:Pain is confronted by Hinata, who has finally overcome her crippling shyness and [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove sincerely confesses her love to Naruto]], and prepares to show us once and for all what she can really do, and save the man she loves! She then gets defeated and [[OnlyMostlyDead nearly]] killed (she was fully aware that she wasn't going to win), [[BerserkButton prompting Naruto's]] [[UnstoppableRage fox mode]] [[SuperpoweredEvilSide to progress further]] [[UpToEleven than ever before]]--specifically, he goes from nothing to six-tails, then eight-tails, and then [[DespairEventHorizon nearly releases the Nine-Tails]]]].

** The government official Inabe catching a glimpse of the pristine inner Kuzusuhara ruins after his forces break their way in, being ecstatic that he’ll get all the artifacts from it under his jurisdiction. Then after communications cut out and, he eventually sees nothing but the carnage that’s left over of his forces.

* ''Manga/FafnerInTheAzure'' has an extremely striking version of this near the end. [[spoiler:After Michio Hino, already fairly high on the SortingAlgorithmOfMortality from the start thanks to being the [[BigBrotherMentor older vet]] who [[HeelFaceTurn started off on]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath the wrong team]], racks up a few more points by resuming his relationship with and getting engaged to his ex, insisting that he remain in the fight despite being over the age to pilot a [[HumongousMecha Fafner]], and promising that he'll always return alive. Sure enough, an extremely powerful Festum arrives soon after he makes this promise, completely sweeps the entire team, and starts devastating the entire island. Michio grapples the Festum as they separate the section of the island he and the Festum are on, activates his [[SelfDestructMechanism Fenrir system]], loses his always-worn {{Hachimaki}} to reveal a photo of his ex that he had been carrying all of these years, and generally appears ready for a grand HeroicSacrifice dramatic even for this AnyoneCanDie series. He then appears to [[SubvertedTrope subvert it]] by ejecting his cockpit, shooting free with seconds to spare...right until the Festum grabs his pod out of midair and smash it to pieces against his own Fafner. The Fenrir system then [[SphereOfDestruction blows both units to nothing]], just for good measure.]] And the episode still has a post-credits scene to make it even worse.

** While Saber and Lancer were fighting, Kiritsugu holds Kayneth's fiancée, Sola-ui, hostage and threaten to kill her if he doesn't follow his demands. He is to sign a self-gaes scroll that will ensure that Kiritsugu cannot hurt them but he can only sign it if he pull out of the Fourth Holy Grail War, which requires ordering Lancer to die. With a choice between staying and hoping of repairing his magical circuits after his last engagement with Kiritsugu or leaving the war with his fiancée unharmed, he chose the latter. At first, it seems that Kiritsugu was going to leave them alone since they signed the pact, but Kiritsugu had no intention of leaving them alive and since his assistant, Maiya, is not part of the two party, she can shoot them without breaking the pact. The bullet killed his fiancée instantly, leaving Kayneth in agonizing pain as he begged Kiritsugu to put him out of his misery but isn't allowed to. Saber had to obliged.

* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]'' features the battle between the new Gundam model, the NT-01 Alex piloted by Christina, and Bernard's non-customized Zaku. [[spoiler:Thanks to a great deal of preparation, cunning, ingenuity and sheer HeroicResolve, Bernard manages to put the Gundam on the ropes and even seems about to score the killing blow... when Christina rams a beam saber into his cockpit, and all that remains of poor Bernie is a ''pile of hamburger''.]] [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped Remember, kids,]] [[WarIsHell war sucks.]]

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' is full of these, particularly in the later arcs.
** During [[spoiler:Kanon's epic battle with Lucifer, he finally manages to defeat even her stake form by blocking the blow and sacrificing his hand, pulling the stake out and seeming triumphantly victorious...until Beatrice's LiteralGenie moment of saying she promised to spare him if he defeated all SEVEN Stakes of Purgatory. Cue appearance of the other 6 sisters.]]
*** Subverted when [[spoiler:Genji steps in to give both Shannon and Kanon a MercyKill and spoil Beatrice's fun of torturing them.]]
** EP 3: Rudolf and Kyrie manage to [[spoiler:spectacularly defeat Belphegor and Leviathan]]...until [[spoiler:Eva-Beatrice decides she's tired of using her predecessor's "second-hand furniture" and proceeds to summon the deadly Siesta Corps., which even Beato can't summon. Insert "[[OhCrap oh fuck]]" moment here as their attempt to run away is beyond futile]].
*** Then there's the [[spoiler:Meta-Battle between Battler and Eva-Beatrice]]...
** EP 4's fights between [[spoiler:Jessica vs. Ronove and George vs. Gaap]] are pretty much nothing but hope spots in clear parody of the typical Shounen Manga format.
*** There's [[spoiler:the escape of Kyrie's group from Kuwadorian. When they escaped, the Siestas have already rebooted and they start shooting them all down.]]
** In Episode 6, [[spoiler:Battler manages to outwit Erika's closed rooms by having the other five victims of the first twilight pretend their deaths. Then it turns out Erika severed all of their heads beforehand, thus making it impossible for any of them to save Battler, and trapping him in a logic error. Eventually subverted.]]

* ''LightNovel/FateZero''

*** During the latter parts of Episode 8, Rinne has Vivio on the ropes and is seemingly poised to finally get the victory over the one the broke her 57 consecutive win streak. Seeing Vivio's difficulty in defending herself because of a leg injury caused by her earlier assault, Rinne continues to attack, knowing it'll only be a matter of time before Vivio falls. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for her, Vivio hits Rinne with a well timed counter, which she follows with [[RapidFireFisticuffs Accel Smash Infinity]]. Rinne is unable to defend herself or endure the barrage of blows to the head, and suffers her first KO defeat.]]

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'' provides the page image. It's in this scene that we're introduced to Caster, a legendary figure accidentally summoned by Ryunosuke Uryuu, a depraved serial killer. To Uryuu's displeasure, Caster speaks kindly to the child whose family was murdered for the summoning ritual, telling the boy that he's free to go. The boy gets to the door...and is then grabbed and brutally ripped to pieces by ethereal tentacles. Caster then reveals that he ''wanted'' the boy to experience a hope spot, as it makes the realization of their death even more satisfying.