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* ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'': ''Be Invoked''. The final battle between the crew of the Solo Ship and the Buff Clan turns into an absolute no-win scenario.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The climax of ''End Of Evangelion'' sees [[spoiler:NERV make a last stand against the rest of the world. Everyone dies, Asuka gets killed off as fighting the MP-Evas to the death, and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]] happens]].
* Saito from ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'' faces [[spoiler:an army of 70,000 men, eventually dying but he managed to hold them off for '''four entire days''' in order to allow the rest of Tristain's army to evacuate]]. [[spoiler:He gets better, though.]] Later, he comments that it was [[spoiler:easier to face an army of 70,000 men than a pissed-off Louise]].
* The last few episodes of both seasons of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. [[spoiler:The first by a Narc Hit squad, of all things, and the second by a proper [[FalseFlagOperation False Flag]] operating [[WarForFunAndProfit military-industrial complex]] JSDF.]] Eventually subverted in the first one, as Section 9 retreats and is later captured.
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'' is somewhat like this... After the Choice Battle [[spoiler: which Vongola lost]], they fly straight back to Namimori only to battle Byakuran and the Funeral Wreaths for the final time. [[spoiler: And they managed to destroy all seven bad guys!!!]]
* Towards the end of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', Scourge returns to Jungle Planet, hoping to save it from the Unicron Singularity. Seeing no way to prevent his world's destruction, he rallies the other inhabitants to the temple with the full intention of making a last stand. {{Subverted}} when Leobreaker and Primus manage to save the lot of them anyway.
* In ''Anime/{{Kakurenbo}}'', this is how the CreepyTwins choose to go down after being cornered by the demons.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Homura versus The Walpurgis Night. The darned thing won't go down even though Homura unleashed the arsenal of JSDF at her/it/them. [[spoiler:[[GroundhogDayLoop And that was not the first time it happened to Homura.]]]]
* There are two last stands in ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' (at least, in the anime--possibly others in the manga). The first was when the gang was cornered at a wire barricade. They slaughtered dozens of zombies, but more kept coming, but just as things approached the end they were rescued by the [[BigDamnHeroes timely arrival]] of a group of people with firefighter equipment. The second time happened at Saya's parents' estate. The zombies broke through the gate and flooded the compound, leaving Saya's [[BackToBackBadasses parents]] and their guards to try to hold off [[NotUsingTheZWord Them]] long enough for the civilians to escape. Their fate was left unknown, but it didn't look good.
* ''Anime/GoShogun: The Time Étranger'' has an interesting version: the heroine, [[ActionGirl Remy Shimada]], [[spoiler: alone fights [[EldritchAbomination a giant surrealistic beast]] that represents Death itself. She's exhausted, she has hurt her wrist due to excessive shooting her heavy revolver (TruthInTelevision, as 44. Magnum is likely to cause it) and has one last bullet left. Remy gets up, stands with her back to a [[CrucifiedHeroShot stone cross]], ties the revolver to her hand to not drop it, and takes her last shot. She wins.]]
* In the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' movie ''[[Anime/DigimonXEvolution X-Evolution]]'', a number of Digimon, including [=WarGreymon=] X, [=MetalGarurumon=] X and Dukemon X battle a never-ending swarm of Death-X-[=DORUguremon=] even as the Digital World falls apart.
* From ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', we get one as part of the [[NighInvulnerable Third Raikage's]] backstory. [[spoiler: [[OneManArmy He held off an army of enemy ninja, 10,000 strong]] to cover [[FatherToHisMen his comrades retreat]]. He fought for three days and nights before he finally succumbed to chakra exhaustion. Note, it's only possible he died of ''exhaustion'' instead of any injury, considering he could NoSell a fricking [[RazorWind Futon]]: [[SphereOfDestruction Rasenshuriken]].]]
* [[spoiler:Hilshire and Triela]] in ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. [[spoiler:During the climactic confrontation, Triela is crippled by enemy fire and unable to fight with the rest of the SWA, so she stays behind to mop up anyone trying a rear assault. Hilshire goes back for her when he realizes what's happened.]] Their bullet-riddled corpses are shown later.
* Around two-thirds through the series in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', [[spoiler:Alexandre Bewcock led the Free Planets Star Fleet on a last stand against the Galactic Empire in the Battle of Mar-Adetta. He lost eventually, but not without inflicting considerable damage on the Imperial forces.]]
* ''Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer'' is also a proper example, [[spoiler:particularly the last half]]: 12 fleets of the Earth Sphere Federation's Space force, an old spacecraft meant for deep space travel (outfitted with a WaveMotionGun), and another Spaceship belonging to [[NGOSuperpower the paramilitary organization]] [[LaResistance which fought against them before]]... [[spoiler:against God-Knows-How-Many alien shapeshifters.]] Lots of FromBadToWorse moments, [[spoiler:until a MessianicArchetype of the series arrived in his new Gundam... Just to initiate the final phase of [[BigGood the organization's founder]]'s larger plan - [[FirstContact the dialogues to come]].]] In the end, the humans had a somewhat narrow victory, after having more than 70% of the fleet [[FateWorseThanDeath "assimilated"]].
* Long before ''00'', there was "Big Zam's Last Stand" in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. Zeon was on the verge of losing the asteroid base Solomon and, in a last-ditch effort to buy the soldiers time to escape, Dozle Zabi hops into the massive Mobile Armor Big Zam and launches into combat. It takes a HeroicSacrifice from Sleggar Law to allow Amuro in to take out the Big Zam and even ''then'' Dozle refuses to surrender, hopping out of the Big Zam and shooting at the Gundam with a machine gun in utter defiance before the Mobile Armor finally explodes.
* And in another ''Gundam'' example, it also happens at the end of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans''. After being hit with an orbital Dainsleif barrage, Mikazuki and Akihiro resolve to follow the orders that Orga gave them to their dying breath, taking out huge swathes of Gjallarhorn forces before finally succumbing to their wounds and perishing. This is in spite of the fact that the Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City and Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex were completely wrecked at this point. In particular, Akihiro manages to kill Iok right before he dies.
* Happens a few times in ''Literature/TheAmbitionOfOdaNobuna'':
** The first is in episode 3 when Yoshiharu attempts to rescue Saitou Dosan, who is fighting his son, Saitou Yoshitatsu, after being betrayed due to the son refusing to accept Nobuna as the rightful heir. He was prepared to die until Yoshiharu convinces him to live for Nobuna's sake.
** The second time occurs during episode 6 when Yoshitatu's forces attack the hastily built fort Yoshiharu built. Nobuna arrives to see it burning to the ground and believing [[YouAreTooLate she didn't make it in time.]] [[spoiler:Until she saw him waving the gourd she gave him earlier.]]
** The third instance occurs during episode 11. Yoshiharu volunteers to [[LineInTheSand stay behind]] with a small force to buy Nobuna time to escape a trap set up by the Asai/Asakura forces. As expected of a larger force attacking a much smaller one, it doesn't go too well for him, and nearly every single man who stayed behind with him ends up dying, but he does succeed in his objective and manages to take out quite a few of the enemy thanks to utilizing concentrated musket firing. [[note]]where a row of soldiers fired, then another row fires while the first is reloading. This allowed a higher rate of fire, rather than having everyone fire at once, then have to reload, which gave the enemy time to attack.[[/note]].
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is all about this trope. When the last remnant of humanity is locked within walled settlements and [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] clawing at their gates trying to eat them, the [[RedshirtArmy Survey Corps]], the branch of the military devoted to reclaiming lost territory, is a firm believer in this.
-->'''Mike:''' We will have lost only the moment humans give up fighting.
* The Tournament of Power arc of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' has a lot of this, with the last fighters of defeated universes giving it their all trying to prevent the end of their universes. Among the stands include (in order):
** [[spoiler:The Trio of Danger of Universe 9]] against Goku and Vegeta.
** [[spoiler:Obni and Rubalt of Universe 10]] against Gohan and Piccolo.
** [[spoiler:Zirloin, Zarbuto, and Rabanra of Universe 2]] against Goku and the Androids.
** [[spoiler:Saonel and Pilina of Universe 6]] against Gohan and Piccolo.
** [[spoiler:Damom of Universe 4]] against Goku and Android 17.
** [[spoiler:Agnilasa of Universe 3]] against the remaining members of Team Universe 7--which consists of [[spoiler:Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Gohan, and the Androids]].
** And, of course, [[spoiler:Jiren of Universe 11]] against the remaining members of Team Universe 7--which consists of [[spoiler:Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and Android 17]]. That quickly turns in the remaining members of Team Universe 7 against '''''[[TheJuggernaut him]]'''''. It ends with [[spoiler:17 as the last warrior standing]].
*** And of course, the last stands inside the one above: [[spoiler:after remaining temporarily alone and too tired to even go Super Saiyan, Vegeta throws everything he has left at Jiren in the desperate attempt to break his arm or at least ''tire him a bit'', enduring a terrifying beating until he's finally knocked off the stage and sending Goku the last of his energy before being eliminated; after Goku masters Ultra Instinct, Jiren fights a desperate battle and suffers the beating of his life, barely resisting enough for the strain from Mastered Ultra Instinct to take Goku's out; after that, a heavily worn down Jiren and the equally worn down Frieza, Goku and 17 fight a desperate battle, that ends with [[TakingYouWithMe Goku and Frieza dragging Jiren out of the ring]] knowing that if they failed [[PerpetualMotionMonster Android 17 still had his infinite energy]] and would have a better chance against an even more worn down Jiren]].
* ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'' ends with Z, after having battled Luffy to technically a draw, both of them and their crews are beset by the Marines sent to eliminate both of them. Z, having finally gotten over his overzealous nature, feels he has to own up for his actions and goes to fight them to give the Straw Hats and his subordinates time to escape. Aokiji separates him from the others with his ice powers and he proceeds to go to town on the Marines as "one last lesson" [[note]]Though this is clearly not a happy moment for the Marines either since Z had trained many of them and they thought of them like a father. One of the Vice-Admirals, Doberman, even sheds a tear as he watches the fight.[[/note]] We never see Z go down, just his busted-up arm canon he had used earlier as a makeshift cross for his grave. However, it is heavily implied he didn't go down easy.
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'':
** Akira has a few moments of these when he proves he's a CorneredRattlesnake despite being a self-proclaimed coward, pulling out victory due to sheer determination [[spoiler:(continuing to fire while EatenAlive)]], and a FlawExploitation BatmanGambit that's CrazyEnoughToWork [[spoiler:([[SpinAttack spinning his guns through the air]] to shoot everyone in the room, [[DeliberateInjuryGambit including himself]], to create an opening to kill Katsuya)]], respectively.
** Babalodo and Revin, both being under IndenturedServitude due to their debts, figure that they will face AFateWorseThanDeath if they retreat during TheSiege of Sheryl's base, and so make a DoNotGoGentle declaration before making one of these going up against higher level hunters. This results in Revin having a HopeSpot crawling out of the rubble being happy to be alive, only to realize the equipment he's wearing is trashed, meaning his debts will have to increase.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The climax of ''End Of Evangelion'' sees [[spoiler:NERV make a last stand against the rest of the world. Everyone dies, Asuka gets killed off as fighting the MP-Evas to the death, and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the end of the world]] happens]].
* Saito from ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'' faces [[spoiler:an army of 70,000 men, eventually dying but he managed to hold them off for '''four entire days''' in order to allow the rest of Tristain's army to evacuate]]. [[spoiler:He gets better, though.]] Later, he comments that it was [[spoiler:easier to face an army of 70,000 men than a pissed-off Louise]].
* The last few episodes of both seasons of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. [[spoiler:The first by a Narc Hit squad, of all things, and the second by a proper [[FalseFlagOperation False Flag]] operating [[WarForFunAndProfit military-industrial complex]] JSDF.]] Eventually subverted in the first one, as Section 9 retreats and is later captured.
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'' is somewhat like this... After the Choice Battle [[spoiler: which Vongola lost]], they fly straight back to Namimori only to battle Byakuran and the Funeral Wreaths for the final time. [[spoiler: And they managed to destroy all seven bad guys!!!]]
* Towards the end of ''Anime/TransformersCybertron'', Scourge returns to Jungle Planet, hoping to save it from the Unicron Singularity. Seeing no way to prevent his world's destruction, he rallies the other inhabitants to the temple with the full intention of making a last stand. {{Subverted}} when Leobreaker and Primus manage to save the lot of them anyway.
* In ''Anime/{{Kakurenbo}}'', this is how the CreepyTwins choose to go down after being cornered by the demons.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Homura versus The Walpurgis Night. The darned thing won't go down even though Homura unleashed the arsenal of JSDF at her/it/them. [[spoiler:[[GroundhogDayLoop And that was not the first time it happened to Homura.]]]]
* There are two last stands in ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' (at least, in the anime--possibly others in the manga). The first was when the gang was cornered at a wire barricade. They slaughtered dozens of zombies, but more kept coming, but just as things approached the end they were rescued by the [[BigDamnHeroes timely arrival]] of a group of people with firefighter equipment. The second time happened at Saya's parents' estate. The zombies broke through the gate and flooded the compound, leaving Saya's [[BackToBackBadasses parents]] and their guards to try to hold off [[NotUsingTheZWord Them]] long enough for the civilians to escape. Their fate was left unknown, but it didn't look good.
* ''Anime/GoShogun: The Time Étranger'' has an interesting version: the heroine, [[ActionGirl Remy Shimada]], [[spoiler: alone fights [[EldritchAbomination a giant surrealistic beast]] that represents Death itself. She's exhausted, she has hurt her wrist due to excessive shooting her heavy revolver (TruthInTelevision, as 44. Magnum is likely to cause it) and has one last bullet left. Remy gets up, stands with her back to a [[CrucifiedHeroShot stone cross]], ties the revolver to her hand to not drop it, and takes her last shot. She wins.]]
* In the ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' movie ''[[Anime/DigimonXEvolution X-Evolution]]'', a number of Digimon, including [=WarGreymon=] X, [=MetalGarurumon=] X and Dukemon X battle a never-ending swarm of Death-X-[=DORUguremon=] even as the Digital World falls apart.
* From ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', we get one as part of the [[NighInvulnerable Third Raikage's]] backstory. [[spoiler: [[OneManArmy He held off an army of enemy ninja, 10,000 strong]] to cover [[FatherToHisMen his comrades retreat]]. He fought for three days and nights before he finally succumbed to chakra exhaustion. Note, it's only possible he died of ''exhaustion'' instead of any injury, considering he could NoSell a fricking [[RazorWind Futon]]: [[SphereOfDestruction Rasenshuriken]].]]
* [[spoiler:Hilshire and Triela]] in ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. [[spoiler:During the climactic confrontation, Triela is crippled by enemy fire and unable to fight with the rest of the SWA, so she stays behind to mop up anyone trying a rear assault. Hilshire goes back for her when he realizes what's happened.]] Their bullet-riddled corpses are shown later.
* Around two-thirds through the series in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', [[spoiler:Alexandre Bewcock led the Free Planets Star Fleet on a last stand against the Galactic Empire in the Battle of Mar-Adetta. He lost eventually, but not without inflicting considerable damage on the Imperial forces.]]
* ''Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer'' is also a proper example, [[spoiler:particularly the last half]]: 12 fleets of the Earth Sphere Federation's Space force, an old spacecraft meant for deep space travel (outfitted with a WaveMotionGun), and another Spaceship belonging to [[NGOSuperpower the paramilitary organization]] [[LaResistance which fought against them before]]... [[spoiler:against God-Knows-How-Many alien shapeshifters.]] Lots of FromBadToWorse moments, [[spoiler:until a MessianicArchetype of the series arrived in his new Gundam... Just to initiate the final phase of [[BigGood the organization's founder]]'s larger plan - [[FirstContact the dialogues to come]].]] In the end, the humans had a somewhat narrow victory, after having more than 70% of the fleet [[FateWorseThanDeath "assimilated"]].
* Long before ''00'', there was "Big Zam's Last Stand" in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''. Zeon was on the verge of losing the asteroid base Solomon and, in a last-ditch effort to buy the soldiers time to escape, Dozle Zabi hops into the massive Mobile Armor Big Zam and launches into combat. It takes a HeroicSacrifice from Sleggar Law to allow Amuro in to take out the Big Zam and even ''then'' Dozle refuses to surrender, hopping out of the Big Zam and shooting at the Gundam with a machine gun in utter defiance before the Mobile Armor finally explodes.
* And in another ''Gundam'' example, it also happens at the end of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans''. After being hit with an orbital Dainsleif barrage, Mikazuki and Akihiro resolve to follow the orders that Orga gave them to their dying breath, taking out huge swathes of Gjallarhorn forces before finally succumbing to their wounds and perishing. This is in spite of the fact that the Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City and Gundam Barbatos Lupus Rex were completely wrecked at this point. In particular, Akihiro manages to kill Iok right before he dies.
* Happens a few times in ''Literature/TheAmbitionOfOdaNobuna'':
** The first is in episode 3 when Yoshiharu attempts to rescue Saitou Dosan, who is fighting his son, Saitou Yoshitatsu, after being betrayed due to the son refusing to accept Nobuna as the rightful heir. He was prepared to die until Yoshiharu convinces him to live for Nobuna's sake.
** The second time occurs during episode 6 when Yoshitatu's forces attack the hastily built fort Yoshiharu built. Nobuna arrives to see it burning to the ground and believing [[YouAreTooLate she didn't make it in time.]] [[spoiler:Until she saw him waving the gourd she gave him earlier.]]
** The third instance occurs during episode 11. Yoshiharu volunteers to [[LineInTheSand stay behind]] with a small force to buy Nobuna time to escape a trap set up by the Asai/Asakura forces. As expected of a larger force attacking a much smaller one, it doesn't go too well for him, and nearly every single man who stayed behind with him ends up dying, but he does succeed in his objective and manages to take out quite a few of the enemy thanks to utilizing concentrated musket firing. [[note]]where a row of soldiers fired, then another row fires while the first is reloading. This allowed a higher rate of fire, rather than having everyone fire at once, then have to reload, which gave the enemy time to attack.[[/note]].
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' is all about this trope. When the last remnant of humanity is locked within walled settlements and [[HumanoidAbomination Titans]] clawing at their gates trying to eat them, the [[RedshirtArmy Survey Corps]], the branch of the military devoted to reclaiming lost territory, is a firm believer in this.
-->'''Mike:''' We will have lost only the moment humans give up fighting.
* The Tournament of Power arc of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' has a lot of this, with the last fighters of defeated universes giving it their all trying to prevent the end of their universes. Among the stands include (in order):
** [[spoiler:The Trio of Danger of Universe 9]] against Goku and Vegeta.
** [[spoiler:Obni and Rubalt of Universe 10]] against Gohan and Piccolo.
** [[spoiler:Zirloin, Zarbuto, and Rabanra of Universe 2]] against Goku and the Androids.
** [[spoiler:Saonel and Pilina of Universe 6]] against Gohan and Piccolo.
** [[spoiler:Damom of Universe 4]] against Goku and Android 17.
** [[spoiler:Agnilasa of Universe 3]] against the remaining members of Team Universe 7--which consists of [[spoiler:Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Gohan, and the Androids]].
** And, of course, [[spoiler:Jiren of Universe 11]] against the remaining members of Team Universe 7--which consists of [[spoiler:Goku, Vegeta, Frieza and Android 17]]. That quickly turns in the remaining members of Team Universe 7 against '''''[[TheJuggernaut him]]'''''. It ends with [[spoiler:17 as the last warrior standing]].
*** And of course, the last stands inside the one above: [[spoiler:after remaining temporarily alone and too tired to even go Super Saiyan, Vegeta throws everything he has left at Jiren in the desperate attempt to break his arm or at least ''tire him a bit'', enduring a terrifying beating until he's finally knocked off the stage and sending Goku the last of his energy before being eliminated; after Goku masters Ultra Instinct, Jiren fights a desperate battle and suffers the beating of his life, barely resisting enough for the strain from Mastered Ultra Instinct to take Goku's out; after that, a heavily worn down Jiren and the equally worn down Frieza, Goku and 17 fight a desperate battle, that ends with [[TakingYouWithMe Goku and Frieza dragging Jiren out of the ring]] knowing that if they failed [[PerpetualMotionMonster Android 17 still had his infinite energy]] and would have a better chance against an even more worn down Jiren]].
* ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'' ends with Z, after having battled Luffy to technically a draw, both of them and their crews are beset by the Marines sent to eliminate both of them. Z, having finally gotten over his overzealous nature, feels he has to own up for his actions and goes to fight them to give the Straw Hats and his subordinates time to escape. Aokiji separates him from the others with his ice powers and he proceeds to go to town on the Marines as "one last lesson" [[note]]Though this is clearly not a happy moment for the Marines either since Z had trained many of them and they thought of them like a father. One of the Vice-Admirals, Doberman, even sheds a tear as he watches the fight.[[/note]] We never see Z go down, just his busted-up arm canon he had used earlier as a makeshift cross for his grave. However, it is heavily implied he didn't go down easy.
* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'':
** Akira has a few moments of these when he proves he's a CorneredRattlesnake despite being a self-proclaimed coward, pulling out victory due to sheer determination [[spoiler:(continuing to fire while EatenAlive)]], and a FlawExploitation BatmanGambit that's CrazyEnoughToWork [[spoiler:([[SpinAttack spinning his guns through the air]] to shoot everyone in the room, [[DeliberateInjuryGambit including himself]], to create an opening to kill Katsuya)]], respectively.
** Babalodo and Revin, both being under IndenturedServitude due to their debts, figure that they will face AFateWorseThanDeath if they retreat during TheSiege of Sheryl's base, and so make a DoNotGoGentle declaration before making one of these going up against higher level hunters. This results in Revin having a HopeSpot crawling out of the rubble being happy to be alive, only to realize the equipment he's wearing is trashed, meaning his debts will have to increase.
