History Main / MeaninglessVillainVictory

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'': In ''Dawn of Sorrow'''s bad ending, [[spoiler:Celia successfully resurrects Dracula. The problem is that she accomplished it by [[FakeKillScare pretending to murder]] an emotionally unstable teenage boy's girlfriend and then [[StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred goading him into killing her as retribution]]. Predictably, she is "rewarded" for her efforts with nothing but death]].

In ''Manga/PuellaMagiTartMagica'', while [[spoiler:Isabeau de Bavière]] was the final obstacle, Minou remained a bigger threat till the end of the series. She succeds in capturing Tart and have her excuted by fire, but she has [[spoiler:lost her sisters due to her actions, her beloved mother is dead, and Minou's goals have been thwarted]]. Her last words indicate that she [[DrivenToSuicide will commit suicide soon]] to be reunited with her beloved mother.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MonsterInTheMountain'', Frisk never went to the Underground, and thus Asriel Dreemurr could collect all the souls of the Underground by the time of the story start. However, in every timeline he reveals himself to humanity they always succeed in almost killing him, forcing him to stay in the Underground against his will. [[spoiler: [[ExactWords "Almost",]] however, means he has may have been able to destroy them all on one occasion, but stopped for whatever reason]].

* The extended ending of ''Manga/ShamanKing'' shows this to be the case for [[BigBad Hao]] [[spoiler:[[EvilTwin Asakura]]]]. His reason for wanting to become [[PhysicalGod the Shaman King]] was to eradicate humanity and create a perfect world where only those who can see spirits, the Shamans, are allowed to live, [[FreudianExcuse since his real Shaman mother was killed 1000 years prior due to human prejudice and superstition]]. [[spoiler:He actually manages to become the Shaman King as the heroes fail to stop him in time and kills the entire cast... Just for him to realize, after witnessing the arrival of all the major and minor characters' souls (including the supporting main cast, Hao's allies, their Spirits and [[DeathByFlashback characters already dead to begin with]]) and his own mother, that he's lost his hatred for humanity. Not that he ever admits this though, as he claims he's still willing to wipe out humanity, but not before observing it for a while as the new God.]] The various sequel series show that [[spoiler: he's still in observation.]]

TheBadGuyWins, but the [[PyrrhicVictory win is pointless]].

TheBadGuyWins, but the win is pointless.

* ''Film/TinCup'': Roy's stubbornness causes him to score a 12 on the final hole, as he keeps trying to hit an extremely difficult shot that he insists he can make (and indeed he did initially make it on his first try... until a gust of wind rolled his golf ball into the water), and this obviously costs him any chance of victory at the US Open and causes him to finish behind his SmugSnake [[TheRival Rival]] David, who laughingly comments Roy really knows how to go down in flames. Roy simply replies, "Nice ''par'', Dave", as David had settled for playing for a par and refused to take any risks that might improve his score, despite knowing from the start that he needed to score better than a par on the final hole to win the tournament. So David might have won the competition between the two of them, but he still ultimately lost the tournament, and his jerkass behavior during the tournament wound up being the final nail in the coffin for his relationship with Molly, who leaves him for Roy. When Roy has a brief HeroicBSOD about the whole thing, Molly points out that in a few years practically nobody will remember who won this tournament, but they'll remember Roy's 12 and the drama of him trying over and over again to hit a nigh-impossible shot until [[DownToTheLastPlay he finally did it with his last ball]]. Also, his boldness [[LoserGetsTheGirl was part of what made him win her heart]] and his overall score still grants him an automatic spot in the next year's Open, where he gets another chance to win a tournament and beat David all over again.
* In the movie version of ''Film/RichieRich'', BigBad Lawrence Van Dough finally gets Mr. and Mrs. Rich to open the Rich family vault, resorting to attempted murder and kidnapping in the process. Van Dough strolls into the vault, only to find that [[WorthlessTreasureTwist it's filled with priceless possessions of the Rich family that would be of no monetary value]] like baby pictures, a tricycle, and bowling trophies. Despite being the richest family in the world, the Rich family vault doesn't contain a single cent of money. When Van Dough [[VillainousBreakdown angrily demands to know where the money is]], Mr. Rich simply says that [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome it's in banks, the stock market, and real estate, not sitting around in a zero-interest vault on their property]]. Van Dough does attempt to kill the Rich family there, but Richie and Cadbury foil that plan, too.
* In ''Film/ASimplePlan'', the brothers played by Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton kill a lot of people, including their third partner and his wife, to get the money they found in the crashed plane, ending with Thornton forcing Paxton to kill him, as it's the only way for the plan to work at that point. Unfortunately, it turns out the money was the ransom in a kidnapping, and the serial numbers are on file at the FBI, making the money useless.
* A similar twist occurs in the underrated comedy ''Film/{{Screwed}}''. Miss Crock's assistant, Chip, steals the money intended as the ransom in the fake kidnapping of main character Willard, but is busted when one of his accomplices uses one of the bills to buy flowers, not aware of the serial number practice.
* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' movies almost always do this. Despite, and often because of, Indy's best efforts, the bad guys obtain their prize, only to be killed by it.
** ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' has Belloq and the Nazis successfully obtain the Ark of the Covenant, but Belloq wants to perform a ritual with it to ensure its authenticity first. The ritual ends up eradicating Belloq and the entire Nazi unit.
** Indy and Elsa manage to acquire the Holy Grail in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'', but the knight guarding the Grail informs them that it can't be removed from the temple. Elsa tries anyway and dies for her efforts.
** Irina achieves her goal in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' of attaining knowledge from the aliens. However, [[MySkullRunnethOver the information she receives is too much]] and she disintegrates while begging them to stop.
** The lone exception is ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom;'' the artifacts there only kill Mola Ram because Indy invokes Shiva and causes them to superheat.

* ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'' from the film and [[Literature/TheMalteseFalcon the book]] of the same name. Supposedly a gold statue disguised as lead, turns out to actually be lead. The people obsessed with it (to the point of being willing to kill for it) decide that it must be a copy and the original must still be out there somewhere.

* In ''Film/BigFish'', Edward Bloom gets inadvertently caught up in a bank robbery when his old friend Norther decides to rob the place while talking to him in line. Norther takes the guard's gun and tells Ed to clean out the vault. Unfortunately, this robbery took place at one of the corrupt Savings & Loans in the 1980s, so the vault was actually empty. The woman opening the vault even tells Ed that he can't tell anyone about this.
--> '''Norther''': ''opens a small envelope'' "This is it? The whole vault?"
--> '''Edward''': "'Fraid so."
--> '''Norther''': ''sighs'' "Edward, it's still got your deposit slip on it."
--> '''Edward''': "Well, I didn't want you to leave empty-handed..."

* ''Film/{{Spartacus}}'' provides a more nuanced (albeit [[HollywoodHistory historically suspect]]) example. The Roman Republic defeats Spartacus's slaves, installing Marcus Licinius Crassus as dictator and starting the road to Empire. Yet Crassus can't enjoy his victory, both from personal insecurity and realizing how weak his grasp on power is. Crassus's final scene has him fretting over his protege, UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, whom he predicts will one day overtake him.

* ''Film/TheCraft'': Nancy successfully invokes the spirit and earns astonishing power. But she abuses it too much and she's punished by Mannon - ending up in an asylum with no magic left at all.
* ''{{Film/Heartbreakers}}'' Barbara successfully swindles the Conners out of every penny they've ever stolen. But as a result, Paige gets out of the conning business and ends the film in a MaybeEverAfter situation with Jack. Max meanwhile still ends up with Dean, and the end of the film implies that they are going to con Barbara out of the money she stole.
* ''Film/OldBoy'': The main villain, Woo-jin, [[spoiler: spends decades plotting his revenge on Oh Dae-su for accidentally revealing Woo-jin's [[VillainousIncest incestous relationship with his sister]] and her resulting suicide: locking Oh Dae-su away for 15 years, killing multiple people, and tricking Oh Dae-su into having sex with his own daughter. Once his revenge is complete, Woo-jin is satisfied for all of five seconds...before realizing that [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty revenge did not bring him any closure for his sister's death]], and with his quest complete he no longer has anything left to live for. Thus, Woo-jin proceeds to blow his brains out.]]

* Lo Pan in ''Film/BigTroubleInLittleChina'' succeeds in his goal of marrying both Grace and Miao Yin and becoming mortal again, but he forgot what "mortal" actually means -- namely, that he can die. Which Jack Burton then proceeds to make him do.
* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': On paper, ComicBook/LexLuthor's scheme [[spoiler:to kill Franchise/{{Superman}}]] worked. He can hardly enjoy this victory, however, [[spoiler:because Superman died a hero and his reputation is at an all-time high. Also, Lex has been arrested for treason and his assets are seized by the government. Franchise/{{Batman}} and Franchise/WonderWoman, inspired by Superman's HeroicSacrifice, set out to form the [[Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague Justice League]] - using Luthor's own data on metahumans to find them.]] And the cherry on top? [[spoiler:Superman is not even dead, just in a healing coma.]]
* ''Film/TheGreatRace:'' Professor Fate wins the race, but only because the Great Leslie deliberately let him to prove a point to the heroine Maggie. Upon learning this, Fate launches into a [[VillainousBreakdown rant]].
* ''Film/DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory:'' At the very end of the film, [[spoiler:Peter reveals that he sold the deed to the Average Joe's gym to [[BigBad White Goodman]] for $100,000. Which he then bet on his own team to win. At 50 to 1 odds, that leaves him with '''5 million dollars'''. When Goodman claims that [[EvilIsPetty he's not selling Average Joe's]] "for all of king Midas's gold", Peter points out that he can just buy ''Goodman's'' gym instead (which is a publicly traded company, so buying all the stocks effectively means he owns the company), [[OutGambitted allowing him to regain Average Joe's and fire White with one fell swoop]].]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** In ''Film/RogueOne'' [[spoiler: all of the main characters get killed by the Death Star at the end. However, they've already given the plans to Leia, so the horse has already escaped the barn by the time the Empire kills them.]]
** In ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack,'' the Empire [[CurbstompBattle completely kicks the Rebel's asses]] during the Battle Of Hoth and destroys their base. Luckily, all of the non-[[{{Redshirts}} red shirt]] characters manage to evacuate in time.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': Grodus succeeds in his goal of getting into the Thousand Year Door and managing to reawaken [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen]], even successfully managing to dupe the heroes into helping him. However, when Grodus attempts to order the [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen]] to destroy the heroes, he quickly learns that EvilIsNotAToy, as the [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen]] effortlessly destroys his body, leaving him as just a head. To add insult to injury, the heroes manage to defeat the [[spoiler:the Shadow Queen]] anyways, meaning that even the one part of his plan that was successful didn't amount to anything.

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', the villains of ''The Chorus Trilogy'' get ahold of the MacGuffin they need to kill everyone on the planet... but said MacGuffin is LoyalPhlebotinum that only works for its wielder, in this case [[spoiler: General Doyle.]]. So until [[spoiler: Doyle]] is dead and one of their own can pick it up, they're out of luck.
* ''Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': In ''[=SMG4=] Movie: Revelations'', [[spoiler: the Box Club Leader finally gets to the God Box thanks to Melony!Niles, and upon it being opened, immediately jumps in to absorb some its power. It ends up being too much for him to handle and [[KarmicDeath he disintergrates]].]]

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'': [[spoiler:Kars acquires the CompleteImmortality he sought so hard for thousands of years, but is blasted into space with no way of returning to Earth. The cold vacuum starts to freeze him and his own AdaptiveAbility turns him to stone to "survive" the void of space, where he [[AndIMustScream slowly loses his mind as he drifts through space for all eternity]].]]

** Another caper set around Christmas time had Lupin and the gang managing to steal a vintage and princless wine and swap it with a garden variety one along with a crate that they think is money. However, when they drink the wine itself, they find out it tastes horrible (which likewise saved Zenegatia's hide, as it kept the U.S delegates from tasting it), but that crate turned out to be filled with dolls which were supposed to be delivered to kids for Christmas. At least Lupin realizes his mistake on this and air-dropped the dolls across the land as an apology.

* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'' has a variation in that while the villain does manage to [[TheBadGuyWins achieve victory]] early on, it's his actions ''afterward'' that render that victory moot. [[TheUsurper Prince Jewelius]] seizes the Equestrian throne after [[ForWantOfANail helping Twilight Sparkle capture Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army]] ([[spoiler:which he himself helped invade Canterlot before double-crossing them]]) by [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste exploiting the tense atmosphere of the aftermath]] and the emotionally-driven behavior on the part of everypony involved to turn the Mane 6 ''sans'' Twilight, Shining Armor, and the princesses into scapegoats for letting the invasion occur (though in fairness, VillainHasAPoint is also in play), getting them all exiled and leaving him free to [[CorruptTheCutie manipulate Twilight as he sees fit]]. One week later, however, it's shown that he's decided that it isn't enough to simply have power, [[DarwinistDesire a bride in the form of Twilight to father powerful heirs]], and the praise of Canterlot's citizens - [[spoiler:he also wants to ensure his success by having Celestia and Cadance killed off. After luring the fugitives back to Canterlot and capturing them again, however, he [[JustBetweenYouAndMe gloats about his success to their faces]] which motivates them to try and spring Twilight out of the peril [[CassandraTruth that she and the rest of Canterlot deny ever being in despite their warnings]]. On top of this, he also forgets to capture Luna, who suspected that the heroes were being lured into a trap and split from the rest to avoid it, allowing her to free the others starting with saving Celestia from PublicExecution. In the ensuing chaos, the Changelings also escape, but Jewelius, believing them to be incompetent without his leadership, [[SkewedPriorities focuses entirely on punishing the escaped heroes]] which are now the public's smallest concern (partly due to the citizens beginning forgiving her via a touching apology speech), and eventually lets his sociopathic pettiness get the better of him in all of the events to follow, causing Twilight to have a JerkassRealization and cut off all ties with him. By the time the dust has settled, not only has Jewelius lost his authority and the respect of absolutely everypony he manipulated into turning upon each other, but a vengeful Chrysalis has served him a [[EatenAlive gruesome]] DeathByWomanScorned as well]].

* ''Fanfic/LovedAndLost'' has a variation in that while the villain does manage to [[TheBadGuyWins achieve victory]] early on, it's his actions ''afterward'' that render that victory moot. [[TheUsurper Prince Jewelius]] seizes the Equestrian throne after [[ForWantOfANail helping Twilight Sparkle capture Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army]] ([[spoiler:which he himself helped invade Canterlot before double-crossing them]]) by [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste exploiting the tense atmosphere of the aftermath]] and the emotionally-driven behavior on the part of everypony involved to turn the Mane 6 ''sans'' Twilight, Shining Armor, and the princesses into scapegoats for letting the invasion occur (though in fairness, VillianHasAPoint is also in play), getting them all exiled and leaving him free to [[CorruptTheCutie manipulate Twilight as he sees fit]]. One week later, however, it's shown that he's decided that it isn't enough to simply have power, [[DarwinistDesire a bride in the form of Twilight to father powerful heirs]], and the praise of Canterlot's citizens - [[spoiler:he also wants to ensure his success by having Celestia and Cadance killed off. After luring the fugitives back to Canterlot and capturing them again, however, he [[JustBetweenYouAndMe gloats about his success to their faces]] which motivates them to try and spring Twilight out of the peril [[CassandraTruth that she and the rest of Canterlot deny ever being in despite their warnings]]. On top of this, he also forgets to capture Luna, who suspected that the heroes were being lured into a trap and split from the rest to avoid it, allowing her to free the others starting with saving Celestia from PublicExecution. In the ensuing chaos, the Changelings also escape, but Jewelius, believing them to be incompetent without his leadership, [[SkewedPriorities focuses entirely on punishing the escaped heroes]] which are now the public's smallest concern (partly due to the citizens beginning forgiving her via a touching apology speech), and eventually lets his sociopathic pettiness get the better of him in all of the events to follow, causing Twilight to have a JerkassRealization and cut off all ties with him. By the time the dust has settled, not only has Jewelius lost his authority and the respect of absolutely everypony he manipulated into turning upon each other, but a vengeful Chrysalis has served him a [[EatenAlive gruesome]] DeathByWomanScorned as well]].

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MonsterInTheMountain'', Frisk never went to the Underground, and thus Asriel Dreemurr could collect all the souls of the Underground by the time of the story start. However, in every timeline he reveals himself to humanity they always succeed in almost killing him, forcing him to stay in the Underground against his will. [[spoiler: [[ExactWords "Almost",]] however, means he has may have been able to destory them all on one occasion, but found the emotional grief the souls generated too great to bear]]. Thus he resided himself to isolation for 11 years until he drew Frisk into the Underground.

** In ''Film/RogueOne'' [[spoiler: all of the main characters get killed by the Death Star at the end. However, they've already given the plans to Leia, so that the horse has already escaped the barn by the time the Empire kills them.]]
** In ''Film/EmpireStrikesBack,'' the Empire [[CurbstompBattle completely kicks the Rebel's asses]] during the Battle Of Hoth and destroys their base. Luckily, all of the non-[[{{Redshirts}} red shirt]] characters manage to evacuate in time.

* Myth/{{Norse myth|ology}} tells of Loki, who bet his head to the dwarf Brokk of whom could give the Aesir the better gift. "Betting your head" in Norse society meant "betting a sum of gold equal to your head's worth", but when Brokk (who was rich enough to begin with) won the bet, he decided he wanted [[ExactWords the bet paid literally]]. Loki at that point pointed out he'd never bet any of his ''neck'', and neither side could agree on what constituted the head and what constituted the neck. In a final inversion of the trope, one version of the myth tells that Brokk got annoyed by being cheated out of what he considered rightfully his and sewed Loki's mouth shut to stop his word twisting (Loki was unable to argue that ''it'' was in any way not part of his head). Wiki/TheOtherWiki lists [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loki%27s_Wager Loki's Wager]] as a form of logical fallacy resulting from overspecification of a generalized term.

** The third movie reveals that Chick signed a deal to host his own TV series about the racing industry, and, still having learned nothing, he uses the show as an outlet to attack Lightning at every chance he can get.

* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': In [[Recap/BoBoiBoyS2E9BattleForTheUndergroundMKHIPI a second season episode]], Adu Du tries to defame [=BoBoiBoy=] by creating a talk show attacking [=BoBoiBoy=]. In the end, the show is aired and watched by four and a half people, which is enough for Adu Du to consider it a win. Except it turns out the people who watched it are people who wouldn't believe or get the anti-[=BoBoiBoy=] message[[note]][=BoBoiBoy=]'s grandfather, Yaya's toddler brother, Ying's forgetful grandmother, Gopal's dad who was asleep during the whole show and a cat (who apparently counts as a half)[[/note]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/21835429 Power Trip]]'', [[TheSociopath Lila's]] main goal is to prove to the people she's manipulating that she's a better class president than Marinette by making their annual class trip one to Disneyland Paris. Even without the help of the majority of the class, she manages to secure permission and raise enough money for the trip, and even manages to get Adrien to return her affections in the process. However, shortly after they get back, it's revealed that Marinette took the classmates that were excluded from the class trip (and a few others) on an even ''better'' trip: a tour across the United States. Lila is forced to spend the rest of the summer watching her enemy have a far better time than her...and to add insult to injury, [[Series/AustinAndAlly one of the friends]] Marinette makes on the trip exposes Lila's manipulations, causing her to lose all the influence she had amongst her classmates.

* In the Season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', the Kingpin steals the sample of "Prometheum-X" that astronauts brought back from an asteroid (along with the Venom symbiote...) This stuff makes Plutonium look like a wet firecracker: even trace amounts of it are as powerful as conventional nuclear missile materials, and the Kingpin intends to sell it on the black market to the highest bidder - despite his chief scientist Smythe's warnings that he should run more tests on it first. Spider-Man steals the Prometheum-X from the Kingpin, who then takes hostages and demands that Spider-Man trade it back. Spider-Man actually spends a few hours studying the sample, however...and then happily agrees to the exchange, and leaves without making further effort to obtain it. When the Kingpin tries another test explosion, however, it's a dud: Smythe discovers that the entire sample has decayed into simple lead. It turns out that Prometheum-X is so powerful because it is unstable - so unstable that it has a very short atomic half-life, so that the entire sample just naturally burned out into uselessness in a matter of days. Kingpin realizes to his chagrin that Spider-Man figured this out, and it's why he agreed to the trade.

** Played with in ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': [[spoiler:While T'Challa undoubtedly wins the actual fight between himself and Killmonger, he also concedes that [[VillainHasAPoint Killmonger is partially right]] and Wakanda should do more to help the world. Perhaps it would be best described as a Meaning''ful'' Villain Loss.]]