History Main / TeamRocketWins

** The episode "Meet the Beat Alls" had Mojo Jojo, Princess, Fuzzy and Him team up into an ultra successful band, the "Beat All's", which the Girls were powerless to beat conventionally. Enter [[YokoOhNo Moko Jono]]. True, Him is hardly a HarmlessVillain, but Fuzzy, Princess and Mojo ([[DependingOnTheWriter at times]]) are pretty low on the threat scale.

* A recurring trope with any show written by Creator/GregWeisman. Being the guy who created that [[XanatosGambit Xanatos]], it's quite common for the heroes to succeed only for the viewer to realize that the villain's plans never hinged on the outcome of the heroes' intervention. A good example from WesternAnimation/Gargoyles. Xanatos orchestrated the jail break of the Pack (except Fox, who decided to stay) with some covert tactics and a robotic duplicate that allowed him to claim no involvement and then gives them upgrades to boost their ability to fight the Gargoyles. Of course, the Gargoyles foil the escape and manage to get the improved Pack Neutralized, but the threat to the the Gargoyles was incidental. Xanatos couldn't care less if they had won or lost, as the goal of this scheme was to create a mass jail break that Fox would refuse to partake in, thus securing her an early release from an impressed parole board.

** Also Elmer Fudd defeated Bugs at his own game in ''Rabbit Rampage'' (a semi remake of ''WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck'') as well as in ''Hare Brush'' (albeit due to something of a personality exchange, with an insane Elmer "turning" into Bugs). He also finally "killed da wabbit" in ''WesternAnimation/WhatsOperaDoc'' ([[MyGodWhatHaveIDone though didn't really find victory all that satisfying]]).

** In "Him Diddle Riddle", Him challenged the girls to solve a series of riddles on time to find Professor Utonium or the professor would have to "pay". They found the Professor a few seconds too late and Professor Utonium had to pay... [[spoiler: the diner bill. It was just a diner bill but, the villain won and the narrator didn't have anything to say when he'd usually say the day had been saved.]] It turns out to be a tainted victory however [[spoiler: when Professor Utonium vows to never come to his diner again.]]

** "A Glass of Warm Ed" and "Dim Lit Ed" however end with the Eds successfully [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness making a profit out of one of their scams]]. The "Big Picture Show" finale also ends, in a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming rather heartwarming way with the Eds finally becoming popular.]]

* On a similar subject, one episode of ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' actually ends with Dick Dastardly placing in first. But unlike the Really Rottens' example, he doesn't get to keep his victory, because the announcer then shows a slow-motion replay of the race's finish that shows that the Mean Machine stretched its front forward to give the illusion that he came in first (despite the fact that if you look at the actual finish, you don't see such a thing happening). Watch the clip [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZv8HdAS8Vk here]].

** In one episode Candace actually does succeed in busting her brothers. [[spoiler: However, this turned out to be AllJustADream, which also turns out to be another dream all together.]]

** Brutus actually comes up smelling like a rose at the end of ''The Day the Ball Went Over'' (1960) without even laying a finger on Popeye, whose nitroglycerine-laced ping-pong ball explodes on him when he intends to have it explode on Brutus.

** Minor antagonist [[StageMagician Trixie]] returns to Ponyville (under the influence of an ArtifactOfDoom) and uses said artifact's power to defeat Twilight Sparkle and successfully banish her from Ponyville. As you can imagine, her victory does not last long, but still, she did defeat [[TheArchmage Twilight Sparkle]].

*** It seemed possible they'd actually be competent all through the ''Best Wishes!'' series, because they were supposed to be the spark for Team Plasma's appearance. Then it got cancelled.

*** And then they managed to break into a top-secret research facility and steal data on a meteorite that gives off some kind of ultra-powerful energy that can be used for WorldDomination.
** A great example of this occurs in the Kami trio two parters. In the first, they set in motion the appearance of two of the legendary Pokemon, and then wait for Ash, since they know that he'll show up. Then they use him and his friends to summon Landorus. ''They are GenreSavvy enough to use the fact that Ash attracts legendary Pokemon to their own advantage.'' In the second, they locate an undersea ruin and are able to help Giovanni capture Ash, the gang, and Meloetta, who is the key to summoning the Kami trio again. They came close to taking over the Unova region, but Giovanni got possessed by the reflecting mirror used to transform the Kamis into their Therian Formes, and Team Rocket had to actually help the twerps break the possession before Giovanni destroyed, rather than took over, the world.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* Anytime The Shocker does anything right, it counts as this. But what stands out in particular was his appearance in the ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan book, where after countless, effortless losses to Spidey (who slammed the point home by cracking jokes), he managed to knock him unconscious. He then tied him up with chains, ranting and torturing him, and likely would have killed him if not for Kitty Pride and the NYPD finding his location.

Note that the antagonists ''must win then lose again'' in order to qualify. If it looks like they will win but are defeated at the last minute, then that's a NearVillainVictory. If the bad guys win and the work ends, then its also TheBadGuyWins. If the hero sees the bad guys win in the future, then it's a BadFuture. Contrast BigBadWannabe, which may at times overlap.

[[quoteright:347:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Won.jpg]]

-->-- '''Jessie''', ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', as Team Rocket finally defeats [[TheHero Ash]] in a fair battle after [[LongRunner 951]] episodes.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

* {{Defied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot''. In season 3, Hack and Slash ''would have'' succeeded in executing Cyris, but Slash refused to go through with it. It turns out Slash never wanted to win in the first place, counting on (now-absent) Bob to prevent him and Hack from doing anything ''too'' bad.

---> '''Megabyte:''' No, you remember boy! How I turned defeat into victory... how I left you with a ''dying'' system...
---> '''Mouse:''' One last double-cross, sugah? (turns Megabyte's portal into a port to the web)
*** He would have won, too, if it weren't for the timely lost-game that forced the system to, well, reboot.

* Four ''WesternAnimation/{{Popeye}}'' cartoons have Bluto/Brutus winning, but it was all precipitated by Popeye himself:
** In ''Hospitaliky'' (1937) and ''For Better Or Nurse'' (1945), Popeye and Bluto are both jockeying to severely injure themselves so they can get close to nurse Olive at the hospital. Popeye ends up force-feeding his spinach to Bluto, who delivers the necessary punishment to send Popeye to the hospital. ''I Bin Sculped'' (1961) has Popeye and Brutus vying to be Olive's model for a statue depicting a tired, beat-up specimen. Again, Popeye gives Brutus his spinach. He does so again in ''Round The World In 80 Days'' (1960) as a means to win a global race (Brutus socks Popeye on the chin and it sends Popeye circumnavigating the globe to the race's finish).
-->'''Bluto:''' (''after he and Popeye both miss getting hit by a train'') Ya runt! Now neither one of us is goin' to the hospital!
-->'''Popeye:''' Oh, yeah? Well, ''one'' of us is goin' to the hospital...(''takes out spinach'') and it '''''ain't you!!'''''
** Brutus actually comes up smelling like a rose at the end of ''The Day The Ball Went Over'' (1960) without even laying a finger on Popeye, whose nitroglycerine-laced ping-pong ball explodes on him when he intended to have it explode on Brutus.
-->'''Olive:''' Is there anything special you'd like, Popeye?
-->'''Popeye:''' Yeah...[[MediumAwareness a new writer to writes me spinach back in the script!]]

** Minor antagonist [[StageMagician Trixie]] returned to Ponyville (under the influence of an ArtifactOfDoom) and uses said artifact's power to defeat Twilight Sparkle and successfully banish her from Ponyville. As you can imagine, her victory does not last long, but still, she did defeat [[TheArchmage Twilight Sparkle]].
** Another episode pitted adventurer Daring Do against Dr. Caballeron who plans on selling a stolen ring to Ahuizotl. Daring Do disguises herself as an elderly adventurer and tries buying it from him but Ahuizotl appears before they can make the trade. Dr. Caballeron gives Ahuizotl the ring and with Daring Do distracted he makes off her sack of bits, accomplishing his mission and then some.

!Examples:

-->-- '''Jessie''', ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', as Team Rocket finally defeats Ash's whole active party in a fair battle after [[LongRunner 951]] episodes.

-->-- '''Jessie''', ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', as Team Rocket finally defeats Ash's whole active party after [[LongRunner 951]] episodes.

->"Could this be... our first taste of victory?"
-->-- Jessie, ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', as Team Rocket finally defeats Ash's whole active party after [[LongRunner 951]] episodes.

->"Could this be... our first taste of victory?"\\

->'''Jessie''': Could this be... our first taste of victory ?\\

-->-- Jessie's reaction in ''Anime/Pokémon'', as Team Rocket finally defeats Ash's whole active party after [[LongRunner 951]] episodes.

->'''Falcon''': It's working just as you planned! You've ''done'' it, Doctor!\\
'''Dr. Noah''': Yes. [beat] But somehow, I didn't expect to win.
-->--''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "Our Man Bashir"

* Done with some of the early villains in both ''[[FanFic/UltimateSleepwalker Ultimate Sleepwalker: The New Dreams]]'' and ''[[FanFic/UltimateSpiderWoman Ultimate Spider-Woman: Change With The Light]]'' as a means of averting VillainDecay. Some of the earliest villains Sleepwalker and Spider-Woman have fought later defeat the heroes, or defeat other villains, to maintain the {{Badass}} credentials of the entire RoguesGallery and make the very clear point that the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil does ''not'' apply in these two series.

Note that the antagonists ''must win then lose again'' in order to qualify. If it looks like they will win but are defeated at the last minute, then that's a NearVillainVictory. If the bad guys win and the work ends, then that's TheBadGuyWins. If the hero sees the bad guys win in the future, then it's a BadFuture. Contrast BigBadWannabe, which may at times overlap.

* In Puerto Rican pro wrestling, it was a tradition to put men such as Stephano and Tom Danniels in a women's division for a time [[TheWorfEffect solely to show off how strong the women were]](Danniels was a ''World Champion!''). However, exoticos Barbie Boy and Queen Adonis actually won women's gold in the International Wrestling Association and New Revolutions Wrestling Lucha Libre.
* While he was working for Wrestling/FightingOperaHUSTLE, Wrestling/YoshihiroTajiri decided to invade Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, by himself, and managed to forced his way into the 2009 G1 Climax. Despite failing to advance after finishing last in his block he did manage to defeat the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Wrestling/HiroshiTanahashi!

** In all honesty if they lived in the real world they'dbe some of the most competent spies around...

Note that the antagonists ''must win then lose again'' in order to qualify. If it looks like they'll win but are defeated at the last minute, then that's a NearVillainVictory. If the bad guys win and the work ends, then that's TheBadGuyWins. If the hero sees the bad guys win in the future, then it's a BadFuture. Contrast BigBadWannabe, which may at times overlap.

Note that the antagonists ''must win then lose again'' in order to qualify. If it looks like the they'll win but are defeated at the last minute, then that's a NearVillainVictory. If the bad guys win and the work ends, then that's TheBadGuyWins. If the hero sees the bad guys win in the future, then it's a BadFuture. Contrast BigBadWannabe, which may at times overlap.