History Main / TeamRocketWins

-->--'''Bowser''', ''VideoGame/PaperMario''

* In the ''CrashBandicoot'' party game ''CrashBash'' it is possible to win Adventure Mode as Dr Cortex or one of his cronies, giving a bad ending where Uka Uka gains ownership of all of the crystals [[EvilIsHammy "and all of the POWER!!!"]].

** One episode even had '''''[[GoldfishPoopGang The Amoeba Boys]]''''' on the verge of victory, tricking the Girls into a trap they stole from Mojo Jojo (until Mojo himself stopped the trap).

* ''TouhouProject'' has this in the handful of games that you can actually play as Cirno. Or, you know, if you lose to Cirno in the regular games. Cirno's plotlines generally have nothing to do with anything actually going on, and involve her just trying to prove she's "the strongest".

* Florsheim once brought a werewolf to do battle against ''AstroFighterSunred''... On an overcast night. After spending several hours waiting for the beast to transform, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere Sunred got enough and went home]]. Vamp wonders if they can call this a 'win' until one of his combat goons tells him they probably can't.

* In one episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Phineas & Ferb]]'', Candace actually does succeed in busting her brothers. [[spoiler: However, this turned out to be just a dream.]]

* Team Rocket, the TropeNamer from ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'', beat the crap out of Ash's Pokémon when they were allowed to run Viridian City's Gym using Giovanni's Pokémon, at least until Ash managed to regain momentum and beat them at their own game. There have been a few other instances where Team Rocket has been successful in battle, but it was because they were [[RedemptionPromotion trying to do something good for a change]]. Their victories never lasted too long, and they were often sent flying at the end of the episode anyway.

** The GrandFinale, ''See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey'' began with the city beseiged by the girls' entire RoguesGallery, and the girls getting their butts kicked to set up the main plot.

** Also, in CartoonNetwork's ''IShouldntBeAlive'' [[http://vimeo.com/11486841 short on the Coyote]], after spending almost a whole year attempting to attack and capture the Road Runner, he finally has him within his grasp (he simply laid out some bird seed and leapt at him while he was eating), only to discover that his finger muscles were too weak to do anything to him.

** Even following his Flanderization into a {{Butt Monkey}}, Daffy seemed to score more victories than most other fall-guys in the series, [[spoiler: knocking out Taz in a {{Curbstomp Battle}} in ''Ducking The Devil'', being the first foe to defeat Speedy Gonzales in ''Mucho Locos'' to name a few. Counting an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RIvO74ZC5c obscure Tang endorsement from ''The Bugs Bunny Show'']] and CartoonNetwork's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO7lR1Fzw48 Big Game from 2001]], he has also defeated Bugs twice as well.]] Also, perhaps due to being created by fans of the shorts and the character, some later features tend to [[ThrowTheDogABone throw Daffy a bone]] a few times as well.

* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] in ''{{ReBoot}}''. In Season 3 Hack & 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 & Hack from doing anything ''too'' bad.

** To be fair, 616-universe Shocker is more competent than Ultimate Shocker.

* At the end of the first arc of ''DigimonXrosWars'', [[spoiler:Bagramon easily takes all the Code Crowns and reconfigures the Digital World. Taiki, Akari, Zenjirou, and Shoutmon are blown back to Earth. While they're gone, Kiriha and Nene are forced into hiding, Xros Heart is captured, and the Digital World comes under worse oppression than before.]]

See also TheBadGuyWins (which is an Ending Trope). Contrast BigBadWannabe, which may at times overlap.

** Happens when Eggman returns to his homeworld. There, he gets into a confrontation with Tails and ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone almost wins]]''. Fortunately for all, Super Sonic shows up and sets things right.

** Happens to Eggman when he returns to his homeworld. There, he gets into a confrontation with Tails and ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone almost wins]]''. Fortunately for all, Super Sonic shows up and sets things right.

** In the Chaos Emerald four parter, Robotnik manages to outsmart or overpower Sonic on four consecutive occasions to claim all four Chaos Emeralds and transform into the "Supreme High Robotnik, MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE!" He handily defeats Sonic in their first bout, after which the heroes rely on a TemperalParadox to defeat him.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' 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 (at times) are pretty low on the threat scale.

* SonicX had this happen once, but not when facing Sonic. Usually Eggman's schemes fail miserably, and his machines and robots are useless, but then he goes up against some Metarex that are attempting to hurt Sonic. Without warning, Boko and Deko, his worst robots, become super strong and beat everyone down, and Bokkun delivers a powerful uppercut kick, clearing a pathway for them all.

** "A Glass Of Warm Ed" and "Dim Lit Ed" however end with the Eds successfully making a profit out of one of their scams. The "Big Picture Show" finale also ends with the Eds finally becoming popular.

->''"[[MemeticMutation Did he say what I thought he said?]] I '''win?!?'''"''
-->--'''Dr. Ivo Robotnik''', ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''

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

-->--'''Dr. Ivo Robotnik''', ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''

[[folder: Anime ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* In ''ThePowerpuffGirls'' story "Smart And Smarter" (Cartoon Network Block Party #59), Mojo Jojo outwits Blossom, with her sisters' blessings! Blossom (who let her ego swell after being admitted to a special school) blows her ice breath which Mojo counters with a heat shield. The trail of melted ice reaches Blossom's foot (which she doesn't see) and she emits static electricity from her hands which in turn fries her to a frazzle. The ending panel has Buttercup shaking hands with Mojo.

[[folder: Fan Fiction ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

** A similar plot point happens in ''{{Cars}}'' when Lightning brakes hard at the finish line, reverses, and pushes "The King" across. This time, however, when Hicks wins, he's the only one celebrating and is shocked when everyone starts booing him.

* ''{{Megamind}}'''s plot starts rolling because of this, which is lampshaded by both Megamind's sidekick early on and [[spoiler:Metro Man]] much later.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Presuming that the condition for villain victory is "kill the slayer", ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has numerous examples: Spike legitimately out-fights and kills two Slayers, Drusilla effortlessly takes out Kendra the Vampire Slayer, The Master kills Buffy on two occasions (one time she is revived and the other in an alternate universe), and a random vampire nearly kills Buffy in "Fool for Love", and it's Riley that ultimately puts him down.

* In ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', Zedd and Rita would pull this off at least once a season. This usually involved the zords being destroyed and re-formed, and as such, usually happened when they had run out of Sentai footage and/or just in time for an action-figure shopping season.

*** ''PowerRangersTurbo'' Divatox does the same thing.
* ''PowerRangersInSpace'' have an all out attack on the galaxy with the Space Rangers and thier allies all losing. They only survive because of [[spoiler: Zordon's HeroicSacrifice]].

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Losing to Mid-Boss in ''{{Disgaea}}'' gives you a [[NonStandardGameOver "secret ending"]].

* In ''FinalFantasyVI'', Kefka's triumph [[spoiler:in Thamasa]] is a complete surprise to the player. After all, almost every other encounter has consisted of Kefka casting a weak spell and then running away, and when Kefka seems to finally be serious in Narshe, he is still quite beatable. So when he appears in [[spoiler:Thamasa, destroying Espers left and right]], there is really no precedent.

* In the first ''PaperMario'' Bowser once again starts the game's story by invading Princess Peach's castle. Peach sends Mario on him, [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin predicting the usual result]]. Then Bowser pulls out the newly stolen Star Rod, boosting his strength, cue a HopelessBossFight where your only choice is to let Bowser chalk up his first canonical victory against the plumber. Peach and even Bowser himself are completely astonished.
* In a similar manner, Dr. Eggman starts off the events of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' by depowering Sonic ''in his super form'' and using his power to activate a laser to create an EarthShatteringKaboom. Keep in mind no other villain ([[SonicTheHedgehog3 bar Knuckles technically]]) has actually defeated Super Sonic.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* The page picture comes from ''Plague's Misadventures'', one of the hosted comics in ''BobAndGeorge.'' Sigma, who in this series is pretty much a nuisance HarmlessVillain, actually succeeds in bringing down the space colony and bringing about the end of the world when the heroes shoot it down with the giant canon.
* The Dimension of Pain demons from ''SluggyFreelance'', from their [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/980428 inception]], had been largely [[HarmlessVillain Harmless Villains]]. When Torg wound up in their dimension, he easily withstood their attempts at torture, outwitted them, and escaped. After that they repeatedly tried to recapture him every year, but they could only send one demon at a time, only on Halloween night, and it could only stay until sunrise, and they inevitably failed in humiliating ways, to the point where Torg threw Halloween parties with the demons advertised as the main attraction. Throw in their wacky antics during the "[[BSideComics Meanwhile In The Dimension of Pain ...]]" strips, and no one really took them seriously. Then "[[CerebusSyndrome That Which Redeems]]" came along, and with the demons finding a way to bypass their previous limitations, suddenly they're conquering entire countries, butchering helpless bystanders, and outnumbering Torg 1000 to 1. Not to mention [[spoiler:[[KilledOffForReal killing off]] Alt-Zoe]].

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''SpongeBobSquarePants'', they did this once. The "superheroes" lost control of their powers and were badly injured, and Mermaid Man was too weak to fight. However, Barnacle Boy (who just had a FaceHeelTurn and called himself "Barnacle Man") decides to simply go back to being good, just because he can now have an adult-sized Krabby Patty. The other villians are later seen in jail, participating in the EverybodyLaughsEnding.

* One ''LooneyTunes'' short (the made-for-TV short "Soup Or Sonic") has [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadrunner Wile E. Coyote catching the Roadrunner]]. Of course, the coyote has shrunk down to a comically puny size so the Roadrunner is '''much''' bigger than him. Wile E. [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this by]] [[NoFourthWall pointing out to the audience that he has absolutely no clue what to do next.]]

* Almost happens in ''AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''. When the normally incompetent [[GoldfishPoopGang Scratch and Grounder]] are converted into [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot ninja robots]], they almost manage to kill [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] and Tails, if it wasn't for Sonic and Tails escaping via sheer luck.

** In ''The SuperMarioBrosSuperShow'' episode "Flatbush Koopa," Bowser is attacking Brooklyn, and Mario succeeds in trapping him back in the Mushroom Kingdom. Only he realizes too late that he's trapped there too, and the episode ends with Bowser blasting away at Mario and the gang, who are running away.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

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** Also, in CartoonNetwork's ''[=~I Shouldn't Be Alive~=]'' [[http://vimeo.com/11486841 short on the Coyote]], after spending almost a whole year attempting to attack and capture the Road Runner, he finally has him within his grasp (he simply laid out some bird seed and leapt at him while he was eating), only to discover that his finger muscles were too weak to do anything to him.

* Anytime The Shocker does anything right, it counts as this. But what stands out in particular was his appearance in the Ultimate Spider-Man 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.

* ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. ''MadLove'' has Harley Quinn manage to use one of the Joker's plots to capture Batman and have him dead to rights. This being [[MadLove Harley Quinn,]] Batman manages to play on her insecurities and call Joker. [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou That goes down as well as you'd expect.]]
* One episode of the ''PowerpuffGirls'' 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 (at times) are pretty low on the threat scale.

* The Kanker Sisters in ''EdEddNEddy'' ''always'' seize the day away from the Eds.

* In an episode of ''JusticeLeague'', a group of Superman villains teamed up, planning to use their combined talents to finally kill the big blue alien once and for all. Naturally, the Justice League wipe the floor with them before Superman even gets there, but they still manage to pull it off! The one who made the killing blow? ..... Toyman. [[spoiler: Yeah, it was Toyman in a HumongousMecha and Superman was really only sent thousands of years into the future and returned home at the end of the episode, but still. Toyman.]]

* In the ''KimPossible'' [[TheMovie movie]] (and original SeriesFinale) ''So The Drama'', Dr. Drakken finally works out a way to beat Kim Possible and to overrun the world at the same time. It's only thanks to Ron's LoveConfession that she finds back her HeroicResolve.
* ''InvaderZim'' has nearly succeeded in taking over the world/defeating [[HeroAntagonist Dib]] several times, only to be beaten by one DeusExMachina or another. However, there ''is'' one time he ''did'' win: in "Bad, Bad, Rubber Piggies", he uses a time machine to repeatedly cripple Dib in the past until he dies in the present. To repeat - Dib, the only person standing in the way of Zim's plans of WorldDomination, is ''dead''. Of course, then the ButterflyOfDoom kicks in, and Zim is forced to hit the ResetButton, returning Dib to normal.

* In one episode of ''[[PhineasAndFerb Phineas & Ferb]]'', Candace actually does succeed in busting her brothers. [[spoiler: However, this turned out to be just a dream.]]

* In the [[Series/MegaMan Ruby-Spears Megaman cartoon]], while his primary goal wasn't achieved, Wily made off with the money from robbing the citizens in "Crime of the Century" and the money from selling a shrunken Washington D.C. in "The Incredible Shrinking Megaman". If you want to get technical, he also got all the money from selling Fun World tickets.

* In ''The Great Race'', the main character Leslie stops just short of the finish line and lets the HarmlessVillain team win to show TheChick that he loves her enough to give up the race. Professor Fate becomes ''livid'' about this, and challenges Leslie to another race.

* Possibly the only {{Tom And Jerry}} cartoon where Tom doesn't get utterly humiliated at the end by Jerry, ''Southbound Duckling'' ends with Tom... well, just [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plXz3USuewA watch for yourselves]].

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