History Main / UnwinnableTrainingSimulation

The rest of the episode will typically focus on the hero overcoming whatever character flaw prevented them from succeeding in simulation. If the simulation is truly ''supposed'' to be unbeatable, the focus will be on the. character learning to accept the fact that sometimes you just can't win.

The rest of the episode will typically focus on the hero overcoming whatever character flaw prevented them from succeeding in simulation. If the simulation is truly ''supposed'' to be unbeatable, the focus will be on the .character learning to accept the fact that sometimes you just can't win.

* "The two .38s roared simultaneously." Literature/JamesBond concludes something like this in the first chapter of ''Literature/{{Moonraker}}'', which is basically a quick-draw contest. He puts the other "guy" (a cardboard target) in hospital, but is "killed".

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has [[Franchise/XMen Princess Celestia's school]] [[ShoutOut for gifted unicorns]]. The test to get in involves hatching a dragon egg, which WordOfGod said was unwinnable. When Twilight Sparkle took the test, [[spoiler:her magical abilities were exponentially multiplied as a result of Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom, which allowed her to pass the test and, coincidentally, give birth to Spike.]] However the Season Five finale seemingly retcons this idea away since, when she fails to hatch the egg when the past is changed, she ''isn't'' accepted into the school. [[FridgeLogic One must wonder how exactly one does get into this school]]. If we're playing the Kobayashi Maru example straight, then chances are the true test is a test of character, judging how well a pony can accept failure and realize where their flaws lie. Given how Twilight takes the thought of failure (before the Rainboom boosts her power, she quickly gives up and apologizes for wasting the instructor's time), it's not exactly a surprise she failed in the many alternate timelines.
* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse''. The Gems give Steven a test of skill rigged so that it's actually impossible to fail (the idea was to boost Steven's confidence in himself). Steven is upset when he figures this out, because he feels like the Gems don't trust him enough to actually challenge him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'', the [[TykeBomb titular protagonist]] believes the final exam from [[SchoolForScheming Stealth 101's]] teacher Shadowsan (Which happens offscreen) to be this, since she, the best pickpocketer from the class, couldn't find the item she was supposed to steal. [[spoiler: In the season finale, Carmen finds out that [[InUniverse she]] [[IKnewIt was right]]. Shadowsan rigged the test to give her the motivation to leave]].

The rest of the episode will typically focus on the hero overcoming whatever character flaw prevented them from succeeding in simulation. If the simulation is truly ''supposed'' to be unbeatable, the focus will be on the character learning to accept the fact that sometimes you just can't win.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' use a holographic training room in one episode as a ShoutOut to X-men. In the episode ''"Bubblevicious"'', Bubbles sneaks into the room to train so she would be taken more seriously. She manages to accomplish this at Level 11.

* In ''Film/WarGames'', an unwinnable scenario is created [[spoiler:to teach the AI futility -- specifically that it cannot win a nuclear war, because [[MutuallyAssuredDestruction nobody does]]]]. The scenario repeats again and again until the message is imparted.

* In ''Film/Passenger57'', John Cutter's EstablishingCharacterMoment is forcing a stewardess undergoing hostage negotiation training to endure one of these, with him playing a hostile and irrational hostage taker who [[ShootTheHostage "kills" his "hostage"]] out of sheer spite. This gets him chewed out by his superiors for driving the trainees too hard, but it also provides foreshadowing to the fact the BigBad and his goons all share this mentality.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' use a holographic training room in one episode as a ShoutOut to X-men. In the episode ''"Bubblevicious"'', Bubbles sneaks into the room to train so she would be taken more seriously. She manages to accomplish this at [[UpToEleven Level 11]].

* Meta-wise, many games are designed to be near-unwinnable on the first try by novices, or even UnwinnableByDesign. This trains kids to learn a very important lesson: if you were in the shoes of the hero ''without'' proper training or preparation, '''you'd be dead'''.

*** In "Learning Curves", Tuvok administers a battle simulation test to a group of Maquis crewmen. The attack ends with the simulated ''Voyager'' going down in flames, all phasers blazing. When the test ends, the trainees believe they were facing an unwinnable scenario (obliquely referencing the ''Kobayashi Maru''), but Tuvok did program in a winning condition: [[TacticalWithdrawal retreat]]. Aside from the outcome of the battle, there was nothing at stake, so there was no reason not to withdraw and live to fight another day. It's distinct from the ''Maru'' simulation in that the latter included a distress call that Starfleet officers are duty-bound to respond to.

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer40000}}''/''Franchise/MassEffect'' crossover ''Hammerhand'' has a Space Marine trying to beat one of these. The AI tries to persuade him that "winning" the simulation is impossible, since it has no end and simply keeps spawning more and more (and more powerful) enemies until you die. The point is to die as late as possible. The Space Marine presses on, which is [[{{Determinator}} entirely in character]].
* ''FanFic/HopeOnADistantMountain'' turns the events of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'' into one, meant to test the skills of SHSL students with particularly high willpower or leadership potential. Naegi managed to beat it, much to everyone's surprise, but suffers from [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD]] afterwards, struggling to adapt back to the real world and everyone's high expectations for him.
* ''FanFic/WithThisRing'''s version of the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Failsafe" shows Orange Lantern and the rest of team going into the simulation knowing it was a test before it goes [[GoneHorriblyWrong horribly wrong]], and M'gann accidentally causing them to believe the simulation was real. Thinking that Earth was under attack and his friends were dead or in danger, Orange Lantern summons [[PhysicalGod the Ophidian]] to turn the tide and ends up defeating the simulation. To everyone's horror, the Ophidian comes out with them at the end of the simulation.

--> '''Mei:''' A lot of inventions are just about learning the process. Even if they don’t work, they still weren’t a waste of time because they make the next invention faster! UA’s security wouldn’t be the best in the business if a first-year could ram through it, right? They probably just wanted to see how you approached a problem that you couldn’t solve. They wanted to see your process!

[[folder:Film]]

** The "Kobayashi Maru" training scenario, first seen in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', is a seminal example, even referenced in other sci-fi works. It's a test of how a cadet responds to a [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose hopeless situation]]. The ''Kobayashi Maru'' in this scenario is a freighter which has struck a {{Space Mine|s}} and drifted into TheNeutralZone between [[ProudWarriorRace Klingon]] and [[TheFederation Federation]] territories. The cadet receives the ship's distress call and is obliged to respond by Starfleet mandate, so ignoring it [[ButThouMust is not an option]] -- and the Klingons will likely kill the crew for "violating Klingon space". Any attempt to intervene, however, will cause a BolivianArmyEnding: multiple Klingon ships show up and [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome blow them to smithereens in under a minute]]. The trick with the simulation is that TheComputerIsACheatingBastard with the RandomNumberGod on its side; it will inflate the opponents' numbers, weaponry, accuracy, and belligerence far beyond what is realistic, possible, or consistent with the current geopolitics. The test, as indicated by the page quote, is a SecretTestOfCharacter. But, during the film, we discover that Kirk ''did'' beat it -- by hacking the simulation in advance and reprogramming it so that he could win. Strictly speaking, this was cheating, but his instructors at least appreciated his lateral thinking and [[{{Determinator}} refusal to give up]]. And Kirk apparently took the test several times before he resorted to his unique solution; he simply refused to accept the concept of a no-win scenario. In a sense, he failed there too, as Kirk is thrown into a ''real'' unwinnable scenario at the film's climax, which could only be solved by his best friend's HeroicSacrifice.

* In ''[[Film/WarGames [=WarGames=]]]'', an unwinnable scenario is created [[spoiler:to teach the AI futility -- specifically that it cannot win a nuclear war, because [[MutuallyAssuredDestruction nobody does]]]]. The scenario repeats again and again until the message is imparted.

** Sulu goes the diplomatic route, staying out of the Neutral Zone, and leaves the ''Maru'' to its fate at the Klingons' hands. This is the most "correct" decision, but it's a tough decision to make nonetheless.

%%Does this have anything to do with the simulation, or is it just a Star Trek reference? * In ''Series/{{CSI}}'', David Hodges mentions that he called his cat Kobayashi Maru (affectionately known as 'Kobe' or 'Mr. K').

* In the blow-off for ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'''s third season, the BigBad Walter Sykes traps Myka in a chair and forces H.G. Wells to play chess for her life. Wells recollects her mentor's proclivities and breaks the rules to win the game.

** ''James Bond'' does like this trope. In ''VideoGame/DoubleOhSevenFromRussiaWithLove'', the player watches his character get garroted in the cutscene following a lengthy infiltration mission. Turns out it's a training scenario for the Dragon, and the player's character was an evil mook-in-a-mask rather than Bond. As this same scene (minus the infiltration) happens in the original movie, the player shouldn't be too surprised.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'': ''The Battle for Gobwin Knob'' IS a Kobayashi Maru, or at least the scenario Parson had been designing that resembled it was. That's likely why Parson was considered the perfect warlord, he had spent months thinking over an unwinnable situation for a tabletop game. [[spoiler:In addition to fighting impossible odds, the GM is supposed to cheat, and the only way for the player to win is to cheat the system better or come up with a solution clever enough to impress the GM. Parson ends up [[RocksFallEverybodyDies destroying his own capital city with the enemy army inside it]], slaughtering ''everyone'' except himself and a few magic users on his side.]]
** At this point, Parson has "won" the battle and is now having to deal with the aftermath. It seems like every story told in Erfworld so far deals with impossible odds.
* ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' gives the following advice to [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0888.html GMs:]] "in a roleplaying scenario, you need not fear setting up unwinnable scenarios. Because, when it comes right down to it, you can never take into account all the sneaky things a group of desperate [=PCs=] can get up to. The [[TakeAThirdOption third option]] is always there; even if you can't see it, they will."
* In ''Webcomic/QuentynQuinnSpaceRanger'', Space Ranger cadets are routinely put into unwinnable sims and graded on ''how many times they can beat them anyway'', each time with the solution they used last time removed. "Impossible" is [[WeDoTheImpossible not a well-respected concept]] in the ESS Ranger Corps.

* The short story "The Op" in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. The Grunts (the mutant version of [=JROTC=]) face an Franchise/{{Alien}}-like threat that has already wiped out a city. They're killed one by one in horrific fashion. The villain of the scenario is [[spoiler:Sara]] as we see just how dangerous [[spoiler:she]] really could be. In full trope mode, they get their asses chewed by Gunny Bardue once the scenario ends.

*** Possibly because Ayla's plans were so detailed...See UnspokenPlanGuarantee.
* One Let's Play with Creator/AchievementHunter had Geoff Ramsay, Jeremy Dooley, Ryan Haywood and Creator/MichaelJones going through the ''Kobayashi Maru'' simulator in ''Star Trek: Bridge Crew''. [[spoiler:They rescue a few survivors, then bolt once their shields go down.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has [[Franchise/XMen Princess Celestia's school]] [[ShoutOut for gifted unicorns]]. The test to get in involves hatching a dragon egg, which WordOfGod said was unwinnable. When Twilight Sparkle took the test, [[spoiler: her magical abilities were exponentially multiplied as a result of Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom, which allowed her to pass the test and, coincidentally, give birth to Spike.]] However the Season Five finale seemingly retcons this idea away since, when she fails to hatch the egg when the past is changed, she ''isn't'' accepted into the school. [[FridgeLogic One must wonder how exactly one does get into this school]].
** If we're playing the Kobayashi Maru example straight, then chances are the true test is a test of character, judging how well a pony can accept failure and realize where their flaws lie. Given how Twilight takes the thought of failure (before the Rainboom boosts her power, she quickly gives up and apologizes for wasting the instructor's time), it's not exactly a surprise she failed in the many alternate timelines.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' has its own spin on the "Kobayashi Maru". In one episode when Rutherford decides to switch from the Engineering department to work as Security, he is put in a combat simulation against several dozen Borg soldiers that is specifically designed to be unbeatable. Despite this Rutherford manages to win by allowing his cybernetic implants to take control of him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy'' episode “Kobayashi”, Dal discovers the program on the ''Protostar'' and decides to take it for a spin, not realizing the purpose of it. He gets a good wake up call.

[[folder:Other]]
* A prank puzzle called "The Inescapable Island". The teller begins with "imagine that you are stranded on a tiny little island", then goes on to describe with detail how the surrounding sea is vast and borderless and filled with hungry sharks and how the island is a bare spot of sand with thousands of poisonous scorpions and this and that. Once the situation is inescapable enough, the teller then asks the victim to find out a way to save themself. The only acceptable solution is along the lines of "stop imagining".
* There's an old joke about a trainee sailor asked how he'd deal with a series of increasingly severe incoming storms; in each case, he answers that he lowers another anchor. When finally asked "Where are you getting all your anchors?" he replies "Same place you're getting all your storms."
* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in the {{Gamebook|s}} TrialOfTheClone, where the silent protagonist may be faced with a Kobayashi Maru {{Expy}}. You may attempt to honestly face the test [[spoiler:which ends the game]], shoot a random person instead [[spoiler:thus setting you back]] or cheat [[spoiler:in the most ridiculously, stupidly obvious way possible.]]
* JustForFun/TheTropelessTale. Ever gotten so fed up with {{cliche}}s that you want to experience a work with no tropes? It's not quite that simple.
[[/folder]]

* In the short-lived series ''Series/{{Heist}}'', a cliffhanger has professional thief Mickey locking himself in a vault to motivate his team members to figure out how to open it quickly before he suffocates. The next episode begins with the team members apparently failing to unlock the vault in time, only for Mickey to yell at them and for the camera to reveal the giant hole they had cut in the vault to get him out.

* ''Creator/FromSoftware'' loves this trope

** ''VideoGame/{{Sekiro}}'s'' tutorial zone also ends with a HopelessBossFight. In this case if you win a slightly different cutscenes plays were Wolf almost beats the boss but then a ninja distracts him leading to the same outcome as if you lost normally.

** In ''Fresh Pair of Eyes'', the students are tasked to drop a training explosive device (basically a loud firework) in close proximity to two tutors. Said tutors are not only in a well-defended position, but they've also set up all manner of booby traps and magical defenses that the students aren't aware of, planning to trip them up. They do -- until four students pool their resources and succeed so well as to [[OhCrap alarm their tutors]].

* The episode [[spoiler:"Failsafe"]] of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' [[spoiler:turned out to be one of these that had GoneHorriblyWrong. The Martian Manhunter put the team in a psychic simulation in which alien invaders killed the entire Justice League, as a test to see how the team would react to catastrophe without the League's guidance. However, upon seeing Artemis "die", M'gann inadvertently took control of the simulation and made the entire team think it was real, not only plunging everyone into extreme trauma, but also nearly trapping everyone who "died" in a coma. No matter what, winning was completely impossible. No matter what they did, the situation would continue to get worse and worse until they failed. Even when Martian Manhunter entered the simulation to regain control and end it, he forgot that it was fake, and only remembered when everyone but M'gann had been "killed". That said, the simulation ended up having to AssPull a second alien mothership to win, so they did pretty well.]]

* The ''VideoGame/StarfleetAdventures'' mod for ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Nova'' (based on ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and the first six movies -- with some things from ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' that would already have been there but weren't mentioned until the later shows) has the Kobayashi Maru as the first thing the player does. It was designed to be unbeatable for the player (six [=D-7s=] versus one ''Constitution''-class), but some players managed to beat it only to find that [[UnwinnableByMistake the dev team hadn't accounted for that]].

** Ender believes this is the case with his final test at Command school. Fed up with everything and hoping to show that he's too savage to actually be given a command, he sacrifices his ships in a kamikaze attack and destroys the enemy homeworld. Then it turns out that [[spoiler:not only were they hoping he'd do that, but [[AndYouThoughtItWasAGame it wasn't a simulation at all]], and he had really won the war -- by being more brutal than he ever could be had he known that real lives were at stake]]. When Ender learns that [[spoiler:he really committed genocide of an entire planet and sent his own soldiers under his command to their deaths, he's very guilty -- and ''pissed'']].

** In Joss Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men" run, Emma Frost simulates a Sentinel invasion as the beginning of student orientation. Without letting the other X-Men know. She wanted to [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped hammer in the point]] that the world at large will always hate and fear the students for being mutants, and they always need to be ready to defend themselves.

** The "Kobayashi Maru" training scenario, first seen in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', is a seminal example, even referenced in other sci-fi works. It's a test of how a cadet responds to a [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose hopeless situation]]. The ''Kobayashi Maru'' in this scenario is a freighter which has struck a {{Space Mine|s}} and drifted into TheNeutralZone between [[ProudWarriorRace Klingon]] and [[TheFederation Federation]] territories. The cadet receives the ship's distress call and is obliged to respond by Starfleet mandate, so ignoring it [[ButThouMust is not an option]] -- and the Klingons will likely kill the crew for "violating Klingon space". Any attempt to intervene, however, will cause a BolivianArmyEnding: multiple Klingon ships show up and [[RealityEnsues blow them to smithereens in under a minute]]. The trick with the simulation is that TheComputerIsACheatingBastard with the RandomNumberGod on its side; it will inflate the opponents' numbers, weaponry, accuracy, and belligerence far beyond what is realistic, possible, or consistent with the current geopolitics. The test, as indicated by the page quote, is a SecretTestOfCharacter. But, during the film, we discover that Kirk ''did'' beat it -- by hacking the simulation in advance and reprogramming it so that he could win. Strictly speaking, this was cheating, but his instructors at least appreciated his lateral thinking and [[{{Determinator}} refusal to give up]]. And Kirk apparently took the test several times before he resorted to his unique solution; he simply refused to accept the concept of a no-win scenario. In a sense, he failed there too, as Kirk is thrown into a ''real'' unwinnable scenario at the film's climax, which could only be solved by his best friend's HeroicSacrifice.

*** It's turned into a NoodleIncident, but Team Kimba used what Ayla learned in "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl" to come up with two ways to win that sim. And apparently, Jade's CrazyAwesome 'Radioactive Condor Girl' idea ''actually worked''. And completely freaked out the people running the sims.

* Early in ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'', the barbarian Thargor gets killed. Then we find out it was a virtual RPG and meet the kid playing Thargor. Still, Thargor's death is pretty traumatic, since in this MMORPG, [[FinalDeath a character's death is permanent]] and the player had spent years grinding that character until he was the most powerful in the whole game.

* Hero exams in ''manga/MyHeroAcademia'' seem to have this as standard practice similar to real life emergency responders. Most notably the UA entrance exam is mainly focused on fighting robots to test combat ability, but also features a massive nearly unbeatable robot that's worth zero points meant to test how prospective students react to a dangerous enemy that doesn't personally benefit them to fight. This ties to the SecretTestOfCharacter built into the exam. Fighting the robot doesn't earn any combat points, but still let's you defend other students earning the secret rescue points.
** Later the provisional hero licence exam's second phase is a disaster simulation that has problems pile up as the test goes on. This is to see how the prospective heros manage working together and keeping a calm reassuring attitude while all hell breaks loose. Examinees aren't just docked points for poor decision making that endangers more people, but also for any demeanor that would make civilians more stressed and panicked such as saying outloud an injury "looks bad" when they should be saying "you'll be alright" or "your safe now".

* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' all the way.
** To clarify, the tutorial takes you through all the basics: movement, attacking, defending, counters, items, etc... Then you face your very first boss, who is capable of killing you in one hit, no matter what armor you have on, and is very likely to do so... On the off chance that you manage to survive the fight and defeat him, you are transported to another area where a massive (we're talking as big as the ''whole freaking room'') dragon delivers a single instant death punch right to your face in a cutscene, resulting in your death.

* The ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' SeasonFinale "Sundown: Part 1" opens with the entire team being destroyed one by one by the Fatal Five. Then the simulation ends, and they prep to start again. Phantom Girl is not amused. "There's only so many times a girl can face her simulated doom in one day!"