History Main / VictorGainsLosersPowers

* In BravelyDefault: Where the Fairy Flies, after you beat major humanoid bosses you get access to their [[ClassAndLevelSystem job]] after you defeat them. You also may pick one of the skills you were using before to carry over. Interestingly it appears that this is also a case of PowersAsPrograms as the thing that allows you to take the new job is called a job asterisk.

** Most bosses drop souls that can be crafted into weapons, spells, and/or armor. In some cases, the weapons and spells are copies of those used by the bosses. In other cases, the weapons and armor look like they were made out of the bosses' remains. Some of the boss weapons allow players to use the same special attacks the bosses used.

* In ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' and ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'', most bosses drop souls that can be crafted into weapons, spells, and/or armor. In some cases, the weapons and spells are copies of those used by the bosses. In other cases, the weapons and armor look like they were made out of the bosses' remains. Some of the boss weapons allow players to use the same special attacks the bosses used.

* In the final fantasy series, Blue Mages gain the use of any spell that hits them in a battle that they subsequently survive. A sort of shorter-term variation on this trope, as surviving the spell they're absorbing is more a one-round demonstration of superiority than the final defeat of their opponent.

* Applies to ''HighlanderTheSeries''. To quote Joe Dawson in the opening narration "The winner takes his enemy's head, and with it, his power." Although it's not as pronounced as some of the other examples, immortals do sometimes pick up traits or skills after a quickening.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' functions on this principle; the Dragonborn (And presumably other dragons), upon killing a dragon, eat its soul and gain its knowledge of how to use the Thuum.

* In TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade, a vampire can diablerize a more powerful vampire, gaining a portion of its power at the cost of the other vampire's [[YourSoulIsMine soul]]. This is against the rules of vampiric society, however, and can be discerned by changes to the feeder's aura.

* ''{{VideoGame/Skyrim}}'' functions on this principle; the Dragonborn (And presumably other dragons), upon killing a dragon, eat its soul and gain its knowledge of how to use the Thuum.

** [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork EXE]] has his Souls/Cross/etc. It had this as well in the form of chips.

** In [[VideoGame/MegaManZX ZX]] and ZX Advent, Grey and Ashe go the extra mile and completely copy the forms of bosses.
** The [[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Star Force]] series has this in the form of Mega Cards that are gained from defeating bosses and regular enemies.
*** The Card Force in Star Force is largely a simplification of the Battle Network system, such as removing chip codes to make streamlining easier. Many of the same rules apply.

* A staple of the {{Kirby}} games, where, after beating a mini-boss, the titular hero can eat and copy their ability.
* Samus in ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Fusion'' had all her abilities copied by X. After killing X-infected bosses (which tend to be able to produce similar attacks), she can absorb the X-parasite to regain that power.

** In ''Zero Mission'', Samus somehow gets the Charge Beam this way, even though her opponent, Deorem (A.K.A the "Charge Beam Beast"), never used anything like it. ''Metroid Prime'' also has a few examples, such as the Varia Suit from Flaaghra, the Spider Ball from Thardus, and the Phazon Suit from the Omega Pirate. ''Metroid Prime 3'' has Samus gain the Ice Missiles, Plasma Beam, Grapple Voltage, and all the Phazon upgrades this way.

* Emerl from ''SonicBattle'' gets one random skill card from each character in the battle after every battle in which it participates in Story Mode. The cards allow Emerl to use fighting moves from the other characters.

* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts: Covenant'', Yuri can gain stronger fusions. To do that he must defeat monsters in the real world to gain their souls and then sacrifice those to the appropriate elemental gravestone. Then he has to fight an incarnate of the fusion spirit before he can use it. In the case of his more powerful fusions, this amounts to beating a god and stealing its power.
* Quistis Trepe from ''FinalFantasyVIII'' can learn the abilities of some enemies by using an special object they drop after they're defeated.

* ''AceCombat Zero'' has you acquire some planes in this fashion. As in, shoot down a named ace squadron flying a particular type of plane, and it's yours to buy.

* In ''{{Kongai}}'', the Gem of Souls enables its possessor to absorb the innate ability of any opponent the character kills.

** In VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance after defeating certain bosses you'll gain their weapon.

* This is the entire premise of ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. When a human [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu kills a heretic god]] it triggers a ritual enacted by [[BigGood Pandora and Epimetheus]], granting the victor a portion of the god's Authorities and they become a Campione.

* This is the entire premise of ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}''. If a normal human being [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu kills a heretic god]], then he or she will gain the powers of said god.

* /tg/'s Joker Quest is based entirely around this: A victorious Player absorbs the powers of his defeated opponent.

* In TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade, a vampire can diablerize a more powerful vampire, gaining a portion of its power. This is against the rules, however, and can be discerned by changes to the feeder's aura.

Subtrope of PowerCopying. Compare with YouWillBeAssimilated, where no defeat is needed because the enemy is made part of the character directly, and PowerParasite, where the power getting involves the original user can't use them anymore. See YourSoulIsMine for one way this kind of thing can come about.

* In VampireTheMasquerade, a vampire can diablerize a more powerful vampire, gaining a portion of its power. This is against the rules, however, and can be discerned by changes to the feeder's aura.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAge Origins'' has a portion of the Broken Circle quest that plays like a massive homage to Mega Man. The hero must defeat (or aid) 5 individuals to gain their powers, then use said powers to track down and defeat a sub-boss for each of the 5 areas. The end-boss of the sequence completes the Mega Man homage with a BossRush consisting of all the previous sub-bosses before you can fight his "true form".

In VampireTheMasquerade, a vampire can diablerize a more powerful vampire, gaining a portion of its power. This is against the rules, however, and can be discerned by changes to the feeder's aura.

* Every single ''Franchise/MegaMan'' except [[MegaManLegends Trigger]] follows this trope to certain extents, some in unique ways. The series was also the former TropeNamer for PowerCopying.