History Main / VictorGainsLosersPowers

** During his match against Soma, he takes it [[UpToEleven even further]] and uses Joichiro's knife alongside ''five'' others in order to crush Soma. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' has been an embodiment of this trope in the third and fourth games. Dante [[spoiler:and Vergil)]] can claim the powers of slain boss enemies after the fight. Whereas in ''DMC 3'' it seems to happen almost as an afterthought or said boss [[WorthyOpponent willingly offering their power to the victor]] in Dante's case [[spoiler:(Vergil does it intentionally after killing Beowulf)]], in ''DMC 4'' Nero is shown intentionally 'harvesting' these powers after every boss he defeats, since he could ostensibly leave the shiny orbs on their pedestals (or not, as [[ButThouMust you HAVE to have the things on the pedestals to advance]]).

* Glaistig Uaine in ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' can summon the ghosts of parahumans she's killed or seen die.

* A variant occurs in ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' with the Butcher. Whoever kills the Butcher inherits all the Butcher's accumulated powers, but also has the previous Butchers inside their head, driving them mad until they eventually become the new Butcher. As of the story's beginning, they're up to the sixteenth incarnation.

* Occurs in ''[[VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Pocket Puyo Puyo~n]]''. Unlike the console versions of ''Yo~n'', where Arle can only borrow a Super Attack from one of her "party members" (Draco, Serilly, Witch, Chico), the GBC version lets her obtain any character's power by defeating them.

* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': Several of the Inves Games in the first arc of the series result in the loser giving up a Lockseed to the winner, which may be used for either summoning Inves or by the Riders for form changes. Later in the series, Gaim defeats Sigurd and Marika in separate battles to claim their Cherry and Peach Energy Lockseeds, gaining access to his second and third Jimber Arms forms. Much later, in ''Movie War Full Throttle'', Takatora Kureshima gained replacements for his original (and since destroyed) Sengoku and Genesis Drivers from fallen enemies.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Chew}}'' [[CannibalismSuperpower Cibopaths]] can gain the powers, skills, knowledge, and memories of anyone they eat (partially or completely, with completely working better) or drink the blood of. The extent to which they use this power varies. The Vampire actively hunts down other people with useful skills and powers in order to take advantage of this, while Tony Chu almost never does it. Cibopaths can also gain the powers other Cibopaths acquired through eating people. After [[spoiler: Chu and The Vampire]] fight to the death [[spoiler: The Vampire]] asks [[spoiler: Tony]] to eat him and gain his powers as it is the traditional end to a fight between cibopaths, but [[spoiler: Tony]] refuses and walks away. Later after [[spoiler: Savoy Mason]] kills himself and leaves a note asking [[spoiler: Tony]] to eat him, [[spoiler: Tony]] does it, because it's the only way to gain the knowledge he needs to save the world.
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** In the franchise, this is a power of all Digimon in series where it exists. Starting with ''Tamers'', continuing in ''Frontier'', sitting out of ''Data Squad'', but returning in ''Fusion'', is that when a Digimon dies, the bits of data it breaks down into can be absorbed (you ''don't'' have to be the one who did the killing to do this, though naturally, bad guys absorbing the data of victims is the most commonly seem form of this). Because of the way the universe is set up, it is not seen as particularly heinous, though: different seasons have different rules about whether upon death a Digimon will revert to digi-egg to hatch again, or just stay dead; absorbing data has yet to appear in a "if the data floats away you'll be reborn but if it gets sucked up you're DeaderThanDead" manner. However, while absorbing data makes you quite stronger, it giving you the actual powers of the one you absorbed is rare; Beelzemon used Makuramon and Leomon's attacks where before he couldn't, and Mercurymon used Seraphimon's data to become a warped version of him.

* In ''Fanfic/NewBloodArtemisgirl'' it is possible to absorb an Elemental by defeating them in a battle of wills, however they will take your body for themselves should you loose. A victory will bestow wandless magic of the [[ElementalPowers chosen element]], and absorbing [[BlowYouAway Air Elementals]] grants the power of {{Flight}}.

In ''ComicBook/{{Chew}}'' [[CannibalismSuperpower Cibopaths]] can gain the powers, skills, knowledge, and memories of anyone they eat (partially or completely, with completely working better) or drink the blood of. The extent to which they use this power varies. The Vampire actively hunts down other people with useful skills and powers in order to take advantage of this, while Tony Chu almost never does it. Cibopaths can also gain the powers other Cibopaths acquired through eating people. After [[spoiler: Chu and The Vampire]] fight to the death [[spoiler: The Vampire]] asks [[spoiler: Tony]] to eat him and gain his powers as it is the traditional end to a fight between cibopaths, but [[spoiler: Tony]] refuses and walks away. Later after [[spoiler: Savoy Mason]] kills himself and leaves a note asking [[spoiler: Tony]] to eat him, [[spoiler: Tony]] does it, because it's the only way to gain the knowledge he needs to save the world.

* ''VideoGame/MightyAphid'': Whenever [[PlayerCharacter Avery "Aphid" Cavor]] beats a boss, his father, Dr. Cavor, analyzes the boss' powers, and allows Avery to use their weapon like ithey was his.

** In the franchise, this is a power of all Digimon in series where it exists. Starting with ''Tamers'', continuing in ''Frontier'', sitting out ''Data Squad'', but returning in ''Fusion'', is that when a Digimon dies, the bits of data it breaks down into can be absorbed (you ''don't'' have to be the one who did the killing to do this, though naturally, bad guys absorbing the data of victims is the most commonly seem form of this.) Because of the way the universe is set up, it is not seen as particularly heinous, though: different seasons have different rules about whether upon death a Digimon will revert to digi-egg to hatch again, or just stay dead; absorbing data has yet to appear in a "if the data floats away you'll be reborn but if it gets sucked up you're DeaderThanDead" manner. However, while absorbing data makes you quite stronger, it giving you the actual powers of the one you absorbed is rare; Beelzemon used Makuramon and Leomon's attacks where before he couldn't, and Mercurymon used Seraphimon's data to become a warped version of him.

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

* A variation in ''Film/TheOne'', where it doesn't really matter how someone dies, since their life force is then redistributed among the remaining doubles in TheMultiverse. The BigBad Yulaw is determined to kill all his doubles in order to become [[TitleDrop The One]] and have superhuman strength, speed, and endurance. However, the last remaining double Gabe also has the same level of strength as Yulaw (just no practice using it), as they're both sharing the energy of over a hundred doubles split between just the two of them.

Subtrope of PowerCopying. Compare with YouWillBeAssimilated, where no defeat is needed because the enemy is made part of the character directly, PowerParasite, where the power getting involves the original user not being able to use them anymore, and YouKillItYouBoughtIt. See YourSoulIsMine for one way this kind of thing can come about. See also CannibalismSuperpower. For when one grows stronger by just battling their opponent, see ExperiencePoints. Can overlap with NewSkillAsReward.

** Most bosses drop souls that can be crafted into weapons and/or spells. In some cases, the weapons and spells are copies of those used by the bosses. In other cases, the weapons 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 ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'', several of the Bagra generals can absorb members of their armies to gain their powers. The first general to do so is [=MadLeomon=].
** In the franchise, this is a power of all Digimon in series where it exists. Starting with Tamers, continuing in Frontier, sitting out Data Squad, but returning in Fusion, is that when a Digimon dies, the bits of data it breaks down into can be absorbed (you ''don't'' have to be the one who did the killing to do this, though naturally, bad guys absorbing the data of victims is the most commonly seem form of this.) Because of the way the universe is set up, it is not seen as particularly heinous, though: different seasons have different rules about whether upon death a Digimon will revert to digi-egg to hatch again, or just stay dead; absorbing data has yet to appear in a "if the data floats away you'll be reborn but if it gets sucked up you're DeaderThanDead" manner. However, while absorbing data makes you quite stronger, it giving you the actual powers of the one you absorbed is rare; Beelzemon used Makuramon and Leomon's attacks where before he couldn't, and Mercurymon used Seraphimon's data to become a warped version of him.

* A staple of the VideoGame/{{Kirby}} games, where, after beating a mini-boss, the titular hero can eat and copy their ability. Really, almost every enemy in this series follows this trope.

* The fan-made game called ''VideoGame/MegaMari'' (based on Marisa Kirisame of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'') plays with this notion: the game is a "clone" of ''Mega Man 2'' (with massively jacked up difficulty) which involves Marisa (or her friend Alice) defeating eight bosses, stealing their weapons in the process, before gaining access to Patchouli's castle/library so Marisa can steal some more books from the poor asthmatic sorceress.

* In ''VideoGame/RuneFactory 3'', you can upgrade staves with boss drops, which then allows you to use that boss's special attack. They tend not to be too practical, though, as they use a prohibitively large amount of RP.

* ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' trilogy:

[[folder:Web Comics]]

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 not being able to use them anymore. See YourSoulIsMine for one way this kind of thing can come about. See also CannibalismSuperpower. For when one grows stronger by just battling their opponent, see ExperiencePoints. Can overlap with NewSkillAsReward.

* In ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'', this is how Saiba Asahi's Cross Knives ability works, in conjunction with AllYourPowersCombined. By defeating a chef in a cooking match, he takes their 'knife' (which is mainly just whatever their signature cooking tool is) and [[RuleOfCool psychometically]] assimilates their abilities. As a result, he can combine the skills of various other chefs to enhance their effectiveness and create new techniques.
** During his match against Megumi, Asahi uses Monarch's Knife alongside Kou's Ink Claw (both chefs having been defeated by Megumi previously). [[spoiler:He wins.]]
** During his match against Soma, he takes it [[UpToEleven even further]] and uses Joichiro's knife alongside ''five'' others in order to crush Soma. [[spoiler:It doesn't work.]]