History Main / YouCantThwartStageOne

Compare YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle, SnowballingThreat, and UnspokenPlanGuarantee (the unspoken plan is stage ''two''). Contrasts PyrrhicVictory and BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu. Might be a cause of [[Railroading]].

Compare YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle, SnowballingThreat, and UnspokenPlanGuarantee (the unspoken plan is stage ''two''). Contrasts PyrrhicVictory and BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu. Might be a cause of Railroading.

Compare YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle, SnowballingThreat, and UnspokenPlanGuarantee (the unspoken plan is stage ''two''). Contrasts PyrrhicVictory and BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu.

* In the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' "Tales of the Sword Coast" expansion, you encounter a cult trying to release a [[SealedEvilInACan demon trapped in a dagger]]. With a powerful ranged attack and quick reflexes, it's actually possible to kill the cultist who steals the dagger from you, and recover it, but it makes no difference; the game proceeds as if you hadn't.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', no matter what you do, you can't avoid [[spoiler:having Irenicus steal your soul and having Bodhi steal Imoen]]'s. Even when the first confrontation seems to turn into your favor, he will manage to get away to continue his plans and [[spoiler:invade Suldanesselar with a horde of dark elves while he imprisons queen Ellesime and starts to steal the power from the tree of life]]. Also, closer to the beginning of the game, there is nothing you can do to [[spoiler:prevent Imoen from being taken away to Spellhold. She will always cast that one spell that makes the Cowled Wizards take her away, even if she has no spells left and/or is wearing armor that prevents her from casting magic.]]

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'': No matter what you do, you can't stop Mordegon from stealing the heart of Yggdrasil and plunging the world into an age of darkness. [[spoiler:Except after defeating him, by going back in time with a weapon capable of letting you win the HopelessBossFight that capped off Act 1, resulting in a completely different sequence of events leading to the true ending.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', ''three'' seperate Stage Ones manage to complete before the heroes can stop it. [[spoiler:You can't stop the traitor from betraying you, thus getting the protagonist arrested and nearly killed (although in this case, the Phantom Thieves [[BatmanGambit allowed the betrayal to go through in order to discover the identity of who the traitor was working for]]). You can't stop Masayoshi Shido from being elected Prime Minister of Japan. Lastly, you can't stop Yaldabaoth from merging the two realities and wiping you out of existence.]]

** In ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'', a robot boss called Morph Moth goes through two distinct fighting phases, [[TurnsRed changing between them]] when its health is less than halved. Just before you fight him again in the fortress, you can gain a skill that kills any boss in one hit. Against Morph Moth, however, you have to do it twice -- once to beat his first phase (2/3 health), and again to beat his second phase.

** ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'' only poured more salt on the wound with the reveal that it might have been possible to thwart Stage 1 after all: [[spoiler:Wily's StartOfDarkness came about when Light convinced the board of scientists overseeing their research to shut down Wily's work on the Double Gear System due to Light's concerns about the risk it posed to robots equipped with it. Light realizes his role as the UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom years later and once more extends the olive branch to his one-time friend, [[RedemptionRejection but Wily refuses and vows to continue his war]].]]

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': Sovereign manages to dock with the citadel before it is destroyed.

** Even if you install all the ship upgrades as soon as possible, you can't use them against the Collector Ship until the FinalBattle. Specifically, Shephard can install the highly destructive Thanix Cannon (which [[OneHitKill one-shots]] it in the FinalBattle) before running into the collectors' ship two more times, without using it. The first time, Shepard is actually on board the Collector Ship as the Illusive Man has sent them there to gather intel, despite knowing that it's a trap. The second time, a virus embedded in the Reaper IFF disables the ship weaponry, and Shepard decided to take the shuttle, preventing them from being able to do anything about it.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', it's impossible to prevent the Reaper invasion of Earth, causing Shepard to make an emergency escape as they watch civilians, and a child die before their very eyes. It's also impossible to prevent, or prepare for Cerberus turning against you, regardless of your relationship with the Illusive Man at the end of the previous game.

** The only time the party manages to prevent the theft of a Divine Moon Object is just before Shana is kidnapped and they're forced to turn over all three for her return.

Compare YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle and UnspokenPlanGuarantee (the unspoken plan is stage ''two''). Contrasts PyrrhicVictory and BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu.

* ''[[WebVideo/BlackrockChronicles The Tekkit Rebirth]]'': Think Zoey and Rythedin are going [[spoiler:to disarm that nuke under blackrock? ...Nope, it explodes, taking Zoey with it at the end in a massive Tear Jerker moment.]] This is particularly bad due to the fact that via the game mechanics, there where a ton of ways they could have stopped it; Rythedin even suggests some of these multiple times. Ideas included building a reinforced wall around it -- instant problem solver, which is shut down by Zoey saying it's just hiding the problem, not removing it. Using a jammer looks hopeful but fails when it ends up electrocuting everyone, and changing the frequency with a remote was not actually brought up but would have been an instant problem solver.

* ''WebVideo/YogscastMinecraftSeries'': The Tekkit Rebirth. Think Zoey and Rythedin are going [[spoiler:to disarm that nuke under blackrock? ...Nope, it explodes, taking Zoey with it at the end in a massive Tear Jerker moment.]] This is particularly bad due to the fact that via the game mechanics, there where a ton of ways they could have stopped it; Rythedin even suggests some of these multiple times. Ideas included building a reinforced wall around it -- instant problem solver, which is shut down by Zoey saying it's just hiding the problem, not removing it. Using a jammer looks hopeful but fails when it ends up electrocuting everyone, and changing the frequency with a remote was not actually brought up but would have been an instant problem solver.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs''. The Villain's plans are, in fact, thwarted at something close to Stage One. Stage One is "Blow up a major landmark"... and it fails.

* ''VideoGame/Persona4'': you can't stop any of the victims from being thrown into the TV, you can't stop them from denying their [[BeneathTheMask Shadow self]], [[spoiler:and you can't stop the TV world's fog from leaking into Inaba, which is Stage One of this game's [[ApocalypseHow apocalypse]].]]

** In the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII second game]], TheEmpire finishes its Warship/Dreadnought just before you reach it, necessitating a more involved plan to destroy it. And of course, you can't stop the Cyclone from [[spoiler:destroying most of the cities in the game. Mysidia survives, and Salmando and Bofsk, and you just manage to save Phin; Altea, Paloom, Porft, and Gatea go bye-bye. The Emperor destroys Palamecia Castle himself, and Dist and Kashuon are both abandoned and/or in ruins anyway.]]

** You cannot [[spoiler:prevent Lord Godwin from taking over the castle with Nether Gate, the King and Queen being assassinated, or Lymsleia being kidnapped and eventually forced into [[PuppetKing puppet-queendom]], no matter what you do.]]

** Every robot created before X and Zero is ThreeLawsCompliant. In other words, VideoGame/{{Mega Man|Classic}} can only hope to lock up Dr. Wily for a few months ''at best''. The one time he actually ''did'' try to kill Wily (''[[VideoGame/MegaMan7 7]]'', and only [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore in the English version]]) ends with Mega Man's A.I. going into a Three Laws loop, which allows Wily to escape. Years down the road, Wily finishes his greatest creation: Zero. When Zero is released in 21XX, he goes on a rampage. Sigma manages to put him down, but [[TheCorruption has his data compromised by the Zero Virus]], slowly driving him mad until he finally [[FaceHeelTurn snaps and declares war on humanity]], [[TheChessmaster manipulating various parties in the process]], spreading the Sigma Virus over Earth, and (worst of all) [[ColonyDrop dropping the Eurasia onto the planet]], [[ApocalypseHow turning it into a hellhole]]. Sometime after Sigma ''finally'' goes down circa ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX8 X8]]'', Zero's anti-viral programming is examined, producing the Mother Elf as a way to eradicate the lingering effects of the Sigma Virus. Then [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Dr. Weil]] enters the picture. For no reasons other than [[FantasticRacism his belief that humans are superior to Reploids]] (and an implied desire to punish Reploids for the damages incurred during the various Maverick uprisings), he [[spoiler:steals Zero's mindless body (reprogramming this blank slate into a psychopathic killing machine known as Omega)]] and corrupts the Mother Elf (turning her into the Dark Elf), starting the Elf Wars. Final count? 60% of all humans and 90% of all Reploids '''''have been wiped out'''''. In the span of a mere '''four''' years! [[spoiler:[[SealedEvilInACan In order to seal away the Dark Elf]], X gives up his body, forcing the creation of an unstable KnightTemplar copycat of himself to rule Neo Arcadia in X's place, which doesn't bode well for anyone.]] By the end of ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero4 Zero 4]]'', [[spoiler:Weil has been defeated for good and the world is saved from yet another ColonyDrop, but at the cost of [[AntiAntiChrist Zero's]] [[HeroicSacrifice life]]]]. In the following centuries, humans augment their bodies with cybernetics and Reploids are given lifespans akin to humans, merging into a single race (Humanoids)--showing that the peace established 200 years earlier is built to last while finally bringing Dr. Light's dream of harmony between humans and robots to fruition. Then [[ArtifactOfDoom Model W]] (heavily implied to be [[spoiler:Weil's soul merged with fragments of [[KillSat Ragnarok]] from the finale of ''Zero 4'']]) rears its ugly head in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZX ZX]]'', mucking up things yet again. [[LeftHanging This threat is presumably dealt with]], but the world somehow is [[TheGreatFlood sacked by a great flood]] and [[spoiler:humans all but disappear and are replaced by a race of {{Artificial Human}}s known as Carbons]] in the next 4400 or so years (the time of ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends''). And there are ''still'' problems in the world. And all of this can be indirectly traced back to one heroic robot being unable to kill one MadScientist. It is a vicious domino effect like no other.

* Played ''really'' straight in the [=GameCube=] ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRemake remake]]. When playing as Chris, you come across Wesker fighting Lisa Trevor. He'll say "Chris! Take a piece of the action!" when he sees you, and you fight her off together. However, Wesker can get knocked into the abyss by Lisa's attacks. If he does so, he'll ''still'' appear unscathed during the final battle, with no explanation. This ''started'' as a subversion, though. Originally, this actually would have killed Wesker, with the player receiving an entirely different ending. For whatever reason, the developers decided against it, and ''forgot to remove the line of code that allowed Wesker to be knocked off the edge''.

** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', you can't stop Master Xehanort from successfully forging the χ-blade and putting his plan into unlocking Kingdom Hearts into motion. He is also doing this on a franchise wide level, having several times previously tried this plan, as seen in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', but escaping to fight another battle each time these attempts ''were'' thwarted. Only when he finally succeeds in forging the blade can he be defeated at long last. The only reason he doesn't get far is because [[spoiler: Sora's friends transport him to Scala ad Caelum using his power over time and space against him, allowing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to confront Xehanort and put an end to his ambitions once for all.]] And TheStinger reveals that [[spoiler: the entire trilogy was Stage 1 for Luxu, a.k.a ''Xigbar'', though what his end goal is is still unknown.]]

** ''Continuum Shift'', however, is quite a bit more complicated. [[spoiler:Takamagahara set a new backup point after the time loop broke to more directly control affairs and carry out its plans, and alienated Rachel Alucard in the process due to her actions in preventing Kagutsuchi's destruction after Noel saved [[PersonOfMassDestruction Ragna the Bloodedge]] from his fate. Its new plan involved using Terumi to smelt Noel into her original identity (Mu-12), use her to track down Amaterasu, and destroy it. While this plan goes off without a hitch, they were ready to reset should Ragna kill Mu... only he chose to restore her as Noel instead. [[OutGambitted Terumi planned for this, however, using Phantom's magic to peruse every possibility of the continuum shift]], [[EvilIsNotAToy and had Relius kill him before Ragna and Mu's fateful battle so he can infiltrate Takamagahara during this brief period and use a virus program to lobotomize them]] (for what it's worth, Ragna was supposed to kill Terumi, but the lifelink Terumi established with Mu would complicate affairs for him, and he left the bastard to bleed instead - that's where Relius came in).]] So as much as the protagonists' brain trust of Rachel, Jubei and Kokonoe wanted to break the plan whenever possible, Terumi got what he wanted in the end. However, he had to pay a price of his own this time - Ragna had to be issued Lambda's Idea Engine, which locks out Terumi's direct control over the Azure Grimoire Ragna wields, Noel survived and is now fully aware that Terumi was playing her (and as much as Terumi acts like he doesn't need her anymore, he really does, and plans on manipulating her in the future), and Jin Kisaragi awakened to the power of order that Terumi fears so much due to the combined efforts of [[spoiler:Makoto]], Jubei, Rachel, Hakumen and Ragna, and defected from Terumi's control as well. While Terumi got a new figurehead hero in Tsubaki Yayoi, that same power of order could sever the {{brainwash|ed}}ing that compels her to serve the now-corrupt Librarium. On top of that, [[spoiler:the aforementioned Makoto possesses knowledge that would cement Tsubaki's correction in alignment [[HeelFaceTurn towards good]] once said brainwashing elapses, and has sight of other plot threads vital to Terumi's post-Kagutsuchi operations, as well as one tied to her wrist that is linked to Relius' own designs.]] And that's not the entire bill. Suffice it to say, without a script to work off of, Terumi's going to have his hands full dealing with so many rogue elements at once. Depending on how well the protagonists cohere in Ikaruga, Terumi's plans stand on a razor's edge, with one unplanned rogue element too many away from tipping towards failure - and this time, the damage won't be so small.

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', Wesker's plan was to make a lot of virus, load that virus on to rockets, and fire them out of a plane at high altitude, infecting the entire world. He was "less than five minutes" away from "the optimum altitude for missile deployment." Fortunately, [[MemeticMutation complete global saturation]] was averted by crashing the plane into a volcano.

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has [[WasOnceAMan William Birkin]] seeking out his daughter, Sherry, to put a G-Embryo into, as it needs a genetic relative in order to make that embryo grow into a viable G-virus mutant. Claire Redfield and Leon do their damnedest to keep her safe, but eventually she gets sucked down through a sewer duct and is knocked unconscious in the landing, with William arriving soon after to infect her. The heroes then spend the rest of the game engineering a cure, which they give to her in the nick of time.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/AkibasTrip''. Three of the routes have you fail spectacularly at it, with it not even being much of a concern until it's already happened. The other route not only has you stop it before phase 1 is started, but also goes into a lot of depth in regards to the story the others don't.

* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxTheDevilsPlayhouse'', where Sam & Max do successfully foil [[spoiler: Charlie Ho-Tep's]] plan to summon the EldritchAbomination [[FluffyTheTerrible Junior]] and bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, thus thwarting stage one - but Max accidentally swallows some of the residue left behind and becomes a giant monster, leading into the SeriesFinale.

* The ''Franchise/{{Sonic}}'' series thrives on this. In many games, Sonic tries to stop some evil from being released or brought to full power (or in one case, the Chaos Emeralds from being collected, which unbeknownst to him and Eggman, releases an evil anyway). Said plot goes underway anyway despite his best efforts, and the final boss is him going Super Sonic to face the unleashed evil and bring peace to the world again.

* ''VideoGame/NewLegends'' opens with the raid of the Soo Kingdom, and regardless of your performance, you ''will'' be captured by enemy lieutenants, witness the death of your father the Emperor, and be MadeASlave and thrown into the enemy labor camp. The following stage is a prison escape where you meet the LaResistance, leading to the game's main plot.

* The first stage of ''VideoGame/NinjaCommando'' automatically ends with the BigBad, Spider, escaping via TimeMachine to [[SetWrongWhatWasOnceMadeRight rewrite history and prevent his present-day defeat]], and there's no getting around it. You then hijack another prototype time machine to pursue Spider, leading to the game's main plot.

* ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'':
** Used by the GenreSavvy [[CreepyChild Tyrant]] of [[AncientGrome Helike]] as his main strategy (as far as we know...).
--->'''[[TheBard Aoede]]:''' So your grand plan, it's not really a plan, it's a juggler's philosophy.\\
'''Kairos:''' I've no idea what you could possibly mean.\\
'''Aoede:''' First step always works, so always have a first step going
** It's implied that this strategy was also used by Dread Emperor Irritant, "the Oddly Successful."

** It's most egregious in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', as you spend large amounts of the game searching for Chaos Emeralds at a snail's pace, and Eggman (or rather, Chaos) succeeds at getting every single one. [[spoiler: The last Chaos Emerald, hidden in Tails' Tornado and being used as a power source, lands in the Hidden Ruins at the end of the game. There is no way to take the Emerald out of the plane and by the time Sonic finally gets to it, because Chaos has already found it and stolen it.]]
** No matter how quickly you get to the rocket launch station in Metal Harbor in Sonic Adventure 2, it will always be 15 seconds from takeoff.

* Deliciously reconstructed in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "Show 'Em All" -- the Junkman pulls off a major heist without a hitch, and lives a life of luxury while everyone wonders who was the brilliant criminal who committed the robbery. However, he is soon frustrated at not getting recognition for the heist, especially since the public assumes that the heroes must have caught the mastermind somehow at another time. This eventually drives him to repeat the robbery again, but with deliberately-included minor flaws, so he can get captured. He is then thrilled to be recognized for the initial robbery and savors the high-profile trial detailing his heist in extraordinary detail, at which point [[CrazyPrepared he plans to escape the consequences anyway]].

* The entirety of ''ComicBook/TheAvengersJonathanHickman'' is an example. The Illuminati try everything at hand to stop the Incursions, but everything fails. Of course, if they saved the day there would have been no ''ComicBook/{{Secret Wars|2015}}''.

* Humorously deconstructed in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' "Show 'Em All" -- Humorously deconstructed in "Show 'Em All" -- the Junkman pulls off a major heist without a hitch, and lives a life of luxury while everyone wonders who was the brilliant criminal who committed the robbery. However, he is soon frustrated at not getting recognition for the heist, especially since the public assumes that the heroes must have caught the mastermind somehow at another time. This eventually drives him to repeat the robbery again, but with deliberately-included minor flaws, so he can get captured. He is then thrilled to be recognized for the initial robbery and savors the high-profile trial detailing his heist in extraordinary detail, at which point [[CrazyPrepared he plans to escape the consequences anyway]].

* Humorously deconstructed in the ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' "Show 'Em All" -- the Junkman pulls off a major heist without a hitch, and lives a life of luxury while everyone wonders who was the brilliant criminal who committed the robbery. However, he is soon frustrated at not getting recognition for the coup and the public's assumption that the heroes caught the criminal somehow. This drives him to repeat the plan again -- albeit with deliberately-induced minor flaws -- until he becomes famous for the initial robbery. He is eventually arrested and sits through a high-profile trial, at which point [[CrazyPrepared he escapes the consequences anyway]].

** In ''Film/ANewHope'', the Death Star is in firing range of the rebel base before it is destroyed. ''Film/RogueOne'' also reveals that the Rebels weren't even aware of its existence until a few days prior, despite it being the size of a small planetoid and having been under construction for ''decades'' prior.
** In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', they destroy the second Death Star while it's under construction, but it still counts because the Death Star is already operational, halfway through wiping out the Rebel fleet, and luring the Rebels there ''was'' the Emperor's plan all along.
** As the middle film of the original trilogy, the whole of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' is this trope, as the Rebels get chased off Hoth, Han and Leia spend the entire film on the run (before they get captured anyway and Han gets carbon-frozen), and Luke screws up his Jedi training, loses his hand, and gets severely emotionally traumatized. Creator/GeorgeLucas has stated that this was to give the trilogy the plot of a three-act play, in which the worst part always comes in Act II.

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': The Moonshade Order has one goal: Snuff out the four Sacred Flames across the land of Orsterra and release Vide, the god of shadows, and end all human suffering by wiping everyone out. While one agent is looking for the locations of the unknown Flames, the rest of the Order is gathering the Darkblood weapons needed as part of the sacrifical rituals to put out the Flames. As the Order interacts with the Travelers, they either use or are hindered by the Travelers as the heroes have their own goals and only one of them knowingly deals with agents of the Order. After the completion of specific Traveler's stories, the Order succeeds and will have put out one of the Flames. Once all four are out, the Travelers have a shared dream of the darkness that is to come. While they work to reignite the Flames, Vide's prison has returned to the world and one final member reaches it intime to sacririce himself to free Vide, requiring the Travelers to beat back Vide.

** Played straight in ''Film/ANewHope'', where the Death Star was in firing range of the rebel base before it was destroyed. ''Film/RogueOne'' also reveals that the Rebels weren't even aware of its existence until a few days prior, despite it being the size of a small planetoid and having been under construction for ''decades'' prior.

* ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': Up until Volume 9, Arthur fails to stop Agrona from achieving any of his goals in the leadup to his war on Epheotus, not just because of him getting outplanned by Agrona but also due to Agrona and his servants [[NiceJobBreakingItHero exploiting some of Arthur's past actions]] without him knowing. When Agrona's agents instigate an attack on Xyrus Academy, Arthur is able to put an end to the attack but at great cost. He fails to save his friend Elijah, who is taken back to Alacrya to restore his original personality - Nico, the EvilFormerFriend of Arthur's past life King Grey. In spite of being one of the strongest mages on Dicathen, he is ultimately unable to prevent the Alacryans from conquering his homeland. At the end of the war, his bond Sylvie is forced to perform a HeroicSacrifice to save him, which in turn causes him to end up in the Relictombs. With Arthur out of the picture, the Alacryans are able to capture his LoveInterest Tessia and [[ReforgedIntoAMinion turn her into]] [[GrandTheftMe the vessel]] for a third reincarnate, the Legacy, who as it turns out is Grey and Nico's shared ChildhoodFriendLoveInterest Cecilia and Agrona's trump card for when he goes to war against Epheotus. It is not until Arthur CameBackStrong during his time in both the Relictombs and Alacrya that he was finally able to reverse part of Agrona's plan, including returning to Dicathen and undoing the Alacryan conquest in a matter of days. Ultimately, it turns out this trope is PlayedWith in that [[spoiler:Arthur and Tessia were ''not'' the originally intended vessels for their respective reincarnates. As it turns out, when Sylvie sacrificed herself, she was displaced across time and space to bear witness to Grey's life. When Agrona took Grey's soul for use in his plans, Sylvie was able to snatch the soul before it could be brought to the intended vessel and brought it to the unborn Arthur. This significantly altered his original plans, as Agrona was forced to look outside of Alacrya for a vessel for the Legacy]].

* ''VideoGame/GetInTheCarLoser'':
** Subverted in the main story, where the party successfully seals away the Machine Devil before he can begin scorching the Earth again, [[spoiler:despite the cultists and the Divine Order unsealing the Machine Devil early in response]].
** Played straight in the "Fate of Another World" DLC, which takes place in an alternate timeline where the Machine Devil was defeated after he already caused enough death and destruction to cause total societal collapse.