History TheBadGuyWins / AnimeAndManga

** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' adds another one: Zamasu and Goku Black, fused into Merged Zamasu, are technically defeated in the classic usage of the word, but then he becomes law itself and [[KillEmAll kills everyone]] in the BadFuture timeline save Future Trunks and Mai, Goku, Vegeta, Bulma, and the Supreme Kais. Even though [[DeusExMachina Goku calls upon Future Zen'O who obliterates Zamasu (albeit at the cost of the entire timeline itself)]], Zamasu got what he wanted: the extinction of all mortals. It's only thanks to Whis' LoopholeAbuse that Zamasu's genocide only extended to one timeline.

* ''Manga/{{Doubt}}''. Even after the survivors have escaped, The Wolf/Rei Hazama finds a way to get rid of them without lifting a finger. Specifically, she uses her mind control on [[TheDragon Mitsuki]] and has her kill Yuu, then presumably leaves them to

** Near shares this trope to an extent, for Sabotaging Light & stealing the Death Note.

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', while Zeke and Eren are in the dimension of the Paths, they learn that the Attack Titan can see the past ''and future'' actions of its holders. This leads to Zeke hearing from his father's memory that [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Eren]] needs to be stopped because his dream will come true, as Eren used his presence in the paths to manipulate and ''force his father'' into killing most of the Reiss family, so that he will gain the Founding Titan's power and eventually give it to a younger Eren, creating a StableTimeLoop. Eren's plan succeeds, having gained the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan, as he wanted, and manages to obtain the ''true'' power of the Founding Titan, leading to him starting the Rumbling. In the end, [[spoiler:although the other Titan Shifters defeat Eren, it is only because Eren allowed them to do so. Even then they couldn't prevent Eren from massacring 80% global population of the human race. By letting himself get killed, Eren successfully erases the Power of the Titans.]]

* The anime version of ''Manga/ChronoCrusade''. The protagonists (Azmaria) [[KillEmAll all die]] and [[CardCarryingVillain the villain survives and partially realizes his]] EvilPlan.

* A stock episode plot in Card Game anime is for TheHero to start figuring himself an InvincibleHero with all the winning he's been doing on account of his PlotArmor, and for the ArcVillain to completely dunk him into the core of the Earth. Bonus points if The Hero put a lot on the line because he was too arrogant to think he could possibly lose. Additional bonus points if the arc villain used a new mechanic neither The Hero nor the audience has ever seen before.

* A stock episode plot in Card Game anime is for TheHero to start figuring himself an InvincibleHero with all the winning he's been doing on account of his PlotArmor, and for the ArcVillain to completely dunk him into the core of the Earth. Bonus points if The Hero put a lot on the line because he was too arrogant to think he could possibly lose. Additional bonus points if the ArcVillain used a new mechanic neither The Hero nor the audience has ever seen before.

* A stock episode plot in Card Game anime is for TheHero to start figuring himself an InvincibleHero with all the winning he's been doing on account of his PlotArmor, and for the ArcVillain to completely dunk him into the core of the Earth. Bonus points if The Hero put a lot on the line because he was too arrogant to think he could possibly lose.

** Despite Obito/Tobi not possessing Naruto and Bee, he and Madara ''[[ForWantOfANail still]]'' resurrect the [[EldritchAbomination Ten-Tails]], thus technically, Obito had won the Fourth Shinobi World War despite the protagonist's best efforts.
** And despite the heroes being powered up by the Sage himself, Madara, upon resurrection, still becomes the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and finally retrieves his left Rinnegan, and promply casts Mugen Tsukuyomi. The entire world except for Team 7 is trapped in it.

* ''Series/MobileSuitZetaGundam'': Nearly everyone loses at the end of the series except for one -- Haman Karn, leader of [[TheRemnant Axis/Neo-Zeon]]. With the [[TheFederation Earth Federation]] crippled, the [[StateSec Titans]] wiped out and the [[LaResistance AEUG]] weakened, she's emerged as the strongest player in the Earth Sphere, and is now poised to begin her own invasion of the planet.

* ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' loves this one. For example:
** In the Century Soup arc, Toriko loses his battle against Tommyrod, along with his hand, while another villain sneaks past him, knocks out Komatsu and steals the soup. Teppei swoops in and defeats the heavily-injured villain... and then a bigger and stronger villain comes in. At this point, only the conveniently-timed arrival of Setsuno prevents him from finishing off the heroes, but the source of soup is destroyed, and the only chance to reproduce it lies on Komatsu, who manage to taste the last droplet. This makes things a little better, but doesn't change the fact that the villains manage to win and get exactly what they wanted.
** The Cooking Festival arc practically ends in this - by the end only one out of Four Kings is able to fight, the main character is on the brink of death, many chefs (including Komatsu) are kidnapped by the Gourmet Corp, all of the 0th biotope members are simultaneously intercepted and destroyed (some of them get better), President Ichiryu is defeated by Midora and finished off by a Blue Nitro, and, on top of all that, the BigBad bombards the world with Meteor Spice, killing and injuring billions and causing a world wide famine. The only thing that makes the bad guys' victory incomplete is the reveal of the [[GreaterScopeVillain NEO organization]], who manipulated them from the start.
** The NEO organization ends up on top in the Cooking Festival - they left both the IGO and the Gourmet Corp in shambles, finished their spaceship and found a substitute for Komatsu, the one target that they don't get in the end. Basically everybody, except the good guys stood strong the Cooking Festival arc.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'', Rustal Elion, the main antagonist of season two, ends Tekkadan as an organization, wipes out [=McGillis=]' Revolutionary Fleet and succeeds in reforming Gjallarhorn into a democratic organization and further enhancing his personal reputation. Although Gjallarhorn is heavily reformed by the end of the series, there is little doubt that throughout the series they are the villains, and were fighting to remain the authority in the world. Tekkadan was simply trying to find a place to belong in the world, which put them in direct opposition to Gjallarhorn by necessity rather than any actual enmity at first. It's made clear that there are still elements of resentment on both sides by the series' end though, particularly in light of the look of anger and distrust that Eugene sends Julietta's way. This makes sense when you remember Julietta, a devoted, borderline fanatical follower of Rustal Elion, is the one who murdered Mikazuki on the battlefield. Julietta doesn't miss it, or its implications, either.

* The Alma Karma arc in ''Manga/{{DGrayman}}''. Everything went exactly as the Earl planned. Allen was stabbed by Kanda's innocence which caused the fourteenth to awaken. The death of Alma Karma ruins the third exorcist program. The third exorcists were either killed by their former allies or taken by the earl to be used as {{mooks}}.

** The Cell Arc of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' - no, really. Even though Dr. Gero can only watch his triumph from Hell, he is the only villain in the entire Dragon Ball franchise to have got exactly what he wanted: the death of Son Goku at the hands of his creations.

* An episode in the Hoenn arc of the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' had this with a Team Magma agent named Brodie, who is notorious for his many disguises. He disguises himself as a researcher at the Weather Institute named Millie (think Millibar) to steal data on Groudon, and succeeds. And his Ditto is formidable.

** While they still failed to steal Pikachu, early on in ''Sun & Moon'' Team Rocket actually managed to [[TeamRocketWins defeat Ash in a Double Battle]] with their Mimikyu and Mareanie. The only thing that stopped them from making off with his barely-conscious Pikachu while he had no usable Pokémon was the [[DeusExMachina Bewear they befriended dragging them back to its cave]].

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', while Zeke and Eren are in the dimension of the Paths, they learn that the Attack Titan can see the past ''and future'' actions of its holders. This leads to Zeke hearing from his father's memory that [[ProtagonistJourneyToVillain Eren]] needs to be stopped because his dream will come true, as Eren used his presence in the paths to manipulate and ''force his father'' into killing most of the Reiss family, so that he will gain the Founding Titan's power and eventually give it to a younger Eren, creating a StableTimeLoop. Eren's plan succeeds, having gained the Attack Titan and the Founding Titan, as he wanted, and manages to obtain the ''true'' power of the Founding Titan, leading to him starting the Rumbling.

* Episode 43 of ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' ends with the girls sacrificing their G-clefs to save Aphrodite, which causes the villains to complete the Melody of Sorrow. Of course, this is a Pretty Cure season, so the girls ultimate come out on top and defeat Noise.

%% * ''Anime/SailorMoon''. If only the Sailor Guardians had arrived just a little bit earlier at the end of Episode 24...

* Episode 43 of ''Anime/SuitePrettyCure'' ends with the girls sacrificing their G-clefs to save Aphrodite, which causes the villains to complete the Melody of Sorrow.

* In the second season's finale of ''Anime/TheMysteriousCitiesOfGold'', Ambrosius is holding Athanaos hostage and forces the gang to find the third City of Gold in exchange for his safety.

* Emperor Dornkirk/[[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Isaac Newton]] gets everything he sets out to get in ''Manga/TheVisionOfEscaflowne''. It takes him awhile but he does eventually activate the Atlantean machine that creates the Zone of Absolute Fortune where everyone's wishes are granted. It turns out badly and threatens to destroy Gaea just as it did Atlantis forcing Van to destroy it, but [[{{Foreshadowing}} who didn't see that coming]].

* ''Anime/SailorMoon''. If only the Sailor Guardians had arrived just a little bit earlier at the end of Episode 24...

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': Technically speaking, Treize Khrushenada got everything he wanted: the destruction of several organizations, control of Earth's entire forces, and [[spoiler: to die in combat.]] But then again, he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who ''wanted'' to have a war so destructive that humanity will be more receptive to eternal peace afterward.* Part I of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' ends with Naruto failing to bring back Sasuke, [[FaceHeelTurn with the latter joining]] BigBad Orochimaru to be strong enough to kill Itachi in his mission for revenge.

* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', every [[GroundhogDayLoop possible world]] [[HappyEnding except one]] ends in a victory for the [[MilkmanConspiracy leader of the conspiracy]], Miyo Takano: Tomitake is killed, Rika is dissected, Hinamizawa is sterilized, the leader escapes, and no one ever discovers the truth about what happened. The only exceptions (besides the HappyEnding) are the Watanagashi and Meakashi chapters, but even those are an incredible DownerEnding. Hinamizawa is unsterilized, but only because Rika was killed by Shion; the infamy of Shion's murder-spree shrouds Hinamizawa and the few characters that did survive either move away or are missing in action.

* ''Anime/DaiMahouTouge''. The main character, Punie Tanaka, is a VillainProtagonist who is sent to Earth from an alternate dimension as a test to check if she is adequate to be the heir to her parents' despotic and dystopian kingdom. During the course of the series, rebels and jealous sisters try to eliminate her. They all fail horribly, and Punie passes the test with flying colors.

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': Technically speaking, Treize Khrushenada got everything he wanted: the destruction of several organizations, control of Earth's entire forces, and [[spoiler: to die in combat.]] But then again, he's a WellIntentionedExtremist who ''wanted'' to have a war so destructive that humanity will be more receptive to eternal peace afterward.
* Part I of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' ends with Naruto failing to bring back Sasuke, [[FaceHeelTurn with the latter joining]] BigBad Orochimaru to be strong enough to kill Itachi in his mission for revenge.

** Millenium as a whole, really. The number of survivors in London total 2, Integra, and Heinkel. All they wanted was to die in glorious battle, and that's exactly what they got.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]: Alucard comes back.

** The Cooking Festival arc practically ends in this - by the end only one out of Four Kings is able to fight, the main character is on the brink of death, many chefs (including Komatsu) are kidnapped by the Gourmet Corp, all of the 0th biotope members are simultaneously intercepted and destroyed (some of them get better), President Ichiryu is defeated by Midora and finished off by a Blue Nitro, and, on top of all that, the BigBad bombards the world with Meteor Spice, killing and injuring billions and causing a world wide famine. The only thing that makes the bad guys' victory incomplete is the reveal of the GreaterScopeVillain, who manipulated them from thr start.

** Near shares this trope to an extent. Sabotaging Light & stealing the Death Note.

** The Cell Arc of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' - no, really. Even though Doctor Gero can only watch his triumph from Hell, he is the only villain in the entire Dragon Ball franchise to have got exactly what he wanted: the death of Son Goku at the hands of his creations.

* In ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' at the end of the Shogun Assassination Arc, the Tendoshu not only succeeded in swaying Nobunobu to sell out the Kihetai as the new Shogun and have the Harusame betray Kamui but they even succeeded in having Shigeshige assassinated even when the heroes and allies kept him safe and in hiding. More so that while Takasugi was the main antagonist of the arc, he ends up in a coma after a long battle against Gintoki and the ambush by the Tendoshu's enforcers the Naraku. This makes the Tendoshu as a whole show themselves why they are the GreaterScopeVillain of the series.

** And despite being powered up by the Sage himself, Madara, upon resurrection, becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and finally retrieving his left Rinnegan casts Mugen Tsukuyomi. The entire world except for Team 7 is trapped in it.

** The earlier Skypeia arc is a partial example, as Eneru's master plan is to a) build a giant golden airship and fly to the moon and b) annihilate Skypeia on his way out. While Luffy gives him a vicious beating and saves Skypeia, Eneru is still able to flee on his airship to the moon anyhow. Seeing as Eneru was the Straw Hats' toughest opponent up to that point (to the point that the only way they could even lay a finger on him was for Luffy to [[ContrivedCoincidence just so happen to have the right Devil Fruit power for the job]]) and, Skypeia being an isolated FloatingContinent, no one had any way to restrain him after he was beaten, this was probably for the best.

** In the Century Soup arc, Toriko loses his battle against Tommyrod, along with his hand, while another villain sneaks past him, knocks out Komatsu and steals the soup. Teppei swoops in and defeats the heavily-injured villain... and then a bigger and stronger villain comes in. At this point, only the conveniently-timed arrival of Setsuno prevents him from finishing off the heroes, but the soup is destroyed, and the only chance to restore him - lies on Komatsu, who manage to taste the last droplet. This makes things a little better, but doesn't change the fact that the villains manage to win and get exactly what they wanted.
** The Cooking Festival practically ends in this - by the end only one out of Four Kings is able to fight, the main character is on the brink of death, many chefs (including Komatsu) are kidnapped by Gourmet Corp, all of the 0th biotope workers are simultaneously intercepted and destroyed (some of them get better), President Ichiryu is defeated by Midora and finished off by a blue nitro, and, on top of all that, the BigBad bombards the world with Meteor Spice, killing and injuring billions and creating a world wide famine. The only thing, that makes the bad guys victory incomplete is the reveal of the even bigger bad, who manipulated them from start.
** The NEO organization ends up on top in the Cooking Festival - they left both IGO and Gourmet corp in shambles, finished their spaceship and found a substitute for Komatsu, the one target that they don't get in the end. Basically everybody, except good guys won the Cooking Festival.