Line #102 Main/NonProtagonistResolver


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6	->''"One day it will be over, and everyone will forget that this was the moment. This was when it turned. And it wasn’t the mighty Fleet, it wasn't some fancy new weapon. It was a drill instructor named Zim who captured a Brain."''
7	-->-- '''Carl''', ''Film/StarshipTroopers''
8
9	An unorthodox {{Plot\|s}}[=/=]StoryArc where a character gets much CharacterFocus and is clearly played up to be a HeroProtagonist — as in TheProtagonist, whom the plot is about, who will also be the one to resolve his plot's {{Conflict}} — and it turns out the conflict isn't resolved by him, but someone else instead.
10
11	The only requirement for this trope is that we have TheProtagonist "Alice" (could also be a group) who is actively trying to kill the source of conflict and whom the narrative is focused on, and there is this RedHerringShirt "Bob" (again, can also be a group) who the narrative doesn't pay much attention to, who then kills the source of {{Conflict}} for whatever reason, leaving Alice with nothing more to do since the StoryArc is technically over with the conflict out of the way.
12
13	'''Note:''' Just because the "StoryArc is over", doesn't mean the story ''ends''. This kind of plot can also happen to a sub-arc, not just {{Grand Finale}}s, so it can still allow the story to continue.
14
15	SuperTrope to the following:
16	[[index]]
17	* CrackDefeat: The focal characters lose to an unlikely competitor.
18	* DarkHorseVictory: A plot involving competing rivals in a contest, where the focus of the story is the rivals, but the winner is neither of them. Do note, however, that this trope doesn't have to signify a resolution of the conflict.
19	* TheMeddlingKidsAreUseless: the eponymous kids [[TheMainCharactersDoEverything do everything]] except resolve the plot.
20	[[/index]]
21
22	Involves a RedHerringShirt by nature, called "Bob" here. Compare ADayInTheLimelight, where a minor character (or a group of them) gets an episode where they are TheProtagonist. Will sometimes overlap with ShaggyDogStory, when TheProtagonist's efforts become for naught as someone else resolves the conflict before he can. May be a DeusExMachina in execution if the "Bob's" intervention comes out of nowhere; to avoid such a case, the story may show Bob half-prominently but with little relevance to the story [[ChekhovsGunman until later]]. If the "Bob" of the plot resolves the conflict by accident/not by his own volition, he may be hailed as an AccidentalHero after the events of the plot.
23
24	Unrelated to the following:
25	* AlmightyJanitor: This trope is about someone with low position in an organization exercising power or authority as if he had a higher position. '''Not a Plot, but a Character'''.
26	* HeroOfAnotherStory: A RoundCharacter who is implied to have Offscreen Heroics outside the story we're seeing. '''Not a Plot, but a Character'''.
27	* BadassBystander: A LivingProp, SpearCarrier, or BitCharacter who is revealed to be badass. '''Not a Plot, but a Character'''.
28	* DecoyProtagonist: Someone played up to be TheProtagonist, who is usurped in role by the real Protagonist later in the narrative. May lose his prominent role completely and get DemotedToExtra or worse, killed. '''Not a Plot, but a Character'''.
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30	Compare SupportingProtagonist, the counterpart for said "resolver", as well as BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork, when a villain plays the "resolver" role. Contrast SelfDisposingVillain, where the villain plays his own "resolver" in cases where the protagonist would be reluctant to do so.
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32	----
33	!!Examples:
34
35	[[foldercontrol]]
36
37	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
38	* ''Manga/BlastOfTempest'' has The Mage of Exodus [[spoiler:[[ClassicalAntiHero Megumu Hanemura]]]]-- who didn't have any trace of involvement in the first half of the story, which was about [[HeroProtagonist Mahiro]]'s quest to avenge his dead younger sister with his good friend [[SupportingProtagonist Yoshino]], which happens to involve SavingTheWorld from the eponymous "Civilization Blaster" (which was revealed to literally be ''the'' source of ''all'' {{Conflict}}s in the story) as well-- ending up being the one SavingTheWorld and "getting ''his'' girl" ([[TheGhost who herself]] was never even ''named'').
39	* ''Anime/DigimonTamers'' has a mild example, with it being the adult scientists and government agents who come up with, build and plan how to defeat the D-Reaper; the kids simply have to bring the resulting device to the D-Reaper's core. It enters this trope by the amount of screen time and plot focus said scientists get, and the last few episodes pointing out that the kids are kinda standing around getting in the way during the periods where they're not actually fighting.
40	* The Future Trunks Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' marks the first arc where the villain, aka Zamasu isn't defeated by the Z-Fighters. Instead, he is defeated by [[spoiler:Future Zen'o as a last ditch effort after Zamasu turns into a bodiless EldritchAbomination that the heroes seemingly couldn't touch at all]]. The Universe Survival Saga is a second, where [[spoiler: Goku and Frieza sacrifice themselves to ring out Jiren, leaving Android 17 to win the tournament for Universe 7.]]
41	* ''Manga/FairyTail'' builds Natsu up as the only person in the world capable of killing Zeref, one of the [[BigBadEnsemble two]] {{Big Bad}}s, who is cursed to kill those whose lives he cherishes and never die. Despite all of the training and power-ups he gets to make it possible, Natsu loses his once chance to truly finish him off, and can only leave him temporarily beaten and broken. The task instead falls to Mavis, the BigGood who shares the same curse, which is broken when they [[ThePowerOfLove accept each other's love]], the one force capable of [[TogetherInDeath killing immortals like themselves]].
42	* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'': The Ghost Inn Arc's climatic battle against ArcVillain Oiwa involved Gintoki using the power of her friends' spirits-- er, [[InsistentTerminology Stands]] in part of a [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Stand battle]] against her and her husband's Stand. When Oiwa counters it by sending Stands into Gintoki to push out his friends out of his body, he resorted into using the only Stand left in his body to defeat her. The Stand being none other than [[spoiler:the Christian missionary to Japan Xavier, who simply shoots her with his rifle and leaves the scene quietly like he did previously as part of a BrickJoke]]. Shinpachi lampshades the absurdity that was PlayedForLaughs.
43	-->'''Shinpachi''': A completely unrelated character took her out!
44	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
45	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' has this in its climax twice. After [[spoiler:Kira activates [[GroundhogDayLoop Bites the Dust]], [[SnoopingLittleKid Hayato]] alone is left with the ability to stop him. By planning his actions and summoning [[TheHero Josuke]], he is able to initiate a one on one battle.]] Then, [[spoiler:when Kira is once again about to activate Bites The Dust when he is about to lose, it is [[TimeStandsStill Jotaro]] who manages to reach the former's position in time and give him a [[RapidFireFisticuffs huge beating]]. Finally, neither Josuke nor Jotaro actually kill Kira; [[DroppedABridgeOnHim he gets run over by an ambulance]]. And even then, the ''actual'' final time we see him is as a ghost, where he's DraggedOffToHell by the ghost of his first victim]].
46	** In the series, most important characters have Stands, which, while having a separate body, share the same consciousness and identity as their User. There are some exceptions, however. At the very end of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'', [[spoiler:Giorno stabs his Stand with the Arrow and gains [[EleventhHourSuperpower Gold Experience Requiem,]] who is sentient independent of Giorno. GER [[NoSell completely nullifies]] the villain's Stand ability, gives him a ReasonYouSuckSpeech and turns his [[AndIMustScream death to zero,]] all while Giorno is completely immobilized and unable to think.]]
47	** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'', [[spoiler:the main villain manages to kill Jolyne, Jotaro, and the rest of the main cast (having killed two other protagonists earlier) and is close to realizing his plan but is finally defeated by Emporio with the help of Weather Report's stand.]]
48	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun'': While it's Johnny who manages to kill the BigBad, [[spoiler: he is completely beaten by the TrueFinalBoss, Diego Brando from an alternate dimension. He is only beaten by [[BadassNormal Lucy Steel]], who was hiding the [[NeverTheSelvesShallMeet head of the base world's Diego Brando.]]]]
49	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureJojolion'': While Josuke does land the first critical hit on the BigBad and later arrives just in time to destroy a PostFinalBoss, [[spoiler:it's Kaato Higashikata who actually takes out the BigBad by tossing Tsurugi at him to initiate Equivalent Exchange and transfer the petrification curse to him.]]
50	* ''Anime/MacrossDelta'': You'd expect [[TheHero Hayate]] to be the one who kills [[BigBad Roid]]; instead [[AntiVillain Keith]] does the deed while Hayate is busy saving [[DamselInDistress Mikumo]] from the Sigur Valens. Justified because Hayate abhors killing and Keith has a more personal reason to go after Roid.
51	* The climax of ''Manga/Monster1994'' has [[spoiler:Johan hold a young boy at gunpoint to coerce Tenma into shooting him, thereby completing his "perfect suicide" and invalidating Tenma's belief that all lives are equal. Before Tenma can act, [[PapaWolf the boy's father shoots Johan in the head]], allowing Tenma to TakeAThirdOption and perform a second brain surgery on Johan to save his life]].
52	* In ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'', Shinichi is trying to kill [[spoiler:the Parasite who killed/took over his mom]], but freezes up at the critical moment, with his opponent looking like she'll get the final blow instead. At this point, Mamoru Uda and Jaw (the only other human/Parasite pair known in the series) jumps in and takes care of her instead, with the former saying that he doesn't think [[StakingTheLovedOne Shinichi should be the one to have to kill her]].
53	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
54	** ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' has done this often:
55	*** The biggest offender is the two-part "Red Gyarados" arc. First Ash, Misty, and Brock end up getting captured by Team Rocket, meaning Lance had to save them. Then, Lance was the one to defeat the Team Rocket Trio and destroy the base where the evolution experiment was being conducted. Then, ''Lance'' was the one to defeat and capture the lead grunt, and finally, '''''Lance''''' was the one to capture the red Gyarados after Ash and his friends failed to stop it. [[TheMeddlingKidsAreUseless Why were Ash and the others there again?]]
56	*** The [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY Mega Evolution Specials]] setups Alain with being the one in the employ of Team Flare and Lysandre [[spoiler:then is outraged at their role in getting Mairin's Chespin ill from the Zygarde core]], implying he will turn against them in the main story. [[spoiler:Instead, it's [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Steven Stone]] who does the rescue of Chespie from Lysandre Labs while Alain is fighting in Lumiose City; despite having appeared far less than him.]]
57	*** Also applies to nearly every League. You'd think, being the protagonist, Ash would handily win, right? ''Wrong''. Ash is usually knocked out of the tournament after doing better than he did last time, usually by a rival who had been just introduced during the League. It's ultimately in Alola, where all the potential opponents he could face are all established characters, nearly all of them from the games, that he actually wins.
58	** In the [=B2W2=] arc of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', the protagonist Whitley has a chip that could disable the Colress Machine that's used to control Kyurem. [[spoiler:Hugh and Rood of the Seven Sages are the ones to secure the chip and disable the Colress Machine, freeing Kyurem from Team Plasma and foiling their plan of freezing Unova.]]
59	* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', while the protagonists Syaoran and Sakura do manage to escape from the tube Fei Wang sealed them in, it is Kurogane and Fai who finish the BigBad off while he is distracted by the destruction.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Comic Books]]
63	* In one Annual Special of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' written by Creator/KurtBusiek, both the Avengers and the Comicbook/SquadronSupreme are extorted into participating in a "tournament" against the villainous [[BoisterousBruiser Champion]], who wants to take on both teams to prove that he's the WorldsBestWarrior. The stipulation is that if they don't participate, and win, he will kill millions of innocent people. Indeed, the teams split up into various skirmish teams and try to locate Champion, who ambushes and defeats all of them one by one. Champion, [[EvilVirtues a man of his word]], goes back to his lair to activate his WeaponOfMassDestruction, only to find that Comicbook/AntMan, who wasn't even one of the Avengers he'd challenged (and wasn't even in the story until now), has deactivated it. Both teams then show up with the full rosters and [[CurbStompBattle curbstomp]] an angry Champion who whines to Comicbook/CaptainAmerica that this is [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen very unsportsmanlike]]. Captain America [[KirkSummation retorts that the Avengers]] [[CombatPragmatist don't care one whit about proving who's "toughest"]]. [[SoldierVsWarrior Their first priority was to save lives.]]
64	* ''Comicbook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'': "Out of the Blue" arc, Robotnik takes advantage of Sonic being MIA to launch an attack on the other protagonists with a new super-robot that forcibly incorporates E-123 Omega and Gemerl. Without Sonic it's ultimately Vector who takes charge and has everyone tear into the bot. When Sonic shows up they've already freed Gemerl and damaged it significantly. Sonic's main contribution to the fight is to rescue Omega who then unloads his arsenal into the robot, destroying it.
65	* Used to spectacular effect in ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' Issue 28, which sees the Rhino tearing up New York and Peter continuously being delayed from going to fight him. After an entire issue of this, he's finally able to change into Spider-Man and he arrives just in time--[[ShaggyDogStory to see Iron Man being applauded for stopping the Rhino.]]
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
69	* Newspaper ComicStrip/SpiderMan's conflicts are often settled by someone else, in contrast to his hardcover comic counterpart.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Fan Works]]
73	* ''Fanfic/DearDiary'' (a story adaptation of a [[SelfImposedChallenge Nuzlocke run]] of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Pokémon Black]]''): It ultimately ends up being [[spoiler:Lillil]] who [[spoiler:defeats Ghetsis]] and [[spoiler:Caitlyn]] who [[spoiler:stops Reshiram and Zekrom]], thanks to [[spoiler:Prima and Opal being (at least sort of in Opal's case) dead by the climax]].
74	* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In the sequel ''Diplomat at Large'', Twilight, Pharynx and Tempest Shadow handle most of the job of defeating the Storm King. It's [[spoiler:Bon-Bon]], however, who actually kills him without realizing it when he gets knocked out a window and lands on the battlefield behind her.
75	* Discussed in ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}: Slaughterhouse-Five''. Jake tells his class that contrary to popular belief, it was [[NamedByTheAdaptation Visser Seventeen]][[note]]Tom's second Yeerk[[/note]] who got Visser One (née Three) to surrender, not the Literature/{{Animorphs}}.
76	* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': The main focus of the Red Lotus Trio/Quarto is to stop the Apex from their killing spree and then later save them from a murderous cult. Ultimately, it's Grace Monroe, the leader of the very cult that they're off to stop, who ends up dismantling the Apex after seeing how much damage her little lie caused.
77	* ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfTotalDramaIsland'': Dawn, an intern, has ADayInTheLimelight during the [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming 17th Night]] chapter. She (presumably) resolves a subplot in the process, and then goes back to being a supporting character.
78	* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops'': Loop 193.7 is set during ''Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree'', and Sunset is preparing to act when the human ''Bulk Biceps'', a non-Looper, suddenly steps up and talks Gloriosa/Gaia Everfree down, pointing out that if she keeps them there, she's keeping them away from their families. Sunset's surprised by this, but happy with the results.
79	* {{Downplayed\|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/{{Mysterioustale}}'': While Coraline helps her friends recover their memories, she's not the one who manages to defeat the King. Instead, it's [[spoiler:Dipper and Mabel]] who save the day by [[spoiler:helping Tails recover ''his'' memories of their time together]].
80	* ''Fanfic/OutsidersTheOwlHouse'' has a {{Downplayed\|Trope}} example with Eda. While the story is centered on the kids, she makes a critical contribution by [[spoiler:breaking one of Odalia's fingers]], enabling the kids to get the upper hand against them.
81	* ''Fanfic/SmartAdversariesAU'': In ''Fanfic/PartyCrusher'', Kim manages to get critical information about Hawkmoth and Party Crasher out of the Agreste Manor, enabling [[spoiler:Bunnyx and Pegasus]] to resolve the problem via [[spoiler:time traveling to ensure that Party Crasher isn't created]]. [[spoiler:Pegasus]] also unwittingly saves [[spoiler:Emilie]] in the process, as they [[spoiler:unplug Markov so that he doesn't drain too much of the manor's power]].
82	* The protagonist of ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'' comes back to the Vega Systems after several months, to check on how they're doing, mediate a peaceful solution to a civil war that's cropped up, etc -- and then feels a disturbance in the orange light. Turns out that while he was away, Captain Comet already unified most of the parties in the Vega Systems, and just now finished mopping up the [[EvilutionaryBiologist Psions]]. Paul's return did help to resolve the liberation struggle with a little less violence, but overall, the New Vega Alliance already had things well in hand.
83	-->'''Adam Blake''': I'm not complaining about what you did, Paul. But you left, and Vega had to forge ahead without you. And this is what happened. That peace you thought you were trying to broker? I did that four months ago.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
87	* In ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'', [[spoiler:Lightning [=McQueen=] does not finish the Florida 500, but his former trainer Cruz Ramirez does under his number. Because of this, they are both considered winners of the race, meaning Lightning gets to keep his job and has won the bet against Sterling]].
88	* ''WesternAnimation/EgoTrip'' starts when some killer robots walk out of Dexter's time machine into his lab, announcing they have come to destroy "the one who saved the future." Dexter defeats the robots, and travels forward in time to find out how he saves the future. In the final battle, while the four Dexters from different times are struggling against four versions of Mandark as they try to reach the button to re-set the corrupted Neurotomic Protocore, [[spoiler:Dexter's ditzy sister Dee Dee pops out of the time machine on the Dexters' ruined mecha, having accidentally travelled forward in time from the same starting point as Dexter. She presses the button on the Protocore, unwittingly saving humanity and stealing the glory from Dexter. The Dexters are so angry that they send four killer robots through the time machine to kill "the one who saved the future", which creates a StableTimeLoop when Dexter's past self mistakenly assumes the robots came to kill him instead of Dee Dee]].
89	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robots}}'', Rodney was played up to have the makings of a hero when he stood up against CorruptCorporateExecutive Ratchet with his RagtagBunchOfMisfits. At the final confrontation? [[spoiler:his RobotBuddy [[KillerRabbit Wonderbot]] who is]] a robot (who up until then, was just a PluckyComicRelief) built specifically to ''help in dishwashing'' is the one who ''fights'', puts the BigBad right back to his place, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and kicks]] the {{Jerkass}} receptionist out. Justified in that Rodney was played up as a ''ScienceHero'', not an ActionHero, and in the climax, he actually played SupportingLeader and helped collectively defeat the BigBad's [[TheHorde minions]].
90	* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'':
91	** TheHero duo Woody and Buzz, along with the rest of the toys are facing their DarkestHour, everyone has lost hope and are just waiting for their death from the [[spoiler:incinerator]]. Cue a literal DeusExMachina in the form of [[spoiler: [[CallBack THE CLAW]]]], controlled by none other than [[spoiler: The Little Green Men trio, whom Mr Potatohead "rescued" (and ignored for repeatedly saying [[BrokenRecord "You have saved our lives, we are eternally grateful!"]]) back in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2''. Which prompts him to [[MeaningfulEcho echo their words]] to them after their rescue.]]
92	** Also, at the end, [[spoiler:Lotso]] doesn't get his comeuppance at the hands of the heroes. Instead, [[spoiler:he's found by a garbage man, who decides to tie him at the radiator of his truck as some kind of decoration. Thus giving him his AndIMustScream fate]].
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
96	* ''Film/Angel1984'': Despite her vow to avenge the the murders of Crystal and Lana, and his obsession with closing the case, it is neither Angel or Lt. Andrews who stops the SerialKiller. It is aging movie cowboy Kit Carson who arrives with his sixguns blazing like a one man [[TheCavalry cavalry]] to save both of them: emptying twelve shots into The Killer's body.
97	* ''Film/AShotInTheDark'' ends with all the culprits fleeing from Clouseau's antics after his attempts to reveal the culprits resulted in everyone revealing each others' dirty laundry...only to be killed by a car bomb, set up by Commissioner Dreyfus in his own attempt to get Clouseau out of his hair.
98	* ''Film/AvalancheSharks'' the plot is resolved and the titular monsters (Native American totem spirits) are stopped not by TheSheriff or his wife, not by any of the prominent skiers and snowboarders who've been taking the warnings seriously (and in two cases, lost relatives to the sharks), not by the old hermit whose been warning people from the beginning, but by a random skier, far away from the range of the attacks, who happens to find the damaged sacred totems and straighten them back out ''due to simple curiosity'', which appeases the sharks in time to save the last survivors.
99	* ''Film/BillionDollarBrain''. British agent Film/HarryPalmer runs around trying to recover a stolen bacteriological virus hidden in a container of chicken eggs and stop mad General Mindwinter from starting World War 3. Turns out his counterpart in the KGB Colonel Stok has known about the plot the entire time; he has Midwinter's army wiped out by the Soviet air force and his FemmeFataleSpy steals the virus from under Harry's nose. Then as a final humiliation Stok hands the container of virus back to Harry as a [[ChummyCommies goodwill gesture]], only it's full of baby chickens he put there as a joke.
100	* T'Challa only solves one of the three simultaneous climaxes in ''Film/{{Black Panther\|2018}}'': Okoye forces W'kabi and the border tribe to surrender to the Dora Milaje [[spoiler:and the mountain tribe]], and it is Agent Ross of all people who shoots down the escaping craft carrying Vibranium weapons.
101	** Specifically invoked earlier in the film: after T'Challa fails to apprehend Klaue in Korea, [[spoiler:Killmonger shows up in Wakanda with his body]]. It, along with [[spoiler:N'Jobu's ring]], is what helps convince W'Kabi and other Wakandans to back him, or at least hear him out.
102	* At the end of ''Film/{{Blackenstein}}'', the police call in the Los Angeles County Canine Corps, and the Dobermans surround Eddie, knock him to the ground and, with a fittingly macabre irony, viciously tear the monster to pieces in the same way he killed his victims: absolutely nothing to with Winifred or Dr. Stein, the movie's primary protagonists.
103	* ''Film/TheBookOfHenry'': [[spoiler:School principal Janice started the showcase of how AdultsAreUseless by refusing to do something about Christina's abuse by her father because she lacked evidence, which is what started Henry down the path of deciding killing Glenn (the aforementioned abusive father) was the only solution. At the climax, at the very same time that Henry's mother decides not to carry out Henry's murder plan (because Henry is dead and can't do it himself) and tells Glenn that she knows, Janice sees Christina's immense sorrow as she's doing a ballet routine for the school halfway across town, finally gets a MyGodWhatHaveIDone reaction, and calls the police with her complaint, JustInTime because Glenn had already called the cops to come arrest Henry's mother for the conspiracy to commit murder and thus they just decide to change targets. Glenn, knowing an investigation will inevitably expose his abuse and he will be arrested, blows his brains out.]]
104	* ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': while Cap does eventually incapacitate Iron Man long enough for him and Bucky to escape, it is T'Challa who eventually apprehends [[TheChessmaster Zemo]], the man responsible for most of the action in the film, and brings him to justice. Furthermore, TheStinger shows [[spoiler:T'Challa housing at least Cap, Bucky, Black Widow, and the rest of team Cap somewhere in Wakanda]]. And even despite all that, [[SuperRegistrationAct the Sokovia Accords]] [[PyrrhicVictory pass]], so Cap and Bucky's only victory is that at the end of the day, they are alive - only T'Challa actually resolves the conflict by apprehending Zemo.
105	* The ultimate resolution of ''Film/TheClimax'' occurs because of the Vienna police and not the hero Franz. While escaping from the police, Dr. Hohner locks himself in Marcellina's tomb, and sets fire to it. (The film is ambiguous as to whether this act is deliberate or accidental.) Hohner perishes alongside [[TheLostlenore his dead love]] as the police struggle to open the door.
106	* ''Film/ConfessFletch'': Inspector Monroe and Griz figure out who the culprit is several scenes before Fletch (mostly with evidence they gather themselves) and show up to save the day during the climax when Fletch is about to get shot. They are quick to point out Fletch's PinballProtagonist status when he tries to say all of them solved the case together.
107	* ''Film/CurseOfTheHeadlessHorseman'': Insofar as this film even has a protagonist. When [[spoiler:Mark]] suffers his VillainousBreakdown, he grabs a pistol and starts trying to shoot his way out. In doing so, he kills one of the stuntmen who stage the gunfights in the park. After a brief shootout, he is shot and killed by the stuntman's brother.
108	* Creator/DenisVilleneuve likes this trope. Mary, Adam's girlfriend, accidentally getting herself and Anthony killed allowing Adam to take his identity in ''Film/{{Enemy}}'', and Alejandro killing BigBad Alarcon while Kate is sidelined in ''Film/{{Sicario}}''.
109	* In ''Film/District13'', the two main leads Damien and Leito spend the whole movie trying to get to the main villain Taha. Rather than having a confrontation with him, the government seizes all of his funds and its Taha's own thugs who gun him down, since he can no longer pay them and [[TheDogBitesBack they were through]] being [[BadBoss abused by him]].
110	* ''Film/TheGhostShip'': Finn is a mute crewman who narrates a few scenes but has a small enough role that he isn't listed in the opening credits. In the end, he, rather than Mr. Merriam, is the one who gets the crew to realize that their captain is a murderous nut job. He later walks in on the captain about to murder a helplesss Merriam [[spoiler:and kills him after a fight]].
111	* In ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'', the role of James Bond in the plot is actually rather limited. He spends most of his time tailing Goldfinger and hanging out in his base as a prisoner, always ''trying'' to get intel outside, but failing. [[spoiler:Sure, he does manage to kill Oddjob (in the novel, he also kills Goldfinger, but in the movie the "shot plane window causing ContinuousDecompression" is more accidental than deliberate), but that doesn't affect the plot very much, and the bulk of the work ends up being done by the US Army and the CIA. They even disarm the nuke for Bond. The only vital thing Bond does manage to do is, ironically enough, screwing Pussy Galore (who then performs a HeelFaceTurn and sabotages Goldfinger's 'grand slam')]].
112	* In ''Film/IronMan1'', since Tony partially disassembled his armor (he attempts a HandBlast before forgetting he removed his glove) and had no power to use his weapons thanks to working with an inferior arc reactor, Pepper is the one who winds up taking out the BigBad via overloading the reactor so he gets electrocuted and suffers a DisneyVillainDeath.
113	* In ''Film/IronMan3'', Tony realizes the BigBad is still alive but unfortunately, he doesn't have his armor. Fortunately, a newly super-powered Pepper Potts comes in to take care of business.
114	* ''Film/ISawWhatYouDid'': During the climax, Steve has pulled a DangerTakesABackseat on Libby and is choking her to death from behind. Suddenly there is a gunshot, the rear window of the car shatters, and Steve slumps forward: dead. Appearing behind the car is the state trooper from earlier, who has returned after being summoned by Mr. Austin after Kit came clean to him about what was really going on.
115	* In ''Film/TheJackal'', the terrorist released from prison and hired to help stop the feared assassin (who he worked with in the past) from killing a politician, doesn't kill him in the end, as the Jackal gets the best of him. Instead, he is killed by the terrorist past love interest. Becomes DeathByIrony, because the Jackal kept taunting him about how he can't protect his women. But clearly, his women can protect him.
116	* ''Film/LakePlacidVsAnaconda:'' The eponymous anaconda isn't killed by Reba or Tully, but by [[spoiler:NobleTopEnforcer, who pulls the pin on his grenade after being swallowed by the snake.]]
117	* ''Film/TheManFromColorado'': It is outlaw Jericho Howard, and not protagonist Del Stewart, who finishes off HangingJudge Owen Devereaux. After being shot by Owen, Jericho spoils Owen's shot on Del and then drives him back into the burning down, where they both perish beneath a collapsing building.
118	* ''Film/TheManFromLaramie'': Despite Will spending the entire movie on a personal revenge mission against the man who sold the guns to the Apaches, thus causing the death of his brother, he ultimately kills none of those involved: Vic and Dave were the ones selling the guns; Vic kills Dave and, although Will's actions contribute to Vic's death, he chooses to let Vic go which results in Vic being shot and killed by the Apaches. The Apaches themselves only suffer the loss of a wagonload of guns.
119	* ''Film/TheManWhoCouldCheatDeath'' is ultimately resolved when Margo, the MadwomanInTheAttic, hurls a lantern at the [[RapidAging rapidly aging]] Dr. Bonnet: turning him into a ManOnFire and setting the rest of the cellar ablaze. Gerard, Janine and Inspector Legris are forced to flee, leaving Bonnet and Margo to perish in the flames.
120	* ''Film/TheMeteorMan'': A guy is given superpowers by a meteor and tries to clean up his corrupt neighborhood. At the end the bad guys have him, but he makes an impassioned speech and the listening apartment dwellers fight back (one, a jazz fan, by throwing his valuable records as Frisbees).
121	* In ''Film/NewJackCity'', it looks as though Nino, the BigBad drug kingpin, will either go free or at least get a very light sentence. Then an old man, who has railed against Nino’s drug operations throughout the entire movie, shoots and kills him.
122	* In ''Film/NightAfterNightAfterNight'', the SerialKiller is shot and killed by an unnamed police sniper after suffering a VillainousBreakdown.
123	* In ''Film/OfficeSpace'' the three programmers paint themselves into a corner when their money skimming operation goes wrong. When Peter resolves to take all the blame, he prepares himself to be discovered and arrested, but perennial office doormat Milton (who's not aware of the scam) coincidentally decides that he's had enough crap from his employers and burns the whole office building down, and along with it the incriminating evidence.
124	* In ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1998'', the Phantom is ultimately killed by an unnamed gendarme who stabs him InTheBack with a bayonet.
125	* Discussed in ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', when Westley - the obvious hero - is found dead, and the Grandson in the FramingStory frantically asks his Grandfather: "Who kills [[EvilPrince Prince Humperdinck]]? I mean, ''some''body's gotta do it! Is it [[TheLancer Inigo]]? Who?" Ultimately, [[spoiler: it ''is'' Westley who resolves the story's main stakes, since he was OnlyMostlyDead, though he makes a point of ''not'' killing Humperdinck.]]
126	* In ''Film/TheRawhideTerror'', the Rawhide Killer is shot and killed by two random members of the posse, with the sheriff only arriving in time to hear his dying words. Narratively, this allows the killer (who is a mass murderer) to die without the hero being forced to kill his own brother.
127	* The central plot of ''Film/Shaft2000'' revolves around Shaft's mission to get an extremely wealthy and extremely pampered white supremacist found guilty for killing a black man. Each time Shaft arrests him, [[BailEqualsFreedom a judge sets him free on bail]], much to the dismay of Shaft and the victim's mother. At the very end of the movie, the murderer is once again brought to court, and Shaft assures the mother that they have a new judge and credible eyewitness. The mother tells Shaft she believes there will be justice this time, and a few minutes later she shoots her son's killer herself.
128	* In ''Film/StarshipTroopers'', Rico seems set to lead the team that captures the Brain Bug. After being diverted from his primary goal to find his desperately endangered ex-girlfriend, however, he has to abandon this objective. He finds the bug anyway, but is unable to capture it because of the hordes of warrior-caste arachnids surrounding it. After escaping, he and the others who survive from his group find that the Brain Bug was eventually captured [[spoiler:by a minor character from much earlier in the series who left off being a drill sergeant to fight again, and whose character arc was never followed much beyond that]].
129	* ''Film/TheStrangeDoor'': In the climax, the protagonists are stuck in a DeathTrap with no hope of escape until OldRetainer Voltan (who is second in the credits, but only because he's played by Creator/BorisKarloff) fights his way past the villains to save them, indirectly killing the BigBad in the process, and unlocks their cell while struggling not to pass out from several bullet and stab wounds.
130	* ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld:'' [[spoiler:The electrical trap which kills the Thing]] is worked not by Captain Hendry, but by the least talkative of the science team, and the only member of the air force crew whose last name is never mentioned.
131	* ''Film/TotallyKiller'' : Downplayed as [[spoiler:Kara (TheStoner and a RedHerring in 1987 and prime example of PoliceAreUseless in the 2023 scenes) is the one to kill the Sweet Sixteen Killer after he overpowers all of the protagonists when they try to trap him. However, shortly afterward, it turns out some of the killings were caused by a JackTheRipoff who becomes the final boss and sends Kara fleeing for her life.]]
132	* ''Film/TwoHands'': Jimmy returns to Pando's office to pay off his debt, but thinking he has a gun the gang once again attempt to kill him. He is able to give them the money, and is offered more work by Pando as a result. Jimmy leaves in disgust after pulling a gun on Pando. As Jimmy leaves, Helen the street kid passes Jimmy, and in retaliation for the death of her friend Pete she shoots Pando and his gang dead.
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Literature]]
136	* ''Literature/EightySeventhPrecinct'': Sometimes people other than the main cast catch the villains while having little idea of what's going on.
137	** In [[spoiler:''The Heckler'']], an unnamed beat cop foils the villains' getaway by approaching a fake ice cream truck to make an order, then noticing a discrepancy in the crooks' story and making inquiries that cause them to try and shoot their way out, only for him to wound both men and capture one of them.
138	** In [[spoiler:''Ghosts'']], right after a scene that discusses how Carella and Hawes both see themselves as the hero and the other man as the {{Sidekick}}, the killer is arrested by a beat cop who mistakenly thinks the killer just robbed a pawnshop (really, he's fleeing the pawnshop because the owner realized he was trying to sell stolen property). Said beat cop gets promoted to protagonist as a result of the case, being promoted to detective and working with the leads in a few of the remaining books, but he's never seen or mentioned before arresting the killer.
139	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In ''Stranger to the Sun'', VoiceWithAnInternetConnection character Franklin Ayers-Bishop is on the other side of the world as the heroes, but after their emails tell him that the BigBad is trying to change the rotation of the Earth to let vampires run wild 24-7, Franklin and his circle of wizard acquaintances are the ones to carry out a series of rituals that stop the plan. Angel actually fails to stop the villain from completing his ritual, but Franklin and the others still save the world with their counter-spells. That being said, Franklin notes they still would have failed if not for Angel slowing down the villain with his own efforts.
140	* ''Literature/BenSaffordMysteries'': In ''Murder Out of Commission'', [[spoiler:hotheaded businessman and suspect Sheridan Ireland]] figures out the crucial link between the victims before anyone else. Then, in a confrontation with the killer, overpowers [[spoiler:him]] when the killer goes for a gun.
141	* ''Literature/{{Deathwatch}}'': Ben avoids being killed by Mardec on his own, but the last couple of chapters have Mardec try to pin his crimes on Ben. He only fails and faces justice because a previously unmentioned medical examiner notices that the dead man was killed with the kind of gun that Mardec uses and ''not'' the kind Ben uses. This is averted in the film adaptations ''Film/Savages1974'' (where Ben exposes Mardec himself) and ''Film/BeyondTheReach'' (where there is no inquiry and Ben kills Mardec).
142	* ''Literature/GhostInTheNoondaySun'': Oliver is the narrator, but Jack o' Lantern is the one [[spoiler:who figures out a way to trick Captain Scratch into thinking he's died and turned into a ghost so he won't resist being marooned.]] He also saves Oliver's life when the pirate ship sinks soon afterward.
143	* Literature/HarryPotter only destroys one of Voldemort’s [[SoulJar horcuxes]] himself, the diary. Dumbledore destroys the ring, Ron the locket (although Harry does play a supporting role in that one), and Hermione the goblet. Crabbe uses a powerful fire spell he can’t control in the Room of Requirement and takes the tiara with it. Voldemort [[HoistByHisOwnPetard inadvertently destroys one himself when he “kills” Harry]]. Neville then kills Nagini after Harry’s “death”, making him mortal once and for all. Harry also doesn’t technically kill Voldemort. Voldemort uses the killing curse on him and since Harry is the master of the Elder Wand, it backfires on Voldemort and kills him.
144	* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', Smaug isn't killed by Bilbo, or Gandalf, or any of the dwarves. It's Bard the Bowman who finishes him off - though Bilbo does manage to give some indirect assistance by finding out Smaug's weak point and passing it on to Bard through a bird messenger.
145	* Creator/JosephineTey hero Inspector Grant is an impressive cop, but on several occasions, he fails to solve a case on his own.
146	** In ''The Man in the Queue'', [[spoiler:Grant arrests an innocent man, albeit for understandable reasons, and is reluctantly prepared to ignore his GutFeeling that the suspect is telling the truth when the real culprit turns herself in and confesses.]]
147	** In ''Literature/AShillingForCandles'', he only solves the case because of a magazine article where the author jokingly suggests both the killer and the right motive.
148	** In ''The Franchise Affair'', Grant is only a secondary character (and a SympatheticInspectorAntagonist) but neither he nor the CrusadingLawyer for the innocent people Grant reluctantly arrests based on false evidence solves the case. Instead, [[spoiler:a witness reads about it in the paper and comes forward to expose a lying accuser at the last minute]].
149	* While ''Literature/Island1962'''s hero Will has the authorization to negotiate on behalf of one of the oil companies that threaten Pala, he never does and his presence on the island doesn't change squat, at least not in terms of international situation. He himself learns a lot, but that's it.
150	* In the first trilogy of ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'', some of the main antagonists are felled by someone else's hands other than the titular character.
151	** Sab Than is killed by [[TheLancer Tars Tarkas]] during the first book's climax. This trope is actually a ''plot point'' since Than was betrothed to Carter's love interest. Martian customs decree that he cannot marry a woman if he killed her husband/betrothed, and Tars being the one to do the deed allows Carter to marry her.
152	** The other BigBad of the first book, Tal Hajus, is ''also'' killed by Tars Tarkas during a duel for KlingonPromotion. Their fight [[CurbStompBattle does not even last a single sentence]]. Don't mess with Tars Tarkas.
153	** Played with in the third book, which has a BigBadTriumvirate. Carter only kills one member of the group, Salensus Oll, before the final confrontation, while the other two - Thurid and Matai Shang - turn on each other during the climax. Thurid wins, but is then killed by Shang's [[AvengingTheVillain vengeful]] daughter, Phaidor.
154	* Similarly, in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Frodo becomes corrupted by the One Ring before he's able to destroy it, but Gollum ends up causing it to be destroyed by accident while trying to take it from him. Also, Sam is the one who actually carries the ring into the precipice of Mount Doom, Frodo having collapsed from exhaustion just prior.
155	** Tolkien would later imply that the lure of the Ring was so powerful that ''no-one'' could intentionally destroy it, and that Eru (God) had ensured Gollum's survival up to that point precisely so he could destroy it by accident.
156	* ''Literature/MartinBeck'': ThoseTwoGuys Kvant and Kristiansson first appear in the final chapter of the third book, where they, and not any of the main detectives [[spoiler:encounter and arrest that book's pedophiliac killer BigBad after recognizing him when they park near where he is isolating his next planned victim so that Kvant can pee behind some bushes]].
157	* In ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' Polly is the protagonist but it is [[spoiler:the Duchess (channelled by Wazzer)]] who saves Borogravia.
158	* Franchise/{{Tarzan}} is not the protagonist of Edgar Rice Burroughs' fourth novel ''[[Literature/{{Tarzan}} Son of Tarzan]]'' (which is still a SecondaryCharacterTitle, but the protagonist is Meriam, the girlfriend of said son), but he's still the one who saves the day, showing up BigDamnHeroes-style to save his trapped son from a well-meaning but dangerous elephant.
159	* In the John Boland novel ''White August'', scientist Dr. Garrett has been vital in figuring out what is causing the freak England-wide snowstorm, and develops a device to track down its source. He helps track down several lesser weather control devices that are shielding the main one, but just as he locates the last one, is shot down and is rendered comatose. The United States military resolves the conflict by dropping an atomic bomb near enough to the final device to knock it out.
160	* ''Literature/{{Wyatt}}'': In ''Kill Shot'', the antagonist Jack Tremayne is killed by two minor side characters for reasons unconnected to Wyatt or the main plot. Wyatt merely arrives in the time to witness the aftermath and collect the loot.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
164	* ''Series/TwentyFour'':
165	** Season Five has Jack attempting to prove that [[spoiler:President Logan]] was the mastermind behind the conspiracy that included the death of Former President David Palmer, only [[spoiler:Logan's wife Martha ends up being the one to trick him into confessing.]]
166	** The eighth season not only takes [[TheHero Jack]] out of action early on in the finale but builds up Chloe and Cole Ortiz as the ones who are going to expose the conspiracy and coverup of [[spoiler:the current President (having fallen under Logan's sway)]], which includes protecting terrorists who were involved in the day's events. Only [[spoiler:Chloe and Cole both end up getting arrested]] and the one to expose the crooked wrongdoings is... [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn the President herself]], who hits a major HeelRealization and out of guilt confesses everything that's happened.]]
167	* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': ''Series/{{Supergirl\|2015}}'''s first crossover with ''Series/TheFlash2014'' has the two heroes go up against a VillainTeamUp of [[PsychoElectro Livewire]] and [[SuperScream Silver Banshee]]. However, the villains are actually winning until some firefighters whom Kara saved in a previous episode show up and blast them with water; this causes Livewire to accidentally defeat herself and Silver Banshee with her electrical powers. This ''does'' tie into Kara's arc about people learning to trust her again after the [[NotHimself Red Kryptonite incident]], but it's odd when, during the show's first superhero team-up of all times, the {{Muggle}}s wind up saving the day.
168	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
169	** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E22TheGift The Gift]]", Buffy has defeated [[BigBad Glory]], but Glory reverts to the form of her human host Ben, and Buffy can't kill an innocent human even if that means a powerful Demon God will be able to return to menace everybody again. Enter Giles.
170	--->'''Ben:''' She could've killed me.\
171	'''Giles:''' No, she couldn't. Never. And sooner or later Glory will re-emerge, and... make Buffy pay for that mercy. And the world with her. Buffy even knows that... and still she couldn't take a human life. She's a hero, you see. [[ImNotAHeroIm She's not like us]].\
172	'''Ben:''' [[OhCrap ...us?]]\
173	''(Giles calmly smothers Ben to death)''
174	** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS6E22Grave Grave]]", Buffy is stuck in a cave with Dawn fighting off creatures as Willow attempts to destroy the world. It ultimately ends up being Xander who saves everyone by bringing out Willow's humanity [[ThePowerOfFriendship through a speech touching on their friendship throughout the years.]]
175	** In "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen Chosen]]", it's Spike (with a sunlight reflecting amulet supplied by Wolfram and Hart) who takes care of the Uber-Vamps. Said amulet had nothing to do with the main protagonist or anything that had occurred during the entire season, ''it was brought in at the last minute from Series/{{Angel}}''.
176	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the memorably creepy episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E10Midnight "Midnight"]], the Doctor ends up spending the crisis at a loss to understand the EldritchAbomination menacing everyone, slowly earning the suspicions of the other passengers, and then paralyzed and totally at the mercy of a group of humans driven to murderous paranoia who are now convinced that killing him is the only way to fix things. The entity is only defeated when the hostess [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices herself]] to throw it and its stolen body out of the shuttle, saving the Doctor's life.
177	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has a partial example. Even though [[spoiler:Arya Stark is ''a'' protagonist, she's had little to do with the war against the Army of the Dead and her cousin Jon Snow, who has been leading the efforts against them, is the prophesized hero who would lead the living to victory. Instead, Melisandre reveals through a prior statement that Arya was the prophesized hero minutes before the end of the episode, wherin Arya sneaks past the White Walkers and kills the Night King, causing his army to collapse, and ending the war while Jon is stuck trying not to be killed by the Night King's {{Dracolich}}.]]
178	* ''Series/{{Jeremiah}}'': Jeremiah (whose name is the title), Kurdy, and eventually Mr. Smith are the wandering heroes the show focuses on and Markus is the BigGood, but none of them are primarily responsible for defeating either major villainous force.
179	** At the beginning of season 2, Lee Chen and Meghan take out the Valhalla Sector by infecting them with the Big Death and rescue a kidnapped Markus and Jeremiah in the process.
180	** While Jeremiah gets a climactic battle with Mr. Sims in the series finale, the rest of the Army of Daniel would have still attacked and killed many heroes if not for a MookLieutenant overhearing Sims acknowledge that their revered leader is an invented figurehead, causing that man to spread the word and the soldiers to turn on their leaders.
181	* ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'' has a particularly cruel version of this. Throughout the entire series, we are told that Merlin will guide Arthur into being the king of Camelot. Together they will unite Albion, legalize magic and rule through a new Golden Age. However, [[spoiler: Arthur dies in the GrandFinale and Merlin goes into self-imposed exile, leaving Queen Guinevere to accomplish all these goals.]] While the two set the framework for Albion and indeed make it possible, they aren't the ones to achieve that HappyEnding.
182	* ''Series/NoOrdinaryFamily'': In his first appearance, Detective Cordero and not Jim is the one to ultimately stop a murderous vigilante by drawing him out with a sting operation and then regretfully shooting him when he elects to commit SuicideByCop.
183	* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', Carol is set up as the one who will ultimately [[spoiler:kill Alpha]]. [[spoiler:Negan does it instead.]] That said, Carol freed Negan from jail, meaning she still played an important role in [[spoiler: Alpha's demise]].
184	[[/folder]]
185
186	[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
187	* In the ''Literature/BookOfJudges'', Barak is chosen by God to defeat Sisera, head general of the Canaanites. However, he refuses to go into battle without the prophetess Deborah, who therefore prophesizes that Sisera will be killed by an unnamed woman. After Barak defeats Sisera in battle, Sisera flees and is taken in by Jael, a random woman living in a nearby tent. After she feeds him, [[SlainInTheirSleep he falls asleep, and then she drives a tent peg through his skull]].
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Theatre]]
191	* In ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'', the protagonist Bobby Strong is the leader of a group of freedom fighters who is unceremoniously murdered halfway through Act II by Caldwell B. Cladwell, the CorruptCorporateExecutive who runs the town through its public restrooms. It's Cladwell's daughter Hope who leads Bobby's followers in the revolution that takes down her father's regime.
192	[[/folder]]
193
194	[[folder:Video Games]]
195	* In ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', one of the biggest turning points of the plot is Sephiroth's FaceHeelTurn at Nibelheim, leading to a climactic showdown between Zack and Sephiroth. However, Zack is defeated and it ultimately falls to Cloud, who up until this point has been a bit character, to finish him off.
196	* One possible sequence of events in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'': If Iji has fewer than 270 kills at the end of sector 9, she can take a detour into Deep Sector and meet up with a rebellious Assassin who has political issues with the level boss. If she does, the Assassin will join her in the ensuing boss fight, and deal the fatal blow to the boss, keeping Iji's hands [[TechnicalPacifist technically clean]]. Until 1.7, this was the only way of getting through the level with [[PacifistRun zero kills]].
197	* The GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' has the protagonists stop the BigBad and his meddling with the flow of time, but the overarching desertification problem is beyond their capacity to solve. Instead, two scientists they helped during a sidequest are hinted to eventually make a breakthrough and stop the problem. The ''Perfect Chronology'' UpdatedRerelease defies the trope as the heroes confront the monster at the source of the desertification and kill it, ending the problem on their own.
198	* {{Inverted\|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' when [[spoiler:Ryu is the one to finish off M. Bison, even though their conflict has never been as personal compared to other characters against the latter such as Chun-Li, Guile, or Charlie/Nash (who does help Ryu through his HeroicSacrifice)]].
199	* A core gameplay mechanic in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue''. Whenever you have a neutralize or destroy mission it doesn't matter who or what does the neutralizing and destroying, and [[ImmersiveSim there are a lot of common scenarios where NPCs will start murdering each other without needing you to instigate it first]]. It's not uncommon to start a level and almost immediately be told that you've completed one or more of your missions. While rarer this can even extend to [[FinalBoss The Mayor]], where if someone else kills them first you'll just need to go pick the hat up off the ground [[spoiler:or if they happened to knock it into a pit then it will immediately trigger the final cutscene with zero input from the player]].
200	* The ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' is very fond of this trope due to the fact that while the main characters do something, they're not the ones who ultimately save the day.
201	** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky SC'', while Estelle and her group do manage to stop [[BigBad Weissmann]] and his plans, [[LateArrivalSpoiler the one who ultimately kills him]] is [[BreakoutCharacter Kevin]], who becomes the protagonist of ''The Third''.
202	** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsToAzure'', [[spoiler:while Lloyd and the SSS do save [=KeA=] and return her to normal, ultimately they cannot stop Erebonia occupying Crossbell at the end of the game since [=KeA=] no longer becomes Crossbell's deterrent against both the Erebonian empire and Calvard republic.]]
203	** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel II'', [[spoiler:while Class VII do manage to save Crown Prince Cedric, they're not the ones who can stop the CivilWar. That's all on Osborne and Rufus who reveals himself to be the MoleInCharge of the Noble Alliance and ends up arresting [[BigBadWannabe Duke Cayenne]]. [[LukeIAmYourFather Osborne]] then pins the accomplishment of ending the CivilWar on Rean so that he ends up becoming [[FakeUltimateHero Erebonia's national hero]], "[[RedBaron the Ashen Chevalier]]". Rean definitely isn't happy about this arrangement but because he's in possession of a [[HumongousMecha Divine Knight]], it serves as a deterrent against Calvard when Erebonia occupies Crossbell as depicted above at ''Ao's'' entry]].
204	* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII'', you're supposed to resolve the Fawn storyline by investigating the Oracle during the trial recess, finding that the villains have co-opted it for their benefit, and resetting it so your companion is acquitted. You can instead completely ignore this and return to the trial, whereupon your companion is found guilty and sentenced to death... and then a group of rebel [=NPCs=] barge in, reveal that the trial is corrupt, and make the Oracle give a true verdict instead, resulting in the acquittal. It's hardly heroic, but you [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing don't have to do anything at all]].
205	[[/folder]]
206
207	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
208	* In ''VisualNovel/BladesOfLightAndShadow'', unlike in Book 1 where Raine personally finishes off the BigBad, in Book 2 the one who does so is [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Valax]], who [[HeelFaceTurn comes to realize the error]] of her creator's evil ways]].
209	[[/folder]]
210
211	[[folder:Web Comics]]
212	* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', being so fond of an AntiClimax, ends with the Light Warriors not defeating FinalBoss Chaos. Instead, it's White Mage and three other such healers - as payoff to a BrickJoke set up in the first pages of a comic that ran for over 1000!
213	* In ''Webcomic/DMOfTheRings'' the three remaining players in the game, playing Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, get very annoyed that for all their hard work, victory or defeat in the campaign comes down to a dice roll by the DM for whether or not Frodo, now an offscreen NPC after the hobbits' players left to play ''TabletopGame/StarWarsD20'', can throw the Ring into Mount Doom.
214	* Only three of the major villains in ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' were directly defeated by the protagonists, and they were {{Harmless Villain}}s. The rest were all taken out by allies or -- in one case -- a former BigBad.
215	* ''Webcomic/WildeLife'': The author has noted with some amusement how early on, fans were always wondering "how is [[WeirdnessMagnet Oscar]] going to solve this problem?," when in fact, Oscar pretty much ''never'' solves the main conflict -- usually, it's [[OurMagesAreDifferent Eliza]] or [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Cliff]] who fights off the opponent.
216	[[/folder]]
217
218	[[folder:Web Video]]
219	* ''WebVideo/XInXMinutes'': In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders (Part 2) in 9 minutes'', instead of Jotaro like the manga, DIO is defeated by [[spoiler:[[SparedByAdaptation Iggy]]]] through [[spoiler:[[{{Fartillery}} a fart at his face that makes him blow up]]]].
220	[[/folder]]
221
222	[[folder:Western Animation]]
223	* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'': In the final battles with the show's two most important villains, [[BigBad the Huntsman]] and [[GreaterScopeVillain the Dark Dragon]], it's not Jake, but his LoveInterest Rose who saves the day on both occasions.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': In "Sellouts", the Greens' stand is going broke due to not getting as many customers, so they try several methods to sell everything which fail. It's ''Gloria'' who ends up saving the stand, because she remembers she took a picture of one of their chickens which went viral, inspiring them to advertise their stand on social media which in turn makes them even more popular. She even makes a more noticeable sign for the roof so it now fits in with the others.
225	* Justified in ''WesternAnimation/GodzillaTheSeries'', where the titular kaiju will be occupied fighting the MonsterOfTheWeek, while his human allies attempt to find a solution to stop the other monster/creature's rampage.
226	* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'' is a recurrent PlayedForLaughs example. The opening titles and narrative generally play off Gadget as the one going after Doctor Claw and his MAD agents. In reality, Gadget is more often than not a UselessProtagonist, with his niece Penny and dog Brain being the ones to do the actual competent sleuthing behind the scenes with no one the wiser. It's pretty much a role reversal whenever Penny fails and Gadget ends up stopping MAD himself (usually by accidental buffoonery).
227	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': It's Ron Stoppable and Drakken who defeat the Lorwardians in the GrandFinale.
228	* Often used on ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' for RuleOfFunny. "WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys" has a double-whammy for one. First of all the villain isn't defeated by the heroes, but by the DamselInDistress, who beats him up even as she calls for help. By the time the Dover Boys arrive to finish the job, they only succeed in knocking each other out. Second, the Dover Boys don't get the girl in the end; instead, she goes with the old guy in the OldTimeyBathingSuit that keeps popping in and out during the film for seemingly no reason.
229	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
230	** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2]]", the Mane 6 are captured by the [[ZergRush army of Changelings]] before they can retrieve the Elements of Harmony. Instead it is Cadence and Shining Armor who combine their powers to use a [[ThePowerOfLove love powered energy barrier]] to blast the Changelings out of Canterlot.
231	** In [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 The Crystal Empire - Part 2]]", Twilight and Spike successfully find the Crystal Heart hidden by King Sombra, but just before Twilight could take it, she is trapped by Sombra's crystal. [[AllUpToYou Spike, the only one who was open at the time]], was the one who took the heart and delivers it to Cadance just in time to defeat Sombra, which turns out to be the lesson Twilight learns from Celestia and in turn passes her test.
232	** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E2TheCutieMapPart2 The Cutie Map - Part 2]]", Starlight runs away with the Mane Six's cutie marks. Four town ponies who just got their own marks back catch up to her in time, using their special talents to travel faster than the talent-suppressed Mane Six could.
233	** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E2TheCrystallingPart2 The Crystalling - Part 2]]", Shining Armor is the one to persuade the crowd to evacuate, after three of the Mane Six can't get through to them.
234	** The main premise of the season six 2-parter finale is to have a gang of redeemed adversaries to the Mane 6 go and rescue them, along with the rulers of Equestria, from the Changelings. Discord, one of the redeemed villains, lampshades this.
235	--->'''Discord''': Well, isn't this quite the combination of secondary characters.
236	** The ''Tree of Harmony'' becomes this twice in Season 8. First in the infamous "The Mean 6" when it quickly recognizes the mane characters' [[EvilDoppelganger Evil Doppelgangers]] as fraud and immediately drains the spell that gave them life right out of them. Done again in the finale "School Raze" when it uses just enough magic to free the Young Six from getting sent to another world with all the Equestrian magic, so they can restore the magic to Equestria and foil Cozy Glow.
237	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'': In "[[Recap/TheNewScoobyDooMoviesS1E6AGoodMediumIsRare A Good Medium is Rare]]", Ms. Dillard's neighbor loves spying on her house with binoculars in the middle of the night and is quick to call the police when she sees the gang entering through the window. [[RightForTheWrongReasons It turns out that there are real burglars in the house, though]], and the police arrest the thieves before the gang has a chance to trap them.
238	* ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'': In "A Bum Steer for Scooby", a pair of adults capture the primary haunting culprit after his last encounter with the gang and also save the gang during their encounter with another villain. More specifically, the gang lassoes one villain, then TheDragon (an un-costumed goon) lassoes the gang, then gets lassoed himself by Daphne's uncle and the sheriff, who have the main MonsterOfTheWeek handcuffed in the backseat of the sheriff's car.
239	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
240	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E18TheDayTheViolenceDied The Day the Violence Died]]", when Bart and Lisa think of a plan to save Itchy & Scratchy Studios they rush over, only to discover that two previously unseen characters named Lester and Eliza (who look like Bart and Lisa did in ''Series/TheTraceyUllmanShow'' days) have already saved it.
241	--> '''Bart:''' I wasn't the one who solved the problem, and neither was Lisa. There's something unsettling about that...
242	** In the "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E4TreehouseOfHorrorX Treehouse Of Horror X]]" segment "Desperately Xeeking Xena", Bart and Lisa gain superpowers and adopt the identities Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl and start fighting crime. However, they fail to save Creator/LucyLawless from the Collector (Comic Book Guy). She escapes on her own and rescues them.
243	** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS13E22PoppasGotABrandNewBadge Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge]]", Homer, who has started a private security company, is being threatened by local mobster Fat Tony and his gang. As they advance menacingly someone starts shooting and the criminals run away. It tuns out it was Maggie.
244	* In the third season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' which deal with the Turtles' FinalBattle with Ch'rell, the Utrom Shredder (at least until ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever''), the Turtles attempted to stop the Shredder from leaving the Earth and continue his attempt to take over the Utrom homeworld. Despite their best efforts, their final encounter with him, following him entering a new, more powerful exosuit, resulted in them being defeated by the Shredder worse than ever before. Feeling there was no alternative, the Turtles chose to [[TakingYouWithMe blow up the Shredder's starship]] rather than let him spread his evil across the universe. However, it is then that the Utroms arrive, and using space-time technology, pull everyone off the ship before it's destroyed, rendering the Turtles HeroicSacrifice unnecessary, [[AllForNothing along with everything they did since the beginning of the two part finale]]. Following that, the Shredder is finally brought to justice, not by the Turtles, but by the Utroms, who send him into permanent exile for his crimes. Leo spent half the next season [[MyGreatestFailure dealing with the failure]] to stop the Shredder by growing angrier and edgier than Raphael.
245	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': Near the end of the "More the Meets the Eye" pilot 3-parter, [[TheHero Optimus Prime]] gets shot down while trying to pursue the Decepticon space cruiser. When the other Autobots regroup with him, he notices that [[ChekhovsGun Mirage is missing]]. The scene then shifts back to the Decepticons [[spoiler: right as Mirage de-cloaks and guns down the ship's controls. He bails as the ship plummets into the ocean, taking the Decepticons with it]].
246	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': The war between the Autobots and Decepticons has been centralized around the conflict between [[TheParagon Optimus Prime]] and Megatron. However, in the series finale when Megatron is about to kill a downed Optimus, he is stabbed through the chest by Bumblebee with the Star Saber, finishing off the tyrant and ending the war.
247	-->'''[[SuddenlyVoiced Bumblebee]]''': You took my voice. You will never rob anyone, of anything, ever again.
248	[[/folder]]

Context Main / NonProtagonistResolver