History Main / DefeatingTheUndefeatable

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom: WesternAnimation/TheUltimateEnemy'': Dark Danny was shown to be a juggernaut that seemed unstoppable, with Future Valerie, Danny's enemies, and even an army of ghost fighters unable to stand against him. He was like this to such a degree that the Observants believed that killing Danny was the only way to keep him from coming into existence. However, through the use of some Fenton weapons and his newly acquired Ghostly Wail, Danny was able to at least weaken his evil self enough to trap him in the Fenton Thermos.

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': In ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', one BadFuture depicts the Hulk (now a conduit of the One Below All) having wiped out all life in the universe, so as to be able to survive into the next. The last thing he killed? Mr. Immortal, the guy whose entire power is ResurrectiveImmortality, and who was given his powers specifically so that he could survive to the NaturalEndOfTime. How he did this is unseen (it's implied he ate his soul in some fashion), but it's quite a chilling note on just how horrifyingly powerful he's become.

* Franchise/MarvelUniverse character Champion of the Universe. He goes around the universe challenging people to boxing matches and was undefeated until [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Thing]] stood up to him. Not that Thing beat him physically; Thing was just too stubborn to stay down after getting knocked out, so the Champion conceded. More recently ComicBook/SheHulk beat him too.
** Champion of the Universe is considered by many fans to be a subversion (or very bad example) of this as he has pretty much never defeated ''anyone'' with a name.
*** He has defeated Adam Warlock, ComicBook/BetaRayBill, Drax the Destroyer, the Silver Surfer and ''Gladiator''. He handily beat She-Hulk as well; however, she then spent a month working her ass off (in human form) and bulked up impressively...and realized the Infinity Gem he was using could be counted as a "weapon" -- and was therefore against the rules -- and beat the tar out of him. With the Gem, he is ''undefeatable''. Without it, he's tough, but not impossibly so. Gladiator is quick to note that any of them could have beaten him at that point, to which She-Hulk responds by... saying something outrageously sexist.
*** He is apparently defeated for good when Titania, armed with the Gem, picked up a mountain and squashed him under it. He's immortal, but without the Gem, [[AndIMustScream he's not strong enough to free himself]].

* In ''ComicBook/TheGreatDarknessSaga'', the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes manages to defeat ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}. Even though he wasn't destroyed for good, the mere fact that he was beaten and forced to retreat is impressive.

* In ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', one BadFuture depicts the Hulk (now a conduit of the One Below All) having wiped out all life in the universe, so as to be able to survive into the next. The last thing he killed? Mr. Immortal, the guy whose entire power is ResurrectiveImmortality, and who was given his powers specifically so that he could survive to the NaturalEndOfTime. How he did this is unseen (it's implied he ate his soul in some fashion), but it's quite a chilling note on just how horrifyingly powerful he's become.

* Manute from ''ComicBook/SinCity'' was TheJuggernaut of the series. At the end of ''A Dame To Kill For'', Dwight had to resort to shooting Manute several times, kicking him off a roof, and then having Miho pin him to the pavement by shoving swords into his arms. This did not kill him, nor did it even knock him out. It got him out of the way nonetheless. He's killed in a hail of gunfire in the next volume, ''The Big Fat Kill''. In the extended cut of the movie, this was changed to being bisected by Miho.
* Defeating characters who are considered impossible to beat is ComicBook/SquirrelGirl's shtick.

** "ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman1961": Lex Luthor manages to kill his nemesis Superman.

* Tai Lung in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''. So powerful that not even an army of rhinos, the Furious Five, or ''his own master'' could stop him. Po defeating him is what finally secures his status as [[TheChosenOne the Dragon Warrior]]. Even Po wins primarily by chance; as a number of commentators have noted, the way he's built as a fighter makes him exactly the wrong person for Tai Lung to fight. For instance, [[spoiler: Tai Lung heavily favors nerve strikes that even masters find very difficult to counter, and Po is fat enough to be completely immune to them]]. Even then, it's demonstrated that Tai Lung is entirely focused on getting the Dragon Scroll, and takes a significant pummelling in the process. When he actually bothers to focus on Po in earnest, he flattens him... until he finds out the truth about the Dragon Scroll.

* Warhak, the villain from the GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', claimed to be 'the most fierce warrior in the galaxy', indicating that he had conquered hundreds of planets with little resistance. He even managed to knock out both Kim and ''Shego'' with a single punch. In the end, both he and his battlemate Warmonga[[note]]who herself had proven tough enough to take on both Kim and Shego (while the former was wearing her battlesuit), and was defeated by [[SnipeHunt trickery rather than combat]] in her previous appearance[[/note]] were destroyed by Ron when he called upon his Mystical Monkey Power.

* Manga/JujutsuKaisen: Satoru Gojo is the greatest sorcerer alive in the current era. Born with Infinity technique and the Six Eyes ocular enhancement, he has unparalleled speed, an impenetrable offense, and his attacks make even the elite of the elite double over in pain; every other sorcerer who's said to have the greatest aspect to their abilities(Naobito's speed, Mei Mei's offensive power) is only said to be the best ''after'' Satoru Gojo. [[spoiler: Then Sukuna kills him]].

* Manga/JujutsuKaisen: Satoru Gojo is the greatest sorcerer alive in the current era. born with Infinity technique and the Six Eyes ocular enhancement, he has unparalleled speed, and impenetrable offense, and his attack make even the elite of the elite double over in pain; every other sorcerer who's said to have the greatest aspect to their abilities(Naobito's speed, Mei Mei's offensive power) is only said to be the best ''after'' Satoru Gojo. [[spoiler: Then Sukuna kills him]].

* "Manga/JujutsuKaisen": Satoru Gojo is the greatest sorcerer alive in the current era. born with Infinity technique and the Six Eyes ocular enhancement, he has unparalleled speed, and impenetrable offense, and his attack make even the elite of the elite double over in pain; every other sorcerer who's said to have the greatest aspect to their abilities(Naobito's speed, Mei Mei's offensive power) is only said to be the best "after" Satoru Gojo. [[spoiler: Then Sukuna kills him]].

** [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in the ''Scarlet and Violet'' DLC "The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero" as Kieran constantly loses to the player, not only in battle, but also in befriending Ogerpon, and goes off the deep end. This leads to him almost accidentially destroying the Paledea region when he loses control of Terapagos after Terastalizing him.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': This is the main focus of each FinalBattle throughout every StoryArc. The main [=JoJo=] protagonist and their allies battle against a BigBad who possesses an [[StoryBreakerPower ability]] that surpasses all of those used by fought [[VillainOfTheWeek adversaries]], making them virtually invincible. The heroes would engage in [[BattleOfWits an intricate fight]] using their [[FightingSpirit Stand]] to circumvent their opponent's ability until they've finally delivered the finishing attack to defeat them.

* Franchise/{{Superman}}:

** While ComicBook/LexLuthor's yet to succeed in destroying Franchise/{{Superman}}, he has come very close, and has bested several other nigh-godlike beings, including the Crime Syndicate's Ultraman.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Three villains in ''Manga/DragonBall'' and ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' (King Piccolo, Frieza, and Buu) were known to be nearly unstoppable and had been terrorizing the world/galaxy/universe for ages; eventually all three of these were defeated by Goku.

* In ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'', we have WBA Featherweight Champion Ricardo Martinez, the "living legend", who is just ''made'' of this trope. Point. by. point. [[spoiler: Eiji Date, the former Japanese champion, local RetiredBadass and the only Japanese boxer to defeat Ippo in an official fight was defeated ''twice'' by him.]]

* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', after [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Kars]] uses the [[MacGuffin Red Stone of Aja]] to reach his [[UltimateLifeForm ultimate being form]], it's repeatedly emphasized that he has become completely immortal and unbeatable, and that 'no one will ever defeat him'. Indeed, he seems to be either immune or capable of [[VivaLaEvolution adapting]] to everything the heroes try, until, in his final battle with Joseph, a volcanic eruption blasts him into space where he is [[AndIMustScream trapped forever]].

* At the start of ''Manga/InitialD'', the Akagi Red Suns were undefeated in the world of street racing, even as they went around Japan challenging other racing teams on their home turf. This all changed when they challenged [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Takumi and his Toyota Trueno AE86]] in a downhill race on Akina.
** On the flipside, Project D has yet to be defeated legitimately (Takumi got defeated a few times, but most of his defeats are technical).

* In ''Manga/SpecialA'' Hikari's goal is to beat her rival/LoveInterest, Kei at something. ''Anything''. Unfortunately, Kei's TheAce and is undefeatable at ''everything''. The only person to ever beat him is BigBad Yahiro, who cheated.

* The ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' franchise's protagonists tend to make a habit of this, starting with a duel against Seto Kaiba...
** Yami Yugi's losses could be counted on one hand, and even then they were always the result of the opponent cheating or manipulating the duel in some way [[spoiler:until the end of the series when he loses fairly in a duel with Yugi.]]
* ''Manga/YuGiOhGX'': Played with in the manga version. Judai keeps the habit early on, including a 2-on-1 victory against Manjoume (because the latter refused to work with his spirit card, whereas Judai and Winged Kuriboh are inseperable). [[spoiler: Manjoume then returns the favor in the TournamentArc... only to be defeated by the much more [[AlwaysABiggerFish undefeatable Marufuji Ryo]].]]
* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
** When Team Taiyo managed to summon [[AwesomeButImpractical Zushin the Sleeping Giant]], a card with a ridiculously hard summoning condition but extremely overpowered effects, everyone acted like the duel was over, as they couldn't see how Yusei could counter it. Being that it was immune to card effects, automatically negated the effects of every monster it battled with, and its ATK would [[StrongAsTheyNeedToBe always be 1000 points higher than whatever monster it was battling]], this was understandable. However, Yusei shocked everyone by finding a way to defeat it anyway, by granting his Stardust Dragon an effect from a different card, that couldn't be negated by Zushin.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'':
** Kaito/Kite had this attitude during his duel with V/Quinton. (Of course, while V's card, Number 9: Dyson Sphere, was a ''very'' powerful card that sure ''seemed'' undefeatable, V's claim that it was never defeated [[FridgeLogic had an obvious flaw:]] he clearly could not have used it more than once or twice in the past, seeing as a duel using a Duel Monster the size of the sun would likely have been witnessed. So his boast that it had "never been defeated" was probably meaningless. Unless one considers the possibility of V using this card in Duels not involving realistic holograms, but seeing how the series treats Duels, Especially ones involving Numbers, as SeriousBusiness with RuleOfCool, it's improbable.)

** Speaking of Kaito, Kaito himself ends up defeated by the hands of Tron, something that no characters has ever done since the beginning of the series and no other character would defeat Kaito in all subsequent duels.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' had two examples with Yuya's victories over [[AlternateSelf Jack Atlas]] and [[TheDreaded Yuri]].
** In Season 2, Jack was undefeated for three years before the Lancers arrived in the City and he personally proved it by crushing Yuya in their first match and beating Sergey who was using a deck especially made to counter Synchro and Fusion monsters.
** Yuri was TheDreaded for the longest time and anyone that met him reacted with fear or distain. Yuri finally proved it when he took down 6 of the series' strongest duelists in Season 3 before Yuya was able to barely beat him.

* In ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' games, Nineball is known for having held the position of #1 pilot the longest, thus those who can beat him are famed as "Ninebreakers".
** The arena champion from Armored Core 3, Ace, reached his position without suffering a single loss.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the four active members of the Red Lotus are described as undefeatable, with no single person having a chance of defeating any of them individually, much less the four of them together. However, Tenzin actually comes close to proving this wrong in his one-on-one battle with their leader Zaheer, as he seems to have the upper hand thanks to his years of experience and mastery bending air outmatching Zaheer's skilled but inexperienced style, but Zaheer's reinforcements show up before the battle is over.
** In the finale, [[spoiler:Mako]] actually does manage to defeat one of them, [[spoiler:Ming-Hua]], in single combat, through [[spoiler:using his lightning to electrocute her, taking advantage of the fact that she was submersed in the water she used for her own bending]].

* Downplayed in ''Anime/BeybladeBurst'', but Valt becomes the first person to Burst Spryzen in episode 15, even though he didn't win the match.

* In Star Wars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed, by the end of the game [[TheDogBitesBack Starkiller]], in the canonical Light Side Ending, becomes the only character in the entire Star Wars franchise to take on, physically overpower and defeat both Dark Lords of the Sith, [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon Darth Vader]] and [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] respectively in a climactic ThroneRoomThrowdown aboard the first Death Star. Justified, in that as a powerful Sith Apprentice he was directly trained in a grueling manner in the Dark Side and Sith arts [[TykeBomb since childhood]] by Darth Vader, for the purpose of assassinating Vader's enemies, including remnant Jedi, as well as to help him overthrow the Emperor. Furthermore, during the battle on the Death Star [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder both Sidious and Vader]] are evidently hoping to use Starkiller to kill and replace the other Sith Lord, thus [[DividedWeFall not both facing him at the same time]], in which case they almost certainly would have beaten him.

** ''Film/RockyBalboa'': Rocky [[RuleOfThree is in retirement]], but finds his that his life is unfulfilled and he's caught dealing with unsatisfied anger issues. Thus despite being in his 60s, he [[TenMinuteRetirement wants to climb back into the ring]] and vent some of those bad feelings. He does so just in time to, just like in the first movie, fight to a close loss against the dominating and unbeaten world champion, Mason "The Line" Dixon. In [[Film/{{Creed}} the next film]], his retirement finally sticks, and he acts as a mentor to Apollo Creed's son, Adonis.

* In Star Wars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed, by the end of the game [[TheDogBitesBack Starkiller]], in the canonical Light Side Ending, becomes the only character in the entire Star Wars franchise to take on, physically overpower and defeat both Dark Lords of the Sith, [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon Darth Vader]] and [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] respectively in a climactic ThroneRoomThrowdown aboard the first Death Star. Justified, in that as a powerful Sith Apprentice he was directly trained in a grueling manner in the Dark Side and Sith arts [[TykeBomb since childhood]] by Darth Vader, for the purpose of assassinating Vader's enemies, including helping him overthrow the Emperor. Furthermore, during the battle on the Death Star [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder both Sidious and Vader]] are evidently hoping to use Starkiller to kill and replace the other Sith Lord, thus [[DividedWeFall not both facing him at the same time]], in which case they almost certainly would have beaten him.

** Throughout ''R1'', while the Autobots and Black Knights would often get one over on the Decepticons during small fights for weapons or Energon desposits, a full-scale battle would often end in the Decepticons' favor, especially during the Black Rebellion, when the Cons overthrow Britannia and name themselves the new rulers of Earth. In ''R2'' however, the heroes are finally able to hand the Decepticons their first irrefutable loss when they manage to launch the Ark and save it from being destroyed, cripple and sink the Nemesis, and kill several high-ranking Cons.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

A regular scourge in the ring: a character so powerful, so unstoppable, that not even the greatest of fighters can overcome his wrath. Be it a GentleGiant, an ArrogantKungFuGuy, or TheBigGuy with a mean streak, this character is an unbeatable scourge that other fighters either dread facing or anticipate fighting in order to gain fame for being the first to beat him. However, they all fail. But nothing lasts forever...

** Fans theorized that this was why Whitebeard was called "the World's Strongest Man". Obviously, someone's going to rise to his level and beat him in battle, most likely the main character or a future BigBad. [[spoiler:It actually took an entire army, including all three [[OneManArmy Admirals]] and five of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, a regretted ambush from one of Whitebeard's allies, and Blackbeard's entire crew to [[RasputinianDeath kill him]].]]

** If you tangle with the Four Emperors and get any sort of victory at all, it's already a massive credit to your strength. [[spoiler:Defeating the single most powerful subordinate one of the Emperors has, one so idolized not even his colleagues and siblings thought he could ever be defeated and thought of him as pretty much perfection incarnate, definitely qualifies as this. And yet Luffy tangled with Big Mom, and took down [[TheAce Katakuri]], a billion-plus-Belli-bounty nightmare, and ''none'' of the Big Mom Pirates could believe it, not even the ones that directly witnessed it. Ironically, the only person who even accepted the fact he could be and did get defeated was [[GracefulLoser Katakuri himself]], who found Luffy to be the WorthyOpponent he never realized he needed. While Big Mom wouldn't be defeated in the Whole Cake Island arc, she would find herself ultimately losing against the teamup of Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law in the following Land of Wano arc, which was then followed by Luffy defeating another Emperor, Kaidou]].

** Shizuri Mugino was ranked the fourth most powerful esper in Academy City, then Shiage Hamazura, a guy with no powers at all, tricks her into blowing herself up. All thanks to his ingenuity and determination, he beats her in both rematches as well.

* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Accelerator. The most powerful esper in Academy City, no one has ever managed to land so much as a single blow on him. Then Touma Kamijou comes along, manages to negate Accelerator's power, and defeats him in combat by punching his lights out. Touma has a tendency to do this to other people as well, all thanks to his power to nullify anything.

* In Star Wars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed, by the end of the game [[TheDogBitesBack Starkiller]], in the canonical Light Side Ending, becomes the only character in the entire Star Wars franchise to take on, physically overpower and defeat both Dark Lords of the Sith, [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon Darth Vader]] and [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] respectively in a climactic ThroneRoomThrowdown aboard the first Death Star. Justified, in that as a powerful Sith Apprentice he was directly trained in a grueling manner in the Dark Side and Sith arts since childhood by Darth Vader, for the purpose of assassinating Vader's enemies, including helping him overthrow the Emperor. Furthermore, during the battle on the Death Star [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder both Sidious and Vader]] are evidently hoping to use Starkiller to kill and replace the other, thus [[DividedWeFall not both facing him at the same time]], in which case they almost certainly would have beaten him.

* In VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed, by the end of the game [[TheDogBitesBack Starkiller]], in the canonical Light Side Ending, becomes the only character in the entire Star Wars franchise to take on, physically overpower and defeat both Dark Lords of the Sith, [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon Darth Vader]] and [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] respectively in a climactic ThroneRoomThrowdown aboard the first Death Star. Justified, in that as a powerful Sith Apprentice he was directly trained in a grueling manner in the Dark Side and Sith arts since childhood by Darth Vader, for the purpose of assassinating Vader's enemies, including helping him overthrow the Emperor. Furthermore, during the battle on the Death Star [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder both Sidious and Vader]] are evidently hoping to use Starkiller to kill and replace the other, thus [[DividedWeFall not both facing him at the same time]], in which case they almost certainly would have beaten him.

* In VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed, by the end of the game [[TheDogBitesBack Starkiller]], in the canonical Light Side Ending, becomes the only character in the entire Star Wars franchise to take on, physically overpower and defeat both Dark Lords of the Sith, [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon Darth Vader]] and [[BigBad Darth Sidious]] respectively in a climactic ThroneRoomThrowdown aboard the first Death Star. Justified, in that as a powerful Sith Apprentice he was directly trained in a grueling manner in the Dark Side and Sith arts since childhood by Darth Vader, for the purpose of assassinating Vader's enemies, including helping him overthrow the Emperor. At the same time, during the battle on the Death Star [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder both Sidious and Vader]] are hoping to use Starkiller to kill and replace the other, thus [[DividedWeFall not both facing him at the same time]], in which case they almost certainly would have beaten him.