History Main / OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow

* By the time that the story of {{Starcraft}}: Brood Wars wrapped up Kerrigan was, and I quote, "the Queen Bitch of the Universe". With the UED Expeditionary Force destroyed, Mengsk gradually trying to reassert Dominion control over the Terrans and the Protoss race otherwise left in disarray Kerrigan and the Zerg were left as the dominant force in the Koprulu Sector. As a result Kerrigan ''[[AGodAmI had become too powerful]]'', meaning that the Zerg were in a prime position to "win" again in ''Starcraft 2'' unless [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt they killed off Kerrigan]] or pulled out some kind of {{Deus Ex Machina}} to otherwise re-level the playing field. Sure enough, when ''Wings of Liberty'' rolled around [[spoiler: Jim Raynor and company get their hands on an [[MacGuffin ancient Xel'Naga artifact]] that they use to de-infest Kerrigan and generally bitch-slap the Zerg.]]
** In all fairness, though, this particular Deus Ex Machina received more of a set-up than ''most''. For the first half of the Terran campaign [[spoiler: there are several missions that revolve collecting parts of the Xel'Naga artifact with the intention of selling them off to the Möebius Foundation for money to support Raynor's rebellion effort. It just isn't until later into the game that you find out [[ChekhovsGun what it was meant to be used for.]]]]

* ''{{Bleach}}''. Pretty much just ''Bleach'', period. The amount of opponents [[TheHero Ichigo]] has so far won over using a [[DeusExMachina last-minute power level boost/secret technique pulled out of nowhere]] lies in somewhere around 50% of everyone he's ever fought. BigBad [[LateArrivalSpoiler Aizen]] eventually ends up defeated in this manner: [[spoiler:After Ichio gains a new ShonenUpgrade out of nowhere, he overpowers Aizen through two transformations and then decides to finish off Aizen with [[DeadlyForbiddenTechnique a super secret special attack that burns out all his power by using it]]. [[WhatAnIdiot The attack fails to kill Aizen]]. As Aizen gloats and prepares to finish off the now depowered Ichigo, he is then suddenly defeated out of nowhere by Urahara having injected a secret trap into Aizen's MacGuffin off-screen twenty issues ago when it looked like Aizen had defeated him.]]
** Another famous example previous to that one was Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra isn't as powerful as someone who Aizen killed effortlessly ([[spoiler:Halibel]]), yet he completely outclasses Ichigo in speed and strength, [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer which is all that Ichigo has]]. What follows is six chapters of Ichigo getting [[CurbstompBattle curbstomped]] and killed in a way that [[KilledOffForReal a reality warper couldn't bring him back from]]. Then Ichigo gets up, becomes a super-powered Hollow monster with literally no explanation, and [[DeusExMachina beats Ulquiorra without even trying]].

* ''{{Bleach}}''. Pretty much just ''Bleach'', period. The amount of opponents [[TheHero Ichigo]] has so far won over using a [[DeusExMachina last-minute power level boost/secret technique pulled out of nowhere]] lies in somewhere around 50% of everyone he's ever fought. BigBad [[LateArrivalSpoiler Aizen]] eventually ends up defeated in this manner: [[spoiler:After Ichio gains a new ShonenUpgrade out of nowhere that burns out all his power by using it, he fights Aizen through two transformations and just barely fails to kill him with it. As he gloats and prepares to finish off Ichigo, Aizen is then suddenly defeated by Urahara having injected a secret trap into Aizen's MacGuffin off-screen twenty issues ago when it looked like Aizen had defeated him.]]
** An already-confirmed example of this trope is during Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra isn't as powerful as someone who Aizen killed effortlessly ([[spoiler: Halibel]]), yet he completely outclasses Ichigo in speed and strength, [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer which is all that Ichigo has]]. What follows is six chapters of Ichigo getting [[CurbstompBattle curbstomped]] and killed in a way that [[KilledOffForReal a reality warper couldn't bring him back from]]. Then Ichigo gets up, becomes a super-powered Hollow monster with literally no explanation, and [[DeusExMachina beats Ulquiorra without even trying]].

* ''{{Bleach}}''. Pretty much just ''Bleach'', period. The amount of opponents [[TheHero Ichigo]] has so far won over using a [[DeusExMachina last-minute power level boost/secret technique pulled out of nowhere]] lies in somewhere around 50% of everyone he's ever fought. BigBad [[LateArrivalSpoiler Aizen]] has ''the'' most broken Shikai ever, namely [[spoiler: absolute control over all senses.]] Furthermore, he has demonstrated an ability to [[spoiler:[[CurbstompBattle curbstomp]] every captain and lieutenant the Gotei 13 has to offer, save Yamamoto, who is presumably incapacitated and/or dead.]] He is written by [[XanatosGambit Xana]][[XanatosRoulette tos]]. This trope is beginning to look very possible.

* At the moment, the whole ''{{Berserk}}'' story reeks of this. Miura will have to seriously upgrade Guts and his whole party if he wants the FinalBattle to be believable. Let's see: they have to face [[ManipulativeBastard Griffith]], [[TheLegionsOfHell his army of Apostles]], [[BigBad the 4 Godhands]]. Then there's a possible confrontation with [[spoiler: [[CosmicHorrorStory the Idea Of Evil]]]] and [[EnemyWithin Guts' personal Beast]] will also have to be dealt with. But then again, maybe [[CrapsackWorld it will just stay that way]] since a happy ending is anything but sure in this series.

* At the moment, the whole {{Berserk}} story reeks of this. Miura will have to seriously upgrade Guts and his whole party if he wants the FinalBattle to be believable. Let's see: they have to face [[ManipulativeBastard Griffith]], [[TheLegionsOfHell his army of Apostles]], [[BigBad the 4 Godhands]]. Then there's a possible confrontation with [[spoiler: [[CosmicHorrorStory the Idea Of Evil]]]] and [[EnemyWithin Guts' personal Beast]] will also have to be dealt with. But then again, maybe [[CrapsackWorld it will just stay that way]] since a happy ending is anything but sure in this series.

* By the time that the story of {{Starcraft}}: Brood Wars wrapped up Kerrigan was, and I quote, "the Queen Bitch of the Universe". With the UED Expeditionary Force destroyed, Mengsk gradually trying to reassert Dominion control over the Terrans and the Protoss race otherwise left in disarray Kerrigan and the Zerg were left as the dominant force in the Koprulu Sector. As a result Kerrigan ''[[AndGodAmI had become too powerful]]'', meaning that the Zerg were in a prime position to "win" again in ''Starcraft 2'' unless [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt they killed off Kerrigan]] or pulled out some kind of {{Deus Ex Machina}} to otherwise re-level the playing field. Sure enough, when ''Wings of Liberty'' rolled around [[spoiler: Jim Raynor and company get their hands on an [[MacGuffin ancient Xel'Naga artifact]] that they use to de-infest Kerrigan and generally bitch-slap the Zerg.]]

* ''DoctorWho'' had this in the every finale of the first four seasons of the new series. [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS2E13Doomsday Unlimited armies of Daleks and Cybermen?]] Easy, use something that takes them all out at once. [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E13LastOfTheTimeLords The Master rules the Earth?]] The Doctor is now omnipotent space Jesus (really). [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E13JourneysEnd Another army of Daleks with the power to DESTROY! REALITY! ITSELF!?]] Donna develops [[LeetSpeak 1337]] Time Lord hacking skills and... they explode, somehow. [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E17E18TheEndOfTime The Master has turned everyone on Earth into copies of himself?]] [[spoiler: The Time Lord President Rassilon [[EvilerThanThou fixes it with a flick of his wrist.]]]]

* ''{{Half-Life}} 2 Episode 2'', the Combine Advisor. Something that can throw people with telekinesis and suck out brains? Scary. Something that flies, throws people with TK, paralyzes everyone around it, eats brains, that I can't harm or avoid, and it hates me, and knows where I am? No longer frightening, it's in DeusExMachina's hands now. Since HalfLife doesn't do cutscenes, they have to make do with Scripted Event [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Power To The Max]].

* In the ''{{Sword of Truth}}'' series, the last eight or so books have a constantly advancing horde of Imperial Order soldiers advancing little by little across the New World. The heroes have minor victories here and there, and during the fighting retreat led by Kahlan under [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty Operation F*** Your S*** Up]], the D'Haran army slaughtered the Order by the dozens for every casualty they took, but the Order [[MillionMookMarch had the sheer numbers]] to [[ZergRush overwhelm all opposition]]. In the end, the Imperial Order had cut right through the middle of the Midlands and had advanced to D'Hara, where the only army of consequence left in the New World was holed up in a city on a plateau surrounded on all sides. Even sending cavalry into the Old World to [[MoralDissonance pursue a policy of total war]] as part of Operation F*** Your S*** Up ''Twice'' barely made a dent (partly because said cavalry was fought off by [[spoiler:a witch riding a Dragon]]). The only way the heroes managed to pull out a victory was to find the {{MacGuffin}} from the first book and eventually use it to [[spoiler:create an entirely new world (which is, incidentally, implied to be [[PlanetOfTheApesEnding Earth]]) and magically banish everybody that shared the Imperial Order's philosophies there to live out their lives without magic, wonder or the hope of an afterlife.]]

* Good guys defeated [[LordOfTheRings Lord Sauron]] despite his overwhelming military advantage and insurmauntable corrupting power of the Ring, because one bumbling idiot decided to stage a dance on the edge of a cliff overhanging the fire pit.

* The Fate scenario of ''FateStayNight'' has a badly wounded Shirou and Saber facing down Berserker, a mythological hero who comes back to life the first twelve times he is killed, and cannot be killed twice in the same fashion. Shirou is on his last knees, Berserker has seven lives left and charges... And Shirou is able to suddenly project the magic sword he had been dreaming about throughout the route. The sword, which has up to this point only existed as an image in a dream, turns out to be able to kill Berserker seven times over with a single blow and stop him mid-charge, saving our heroes.

* The Fate scenario of ''FateStayNight'' has a badly wounded Shirou and Saber facing down Berserker, a mythological hero who comes back to life the first twelve times he is killed, and cannot be killed twice in the same fashion. Shirou is on his last knees, Berserker has seven lives left and charges... And Shirou is able to suddenly project the magic sword he had been dreaming about throughout the route. As it turns out, the sword, which has up to this point only existed as an image in a dream, is powerful enough to kill Berserker seven times over with a single blow, for no adequately explored reason.

** ''FinalFantasyIII'', had the exact same thing happen. Killed by final boss, revived by dead super-wizards, HeroicRematch.

** ''FinalFantasyIII'', same trope, different people.

** An already-confirmed example of this trope is during Ichigo's fight with Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra isn't as powerful as someone who Aizen killed effortlessly ([[spoiler: Halibel]]), yet he completely outclasses Ichigo in speed and strength, [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer which is all that Ichigo has]]. What follows is six chapters of Ichigo getting [[CurbstompBattle curbstomped]] and killed in a way that [[KilledOffForReal a reality warper couldn't bring him back from]]. Then Ichigo gets up, [[AssPull becomes a super-powered Hollow monster with literally no explanation]], and [[DeusExMachina beats Ulquiorra without even trying]].

* By the time that the story of {{Starcraft}}: Brood Wars wrapped up Kerrigan was, and I quote, "the Queen Bitch of the Universe". With the UED Expeditionary Force destroyed, Mengsk gradually trying to reassert Dominion control over the Terrans and the Protoss race otherwise left in disarray Kerrigan and the Zerg were left as the dominant force in the Koprulu Sector. As a result Kerrigan ''[[AndGodAmI had become too powerful]]'', meaning that the Zerg were in a prime position to "win" again in ''Starcraft 2'' unless [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt they killed off Kerrigan]] or pulled out some kind of {{Deus Ex Machina}} to otherwise re-level the playing field. Sure enough, when ''Wings of Liberty'' rolled around [[spoiler: Jim Raynor and company used an [[MacGuffin ancient Xel'Naga artifact]] to de-infest Kerrigan.]]

Eventually, the villain is so many standard deviations of power above the heroes that there's absolutely no chance for them to win with any of the capabilities we know them to have. We all know what's coming: a DeusExMachina. The heroes aren't going to save themselves; the ''author'' is going to save them.