History Main / PyrrhicVictory

* In the climax of ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist Waternoose's plan to enslave children for their screams to keep Monsters, Inc., going and end the energy crisis]] is [[EngineeredPublicConfession exposed for all to see]], leading to his arrest. But as he is lead out, [[WhatTheHellHero he warns Sully]] that by trying to keep Boo safe and get her home safely, he has destroyed Monsters, Inc., which no longer has any more screams, and thus doomed Monstropolis to a state of permanent blackout. And indeed, later, all the monsters in the building are standing outside with the company seemingly out of business, and even Sully is worried that his good intentions have cost him his job. Mike tries to cheer him up.

* In ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}'', Aaron Burr kill Alexander Hamilton in their duel, but after it's over Burr realizes that Hamilton had no intention of killing Burr. The duel and Hamilton's death wrecks Burr's political career and weighs heavily on his conscience. Furthermore, Burr (who was once obsessed with upholding the legacy and good name of his parents and grandparents), goes down in history as a villain while Hamilton becomes a martyr.

* Burr kills ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}'' but only it's after does he find out the latter didn't want to kill him. He wrecks his political career and goes down in history as a villain while Hamilton becomes a martyr.

* [[Wrestling/SteveAustin Stone Cold Steve Austin]] defeated Wrestling/OwenHart at Wrestling/{{SummerSlam}} 1997 but not before his opponent dropped him on his head, resulting in a legitimate broken neck and temporary paralysis. Austin would be out of action for months and his wrestling career was shortened by years.

* Any gruesomely tiring or injurious match can be turned into one of these for the WWE Champion thanks to the introduction of the Money in the Bank briefcase. The briefcase can be cashed it at any time for a WWE Championship match, even if the champion is too worn out to properly defend their title. Notably, this is how the first cash-in went, with Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} defeating Wrestling/JohnCena in a short match after a bruised and bloody Cena had just defended the title in an Elimination Chamber match at New Year's Revolution 2006. Other examples include Wrestling/CMPunk beating Wrestling/JeffHardy after winning the title from Edge in a Ladder Match at Extreme Rules 2009, Wrestling/{{Kane}} squashing Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}} after he just retained the title in a grueling match with Wrestling/JackSwagger at Money in the Bank 2010, and Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} beating Wrestling/RomanReigns after he just won a tournament for the vacant title at Survivor Series 2015. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'': The GrandFinale to the New Eighth Doctor Adventures, "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS4E9LucieMiller Lucie Miller]]"/"[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS4E10ToTheDeath To the Death]]" has a massive one. Though the Dalek plan to turn Earth into a plague planet is defeated and the Daleks destroyed, [[spoiler:the Doctor's great-grandson Alex and companion Lucie die in the process. The Doctor is left utterly [[BreakTheCutie broken]] and departs, deciding he needs to stop being so [[StartOfDarkness merciful]]]].

** At the end of [[Film/{{Transformers}} the first movie]], Megatron is destroyed but so is the [=AllSpark=]. And Jazz was torn in half. Optimus and the surviving Autobots mourn the Battle of Mission City that they "won" and so are stuck on Earth for the remainder of the film series since they needed the [=AllSpark=] [[YouCantGoHomeAgain to bring life back to Cybertron]].

* ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}'': The Pandava ultimately win the Kurukshetra War, but the Kuru Kingdom has been utterly ruined, millions of people have died, including most of their allies, mentors, and sages. [[HeWhoFightsMonsters The Pandava have broken so many rules of the war]] that they cannot even be considered righteous anymore (e.g. Yudhisthira, well known for his honesty, had to lie, and now his formerly floating elephant mount is firmly rooted to the ground), they accidentally killed their half-brother Karna, their sons were massacred by the Kaurava on the final day of the war, and the only survivor of that massacre, Arjuna's grandson Parikshit, dies years later for disrespecting a rishi. Their cousin and most valuable ally, Krishna, was cursed by the Kaurava's grieving mother to die in an unrelated civil war. To top it off, when they ascend to Heaven, they learn that the Kaurava ''also'' ended up in Heaven. This is lampshaded by Duryodhana [[BigBad of all people]], who points out how hollow the Pandava's victory is on his death throes.

!!As this is a [[VictoryAndDefeat Defeat Trope]] and an {{Ending Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].

Named for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus King Pyrrhus of Epirus,]] a Greek general who attempted to conquer Rome fairly early in its lifespan. In the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Asculum Battle of Asculum,]] he defeated a Roman force and inflicted far more losses on them than he took in the process... but as he was fighting on Roman turf, [[WeHaveReserves they could rebuild their forces easily]] and he couldn't, meaning he'd burned through a good chunk of his best troops and couldn't get them back, and on top of that, the Romans had managed to burn down his camp, thus depriving him of provisions and costing him even more troops due to exposure and otherwise treatable wounds, leading to the above quote. If anything, it was noted that his early victories only served to [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry piss off the remaining Roman forces]], making them even more determined to defeat him. He was forced to withdraw from Italy, and by the time he'd returned, the Romans had built an army strong enough to kick him out permanently.

* ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': The Inak are locked beneath the shrine because three of their teenagers broke into Lori's office. They try to team up with the invading Lions of Mercy in an EnemyMine situation to show them the military facility hidden beneath the shrine only to be degraded, beaten and slaughtered. In response they trigger the self destruct spells, destroying everything beneath the shrine including their own village. One of the two survivors [[https://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch16/ch16_89.html describes their actions as winning,]] as they'd taken some of their subjugators with them and been [[IDieFree freed]] from their subjugation.

!!As this is often an {{Ending Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].

** ''Frieza vs Megatron'': Frieza kills Megatron, but not before being reduced to one arm and half his torso. While he can survive in this state, he lacks a HealingFactor and would need outside help to be restored, which is a bit difficult considering all of his ships and men were blown up during the battle as well so he'll have to make the trip himself. Plus, he blew up Cybertron, a planet he had intended to conquer.

** ''Frieza vs Megatron'': Frieza kills Megatron, but not before being reduced to one arm and half his torso. While he can survive in this state, he lacks a HealingFactor and would need outside help to be restored. Plus, he blew up Cybertron, a planet he had intended to conquer.

** ''Dante vs Bayonetta'': Not outright stated, but it becomes this when you realize that [[AllThereInTheManual Bayonetta was the Left Eye]]. Dante kills Bayonetta, unknowingly failing his mission to retrieve the Left Eye of the World (the Left Eye is Bayonetta herself; Dante was under the impression it was an artifact). Plus, the DMX battle that accompanies this one revealed Dante's partner Trish was killed by Bayonetta's partner Jeanne.

** ''Bill Cipher vs Discord'': Bill Cipher is given the dubious honor of being the first combantant in ''DEATH BATTLE!'' to have lost in every possible way despite winning the actual fight; he manages to destroy Discord but not before Discord [[SealedEvilInACan traps Cipher in the Nightmare Realm]], [[HeroicSacrifice saving Equestria from Weirdmageddon and restoring it to normal]]. Bill undergoes a brief VillainousBreakdown [[SubvertedTrope before trying to brush it off saying that he'll escape just like last time]] and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou offering a deal to the viewer]]. [[DoubleSubversion However]], his final appearance of the episode is him still stranded in the Nightmare Realm impotently screaming at Wiz and Boomstick to let him out, indicating that escaping has proven much more difficult than he anticipated and/or Bill is still angry at the fact that Discord managed to get one over on him. What's more, as the spirit of chaos, Discord will just come back as long as chaos itself exists.

** A meta one that's PlayedForLaughs in ''Shadow vs. Ryūko Matoi'': Shadow ''finally'' got a win in Death Battle, but he had to kill his favourite anime character to do it, which the hosts lampshade.

** ''Bill Cipher vs Discord'': Bill Cipher is granted the dubious honor of being the first combantant in ''DEATH BATTLE!'' to have lost in every possible way despite winning the actual fight; he manages to destroy Discord but not before Discord [[SealedEvilInACan traps Cipher in the Nightmare Realm]] [[HeroicSacrifice and saves Equestria from Weirdmageddon and restoring it to normal]]. Bill undergoes a brief VillainousBreakdown [[SubvertedTrope before trying to brush it off saying that he'll escape just like last time]] and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou offering a deal to the viewer]]. [[DoubleSubversion However]], his final appearance of the episode is him impotently screaming at Wiz and Boomstick to let him out, indicating that escaping the Nightmare Realm has proven much more difficult than he anticipated and/or Bill is still angry at the fact that Discord managed to get one over on him. What's more, as the spirit of chaos, Discord will just come back as long as chaos itself exists.

** Possibly the case in ''Guts vs Nightmare''. Guts manages to destroy Nightmare/Night Terror, Inferno and Soul Edge, but he was forced into his Berserker Armor to do so. While not outright stated, it will eventually kill his sanity and physical body without anybody in the immediate area around to snap him out of it.

** ''Crash Bandicoot vs. Spyro the Dragon'': Spyro atomizes Crash, who had squashed Sparx like a bug earlier. Like ''Guts vs. Nightmare'' above, he also had to give into his [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Dark Spyro]] side to do so, which requires outside assistance to be snapped out of -- and his closest companion is dead thanks to Crash.

** ''Martian Manhunter vs Silver Surfer'' discusses this trope as the two come to realize that [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall there fight ultimately had no real meaning and the two are left in the dark as to why they felt they had to]]. Martian Manhunter gives Silver Surfer his wishes that he will be able to live with the uncertainty as he perishes.

** ''Superman vs Goku'': Superman came out on top, but the world gets an EarthShatteringKaboom in the process.
** ''Fox vs Bucky'': Not quite as harsh, but still relevant. Fox manages to kill Bucky, but Slippy Toad was killed before the battle began (granted most fans of Fox's home series would consider this an added benefit).

** ''Deadpool vs The Mask'' is an odd case, as it's not a Pyrrhic Victory for The Mask, but for Wiz and Boomstick. In their eagerness to be rid of Deadpool and his annoying antics forever, they purposefully pitted him against someone he had no chance of defeating, and in doing so they had violated their own impartiality. Their guilt is further fueled by a posthumous letter from Deadpool, thanking them for helping him rediscover himself after getting lost in his internet meme fame. A bit [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when the Continuity Stone brings DP back to life, but still.
** ''All Might vs Might Guy'': Might Guy kills All Might, but he was impaled through the chest and had to resort to the [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique Eighth Gate: The Gate of Death]], meaning he's going to die really soon.

** A meta one in ''Shadow vs. Ryūko Matoi'': Shadow ''finally'' got a win in Death Battle, but he had to kill his favourite anime character to do it, which the hosts lampshade.

** ''James Bond vs John Wick'': Bond kills Wick, but was stabbed in the chest and is bleeding out. Plus, he killed Wick in [[TruceZone The Continental]], so the guards will likely try to kill him.

** ''Bill Cipher vs Discord'': Bill manages to destroy Discord but not before Discord [[SealedEvilInACan traps Cipher in the Nightmare Realm]] [[HeroicSacrifice and saving Equestria from Weirdmageddon]]. Bill undergoes a brief VillainousBreakdown [[SubvertedTrope before trying to brush it off saying that he'll escape just like last time]] and [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou offering a deal to the viewer]]. [[DoubleSubversion However]], his final appearance of the episode is him impotently screaming at Wiz and Boomstick to let him out, indicating that escaping the Nightmare Realm has proven much more difficult than he anticipated and/or Bill is still angry at the fact that Discord managed to get one over on him.

** ''Blake Belladonna vs Mikasa Ackerman'': Blake kills Mikasa, but had her Aura broken and lost her arm in the process. Then a Titan shows up. Blake confidently charges into battle, but with her injuries and no knowledge of a Titan's weak spot, her chances of survival are slim.
** ''James Bond vs John Wick'': Bond kills Wick, but was stabbed in the chest and is bleeding out. Plus, he killed Wick in [[TruceZone The Continental]], so the guards will likely try to kill him. Even if he escapes, he'll be hunted down.

* ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'': The episode "Keep The Change" centers around David trying to prove to Max that people can change their ways, as a response to him denying that he's gone through CharacterDevelopment. Ultimately, David manages to prove that he's correct...except his methods of doing so (engineering a moment where the corrupt Cameron Campbell conveniently has the only thing needed to save the camp) leave everyone disappointed in him, and he comes to the disturbing realization that [[ToxicFriendInfluence he's becoming more like Max.]]
* In ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' the Emperor absolutely hates his most loyal subjects because they've basically transformed most of mankind's "victories" into massive unrepairable losses, quadrillions dead and millions of souls devoured for pointless reasons, which sadly, [[TabletopGame/{{WarHammer 40000}} are all entirely canon]].