History Main / TheWarHasJustBegun

Contrast RousingSpeech. Also see WarWasBeginning, WonTheWarLostThePeace.

* Giren Zabi in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' does this right before the final battle of the original series, stating (in the English movie dub), "The war is not over, but know that we have won." [[spoiler: His side loses. Badly.]]
* In ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', [[spoiler:after regaining control of the Cathedral Terra, routing the Anti-Spiral Human eradication program in the process]], Simon reminds everyone that they still have to take the fight [[spoiler:to the Anti-Spiral homeworld and save Nia]].

* ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': After Shinji has destroyed Sachiel, Misato reassures him that it is over. Meanwhile Shinji thinks he has merely won the first battle, and this is only the beginning of the war.
-->“Its okay” Misato assured him over the comlink. “We’ll have you out of there in a couple of minutes…Shinji, Shinji you did great out there, its all over”.\\

It probably would have worried him to know his Father was thinking much the same of the Captain’s statement as he gave the main screen a smirk, before turning and walking out of the command center.

[[folder:Film - Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' version of the theme song contains the lines: "The battle's over/ But the war has just begun/ And this way it will remain/ 'til the day when all are one!

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars''

-->'''Yoda''': The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun, the Clone War has.
** In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Luke Skywalker says this almost word for word, though this is inverted, since the war not being over yet is a ''good'' thing for the broken and helpless Resistance. Luke refutes Kylo Ren's assertion that the war is over, since he and Rey have given the Resistance [[RayOfHopeEnding a chance to survive and keep fighting.]]
-->'''Luke''': The Rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I will ''not'' be [[TitleDrop the last Jedi.]]"
* Near the end of ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'', the Turtles have de-mutated Tokka and Rahzar, as well as beaten of the most remaining Foot ninja and [[TheDragon Tatsu]]. Then the Shredder shows up to tell them "The battle is yours...but the war is far from over, so long as I possess ''this!''" and reveals he has more ooze to create more mutants. [[DroppedABridgeOnHim It soon becomes a moot point though.]]
* Caesar of ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' speaks this trope word for word in the film's final scene, with deep regret - [[spoiler:even though Koba is dead and the survivors and apes have stopped fighting for now]], the humans will never forgive the apes for starting a war and will seek to exterminate them with prejudice, even if a few of those apes came to their rescue.

* The prologue of the second ''Film/NationalTreasure'' movie has this from a Confederate man after having just committed murder, saying that the Civil War had "just begun" just after Lincoln was shot. Considering the lack of a second Civil War in American history, clearly it ''hadn't.''
* Said at the end of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'' by Gandalf:
-->'''Gandalf''': The Battle for Helm's Deep is over... the battle for ''Middle-Earth'' is about to begin.

--> "The Battle for Helm's Deep is over...the battle for Middle Earth is just beginning..." (After having narrowly defeated Saruman's gigantic army of Uruk-Hai)
--> "..Behind the walls of Mordor, Sauron is rebuilding his strength." (After having even more narrowly defeated the Witch King's even more gigantic army of Orcs and Southrons)

--> '''Wormtongue:''' "Lathespell! Ill news I name you! And ill news is an ill guest!"
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' uses the chapter title, "The Second War Begins" in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' after Voldemort was defeated in the Department of Mysteries, but when the Ministry of Magic began to recognize the war on Voldemort himself. Amusingly, the final chapter of the ''previous'' book had been "The Beginning," with a fairly similar implication.

* After the defeat of [[TheDragon Cockatrice]] and his basilisk army in ''Literature/TheBookOfTheDunCow'', at the price of heavy losses, a badly injured Chauntecleer learns that the much more powerful BigBad still has to be dealt with. This drives him into a particularly serious HeroicBSOD.
* Dragons of Deltora, the third Literature/DeltoraQuest series, ends this way. Basically the final paragraph is a reminder that, though they have finally unraveled the last of the [[BigBad Shadowlord's]] XanatosGambit, [[SorcerousOverlord the man himself]] is still around and can afford to spend a few generations thinking up and implementing a new Xanatos Gambit.

* Pretty much the entirety of the Literature/HonorHarrington book ''Field of Dishonor'' is devoted to the Manticoran military and their allies in the Centrist party trying to persuade the rest of Manticore's political class that just because Haven was defeated in pretty much every battle in the opening salvo of the Manticoran-Havenite war doesn't mean that Haven is now going to go home, lick their wounds, and leave Manticore is peace.
* At the end of ''Literature/KillDecision'', Odin tells Linda that all they've accomplished has only delayed the villains for one to two years.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* In the final episode of the second series of ''Series/TheFortyFourHundred'', the OracularUrchin Maia gives this line almost word-for-word at the end
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' season two finale (appropriately titled All Hell Breaks Loose) our intrepid heroes put down the BigBad just to get told "War's just begun."
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' season seven, subverted of course. Buffy says the war has just begun when they are at the worst position against the First Evil.

--> '''Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell''': And you should probably tell him: we've officially declared war on the Lucian Alliance.
* One of the main villains of ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'' is a monster named Carnisoar, who, after a huge battle with the Rangers, gets destroyed by the Rhino Pride Megazord. His last words, of course:
--> '''Carnisoar''': (as his body prepares to explode) You may have won this battle, but this is far from over. (he blows up)
* On ''Series/{{Angel}}'', Wolfram and Hart usually makes a point of arguing that "the war has just begun," and this always proves to be true; even, or especially, in [[BolivianArmyEnding the series finale]].
* In the pilot movie for ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', the surviving humans are reloading on Ragnar Station. President Laura Roslin is trying to get Commander Adama to forget about trying to fight the Cylons. She tells him, "The war is over, and we lost." Adama replies, "It hasn't begun." [[spoiler: Later, he changes his mind.]]
* The ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' wrap-up mini-series starts with Scorpius attacking a Scarran fleet, sparking the war that has been brewing for so long. When the Grand Chancellor contacts him, he "congratulates" Scorpius on starting the last war of the Peacekeepers.
** Interestingly, it's implied by the show that the victor in such a war will not be either the Peacekeepers or the Scarrans. The Nebari, being a superpower to rival the other two (they don't even have dedicated warships, as their civilians ships can pretty much beat any warship of the other two powers), is likely to fill the resulting power vacuum.
* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', after Robb Stark's first major victory he cautions his celebrating followers that they haven't achieved ''any'' of their aims yet, and that "this war is far from over."

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

** Of course, the Tau are no danger to anyone.
*** Not anymore, according to the leaked versions of the 5th Edition rules.
*** Nah, they're still a total non-threat to any faction that matters. The entire Tau Empire is smaller than the fiefdom of ''one'' chapter of Space Marines, and they have Tyranids breathing down their necks besides.
** And of course, depending on the rumors you want to believe, the Tyranids are either [[HordeOfAlienLocusts done]] with their last Galaxy or are fleeing from a [[AlwaysABiggerFish threat]] that is even greater then they are. Considering [[CrapsackWorld how the universe]] [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed works]], which of these possibilities is [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism more likely?]]
*** [[TakeAThirdOption Both]]
** One theory suggest that its the Astronomicon that attracted the Tyranids in the galaxy in the first place, like a light bulb to moths. Turns out it's actually the Pharos beacon, not the Astronomican, but that's semantic; they're both big shiny beacons in space.
* Combined with SchrodingersGun, this has no doubt saved many a Tabletop RPG when the RandomNumberGod allows them to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punch out Cthulhu]].

--->'''Premier''': Is it done, Yuri?\\
'''Yuri''': No, comrade Premier. It has only begun.

-->'''[[spoiler: Prophet]]''': See, we won here, today. But this thing isn't even close to over. You and me, we don't get to die just yet. We gotta go back. We're needed.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' ends with Shepard and Captain Anderson delivering this speech to the Council. [[spoiler: Assuming you saved it.]]

* "Fight, [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 Mega Man]]! [[ForGreatJustice For everlasting peace!"]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* Optimus Primal's speech at the end of the two-part pilot for ''{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is a textbook example.
-->'''Optimus Primal''': ...So for now, let the battle be here, on this strange, primitive world. And let it be called... '''''Beast Wars'''''!
* The CGI animated series of ''[[WesternAnimation/RoughnecksStarshipTroopersChronicles StarshipTroopers]]'' includes a great scene at the end of the first episode, after the big honking alien force has been miraculously defeated, the narrator character looks up to see an even bigger honking swarm of flying alien bugs coming over the horizon, and indeed says "The war had just begun."
* The cliffhanger ending of Season One of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' has a defiant Scooby tell Pericles that not only will he resurrect Mystery Incorporated, he'll also take him down.

[[folder:RealLife]]

* [[UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar The aftermath of the 1937 battle of Shanghai, the Nanjing massacre and the Battle of Wuhan]] - the Guomindang lost half of their entire fighting strength against the IJA and had no way of getting it back. The Guomindang government only got weaker despite large amounts of Soviet and American loans, but kept the war going for another eight years. Although it was never completely reformed, the Guomindang's army and air force became stronger thanks to Soviet and Allied aid. Despite heavy losses, the GMD maintained a stalemate against Japan, and even secured several victories.

* The Norwegian government, gathered in the early hours of morning of April 9, 1940, played this straight. At about 5 o`clock, the German ambassador, dr Bräuer, came to the government with the German claims. While he waited in an adjacent room, the government debated, and the minister of Justice, Trygve Lie, said on behalf of all that this proposition was unacceptable. The foreign Minister, Koht, then went out to let Bräuer know what they had decided. Bräuer then responded: "You know, this will imply fighting?" Koht answered thus:
---> The fighting is on already.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' plays a cutscene after you assault the aliens' hidden base on Earth and kill the Sectoid Commander leading it, where everyone in Mission Control is celebrating your victory. When your head scientist walks in and asks what's the big deal, Central Officer Bradford explains "We just ''neutralized'' their central command, we've got no other alerts on the entire system, ''and'' we took our their leader. In my book, that's a win, doctor." Dr. Vahlen just gives him a DisapprovingLook before going back to the lab, and in a subsequent cutscene shows off an alien communication device recovered from their base, and asks the obvious question: "If the Sectoid Commander ''was'' the alien leader, then who, or what, was it communicating with?" Sure enough, the war is by no means over, and the aliens' ''actual'' leader caste begins appearing during subsequent missions, along with their elite forces. [[spoiler:And with the ''Enemy Within'' expansion, less than a month after you attack their base, the aliens retaliate by [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs attacking XCOM HQ]].]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' uses the chapter title, "The Second War Begins" in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' after Voldemort was defeated in the Department of Mysteries, but when the Ministry of Magic began to recognize the war on Voldemort himself. [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Amusingly,]] the final chapter of the ''previous'' book had been "The Beginning," with a fairly similar implication.

* Similarly, the [[AWinnerIsYou ending]] of the original ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'':