History Quotes / HopelessWar

! TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}

->''"There is a tower in the Emperor's palace called the Tower of Heroes, a black tower that rises into the sky like a spike. At the summit of that tower hangs the Bell of Lost Souls. It is an ancient thing, massive as a building and adorned with dark runes, its peal like the scream of an anguished god. It is tolled but once when a great hero of the Imperium dies. Its wailing moan of grief lasts long and reaches the ears of millions, and its tones penetrate the unifying ether of humanity, turning the thoughts of countless billions towards mankind's loss."''

! Other Fiction

->''"What began as a conflict over the transfer of consciousness from flesh to machine escalated into a war which has decimated a million worlds. The Core and the Arm have all but exhausted the resources of a galaxy in their struggle for domination. Both sides now crippled beyond repair, the remnants of their armies continue to battle on ravaged planets, their hatred fuelled by over four thousand years of total war. This is a fight to the death. For each side, the only acceptable outcome is the complete elimination of the other."''
-->-- ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation''

->''"Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it?... For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth. That's the enemy that waited for us beyond the Rockies. That's the kind of war we had to fight."''
-->-- '''General Travis D'Ambrosia''', ''Literature/WorldWarZ''

->''"Captain's report February 4th, 2531. Five years, five long years. That's how long it took us to get Harvest back...At first it was going well. Then setback after setback...Loss after loss...Made what was going to be a quick and decisive win...[[WarIsHell Into five years of Hell...Of course that's all Harvest is today...It's hell down there]]...But it's ours again."''
-->-- '''Captain James Cutter''', ''VideoGame/HaloWars''

->''"'It can't be hopeless.' Two nights ago half a dozen men and I crouched around a campfire, trying to stay warm, and one of them said those words. [...] Tonight I sit by a campfire fifty miles northwest, remembering the way he screamed this morning when four thrall surrounded him, knocked the sword from his good hand, and hacked him to pieces."''
-->-- ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}''

->''"What are we going to do after we lose this war, sir?"\\
"Prepare for the next one, son."''
-->-- ''Film/CrossOfIron''

->'''Himekawa:''' Now, when the war is going our way...\\
'''Honda:''' Now, when victory is at hand...\\
'''Himekawa:''' Feel the joy of shouting out in victory as a commander!\\
'''Honda:''' C'mon, let's all be there together!\\
'''Honda and Himekawa:''' The EDF can't wait to see what you can do!\\
''[{{beat}}]''\\
'''Honda:''' ...I can't, I really can't! I can't keep lying!\\
'''Himekawa:''' C'mon, what's wrong, Honda?\\
'''Honda:''' What's wrong?! Something's wrong with headquarters, that's what! How long are they going to keep this up?!\\
'''Himekawa:''' Honda, we'll pretend we didn't hear that-\\
'''Honda:''' I've lived it! I know! ''WE'RE GOING TO LOSE THIS WAR!''
-->-- ''[[VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce2025 Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair]]'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE1eff1xvLg EDF Super Scout News trailer]]

->'''Time Lord:''' All of [the Visionary's] prophecies say the same. That this is the last day of the Time War. That Gallifrey falls. We die today.\\

'''[[KingInTheMountain President Rassilon]]:''' ''Thank you for your opinion.'' ''[disintegrates her]'' I! WILL '''NOT'''! DIE! DO YOU HEAR ME?
-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]"

->'''Garrus:''' More dead than injured. Eighty-five percent killed in action. We'll need a morgue soon; not a lot of flesh wounds when you're fighting [[MechanicalAbomination Reapers]].\\
'''Shepard:''' Casualties are that high?\\
'''Garrus:''' Our front line units are being wiped out whole platoons at a time. A single Reaper can destroy nine or ten of them in one attack.\\
'''Shepard:''' That's not war... [[CurbStompBattle it's slaughter]].\\
'''Garrus:''' [[MeaningfulName They're called Reapers for a reason]], and these guys found out why.
-->-- ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''

->'''Velanna:''' Is it true the dwarves [[DyingRace are dwindling]]? The darkspawn always at the gates of Orzammar, threatening to overwhelm you?\\
'''Oghren:''' Yes, and yes. It's only a matter 'a time.\\
'''Velanna:''' We elves [[EnslavedElves are few in number]], and every one of us is precious. But you? You isolate your casteless, forbid them from bearing weapons. And you ''saw'' what happened in Kal'Hirol.\\
'''Oghren:''' Yeah, well, the noble caste has a stick up its collective butt. A stick called "tradition".
-->-- ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening''

->'''Ashi:''' What can we do?\\
'''Jack:''' ''Nothing.''\\
'''Ashi:''' What? What do you mean nothing? We have to do something!\\
'''Jack:''' I've fought Aku for ages. I've seen countless innocents die. I've lived [[CrapsackWorld this nightmare]] for [[TheAgeless what seems like an eternity]]. There is no way to defeat him. There is no hope. No way out.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS5E5XCVI XCVI]]"[[note]]Fortunately, he's wrong. [[BittersweetEnding It ended]].[[/note]]

->''"You are persistent, I'll grant you that, captain. But I'm afraid dogged determination isn't enough to change the reality of your situation. Time is definitely not on your side. The Dominion shipyards are working at one hundred percent capacity -- yours are still being rebuilt. The Dominion is breeding legions of Jem'Hadar soldiers every day -- you're experiencing a manpower shortage. But more important, the Dominion is resolved to win the war, no matter what the cost -- and you and I both know the Federation has already put out peace feelers. Now I ask you, Captain -- in all candor -- if you were in my position, which side would you choose?"''
-->-- '''Senator Vreenak''', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight In the Pale Moonlight]]"

->Various scenarios for the Doomsday Battle had been concocted during two centuries of space strategy, but in the minds of strategists, the enemy had always been big. Humanity would meet the main part of the mighty [[HigherTechSpecies Trisolaran]] force on a space battlefield, with each warship a [[MileLongShip fortress of death the size of a small city]]. They had imagined every form of weapons and tactics the enemy could possibly possess, the most terrifying of which involved the Trisolaran Fleet launching an attack using {{antimatter}} weapons, and obliterating a [[TheBattlestar stellar-class battleship]] with antimatter the size of a rifle bullet.\\
\\
But now the combined fleet had to face facts: Their only enemy was a [[PintsizedPowerhouse tiny probe]], one drop of water out of the enormous ocean of Trisolaran strength, and this probe attacked using one of the oldest and most primitive tactics known to human navies: [[spoiler:[[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming]]]].
-->-- ''Literature/TheDarkForest''

->''"I wonder if deep down, each person knows we're already dead. I wonder if only one, sick primordial instinct keeps marching us forward aimlessly. Every rational thought [[ResistanceIsFutile tells us it's over]]. Every vile, deceptive, chemical, emotion tells us it isn't."''
-->-- ''Film/{{Rakka}}''

[[DrivenToSuicide Au revoir.]]''
-->-- '''[[spoiler: Admiral [=DuGalle=]]]''', ''[[VideoGame/StarCraft Starcraft: Brood War]]''

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "[[Recap/SamuraiJackS5E5XCVI XCVI]]"[[note]]Fortunately, he's wrong. [[BittersweetEndingIt ended]].[[/note]]

-->-- '''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'''

-->-- '''A Time to Kill''', ''Literature/{{Bolo}}''

-->-- ''Cross of Iron''

-->-- ''[[Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem The Dark Forest]]''

-->-- '''Londo Mollari''', ''Series/BabylonFive: In the Beginning''

-> ''"What are we going to do after we lose this war, sir?"''\\
''"Prepare for the next one, son."''

->'''Himekawa''': Now, when the war is going our way...\\
'''Honda''': Now, when victory is at hand...\\
'''Himekawa''': Feel the joy of shouting out in victory as a commander!\\
'''Honda''': C'mon, let's all be there together!\\
'''Honda & Himekawa''': The EDF can't wait to see what you can do!\\
(''{{beat}}'')\\
'''Honda''': ...I can't, I really can't! I can't keep lying!\\
'''Himekawa''': C'mon, what's wrong, Honda?\\
'''Honda''': What's wrong?! Something's wrong with headquarters, that's what! How long are they going to keep this up?!\\
'''Himekawa''': Honda, we'll pretend we didn't hear that-\\
'''Honda''': I've lived it! I know! ''WE'RE GOING TO LOSE THIS WAR!''

'''[[KingInTheMountain President Rassilon]]''': ''Thank you for your opinion.'' ''(disintegrates her)'' I! WILL '''NOT'''! DIE! DO YOU HEAR ME?
-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', "The End of Time"

->'''Garrus:''' More dead than injured. Eighty-five percent killed in action. We'll need a morgue soon; not a lot of flesh wounds when you're fighting [[MechanicalAbomination Reapers]].
->'''Shepard:''' Casualties are that high?
->'''Garrus:''' Our front line units are being wiped out whole platoons at a time. A single Reaper can destroy nine or ten of them in one attack.
->'''Shepard:''' That's not war...[[CurbStompBattle it's slaughter.]]
->'''Garrus:''' They're called [[MeaningfulName Reapers]] for a reason, and these guys found out why.

->'''Velanna:''' Is it true the dwarves [[DyingRace are dwindling?]] The darkspawn always at the gates of Orzammar, threatening to overwhelm you?
->'''Oghren:''' Yes, and yes. It's only a matter 'a time.
->'''Velanna:''' We elves [[EnslavedElves are few in number]], and every one of us is precious. But you? You isolate your casteless, forbid them from bearing weapons. And you ''saw'' what happened in Kal'Hirol.
->'''Oghren:''' Yeah, well, the noble caste has a stick up its collective butt. A stick called "tradition".

->"We're fighting a war that's already over. All this mayhem? It isn't some [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits plucky underground]] [[LaResistance resistance movement]]. It's an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction_(psychology)#Burst extinction burst]]."
-->-- '''Harold Finch''', ''Series/PersonOfInterest'', "The Day the World Went Away"

->'''Ashi:''' What can we do?
->'''Jack:''' ''Nothing.''\\

-->--''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "XCVI" [[spoiler: Fortunately, he's wrong. [[EvilWillFail It]] [[BittersweetEnding ended.]]]]

->'''Admiral Cornwell:''' What is it you want? More territory? Conditional surrender? You haven't made any demands! ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion How does this war end]]!?''
->'''L'Rell:''' It doesn't. Klingons have tasted your blood. Conquer us, or we will never relent.
-->-- ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', "The War Without, the War Within"

-->-- '''Senator Vreenak''', ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "In The Pale Moonlight"

->''Various scenarios for the Doomsday Battle had been concocted during two centuries of space strategy, but in the minds of strategists, the enemy had always been big. Humanity would meet the main part of the mighty [[HigherTechSpecies Trisolaran]] force on a space battlefield, with each warship a [[MileLongShip fortress of death the size of a small city]]. They had imagined every form of weapons and tactics the enemy could possibly possess, the most terrifying of which involved the Trisolaran Fleet launching an attack using {{antimatter}} weapons, and obliterating a [[TheBattlestar stellar-class battleship]] with antimatter the size of a rifle bullet.\\

But now the combined fleet had to face facts: Their only enemy was a [[PintsizedPowerhouse tiny probe]], one drop of water out of the enormous ocean of Trisolaran strength, and this probe attacked using one of the oldest and most primitive tactics known to human navies: [[spoiler:[[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming]]]].''
-->-- '''[[Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem The Dark Forest]]'''

->"I wonder if deep down, each person knows we're already dead. I wonder if only one, sick primordial instinct keeps marching us forward aimlessly. Every rational thought [[ResistanceIsFutile tells us it's over.]] Every vile, deceptive, chemical, emotion tells us it isn't."

->''The fallen leaves tell a story''.\\
''[[DismantledMacGuffin The great Elden Ring was shattered]]''.\\
''In our home, across the fog, the Lands Between.''\\
''Now,'' ''[[HaveYouSeenMyGod Queen Marika the Eternal is nowhere to be found,]]''\\
''and in the Night of the Black Knives,'' ''[[TheHeart Godwyn the Golden]]'' ''was the first to perish.''\\
''Soon,'' ''[[BigScrewedUpFamily Marika's offspring,]]'' ''demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring.''\\
''The mad taint of their newfound strength triggered the Shattering.''\\
''A war from which no lord arose.''\\
''A war leading to abandonment by the Greater Will.''
-->-- ''VideoGame/EldenRing''

''and in the Night of the Black Knives, [[TheHeart Godwyn the Golden]] was the first to perish.\\

\\

\\

\\

\\

\\

\\

\\

\\
A war leading to abandonment by the Greater Will.

The fallen leaves tell a story.\\

[[DismantledMacGuffin The great Elden Ring was shattered]].\\

In our home, across the fog, the Lands Between.\\

Now, [[HaveYouSeenMyGod Queen Marika the Eternal is nowhere to be found]],\\

and in the Night of the Black Knives, [[TheHeart Godwyn the Golden]] was the first to perish.\\

Soon, [[BigScrewedUpFamily Marika's offspring]], demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring.\\

The mad taint of their newfound strength triggered the Shattering.\\

A war from which no lord arose.\\

-->-- ''Film/{{Rakka}}''

-->-- '''[[Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem The Dark Forest]]'''

'''Honda''': I've lived it! I know! ''WE'RE GOING TO LOSE THIS WAR!''\\

--> ''[[VideoGame/EarthDefenseForce2025 Earth Defense Force 4.1: The Shadow of New Despair]]'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE1eff1xvLg EDF Super Scout News trailer]]

'''Honda''': C'mon, let's all be there together!

->'''Garrus:''' More dead than injured. Eighty-five percent killed in action. We'll need a morgue soon; not a lot of flesh wounds when you're fighting [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]].

'''Jack:''' I've fought Aku for ages. I've seen countless innocents die. I've lived [[CrapsackWorld this nightmare]] for [[TheAgeless what seems like an eternity]]. There is no way to defeat him. There is no hope. No way out. [[spoiler: Fortunately, he's wrong. [[EvilWillFail It]] [[BittersweetEnding ended.]]]]
-->--''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "XCVI"

-->-- ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', "The War Without, the War Within"

-->--''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', "XCVI"

-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', ''The End of Time''

'''Jack:''' I've fought Aku for ages. I've seen countless innocents die. I've lived [[CrapsackWorld this nightmare]] for [[TheAgeless what seems like an eternity]]. There is no way to defeat him. There is no hope. No way out. [[spoiler: Fortunately, he's wrong. [[EvilWillFail It]] [[Bittersweet Ending ended.]]]]

'''Jack:''' I've fought Aku for ages. I've seen countless innocents die. I've lived [[CrapsackWorld this nightmare]] for [[TheAgeless what seems like an eternity]]. There is no way to defeat him. There is no hope. No way out. [[spoiler: Fortunately, he's wrong. [[EvilWillFail It]] [[Bittersweet Ending ended.]]