Can a character look good in defeat?

[The_real_cal_howard]

So, I was just rewatching some OMMs, DBs, and DBXs. And I was just thinking. Is it possible for someone on the losing side of a fight to wind up looking cool or badass still? And even with the knowledge that they'll inevitably lose by the time the fight is over? If so, is it possible for them to look even better than the winning side? Plz provide examples. Something tells me that this will be easier for fights to ko than fights to the death. Characters cannot be allowed to be half-assing, and must be going all-out. And if possible, no super long fights like Goku vs Frieza on Namek.

Is there a Death Battle, DBX, or One Minute Melee where you thought the loser still showed excellency, and was still awesome?

And for this site. Characters with a ton of losses, like Sonic, Mewtwo, Natsu, and Exdeath. Does the fact that they lose a lot decrease something about them?

 

[Pygmy_Hippo_2]

None of the above three but https://garchompisbeast.deviantart.com/art/DWOAH-Chris-Walker-vs-Leatherface-711621230

Chris took a beating and kept on fighting. Guy got his arm sliced off, disemboweled, his foot destroyed, and only stopped trying to kill Bubba after he got a hammer stuck in him and chainsawed through the head.

 

[MrKingOfNegativity]

The Joker VS Sweet Tooth.

Let's be real, Tooth was beating the clown pants off Joker for most of that fight, and only lost at the last second when he got hit in the face with a fistful of Joker Venom.

And he didn't go down like a *****, either. He was able to resist the Venom's effects for a minute just out of his own anger, and his last act before he died was grabbing Joker by the neck and choking the shit out of him.

This was after blowing up the Jokermobile (which was a literal resprayed Batmobile in that fight), surviving acid blasting him in the face, no-selling an electric joybuzzer, and then whacking Joker into a building hard enough to shatter the entire front of it.

 

[Walking_Strawman]

Are we talking purely in VS Battles, or in universe battles too? Because I have quite a few for in universe battles. Hell Kumagawa does great with looking great while losing

 

[Azathoth_the_Abyssal_Idiot]

Sigismund losing and being killed by Abaddon the Despoiler uses his last moments for this. He's torn apart, nearly bloodless, and yet still manages to use his dying breaths to tell Abaddon to go **** himself and that he'll die a complete *****.

"The Black Knight, fallen and ripped apart. His Sword Brethren gone or dead, I did not know which. Red staining Sigismund's tabard; red decorating the dec beneath and around him; red in Abaddon's eyes, misting his sight.

Blood. So much blood.

Here at the last, he looked every one of his years, with time's lines cracking his face. He looked upwards at the chamber's ornate ceiling, his eyes lifted as if in reverence to the Master of Mankind upon His throne of gold.

Sigismund's hand trembled, still twitching, seeking his fallen sword.

'No,' Abaddon murmured with brotherly gentleness, through the running of his blood and the heaving of his chest. 'No. It's over. Sleep now, it's a failure you have earned.'.

The knight's fingertips scraped the hilt of the blade. So very close, yet he lacked the strength to move even that far. His face was the bloodless blue of the newly dead, yet still he breathed.

'Sigismund,' Abaddon said, through lips darkened by his own life-blood, 'this claw has killed two primarchs. It wounded the Emperor unto death. I would have spared it the taste of your life, as well. If you could only see what I have seen.'.

As I stared through Abaddon's eyes, I confess I expected the triteness of some knightly oath, or a final murmur in the Emperor's name. Instead, the ruined thing that had been First Captain of the Imperial Fists and High Marshal of the Black Templars spoke through a mouthful of blood, committing the last of his life to biting off each word, ensuring he spoke each one in shivering, sanguine clarity.

'You will die as your weakling father died. Soulless. Honourless. Weeping. Ashamed.'.

Sigismund's last word was also his last breath. It sighed out of his mouth, taking his soul with it." - Black Legion

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

Are we talking purely in VS Battles, or in universe battles too? Because I have quite a few for in universe battles. Hell Kumagawa does great with looking great while losing

Talking about all. Fan crossovers like Death Battle, on here, and canon fights.

 

[Phoenix821]

Whitebeard from One Piece

 

[Walking_Strawman]

Lancelot's loss for sure. Here are his dying words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqcSq_Y2mxw

he wanted to lose in the end to gain redemption for his sins, that he could never get in life.


Most of Kumagawa's losses could be on here

 

[DarkDragonMedeus]

I'd say Younger Toguro is a perfect example. He looked badass when Yusuke finished him.

 

[Andytrenom]

Izuku vs Todoroki is a good example I'd say.

 

[Endless_Astrograph_Sorcerer]

Raditz vs Goku, Piccolo, Gohan. Jk... Vegeta's final atonement vs Fat Buu

 

[Andytrenom]

Raditz vs Goku, Piccolo, Gohan. Jk... Vegeta's final atonement vs Fat Buu

How did I forget about that?!

 

[Dragonmasterxyz]

Death Battle tends to kill off characters in really undignified ways. You rarely have a time where the loser dies a badass death. That's one of my issues with DB. But I digess.

BanchoLeomo went out like a badass. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epDU51WP2XY

 

[The_real_cal_howard]

Bump

 

[KoolRay]

In a DB type thing no, not really, because the fights are always made to look even for entertanement value.


In Fiction yes, tons of characters that fought a character well when most think they would get stomped. Happens in real life combat sports a lot, the underdog or cherry pic ends up fighting very well.

 

[Andytrenom]

Atom vs Zeus in Real Steel.

 

[Kisaragi_Megumi]

Most of Natsu lose in here will be ended humiliated defeat,he get so much hate and mocked.