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u/Gaming4Philanthropy May 31 '23
No Country for Old Men
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u/historical_regret2 May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
NCFOM was written by Cormac McCarthy.
I say this because if OP’s a nerd, they can just pick up any ol’ Cormac McCarthy book. It’s a near-guaranteed bad time for the good guys.
The bad guys may not always win (because often they die too), but the good guys are probably going to die in a way that drives home the meaninglessness and arbitrariness of both existence and death.
Sliced to ribbons and left to die in a roadside hovel? Killed with bare hands and stuffed into an outhouse toilet? Have to read to find out!
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u/Slowmobius_Time May 31 '23
I got the Road because I thought I liked post apocalyptic stories and thought oh hey that's Aragorn cool
Man that was the most depressing movie I've ever watched, meant to pick up the book but honestly the subject matter was dark and sad I never got around to it
Great movie even if I probably never will watch it again
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u/historical_regret2 May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Yeah, it’s pretty hard.
After I became a father I came to see the story as an allegory about the experience (and worries) of being a father. Turns out that he wrote it after he became a father. So, that’s how I’ve come to see it - it’s actually about fatherhood, not the apocalypse.
And so I’ve come to see the story as actually his most uplifting, because the father is victorious. He perseveres.
Edit: I said it was about fatherhood because of my personal experience - I feel that I have a different set of concerns and worries than my wife, and the story resonates with those concerns. But obviously it doesn’t have to be limited to fathers - but parents, broadly.
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u/SonOfMcGee May 31 '23
Some messages I drew from The Road (whether or not it was McCarthy’s intent):
- Your child will ultimately leave your protection.
- It’s a great undertaking to impart ethical/moral codes on your child, especially when they provide no immediate benefits in challenging day to day situations.
- You’re going to fuck up and go against the very code you’re trying to teach your kid with some frequency
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u/Federal-Cap-3453 May 31 '23
>bad guy wins
>some remaining heroes find out about time travel
>heroes return stronger than ever
>good guys win
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u/yodakin2003 May 31 '23
Avengers
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u/Emrullah-Enes May 31 '23
endgame
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May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Say what you want about the Marvel movies in general, I still remember being in complete disbelief that Avengers:
EndgameInfinity War finished the way it did.Edit: in case it isn't clear, I mistakenly wrote endgame but meant infinity war
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u/hawkmasta Loves GameStonk May 31 '23
They had time travel in previous films. Of course they were gonna do "Whatever It Takes" ™️ to beat Thanos
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u/moak0 May 31 '23
When my kids are old enough to see Infinity War, I'm going to make them wait a few days before Endgame and just live with that, like we had to.
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u/Kunfuxu May 31 '23
Except everyone knew they were coming back.
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u/Dr_Ew__Phd May 31 '23
Seriously, I don’t know why people were so taken aback when marvel made them “lose” in infinity war. Like of course they were all going to come back.
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u/Kunfuxu May 31 '23
There was a Spider-Man movie slated for release a few months after Endgame!
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u/Funkycoldmedici May 31 '23
It’s probably a bigger deal to kids who aren’t jaded yet. The rest us were surprised, but thought “You have X high profile actor signed to a contract for three more movies, and they’ve made you billions so far. They’re not staying dead while there’s more money to be made.”
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u/RunninRebs90 May 31 '23
True, but if you watch Infinity War on its own it’s a huge kick in the nuts where the bad guy wins.
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u/wolfgang784 Selling Stonks for CASH MONEY May 31 '23
Everyone that died, heroes included, shoulda stayed dead.
I absolutely loathe time travel death saves so so much. It makes death pointless.
If they didn't want X hero dead permanently then they shouldn't kill them off in the first place.
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u/PandaUkulele May 31 '23
This is just comics in general though. Can't keep making them if the main character stays dead.
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u/Terrible_Truth May 31 '23
I hate it too but they did sort of keep people dead. Everyone that died but not to the snap stayed dead, like Black Widow and Gamora.
But it’s a bit irrelevant anyways since the MCU and comics in general lean heavily into the multiverse thing anyone that has a good death has alternatives anyways.
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u/Genericwood May 31 '23
Isn't the current Gamora from the endgame Thanos from a different universe/timeline?
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u/DaniilBSD May 31 '23
Devilman Crybaby - you will never ask again.
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u/iindigo May 31 '23
“Well that was depressing”
— me, after watching Devilman Crybaby
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u/Cuddlejam May 31 '23
That fucking scene with the boy eating his mom scarred me forever
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u/SuperBackup9000 May 31 '23
Nah, the villain lost more than the main character did. He did temporarily win, because he wanted the earth to be back in its devil filled state which did happen, but then he realized he had to kill Akira to achieve it, who was literally the only other person he ever cared about at all, and then the lights at the end was God retaliating and once again essentially resetting the earth, so the devils lost again. Ryo achieved nothing but heartbreak. Akira lost, but Ryo lost more.
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u/TimeSpiralNemesis May 31 '23
Noone lost more than the man in the moon. Poor guy got split in half rest in pepperonis.
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u/Specsaman Mods Are Nice People May 31 '23
Even satan can cry
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u/Fariswerewolves iwrestledabeartwice May 31 '23
Even a Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening Special Edition
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u/Keefyfingaz May 31 '23
8 yr old me watching Tom and Jerry like:
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u/FrontwaysLarryVR May 31 '23
There was this one show I remember where all the cartoon characters had a crossover race, and somehow that was my childhood Nascar.
The bad guys would always play dirty and then lose... But one time they actually won a race, and I vividly remember acting like a diehard fan at a home game loss and being visibly mad for a solid hour afterwards. Lol
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u/Infinite-Island-7310 May 31 '23
What you're describing sounds like "wacky race"
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u/Odd-fox-God May 31 '23
There was a wacky races movie of Tom and Jerry. There's this scene stuck in my head where the suburban mom and her van are stuck in quicksand, she calls the quicksand helpline and they're like so damn useless so she just escapes on her own.
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u/Infinite-Island-7310 May 31 '23
"Fast and furry" that was my favorite to keep watching as a kid.
Although, it got kind of dark afterwards, when it said she got eaten off screen.
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u/Likenobodyfunny May 31 '23
Megamind?
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u/MarshmallowComics May 31 '23
Nah, Megamind just ended up taking the place of the hero.
But I see your point, and I’ve got to say Megamind is a banger of a movie.
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u/Murky_Blueberry2617 May 31 '23
Megamind was the best Villain turned good guy movie.
Better than Despicable Me and Wreck It Ralph
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u/yellowistherainbow May 31 '23
There's a megamind show inc afaik
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u/thatgoat-guy May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Megamind deserved a sequel more tbh. I mean say what you will about sequels not being better than the original, but I mean we are talking DreamWorks here, and it's not like Shrek 2 was anything less than excellent.
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u/rudderforkk can't meme May 31 '23
Or 'how to train your dragon 2', or 'kung fu panda 2'. I think if megamind had a sequel it would have been as good as DreamWorks other IPs. Though I don't feel like there was any need of a sequel for Megamind. The story was complete
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u/Murky_Blueberry2617 May 31 '23
Or the recent Puss In Boots 2
Dreamworks seems to be unrivaled in making amazing sequels
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u/Galbatorix73 May 31 '23
Ahem, Berserk
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u/francmartins May 31 '23
That motherfucker Griffith just keeps winning by landslides. Just hate the guy with a passion. One of the best written villains I've ever seen tho.
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u/023Yoder May 31 '23
Almost did in Dodgeball but people hated it. Like legit said "it's a horrible movie" for that in test groups
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u/Critical-Ad-7094 May 31 '23
Empire Strikes Back is all you need to satiate that feeling
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u/simo108r Lurking Peasant May 31 '23
Revenge of the sith could also fall in the category
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u/Critical-Ad-7094 May 31 '23
It really could. Revenge was a fair good movie, most of all for the great abundance of memes it has given us. But the bad guys coming out on top probably much greater in the sense of the rise of the empire, as opposed to cutting off Luke's hand and taking Han Solo captive.
Empire is the better movie, but Revenge definitely scratches that itch for the antagonist to take the W.
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u/cgleach May 31 '23
The prequels are peak Star Wars imo. No the films aren’t as good, but the world and world building is some of the best in fiction. The visuals are stellar, and it just has an unbeatable “cool factor” that no other film comes close to imo, other than Lord of the Rings.
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u/Critical-Ad-7094 May 31 '23
Well, obviously, LOTR is undefeated, so im glad you prefaced it with that. Personally, I wouldn't say the prequels are peak Star Wars. However, I wouldn't argue that they are lesser either. I love New Hope, I worship Empire, but I kind of like Return. With the Prequels, I kind of like Phantom, I like Attack, and I adore Revenge. It's a sliding scale, and it doesn't mean 4-6 are better than 1-3. It just means 1-6 are good, and i appreciate them all on the same level. But for me, I just like the original trilogy that little bit more than the prequels. But I appreciate you like the prequels, it's what binds us in the great circle of life.
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u/cgleach May 31 '23
Agreed. By peak Star Wars I mean the feeling that you get. I don’t really know how to describe it. But I also think the Republic era is so much more interesting than the Empire Era. (Obviously I love both, but for different reasons) The world feels so much more alive and varied. I mean I get that the empire intentionally implements uniformity/standardisation but still. I also love the large scale conflicts and stuff, rather than the more guerrilla style by the rebels.
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u/-_Anonymous__- OC Meme Maker May 31 '23
the empire is pretty chill. Maybe you could like, join it or something.
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u/Giacomo_Passero May 31 '23
Whatchmen (better the comic but also the film is good)
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u/TheBiggestZander May 31 '23
Ozymandias's plan to commit genocide and blame Manhattan worked perfectly.
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u/Giacomo_Passero May 31 '23
In the comic was better, he blmed aliens, Manhattan gone away becouse he didn't care anymore about anything on earth more than anything else in the universe
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u/Film_Palace May 31 '23
Tbh, I think it's more plausible to blame the intergalactic, all mighty super being that's already established, feared and discussed among the people on earth, rather than some random alien
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u/killertortilla May 31 '23
That’s not better. Manhattan accepting the plan and realising humanity needs a common enemy they can see and hate is a much better ending.
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u/The-Catatafish May 31 '23
Karate kid.
Bad guy wins with illegal kick to the head.
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u/NoNameIdea_Seriously Flair Loading.... May 31 '23
Thanks for your input Mr Stinson
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u/K4ntum May 31 '23
Anyone who hasn't watch Cobra Kai and liked the original Karate Kid should definitely give it a watch. It's really funny. The kids can be annoying (looking at you Robby) but every scene with Daniel and Johnny is great. William Zabka is fucking hilarious.
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u/GamerRipjaw https://www.youtube.com/watch/dQw4w9WgXcQ May 31 '23
I HATE RALPH MACCHIO
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u/TheZestyJester09 GigaChad May 31 '23
Then proceeded to use dance moves in a Karate match and beats up a celebrity 2 movies later. Not to mention hitting someone so hard that they bleed
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May 31 '23
Man, warhammer is such a rabbit hole, but you can always get your "evil guy wins" moment
*note the diference between "bad" and "evil"
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u/MARTOO73 May 31 '23
Add to that, that the setting is defined through barely upholding the status quo in the best of cases. And normaly degrading over time.
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u/Agi7890 May 31 '23
The evil guy did win in warhammer fantasy which is pretty poorly received. It ended the universe and led to age of sgmar
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u/BoogalooBandit1 May 31 '23
Overlord
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u/Deathcore17 May 31 '23
Came here to say this.
The good guys can’t use ‘the power of friendship’ if that’s the main driving force the villain has
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u/BoogalooBandit1 May 31 '23
Exactly Ainz literally has the power of friendship at his back and it is a lot of friendship power. Even better when other non evil plebs try to use their power of friendship only to find out how insignificant theirs is compared to Ainz
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u/Blackwing404 May 31 '23
Had to scroll far too much to reach this.
It's a bad series to be a good guy in.
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May 31 '23
[deleted]
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u/Vinzlow May 31 '23
He aint a maniac. He did it for the happiness of his friends. Slaughtering millions of innocent humans was definitly necessary. lol
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u/Wavestination (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃ May 31 '23
I don't know.
Maybe look up tvtropes.
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u/Horst665 May 31 '23
WARNING TvTropes links should not be followed unsupervised! Go there at your own discretion! Set yourself an alarm to stop!
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u/The_Stormfox_King May 31 '23
THE BOYS
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u/aero197 May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Ehhh, I feel like the point of The Boys is that no one is completely in the right. Total grey area is where each side operates in and no one has a true W.
Edit: Ffs I was rushed out the door finishing this comment. Obviously the main antagonists aren’t morally grey. I meant to say that the protagonists are working in a grey area and don’t really “win”. At the same time Homelander, Vaught, ect. don’t exactly get away with a definite win either and therefore doesn’t fit the criteria for OP. I didn’t miss the plot I promise, just poor rushed wording.
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u/FurubayashiSEA May 31 '23
Pretty sure The Dark Knight, Joker did won.
It turn Harvey Dent an actual hope for the city to be the downfall.
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u/Simbas_World May 31 '23
But at the same time he failed to prove his point with the two ships at the end
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May 31 '23
Riddler won in the new Batman (the one with Pattinson) too. He pretty much did everything he wanted.
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u/turkishpresident May 31 '23
Wasn't his entire plan to turn Batman into his ally and clean up the city?
He seriously failed trying to get batman to like him, but he did make the city a little wetter.
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u/Natural-Seesaw-9450 May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Well kind of, he was standing against the corruption of Gotham with acts of terrorism and murder, and his plan pretty much made Batman the symbol of hope for Gotham to be a better place, even though it wasn't his intention
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u/Lazer_Hawk_100 May 31 '23
In a way, both Batman and Joker lost. Joker wanted to prove morality is a facade. He went about this in 2 ways: the boats, and tarnishing Harvey Dent’s image (who was a symbol of hope). Joker fails on both fronts, as the people on the boats are not willing to kill each other in the end, and Dent’s downfall is covered up by Batman and Gordon.
Batman’s 2 goals are stopping Joker, and creating a symbol of hope for Gotham. In the first movie, he wanted to become that symbol. In “Dark Knight” Batman thought Dent would become a better symbol of hope than he could be. Batman succeeded in putting Joker away, but he had to sacrifice his own image to cover up Dent’s downfall. Presumably Batman will never become the symbol of hope he wished to be, and although Dent’s immaculate image was preserved, Batman knew it was a lie.
Neither Batman or Joker got what they wanted.
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u/LimpWibbler_ Plays MineCraft and not FortNite May 31 '23
Also Batman killed Harvey, he broke his one rule.
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u/grendus May 31 '23
Accidentally.
Bats took the same fall and walked it off. Harvey was just severely weakened from third degree burns and a car wreck, while Bruce was built like an MMA fighter and landed on his feet instead of his head.
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u/McTreex May 31 '23
Edgerunners
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u/Domilater iwrestledabeartwice May 31 '23
I mean, David clearly wasn't killing Smasher. It was established that Edgerunners takes place before the game and Smasher is still clearly alive then. Though it's nice we got to see more of Smasher, even some of his "human" side.
Not to mention it's literally the perfect story for Night City and CP2077. Fight back all you want, but in the end you'll still lose.
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u/Happy-Viper May 31 '23
I mean, not so much as “Fight against an awful ending, but it’s still coming”, but more “If you sprint off a cliff while dragging your friends, you’ll… fall off the cliff, stupid, why did you think this would work?”
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u/Stormfly May 31 '23
It's so weird because the whole show has people warning this guy not to do exactly what he does and he still does it and then he messes up.
I liked the show but I don't feel sorry for the MC.
He made his bed and then he lay in it. Just classic addiction and ignoring everyone warning him not to do it.
Boy simped himself into an early grave.
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u/Seahorse-Radish May 31 '23
IMO David’s journey was basically the equivalent of falling into drug addiction. A junkie that thinks they won’t end up like every other junkie because they’re somehow special
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u/EliteTeutonicNight May 31 '23
He’s already somewhat special, both doctor and I think the other edgerunners commented his incredibly high tolerance of cyber enhancements. Maine went psycho with far less enhancements, whereas David lasted far longer with pretty much a new body.
But it is inevitable, however special, that the machine will win against him.
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u/Kanye-Westicle May 31 '23
Thing is he wasn’t the villain. The city itself was. It chewed up David and spat him out. Same with anyone. No one makes a difference in Night City. No one changes it. The machine churns on whether you like it or not. The most you can expect from fighting against it is people remembering you for your stupidity.
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u/thats1evildude May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Even though he was doomed by canon, David was built up as the scrappy hero & the Cyberskeleton was seemingly unstoppable. In another series, he and Adam Smasher would have had an epic fight before David loses out to cyberpsychosis.
But no, Smasher easily counters everything David and Lucy throw at him and smushes Rebecca for good measure. It’s barely a fight, though Adam does manage to have fun.
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u/ThatOneGuyRunningOEM May 31 '23
“I had some fun after all.”
He wasn’t even trying.
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u/narkit Dark Mode Elitist May 31 '23
I still think that smasher in edgerunners was way too OP but in the game he was almost as difficult as the normal guys and i wasn't even over leveled for that mission
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u/ThatOneGuyRunningOEM May 31 '23
Smasher in Edgerunners is exactly what he should be. A tank, the farthest point you can go before completely losing your humanity.
All that’s left of him is the mind.
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u/objectivemediocre May 31 '23
I legitimately cried at the end of Edgerunners but it fits the CDPR Cyberpunk's world so well that I wouldn't change a thing.
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u/patches93 May 31 '23
I Really Want to Stay at Your House came on right as I started reading this thread and it's so perfect. Thanks Internet stranger
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u/TRAINLORD_TF May 31 '23
Me, in History Class.
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u/PmMeYourLore Dark Mode Elitist May 31 '23
Which topic tho lol
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u/NeilTheFuckDyson May 31 '23
I mean that literally happens all the time in history class
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u/MountainImportant211 May 31 '23
Happens in real life all the time
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u/vfernandez84 May 31 '23
Exactly my thoughts.
Like, just watch the news mate!
Let me have some happy endings in fiction at least.
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u/I-dont-care553040 May 31 '23
Yeah the only reason the hero wins is because it is rare for the hero to win in real life.
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u/thequietthingsthat May 31 '23
Exactly lmao. People like when the heroes win in fiction because it inspires hope and optimism, while serving as a nice break from reality. In real life, villains pretty much control everything.
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u/uppsak May 31 '23
Avengers infinity war
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u/Razzmuzz242 May 31 '23
I remember when my friend showed me the movie and at some point in the middle I said something the lines of "It's looking really tough right now but luckily you always know it will turn out well at the end", still respect him for that pokerface he kept
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u/meta100000 May 31 '23
I mean, it did turn out well. It just took another movie, a 5 year time skip and time travel to get there.
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u/stefan92293 May 31 '23
Just a friendly reminder that Endgame takes place in this year.
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u/GamerRipjaw https://www.youtube.com/watch/dQw4w9WgXcQ May 31 '23
Your comment gave me an existential crisis
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u/DaZe_DiaperMilk GigaChad May 31 '23
Star Wars, revenge of the guys with red laser swords
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u/Spookyy422 https://www.youtube.com/watch/dQw4w9WgXcQ May 31 '23
Actually Vader’s saber was blue throughout the entire movie 🤓🤓
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u/GhostTrooper644 May 31 '23
Just watch 80% of horror movies
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u/mistergreatguy May 31 '23
So should I just stop horror movies at the 72 minute mark or just get a thematic feel for when it's 80% of the way in?
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u/ViftieStuff May 31 '23 edited May 31 '23
Ninjago managed to create a whopping 19 seasons in all of which the bad guy accomplished his goal before being stopped.
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u/TheZestyJester09 GigaChad May 31 '23
And yet in most of those seasons the villain only became powerful because “There’s something I haven’t told you yet”
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u/ViftieStuff May 31 '23
The show has no right to be as good as it is, but it could be so much better
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u/_PykeGaming_ May 31 '23
Google Cyberpunk Edgerunners
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u/ParanoidUmbrella May 31 '23
Overlord, where the main character is the Villain, same with Her Majesty's Swarm. I'm not sure of all that many others though
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u/stupidmonkey6942 May 31 '23
I mean, in breaking bad Walter won
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u/conqaesador May 31 '23
Did you watch it till the end? Everyone lost, if you ask me. Not a single person came out of that fifth season better, than they were before (except skinny pete, badger, saul goodman's assistant and that vaccuum i can make you vanish guy, they made some sweet bucks, but no main characters)
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u/twojkelley May 31 '23
Arlington Road
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u/robadijk May 31 '23
This. Was looking for it already. Great movie. Not sure why it is not mentioned more..
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u/twojkelley May 31 '23
Was honestly one of the first movies where the bad guy won that I had ever seen. I was staring at the screen with my mouth open, so annoyed, so disappointed, so frustrated. Then, after that initial shock, I started rethinking and realizing how incredibly refreshing and unique and bold it was, and came to really appreciate it
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u/Assassin_2390 May 31 '23
Tough to make a film where the bad guy wins and it’s compelling, usually the only way it happens is if the good guys eventually become bad but win, plenty of examples of that, where you think they’re the good guys but by the end, you go, fuck they were the bad guys all along or became the bad guys. Just gotta watch more movies, foreign especially
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u/PmMeYourLore Dark Mode Elitist May 31 '23
This may be a bit off target but The Samaratin is a good flick. Not to spoil anything but yeah
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u/Weary_Drama1803 Birb Fan May 31 '23
im so sick of people being like “i wish there was a story where *insert something that definitely already happened in megamind*”
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u/ValhallaGo May 31 '23
Megamind wasn’t a villain at the end. That’s the whole point of the movie: it’s a redemption arc.
It’s like saying the bad guys won in avatar because Zuko becomes the fire lord.
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u/Fireshocker532 May 31 '23
There’s this new movie about fast and angry car drivers you may want to look into
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u/No_need_for_that99 May 31 '23
• The joker
• Silence of the lambs
• Saw
• Vanishing Point
• SE7EN
• The usual suspects
• pERFUME
..... etc
Like are tons of movies where the bad guy wins.
I don't think you watch enough movies. ha ha
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u/GusJenkins May 31 '23
It happens all the time though definitely at least once. But generalizing on Reddit is way easier than looking anything up
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u/ImNotDoingThatOk May 31 '23
I love those episode arcs for when the villain succeeds but is sad the hero is gone/defeated, Tom and Jerry kind of thing