# Stories Where the Hero Loses (Spoilers possible) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 19, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209 "2022-07-19T16:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/121 "2022-07-21T00:37:15Z")
_Jurassic Park_. Some of the heroes survive, including the idiot who thought this was a good idea to begin with. Some people died, including a few good people we grew to love and care about. There seems to be no way to prevent the dinosaurs from eventually leaving the island other than simply kicking the can down the road a few years. And by the time of _Jurassic World_, mankind is struggling with living with dinosaurs all over the world. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/122 "2022-07-21T00:39:12Z")
The Cabin in the Woods. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/123 "2022-07-21T01:09:53Z")
Only in the movie. In the book John Hammond, Ian Malcolm, and Henry Wu all die and the dinosaurs are destroyed by the Costa Rican military. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/124 "2022-07-21T01:19:57Z")
Uh, did Crichton get that wrong? [There is no military in Costa Rica.](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2018/01/05/costa-rica-celebrate-70-years-no-army/977107001/) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/125 "2022-07-21T01:26:06Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > In the book John Hammond, Ian Malcolm, and Henry Wu all die “Oh, look who knows so much, huh? Well, it turns out that your friend Ian here is only _mostly_ dead.” He turns out to be alive in the second novel. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/126 "2022-07-21T01:53:30Z")
Rogue One Mission accomplished - everyone on the planet dies Ambrose Bierce (Mr. Optimist) - "An Occurrence at _Owl Creek_ Is our main character, a confederate sympathizer, plantation and slave owner a hero? believes the rope/noose snapped when he’s hung and he’s fallen into the creek, he escapes, arrives exhausted from the chase at his home - it’s a hallucination. He’s now back on the bridge and the hanging is real. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/127 "2022-07-21T02:30:31Z")
An oldie but goldie (okay, cult classic more than anything else). [Angel Heart (1987)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_Heart) - a PI reluctantly follows up on a missing person who retained possession of his client’s property The investigation ends up sparking a series of brutal murders, and ends in the death of the protagonist - and then it gets worse. I will comment that horror and noir movies are the most common it seems for failures. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/128 "2022-07-21T02:45:40Z")
Darn. I was going to mention “They Live”. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/129 "2022-07-21T02:59:47Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Uh, did Crichton get that wrong? Probably. I don’t have the book in front of me but I distinctly remember the military landing on Isla Nublar and blasting away some dinos at the very end of the book. I suppose it could be some other nation’s military but the book also makes it clear that Hammond leased the island from Costa Rica. > [@ekedolphin](#): > > He turns out to be alive in the second novel. Indeed and I think Chrichton got some shit for that because Malcolm, having succumbed to his T-Rex wounds, was clearly dead at the end of JP. The fact that he magically turned up alive in The Lost World was incredibly lazy writing. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/130 "2022-07-21T04:40:24Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Still a fine film. Highly recommended. We will agree on this. Shoot straight, you Bastards, Don’t make a mess of it! ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/131 "2022-07-21T05:01:35Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > I will comment that horror and noir movies are the most common it seems for failures. Yeah, this thread hasn’t gotten too deep into classic or neo-noir but they’re chockablock with losing protagonists. Not a lot of happy endings to be found (a few I guess, but not a lot). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/132 "2022-07-21T05:13:32Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Nah. They were Soldiers. …and murderers. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/133 "2022-07-21T06:10:48Z")
For a book, instead of a movie, there is “Survival Margin” by Charles Eric Maine. Not spoilering since it is over 50 years old and you really don’t want to read it. In the end the hero is caught by the bad guys, and out before a firing squad. He expects to get rescued. He isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/134 "2022-07-21T15:55:51Z")
I see several mentions of Avengers: Infinity War but none of Captain America: Civil War. The bad guy wins in that movie, he accomplishes everything he set out to do and breaks up the Avengers. And unlike IW it wasn’t just undone in the next movie. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/135 "2022-07-21T20:06:37Z")
I think Gharlane is retired and living in Ireland. I did warn him that it’s rather cold and rainiy there, but of course if you are a powerful entity from another universe, you can probably create your own microclimate. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/136 "2022-07-21T21:44:41Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. > > To say anything more would be spoiling it. Ooh, all the plot twists in that book were great! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/137 "2022-07-21T23:14:36Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > _To Kill a Mockingbird_ - Atticus may have done a better job than any other attorney in history in defending Tom Robinson, but he still lost the case. To make it worse, Tom tried to escape and was killed. At that, how about, say, Primal Fear? The defense attorney genuinely comes to care about his client, and tries everything he can to save the guy, and somehow manages to win the case — only to then have said client patiently explain to him that, _oh, hey: I’m incredibly guilty._ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/138 "2022-07-22T00:07:44Z")
Recommendation accepted. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/139 "2022-07-22T01:53:37Z")
When it ended, I was open mouth stunned ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209/140 "2022-07-25T17:12:48Z")
I just downloaded The Plot. Y’all made it sound intriguing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stories-where-the-hero-loses-spoilers-possible/968209.md?page=6)