Mandatory loss

Related:
* Recurring opponent

These start out as normal fights, but either when you're about to win or lose the game runs some cinematic sequence that resolves the conflict in uniform manner for either outcome.

Often it's impossible to win these and actually fighting them is plain waste of time and the player just has to give up fighting to get onward in the plot (clearly the designers didn't foresee anyone surviving against the opponent).

There's few cases where these fights can actually be won if the player is good enough or tries hard enough, but the end result is usually no different than from losing. At most it might give a different losing cinematic.

--- Trivia
For the geeks out there, Kobayashi Maru of Star Trek fame would essentially qualify for this tag.