@Ashley

There's actually a good example of this in Homestuck proper. I remember one of Hussie's QnAs on Github where he talked about John and Jack Noir's fight and why he lost so easily the first time but put up a fight in the second.

John was mad at the moment, but he didn't have any purpose trying to kill Jack Noir in that moment because we already knew Jack was supposed to survive, but his death wasn't heroic because he wasn't prepared to fight and go out like a Hero. He was just an angry 13 year old. That's why when he gets his rematch he does so well. The song about the fight "You Killed My Father" comes to mind, because at that point he was able to reflect and hold a grudge against Jack. If there isn't any meaningful purpose to the fight outside of fighting, then whether or not John (or any God Tier to that extent) loses, they'll just come back because the fight didn't mean anything and therefore loses that stake.

Most Vs Fights take both character as blank slates in a barren field rather than actual characters in a situation. Homestuck characters need to have something to tie them to the fight. If they don't, then they'll just stalemate or win. There's no stakes.