History AlwaysSomeoneBetter / AnimeAndManga

** This is also the relationship between [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Buggy]] and [[TheAce Shanks]], who were both former cabin boys of the Rogers Pirates. [[spoiler:Buggy always saw Shanks as the true successor of Rogers' legacy and was once willing to support him as Pirate King, only for Shanks to decide to go another path and cause Buggy to become disillusioned]]. Years later, when both end up becoming Emperors of the Sea (albeit accidentally in Buggy's case), upon learning that [[spoiler:Shanks is going after the One Piece, Buggy's ambitions are rekindled as he decides to rally his crew to chase after it as well out of a desire to prove himself Shanks' equal ([[ThePuppetCutsHisStrings to the fury of his puppetmasters Crocodile and Mihawk]])]].

* ''Anime/IdolDensetsuEriko'': Kosuke was always one step ahead of Yuusuke, which is why he resented him. He had a successful company, a loving wife, and was a well-respected media mogul, when Yuusuke worked a lower role. After his death, Yuusuke took over his company.

** Leon in ''Journeys'' is this not only to Ash, but to pretty much every Champion in the World Coronation Series. [[spoiler:Just like Sawyer and Gladion, Ash beats Leon and thus becomes the strongest trainer in the world]]

* Both Keith/Sky High and Barnaby Brooks Jr. serve as this to Kotetsu/Wild Tiger in ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', in slightly different ways. Keith overshadows Kotetsu by the virtue of being [[TheAce comically amazing in every way]]. Barnaby, on the other hand, gets to make Kotetsu feel inadequate by having the exact same powers while being younger, [[{{bishonen}} better looking]], more competent, and more loved by fans and sponsors alike. Later on in the series, however, [[spoiler:Kotetsu's relation sort of flips around in a way, as Barnaby starts seeing ''him'' as someone he can't ever hope to compare to]].

** It had Mihawk, the greatest swordsman in the world, who in his first appearance utterly trounces Roronoa Zoro (greatest swordsman in the sea of East Blue) with a tiny dagger, but spares him because Zoro shows promise.

** Luffy himself is this to rest of the Supernovas (sans Zoro, who is his subordinate). The heaviest hitters of the next great generation of pirates, Luffy was the last member of the group to enter the New World. Yet, in the scant few months he's been there, he's managed to outdo nearly every single major achievement they've accomplished during the two years he was training. To wit:

** She suffers several humiliating defeats at the hands of the last few Angels: [[TheJuggernaut Zeruel]] basically slaughtered her the same way he did with almost everything else, Arael [[MindRape raped her mind]] and she couldn't do anything; and against Armisael, she wasn't even able to '''move''' her Eva (let alone fight)). Each time, it's either Shinji (vs. Zeruel) or Rei (vs. Arael and Armisael) that gets the kill. And to rub salt in the wound, she has to be rescued from Arael by '''Rei''' of all people, whom she utterly despises for being essentially the antithesis of everything that Asuka had worked hard to be.

** It had Mihawk, the greatest swordsman in the world, who in his first appearance utterly trounces Roronoa Zoro (greatest swordsman in the ocean of East Blue) with a tiny dagger, but spares him because Zoro shows promise.

* This is one of the biggest staples in sports manga ''as a whole''. Even some ''main'' characters fits this trope, or become so as the plot goes on. Examples are...

** A more appropriate example would be [[TheHero Ichigo]] himself. In record time, he becomes a shinigami capable of fighting and defeating captains to save Rukia and [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight change Soul Society]] enough to ensure Rukia won't be executed once he's gone home. It seems as though he's achieved his goal when the real [[BigBad villain]] puts in his appearance, able to stop Ichigo's unstoppable blade with a single finger. The significance of this moment is lampshaded in the anime by having Aizen not only stop Ichigo's blade with his finger, ''but actually bring Ichigo's theme music to crashing halt mid-note''.

** Leon in ''Journeys'' is this not only to Ash, but to pretty much every Champion in the World Coronation Series.

* In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', Spike is set up as the biggest badass of the galaxy, matched only by his nemesis Vicious, however when [[spoiler:Ed's father]] briefly shows up toward the end of the series, he effortlessly outfights Spike.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'': Comes up a lot in this series, though mostly in the minds of the UnknownRival.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'':

* The protagonist Tatsuya Shiba from ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' is this to ''[[TheAce aces]]''. Anything that any ace of the team do, including his sister, he'll do better ''despite the fact that he can't cast magic''.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' had Luna Inverse, Lina's older sister and the only person in a world full of chaos-demon-gods who scared her. She could trounce any of the bad guys Lina faces, being a reincarnation of one of the world's supreme gods...if she had any ambition beyond being a part-time waitress.

There's AlwaysSomeoneBetter in anime and manga.