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-->-- '''Peter Parker''', ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''
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-->-- '''Peter B. Parker''', ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''
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->''"Everybody knows that the best way to learn is under intense, life-threatening pressure!"''
-->-- '''Peter Parker''', ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''
-->-- '''Peter Parker''', ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse''
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Not a subversion, because Danny is able to do the thing in a crisis that he couldn't before, which is the key part of the trope.
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* Subverted in Creator/UrsulaVernon's ''Dragonbreath'' series. Danny Dragonbreath is a young dragon who is sensitive about his inability to breathe fire. When facing a giant octopus in the climax of the first book, he does finally manage to breathe fire-- but because he's underwater at the time, it has no effect.
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* Subverted Played with in Creator/UrsulaVernon's ''Dragonbreath'' series. Danny Dragonbreath is a young dragon who is sensitive about his inability to breathe fire. When facing a giant octopus in the climax of the first book, he does finally manage to breathe fire-- but because he's underwater at the time, it has no effect.
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* Played with in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', where Harry has been attempting to cast Patronus spells all book so that he can defend himself from Dementors, but can't seem to get it fully right. He does get it to succeed once, but he (and the audience) doesn't see it happen because he's in the middle of a Quidditch match and looking for the Snitch. (Plus, he didn't have real Dementors to deal with that time.) Later, he has to save himself and two others from an entire ''swarm'' of Dementors, and [[spoiler:fails the first time, but eventually he [[StableTimeLoop travels back in time]] and is able to save his earlier self with a Patronus he'd (at the time) thought his dead father had somehow cast. By that point he'd realized he ''would'' succeed because he already had]]. In Goblet of Fire as well, Harry has trouble with the summoning spell, Accio, until he finds out that he needs it to beat a dragon.
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* Played with in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', where Harry has been attempting to cast Patronus spells all book so that he can defend himself from Dementors, but can't seem to get it fully right. He does get it to succeed once, but he (and the audience) doesn't see it happen because he's in the middle of a Quidditch match and looking for the Snitch. (Plus, he didn't have real Dementors to deal with that time.) Later, he has to save himself and two others from an entire ''swarm'' of Dementors, and [[spoiler:fails the first time, but eventually he [[StableTimeLoop travels back in time]] and is able to save his earlier self with a Patronus he'd (at the time) thought his dead father had somehow cast. By that point he'd realized he ''would'' succeed because he already had]]. had]].
* InGoblet of Fire as well, ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Harry has trouble with the summoning spell, Accio, until he finds out that he needs it to beat a dragon.
* In
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Examples missing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The example is not exact to the trope, but it is the closest trope to the example. No links are included, as I do not know how.
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* Played with in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', where Harry has been attempting to cast Patronus spells all book so that he can defend himself from Dementors, but can't seem to get it fully right. He does get it to succeed once, but he (and the audience) doesn't see it happen because he's in the middle of a Quidditch match and looking for the Snitch. (Plus, he didn't have real Dementors to deal with that time.) Later, he has to save himself and two others from an entire ''swarm'' of Dementors, and [[spoiler:fails the first time, but eventually he [[StableTimeLoop travels back in time]] and is able to save his earlier self with a Patronus he'd (at the time) thought his dead father had somehow cast. By that point he'd realized he ''would'' succeed because he already had]].
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* Played with in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', where Harry has been attempting to cast Patronus spells all book so that he can defend himself from Dementors, but can't seem to get it fully right. He does get it to succeed once, but he (and the audience) doesn't see it happen because he's in the middle of a Quidditch match and looking for the Snitch. (Plus, he didn't have real Dementors to deal with that time.) Later, he has to save himself and two others from an entire ''swarm'' of Dementors, and [[spoiler:fails the first time, but eventually he [[StableTimeLoop travels back in time]] and is able to save his earlier self with a Patronus he'd (at the time) thought his dead father had somehow cast. By that point he'd realized he ''would'' succeed because he already had]]. In Goblet of Fire as well, Harry has trouble with the summoning spell, Accio, until he finds out that he needs it to beat a dragon.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E12TopDuck Top Duck]]", Launchpad ([[CaptainCrash unsurprisingly]]) crashes spectacularly the first time he attempts the "Treetop Bebop Tuck and Roll". At the episode's end, he manages it to save Scrooge and the Money Bin.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E12TopDuck Top Duck]]", Launchpad ([[CaptainCrash unsurprisingly]]) crashes spectacularly the first time he attempts the "Treetop Bebop Tuck and Roll". At the episode's end, he manages it to save Scrooge and the Money Bin.
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* Mole's catchphrase in the film version of ''Film/TheWindInTheWillows'' is "But I can't throw for toffee!" But near the end he manages to literally throw a spanner into the works of the Weasels' dogfood machine.
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* Mole's catchphrase in the 1996 film version of ''Film/TheWindInTheWillows'' ''Film/{{The Wind in the Willows|1996}}'' is "But I can't throw for toffee!" But near the end he manages to literally throw a spanner into the works of the Weasels' dogfood machine.
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I don't think this is a significant addition, because it doesn't change the fact that the trick did go wrong the first time. Also, Repair Dont Respond.
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** Actually, he pulled it off the first time too; [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals the pig just didn't want to sit still]].
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** Actually, he pulled it off the first time too; [[NeverWorkWithChildrenOrAnimals the pig just didn't want to sit still]].
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* Subverted in Creator/UrsulaVernon's ''Dragonbreath'' series. Danny Dragonbreath is a young dragon who is sensitive about his inability to breathe fire. When facing a giant octopus in the climax of the first book, he does finally manage to breathe fire-- but because he's underwater at the time, it has no effect.
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* In ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}: Mask of Light'', Takua's new [[FictionalSport Kohlii]] move, a CatchAndReturn front-flip, ends up missing spectacularly. His move becomes the deciding blow in the match against [[BigBad Makuta]].
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* In ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}: ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}: Mask of Light'', Takua's new [[FictionalSport Kohlii]] move, a CatchAndReturn front-flip, ends up missing spectacularly. His move becomes the deciding blow in the match against [[BigBad Makuta]].
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* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Weiss has always struggled with one aspect of her glyph Semblance: summoning spectres of past enemies to fight for her. Every time she tries, she fails. However, when rushing in to defend Velvet from an enormous rogue war machine, she suddenly gets it right for the first time, successfully summoning the arm and sword of the knight she fought in her pre-series trailer, which blocks the mecha's attack and then obliterates the mech.
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* ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks''. Shirou's attempts to use Strengthening magic on materials consistently fail in his nightly practice until after [[spoiler:Archer fixes his Magic Circuits]], but he gets it right in do-or-die combat situations right from the start.
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* ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks''. Shirou's attempts to use Strengthening magic on materials consistently fail in his nightly practice until after [[spoiler:Archer fixes his Magic Circuits]], but he gets it right in do-or-die combat situations right from the start. Notably, though, this is justified, though in spoileriffic manner: [[spoiler: Shirou's magic is limited to 'stuff to do with swords'. When he's just trying to strengthen a random object, it's not going to work because the object is insufficiently sword-like. Only when he's making objects more weapon-like does his power work.]]
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Nothing in this description resembles the trope. If she fails and then decides to try a different approach, how is that an example of failing repeatedly and then succeeding when it counts?
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** In "Party Pooped", the ponies are trying to impress royalty of Yakyakistan. The yaks are ''very'' strict on their demands, as ''anything'' that for them is not ''exactly'' like in Yakyakistan means it must be destroyed. Pinkie Pie's solution is to go to Yakyakistan herself, which for the other ponies means that they must stall the yaks long enough for her to return. [[ThisMeansWar It doesn't work.]] Pinkie Pie just barely makes it to Yakyakistan before she falls all the way back to Ponyville, but she then realizes that ItsTheJourneyThatCounts. So her conclusion is that she should not try to make Ponyville look like Yakyakistan, but instead she should make the yaks lk at home in Ponyville. The yaks were happy.
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** In "Party Pooped", the ponies are trying to impress royalty of Yakyakistan. The yaks are ''very'' strict on their demands, as ''anything'' that for them is not ''exactly'' like in Yakyakistan means it must be destroyed. Pinkie Pie's solution is to go to Yakyakistan herself, which for the other ponies means that they must stall the yaks long enough for her to return. [[ThisMeansWar It doesn't work.]] Pinkie Pie just barely makes it to Yakyakistan before she falls all the way back to Ponyville, but she then realizes that ItsTheJourneyThatCounts. So her conclusion is that she should not try to make Ponyville look like Yakyakistan, but instead she should make the yaks lk at home in Ponyville. The yaks were happy.
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* In ''Film/DownPeriscope'', the diving officer screws up her maneuvering early in the film, but then in the crucial moment near the end gets it exactly right thanks to the captain ObfuscatingStupidity and giving incorrect orders to induce her to jump in with the correct ones.
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* In ''Film/DownPeriscope'', the diving officer screws up her maneuvering early in the film, but then in the crucial moment near the end gets it exactly right thanks to the captain ObfuscatingStupidity and giving incorrect orders to induce her to jump in with the correct ones. It's noted that the captain [[InvokedTrope used this]] to help her get it right when she speaks to him afterwards and asks him how much longer he would have waited before doing it properly.
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* In ''Film/RocketMan'', [[GeniusDitz Randall]] has proven that he's an absolute genius, having designed several of the pieces of equipment in the Mars lander, but he can't rewire them when spinning around. Sure enough, the craft gets sent into a flat spin when they're trying to leave and he has to rewire the entire electrical system in less than two minutes. With some encouragement from the mission director after a brief moment of panic, [[LetsGetDangerous he pulls it off flawlessly.]]
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* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Naruto is given a week to learn Rasengan. He doesn't manage it until the last day, when Kabuto is about to kill Tsunade and the only move Naruto knows that will put Kabuto out of the fight is Rasengan.
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* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Naruto is given a week to learn Rasengan. He doesn't manage it until the last day, when Kabuto is about to kill Tsunade and the only move Naruto knows that will put Kabuto out of the fight is Rasengan. Notably, the fight [[spoiler: giving him a case of ImpaledPalm]] was the only reason his method of attempting the technique changed enough to pull it off.
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* An episode of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' involves a guest character's two Bellossom failing to perform a stunt for a performance--until a Team Rocket attack prompts them to try it again, and they succeed.
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* ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks''. Shirou's ability to use Strengthening magic on materials only works in do-or-die combat situations [[spoiler:until Archer fixes his Magic Circuits]].
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* ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks''. Shirou's ability attempts to use Strengthening magic on materials only works consistently fail in his nightly practice until after [[spoiler:Archer fixes his Magic Circuits]], but he gets it right in do-or-die combat situations [[spoiler:until Archer fixes his Magic Circuits]].
right from the start.
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* ''Anime/FateStayNightUnlimitedBladeWorks''. Shirou's ability to use Strengthening magic on materials only works in do-or-die combat situations [[spoiler:until Archer fixes his Magic Circuits]].
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* A RunningGag in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' is John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) not being able to make basketball shots. Then he successfully lobs a grenade through a vent in a very similar way to save lives.[[note]]CastingGag at work here; Shaq as a basketball player was well-known for not being able to make free throws.[[/note]]
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* A RunningGag in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' is John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) not being able to make basketball shots. Then he successfully lobs a grenade through a vent in a very similar way to save lives.[[note]]CastingGag [[note]]ActorAllusion at work here; Shaq as a basketball player was well-known for not being able to make free throws.[[/note]]
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* A RunningGag in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' is John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) not being able to make basketball shots. Then he successfully lobs a grenade through a vent in a very similar way to save lives.
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* A RunningGag in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' is John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) not being able to make basketball shots. Then he successfully lobs a grenade through a vent in a very similar way to save lives.[[note]]CastingGag at work here; Shaq as a basketball player was well-known for not being able to make free throws.[[/note]]
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* Played with in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', where Harry has been attempting to cast Patronus spells all book so that he can defend himself from Dementors, but can't seem to get it fully right. He does get it to succeed once, but he (and the audience) doesn't see it happen because he's in the middle of a Quidditch match and looking for the Snitch. (Plus, he didn't have real Dementors to deal with that time.) Later, he has to save himself and two others from an entire ''swarm'' of Dementors, and [[spoiler:fails the first time, but eventually he [[StableTimeLoop travels back in time]] and is able to save his earlier self with a Patronus he'd (at the time) thought his dead father had somehow cast. By that point he'd realized he ''would'' succeed because he already had]].
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** Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match. Later in the season 1 finale [[spoiler:she actually airbends after Amon takes away her other three bending skills]].
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** Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match. Later in the season 1 finale [[spoiler:she actually airbends airbends, something she had been unable to do all season, after Amon takes away her other three bending skills]].skills and is about to de-bend Mako]].
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** Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match.
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** Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match. Later in the season 1 finale [[spoiler:she actually airbends after Amon takes away her other three bending skills]].
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' episode "Top Duck", Launchpad ([[CaptainCrash unsurprisingly]]) crashes spectacularly the first time he attempts the "Treetop Bebop Tuck and Roll". At the episode's end, he manages it to save Scrooge and the Money Bin.
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' episode "Top Duck", "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E12TopDuck Top Duck]]", Launchpad ([[CaptainCrash unsurprisingly]]) crashes spectacularly the first time he attempts the "Treetop Bebop Tuck and Roll". At the episode's end, he manages it to save Scrooge and the Money Bin.
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** In "Equestria Games", Spike is unable to light the torch with his fire breath, but he later uses it to melt a falling iceberg created by a stray ice arrow, saving the spectators from being crushed.
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Example indentation. Don\'t phrase examples in a \"don\'t forget that thing\" way, because it\'s exclusionary of readers who haven\'t seen that thing.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match. Let's not forget Bolin [[spoiler: lava-bending]] in the season 3 finale!
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'':
** Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bendingmatch. Let's not forget match.
** Bolin [[spoiler: lava-bending]] in the season 3finale!finale.
** Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending
** Bolin [[spoiler: lava-bending]] in the season 3
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Adding/updating new info!
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match. Let's not forget Bolin [[spoiler: lava-bending]] in the season 3 finale!
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----
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* In ''TheTiggerMovie'', Tigger shows Roo the Whoopty-Dooper Loopty Looper Alley Ooper bounce. Roo can't do it at first, nor later when he's practicing before bedtime. At the end, he has to do it to save Tigger from an avalanche.
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* In ''TheTiggerMovie'', ''Disney/TheTiggerMovie'', Tigger shows Roo the Whoopty-Dooper Loopty Looper Alley Ooper bounce. Roo can't do it at first, nor later when he's practicing before bedtime. At the end, he has to do it to save Tigger from an avalanche.
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At the beginning of the story, the protagonist attempts to demonstrate a skill, and fails dismally. This is a sure sign that at the climax they're going to save the day by attempting this skill again and getting it right (usually for the first time ever).
A sister trope of ChekhovsSkill and ChekhovsHobby, in which the protagonist mentions or demonstrates that they can do something which will turn out to be valuable later. Crisis Makes Perfect is when the protagonist demonstrates that they ''can't'' do something right up until everything depends on them being able to.
Compare BecomingTheBoast, where a character who has been boasting about their ability all story is called on to demonstrate it, admits they can't, and then has to do it anyway; DieOrFly, where a crisis brings out a previously-unsuspected ability; and OneBulletLeft, another trope demonstrating that the hero can do amazing things when the climax of the story depends on it.
!!Examples:
%%
%% Note: Examples are in alphabetical order. Please preserve this order when adding new examples.
%%
[[AC:Anime/Manga]]
* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' episode 4 "Full Swing". Naota is so bad at swinging a baseball bat that he refuses to swing during games. At the end of the episode he swings a guitar perfectly to stop a falling satellite bomb in its tracks.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Naruto is given a week to learn Rasengan. He doesn't manage it until the last day, when Kabuto is about to kill Tsunade and the only move Naruto knows that will put Kabuto out of the fight is Rasengan.
[[AC:Film -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfter'', Thunderella has trouble focusing her storm-control powers. In the climax, she successfully throws a lightning bolt at the villain, which creates a distraction for Snow White to deal the final blow.
* The opening of ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' has Hiccup and his dragon Toothless practice rider-less flying combined with squirrel-suit flying, a difficult task for both of them because Toothless can't make tight turns without a rider to control his prosthetic tail fin and because Hiccup can't gain altitude, only glide. The climax relies on the two of them both pulling off these tricks again, aided by Toothless' discovery of stabilizing back spines to let him turn sharper even with a stiff tail fin.
* In the ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' sequel, Madellaine struggles with her ambition to become a tightrope walker. At the end, she pulls it off to save Zephyr.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', Petrie is a young pterodactyl who [[AcrophobicBird doesn't know how to fly]], but he learns pretty quick when he has to save Ducky from the Sharptooth.
* In ''TheTiggerMovie'', Tigger shows Roo the Whoopty-Dooper Loopty Looper Alley Ooper bounce. Roo can't do it at first, nor later when he's practicing before bedtime. At the end, he has to do it to save Tigger from an avalanche.
[[AC:Film -- Live Action]]
* In ''Film/DownPeriscope'', the diving officer screws up her maneuvering early in the film, but then in the crucial moment near the end gets it exactly right thanks to the captain ObfuscatingStupidity and giving incorrect orders to induce her to jump in with the correct ones.
* In the climactic game of ''Film/MajorLeague'', veteran pitcher Eddie Harris is flagging at the top of the ninth inning, when Yankees power hitter Clu Haywood comes up to bat. The Indians' manager calls Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn in as relief pitcher, even though Vaughn has never failed to give away a hit to Haywood in the season. The catcher protests, but the Indians' manager insists, saying, "I've got a hunch he's due." Vaughn throws three straight fastballs and strikes Haywood out.
* In ''Film/{{Maverick}}'', Maverick has a superstition about being able to draw exactly the card he needs, which fails every time he tries it except during the climactic poker game with everything riding on it.
* A running gag in ''Film/OneCrazySummer'' has Hoops repeatedly failing to make improvised basketball shots (wastebasket, trash can, Ack-Ack). During the boat race, one of the villains cheats by using a sniper rifle to shoot out the line for their sail. Unfortunately, they have to repair it by putting the line back through the halyard hole and they don't have the equipment to do so. Their solution: tie the line to a metal ball and have Hoops throw that through the hole. Somehow, he makes it. Even he is surprised.
* In ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'', Santa attempts to show Joe the Super Duper Looper maneuver he's been trying to teach his reindeer, but Donner's acrophobia forces the reindeer to abort it. At the climax of the movie, when Santa has to save Patch and Joe from an endangered Patchmobile, he is forced the perform the Super Duper Looper in order catch them, shouting encouraging words to Donner. The Super Duper Looper is performed flawlessly, and Patch and Joe are rescued.
* In ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'', Owen Wilson's character is shown to be a terrible shot. When it comes to the final shootout, however, he manages to put his only remaining bullet through his opponent's heart. It's hard to tell who's more surprised by this.
* In ''Film/SpaceCamp'', the pilot trainee is unable to recover from a spin in the simulator. After being inadvertently launched into space, she finds herself having to do it for real.
* A RunningGag in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' is John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) not being able to make basketball shots. Then he successfully lobs a grenade through a vent in a very similar way to save lives.
* In ''Film/{{Willow}}'', Willow attempts to perform a disappearing trick and it goes disastrously wrong. At the climax, he foils the evil sorceress by successfully vanishing the MacGuffin.
* Mole's catchphrase in the film version of ''Film/TheWindInTheWillows'' is "But I can't throw for toffee!" But near the end he manages to literally throw a spanner into the works of the Weasels' dogfood machine.
[[AC:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'', there's a couple of scenes where Nicomo Cosca, an infamous mercenary turned seedy drunk tries to do a knife throwing trick where he points out a target and says he will hit it. Inevitably, the knife hits way off course, which doesn't exactly instill confidence in his allies. However, in a climatic fight, he actually succeeds in doing the trick and hits an opponent right between the eyes.
[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''{{Series/Chuck}}'' season 3 when he was training to be a "real" spy, Chuck had to do an ImprovisedZipline using a power line and his belt as the pulley, but failed. Then at the end of the ep in a real situation he was forced to use a power line as a zip line with his belt as the pulley. This time he succeeded.
* In ''{{Series/Fringe}}'', a villain threatens a biological attack unless Olivia can make a box of lights switch off with her mind. Fringe Division assumes he's mad, and prepares a rigged box to fake the effect - but the episode ends with Olivia having to [[spoiler:use her latent mental powers]] to switch off another box, wired directly to the bomb that will release the contaminant. She succeeds.
[[AC:Web Original]]
* PlayedForLaughs in the [[RealTrailerFakeMovie real trailer for the fake reboot]] of ''Series/RaumschiffGamestar'': the AU!Captain Langer tries to reproduce the original Captain's CatchPhrase ("Oh God, we are all going to die!") but repeatedly mispronounces it. Then, in the end of the trailer, he finally gets it right--just as his entire ship blows up to smithereens.
[[AC:Western Animation TV]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}: Mask of Light'', Takua's new [[FictionalSport Kohlii]] move, a CatchAndReturn front-flip, ends up missing spectacularly. His move becomes the deciding blow in the match against [[BigBad Makuta]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' episode "Top Duck", Launchpad ([[CaptainCrash unsurprisingly]]) crashes spectacularly the first time he attempts the "Treetop Bebop Tuck and Roll". At the episode's end, he manages it to save Scrooge and the Money Bin.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "Sonic Rainboom", Rainbow Dash struggles to pull off the title maneuver while practicing for a flight competition. Come the day of the competition, she pulls it off to save Rarity and several Wonderbolts from falling to their deaths.
** In "Hurricane Fluttershy", Rainbow Dash sets the goal for every pegasus to achieve 10.0 wingpower so they can make a tornado and lift water to Cloudsdale. Fluttershy initially gets 0.5 wingpower, and trains to get up to 2.3 wingpower. When the pegasi try to create the tornado, they don't have enough wingpower to lift the water, so Fluttershy joins and manages to fly faster than she ever did before.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', season 5 "Dodge This", when the park workers form a dodge ball team, Rigby practices his dodge ball throw, the "Rignado", but he can't aim it properly. When his team is against "The Magical Elements" and Rigby and Reginald, one of the giant flying babies, are the only ones remaining, Rigby does the "Rignado" again but this time it hits his opponent and his team moves on to the finals.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E15HomieTheClown Homie the Clown]]", Homer is repeatedly shown flubbing Krusty's spin-cycle trick (which Krusty describes as "a great piece of buffoonery if you pull it off, but if you blow it, you'll look like a fool"). At the climax of the episode, he is forced to perform the trick by a Mafia Don threatening to execute him if he fails. He's delighted to find that he's actually pulling it off... [[SubvertedTrope only to fail horribly at the last moment]]. [[AvertedTrope Krusty himself was made to ride the bike when he and Homer had to do the trick together]], yet Homer (who had to ride on top of Krusty) still manages to nearly jeopardize it.
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A sister trope of ChekhovsSkill and ChekhovsHobby, in which the protagonist mentions or demonstrates that they can do something which will turn out to be valuable later. Crisis Makes Perfect is when the protagonist demonstrates that they ''can't'' do something right up until everything depends on them being able to.
Compare BecomingTheBoast, where a character who has been boasting about their ability all story is called on to demonstrate it, admits they can't, and then has to do it anyway; DieOrFly, where a crisis brings out a previously-unsuspected ability; and OneBulletLeft, another trope demonstrating that the hero can do amazing things when the climax of the story depends on it.
!!Examples:
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%% Note: Examples are in alphabetical order. Please preserve this order when adding new examples.
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[[AC:Anime/Manga]]
* ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' episode 4 "Full Swing". Naota is so bad at swinging a baseball bat that he refuses to swing during games. At the end of the episode he swings a guitar perfectly to stop a falling satellite bomb in its tracks.
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Naruto is given a week to learn Rasengan. He doesn't manage it until the last day, when Kabuto is about to kill Tsunade and the only move Naruto knows that will put Kabuto out of the fight is Rasengan.
[[AC:Film -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/HappilyEverAfter'', Thunderella has trouble focusing her storm-control powers. In the climax, she successfully throws a lightning bolt at the villain, which creates a distraction for Snow White to deal the final blow.
* The opening of ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' has Hiccup and his dragon Toothless practice rider-less flying combined with squirrel-suit flying, a difficult task for both of them because Toothless can't make tight turns without a rider to control his prosthetic tail fin and because Hiccup can't gain altitude, only glide. The climax relies on the two of them both pulling off these tricks again, aided by Toothless' discovery of stabilizing back spines to let him turn sharper even with a stiff tail fin.
* In the ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' sequel, Madellaine struggles with her ambition to become a tightrope walker. At the end, she pulls it off to save Zephyr.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime'', Petrie is a young pterodactyl who [[AcrophobicBird doesn't know how to fly]], but he learns pretty quick when he has to save Ducky from the Sharptooth.
* In ''TheTiggerMovie'', Tigger shows Roo the Whoopty-Dooper Loopty Looper Alley Ooper bounce. Roo can't do it at first, nor later when he's practicing before bedtime. At the end, he has to do it to save Tigger from an avalanche.
[[AC:Film -- Live Action]]
* In ''Film/DownPeriscope'', the diving officer screws up her maneuvering early in the film, but then in the crucial moment near the end gets it exactly right thanks to the captain ObfuscatingStupidity and giving incorrect orders to induce her to jump in with the correct ones.
* In the climactic game of ''Film/MajorLeague'', veteran pitcher Eddie Harris is flagging at the top of the ninth inning, when Yankees power hitter Clu Haywood comes up to bat. The Indians' manager calls Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn in as relief pitcher, even though Vaughn has never failed to give away a hit to Haywood in the season. The catcher protests, but the Indians' manager insists, saying, "I've got a hunch he's due." Vaughn throws three straight fastballs and strikes Haywood out.
* In ''Film/{{Maverick}}'', Maverick has a superstition about being able to draw exactly the card he needs, which fails every time he tries it except during the climactic poker game with everything riding on it.
* A running gag in ''Film/OneCrazySummer'' has Hoops repeatedly failing to make improvised basketball shots (wastebasket, trash can, Ack-Ack). During the boat race, one of the villains cheats by using a sniper rifle to shoot out the line for their sail. Unfortunately, they have to repair it by putting the line back through the halyard hole and they don't have the equipment to do so. Their solution: tie the line to a metal ball and have Hoops throw that through the hole. Somehow, he makes it. Even he is surprised.
* In ''Film/SantaClausTheMovie'', Santa attempts to show Joe the Super Duper Looper maneuver he's been trying to teach his reindeer, but Donner's acrophobia forces the reindeer to abort it. At the climax of the movie, when Santa has to save Patch and Joe from an endangered Patchmobile, he is forced the perform the Super Duper Looper in order catch them, shouting encouraging words to Donner. The Super Duper Looper is performed flawlessly, and Patch and Joe are rescued.
* In ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'', Owen Wilson's character is shown to be a terrible shot. When it comes to the final shootout, however, he manages to put his only remaining bullet through his opponent's heart. It's hard to tell who's more surprised by this.
* In ''Film/SpaceCamp'', the pilot trainee is unable to recover from a spin in the simulator. After being inadvertently launched into space, she finds herself having to do it for real.
* A RunningGag in ''Film/{{Steel}}'' is John Henry Irons (Shaquille O'Neal) not being able to make basketball shots. Then he successfully lobs a grenade through a vent in a very similar way to save lives.
* In ''Film/{{Willow}}'', Willow attempts to perform a disappearing trick and it goes disastrously wrong. At the climax, he foils the evil sorceress by successfully vanishing the MacGuffin.
* Mole's catchphrase in the film version of ''Film/TheWindInTheWillows'' is "But I can't throw for toffee!" But near the end he manages to literally throw a spanner into the works of the Weasels' dogfood machine.
[[AC:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'', there's a couple of scenes where Nicomo Cosca, an infamous mercenary turned seedy drunk tries to do a knife throwing trick where he points out a target and says he will hit it. Inevitably, the knife hits way off course, which doesn't exactly instill confidence in his allies. However, in a climatic fight, he actually succeeds in doing the trick and hits an opponent right between the eyes.
[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''{{Series/Chuck}}'' season 3 when he was training to be a "real" spy, Chuck had to do an ImprovisedZipline using a power line and his belt as the pulley, but failed. Then at the end of the ep in a real situation he was forced to use a power line as a zip line with his belt as the pulley. This time he succeeded.
* In ''{{Series/Fringe}}'', a villain threatens a biological attack unless Olivia can make a box of lights switch off with her mind. Fringe Division assumes he's mad, and prepares a rigged box to fake the effect - but the episode ends with Olivia having to [[spoiler:use her latent mental powers]] to switch off another box, wired directly to the bomb that will release the contaminant. She succeeds.
[[AC:Web Original]]
* PlayedForLaughs in the [[RealTrailerFakeMovie real trailer for the fake reboot]] of ''Series/RaumschiffGamestar'': the AU!Captain Langer tries to reproduce the original Captain's CatchPhrase ("Oh God, we are all going to die!") but repeatedly mispronounces it. Then, in the end of the trailer, he finally gets it right--just as his entire ship blows up to smithereens.
[[AC:Western Animation TV]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}: Mask of Light'', Takua's new [[FictionalSport Kohlii]] move, a CatchAndReturn front-flip, ends up missing spectacularly. His move becomes the deciding blow in the match against [[BigBad Makuta]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' episode "Top Duck", Launchpad ([[CaptainCrash unsurprisingly]]) crashes spectacularly the first time he attempts the "Treetop Bebop Tuck and Roll". At the episode's end, he manages it to save Scrooge and the Money Bin.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Korra manages to get a grip on the Airbending stance she struggled with earlier just in time to turn around her Pro-Bending match.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** In "Sonic Rainboom", Rainbow Dash struggles to pull off the title maneuver while practicing for a flight competition. Come the day of the competition, she pulls it off to save Rarity and several Wonderbolts from falling to their deaths.
** In "Hurricane Fluttershy", Rainbow Dash sets the goal for every pegasus to achieve 10.0 wingpower so they can make a tornado and lift water to Cloudsdale. Fluttershy initially gets 0.5 wingpower, and trains to get up to 2.3 wingpower. When the pegasi try to create the tornado, they don't have enough wingpower to lift the water, so Fluttershy joins and manages to fly faster than she ever did before.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', season 5 "Dodge This", when the park workers form a dodge ball team, Rigby practices his dodge ball throw, the "Rignado", but he can't aim it properly. When his team is against "The Magical Elements" and Rigby and Reginald, one of the giant flying babies, are the only ones remaining, Rigby does the "Rignado" again but this time it hits his opponent and his team moves on to the finals.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E15HomieTheClown Homie the Clown]]", Homer is repeatedly shown flubbing Krusty's spin-cycle trick (which Krusty describes as "a great piece of buffoonery if you pull it off, but if you blow it, you'll look like a fool"). At the climax of the episode, he is forced to perform the trick by a Mafia Don threatening to execute him if he fails. He's delighted to find that he's actually pulling it off... [[SubvertedTrope only to fail horribly at the last moment]]. [[AvertedTrope Krusty himself was made to ride the bike when he and Homer had to do the trick together]], yet Homer (who had to ride on top of Krusty) still manages to nearly jeopardize it.
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