History Main / HardWorkhardlyWorks

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':

*** Relatedly, Byakuya absolutely ''hates'' the implication that his talent is simply having been born rich. He is a financial prodigy and proud of it, but he had to work ''hard'' to become heir to the Togami coporation, by beating out his many half-siblings while still a child. Assuming he just had everything handed to him not only insults him by insinuating he's a useless rich kid, it insults [[WorthyOpponent his siblings]] by insinuating that they ''lost'' to a useless rich kid.
*** Leon Kuwata, on the other hand, plays this trope absolutely straight. He's naturally talented at baseball to the point where he plays both pitcher ''and'' cleanup hitter (usually, a player has to specialize in one or the other, to the point where there's a 'designated hitter' position whose job is to stand in for the pitcher when his team is at bat) on his team, but he admits that he doesn't really care for baseball and rarely practices. He actually aspires to a career in music, both because [[CasanovaWannabe he thinks it'll let him pick up girls]], and at least that's something he ''chose'', while his baseball skill was pure luck of the genetic draw.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', on the other hand, features Nagito Komaeda, who [[UnreliableNarrator appears to]] wholeheartedly believe that the only way to have any sort of talent is to be born with it. He [[DissonantSerenity cheerfully claims]] that anyone with a Super High School Level skill is automatically just plain ''better'' than anyone who might try building up their abilities through hard work and practice. The other students think he's creepy because of it, not to mention the fact that he exalts their ''talents'' without paying any attention to their worth as ''people''.

* Used as a plot point in the Hentai VisualNovel ''Season of the Sakura''. The PlayerCharacter is naturally talented at practically every sport (the sole exception being swimming, due to severe hydrophobia), and decided to try and be the "school hero" by trying out for every team and leading the school to victory. Unfortunately, he quickly learned that his classmates hated him because they had to work hard to get where they were, and him flaunting his skills came off as egotism. It got so bad that he transferred schools and he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't participate in any sport until he can found someone better than himself -- which is the point where the game begins.

* WebAnimation/BattleForDreamIsland has it in several episodes
* Just like Battle For Dream Island, WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity has several instances where the team that worked harder ended up losing.
** Theft and Battery: Despite Suitcase being the one that got the battery in the first place, the Bright Lights ended up winning because Test Tube fixed [=MePhone4=].

* HardWorkHardlyWorks/RealLife

** If one reads the Literature/EpistleOfJames and tries to harmonize it with Paul's epistles, they would see that believers ''are not saved by'' works, but rather ''they are saved unto doing'' good works.
* Orthodox Christianity gives us such an answer: hard work is necessary, but it only works if it makes you humble see your sins, which you can't help but do. One Christian saint, Theophan the Recluse, even wrote that the reward (the Christ's salvation) is given not for the committing good acts and achieving virtues, and not for your efforts in doing this, but for increasing humility -- and if you don't, then not only you gain nothing, you are in perish of corruption by pride, nullifying everything!

-->'''Captain Hammer:''' You look ''[[IncrediblyLamePun horribly]]'' [[ClarkKenting familiar]]. [...] Have I seen you at the gym? [...] Wait, I don't go to the gym; I'm just [[JerkJock naturally]] [[SuperStrength like]] [[NighInvulnerability this]]. Oh, well.

** HardWorkHardlyWorks/DragonBall

** The film averted this when [[spoiler: Mike and Sully had to work themselves up from mailmen to a full-fledge team at Monster Inc. after being expelled.]]

* Zoroastrianism has the "Farr", which is essentially a cosmic spotlight. If a person has it, they have the attention of the pantheon, they have a special, significant life with huge reponsibilites and the glory that can come with it, and a rather unfair advantage over everyone who tries to accomplish anything meaningful without it.

* This is the logic behind ''wuwei'' (無為), a major concept in UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}}, translated as "inexertion", "inaction" or "effortless action". Alan Watts translated it as "not-forcing". Essentially, the more you reach and grasp for something, the harder it becomes, because desiring goes against the nature of things. Whereas, doing what comes naturally to you, thereby "doing without doing", tends to yield better results. In other words, working hard doesn't work as hard as hardly working. It should be noted, however, that ''wuwei'' does not imply that laziness is a virtue; rather it means that constantly striving for superficial concerns such as wealth, beauty and success will not yield it, while paradoxically, ''not'' striving for these things and being content with what you have will yield such things. By which time you realise you don't need them, as you have something much greater: the Tao.

* Zigzaged in UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. Believing in the strict unicity of God is what grant you entrance in Heaven. If you're not a Muslim, your deeds are vains (Literature/TheQuran 9:17). On the other hand, God is said to reward the believers according to their works.

* Zig-zagged in ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk 2020}}''. A character can easily learn a lot of skills by using memory implants but such skills are pretty low and cannot be risen naturally. In other words, one can effortlessly become JackOfAllTrades but excellence in a given field may be achieved only by blood, sweat, and tears.

*** Relatedly, Byakuya absolutely ''hates'' the implication that his talent is simply having been born rich. He is a financial prodigy and proud of it, but he had to work ''hard'' to become heir to the Togami coporation, by beating out his many half-siblings while still a child. Assuming he just had everything handed to him not only insults him by insinuating he's a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob, it insults [[WorthyOpponent his siblings]] by insinuating that they ''lost'' to a RichIdiotWithNoDayJob.

* In ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', Alice is a consistently hard-working employee while Wally does [[strike:virtually]] no work at all. The PointyHairedBoss treats them equally and sometimes even tells Alice that she ought to be more like Wally.
** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the boss is a moron.
** It is sometimes shown that Wally is a brilliant worker when he wants to be, but this is practically never, because he's realized something that Alice hasn't: effort doesn't pay off in a company that steals all your achievements without granting you slightest recognition, and the management doesn't recognise the difference between a lazy slob and a devout employee.
*** Wally is based on a real-life individual that Scott Adams knew. Real Life Wally was a brilliant worker who gamed the system so that he got the best outcome from minimal effort. Specifically, he figured out that the buyout for layoffs was better than the retirement package, so he made a dedicated effort to be useless without actually getting fired. According to Adams, he succeeded, but his fictional counterpart is stuck under managers too dumb to fire him properly.
** It has also been mentioned a few times that Alice is the highest paid engineer in the company, so her effort isn't completely wasted, it's just that she isn't rewarded enough.

** Kobold creation myths claim that their racial deity Kurtulmak laboriously honed his skill and power while in service to the Dragons, earned his freedom, and built a lair of unsurpassed design from which the kobolds were poised to enter the world as a major race -- until the deity Garl Glittergold collapsed it on top of him and led his gnomes to dominance in their place. Neither Kurtulmak nor Garl is entirely trustworthy sources of information, however.

*** Wally is based on a real-life individual that Scott Adams knew. Wally was a brilliant worker who gamed the system so that he got the best outcome from minimal effort. Specifically, he figured out that the buyout for layoffs was better than the retirement package, so he made a dedicated effort to be useless without actually getting fired. According to Adams, he succeeded.

** ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'''s Kiyotaka Ishimaru wants to prove this isn't true at all. While he attends the elite Hope's Peak Academy, he notably reacts poorly to being called a 'genius', as he connects that term with the concept of being ''born'' with talent as opposed to working hard for it.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', on the other hand, features Nagito Komaeda, who [[UnreliableNarrator appears to]] wholeheartedly believe that the only way to have any sort of talent is to be born with it. He [[DissonantSerenity cheerfully claims]] that anyone with a Super High School Level skill is automatically just plain ''better'' than anyone who might try building up their abilities through hard work and practice.

--->'''Ishimaru:''' Something tells me we're not having the same discussion here...

* Parodied in ''Film/WeirdTheAlYankovicStory'' when Al sends his tape of "My Bologna" to the Captain Buffoon radio show. His friends warn that it will require years -- maybe ''decades'' -- of hard work before he'll get noticed... just before [[CoincidentalBroadcast Captain Buffoon raves about the song]] and turns Al into an instant sensation.

* In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0126.html this]] ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]'' comic, Bard Elan considers taking a level in Wizard. Vaarsuvius (the party's resident elven Wizard) complains that it took him/her over a hundred years to learn how to cast the most basic of spells, yet Elan is acquiring that knowledge almost instantaneously with one simple decision.

*** However, it's played straight on another occasion: Vaarsuvius nearly works him/herself to death trying to break through the Cloister and find Haley, while Elan and Durkon mostly just sit around waiting for the problem to solve itself. In the end, all the hard work accomplished almost nothing in regards to finding Haley, because she had contacted them and Durkon was actually the first to know. This is a JustifiedTrope for three reasons: V was doing so much hard work and not resting at all, because he/she was still feeling guilty about something done recently and didn't want to have nightmares; no one short of an epic spellcaster could penetrate the Cloister, period; and an idea that ''should'' have worked didn't because of something that was not his fault (i.e., his friends were hungry).

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* As they struggled to find people for the Prime Candidate Program, Jesse in ''Fanfic/AWEArcadiaBayRogueDemon'' reasons that they are trying too hard and they should just "let it happen." This is based on experience, as she has been known to get lucky in the Oldest House and paranatural phenomena runs more on faith than deduction.
--> '''Jesse:''' Sometimes, I feel like if the house, or the board, wants us to find something, we will find it. Maybe we just need new information that hasn't come up yet?
* This is discussed in ''Fanfic/OhGodNotAgain'' when [[Franchise/HarryPotter Draco]] points out that the Hufflepuff house never comes out ahead specifically ''because'' working hard is such an ingrained, defining trait of theirs. “What are they going to do? Do exactly what they're supposed to do MORE?"
* Gloriously averted in ''Naruto: Demon Path''. Naruto ran away from Konoha at age 6 but met and joined Haku and Zabuza living like a missing nin for 6 years before going back. During his fight with Sasuke at The Valley Of The End, he owns Sasuke. When Sasuke angrily shouts his Sharingan should make him better, Naruto calls him out:
--> '''Naruto''': While you were sitting in class thinking of a quick fix to more power, '''I''' was busting my ass in real life-or-death situations. Seriously how long have you been a ninja? A few months? Try comparing that to my 6 years asshole!
** Naruto even refuses to use this power of the Kyuubi. When Jiraiya wants to alter the seal to allow more of the Kyuubi's chakra leak through. Naruto refuses to do so. Basically, he acknowledges that he might have to use the Kyuubi, but he doesn't want to rely on it.
* Discussed in ''Fanfic/AGrowingAffection''. Lee gives Sakura a scenario for the Chunin Exams with Ninja A (CripplingOverspecialization BareFistedMonk) and Ninja B (JackOfAllStats). As Lee explains, Ninja B could go through the entire tournament and beat many in the third round but can lose to Ninja A and Ninja A will become a Chunin.
* Very averted in ''Fanfic/NoChanceForFate''. Ranma has to work hard to gain abilities and even then, he'd just have learned them but still needs experience to become better. The Senshi do get their magic for free but have no experience using it. They also are still essentially normal teenagers and need combat training to learn everything they need to survive in battle.
* Discussed in regards to Harry in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm''. While, unlike Hermione, he doesn't have a particularly good grasp of theory, and, indeed, doesn't have the mind she does [[GuileHero (though he]] [[IndyPloy is far from an idiot)]], he has a level of raw power that was greater than hers even before it was revealed that his father was really Thor incarnated as James and an intuitive grasp for spellwork, particularly in favoured subjects, that means he grasps spells almost as quickly, or as quickly as (in some cases, even faster than) she does. It's not this, as such, but also his Quidditch skills and giving off the impression at being pretty good at whatever he turns his hand to, and, finally correcting her answer in Defence Against the Dark Arts, that upsets her.
* ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'': In "Raise", Asuka remembers what she could never catch up with Shinji in spite of working hard to become the best. She also realizes that it doesn’t bother her or upset her anymore.
* ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'': During an argument with Shinji, Asuka throws in his face that he never had to work hard for being an Eva pilot, whereas that she trained hard for one entire decade to become the best, and everything that she got was getting her mind raped.
-->"Do you want to know what your problem is?" she said, her voice rising shrilly. "You take what you have for granted, and you think it gives you the right to talk down to me. But you've never had to work for what you have, you just get in your Eva and it goes and you are the hero.
* ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': One reason Asuka is so frustrated with Shinji is that his synch rate is higher even though he's been training for much less time than she has. Of course, Shinji has a couple of advantages (being a time traveler and knowing some things he shouldn't) over her.
* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': In chapter 9 Asuka complains that she worked hard for one decade to become the best pilot, and she was being beaten by a barely-trained rookie.
-->'''Asuka:''' Of course I'm upset! How would you feel, Shinji, if you devoted your whole life to something and it didn't pay off? I've been training to be an Eva pilot for ten years. Ten years, Shinji! I should be the best! I worked at it, damn it! I worked hard for it! But instead, you, who's been piloting for less than a year, can beat me! And you're not even trying! What the hell was I doing, if I can get beaten by some jerk they grabbed off the street?!
* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11767392/1/Frigid-Future Frigid Future]]'': According to Cooler, belief in this is what got Freeza killed. The universe moves forward so if not Goku, then someone would eventually become strong enough to defeat him. This is why Cooler regularly trains to increase his power.
* The ''Fanfic/TriptychContinuum'' version of Trixie Lulamoon gets screwed over ''hard'' by this trope. In the Continuum, a pony's magical strength is fixed from birth, and no amount of exercise, practice, or effort will ever improve it. Trixie's talent provides her with an unending supply of ideas for new spells, but she knows that she will never be able to cast most of those spells.
* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Katsuki Bakugou worked his ass off to overcome his debilitating childhood injuries, tearing his way through the U.A. Entrance Exam through his natural talent and effort. Unfortunately for him, his ChildhoodFriend, Izuku, happens to be [[FlyingBrick Kryptonian]]. Because of this, he's constantly overshadowed by Izuku's constantly growing powers despite the latter's disproportionately smaller (but no less dedicated) amount of effort in training.
* Mizuki in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' seems to believe this trope, citing it as one of his main reasons to defect from Konoha and sell himself to Orochimaru. In a rather ironic twist, the one who defies the trope to hell and back is Lee himself, who fights one-on-one against Mizuki (the latter even using a Cursed Seal for a power boost), and still manages to win by pure physical endurance and willpower.
* PlayedWith in ''Blog/MiraculousRewrite'': Marinette works incredibly hard to break into the world of fashion design, and this ultimately pays off for her in "Queen Wasp" when [[spoiler:Gabriel takes her on as an intern]]. However, this success also catches the eye of Audrey Bourgeois, and ''that'' causes her daughter Amber to have a massive breakdown over the idea that all of ''her'' efforts to [[WellDoneDaughterGal please her]] [[AbusiveParents mother]] might have [[AllForNothing been totally pointless]].
* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops'':
** {{Invoked}} [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]]. Ascending to alicorn requires a BeyondTheImpossible feat directly related to a pony's special talent as well as a powerful artifact (the specific artifact can vary, just so long as it's powerful). Ascending ''again'', however, is infinitely easier. At one point a bunch of [[GroundhogDayLoop loopers]] prank Celestia by pretending to ascend for ridiculously minor "feats" like eating a lot of muffins, wearing a crown, and choking on a paperclip. Celestia eventually gives up, declares that ascension no longer grants any special privileges, and mutters about how she was an alicorn before it was cool.
** Likewise, after obtaining the Elements of Harmony the hard way, Bearers can pull them out at any time, which is often used to troll people.
--->'''Trixie:''' Spike showed his Loyalty by growing to the size of a small whale! Chrysalis showed her Kindness by putting up with me! Zecora showed her Generosity by paying for the first round at the bar! Berry showed her Laughter by making up some really good puns for the names of her cocktails! And Gilda showed her Honesty by beating up a manticore!\\
'''Nightmare Moon:''' Those are ''not'' virtuous acts!\\
'''Trixie:''' I think you'll find everyone who knows me considers putting up with me for more than ten minutes to be an inherently virtuous act. Oh, by the way, the sixth element is Magic. Boom.\\
''[Nightmare Moon gets blasted by the Elements]''
* ZigZagged in the ''Fanfic/SleeperHitAU''. While Midoriya worked incredibly hard to pass U.A.'s Entrance Exam, his efforts prove pointless when Aizawa [[YankTheDogsChain immediately expels him on Day 1]] after rigging his assessment against him. He also struggles to find another Hero School willing to take him [[FantasticRacism due to his Quirklessness]]. However, the Hamada Institute accepts him, and he's able to earn regard as the first Quirkless Pro Hero.
** Shinsou also recognizes just how hard Midoriya worked, and uses this to PullTheThread on Aizawa's claim of impartility, pointing out that the amount of training Midoriya did should have ensured that his physical scores edged out Hagakure's.
* Mostly averted in ''Fanfic/TheAwakeningOfAMagus''. Harry does get a dose of InstantExpert that puts him above any regular wizard, but using anything resembling his full potential requires lots of hard training.
* Averted in ''Fanfic/ShipsAhoy''. Oprah believes that Odd Squad agents hardly work to earn their "I beat this oddity today" bragging rights and eagerly revel in the perks they get as government employees, contrasting it with her own hard work that involves her plans to change the entire juice industry for the better and has her making an honest living even in spite of her hardships. What she's (initially) unaware of, however, is that Odd Squad agents work just as hard as she does at fighting oddness and making the world a better place for everyone, whether or not they're skilled at doing so and regardless of what hardships they face.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* This is the Aesop of ''Literature/AtlasShrugged''. While Dagny Taggart works very hard to manage Taggart Transcontinental and many of the people that get accepted into Galt's Gulch have innate abilities who also work hard, while Eddie Willers, who works hard for Taggart Transcontinental, ends up breaking down in the middle of the desert trying and failing to fix the train because he lacks their innate abilities.
* Averted with Garion in ''Literature/TheBelgariad''. Anyone gifted with sorcery will still need years of training to truly master the art, and even near the end of the second series, he's still getting plenty of pointers from his elders. He is a lot more powerful than a sorcerer of his age should be, but that's largely thanks to [[MacGuffin the Orb]] and his acknowledged status as [[TheChosenOne the Child of Light]] rather than any innate ability. It's also worth noting that in his final battle with Torak, [[spoiler: sorcery has nothing to do with it -- it is his willpower, and rejection of Torak, that grants him victory.]]
** Of course, not every sorcerer is privy to the full details of his unique status, so there is some confusion when he pulls of feats he probably shouldn't be able to.
** At the start of the next series he causes problems due to large power and little training a few times. He stops a battle of knights by creating a lightning storm and a few months later, an irate Belgarath calls him some fun names while informing him that the disciples (all old sorcerers) spent months fixing the world's weather. He also, with the help of the orb, blows up a gate in a city his army is attacking. As he is angry the orb gets enthusiastic and the gate with part of the wall disappear as the explosion is THAT big. Parts of the wall land kilometers out to sea as well.
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Jerin is able to [[spoiler: marry the princesses]] because his grandfather was special, but his lockpicking skills and ability to read thieves' cant are all due to hard work. This is a family tradition, coming from his grandmothers who were spies, but Jerin and his sisters are shown practicing it. On the other hand, Jerin's SexGod abilities do seem somewhat implausible given that he's a virgin at the start of the novel and only had the theoretical knowledge passed to him by his grandfather. On the other hand, such things are subjective and the competition isn't any better, either, as chastity is highly valued in husbands in this setting.
* In Jeramey Kraatz's ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'', the only way into the Cloak Society is by descent from the founders; only they have the superpowers Umbra grants. Gage's father died in a lab accident because of his unceasing efforts to avert this -- to demonstrate such inventing genius that they would accept him -- and Gage is following in his footsteps. On the other hand, when it comes to actual skill, this trope is thoroughly averted. Both superheroes and supervillains are rigorously drilled both in their powers and in BoxingLessonsForSuperman.
* Averted in ''Literature/DragonBones'': Ward's fighting skills are due to his aunt Stala, who worked hard for her experience, and taught her niece and nephews how to fight. When Ward regains the magical ability he was born with, but lost when he was a child, he can't do much with it, as he isn't trained in magic, and so can only do the most intuitive things.
* Literature/HarryPotter is PlayingWithATrope.
** Harry is a naturally gifted Seeker. He doesn't seem to be that far above average while playing any other position. During the O.W.L. tests, Harry is the student (that we know of) with the highest number of O.W.L.s after Hermione. And before that, when the moment to learn the Patronus Charm came, he learnt it in a day.
** This is also extended to Hufflepuff House, whose defining trait is hard work. [[HufflepuffHouse The number of major/notable characters from that house that are crucial to the plot can be counted on one hand ]].
** Ron can be called the poster boy for the trope. He starts as a rather mediocre Quidditch Player, but quickly becomes one of the best players of the Team. And when he studies hard, he actually got a very large number of O.W.Ls
** Neville is PlayedStraight. Neville is at the rock bottom of the pecking order. While he does improve during the DA lessons he does not really reach the level of the main Trio or even the other students of the DA. Neville is a case of CantCatchUp.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': Lyra learns how to use the alethiometer in less than a month. It's supposed to take decades. On the other hand, she's not the only one. Justified, somewhat, in that it's explained that Lyra was granted the use of the alethiometer [[spoiler: for a short time only, and that when she's completed her role, the ability leaves her. However, she can regain the ability through years of study just like anyone else.]] More to the point, the information she gains out of the alethiometer is [[spoiler: angels talking to her. Another character in another world has been working on a computer program that does the same thing, essentially, and after a certain point the angels get impatient and simply spell it out for her.]]
* In ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'', Davian has been trying his entire life to wield Essence. He's studied every book and practiced every technique, but he just isn't able to tap his Reserve and wield it. That's because Augurs use Essence by wielding it from the environment, not their Reserves, but he has no clue about this until someone tells him. From that point on, he's a natural.
* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'' averts this trope. Whenever Eric goes up against older and/or more experienced warriors, he is outgunned every time. The only way to victory in those cases is with guile.
** Eric trains for hours every day before and after school for a couple of weeks and he gets humiliated by a veteran mercenary, whose experience ranks in a couple ''decades''.
** Anyone of the Black Cloak rogues could kill him on their own, so he [[spoiler: pretends to be one of them and uses a quick spell combo to disable them when his ruse is discovered.]]
** When he fights mages from the Royal Academy, [[note]] Students of magical theory and other non-combat areas of study who have never been in a serious fight before [[/note]] he curbstomps all of them but one. When he fights Kallen Selios [[note]] A veteran field agent for the ICDMM, which hunts monsters so they can study mana mutation [[/note]], he is curbstomped himself.
** [[spoiler: In his climactic confrontation with Dengel, his only path to victory is exploiting the elder mage's ego and deceiving him. A direct confrontation would lead to a quick and permanent death.]]
* Averted ''very hard'' in Dmitri Yemets' ''Methodius Buslaev'' books. The reason that [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Guardians of Gloom]] and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Guardians of Light]] are so skilled in battle is that they have ''thousands'' of years in training.
** The best of the Guardians of Gloom, Ares, is a God of War because that he constantly trains and fights. And even then it's stated that he can be killed if his opponents are enough skilled or have enough numbers.
* In ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'' Hynreck is a professional hero who spent his whole life being the best at everything he does, but he can't hold a candle against Bastian, who outmatches him with ease by virtue of holding AURYN and wielding Sikanda, a sword that can never be beaten.
* Klaus of ''Literature/SpyClassroom'' achieved his mastery of spycraft intuitively, while his pupils studied for years and aren't nearly as good. This is actually part of the problem in the first book: ''because'' he mastered his craft intuitively, he doesn't know how to explain it to anyone else, making him a terrible teacher.
* ''Literature/TreeOfAeons'': When Lausanne first wants to train in combat and become a hero, Jura talks to [=TreeTree=] about how it only makes sense for people to train things they're naturally talented at, and Lausanne isn't gifted at combat, so he wants her to try something else. [=TreeTree=] doesn't have the heart to just crush her dreams, though, so he offers her what help he can. Results are mixed; with his many boosts to learning, the opportunities he gives her, and a lot of hard work, she becomes a prodigy by most people's standards -- and yet she is left in the dust when she encounters the divinely blessed heroes, who can surpass her hard-won progress in days or weeks.
* Pataki, from Tibor Fischer's ''[[http://books.google.com/books?id=cqMGSMC0pQQC&pg=PA105&lpg=PA105&dq=pataki+frog&source=bl&ots=sZggNadEBO&sig=bLaY_D8zzLylFNqvENf2BKc_mm0&hl=en&ei=DpbzSa3aMZX2Mdmg5K0P&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1 Under The Frog]].'' "Pataki had just found out about his speed one day and found it there whenever he needed it. If Gyuri didn't run every day, he'd slow up and balloon; if he didn't play ball every day his edge would blunt but Pataki could wander onto the court after a month in a Parisian restaurant and still be able to whizz down infallibly and dunk the ball in the basket. There had to be a good reason for Pataki to stir and training wasn't one of them."
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Egwene and Nynevae are described as being some of the most powerful channelers Moraine has ever seen. When they get to Tar Valon in the second book, Egwene is entered at the level of Novice, but Nynevae gets to skip Novice and proceed directly to Accepted, the middle rank. They leave the Aes Sedai for an extended portion of the second book, and when they return in the third, Egwene is raised to the level of Accepted.
** Mat Cauthon inherits past memories of incredible martial and tactical ability. With barely any combat training, he defeats two excellent swordsmen at the same time, despite the fact that he's practically an invalid at the time. He goes on to become an extremely successful general.
*** Not hardly any training, he was trained in the use of the quarterstaff by his father, who was the best in their hometown. It also helped that the swordsmen were underestimating him...and that the Warder instructor noted "a farmer with a quarterstaff" was the only man to defeat the greatest swordsman in history, suggesting the clash of styles worked in Mat's favor.
*** He had to work hard to get good at the quarterstaff, but as for the army management...in his first large-scale battle (where he has any command) he takes a group of essentially new recruits and carves his way through an ''ambush'' laid by ''overwhelming numbers'' of the ''best warriors in the world''. Justified in that many, many people had to work hard, and even die, to get Mat those skills, he just wasn't one of them.
** Zigzagged with Rand. After struggling to learn the basics of channeling, Rand taps into the GhostMemory of his prior incarnation, Lews Therin, who was TheAce in his time period, allowing Rand to spontaneously pull off complicated weaves with no practice. The catch is that Lews Therin starts to manifest as a voice in Rand’s head, and Lews is dangerously bonkers. So while Rand doesn’t have to put much work into being good at channeling, he has to put a lot of work into integrating Lews Therin into his own consciousness without driving himself mad.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* This is a problem Carlton has with Will in ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir''. For all the hard work Carlton puts into it, Will has street and people skills that make it look easy. An example of this is in the episode where the boys get interviewed for Princeton. Will is reluctant to even get in but his wise cracks and street smarts impress the interviewer. Carlton gets jealous and mimics Will, resulting in the interviewer thinking he is insane and rejects him. This leads to Carlton begging, bribing and finally threatening the interviewer, resulting in his suspension.
* This is part of Lindsey [=McDonald's=] motivation in ''Series/{{Angel}}'' Season 5. He started in the mailroom of Wolfram & Hart and worked his butt off to become a good lawyer, while the Senior Partners just ''gave'' Angel the position of CEO overnight.
* This was actually used as motivation for Amy the witch in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. At one point she was really powerful and not unfriendly to the main cast, what with them saving her from being trapped in her mom's body. Fast forward five seasons: Willow is now the resident DeusExMachina, and Amy is royally pissed that Willow (who wasn't even aware magic existed until the age of sixteen) has more magic in her pinky than it took Amy, an already accomplished mage, years of training to get. In her words, most ''born'' magic users nowadays have to "work twice as hard to be half as good" was Willow, who picked up witchcraft during high school.
** She's also rather upset that Willow [[spoiler:''attempted to destroy the world'']] and didn't get more than a slap on the wrist and some friendly counseling.
** The whole "[[ForcedTransformation stuck as a rat]]" issue probably didn't help her attitude either.
*** However, in almost all of the Amy episodes up to this point Willow is not shown to really be stronger. Amy seems to be incredibly powerful when she can turn people into rats, and at the same time Willow complains about being able to barely levitate a pencil. Willow is complimented on her magical abilities in Season 5 just for having the ability to summon a little lightning and magically throw knives. Willow seems to get her magical upgrade in Season 6 from Rack. While it may be argued that she was stronger at that point, she had three more years of training while Amy was still a rat yet Amy's complaint in Season 7 was that Willow was "always" stronger.
** Anya invokes this trope in Season 7 when she tells Buffy that she is not "better" than the rest of them, just "luckier".
* Prue in ''Series/Charmed1998'' suddenly gains super awesome fighting abilities with her telekinesis, better than Phoebe's who had been studying martial arts for years. Sure Prue was a cheerleader in high school but she worked in a museum and an auction house in her adult years. Though this averted with regards to the sisters' powers as they are shown developing slowly over the course of the series. Though Prue's develop faster than her sisters' do.
** Perhaps understandable in that Prue, as the oldest sister, has the rawest power at her disposal. After [[spoiler: Prue dies, Piper is the oldest sister and the most powerful of the three.]]
* {{Averted}} and {{Lampshaded}} with Jeff Winger on ''Series/{{Community}}''. Despite thinking it applies to him, Jeff can not simply win a debate or create pottery just because he thinks he is special. He actually has to end up working hard to succeed.
-->'''Jeff:''' The funny thing about being smart is that you can get through most of life without having to do any work.
** PlayedStraight with Troy. He is shown to be naturally gifted in repairing things. He's so good that the air conditioning repair department of the college believes him to be their [[TheChosenOne chosen one]]. At one point Troy challenges the head of the department to a duel centering around [[InterestingSituationDuel repairing broken air conditioners]] and bests him.
* PlayedStraight in ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' when the two brothers get jobs at the local movie theater. Josh is a dedicated employee who applies himself to the job. Drake on the other hand charms the boss. Naturally, Drake is the one who gets promoted to manager.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': At the start of the show, Finn was a stereotypical jock who looked down on the glee club. However, Mr. Schue forced him to join after hearing he had a fabulous singing voice. He soon became the club's lead male singer, beating out Kurt and Artie, who both had more of a musical background then him.
* Averted in ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. Of all the main characters, only the main antagonist Sylar is shown rapidly mastering his abilities (his original power, Intuitive Aptitude, is a literal applied version of TheGift). All the actual Heroes have to spend several episodes (the space of a couple of months) figuring out HowDoIShotWeb or trying to avoid a SuperPowerMeltdown.
** Played straight in that office worker Hiro Nakamura, after a single sword-fighting lesson from his father, becomes skilled enough with a katana to fight evenly against and ultimately defeat [[spoiler: Takezo Kensai]], a professional mercenary and swordsman. Of course, Hiro can slow down time. It could be [[YearInsideHourOutside an]] ''[[YearInsideHourOutside extra long]]'' [[YearInsideHourOutside lesson]]…
* Felton from ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' espouses this viewpoint.
--> '''Felton''': You think people get things because they ''earn'' it? No. The more you deserve, the less you get.
* Played straight in ''Series/{{House}}''. House cheated on his exams at Johns Hopkins and spends much of his time watching cable tv or playing a video game rather than reading about new medicine, new treatments, etc. He tries to invoke {{Eureka Moment}}s. Then again, he is "almost always eventually right" because he still knows his stuff.
* Sam on ''Series/ICarly'' gets away with multiple school projects by winging it, whilst Freddie and Carly fail after spending an inordinate amount of time and effort on theirs. Example, the GreenAesop science experiments in ''iGo Nuclear'' where Sam passes by demonstrating the "green qualities" of an orange. Namely that it's edible, and the peel is biodegradable.
** Although admittedly, the teacher was a {{Straw|manPolitical}} NewAgeRetroHippie.
* In ''Series/LieToMe'', Dr. Lightman has spent years of his life memorizing and learning the various reactions and facial tics he uses in the show to be a human lie detector. Ria Torres, a former airport security guard, intuitively recognizes all of these with no formal training.
** Also subverted. Lightman repeatedly notes that while Torres intuitively recognizes facial cues, she doesn't necessarily understand the context. So TheGift works, but [[AwesomeByAnalysis practice]] is better.
*** Also, TheGift isn't much of a gift. Torres picked up the ability to intuitively recognize facial cues because her father was a vicious prick ''and'' an alcoholic. She learned how to recognize micro-expressions because if she ''didn't'' know when he was in one of his moods and had to be avoided and/or placated, she got badly beaten. Talk about PowerAtAPrice...of a screwed-up childhood.
* Series/TheNextStep eventually reveals this as the [[FreudianExcuse reasoning]] behind Emily’s dislike of Michelle. Emily had been at the studio for years, starting from the bottom and working her way up to be captain of their best troupe, while Michelle merely walked in one day and was given a spot on said troupe without even doing anything.
* An episode of ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' had the woman who Joy had stolen Earl from undergoing TrainingFromHell so that she could get stronger and become a bounty hunter and one day get revenge. From all that training, she's built up as a complete and total badass... but when she finally gets her rematch with Joy at the very end of the episode, she gets taken down in the span of a few seconds.
* ''Series/ThePretender'': Surgery? Profiling? Sniping? ''Naval tactics?'' '''Golf?''' If Jarod doesn't know how to it, he can learn overnight. The Justification? He's a [[MillionToOneChance One In A Million]] {{Mutant|s}} stolen from his parents at age six and [[TheSpartanWay taught to do nothing other than this for thirty years.]]
** Subverted in one episode where he has to learn to play pool to deal with that episode's BigBad. Creator/JenniferGarner's character tells him something along the lines of "You can put away your books. They can teach you how to play pool, but they can't make you a pool player."
* Averted in ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', which indicates on several occasions that hard work is the most important part of being a good doctor. For example, Dr. Cox tells J.D. that Elliot has overtaken him as a doctor because he spends too much time goofing off with Turk.
** In Season 8, new intern Ed is another subversion in that while he was initially smart enough to get by with little work, eventually it became impossible for him to keep up and he was fired.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': Tori Vega only got accepted at Hollywood Arts because she needed to fill in for her sister and had no prior experience in singing or acting. However, she repeatedly manages to out shine Jade, who is implied to have been studying performing arts since her childhood. This is a big factor as to why Jade resents Tori.
** In one episode, Tori needed to take her Tech Theater Exam. She's tutored by Robbie, who had not only passed it, but had the highest score. Through out the series, Robbie has been shown to be the more tech minded of the group, while Tori needed to be shown the ropes when she had to do theater tech. Yet, despite spending only one night studying, Tori easily aces the test and beats Robbie's score.
* ''Series/WandaVision'': As noted by [[spoiler:Agatha Harkness]], the Hex around the town of Westview is a complex set of thousands of simultaneous transfiguration and mind control spells that need to be maintained 24/7. [[spoiler:Wanda]] manages the feat [[AchievementsInIgnorance without even being aware of it]]. Meanwhile, it took [[spoiler:Agatha]] years of study to master a spell that turns a cicada into a bird. As it turns out, it's because [[spoiler:Wanda is [[TheChosenOne the Scarlet Witch]], a legendary magic user with the power to [[RealityWarper reshape reality as they see fit]] and create things and people from nothing.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manhwa and Manhua]]
* Subverted in ''Manhua/GoddessCreationSystem''. Seeing that Xiaxi favors his brother in part because of his physical prowess, Mingyi claims that even if he doesn't like archery or practice much he's still better due to his natural genius. However, it's soon shown that while he may be pretty good, Mingluan is still easily better due to his constant diligent practice.
* ''Manhwa/{{Veritas}}'' subverts this big time. In the Reunion program, Gangryong faces other students far more powerful than he is. Their power comes through medical ki treatments, while his is earned through good old fashion hard work. Gangryong's training also gives him the added edge of an exceptionally strong grasp of fighting basics. His opponents can throw a fireball that can destroy a building, but many of them don't know how to defend against a cross hook, maintain a perfect stance, or outmaneuver an opponent who fights dirty. As a result, Gangryong is able to win enough matches to move up through Reunion ranks.
** The one technique that signals Gangryong becoming an actual threat is [[spoiler:mastering a half step to the side]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the [[OldMaster Greybeards]] of High Hrothgar live lives of [[HermitGuru seclusion]], spending their lives to learn the Thu'um. The [[ChosenOne Dragonborn]] just has to kill a dragon to learn a shout instantly. Interestingly, they acknowledge this and claim that instructing you is an honor beyond honor. Also it should be noted that [[SubvertedTrope they are much, much better at it than you are]].
* Pick an {{RPG}}, any {{RPG}}. In most cases, the ancient and terrible evil that terrified the world for centuries is [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Punched Out]] by the hero who goes from zero to hero in about a month. Yes, those guards at the towns who have been training their entire lives are useless.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' both subverts and averts this. Storylines sometimes laud the fact you defeat powerful foes compared to other hardened warriors...though they never mention the ''other'' five people you had to group with to do it. Then you go to Besieged or a Campaign battle and see the generals do 1000+ damage every 15 or so seconds and take hits like you never, ever, will. In fact, the only reason you're normally involved in the story is that you keep putting your nose where it doesn't belong, YouMeddlingKids!
*** To be fair, those guards in {{RPG}}s never had to worry about fighting against monsters or people that can easily destroy the world so they didn't have to train as hard. Now the heroes on the other hand...
** Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Golbez comes right out of nowhere and is easily able to get everything he desires right from the start. No matter what you seem to do, he is always one step ahead of you, and nearly every time you encounter him, it's a HopelessBossFight. When you do manage to actually defeat him in a fight, he's able to escape with the MacGuffin [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose as though nothing had happened.]] [[spoiler: And if it weren't for [=FuSoYa=], you wouldn't have been able to do ''anything'' to stop him. This also applies to the ManBehindTheMan, as he is able to easily defeat Golbez and [=FuSoYa=] in a fight, and if not for the PlotCoupon Golbez gives you and your allies assisting from afar with a CombinedEnergyAttack, you can't even ''touch'' him.]]
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' is perhaps one of the most egregious examples. All the characters are orphans, and only one has any battle experience. They all can learn any job very easily, especially if you use the job level glitch in the DS version. From a story standpoint though, they defeat the ultimate evil in what we are led to believe is a few days. Of course, the actual amount of time it takes to beat him is subject to how long you stay at [[YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe ye olde]] TraumaInn.
* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR]]'' is a particularly jarring case, as it's suggested this is your character's first time working with the team, and fresh out of training. You promptly take out an entire army of clones, while your teammates are either turned into ash or helpful chatterboxes by the end of the first level. It ''is'' eventually justified, as the BigBad that fried your teammates only wants to give you a hug [[spoiler: that would instantly kill you]]. On the other hand, he has been a spec ops soldier for quite some while and has gone through some pretty intense training (that is since he was born).
* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' with second cousin Miki. According to the King, she's a SpiritedCompetitor who always aims to land herself in the top three... but tends to end up in the top ''six'' instead. While that might not be as impressive a record as she might like, it's pretty high up there all the same. Particularly when you consider just how many of her cousins she might be competing with.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. All it takes is a visit to Dantooine and a literal TrainingMontage (a week, maybe a month?) and you can go from a simple republic trooper to full-scale Jedi. The montage includes a scene of one of your teachers stating that to learn so fast is unheard of and that you have learned in weeks what takes years for others. The reason for that? [[spoiler:This is [[TomatoInTheMirror not the first time you are going through the training]]]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', local mentor Orca teaches Link the Hurricane Spin, a technique gained by gathering ten Knight's Crests (a feat in and of itself) -- and lots of practice. Before performing the technique, he'll mention that it took him years to become so accomplished and that age caught up to him before he could fully realize his dream. He's moved to tears upon witnessing Link execute it flawlessly in a matter of seconds.
** This trope is also played with in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' where the Hero's Shade teaches the new Link several techniques called the "Hidden Skills." Although he will patiently review them until Link (i.e. the player) gets them right, he makes it clear that Link's status as TheHero means this trope should be in full effect and only shows approval after Link masters them appropriately.
** It should be noted that Link has LeakedExperience from all his past lives. The first Links had to train long and hard, but the later ones retain it in a manner similar to muscle memory. It should also be noted Link wasn't exactly goofing off to get those ten Knight's Crests.
** Also played with in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' in regards to Zelda. She was initially fiercely jealous of Link for so easily being chosen by the Master Sword when she's worked for years to awaken her own powers to no avail. It's heavily implied in-game that her father forcing her to try and awaken said powers by constantly praying to Hylia and putting immense pressure on her is what stopped her from awakening them sooner. Not only does hard work hardly work, but it was also quite likely actually impeding her!
*** Out of the Champions, Revali is implied to be resentful of Link because of this trope. Revali is acknowledged in-universe as a skilled warrior and has trained very hard to perfect his abilities, but (in his view) he was told that some random knight has been handed the important role of defeating Calamity Ganon while Revali is given the role of support, just because Link was chosen by the Master Sword.
* ''VideoGame/{{Maplestory}}'' has Kaiser's and Angelic Buster's friend Velderoth get hit with this. With the former two gaining obscene powers from sheer luck of the draw he's left in the dust with nothing to show for it. [[spoiler:Sadly, this leads to his FaceHeelTurn.]]
* Averted in ''Franchise/MassEffect'', in which pretty much every character (including [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]]) has been a soldier or at least getting in a lot of fights for the best part of their life, making your BadassCrew perfectly believable.
** The only exception is Grunt, who due to his [[DesignerBabies origins]] comes right out of the cloning tank a fully-grown super-soldier ready for combat. This troubles him to the point of having a crisis of faith about his status as the 'ultimate' krogan, leading him to seek a personal connection with his race.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' Chaud is shown to spend most of his time training. However, Lan (who is clueless, [[IndyPloy lacks foresight]], and is later {{flanderized}} into being BookDumb) always winds up beating him senseless (at least ''3'' and ''6'' make him a difficult BonusBoss) and admits he isn't strong enough to help Lan when he decides the fate of the world in the final battle (barring the BigDamnHeroes moments he is always in), all because 1) Lan is the PlayerCharacter, and 2) His navi is Megaman.EXE, the title character.
** The games DO go out of their way to attribute a great part of Lan's success to ThePowerOfFriendship, which "Lord Chaud" clearly lacks.
** That, and apparently training ten hours a day makes Protoman [[AIRoulette very predictable]].
** There's also the fact that Chaud's entire training process doesn't even make sense. Supposedly, he spends ten hours a day secretly training...leading to the following questions.
--->1) How do you keep something you do 10 hours a day a secret?\\
2) Since Net Battling is usually measured in minutes, if not seconds, how could you spend ten hours on it?\\
3) The games note that Chaud doesn't actually operate Protoman, so presumably he's just watching the entire time. How is this supposed to help him?\\
4) Protoman is a program. He can't really "train", as he doesn't have anything to develop.\\
5) The only thing Protoman could conceivably fight for ten hours are viruses. Moving away from the fact that repeatedly battling extremely predictable enemies isn't really going to help in an actual Net Battle, how does this make him different from Megaman, who also spends a lot of time [[RandomEncounters virus busting]]?
** By the time Battle Network 5 and 6 rolls in, this trope starts losing force. So much that in the last game of the series, Megaman himself needs the combined PowerOfFriendship and the DeadlyUpgrade of a digital monstrosity to keep up with what Protoman can deal with by his own vanilla self!
* A recurring theme in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' franchise is [[AvertedTrope proving this trope wrong]]. The series is full of super soldiers with innate powers, artificial augmentations, virtual quick-training technologies, and gene therapy all being used to make superior soldiers, but it's always the soldiers who have [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower worked hard to train and gain experience]] who come out on top. The Genome Army are just "video game players" according to [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Solid Snake]] as he takes them down by the dozen, the elite Cobra Unit with all their abilities lose to [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Naked Snake]] because he was trained by [[OneManArmy The Boss]], the effectively robotic B&B Corps go down to the experienced [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Old Snake]] and his bag of obsolete guns and the cyborg [[VideoGame/MetalGearRising Raiden]] takes the most savage beating of his life from the guy with a robotic arm and a ''lot'' of training with a sword. At the end of the day, the series makes it very clear all these special abilities and augments only serve to enhance what has been built by rock-solid training and experience.
* Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}:
** Played with, as Archer trained and fought and worked his entire life and eventually became who he is today. Tohsaka, in contrast, is a played straight counterexample of what geniuses can do compared to a normal person, does work hard but doesn't need to and not nearly as hard as Shirou.
** This is true of Nasuverse mages in general, at least in the case of the Magic Association. The main way of becoming a good magus is to inherit a magic crest from your ancestor to the point that, in general, a magus family will only train one successor ([[spoiler:hence why Sakura was given away to the Matou family]]). Good training can help, but to get anywhere in the Association, you have to be the heir of a prestigious family.
** This is a major part of Waver Velvet's character arc. When he was a young man, he would often claim that, despite not coming from a notable mage family, he could still be the equal of the great masters if he worked hard enough. Many years and many adventures later, he remains mediocre at best, and he admits that the people telling him he would never be as amazingly powerful and talented as them were right. Nevertheless, while he cannot become a master magus, he finds that [[WeakButSkilled he can still contribute in his own way]]: he's an excellent teacher, a skilled detective, and while his actual magic is poor, his knowledge of magic is not.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', ''VideoGame/Persona4'', and ''VideoGame/Persona5'', this is averted when it comes to increasing your character's non-combat statistics. Before exams, you'll need to have studied quite regularly to get the most out of it, and one of the characters in ''Persona 3'' even tells you that studying a bit each day rather than just cramming will go further.
** Played straight at one point in ''3'' though. You can try talking to distressed Junpei a few days before the exams, which makes him [[LampshadeHanging sarcastically note that it seems the only thing you do is just walk around talking to people]]...which you actually find yourself doing. And given the protagonist really seems to be successful in whatever he does, you can totally understand Junpei's grudge. And thanks to NewGamePlus, at least in Persona 3, you get to keep all your progress in academics.
** ''VideoGame/Persona2'' zigzags this, as it does work largely like "any RPG" as mentioned above -- you go from normal high school student (or magazine editor, or cop, or whatever) to monster-slaying, god-enslaving, world-saving badass in what might generously be two weeks. However, some of your biggest foes are other people who have been granted immense power...and used it as a crutch to lord over others. So all your [[LevelGrinding hard work]] lets you kick them in the face. Seemingly played straight again at the end of ''Innocent Sin'', where you [[spoiler:beat up Nyarlathotep, except shortly thereafter Nyarlathotep reveals he was just playing down to your level and isn't remotely inconvenienced, then goes on to end the world while you just stand by exhausted from the fight. No, you didn't just Punch Out Cthu- er, Nyarlathotep like you thought you did, and it takes another god's intervention to turn back time]]. Played more straight in the end of ''Eternal Punishment'', though the hard work ''has'' been put in twice over by some people, this time. Though all this is probably Justified because the collective unconscious is reshaping the world, meaning heroes can rise up out of nothing because enough people believe they can.
** ''Persona 5'' has an example in Ann and Mika. Both of them are popular models, but Mika has to follow a careful diet and exercise regime to maintain her looks, whereas Ann doesn't do any of that and even eats cakes and sweets whenever she feels like it. [[spoiler: But ultimately zig-zagged during Ann's major social event when she tries to land a serious modeling gig against Mika. Yeah, Ann is lucky with her fast metabolism, but doesn't understand that it takes more than looks to be a top model. She also needs to have good social skills, charm, persuasiveness, the ablity to pose in all the right angles, and a competitive edge. Because Mika took modeling seriously, she had all these traits and wins the audition. Afterwards, Ann promises to take modeling more seriously and work hard at it.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'', Raz can pick up psychic abilities almost instantly and far outperforms children who have been coming to Whispering Rock for years. His mind is also so shielded that not even Oleander can read his thoughts, despite the fact that Raz has never had psychic training.
** [[spoiler: His dad's training probably had something to do with that.]] Also remember that Raz is much more focused than the other children, and actually is training throughout the game while the other kids just worry themselves about trivial things.
*** There's also the merit badges, which [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration seem to have an active role in allowing him to use the attendant powers]]; sort of like [[AmplifierArtifact training wheels]], they enable him (and, theoretically, any other camper who's actually putting in the work to earn them) to use the power until he has enough of a handle on it to use it unassisted.
* ''VideoGame/RadiataStories'' subverts this. Every HopelessBossFight is against people older, or at least more experienced than the protagonist. And there are many hopeless boss fights, even in the late game (in one path). Gerald personally lampshades it.
--> '''Jack:''' ''[after getting utterly defeated in his entrance exam to the warrior guild]'' Aw man! I didn't even come close to winning.
--> '''Gerald:''' What did you expect fool? I was a swordsman years before you were born.
* Zasalamel from ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur 3'' and ''4'' has been [[CursedWithAwesome cursed]] with [[WhoWantsToLiveForever immortality]]. This SHOULD have given him countless lifetimes of fighting experience, but game-wise, he is an average fighter.
** Subverted in that Zasalmel isn't the traditional type of immortal, he lives a normal life, dies, then is reborn with his memories intact. While he remembers how to fight, he needs to retrain his new body. [[FridgeLogic You'd expect]] those lifetimes of experience to at least give him a boost, though.
** Like the ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' example, this is a case of GameplayAndStorySegregation. Zasamel was able to beat Killik and Xianghua simultaneously without too much effort.
* In ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', Zangief is a Russian professional wrestler who trained in Siberia, by wrestling polar bears. In contrast, Sakura is a Japanese schoolgirl who taught herself martial arts by emulating Ryu, possibly after seeing him on TV. However, in various medias, Sakura is able to go toe-to-toe with Zangief just fine.
** This is even lampshaded in the ''Sakura Ganbaru!'' manga adaptation, where, in the first few pages, Dan demonstrates his Gadoken and explains the basics of KiManipulation to Sakura. It takes her less than a minute to perform a complete (albeit still weak) version of the ''Ha''doken, and in no time at all, she's using full-power versions of the technique. Seeing this, an outraged Dan pauses for a minute to comment on the absolutely ''terrifying'' potential she possesses.
** Dan himself is an example. Despite being the son of a master and training for years, he just plain ''sucks'' at martial arts, with any improvement or advantage he has being totally eclipsed by his sheer lack of talent.
* Agria in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' believes in this trope, and she even berates Leia for the latter's insistent belief in getting stronger via hard work. [[spoiler:This is because she was once Lady Nadia of House Travis, who lost her family, affluence, and sanity to a fire (and she ironically uses that element in combat).]]
* Terry and Andy Bogard of the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series are both solid and versatile fighters. However while Andy spent years abroad honing his skill and training under the Shiranui style of ninjitsu, Terry trolled the streets of Southtown and just mastered fighting the old fashioned way. Come time for them to compare skills, Terry's "do what works" background ended up giving him the superior fighting talents. Sometimes this gets under Andy's skin but it's not enough to ruin their relationship.
** TruthInTelevision, as real life [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts Mixed Martial Arts]] fighters learned how being a specialist in a single fighting style may not prepare you to handle other styles. Andy might win every time against a ninjutsu fighter from who he knows what to expect and how to react, but Terry's practical training means he taught himself to face any fighting style.
* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', it takes a lot of practice to become a good Spy, possibly the most practice of any class. Spy's best counter? The Pyro, a class that can be used fairly effectively with almost no practice.
** In fact, all of the classes except the Spy and perhaps the Scout can be used at least somewhat effectively with a small amount of practice.
** This can be mostly attributed to the fact that the spy isn't effective at straight-up fighting like all the other classes, just about all of his tactics revolve around being behind enemy lines, being unnoticed, destroying structures, and backstabs. All things that usually amount to pass/fail -- hence a bad spy dies either failing to get anything done or before they can even try, while any other class playing poorly can at least get some shots in at the enemy team.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' features this in its heroine, [[{{Miko}} Reimu]]. She is specifically noted to be extremely lazy and relies upon her bloodline's innate superpowers and her magically sharp intuition to defeat the various [[PhysicalGod Gods, demons, and monsters with powers on par with Eldritch Horrors]] of Gensokyo on a regular basis. In contrast, her main rival is Marisa, who relies upon a variation of CharlesAtlasSuperpower to learn her magic, having no talent for anything but a single-minded devotion to becoming a "MagicalGirl".
** How hard a worker Marisa is may depend on how you interpret "steals a lot of stuff", though. You didn't think she developed the Master Spark herself, did you?
** It's stated in [[AllThereInTheManual Perfect Cherry Blossom's manual]] that Reimu does not believe that effort will be rewarded (so much so that her shrine's paper fortune does not carry the fortune "Least Luck," which can be interpreted as "You will get exactly as your effort").
** Subverted in the (borderline CanonDisContinuity) ''Silent Sinner in Blue'' manga, where [[CanonSue Yorihime]], pretty much a Reimu who did actual training, starts curbstomping the main characters.
*** Even before that, though, Lunarians are considered something fierce. Houraisan Kaguya is the kind of person you'd expect to give no effort at all and, though her spellcards are considered to be not so difficult by decent players, she has more cards than any other boss in any of the games.
** Reversed with Meiling. The character who is said to train the most (and be in a position to be challenged more often than others) can never claim canon combat success over anyone. It doesn't help that [[http://www.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Touhou_Hisoutensoku her few victories with plot]] were AllJustADream.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Papyrus and Sans are royal guards for King Asgore. Papyrus takes his job seriously and practices constantly, both at work and at his cooking skills, but never seems to get any better at either of them. Sans bums around, flat-out ''refuses'' to do his job, and takes laziness to what other tropers describe as an art form; not only does he cook delicious hot dogs, [[spoiler:he is ''by far'' the strongest single entity on the planet, serving as the TrueFinalBoss of the Genocide ending.]] While not thematically related, he's also stronger than [[spoiler: Flowey, the BigBad, who has spent a century or two trying to manipulate an EternalRecurrence to his favor; the Fallen Child, the GreaterScopeVillain, who has been training in the afterlife about as long as Flowey; and the player character, who is required to go LevelGrinding no fewer than ''nineteen'' levels to even be allowed to battle Sans. Only a FusionDance of the Fallen Child and the player character is enough to finally bring Sans down. The battle part is justified in that Sans ''cheats'' with the mechanics of the game. By the game's stats, he only has one attack point and one defense point, implying that his lack of work really ''does'' result in him being weaker...on paper. In-game, he gets around the latter by simply side-stepping attacks, which no other enemy does, and he gets around the former with a combination of bypassing Mercy Invincibility and overly long attacks that require fast reflexes to dodge.]]
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' -- hard work ''always'' works, but natural-born talent (if it puts you in a class above your peers) is completely and irredeemably ''evil''.
** In theory. In practice, the series demonstrates the professional soldiers who have trained for years are MUCH weaker than a bunch of amateurs who have just joined the army, the point where even one of their newbies can beat several enemy soldiers at a time. The sequel makes this worse, where veterans are easily outgunned and outclassed by the supposed academy's failure class, none of whom can keep up with the fresh-faced 16-18-year-olds, aside from a few boss characters, marked out by their own special talents. And the leader maybe a careless idiot who doesn't understand and doesn't even try to understand tactics, rushes into situations and laughs in the face of a danger in a way that would get his unit violently wiped out in a real war, but dam if he doesn't completely overwhelm the enemy, even they outnumber him 6 to 1 or more!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', one of Mozenrath's main beefs with Aladdin was how easily Al had gotten his genie. Mozenrath had studied extensively for decades, even [[DealWithTheDevil given up his own right hand for power]], and here comes this guy with an ''all-powerful genie'' at his side, and the kid doesn't even seem to realize that it's unusual!
* Played straight and then averted in an old episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', dealing with a school-wide SpellingBee. In the initial round, Arthur gets through by sheer luck in that the only word he studied was "Aardvark", whereas a few other classmates studied furiously. Deciding to win through skill the next time, Arthur studies rigorously and does succeed in the end.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** Katara feels this way when Aang masters Waterbending seemingly without trying when she's been self-training for years. This is lampshaded partly in the numerous references to past Avatars -- Roku notes to a hesitant teacher that the Avatar has ''already'' mastered the elements a thousand times, which means learning them might be more like remembering something you forgot a long time ago. In addition, Katara ''was'' self-teaching, but Aang immediately benefited from everything she learned. When they both get some supervised training from a true Master, she learns much faster because he doesn't take it very seriously: Katara makes enough progress in ''days'' for said master (a StrawMisogynist who only changed his tune after a near-defeat and some EpiphanyTherapy) to ''declare her a Master in turn.'' Lesson: being a ''[[TheDeterminator Determined]]'' [[TheGift Prodigy]] is superior to being BrilliantButLazy. Zuko also laments to himself about things come so easily for Aang, just like for his sister, while he has to [[{{Determinator}} constantly struggle]] for anything he wants and loses so many times. In the end, however, this becomes Zuko's strength against Azula, as his determined nature allows him to bounce back from failure better than Azula does when Mai and Ty Lee do a HeelFaceTurn against her. It also gives him an advantage that was demonstrated as early as the third episode; he doesn't have the flashy or most powerful moves that more naturally skilled firebenders possess, but his superior mastery of the fundamentals can make up the difference.
** Per WordOfGod, this is the point of bending in general. They wanted a magic system that you actually have to ''work'' at, rather than just being handed power. There are geniuses like Azula and Toph, but they still had to train. Even the Avatar, the local messiah, has to master each element individually every time they [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnate]]. In fact, the [[SuperMode Avatar State]] is basically just accessing the experience of hundreds of Avatars at once, stacking thousands of years of training to cheat the system and do things that no one with a mortal lifespan could ever manage.
** In the sequel series, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', this is played straight and subverted in different situations. Tenzin studies spirit lore for ''decades'' and it gets him exactly nowhere in regards to actual spirits, yet his eleven-year-old daughter has a natural connection to the spirit world ''and'' sufficient Airbending skill that she's nearly as good as her father. On the other hand, while Zaheer can sledgehammer almost any bender in a one-on-one fight despite having only been one for a few months, it turns out this is because even before [[spoiler:Harmonic Convergence]] he was a talented martial artist and simply adapted his style to include [[spoiler:airbending]]; he had also been reading the philosophy behind it for years beforehand by complete coincidence, and gets a lot of mileage from using extremely obscure abilities he learned of in this study. When he does come up against someone who has been studying the same bending style for decades, it's only the intervention of his allies that prevents [[spoiler:Tenzin]] from destroying Zaheer.
* Charmcaster in ''Franchise/Ben10'' spent years learning magic. Gwen, meanwhile, is naturally talented and can do it without any training. Justified since she is part Anodite, aliens who are literally made of magic.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks'' episode "Ballin'", where Riley constantly watches basketball videos and mimicks the players until he can break through any defense with ease...but it's all for naught because he can't actually shoot the ball to save his life, a fact that didn't come up until his first game because he refused to go to practice.
* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' in Rex's battle VS [[spoiler:the Consortium w/Meta Nanite powers]]. They may have power over things like [[spoiler:gravity, time, electricity, fire, ice, and have similar abilities to Rex]], but Rex has had his powers for longer and promptly owns them. [[spoiler:At least until they join into a HumongousMecha.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': The episode "Flying Solo" has Clyde want to sing the solo, believing that [[HardWorkFallacy having a month of training and practice]] [[HighHopesZeroTalent and wanting to sing the solo more than Lincoln]] makes him a better choice for the part. So, he tricks Lincoln into [[LostVoicePlot losing his voice]] when Lincoln gets the part instead. But it is only after Clyde tries to sing the solo, but keeps making mistakes during practice, when he realizes that he's actually ''physically'' unable to sing the solo correctly [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome because all the training in the world can't change the quality of his voice]]. Unlike Lincoln, [[BeautifulSingingVoice whose voice is actually right for the part]].
* Zig-zagged in ''{{WesternAnimation/Metalocalypse}}'': Toki is the world's second-best guitarist by virtue of natural talent alone, and it is outright stated that he doesn't practice. However, Toki is nowhere near as good as Skwisgaar, who is the world's best guitarist (as well as Dethklok's primary songwriter), but Skwisgaar maintains a near-insane practice regimen specifically to ensure that he will always be better than Toki.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Played with in "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000." The Apple family competes with salesponies Flim and Flam to see who can make the most cider -- the Apples with their personal and hoof-made method, or Flim and Flam with their fancy machine. [[spoiler:Flim and Flam win by a large margin despite the rest of the Mane Six joining in and helping the Apples, but soon thereafter are run out of town because they turned off their quality control to gain a larger advantage, so the cider they try to sell is terrible.]]
** It should be noted that Twilight zig-zags this trope; she spends her entire life studying magic to the exclusion of all else (except friendship) to become as powerful as she is, but Celestia took her on as a student [[BecauseDestinySaysSo because she already knew the significance of Twilight's Cutie Mark and set her on the path to fulfilling it]]. So basically Twilight worked pretty hard studying magic, but this was largely immaterial because she was only picked because she was the ChosenOne who won the SuperpowerLottery.
** Also played with then subverted in "Hurricane Fluttershy". After finally deciding to help Rainbow Dash and the other Pegasus create a powerful tornado to make clouds, the viewers are shown a TrainingMontage where Fluttershy is training to fly at a certain speed to help create the tornado. [[spoiler:However, when she's tested, Flutershy still ranks well below the needed amount of speed. Later, when it all on the line, Fluttershy proved the training really paid off, as she is able to fly faster than anyone and complete the tornado. Turns out Fluttershy was holding back because she remembered the torment other Pegasus did to her when she was younger and was afraid to fail.]]
** In "The Cutie Map", Twilight copies Starlight Glimmer's shield spell after seeing it once. Starlight complains that it took her years to learn it.
** This is later inverted in "The Cutie Remark", where Starlight Glimmer matches Twilight Sparkle, a pony who has saved Equestria multiple times and spent her entire life learning magic, in combat, and also manages to create a powerful, unprecedented time spell.
** Unicorns as a whole exemplify this trope. Characters like Starlight Glimmer can have borderline god-tier powers even if they ''never'' practice or train in magic merely because they were BornLucky or let their emotions get the better of them, while characters like Trixie and Sunburst can spent their entire lives training in magic but be lackluster at it simply because they weren't born with innate power and there's nothing they can do about it.
* Frank Grimes from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', rather darkly PlayedForLaughs. He's a man who has had to struggle through his life to land a mid-level position in the Springfield Nuclear Plant and immediately comes to resent Homer for having a job despite his incompetence as well as a large family, house and a bunch of awards from his various misadventures. When he attempts to humiliate Homer by entering him in a children's science project, the fact that he's still congratulated drives him insane and leads to his death.
** A dramatic example occurs in "Bart Gets an F", where Bart actually ''tries'' to study for a test, and ''still'' gets an F. Fortunately, his knowledge of an obscure historical fact impresses Mrs. Krabappel enough to give him a D-.
** In "Mom and Pop Art", Homer's failed attempt at building an outdoor barbecue winds up becoming an renouned outside artist, which annoys Marge since she was painting long before him. She doesn't acknowledge that she hasn't done any painting in years or done anything to advance her supposed career since she painted that portrait of Mr. Burns, [[NeverMyFault making her criticisms of how quickly Homer got popular a bit insincere]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' has been trying to obtain his boating license for years. Then Patrick, TheDitz, gets it on his first try, and unintentionally rubs in Spongebob's face for the rest of the episode, though Patrick is hardly the world's greatest driver.
** Spongebob's inability to get his license was from his nerves getting to him, as shown in an early episode. Patrick's clear-headedness allowed him to help Spongebob in nearly getting it (but it was cheating.) In this episode, Patrick ate Spongebob's informational index cards and retained the knowledge, allowing him to get the license.
* Averted in the second ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon, where Leonardo is unquestionably the best fighter of the four almost solely due to his training and discipline, while Michelangelo, who is acknowledged to have the potential to be even better, isn't because he doesn't have the discipline or the will to train.
* Dr. Orpheus of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is, despite his ButtMonkey status in his personal life, one of the closest things to a DeusExMachina in the show. However it's shown this [[PowerAtAPrice power came at a price]]; his incredible dedication to his mystical profession and training lead to his wife divorcing him and has been a cause of major strife in his life. So when one fourth season episode has him shown up by the Outrider, the guy his wife has now hooked up with -- he's ''far'' more powerful, and hasn't made nearly as many sacrifices to get his skill -- he has a crisis. This trope is then subverted by revealing the Outrider ''cheated'', he's "cyborged" a [[AmplifierArtifact mystic artifact]] into his brain...which ends up [[GoneHorriblyWrong going horribly wrong.]] However, the episode also points out the other side of the coin -- though the Outrider took shortcuts rather than constantly training, it freed him up to actually spend time with his wife and stepdaughter, something that Orpheus was never able to balance out with his mystical duties. Ultimately, Orpheus has to admit that the Outrider is much happier and better-adjusted than he is.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Anyone reading this section should note that this trope is very much PlayedWith in real life. There's nuances in nearly every case where this trope may come into play and the trope itself is a sensitive issue for many so expect that YMMV applies for each example.
* This is the case with many professionals or aspiring pros, especially athletes and musicians, etc. In the case of athletes, overtraining can wreck your body and cause burnout. In most cases with music, overpractising can lead to voice fatigue in singers, tendonitis or muscle damage in keyboardists, string players and even conductors, and damaging muscles in the area of the mouth for wind instrumentalists, particularly those who play brass instruments. It's a bit of a balancing act -- if you don't work hard enough, you won't reach the heights, but if you work too hard, you'll hurt yourself and your training will suffer while you're injured.
** Also, it should be worth mentioning that this trope can be invoked if one practices or trains, but doesn't use their time efficiently -- i.e. a basketball player who is really good at free throws should still practice free throws, but probably not to the extent that the rest of their game suffers or doesn't get developed.
** This is also true with bodybuilders, power lifters, or any athletic practice that focuses on building lots of muscle to compete. Every person has an area on the body that is easy to grow muscularly, not taking many sets of reps to get a serious pump, which turns into gains during rest and muscle repair. There is also an area of the body that is the weakest and needs the most work during weekly training. This is why most pros will tell beginners, find the weak part of the body and focus on building that more than the strong part, because spending too much time of the strong area of the body is mostly a waste of time, outside of a standard set to keep it toned.
** Another point: some people are, well, genetic freaks and unusually well-suited to some tasks, athletic or otherwise. You can build up your lung capacity, but you cannot train to have the build of, say, Michael Phelps who is apparently proportioned ''exactly'' as well as any human can be for swimming (large upper body, proportionally short legs). You can build up your leg strength to jump higher and build up your muscle mass to make you stronger and heavier, but you cannot work yourself to being as tall as Shaquille O'Neal. (Which is something of a saying in basketball: "You can't teach height.") You can improve your flexibility, but you can't ''make'' your joints double-jointed if they're not already. You can be anything you want to be, but that doesn't mean you'll be good at it.
*** Neither genetic gifts nor TrainingFromHell can grant a human being the ability [[AWizardDidIt to shrug off the laws of physics or biology.]] Example: throughout the world, men like [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariusz_Pudzianowski Mariusz Pudzianowski]] have worked themselves through hellish training, diet and exercise, [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower to be able to raise cars or pull trucks, railcars or planes]], but none of them, regardless of training or muscles, would be able to stop [[TheAllegedCar a comparatively small econobox car]] [[Franchise/{{Superman}} running toward them with bare hands.]] It's a matter of physics, size, weight and ultimately flesh against metal. Metal always wins.
*** This is also the crack in the edifice of life-coaching: the likes of Tony Robbins they repeat so often, so hard and so convincing their stuff is magic and grants magic powers, people may soon believe it is, which is not the case.
*** The book "Talent is Overrated" gives a good reason for this trope: People tend to work on what they're already good at while avoiding what they're weak at. For instance, they researched elite figure skaters and sub-elite ones. The elite ones practiced moves that required a ton of falling and standing up and constantly getting out of their comfort zones (called "deliberate practice"). The sub-elite would constantly practice the moves they had already mastered (normal practice).
*** This was the rationale in the early '70s for putting children with high reading comprehension on a math and science track while tracking mathematically gifted children into English. Supposedly it developed willpower and discouraged "laziness".
* This trope seems to go all the way to the medieval ages when longbow archers were considered a very valuable commodity in the battlefield. There was even a saying that speaks of the amount of work it takes to train an archer, effectively saying, "If you want to train the best archer in the world, start with his grandfather." Part of the reason guns revolutionized warfare was that they didn't have the range or speed of longbows, but you only needed a few days to teach a peasant conscript how to use it.
* Some researchers have discovered a "10,000-hour rule", which was discussed by author Malcolm Gladwell in his book [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book) ''Outliers''.]] In effect, to be really good at a skill, a person has to work on it for approximately 10,000 hours. People whom we refer to as "experts" either started young (e.g., Mozart), or, if they were able to achieve greatness over a short period of time (only a few years instead of decades), they practiced or worked intensely (e.g., the Beatles). One might still argue that some people might have an innate ability to maintain mental focus for longer, or sleep less than others and thus have more waking hours to work with, but that doesn't disprove the rule. Of course, this is assuming a human being without any severe disabilities -- one can probably safely assume that a double amputee isn't going to play in the NBA no matter how many hours of practice he puts in (presumably also for other players' safety, as a wheelchair rolling around the court has a fairly high chance of running over feet), except in the case of [[ScrewDestiny prosthetics,]] of course, but they have actually opened up another aspect of this. Some of the prosthetic limbs are now being examined to see if they would actually grant handicapped athletes an unfair advantage over ordinary and less efficient human limbs.
** Gladwell has pointed out in interviews that it's often overlooked that his point about 10,000 hours is meant to support a larger point: No one could possibly devote 10,000 hours of work to a single task unless they have a solid support system in place. Practice may make perfect, but it doesn't pay the bills.
** To the trope's point, follow-up researchers Macnamara et. al (2014) did a meta-analysis across disciplines, critiqued the 10,000hr Rule (apparently a somewhat arbitrary number), found deliberate practice explained roughly a quarter or less of success (some fields as low as 1%), and concluded "deliberate practice is important, but not as important as has been argued". It may be a requirement for many kinds of success, but by no means a guarantee.
* For college graduates entering the job market, it's a [[Catch22Dilemma very fine line.]] If you devote your time and energy into schoolwork, you're going to have trouble finding a job because you have little work experience. If you get a part-time job and work hard at it, you won't get hired because your grades are slipping. If you manage to hit that sweet spot of grades, internships, part-time work, and extracurricular activities, you might end up being overqualified for any entry-level job you apply to (and might not get the job since you're supposed to be paid in proportion to your abilities). Quite a few career counselors basically tell student now that grades and experience don't matter nearly as much as [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections networking.]]
** On the other end of the scale, there are also those who have worked for years in a given industry, only for it to be made obsolete by advancing technology. The workers find their skills are of little use since the new industries involved require different skill sets to the old ones. And none more so than the IT sector, due to its inherently fast-changing nature.
* In a non-exercise or training version, Creator/LaurenceFishburne's daughter made headlines when she decided she wanted to become famous, but didn't want to go through all that PayingTheirDues stuff. So, taking a page from Creator/ParisHilton and Creator/KimKardashian, she released a sex tape and hoped that would attract attention. You better believe dear old Dad wasn't happy.
** It also didn't work. Most people nowadays don't even remember when Fishburne's daughter made a sex tape, or that he has a daughter at all.
* That one friend, who never really seems to spend much time studying or doing his/her work, but always gets perfect grades and seems to be good at everything...is probably working his butt off whenever he's alone, and just doesn't complain about it as much. Or alternatively, has learned a studying style that suits them the best at a young age. This is especially relevant in high school and studies progressing beyond that. Or maybe they're just naturally talented. The problem with talent being there eventually becomes a wall where only talent isn't enough.
** Another possibility: not mentioning the working their butts off because it seems more awesome to just be "a natural".
** Or the inverse of that. The person who is naturally talented at everything and so is bored quickly and unwilling to put in the work to go from good to great. These people tend to end up as the jack of all trades. An older jack of all trades can pick up new things incredibly quickly as once you have a broad basic and intermediate skill set, it's more about putting existing knowledge into new areas.
* DoubleSubverted by UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison and his maxim ''Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration''. Edison was known for his "brute force" approach on innovation. That is because ''he had absolutely no knowledge in engineering theory or science'' and he simply repeated and repeated the experiment and tried something different until it worked. UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, his bitter rival, stated ''If Edison had had any theoretical knowledge on how things work, he would have made it with one-tenth of the work''.
* You can work hard your entire life and never be as rich as the guy who [[BlueBlood inherited his father's banking fortune.]]
** Wealth still has to be managed properly though, there's a reason most lottery winners [[AFoolAndHisNewMoneyAreSoonParted go broke in a short time.]]
*** Or heirs [[RichesToRags destroy the family empire.]] Just ask the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinberg%27s_%28supermarket%29 Steinberg]] family whose Canadian chain of grocery stores vanished a few years [[SuccessionCrisis after the founder died.]]
* It's possible for an [[GoodOldFisticuffs untrained brawler]] to defeat a skilled martial artist, but outside of the occasional lucky hit ending a fight, this is generally a matter of either the martial artist having trained to defend against a narrow range of attacks or the "untrained brawler" having years of fighting experience in informal venues.
** Martial artists with tunnel vision tend to fall victim to this a lot. It's not at all uncommon for some random schlub to start a fight with a trained martial artist and get beaten, only to have the trained fighter get jumped by the other guy's buddies and beaten to a pulp (DirtyCoward). Toyed With: Numbers will overwhelm regardless of any mindset, but even Bruce Lee praised kickboxing's potential of defending against multiple opponents.
* This may be the reason why American students tend to underperform in mathematics when compared to Asian students. Asian cultures usually have the attitude that anyone can be good at math (or anything else) if they put in enough effort, which leads to the [[EducationMama perfectionist Asian parent stereotype.]] In contrast, Americans tend to believe that most people just don't have "the right type of brain" for math, and only a select few geniuses can be good at it, which tends to undermine people's confidence. The reality is that aside from people with actual number-processing difficulties (such as dyscalculia), most people can understand higher mathematics with a good teacher and some effort, essentially a mixture of the two.
** However, the emergence of the {{hikikomori}} in East Asia, especially in Japan, is starting to expose the limitations of the "perfectionist Asian parent stereotype". It's also a reflection of Japan's "Lost Decade" following the bubble burst of the early 1990s.
* Averted with Superstar boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. It's been often said one of the things that makes him a great boxer, isn't his polished offensive and defensive skills or his very high ring intelligence, but his reputation of being one of the hardest workers in the boxing gym. There are many [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTdqV8XkYNo training videos]] that highlight this. And Mayweather's favorite saying is: "Hard work. Dedication."
* Averted according to Creator/BruceLee's trope page.
--> '''Bruce Lee''': "I fear not the man who has practiced ten thousand kicks once. But I fear the man who has practiced one kick ten thousand times."
* Averted in a big way with the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation basketball]] superstar Lebron James. During the Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in 2007, a seemingly unstoppable Lebron [[RedBaron "King"]] James got exposed when it was revealed during the series that he [[AchillesHeel couldn't make mid-range jump shots.]] It got so bad that by Game 4, the Spurs intentionally let James shoot from outside the paint, knowing he would miss - which he did. The Cleveland Cavaliers ended up getting swept and the destined new king of basketball was humiliated. Six years later and one championship under his belt, Lebron James, now a member of the Miami Heat, faced the San Antonio Spurs again in the Finals of the 2012-13 season. In Game 7 of a tough series, the Spurs once again forced Lebron James to shoot the ball from mid-range by covering the paint all series and not allowing him to drive to the basket -- just like in 2007. Only this time, Lebron James made his shots and helped the Miami Heat win back-to-back championships. This was because after 2007, Lebron trained hard to become a better shooter and his shooting percentage kept increasing every year as a result. This was proven during the 2012-13 season when Lebron James made the most mid-range jump shots of his career during the regular season. This improvement helped him win a 4Th regular season MVP along with a Finals MVP for scoring 37 points in Game 7, mostly off of mid-range jumpers.
** In 2011, James would face the Dallas Mavericks and James' team would lose, largely because of his sub-optimal game in the post. As a result he spent the off-season working with Hakeem Olajuwon, a legendary NBA center who is famously known for having a spectacular post-game. The result was a championship the very next season.
* Averted for most [[UsefulNotes/ProfessionalGaming e-sports professional gamers.]] Many of them spent countless hours playing a game to master it before competing in tournaments. They often times do nothing but spend all day-and-night playing the same game, only pausing for bathroom breaks and eating. And some of them forget to eat altogether. They also eat a lot of sugar and drink a lot of caffeine or energy drinks to stay awake and lose countless hours of sleep. In the case of games where you pick separate characters (like fighting games) or classes (like shooters and role playing games), you'll have gamers spend thousands of hours playing one character or class, unlike most people who'll only play each class for a certain number of hours before getting bored and moving on to the next game.
* This is the reason the saying "Work Smarter, Not Harder" exists because if you're working hard, but not efficiently, you're not going to get very much done. Downplayed when you TakeAThirdOption (per [[Series/DirtyJobs Mike Rowe]]): Work smart ''and'' hard.
* Related to the above, this is the essence of the saying "If you want something done the easiest way possible, find the laziest employee you have and make him do it". He or she ''will'' find the easiest and most efficient means possible to get it done with as little work as humanly possible.
** Averted, however, in that the task will probably not be done ''well.''
* Can be Played Straight at first, then Averted in later life in the case of people with naturally high intelligence. In the early years of education, they're able to get away without studying much, or at all, relying on their natural ability to retain, process and regurgitate information learned in classrooms. As they get to higher learning, where research and independent study become necessary to succeed, students who didn't take the time to develop these skills will find themselves overtaken by (comparatively) less intelligent, but harder-working peers.
* Australian comedian Music/TimMinchin, at his 2013 honorary degree ceremony at the University of Western Australia, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoEezZD71sc delivered a speech]] about making it through university as being "all luck".
* A common way those with ADHD describe the disorder is "Twice the work, half the results" because their above-average energy levels spend a large portion of said energy to actually keep them doing the thing they need to do. The medication helps by boosting their energy levels high enough to enter a hyperfocused state.
* The wealth disparity between high-ranking corporate executives and rank-and-file workers is sometimes cited as an example. [=CEOs=] are often paid several thousand times (or even more) than the average worker, even though it's not humanly possible for them to work thousands of times harder.
* A key rule of the Stock Market is that, when day trading, you more often lose gains than avoid losses, and, in the words of Warren Buffet, "you shouldn't hold a stock for ten minutes if you're not willing to hold it for ten years." Those, combined with lower taxes if you hold stocks or crypto for longer than a year (it's taxed like a paycheck if sold before that), and the fact that the market overall trends upwards despite crashes and recessions, and it's considered wiser to buy and hold when dealing with stocks and crypto.
* They can apply in the workforce, especially low wage jobs whenever a company increase their minimum wage. Veteran employees who work in the job for years may end up with a wage barely higher (or even less) than a newly hired employee despite years of hard work and hourly raises.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Papyrus and Sans are royal guards for King Asgore. Papyrus takes his job seriously and practices constantly, both at work and at his cooking skills, but never seems to get any better at either of them. Sans bums around, flat-out ''refuses'' to do his job, and takes laziness to what other tropers describe as an art form; not only does he cook delicious hot dogs, [[spoiler:he is ''by far'' the strongest single entity on the planet, serving as the TrueFinalBoss of the KillEmAll ending.]] While not thematically related, he's also stronger than [[spoiler: Flowey, the BigBad, who has spent a century or two trying to manipulate an EternalRecurrence to his favor; the Fallen Child, the GreaterScopeVillain, who has been training in the afterlife about as long as Flowey; and the player character, who is required to go LevelGrinding no fewer than ''nineteen'' levels to even be allowed to battle Sans. Only a FusionDance of the Fallen Child and the player character is enough to finally bring Sans down. The battle part is justified in that Sans ''cheats'' with the mechanics of the game. By the game's stats, he only has one attack point and one defense point, implying that his lack of work really ''does'' result in him being weaker...on paper. In-game, he gets around the latter by simply side-stepping attacks, which no other enemy does, and he gets around the former with a combination of bypassing Mercy Invincibility and overly long attacks that require fast reflexes to dodge.]]

** The whole "[[BalefulPolymorph stuck as a rat]]" issue probably didn't help her attitude either.

* Kazuko Kawakami of ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'' trains every day to become an assistant master at her family's temple, to the point of dragging tires behind her while she's walking to school and wearing weighted armbands in her daily life, and has never once let her sister Momoyo outwork her. Then, early on in her route, she fights her sister for the first time and cannot hit her once. Momoyo and grandfather Tesshin tell Kazuko that she simply does not have the talent to become an assistant master. [[spoiler:They do give her another chance, telling her to win an upcoming tournament in order to challenge Momoyo again and then land a hit against her in that match. Kazuko spends the next month training in the mountains, learning a new naginata move and massively improving her form after her passion is kindled by the realization of much her friends' support means to her. But, in the tournament's third round, after ''multiple'' refusals to stay down, she finally collapses after finishing Chris, ending her dream and sending her into a HeroicBSOD.]] The trope is ultimately {{Reconstructed}}, as [[spoiler:the knowledge Kazuko acquired over years of managing her food intake for her training leads her to find success and satisfaction as a dietician, and all of her effort has still made her very physically capable, allowing her to win a race for her friends and carry an injured Yamato out of a building during an earthquake.]]

* Kazuko Kawakami of ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'' trains every day to become an assistant master at her family's temple, to the point of dragging tires behind her while she's walking to school and wearing weighted armbands in her daily life, and has never once let her sister Momoyo outwork her. Then, early on in her route, she fights her sister for the first time and cannot hit her once. Momoyo and grandfather Tesshin tell Kazuko that she simply does not have the talent to become an assistant master. [[spoiler:They do give her another chance, telling her to win an upcoming tournament in order to challenge Momoyo again and then land a hit against her in that match. Kazuko spends the next month training in the mountains, learning a new naginata move and massively improving her form after her passion is kindled by the realization of much her friends' support means to her. But, in the tournament's third round, after ''multiple'' refusals to stay down, she finally collapses after finishing Chris, ending her dream and sending her into a HeroicBSOD.]]

* Kazuko Kawakami of ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'' trains every day to become an assistant master at her family's temple, to the point of dragging tires behind her while walking to school and wearing weighted armbands in her daily life, and has never once let her sister Momoyo outwork her. Then, early on in her route, she fights her sister for the first time and cannot hit her even once. Both their grandfather and Momoyo tell Kazuko that she simply does not have the talent to become an assistant master. [[spoiler:They do give her another chance, telling her to win an upcoming tournament in order to challenge Momoyo again and then land a hit against her in that match. Kazuko spends the next month training in the mountains, learning a new naginata move and massively improving her form after her passion is kindled by the realization of much her friends' support means to her. But, in the tournament's third round, after ''multiple'' refusals to stay down, she finally collapses after finishing Chris, ending her dream and sending her into a HeroicBSOD.]]

* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'' with second cousin Miki. According to the King, she's a SpiritedCompetitor who always aims to land herself in the top three... but tends to end up in the top ''six'' instead. While that might not be as impressive a record as she might like, it's pretty high up there all the same. Particularly when you consider [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters just how many of her cousins]] she might be competing with.