History Main / ILetYouWin

** Goku deliberately holds back from using his SSJ3 form against Vegeta in their battle after Vegeta is corrupted by Babidi's magic. While there were many plausible and good reasons for Goku to do this (not wanting to give too much energy to awaken Majin Buu, not wanting to burn up his limited time on Earth too quickly, etc.) after Vegeta finds out, he immediately assumes it was this trope and [[BerserkButton becomes furious over it]].

* ''Film/CrazyRichAsians'': A type that doesn't involve physical fighting. Rachel and Nick's mother Eleanor agree to meet at a mahjong parlor to talk over the situation over a match. By this point it's been made pretty damn clear that most of his family opposed Nick and Rachel getting married for various reasons: Rachel's middle-class, has no connection to any of the big-name families in East Asia, is American (Eleanor's particular craw, as she believes Asian-Americans are selfish and don't consider family important), and [[spoiler:was born out of an extra-martial affair because Rachel's mother was being abused in China and had fled to escape it]]. At this point, Rachel discards a tile that Eleanor picks up and uses it to win the mahjong game. Rachel then reveals that Nick, despite all of that, still proposed to Rachel the previous day, but she turned it down. Eleanor remarks that Rachel had the winning hand in regards to Nick and said "Only a fool folds a winning hand". Rachel then turns it back on Eleanor; she had realized that Nick was facing a SadisticChoice between either losing his family in order to marry Rachel or resenting his family for the rest of his life for making him break it off with her, so Rachel [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim turned him down first in order to save him the long-term pain]]. He would be free to find another wife more acceptable for Eleanor and her family and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he would be happy with his family]]...while Eleanor would always be reminded that it was all possible because of Rachel. To emphasize that last point, Rachel flips over her tiles before walking out, showing that Rachel could have won the game by keeping the tile she discarded but chose not to; thus, Eleanor had won ''only'' because Rachel let her.
-->'''Rachel:''' I just want you to know: that one day -- when he marries another lucky girl who is enough for you, and you're playing with your grandkids while the Tan Hua's are blooming, and the birds are chirping -- that it was because of me: a poor, raised by a single mother, low class, immigrant nobody.

*** Translation: During that climactic battle in ''Path of Radiance'', Ike reveals that his father crippled his sword arm, a fact that the Black Knight didn't know. As the Black Knight's true goals was to surpass his teacher, aka Ike's father, this revelation makes the Black Knight realize that his victory over Ike's father was hollow, as he never got to experience Greil's true ability. So he allows Ike to win in the hopes that later Ike would become as powerful and skilled as Greil, in short a substitute for Greil to test his skills against.

* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'': One episode has Batou go undercover to investigate a former cyborg martial arts champion. The former champ challenges Batou to a sparring match and knocks him out using a trick called the prosthetic blind spot, but after Batou finds proof that he's a spy they fight again and the champ tries using the same trick again, only for Batou to easily perform a PunchCatch and reveal that he'd deliberately thrown the first match.

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'': There's a rare literal heroic version in the finale of ''Aftermath''. [[spoiler:Shang Tsung deduces that Fire God Liu Kang allowed him to defeat his oppositions before realizing the latter let him win his battles knowing of his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, up until the moment Shang Tsung defeats Kronika and takes the Crown from her. Shang Tsung actually finds it amusing that Liu Kang would go that far just to defeat him at the last minute, and lampshades it]].

* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' the Toguro Brothers faked their loss at the end of the [[RescueArc "Rescue Yukina" arc]] for [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sakyo]] and so they can challenge the heroes in a TournamentArc.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': Some are more obvious about it than others; Vulcan Raven practically tells you that he let you win after you defeat him the first time. This group is incredibly devoted to this trope, as the majority of them ''die'' simply to convince you that you're not doing the dirty work for them. And was that Hind really necessary?

*** Used ''again'' in [=MGS4,=] when [[spoiler:Liquid at the end of the game fights Snake, it's pretty obvious that, having completed his agenda, he's just looking to go out with a bang. Which in this case means kicking Snake's ass a lot until Snake kills him.]]

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfEternia'', about halfway through the game, the temporary party member Ras reveals that he's the incredibly powerful knight you've been hearing about, and attacks you to prevent you from escaping to Celestia. After you beat him to a pulp and get to the next town, your party realizes that he couldn't have been fighting you for real - he kept pulling his punches and not taking advantage of openings, leading them to conclude that he let them win.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', this takes place [[spoiler:the first time you fight Kratos]] -- provided that you ''do'' win, which for a first-time player isn't a given ([[TheBattleDidntCount the story goes the same way regardless]]). Lloyd is all too aware of this. Amusingly enough, he is far easier [[RecurringBoss the next times you fight him]] when he ''isn't'' holding back -- of course, you've gained quite a lot more power in the meantime.
** Inverted in ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld Dawn of the New World]]'', where [[spoiler:In order to get the good ending, Emil has to let Lloyd and Marta win. Unfortunately, You're ''playing'' as Emil in that fight, so that means ''YOU'' have to throw the fight. Beating them gives you the Bad Ending]].

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' begins with a nice example of this in the Human Campaign with [[spoiler:The Lich King tricking Arthas into picking up a {{BFS}} and becoming his champion/bitch.]]
** The Lich King, now Arthas himself, continues to do this in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. A good number of times players defeat his lieutenants and wipe out large numbers of his soldiers. In the final battle, Arthas reveals that it was all a plan to get them stronger, to let them become the champions of the world... [[spoiler:so that he could kill them all in one shot and raise them as undead. He would have succeeded, too, if the ghost of Arthas's father didn't revive everyone at the last moment.]]

* Evangeline was the first villain in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi''. Nearly three hundred chapters later she's ''still'' the most powerful character to appear. The entire first fight she was just playing around. [[spoiler:At the end of the series she fights against Negi and Asuna together at their peak and is still winning.]]
* Subverted in ''Manga/DragonBall'', where the world champion [[FakeUltimateHero Hercule]] finds himself facing the fresh kid champion Trunks in a public fight. Having seen his battle with Goten earlier, Hercule realizes he has no chance whatsoever of winning the eight-year-old, so in order to save face, he pulls this off and pretends to have lost intentionally. He even leans down to give Trunks a "free shot" at his face so he could appear to be going easy on the kid.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[OldSoldier Garp]] let Luffy win so he could save Ace, since Garp is a marine and Ace a pirate and his [[spoiler: adopted]] grandson. His relation to Luffy was also a factor.
** Garp's superior, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, isn't fooled for a second. But Garp is the legendary hero of the Marines, so there'd be too much bad PR if he were punished.
** [[spoiler:Heavily implied during Smoker's fight with Vergo. Smoker apparently let himself be beaten during the last seconds of their fight so that way Law could get his heart back. It's up to interpretation as to whether or not Smoker could have beaten Vergo on his own, because the only reason he let Law regain his heart was so that he would be out of debt to him]].
* In ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'' Warg and Melga think they have become a bad influence on Hideto and end up [[spoiler:attempting suicide under the cover of Zeromaru's new ability. It doesn't work and Taichi has to hammer the point into Hideto instead.]]
* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', this is stated to be the real reason why Sasuke could win against Itachi. The elder brother wanted to wear Sasuke down enough in order to release Orochimaru and to rid Sasuke from the cursed seal. He also knew he was going to die in that fight, one way or another.
** [[spoiler:This is also the reason for Kakashi's victory against Obito. The entire fight with Kakashi was planned by Obito in order to remove Madara's seal as it prevented him from becoming the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki. So Obito allowed Kakashi to strike him in the heart, thus removing Madara's seal and becoming Jinchuuriki.]]
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' the Toguro Brothers faked their loss at the end of the [[RescueArc "Rescue Yukina" arc]] for [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Sakyo]] and so they can challenge the heroes in a TournamentArc.
* In ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'', during the UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga Tournament Arc, the BrilliantButLazy MasterSwordsman Soshi Okita manages to best Yaiba, but is so amazed by the latter's spirit and determination that decides to forfeit.
* In ''Manga/FairyTail'', during the S-Class Exam, Cana and Lucy go up against Fried and Bickslow, prompting the former two to have an immediate OhCrap reaction. While Lucy was able to defeat Bickslow a few arcs ago, she needed the help of Loke (who's partnered with Gray on the exam), and during the same arc, Fried was able to [[CurbStompBattle easily defeat Cana]]. Cana and Lucy seemingly manage to win by distracting Fried with naked women... but Fried admits after being defeated that he was faking that weakness, and threw the fight because he felt indebted to the two.

* Zig-zagged in ''Manga/YuGiOhGX''. When Midori Hibiki goes up against Reggie Mackenzie, she has Reggie on the ropes, but hesitates to finish her off, since of Reggie loses the Shadow Game and falls unconscious, she won't be able to give Midori information on how to possibly wake her brother from his coma. However, when Judai comes by, Midori decides to give up on her brother in order to protect him from Reggie, but by this point, Reggie's able to turn the tide and win. Earlier, there's a straight example, when Reggie allows Misawa to beat her, but a glance at her hand shows cards that would have gotten out of that situation.

* In ''Manga/BloodReignCurseOfTheYoma'', Kazami allows Hikage to kill him since he can't bring himself to kill his friend over his master's crazy idea to borrow power from the yōma.

* ''Manga/{{Devilman}}'': The final battle of ''Manga/ViolenceJack'' has Satan only stand around and never attack Devilman. Even when Devilman was on the verge of attacking him he only tried to dodge, implied to be Satan not wishing to kill Akira again like he did at the end of the original manga.
* Ultimately subverted in ''Literature/AccelWorld''. In the manga, Chiyu makes a deal with her long-time friends Taku and Haru- that they'll install Brain Burst on her if she wins against them at a game- a deal that results in her pairing with Kuroyukihime in a doubles tennis match against the two of them. After the girls win the first set hands down, Kuroyukihime notices that the guys weren't taking it seriously. Kuroyukihime realizes that Taku wants to let Chiyu win so he can install Brain Burst on her, but convinces him that the kindest thing he can do for her is to give the match his all. The guys then narrowly win the next set, but the girls narrowly win the third and final set.
* The eponymous protagonist in ''Manga/Saki'' tends to do this for her to end matches with a ±0 score.
* In the final arc of ''Manga/FoodWars'', Soma's father Joichiro, who's been touted as the best chef in the series, loses a culinary battle against his former disciple Asahi. Later when Soma faces Asahi himself on the BLUE, Soma states that Joichiro must have lost on purpose so the two of them would face one another, and he wouldn't have lost if he'd been serious.
* In the finale of ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', Jin is forced to break out his master's [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique ultimate, most dangerous sword-fighting technique]] to defeat the BigBad; [[spoiler:he purposefully leaves a gap in his defense and allows himself to get run through on his opponent's sword, taking advantage of the resulting opening to [[TakingYouWithMe stab his enemy and take him with him]].]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', Crow Hogan deliberately holds back on two occasions:
** Despite having a face-down Mirror Force on the field, he lets Leo (Zora's son) win after the latter gathered his courage to prove himself as a person, which was Crow's intention.
** He tries it again during his second duel with Jaeger, as he sees Jaeger's family cheering up for him. However, Jaeger sees through Crow's apparent misplay and decides to lose the duel to face Yliaster instead of running away.

* In ''ComicBook/DarkNightsMetal'', Barbatos claims Batman was able to defeat him once because he let him win.
* In ''ComicBook/TheBraveAndTheBold'' story arc ''ComicBook/TheLordsOfLuck'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} lets ComicBook/{{Lobo}} win an arm wrestling match just so that the alien bar's patrons don't spread all across the galaxy that Lobo has been beaten by a girl.
* ''ComicBook/BatmanTomKing'': It's revealed that a simple headbutt really didn't bring down Bane. He feigned defeat so he could be in Arkham Asylum just as he planned.
* In ''ComicBook/TheUnknownSupergirl'', Linda Danvers lets Dick Malverne win a swimming race out of kindness towards his fragile ego.

* ''Fanfic/RainboomsAndRoyalty'': When Twilight is fighting [[TheDragon Blackened Armor]] [[spoiler: (the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] Shining Armor)]], he gloats about how he always beat her when they fought as foals. Twilight admits that he ''did'' always win... because even as a filly, she always held back with her magic out of fear of losing control and hurting somepony. Since she has no problem with that now, she proceeds to [[CurbStompBattle kick his ass]] [[spoiler: and purify him]].
* The ''Fanfic/PoniesOfOlympus'' plays this for laughs: Iron Will gives Spike advice at how to beat him during their match in the preliminaries of the Atlas Strongest Tournament, so that when he does, he can try and offer to sell Spike his new book on fighting techniques.

* In ''Fanfic/DiariesOfAMadman'', Discord created the Elements of Harmony so that other species would stand a chance against him, as part of a way of breaking up the monotony of his endless existence.
* In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', during the first battle between Ash and Paul, Ash's Charmeleon easily defeats Paul's Grotle. However, Misty notices that Paul doesn't seem upset, almost as if he had thrown the fight. And as it turns out, right before Grotle was knocked out Paul had discreetly signaled it to set up a Stealth Rock to cause problems to Ash's other Pokémon.

* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/353860/cracks-along-the-prism Cracks Along The Prism]]'', Trixie finally lashes out at Sunset for months of bullying her. Per WordOfGod, however, Sunset let Trixie beat her up, [[TheAtoner feeling horrible for beating up and humiliating her in the past]], thinking that letting Trixie wail on her would make her feel better.
* In ''Fanfic/AshesOfThePast'', a lot of Ash's Pokémon often have to take a dive during beginners training.
* In ''Fanfic/BoundDestiniesTrilogy'', Majora let Link and co. stop the Fierce Deity so he could corrupt Link himself.
* ''Fanfic/EquestriaGirlsFriendshipSouls'': The narration makes it clear that the only reason Applejack beat Sweet Cider was because Sweet Cider getting her memories back made her end their fight.
* In crossover fanfiction ''Fanfic/EdEddNEddyDevilmanCrybaby'', the demon Vis allows Edd to overcome him and become a Devilman.

* Greatcoats Series by Sebastien de Castell - Zig Zagged

%%*Series/{{Angel}} Skip does this to in season 3.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Rygel lets a villain win a chess-like game as part of a con. When [[WhatTheHellHero he's called out on it]], he gripes that the guy had been so terrible that letting him win had been harder than beating him would have been.

* ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'': Ura pulls one on the Rangers by letting them win against Orgs powered by the thousand-year evil spirit, then using its matured power to power himself up.
* ''Series/{{Jessie}}'': In "All the Knight Moves", Zuri beats every opponent in a chess tournament to win a trip to Paris for Jessie; but in the end, she decides to let her French finalist win so he can go home and make amends with his family.
* ''Series/JustRollWithIt'': In the climax of "Family Squabbles", Owen and Blair decide to answer the last question incorrectly on purpose and let their opponents win because they felt bad for them when the kids announced their dad lost his job and they're resorted to living off the grid. Until it was revealed they tricked them and they're not very nice at all.

* In ''Series/PowerRangersBeastMorphers'' episode "Crunch Time", [[spoiler: the Rangers succeed in defeating and capturing [[BigBad Evox]] and throw him in a cell. However, it turns out that he intentionally allowed them to win so he could be taken into Grid Battleforce without suspicion and enact the final phase of his master plan]].
* ''Series/LasVegas'': "Delinda's Box: Part 2" features a Tibetan monk named Soli Tendar. Every few years he comes into one casino and cleans it out for millions winning highly improbably amounts in short time. When Sam asks him about this, he explains this is the [[LaserGuidedKarma good karma he's done coming back to him]]. By the end of the episode, Sam convinces him to do one more all-or-nothing bet on roullette. He then demonstrates this trope after he places his bet on a numbe and the ball is rolling, he whispers to Sam another number which is where the ball actually lands.

* After you defeat [[TheGrimReaper Death]] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaPortraitOfRuin'', he informs you that he has a reason to hold back. Indeed, he does: he can only bring back {{Dracula}} if you kill the guy who's usurping his power. This does not explain why he seizes you with chains and ends your life with one [[strike:quick]] SinisterScythe swipe if you are unable to free yourself first.

* Used by the Black Knight in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''[='=]s localized version (replacing a retcon of questionable quality the Japaneses version uses) to explain how he was back after being defeated and LeftForDead by Ike back in ''Path of Radiance''. (Although [[NotQuiteDead his return was obvious]] if only because [[BlackKnight his identity was never revealed.]]) For comparison:
** Translation: During that climactic battle in ''Path of Radiance'', Ike reveals that his father crippled his sword arm, a fact that the Black Knight didn't know. As the Black Knight's true goals was to surpass his teacher, aka Ike's father, this revelation makes the Black Knight realize that his victory over Ike's father was hollow, as he never got to experience Greil's true ability. So he allows Ike to win in the hopes that later Ike would become as powerful and skilled as Greil, in short a substitute for Greil to test his skills against.
** Original: The Black Knight's warp powder malfunctioned, leaving Ike to fight his spirit, that was not only weaker than his true self, but returned to his body after defeat.
** Also used at the beginning of ''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance,'' when Ike spars with Greil; Greil deliberately holds back, and is impressed that Ike noticed.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'': In Book VII, the Order appear to defeat [[MotherNature Nerþuz]] in battle, but she reveals there was no way that mortals could have won against a god, and that she is willingly forfeiting because she finds them [[CutenessProximity too cute to beat]].

** Inverted in ''Dawn of the New World'', where [[spoiler:In order to get the good ending, Emil has to let Lloyd and Marta win. Unfortunately, You're ''playing'' as Emil in that fight, so that means ''YOU'' have to throw the fight. Beating them gives you the Bad Ending]].

* In ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', this describes all conflicts between [[TheHero Kyousuke]] and his nemesis, [[spoiler:the White Queen]]. The latter is infinitely more powerful, being a RealityWarper with CompleteImmortality who [[spoiler:has literally conquered the laws of the universe]]. The only reason he can win (or avoid losing) is [[spoiler:the White Queen's [[{{Yandere}} twisted love for him]]. She won't ever let him die, and deliberately makes it possible for him to win because she finds his struggles adorable]].

* Mild example in the form of [[VideoGame/GuiltyGear Slayer]] in ''any'' battle. His story dialogue and battle animations suggest a strength far greater than most of the cast, and his defeat pose has him simply lying down with an "I'm tired of this" look as opposed to being knocked out like everyone else. Especially evident in stories where he fights [[AntiHero Sol Badguy]], arguably the strongest person in the GG universe next to Slayer.

* Ultimately subverted in ''LightNovel/AccelWorld''. In the manga, Chiyu makes a deal with her long-time friends Taku and Haru- that they'll install Brain Burst on her if she wins against them at a game- a deal that results in her pairing with Kuroyukihime in a doubles tennis match against the two of them. After the girls win the first set hands down, Kuroyukihime notices that the guys weren't taking it seriously. Kuroyukihime realizes that Taku wants to let Chiyu win so he can install Brain Burst on her, but convinces him that the kindest thing he can do for her is to give the match his all. The guys then narrowly win the next set, but the girls narrowly win the third and final set.

* In ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'', you can intentionally lose to Alex and Charles in their respective routes, but they'll dislike you for downplaying your skills and not giving them enough competition. [[spoiler:The former will even ditch you and drop out of middle school if you deliberately lose to her too many times because she won't see you as a worthy rival.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In Season 2, Thea has left Starling City to train with her supervillain father Malcolm Merlyn. Her brother Oliver, unaware of this, tries to convince her to return. Malcolm however refuses to let her leave until she completes her training, but relents after she defeats him in a sparring contest. Thea however quickly realises he let her win, which seems like a PetTheDog on Malcom's part until the later reveal that he's using Thea for his own EvilPlan.

** And in XIII: [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Barthandelus]]!

* In ''VideoGame/WildARMs4'', Gawn, [[BadassNormal the only Brionac villain without a special power]], stops fighting you after he runs out of bullets. He obviously let you win, because he could have just ''reloaded'', or better yet, used his ''bare hands'' since he can punch missiles with them. Since he shoots you before you can ever ''do anything'' offensive against him, this might seem like a HopelessBossFight, but surviving through it actually counts as a win for you.

** [[spoiler:This is also the reason for Kakashi's victory against Obito. The entire fight with Kakashi, was planned by Obito in order to remove Madara's seal as it prevented him from becoming the Ten Tails Jinchuuriki. So Obito allowed Kakashi to strike him in the heart, thus removing Madara's seal and becoming Jinchuuriki.]]

* In ''VideoGame/GrowingUp'', you can do this to Alex and Charles in their respective routes, but they'll dislike you for downplaying your skills and not giving them enough competition. [[spoiler:The former will even ditch you and drop out of middle school if you deliberately lose to her too many times because she won't see you as a worthy rival.]]