History Main / InanimateCompetitor

* On 1923, one-time jockey Frank Hayes died during a steeplechase and ''won''.

* In an ancient example, Arrhichius of Philgaia, a 3 time olympic pankration champion defended his title as absolute top dog one last time when he got choked to death but forced his opponent to surrender by breaking his foot before he died. By the time the opponent conceded, however, Arrhichius was already dead. Following the rules of the sport, Arrhichius corpse was crowned champion.

* ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity'' is a game show full of {{Animate Inanimate Object}}s, but season 2 introduces Box, the only contestant that is truly inanimate. The other contestants frequently complain about its attitude. In ''WebAnimation/FansFantasticFeatures'', Box inexplicably wins a challenge to cross a kiddie pool on a tightrope (offscreen), but at least two characters still agree that it's just a cardboard box.

* ''Literature/TheHareAndThePineapple'', a [[MemeticMutation memetically infamous]] short story on a New York eighth-grade English exam, in which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a pineapple challenges a hare to a race]] in a toirtoise-and-the-hare allusion. Everyone thinks there is some kind of trick behind it, but there really isn't, and the pineapple really does just sit there and do nothing.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, Late Jim Cloop has been ''repeatedly'' elected mayor of Scrote, despite being dead. He died in office almost immediately after being elected the first time, and they couldn't afford to run another election. When his term was up, everyone agreed that he hadn't embezzled government funds or raised taxes, and was therefore the best mayor they'd ever had, so they voted him in again. And they have done ever since.

Compare AnimalAthleteLoophole, where the competitor is animate, but not human. Related to EnmityWithAnObject.

Compare AnimalAthleteLoophole, where the competitor is animate, but not human.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1370 SCP-1370]], an [[AIIsACrapshoot insane]] but ultimately {{harmless|Villain}} robot which constantly attempts (and utterly fails) to battle any sapient being it encounters, was once tricked by Foundation staff into trying to fight a potted plant. No, not another SCP, an ordinary, non-anomalous potted plant. The plant won.

* [[http://mentalfloss.com/article/26281/4-dead-politicians-who-still-got-elected 5 Politicians Who Got Elected Despite Being Dead]]

* In [[https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-paed-2_06-cv-01055 Riches v Bush]], Jonathan Lee Riches' [[FrivolousLawsuit "lawsuit"]] against George Bush simply lists an absurd number of defendants, such as the Great wall of China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Lincoln Memorial, Mount Rushmore, Mount Vernon, and the Statue of Liberty.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, Late Jim Scroop has been ''repeatedly'' elected mayor of Scrote, despite being dead. He died in office almost immediately after being elected the first time, and they couldn't afford to run another election. When his term was up, everyone agreed that he hadn't embezzled government funds or raised taxes, and was therefore the best mayor they'd ever had, so they voted him in again. And they have done ever since.

* In [[https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCOURTS-paed-2_06-cv-01055 Riches v Bush]], Jonathan Lee Riches' [[FrivolousLawsuit "lawsuit"]] against George Bush simply lists an absurd number of defendants, such as the Great
wall of China, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Lincoln Memorial, Mount Rushmore, Mount Vernon, and the Statue of Liberty.

* ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity'' is a game show full of {{Animate Inanimate Object}}s, but season 2 introduces Box, the only contestant that is truly inanimate. The other contestants frequently complain about its attitude.

** In "Unfair Science Fair" Doofenshmirtz's latest FreudianExcuse is that as a child he kept losing science fairs to competitors who had built baking soda volcanoes. He eventually gave up on science and decided to dedicate his life to poetry, only to lose a poetry contest to a baking soda volcano in a beret.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1370 SCP-1370]], an [[AIIsACrapshoot insane]] but ultimately {{harmless|Villain}} robot which constantly attempts (and utterly fails) to battle any sapient being it encounters, was once tricked by Foundation staff into trying to fight a potted plant. The plant won.

** At one point, Principal Goodvibes administers an IQ test to Billy, who scores a -5. Grim sees nothing wrong with this. Principal Goodvibes then clarifies that they also gave this test to a shovel and two candy bracelets, who each scored +17.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' episode "Most Wanted Wish", Timmy was annoyed for once again being PickedLast in gym class. When he's the last one left, the team captain chooses a rock laying next to Timmy to join his team. Later in science class when the kids have to pick partners, the last two kids without partners are Timmy and Trixie. Mr. Crocker ends up pairing Trixie with the same rock from before which she was happy to accept.

* ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' once had a Tub of Lard appearing as Paul Merton's team-mate, after politician Roy Hattersley offered to make a guest appearance on the show but backed out at the last minute (for the third time since the show began). Angus Deayton, the host, joked that the lard was "imbued with similar qualities and liable to give much the same performance". And Paul's team ''won''.

* ''Anime/CarnivalPhantasm'': In a parody where the Holy Grail War is changed into a game show, the seventh contestant Assassin is only present as a cardboard cutout. This is the case because Assassin is bound to remain near a single gate.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In "The Great Snail Race", Patrick enters a rock named Rocky into the titular race. [[spoiler:Gary ends up crashing and Squidward's snail abandons the race to help him. While everyone was looking at those two, [[OffscreenRealityWarp Rocky had somehow crossed the finish line]].]] Squidward's reaction provides the page quote.

-->-- '''Squidward Tentacles''', "The Great Snail Race", ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants'': In "The Great Snail Race", Patrick enters a rock named Rocky into the titular race. [[spoiler:Gary ends up crashing and Squidward's snail abandons the race to help him. While everyone was looking at those two, [[OffscreenRealityWarp Rocky had somehow crossed the finish line]].]] Squidward's reaction provides the page quote.

This trope is what happens when a competition has one or more competitors who are inanimate. This trope also applies in cases where the competitor is a corpse, but not out of the running. Usually found in comedic works, to give otherwise tense competitions an air of absurdity. Bonus points if the inanimate competitor actually manages to [[CrackDefeat win the contest]] [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing without doing anything at all]]. Usually a case of NothingIsFunnier, particularly if we are shown the result but not how it happened.

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* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': Partway through the 127th Annual {{Upper Class Twit}} of the Year Show, crowd favorite Oliver St. John-Mollusc somehow manages to [[TooDumbToLive run himself over]] with his own car. This does not automatically disqualify him. [[spoiler: However, it does put him at the disadvantage of coming last.]]
-->'''Commentator''': Oh! There's Oliver, he's dead, though he's not necessarily out of it!

--> '''Will:''' Sixty percent is 6 of 10 in a focus group. You change one mind, it's a dead heat. You change two, it's a landslide. This campaign's a mechanism of persuasion. We're not asking for a show of hands.

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* In ''WebVideo/TheMarkRemark'' review of the 2015 "WWE Fastlane" special, one wrestler compares another to a glass of milk. Martin then turned a glass of milk into his personal favorite wrestler. This got to the point where Martin asked his fans who they think should win a match, John Cena or Seth Rollins, and [[TakeAThirdOption they chose the glass of milk]].

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* On 1923, one-time jockey Frank Hayes died during a steeplechase and ''won''.