History Main / OvershadowedByAwesome

* Just about anything prehistoric that isn't a dinosaur is typically overshadowed by... well, the dinosaurs. This includes animals often mistaken for dinosaurs, like pterosaurs and marine reptiles. Heck, even ''dinosaurs'' can be subjected to this; in summer 2015, three new dinosaurs were discovered. One was a dog-sized [[VegetarianCarnivore herbivorous theropod]]. Another was an extremely complete skeleton of a [[FeatheredFiend terror bird]][[note]]yes, that counts as a dinosaur[[/note]], the most complete skeleton of one ever found. The third? It was a dinosaur that resembled [[InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons a tiny feathered dragon]]. Guess which one got the most attention.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirit_(rover) Spirit]], AKA MER-A, was an IMMENSELY successful Martian rover. Originally slated to explore Mars for a target of 90 days, it went on to make several discoveries in the rocky Martian highlands for a full SIX YEARS before getting stuck in cake-y soil on a crater rim with its solar panels in a less-than-ideal position to collect sunlight during the Martian winter. However, successful as it was, it's largely overshadowed by its twin--MER-B, AKA [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_(rover) Opportunity]], which lasted a full FIFTEEN YEARS on the surface of Mars, exploring progressively larger craters and travelling more than the length of a marathon during its lifetime. Opportunity was still alive and well when the next-generation rover, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curiosity_(rover) Curiosity]], landed on the Martian surface.

* Spirit, AKA MER-A, was an IMMENSELY successful Martian rover. Originally slated to explore Mars for a target of 90 days, it went on to make several discoveries in the rocky Martian highlands for a full SIX YEARS before getting stuck in cake-y soil on a crater rim with its solar panels in a less-than-ideal position to collect sunlight during the Martian winter. However, successful as it was, it's largely overshadowed by its twin--MER-B, AKA Opportunity, which lasted a full FIFTEEN YEARS on the surface of Mars, exploring progressively larger craters and travelling more than the length of a marathon during its lifetime. Opportunity was still alive and well when the next-generation rover, Curiosity, landed on the Martian surface.

* Spirit, AKA MER-A, was an IMMENSELY successful Martian rover. Originally slated to explore Mars for a target of 90 days, it went on to make several discoveries in the rocky Martian highlands for a full SIX YEARS before getting stuck in cake-y soil on a crater rim with its solar panels in a less-than-ideal position to collect sunlight during the Martian winter. However, successful as it was, it's largely overshadowed by its twin--MER-B, AKA Opportunity, which lasted a full FIFTEEN YEARS on the surface of Mars, exploring progressively larger craters and travelling more than the length of a marathon during its lifetime. Opportunity was still alive and well when the next-generation rover, Curiousity, landed on the Martian surface.

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'' this happens to pretty much all the male leads. Gakuto in particular is shown to be able to hold off 70 people attacking him at once with a broken leg but is hopelessly outclassed against almost all the characters. It also happens to some of the female characters, like Fushikawa or, tragically, [[spoiler: Kazuko Kawakami]].

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** Sega also got hit with it the previous generation: during the first E3 in 1995, the announcement that the Usefulnotes/SegaSaturn was already available in some stores for $399 would be a huge advantage.[[note]]Even if this surprise launch [[DidntThinkThisThrough actually harmed Sega]], as it upset retailers, and gamers were unhappy that the Saturn only had six games upon release, and two more in the following semester[[/note]] And then the head of Sony's game division delivered a one word speech, "$299", and gamers suddenly felt that waiting six months to spend less on the [=PlayStation=] was better.

* Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Creator/{{PBS}}, their 1990-91 season was all ''The Civil War'', all the time (well, that and their "Just Watch Us Now" image campaign). For example, good luck trying to find someone who remembers that the ''National Geographic'' special "Man: The Incredible Machine" was rebroadcast right before the series premiere on September 23, 1990, and an independent film, ''El Matador'', was broadcast right after, or that the weekday installments were followed by repeats from the Bill Moyers series ''A World of Ideas'', including the first part of a two-parter featuring Noam Chomsky.

* Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Creator/{{PBS}}, their 1990-91 season was all ''The Civil War'', all the time (well, that and their "Just Watch Us Now" image campaign). For example, good luck trying to find someone who remembers that the ''National Geographic'' special "Man: The Ultimate Machine" was rebroadcast right before the series premiere on September 23, 1990, and an independent film, ''El Matador'', was broadcast right after, or that the weekday installments were followed by repeats from the Bill Moyers series ''A World of Ideas'', including the first part of a two-parter featuring Noam Chomsky.

->''"I loved [[ComicBook/TheFlash the Flash]] like a brother, but don’t forget where we were. That was Central City back in the day. '''His''' day. … It was like trying to compete with [[Music/FrankSinatra Sinatra]]."''

** What about the PDF? The Planetary Defence Forces? It's joked that their role is to be punching bags long enough for the Imperial Guard and Space Marines to arrive, but think that not all of them are backwater hired guns and mercs. The wealthier and more important worlds have huge and well-equipped [=PDFs=] with competent officers, competent men, and have the money and industrial base to equip their men with the finest weapons and armour the Imperium can provide. Forge worlds are even more impressive, with lasguns, tanks and artillery that are produced by the Adeptus Mechanicus and actually ''superior'' to what the Imperial Guard get, not to mention [[EmpoweredBadassNormal they may be upgraded with the order's own cybernetics technology]] and turned into the Skitarii. Basically, a Forge World PDF will be the size and technology equivalent of the [[UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks US military]], a BadassArmy in their own right. Yet in come the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Orks]], [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Eldar]] or [[BugWar Tyranids]], and the PDF get [[CurbStompBattle utterly crushed]]. The PDF lack the one thing that make the Imperial Guard competitive: [[ZergRush quantity]]. Even the most badass PDF is not enough. Not even close to being enough.

** Wayne Gretzky points out to Tony Hawk that the two of them have collectively set 184 world records... of which Gretzky set 183.
** Guy Fawkes disses Che Guevara for being "Castro, but less so".
** Donald Trump calls Joe Biden "Barack's shadow".

* UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy once addressed a dinner of Nobel Prize winners at the White House: "I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson dined alone."

** Pepin the Short was an effective Frankish king during his time, but he is overshadowed by both his father and son. His father was Charles Martel ("Charles the Hammer"), who saved Christendom from the Muslim invasion at the Battle of Tours and is the patriarch of the Carolingian dynasty. His son was the even more famous UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}} ("Charles the Great"), who founded the Holy Roman Empire and is called "the father of Europe."

* In 2012, the film ''Hyde Park on Hudson'' opened. Starring Creator/BillMurray as UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt, it would have been seen as a must-see OscarBait film in any other year (and probably would have finally gotten Murray his Oscar). Too bad it had to open the same year as ''Film/{{Lincoln}}'', with Creator/DanielDayLewis as UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln. As a result, the former film has been seen as SoOkayItsAverage while ''Lincoln'' has taken all of the glory.

* Ever heard of Peter Lawford or Joey Bishop? Maybe not, but you've likely heard of their fellow Creator/RatPack members Creator/SammyDavisJr, Music/DeanMartin, and (especially!) Music/FrankSinatra. Case in point: the latter three have their own pages here, while Peter and Joey do not.
** The Rat Pack gets this twice over. Everyone knows the lineup named above, but how many know that there was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat_Pack#1950s whole other lineup]] a decade earlier? You'll know some of the members, like Creator/HumphreyBogart and Creator/DavidNiven, but not their status as Rat Pack members.
* One major factor in the UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast's demise, and Creator/{{Sega}}'s downfall as a first-party developer as a result, was in the simple fact that the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 existed - after Creator/{{Sony}}'s extremely successful entry into the console market with the first UsefulNotes/PlayStation, the mere hype generated by the announcement of a second generation was enough to kill further interest in the Dreamcast.

* While Albert Einstein's contribution to science has undoubtedly been absolutely invaluable, few people in the general population know that he didn't do all the work himself. If you ask the average person who, for example, Hendrik Lorentz (who worked out most of the special relativity equations that Einstein used) was, most people will give you a blank stare. Einstein himself, however, has entered popular culture as the archetypal genius scientist.

* 1998 was a great year for the FirstPersonShooter genre, with the releases of ''VideoGame/QuakeII'', ''VideoGame/SiN'', ''VideoGame/UnrealI'' and ''VideoGame/{{Blood}} II: The Chosen''. However, the Game of the Year award and the limelight had another owner: ''VideoGame/HalfLife1''.

* The French Revolution was a massive event in world history, but given that it led to the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, quite a fair amount of information was left out of the history books.

** Napoleon's triumphs at Austerlitz and Friedland are overwhelmingly remembered, while the Peninsular War and the War of the Fifth Coalition are ignored. Austerlitz and Friedland led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and the ideals of the Revolution spreading across Europe. The Peninsular War showed that nationalism could work for the reactionary monarchs of Europe, undermining the message that the Revolution was the originator of nationalism, and France was bogged down in a costly war. The War of the Fifth Coalition also saw Napoleon's first defeat and foreshadowed the end of his empire. Both events are still dismissed as footnotes in the Napoleonic wars, despite the implications.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Jaune Arc is fairly physically strong, but he's still the weakest fighter of the heroes and has no formal training, so he FightsLikeANormal in a WorldOfBadass where everyone fights according to RuleOfCool anime physics. Jaune makes up for it by being TheStrategist.

* In the Bronze Age, all civilizations were outshined by Persia, Egypt, and Greece. In the Greek areas, any military was outshined by Athens in naval strength and Sparta, Athens, and later, Thebe in land strength.

* This also happened to the English/British Royal family as for most people who either don't study the subject or are foreign, there are pretty much only four members who ever lived: UsefulNotes/HenryVIII, UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, [[UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria Victoria]] and [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]]. Some might also recall William the Conqueror and Richard the Lionhearted, and theater lovers might recall the ones who appeared in Shakespeare's historical plays. Bearing in mind that this is one of the most influential countries in modern history it seems sad that the achievements of all the other great kings and queens are often entirely forgotten.
** For SmallReferencePools, "Mad King" George III for some reason in UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution, Edward Longshanks with same reason for Scots and William Wallace, Prince John (usually in connection to Robin Hood), Henry Tudor and Richard III, Edward VII for succeeding Victoria, maybe Cromwell if he is counted.
** With historical rulers, one of the problems is that even relatively competent or long-reigning monarchs may be overshadowed by more famous predecessors and successors, with more of an impact on the historical record and/or popular imagination. A good example is Henry III (1207-1272, reigned 1216-1272), also known as Henry of Winchester. He was king of England for 56 years, had significant building, military, and diplomatic accomplishments, and was the first king to face a Parliamentarian revolution (under Simon de Montfort). He is overshadowed by his father John (1166-1216, reigned 1199-1216), who had a relatively short and troubled reign, and by his son Edward I (1239-1307, reigned 1272-1307), who conquered Wales, briefly took over Scotland, participated in the Ninth Crusade, and led major administrative and legislative reforms in England. While John and Edward I are among the most famous kings England ever had, Henry III is largely forgotten. To quote Wikipedia: "Henry's reign did not receive much attention from historians for many years after the 1950s: no substantial biographies of Henry were written after Powicke's, and the historian John Beeler observed in the 1970s that the coverage of Henry's reign by military historians remained particularly thin. ... Unlike many other medieval kings, Henry did not feature significantly in the works of William Shakespeare, and in the modern period he has not been a prominent subject for films, theatre, or television, having only a minimal role in modern popular culture."

** Among Chess World Champions Max Euwe (1935-37) is often overlooked, as he won the championship partly due to his predecessor being a raging alcoholic, and generally did not play many games during his career. But the latter was partly because he is the only man ever to win the title as ''100 % amateur''.

* Everyone has heard of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs aurochs]], the extinct king of the European forest, once the largest land mammal in the continent. Comparatively few people have heard of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_bison European bison]] (or wisent), the current largest mammal on the continent, which is still alive.

* Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, to name only two of the many talented Elizabethan/Jacobean playwrights who weren't William Shakespeare. Which is funny, because for a long time it was the other way round and only really changed in the Victorian era.

* Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Ed Markey of Massachusetts are renowned Democratic Senators, having served in Congress since the 1970s (although Markey never moved up to the Senate until 2013). Their respective states’ other senators? Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, arguably the two best-known Democratic Senators in the country (although the former is technically an independent).

* UsefulNotes/{{Robert|FKennedy}} and Ted Kennedy had distinguished political careers, but both were overshadowed by John.
* Ever heard of Peter Lawford or Joey Bishop? Maybe not, but you've likely heard of their fellow Rat Pack members Creator/SammyDavisJr, Music/DeanMartin, and (especially!) Music/FrankSinatra. Case in point: the latter three have their own pages here, while Peter and Joey do not.

Of course, this makes sense for human characters playing second-fiddle to someone superhuman, or even a god. [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Unless...]]

** In the current Meta many units are often seen as "uncompetitive". This does not mean they're bad or underpowered, in fact most of them do very well at what they do and are quite appropriate for their cost. However, there are many units who are ''more'' powerful than them, many of which share the same Force Organisation Slot, meaning you either choose between the balanced unit, or the overpowered one. It's not a hard choice.

** [[TheHero Yamato]] manages to avoid this however, by being TheChessmaster and a MagnificentBastard.

** Heimdäl is leader of Justice, the top guild of the game [[spoiler:up to Season 3/The third novel/Comic 7]], can be assumed to be the best mage, is a good strategist and may possibly be in the top five. However, Fantöm, Amaras and Spectre, the three that outrank him, are the poster boys for UltimateGamer386 and get to do most of the impressive stuff in the story, thus greatly limiting Heimdäl's opportunities to shine in comparison.

* People remember John Wilkes Booth for his assassination of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln in 1865, but very few people remember [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26512_the-insane-life-man-who-killed-john-wilkes-booth.html the just as interesting life]] of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Corbett Boston Corbett]], the man who killed Booth. Corbett was a fanatic Methodist and hatter who mutilated his own testicles, was discharged dishonorably in his first stint as a Union Army soldier for holding unauthorized prayer meetings and mouthing off to a superior, and in his second stint ended up spending time in the notorious [[HellholePrison Andersonville Prison]]. He later become a destitute hobo in Kansas, and is believed to have been killed in 1894 in a wildfire that burned down the town of Hinckley, Minnesota.

** With historical rulers, one of the problems is that even relatively competent or long-reigning monarchs may be overshadowed by more famous predecessors and successors, with more of an impact on the historical record and/or popular imagination. A good example is Henry III (1207-1272, reigned 1216-1272), also known as Henry of Winchester. He was king of England for 56 years, had significant building, military, and diplomatic accomplishments, and was the first king to face a Parliamentarian revolution (under Simon de Montfort). He is overshadowed by his father John (1166-1216, reigned 1199-1216), who had a relatively short and troubled reign, and by his son Edward I (1239-1307, reigned 1272-1307), who conquered Wales, briefly took over Scotland, participated in the Ninth Crusade, and led major administrative and legislative reforms in England. While John and Edward I are among the most famous kings England ever had, Henry III is largely forgotten. To quote Wikipedia: "Henry's reign did not receive much attention from historians for many years after the 1950s: no substantial biographies of Henry were written after Powicke's, and the historian John Beeler observed in the 1970s that the coverage of Henry's reign by military historians remained particularly thin. ... Unlike many other medieval kings, Henry did not feature significantly in the works of William Shakespeare, and in the modern period he has not been a prominent subject for films, theatre or television, having only a minimal role in modern popular culture."

* ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' was a very popular show in the early 2000s and was easily the most famous role for Creator/BryanCranston at that time who was seen as one of the highlights of the show. Unfortunately, Cranston followed up the series by playing the lead role in ''Series/BreakingBad'', a series that is generally considered to be one of [[GenreTurningPoint the greatest ever made]] on par with ''Series/TheSopranos'' and ''Series/TheWire''. Bryan Cranston's performance as Walter White won him multiple Emmys, made him a [[StarMakingRole major star]] and is considered to be one if not ''the'' greatest TV performance ever. This means that ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is now generally seen as little more than the show [[RetroactiveRecognition Bryan Cranston was on before]] ''Breaking Bad''.

* The name Phedon Papamichael might not mean much to people outside the film circle but he's made a respectable career as a cinematographer (being the regular cinematographer for [[Film/{{Sideways}} Alexander Payne]] and [[Film/WalkTheLine James Mangold]]). However, his proteges [[Film/SchindlersList Janusz]] [[Film/SavingPrivateRyan Kaminski]], [[Film/{{Avatar}} Mauro Fiore]] and [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy Wally]] [[Film/{{Inception}} Pfister]] have all managed to surpass him in recognition and acclaim (all three have won Oscars for their work, Papamichael has never been nominated). Also overshadowed by awesome in terms of family: his uncle was famous indie director Creator/JohnCassavetes.
* While ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' was also a severe case of OvershadowedByControversy, its failure was only further solidified by the announcement and later release of ''VideoGame/DragonballFighterz''. While ''MVCI'' was drawing a near constant flow of backlash, ''Dragonball Fighterz'' instantly captured the hearts of fighting game players with one of the few franchises with a pedigree comparable to Marvel, a 3v3 format where ''MVCI'' inexplicably went back to 2v2, along with its development being in the capable hands of Creator/ArcSystemWorks. As a result. ''Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite'' was doomed to obscurity, not helped by getting snubbed by EVO [[note]]The biggest and most prestigious fighting game tournament in the world.[[/note]], while ''Dragonball Fighterz'' became a mainstay in Fighting game tournaments ever since.

'''Narrator:''' ''Film/TerminatorGenisys (while showing [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers the T-800]] make its [[TheUnSmile un-smile]])''\\

->''"I loved [[[ComicBook/TheFlash the Flash]]] like a brother, but don’t forget where we were. That was Central City back in the day. '''His''' day. … It was like trying to compete with [[Music/FrankSinatra Sinatra]]."''

->''"Odysseus Wheeler, Victor of the Seventy-Third Annual Hunger Games. The perpetually and gratefully overshadowed."''
-->-- '''Odysseus''' (whose Games immediately preceded [[Characters/TheHungerGamesLiteratureProtagonists Katniss and Peeta's]] wins), ''FanFic/TheVictorsProject''

->''"Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow."''
-->-- '''Hawkeye''', ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''

* There are exactly two pieces of evidence for the historical Myth/KingArthur: One is an 11th-century chronicle of the noble families in the English Isle who showed that there were a generation in the fifth century CE where every single one named their eldest son ”[Something] Arthur [Family Name]”. The second one is from the Welch Epic Poem ”Y Gododdin” from around 600 CE, where every verse mentions another thing the King was awesome at (one was about how awesome he was at taming horses, another was about how patiently he listened for Counsil, etcetera) but every verse had the humbling final line: '''“and yet he was not Arthur.”'''

* Happens a lot in RealLife for various reasons. Usually it might be because the person is TheAce in whatever field they excel at (professional sports is a great example because it's easier to notice physical differences in performance). It could also be that they have more charisma than others (Creator/StanLee is an example because, regardless of your opinions about his abilities, both he and Creator/JackKirby were needed to make Marvel Comics what it is and neither could have done it alone, but Stan was far more recognized initially and even now people remember Stan mor than Kirby). It might also be because a fortunate circumstance allowed the person to make their mark in history.
* The Thespians at Thermopylae were overshadowed by the awesomeness of the Spartans and are not remembered enough. And considering that the thing they died for was at least partly [[HonorBeforeReason that it would be remembered]] that Thespians had been as brave as Spartans it rather behooves us to remember.
** Few outside history geeks remember Thebans were also there.
** Also in the Bronze Age, any civilization not from Persia, Egypt, nor Greek were outshined by those three. In the Greek areas, any military was outshined by Athena in naval strength and Sparta, Athena, and later, Thebe in land strength.

* The vast majority of scientific breakthroughs build on the work of dozens, if not even hundreds, of other scientists (contemporary and past), while often only one person gets the limelight. A perfect example of this would be Albert Einstein. While his contribution to science has undoubtedly been absolutely invaluable, few people in the general population know that he didn't do all the work himself. If you ask the average person who, for example, Hendrik Lorentz (who worked out most of the special relativity equations that Einstein used) was, most people will give you a blank stare. Einstein himself, however, has entered popular culture as The archetypal scientist (although, to be fair, not entirely without merit.)

** Most people know that they surrendered quickly (or rather, their high command did) when German armies bypassed the Maginot Line and invaded through the Ardennes region, what most of the people don't know they reformed throughout the war with recruitment of many French North Africans and later many of the re-encouraged Frenchmen (after the Allies made a beachhead in Normandy) they gave many contributions to war efforts. Understandable because most English-speaking sources come from either the United Kingdom, Commonwealth, or USA and, understandably, tend to highlight their own respective country's efforts in late stage of war. In a simpler term (for organizations scale), French get better but USA, UK, and Commonwealth get even better and with less glaring serious mistake(s).
* Happens to a lot of gifted students when they attend competitive universities. Back home, they might have been the smartest kid in their high school, but when they get into schools like MIT, Harvard or Stanford, they're surrounded by people who were the top students in ''their'' schools, with faculty and administration far less willing to cut them some slack than in high school. If these students haven't had to develop real study skills before, they find themselves flunking out despite their intelligence.

* 1998 was a great year for the FirstPersonShooter genre, with the releases of ''VideoGame/QuakeII'', ''VideoGame/SiN'', ''VideoGame/UnrealI'' and ''VideoGame/{{Blood 2}}''. However, the Game of the Year award and the limelight had another owner: ''VideoGame/HalfLife1''.