History Main / OvershadowedByAwesome

-->-- '''ComicBook/ElongatedMan''', ''ComicBook/IdentityCrisis''

** One of the most notable is [[Franchise/DragonBall Hercule Satan]] VS [[VideoGame/StreetFighter Dan Hibiki]] where as it turns out, Hercule won because of this trope; Both Hercule and Dan are pathetic excuses of fighters in their own worlds, Hercule is only that way due to being a normal man in a ''multiverse'' of planet busters at minimum, otherwise being, by normal standards, an excellent fighter with at least one legitimate win to his name thanks to his skills. Dan on the other hand is pathetic even when in a world full of fighters much closer to him in power, frequently gets his pink clad ass kicked (usually because of his own overconfidence) and his only confirmed victory was handed to him out of pity by Sagat.

[[folder:Architecture]]

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland_Bay_Bridge The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge]] (Usually just called the Bay Bridge) connects two major cities, is much longer, carries more than double the traffic, and opened six months before the Golden Gate Bridge. But which is much better known?
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building The Chrysler Building]] was the first building in the world to exceed 1000 feet, was the first skyscraper made mainly from stainless steel, and is an Art Deco marvel. But less than a year after it opened it relinquished its’ title of world’s tallest building to another just a mile away; The Empire State Building.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Nature]]

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_Veil_Falls_(Niagara_Falls) Bridal Veil Falls]] would be the tallest and largest (by water volume) waterfall in most states. But it sits about 100 feet from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Falls American Falls]]. WHICH ITSELF is grossly overshadowed by the roughly nine times larger [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Falls Horseshoe Falls]] just a mile away.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhotse Lhotse]] is the fourth tallest mountain in the world. But is located about two miles from Mt. Everest.
[[/folder]]

* Discussed in ''WebVideo/IdolsOfAnime'', with regards to ''Anime/MagicalStageFancyLala'': Viga theorizes that part of the reason for ''Fancy Lala'''s poor ratings and early cancellation was that ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' was airing at the same time (and in fact premiered just two days after ''Fancy Lala''), and was a much better MagicalGirl show.

'''Narrator:''' ''Film/JurassicWorld (while showing [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs the dinosaurs]])''\\

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco%E2%80%93Oakland_Bay_Bridge The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge]] (Usually just called the Bay Bridge) connects two major cities, is much longer, carries more than double the traffic, and opened six months before the Golden Gate Bridge. But which is much better known?
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Building The Chrysler Building]] was the first building in the world to exceed 1000 feet, was the first skyscraper made mainly from stainless steel, and is an Art Deco marvel. But less than a year after it opened it relinquished its’ title of world’s tallest building to the another just a mile away; The Empire State Building.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_Veil_Falls_(Niagara_Falls) Bridal Veil Falls]] would be the tallest and largest (by water volume) waterfall in most states. But it sits about 100 feet from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Falls American Falls]]. WHICH ITSELF is grossly overshadowed by the roughly nine times larger [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Falls Horseshoe Falls]] just a mile away.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth,_Texas Fort Worth]] would be the most populous city in 43 states. Is the 13th most populous city in America. Is closer to AT&T Stadium (home of the Cowboys) and Globe Life Field (home of the Rangers). But is always secondary to Dallas.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose,_California SanJose]] is the tenth largest city in America, the home of Silicon Valley, but is always overlooked by smaller San Francisco and even much smaller Oakland.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lhotse Lhotse]] is the fourth tallest mountain in the world. But is located about two miles from Mt. Everest.

[[/folder]]

->''"I loved [[Franchise/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]]."''

[[caption-width-right:300:[[CantCatchUp Get used to it, guys.]]]]

** This is one of the reasons why the 3.5 ''Tome of Battle'' supplement (which introduced a brand of magical martial arts for melee classes to help balance them towards casters) was so loathed. Instead of giving new options to the existing Fighter, Monk, and Barbarian classes (melee fighters without magic access), ''Tome of Battle'' introduced three new classes to showcase the magical martial arts of the book that completely rendered the aforementioned core classes obsolete by being better in every conceivable way. The KickThemWhileTheyAreDown moment was that the Warblade martial class was revealed to be statistically better than a Fighter ''even if you removed the new systems it was built to showcase''.

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/DragonBall https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragon_ball_boulder_pushing.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[CantCatchUp Get used to it, guys.]]]]

** Or, in 3rd edition, 3.5, and the various offbranches thereof such as Pathfinder, if someone plays a caster class above level 6 or so, thanks to LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards. The higher the level, the greater the disparity. Even if the non-caster seems awesome on paper, he's still massively outclassed by the magic users.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The AstraZeneca vaccine is 99% effective at preventing death from a global pandemic, is cheap enough to give everyone on the planet a dose, and was developed in less than a year. But the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines are better at preventing moderate or mild cases, and don't appear to cause the one-in-a-million blood clots that AstraZeneca appears to.

* 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 became 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.
* Fans consider ''Anime/ExpelledFromParadise'' this trope when it made its debut in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT''. While an overall solid entry, the other series debut were ''Anime/MagicKnightRayearth'', ''[[Anime/CaptainHarlock Arcadia Of My Youth - Endless Orbit SSX]]'', and ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', three other series fans had always dreamed of wanting to get in a ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' entry but was considered a pipe dream till then. This in addition to series coming back in the franchise for the first time in ages like ''Anime/GunXSword'', ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', and ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', and it's really easy to see how people think that ''Expelled'' got the short end of the stick. It didn't help that WordOfGod treated the series as TriviallyObvious. This trope, however, isn't treated as such in-game.
* Creator/KevinConroy is the undeniable linchpin of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In contrast to the likes of [[Creator/MichaelKeaton Keaton]] and [[Creator/ValKilmer Kilmer]] (who barely change their voices), [[Creator/GeorgeClooney Clooney]] (who didn't care), [[Creator/ChristianBale Bale]] (whose growl is often considered a joke), or [[Creator/BenAffleck Affleck]] (who has to use a modulator), Conroy's vocal performance as Bruce Wayne and Batman is realistic, subtle, yet distinct enough for both characters, and his ability to portray a vast range of emotional qualities, from action to drama to comedy to tragedy, should have won him numerous awards many times over. After 20 years in the same role, Conroy is considered ''the'' definitive Batman voice, and the voice that most people still hear when they read the comics. Unfortunately, his co-star is Creator/MarkHamill as ComicBook/TheJoker.
* Jakob Dylan is a respected musician and activist with a career that's more than 20 years long. He's put out six albums as a solo artist and more with his group the Wallflowers. He's received an honorary doctorate and has been awarded for his activism and philanthropy when it comes to Diabetes Research, awareness, recognition, and greater levels of assistance for male victims of domestic abuse and rape, and many other projects. Unfortunately, he's the son of Music/BobDylan. (Jakob's status as living in his father's shadow was once even snarked about on Saturday Night Live.)
* 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 UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart, 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 UsefulNotes/RichardIII, Edward VII for succeeding Victoria, maybe [[UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell 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 [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheThird 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 [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland John]] (1166-1216, reigned 1199-1216), who had a relatively short and troubled reign, and by his son UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst (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."
* TabletopGame/{{Chess}}:
** Many chess experts consider Anatoly Karpov to be the second-greatest grandmaster ever to play the game. He's mainly remembered for spending his career as [[ArchEnemy foil]] to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov Garry Kasparov]].
** Kasparov himself is remembered largely for being a foil for [[MechanicalMonster Deep Blue]]!
** 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''.
* This is perhaps why ''VideoGame/{{crossbeats}} REV.'' bombed in Japan: It was released too close to the far more popular and better-acclaimed ''CHUNITHM'', another RhythmGame.
* Website/ScrewAttack has this problem with their own work. The series ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has eclipsed virtually everything they've made, which disappoints them when other shows don't catch on. A good example of this was when they attempted to get fans to watch the live-action show ''The Industry'' to find out who the next combatants were, only for entire ''rows'' of Website/YouTube comments telling fans where to look.
* ''Film/{{Dogora}}'' would probably be better-remembered today if it wasn't sandwiched between ''Film/{{Mothra vs Godzilla}}'' and ''Film/{{Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster}}''.
* Everyone has heard of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs aurochs]], the extinct king of the European forest, once the largest land mammal on 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.
* One reason for the continuation of the CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys stereotype is that although the UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades are definitely some of the best soldiers in the world, their most [[LegionOfLostSouls famous unit]] recruits primarily from foreigners.
* The film ''Film/HowGreenWasMyValley'' itself. Despite being generally regarded as a highly innovative and well-made movie in its own right, nowadays just about any discussion of it centres around how [[AwardSnub it stole the Best Picture Oscar]] from ''Film/CitizenKane'', generally considered to be the greatest movie ever made.
* Creator/ChristopherMarlowe and Ben Jonson, to name only two of the many talented Elizabethan/Jacobean playwrights who weren't Creator/WilliamShakespeare. Which is funny, because for a long time it was the other way round and only really changed in the Victorian era.
* John Cornyn is the senior U.S. Senator from Texas and briefly served as Senate Majority Whip. He’s still nowhere near as famous as Texas’s junior senator: Ted Cruz.
* UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy once addressed a dinner of Nobel Prize winners at TheWhiteHouse: "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."
* Kings:
** Philip II of Macedonia was a hugely successful king and general who is completely overshadowed by his son, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.
** 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 UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire and is called "the father of Europe."
** Suleiman II is known as "The Magnificent" in the West. His father Selim I, the first Ottoman sultan to claim the Caliphate and the one that doubled the Ottoman Empire's territory by conquering Mamluk Egypt, is comparatively forgotten.
** Philip II of France (aka "Philip Augustus") was the first true King of France, expanding his territory, subjugating rebellious underlords, and introducing governmental reform that made his realm the strongest nation in 12th-Century Europe. He was also a wise and just ruler, and apparently a really nice guy in person. He might have been a far more well-known monarch if he hadn't been a contemporary of Medieval Europe's Rock Star King UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart... who pretty much overshadowed everyone else in the room.
* 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.”
* In 2012, the film ''Film/HydeParkOnHudson'' 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.
* [[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-like 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.
* The long-awaited return of Halley's Comet in 1910 - hugely anticipated because it was to be the first time the comet would be photographed - was largely overshadowed by the completely unexpected apparition of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_January_Comet_of_1910 the Great Comet of 1910]] in January of that year, which was visible even during the day (hence the popular nickname of "Daylight Comet"), and is generally regarded as the brightest comet of the 20th century, even brighter than Hale-Bopp in 1997 (although Hale-Bopp was visible to the naked eye for much longer). Halley, which showed up three months later, put in a good showing with one of its better apparitions on record (it came close enough to Earth for the planet to pass through the comet's tail at one point), but many elderly people interviewed in the lead-up to the 1986 apparition describing their memories of its 1910 apparition turned out to be remembering the Great Comet instead. Speaking of the 1986 apparition, it was a total bust - the worst in recorded history - making the 1986 apparition a case of this in terms of all its ''past'' apparitions. On a positive note, at least, the next apparition in 2061 is predicted to be much more favourable.
* ''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''.
* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'':
** Poor Music/NickJonas. By most reasonable standards, he was quite good at the 25th Anniversary Concert of ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' as Marius. Unfortunately for him, he was standing next to the likes of Alfie Boe and Ramin Karimloo, and he paled in comparison.
** Ditto Samantha Barks as Eponine, who was good enough to be cast in the film version over dozens of big-name actresses, but who has the misfortune of being compared to legendary names like Lea Salonga and Frances Ruffelle and will therefore ''always'' come in third-rate no matter how good she is. (However, her situation is made quite a bit better by the fact that the aforementioned legendary names were cheering her casting like it was going out of style.)
* 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 [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a tiny feathered dragon]]. Guess which one got the most attention.
* Not only the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_dwarf red dwarf stars]] are by far the most abundant ones of the Universe, but it's also thought most of them are orbited by small, more or less Earth-sized planets. Despite that they're overshadowed by those far more luminous than them, including [[UsefulNotes/TheSun ours]] and especially the likes of for example Deneb or Betelgeuse, but much less abundant and that last nothing next to said dwarf stars, that will still be around when all others are long dead and will be the last ones shining --if the Universe does not [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 end before]].
* 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? UsefulNotes/BernieSanders and Elizabeth Warren, arguably the two best-known Democratic Senators in the country (although the former is technically an independent).
* Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Creator/{{PBS}}, their 1990-91 season was all ''Series/TheCivilWar'', 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.
* John Michael Attenborough has two brothers: Creator/{{Richard|Attenborough}}, an actor known for a few [[Film/JurassicPark big]] films, and Creator/{{David|Attenborough}}, who is perhaps the most famous nature presenter in the world. At least John's got something going for him as an executive of Alfa Romeo.
* UsefulNotes/{{Robert|FKennedy}} and UsefulNotes/TedKennedy 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 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 aforementioned lineup, 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 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.
** 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 four months to spend less on the [=PlayStation=] was better.
* Marc Coppola is a nationally-syndicated DJ, whose [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola uncle]] and [[Creator/SofiaCoppola cousin]] are Oscar-winning directors, [[Creator/NicolasCage his brother]] is an Oscar-winning actor, his late grandfather an Oscar-winning film scorer, and several other relatives are high profile actors and musicians. Once in an interview, Howard Stern remarked: "in any other family, you'd be top of the heap, but in the Coppolas, you're kind of the nobody."
* The Thebans and 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.
* 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, Thebes in land strength.
* This kinda happened to Charles IX of Sweden, the youngest son of Gustav Vasa I (Father of the Nation) and the father of Gustavus Adoluphus (founder of the Swedish Empire). Living between these two has made Charles IX a rather overlooked king, which's sad considering that he was a cunning and competent king that won the bitter power struggle the sons of Gustav Vasa fought after their father's death; a power struggle that killed Charles' older brothers Eric XIV and John III, and which Charles' nephew Sigismund barely survived.
* While UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein'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.
* In 2019, LEON and LOLA, the first two products of the mega-popular synthesising software Music/{{Vocaloid}}, hit a milestone 15th anniversary. Unfortunately for them that month, Crypton Future Media's Megurine Luka hit her 10th, and thus got the lion's share of the promotion. The only official sources celebrating on that day would end up being Zero-G's Twitter page, which itself accomplished this by retweeting the news from a fan.
** The software itself ran into the same problem: LEON and LOLA's birthdays coincided with the 15th anniversary of the V1 engine (and thus all of Vocaloid). That would have been celebration-worthy news... if the 15th anniversary of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' (and thus all of ''Franchise/{{Fate|Series}}'') didn't ''also'' happen that month.
* 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.
* 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''.
* Brandon Choi was the co-creator of ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'', ''ComicBook/{{WildCATs}}'', and ''ComicBook/{{Gen13}}'', which essentially makes him one of the founding fathers of Creator/{{Wildstorm}}. Alas, he has long been overshadowed by his friend Creator/JimLee, who was the official founder of the company.
* Sir Geoffrey de Havilland was a pioneering aviator and aircraft engineer, founding the eponymous de Havilland aircraft company. In most families this would make him the best-known member; however, he had the misfortune of being cousin to Creator/OliviaDeHavilland and Creator/JoanFontaine.
* UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution was a massive event in world history, but given that it led to the rise of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, quite a fair amount of information was left out of the history books.
** The French Revolution and the ensuing wars were portrayed as the masses bringing equality and liberty to Europe, with the various coalitions being arrogant reactionaries who hated liberty. While this was accurate to a degree, Napoleon largely curtailed the equality part by removing the gains of women and minorities, actions which are rarely mentioned in popular culture.
** Some of the most notable figures of the Revolution, like Maximilian Robespierre, Jean Victor Marie Moreau, and others, are almost never mentioned, with all the focus on Napoleon. This is despite the fact that they had just as much of an impact on the Revolution as Napoleon did.
** The siege of Toulon is overwhelming emphasized as the event that made Napoleon famous. While it certainly got Napoleon fame, it didn't set him on the path to greatness as history portrays it as. That event was actually 13 Vendemarie where Napoleon fired grapeshot into a crowd of armed royalists, which is utterly ignored by the public.
** Napoleon's Italian campaign of 1796 is emphasized as Napoleon triumphing against all odds, with the French government using him as the main thrust in their bid to overthrow the Coalition. By 1796, the Coalition had utterly collapsed, with Prussia, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and several German and Italian states having already made peace. The only nations left was Piedmont, Austria, and Britain. Furthermore, the Italian campaign was meant to be a side theater, with Germany being the main offensive priority.
** Napoleon's Egyptian campaign is similarly portrayed as once again, Napoleon triumphing against all odds, bringing forth the age of Egyptology, and returning to France in triumph. Although Napoleon did win some highly successful victories, the Egyptian expedition was a disaster, with an entire fleet and army lost. Furthermore, Napoleon left Egypt and returned home, while the blame for the debacle was placed on Kleber. The Egyptian campaign also overshadowed the War of the Second Coalition, or Napoleon's second Italian campaign.
** 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 UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, despite the implications.
** History tends to portray Napoleon as being utterly defeated by just the Russian winter when he invaded Russia. Throughout the invasion, Napoleon made several errors, and the vast majority of the army was dead well before the snows hit. Similarly, Napoleon was not utterly defeated by the invasion, as he still managed to win a few impressive victories. Instead, what truly took down Napoleon was the battle of Leipzig, where he lost an entire army of some of his last remaining veterans and conscripts. Any chance he had of holding onto his empire was destroyed at Leipzig, and it effectively guaranteed his removal from power. But Leipzig is completely ignored in favor of the view that it was the Russian disaster that utterly defeated Napoleon.
* Whatever else Nintendo was showcasing at Shoshinkai '95, the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 Ultra 64]] and its initial planned lineup of 13 games, and especially the demos of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAirRide Kirby's Dream Course 64]]'' (''especially'' the former), is all casual gamers talk about nowadays in regards to the show.
* Sir Max Mallowan was a renowned archaeologist, overseeing digs throughout Iraq and Syria and making significant contributions to the understanding of prehistoric Mesopotamia. Outside archaeological circles, however, he is best known as [[Creator/AgathaChristie Agatha Christie]]'s second husband.
* Stand-up comedian Derek Edwards is the second most famous person from the town of Timmins, Ontario. The first most famous person? ''Music/ShaniaTwain''. The fact that Shania has her own TV Tropes page while this is (as of this writing) the only mention of Derek on the entire site kind of [[SelfDemonstratingArticle speaks for itself]].
-->'''Derek:''' It's like being the second most famous person from... ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Bethlehem]]''. Nobody remembers ''Duncan'' of Nazareth, do they? He had the best restaurant in the valley! Fishes and loaves, enough to feed a ''multitude''! Then this new guy shows up and he's just ''giving'' it away!
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Falls American Falls]] at Niagara Falls. Far and away the largest waterfall in America based on width and water volume. Also a very impressive 188 feet tall. Yet completely overshadowed by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Falls Horseshoe Falls]] just a few hundred feet away which is three times wider and has ten times the volume!
* Likewise most people are completely unaware that there are actually three waterfalls at Niagara Falls instead of just two. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_Veil_Falls_(Niagara_Falls) Bridal Veil Falls]] would be the widest, highest, and largest by volume in most states, but is completely lost compared to the aforementioned Horseshoe Fall and American Falls.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth,_Texas Fort Worth]]. The 13th largest city in America, Home to famous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Stockyards Stockyards]], closer to landmarks like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Stadium AT&T Stadium]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Flags_Over_Texas Six Flags Over Texas]]. Yet always overlooked by Dallas.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_XJ220 Jaguar XJ220]] is a 1992 supercar capable of going 213 mph or 343 km/h, it could go from 0-100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, and it was crowned the fastest production car in the world. What happened? Just a few months later, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaren_F1 McLaren F1]] came out, stealing the title of fastest production car from the Jaguar and keeping that title for ''12 years'' until the Bugatti Veyron came out[[note]]and even afterwards, it is still ''the'' fastest naturally-aspirated car ever produced, ''even today''[[/note]], and to say it stole the Jaguar's thunder dramatically and left its buyers feeling hollow and ripped off would be an understatement -- it could go 0-100 in 3.2 seconds, with a max speed of 386 km/h with a rev limiter, and 391 without it, and that's not all -- it's fully capable of pulling a seventh gear, which means it could go even faster by just adding a seventh gear -- possibly as fast as the first Veyron.
* 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 became 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.
* Fans consider ''Anime/ExpelledFromParadise'' this trope when it made its debut in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsT''. While an overall solid entry, the other series debut were ''Anime/MagicKnightRayearth'', ''[[Anime/CaptainHarlock Arcadia Of My Youth - Endless Orbit SSX]]'', and ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', three other series fans had always dreamed of wanting to get in a ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' entry but was considered a pipe dream till then. This in addition to series coming back in the franchise for the first time in ages like ''Anime/GunXSword'', ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', and ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', and it's really easy to see how people think that ''Expelled'' got the short end of the stick. It didn't help that WordOfGod treated the series as TriviallyObvious. This trope, however, isn't treated as such in-game.
* Creator/KevinConroy is the undeniable linchpin of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''. In contrast to the likes of [[Creator/MichaelKeaton Keaton]] and [[Creator/ValKilmer Kilmer]] (who barely change their voices), [[Creator/GeorgeClooney Clooney]] (who didn't care), [[Creator/ChristianBale Bale]] (whose growl is often considered a joke), or [[Creator/BenAffleck Affleck]] (who has to use a modulator), Conroy's vocal performance as Bruce Wayne and Batman is realistic, subtle, yet distinct enough for both characters, and his ability to portray a vast range of emotional qualities, from action to drama to comedy to tragedy, should have won him numerous awards many times over. After 20 years in the same role, Conroy is considered ''the'' definitive Batman voice, and the voice that most people still hear when they read the comics. Unfortunately, his co-star is Creator/MarkHamill as ComicBook/TheJoker.
* Jakob Dylan is a respected musician and activist with a career that's more than 20 years long. He's put out six albums as a solo artist and more with his group the Wallflowers. He's received an honorary doctorate and has been awarded for his activism and philanthropy when it comes to Diabetes Research, awareness, recognition, and greater levels of assistance for male victims of domestic abuse and rape, and many other projects. Unfortunately, he's the son of Music/BobDylan. (Jakob's status as living in his father's shadow was once even snarked about on Saturday Night Live.)
* 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 UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart, 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 UsefulNotes/RichardIII, Edward VII for succeeding Victoria, maybe [[UsefulNotes/OliverCromwell 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 [[UsefulNotes/HenryTheThird 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 [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland John]] (1166-1216, reigned 1199-1216), who had a relatively short and troubled reign, and by his son UsefulNotes/EdwardTheFirst (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."
* TabletopGame/{{Chess}}:
** Many chess experts consider Anatoly Karpov to be the second-greatest grandmaster ever to play the game. He's mainly remembered for spending his career as [[ArchEnemy foil]] to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov Garry Kasparov]].
** Kasparov himself is remembered largely for being a foil for [[MechanicalMonster Deep Blue]]!
** 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''.
* This is perhaps why ''VideoGame/{{crossbeats}} REV.'' bombed in Japan: It was released too close to the far more popular and better-acclaimed ''CHUNITHM'', another RhythmGame.
* Website/ScrewAttack has this problem with their own work. The series ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' has eclipsed virtually everything they've made, which disappoints them when other shows don't catch on. A good example of this was when they attempted to get fans to watch the live-action show ''The Industry'' to find out who the next combatants were, only for entire ''rows'' of Website/YouTube comments telling fans where to look.
* ''Film/{{Dogora}}'' would probably be better-remembered today if it wasn't sandwiched between ''Film/{{Mothra vs Godzilla}}'' and ''Film/{{Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster}}''.
* Everyone has heard of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurochs aurochs]], the extinct king of the European forest, once the largest land mammal on 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.
* One reason for the continuation of the CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys stereotype is that although the UsefulNotes/GaulsWithGrenades are definitely some of the best soldiers in the world, their most [[LegionOfLostSouls famous unit]] recruits primarily from foreigners.
* The film ''Film/HowGreenWasMyValley'' itself. Despite being generally regarded as a highly innovative and well-made movie in its own right, nowadays just about any discussion of it centres around how [[AwardSnub it stole the Best Picture Oscar]] from ''Film/CitizenKane'', generally considered to be the greatest movie ever made.
* Creator/ChristopherMarlowe and Ben Jonson, to name only two of the many talented Elizabethan/Jacobean playwrights who weren't Creator/WilliamShakespeare. Which is funny, because for a long time it was the other way round and only really changed in the Victorian era.
* John Cornyn is the senior U.S. Senator from Texas and briefly served as Senate Majority Whip. He’s still nowhere near as famous as Texas’s junior senator: Ted Cruz.
* UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy once addressed a dinner of Nobel Prize winners at TheWhiteHouse: "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."
* Kings:
** Philip II of Macedonia was a hugely successful king and general who is completely overshadowed by his son, UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat.
** 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 UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire and is called "the father of Europe."
** Suleiman II is known as "The Magnificent" in the West. His father Selim I, the first Ottoman sultan to claim the Caliphate and the one that doubled the Ottoman Empire's territory by conquering Mamluk Egypt, is comparatively forgotten.
** Philip II of France (aka "Philip Augustus") was the first true King of France, expanding his territory, subjugating rebellious underlords, and introducing governmental reform that made his realm the strongest nation in 12th-Century Europe. He was also a wise and just ruler, and apparently a really nice guy in person. He might have been a far more well-known monarch if he hadn't been a contemporary of Medieval Europe's Rock Star King UsefulNotes/RichardTheLionheart... who pretty much overshadowed everyone else in the room.
* 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.”
* In 2012, the film ''Film/HydeParkOnHudson'' 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.
* [[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-like 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.
* The long-awaited return of Halley's Comet in 1910 - hugely anticipated because it was to be the first time the comet would be photographed - was largely overshadowed by the completely unexpected apparition of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_January_Comet_of_1910 the Great Comet of 1910]] in January of that year, which was visible even during the day (hence the popular nickname of "Daylight Comet"), and is generally regarded as the brightest comet of the 20th century, even brighter than Hale-Bopp in 1997 (although Hale-Bopp was visible to the naked eye for much longer). Halley, which showed up three months later, put in a good showing with one of its better apparitions on record (it came close enough to Earth for the planet to pass through the comet's tail at one point), but many elderly people interviewed in the lead-up to the 1986 apparition describing their memories of its 1910 apparition turned out to be remembering the Great Comet instead. Speaking of the 1986 apparition, it was a total bust - the worst in recorded history - making the 1986 apparition a case of this in terms of all its ''past'' apparitions. On a positive note, at least, the next apparition in 2061 is predicted to be much more favourable.
* ''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''.
* ''Theatre/LesMiserables'':
** Poor Music/NickJonas. By most reasonable standards, he was quite good at the 25th Anniversary Concert of ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' as Marius. Unfortunately for him, he was standing next to the likes of Alfie Boe and Ramin Karimloo, and he paled in comparison.
** Ditto Samantha Barks as Eponine, who was good enough to be cast in the film version over dozens of big-name actresses, but who has the misfortune of being compared to legendary names like Lea Salonga and Frances Ruffelle and will therefore ''always'' come in third-rate no matter how good she is. (However, her situation is made quite a bit better by the fact that the aforementioned legendary names were cheering her casting like it was going out of style.)
* 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 [[OurDragonsAreDifferent a tiny feathered dragon]]. Guess which one got the most attention.
* Not only the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_dwarf red dwarf stars]] are by far the most abundant ones of the Universe, but it's also thought most of them are orbited by small, more or less Earth-sized planets. Despite that they're overshadowed by those far more luminous than them, including [[UsefulNotes/TheSun ours]] and especially the likes of for example Deneb or Betelgeuse, but much less abundant and that last nothing next to said dwarf stars, that will still be around when all others are long dead and will be the last ones shining --if the Universe does not [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 end before]].
* 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? UsefulNotes/BernieSanders and Elizabeth Warren, arguably the two best-known Democratic Senators in the country (although the former is technically an independent).
* Unless you’re a die-hard fan of Creator/{{PBS}}, their 1990-91 season was all ''Series/TheCivilWar'', 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.
* John Michael Attenborough has two brothers: Creator/{{Richard|Attenborough}}, an actor known for a few [[Film/JurassicPark big]] films, and Creator/{{David|Attenborough}}, who is perhaps the most famous nature presenter in the world. At least John's got something going for him as an executive of Alfa Romeo.
* UsefulNotes/{{Robert|FKennedy}} and UsefulNotes/TedKennedy 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 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 aforementioned lineup, 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 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.
** 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 four months to spend less on the [=PlayStation=] was better.
* Marc Coppola is a nationally-syndicated DJ, whose [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola uncle]] and [[Creator/SofiaCoppola cousin]] are Oscar-winning directors, [[Creator/NicolasCage his brother]] is an Oscar-winning actor, his late grandfather an Oscar-winning film scorer, and several other relatives are high profile actors and musicians. Once in an interview, Howard Stern remarked: "in any other family, you'd be top of the heap, but in the Coppolas, you're kind of the nobody."
* The Thebans and 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.
* 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, Thebes in land strength.
* This kinda happened to Charles IX of Sweden, the youngest son of Gustav Vasa I (Father of the Nation) and the father of Gustavus Adoluphus (founder of the Swedish Empire). Living between these two has made Charles IX a rather overlooked king, which's sad considering that he was a cunning and competent king that won the bitter power struggle the sons of Gustav Vasa fought after their father's death; a power struggle that killed Charles' older brothers Eric XIV and John III, and which Charles' nephew Sigismund barely survived.
* While UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein'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.
* In 2019, LEON and LOLA, the first two products of the mega-popular synthesising software Music/{{Vocaloid}}, hit a milestone 15th anniversary. Unfortunately for them that month, Crypton Future Media's Megurine Luka hit her 10th, and thus got the lion's share of the promotion. The only official sources celebrating on that day would end up being Zero-G's Twitter page, which itself accomplished this by retweeting the news from a fan.
** The software itself ran into the same problem: LEON and LOLA's birthdays coincided with the 15th anniversary of the V1 engine (and thus all of Vocaloid). That would have been celebration-worthy news... if the 15th anniversary of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' (and thus all of ''Franchise/{{Fate|Series}}'') didn't ''also'' happen that month.
* 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.
* 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''.
* Brandon Choi was the co-creator of ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'', ''ComicBook/{{WildCATs}}'', and ''ComicBook/{{Gen13}}'', which essentially makes him one of the founding fathers of Creator/{{Wildstorm}}. Alas, he has long been overshadowed by his friend Creator/JimLee, who was the official founder of the company.
* Sir Geoffrey de Havilland was a pioneering aviator and aircraft engineer, founding the eponymous de Havilland aircraft company. In most families this would make him the best-known member; however, he had the misfortune of being cousin to Creator/OliviaDeHavilland and Creator/JoanFontaine.
* UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution was a massive event in world history, but given that it led to the rise of UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, quite a fair amount of information was left out of the history books.
** The French Revolution and the ensuing wars were portrayed as the masses bringing equality and liberty to Europe, with the various coalitions being arrogant reactionaries who hated liberty. While this was accurate to a degree, Napoleon largely curtailed the equality part by removing the gains of women and minorities, actions which are rarely mentioned in popular culture.
** Some of the most notable figures of the Revolution, like Maximilian Robespierre, Jean Victor Marie Moreau, and others, are almost never mentioned, with all the focus on Napoleon. This is despite the fact that they had just as much of an impact on the Revolution as Napoleon did.
** The siege of Toulon is overwhelming emphasized as the event that made Napoleon famous. While it certainly got Napoleon fame, it didn't set him on the path to greatness as history portrays it as. That event was actually 13 Vendemarie where Napoleon fired grapeshot into a crowd of armed royalists, which is utterly ignored by the public.
** Napoleon's Italian campaign of 1796 is emphasized as Napoleon triumphing against all odds, with the French government using him as the main thrust in their bid to overthrow the Coalition. By 1796, the Coalition had utterly collapsed, with Prussia, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and several German and Italian states having already made peace. The only nations left was Piedmont, Austria, and Britain. Furthermore, the Italian campaign was meant to be a side theater, with Germany being the main offensive priority.
** Napoleon's Egyptian campaign is similarly portrayed as once again, Napoleon triumphing against all odds, bringing forth the age of Egyptology, and returning to France in triumph. Although Napoleon did win some highly successful victories, the Egyptian expedition was a disaster, with an entire fleet and army lost. Furthermore, Napoleon left Egypt and returned home, while the blame for the debacle was placed on Kleber. The Egyptian campaign also overshadowed the War of the Second Coalition, or Napoleon's second Italian campaign.
** 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 UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars, despite the implications.
** History tends to portray Napoleon as being utterly defeated by just the Russian winter when he invaded Russia. Throughout the invasion, Napoleon made several errors, and the vast majority of the army was dead well before the snows hit. Similarly, Napoleon was not utterly defeated by the invasion, as he still managed to win a few impressive victories. Instead, what truly took down Napoleon was the battle of Leipzig, where he lost an entire army of some of his last remaining veterans and conscripts. Any chance he had of holding onto his empire was destroyed at Leipzig, and it effectively guaranteed his removal from power. But Leipzig is completely ignored in favor of the view that it was the Russian disaster that utterly defeated Napoleon.
* Whatever else Nintendo was showcasing at Shoshinkai '95, the [[UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 Ultra 64]] and its initial planned lineup of 13 games, and especially the demos of ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' and ''[[VideoGame/KirbyAirRide Kirby's Dream Course 64]]'' (''especially'' the former), is all casual gamers talk about nowadays in regards to the show.
* Sir Max Mallowan was a renowned archaeologist, overseeing digs throughout Iraq and Syria and making significant contributions to the understanding of prehistoric Mesopotamia. Outside archaeological circles, however, he is best known as [[Creator/AgathaChristie Agatha Christie]]'s second husband.
* Stand-up comedian Derek Edwards is the second most famous person from the town of Timmins, Ontario. The first most famous person? ''Music/ShaniaTwain''. The fact that Shania has her own TV Tropes page while this is (as of this writing) the only mention of Derek on the entire site kind of [[SelfDemonstratingArticle speaks for itself]].
-->'''Derek:''' It's like being the second most famous person from... ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Bethlehem]]''. Nobody remembers ''Duncan'' of Nazareth, do they? He had the best restaurant in the valley! Fishes and loaves, enough to feed a ''multitude''! Then this new guy shows up and he's just ''giving'' it away!
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Falls American Falls]] at Niagara Falls. Far and away the largest waterfall in America based on width and water volume. Also a very impressive 188 feet tall. Yet completely overshadowed by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Falls Horseshoe Falls]] just a few hundred feet away which is three times wider and has ten times the volume!
* Likewise most people are completely unaware that there are actually three waterfalls at Niagara Falls instead of just two. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_Veil_Falls_(Niagara_Falls) Bridal Veil Falls]] would be the widest, highest, and largest by volume in most states, but is completely lost compared to the aforementioned Horseshoe Fall and American Falls.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth,_Texas Fort Worth]]. The 13th largest city in America, Home to famous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Worth_Stockyards Stockyards]], closer to landmarks like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Stadium AT&T Stadium]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Flags_Over_Texas Six Flags Over Texas]]. Yet always overlooked by Dallas.

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