History Main / SecondPlaceIsForLosers

* In the [[RacingMinigame racing minigames]] from ''SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''SuperMarioGalaxy2'', Mario must beat all the [=NPCs=] in a race first to obtain the Power Star. If he falls in second or below, then he will lose a life.

* In the ''RedDwarf'' novel ''Better Than Life'', a scene in Rimmer's childhood shows him nearly winning a race before another boy trips him up, and we're told his father's favourite phrase is "Winning isn't everything, but losing is nothing". But then we're shown Ace Rimmer in the same sports day, and he ''throws'' the race, because he realises another boy really ''needs'' to win it. While his mother stares in disbelief, he thinks "After all, losing isn't nothing."

* In the [[RacingMinigame racing minigames]] from ''SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''SuperMarioGalaxy2'', Mario must beat all the NPCs in a race first to obtain the Power Star. If he falls in second or below, then he will lose a life.

-->--''{{Futurama}}''

* In TalesOfGraces, this is what prompted Hubert to grow from whiny crybaby to freaking general badass.

* One of the anecdotes on ''ActsOfGord'' deals with a fighting game tournament Gord ran, in which first prize was a set of expensive game controllers and $20, second prize was a can of Coke and an autographed photo of himself and third prize was $20. The author of the website justifies this by saying, "The Gord likes to remind people that second place is just the first loser."

Some athletes really do feel that way, coming so close and yet missing the mark. For example, many Olympians consider the Silver Medal worse than Bronze. A Bronze winner is happy to have placed at all, but a Silver winner only sees himself as second best. Often, they can take it too far and forget how well they actually did.

* ''Battlefield 3'' includes an achievement called "First Loser" for having the second highest point total in the match. Although this goes against a theme of the ''BattlefieldSeries'', which usually rewards teamwork and downplays individual skill. Also, get this achievement if you are the best player on the ''winning team'' but were bested by someone on the losers.

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*** Averted by the Croatian basketball team in 1992; they talked about how happy they were to be winning silver ''before the gold medal game was even played''. They were going up against the Dream Team (The USA Basketball team that year consisted of the best players in the ''NBA''), and had no illusions about winning.

* Nascar driver Cale Yarborough had said "The only time you will hear my name last is the phone book"

* Vince Lombardi lived by this rule

* A {{Downfall}} [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnYDXxjOKCM parody video]] showing WorldOfWarcraft guild SK Gaming reacting to their rival Nihilum getting the World First defeat of the Eredar Twins in Sunwell Plateau has Hitler/bds yelling "Shut up Mackelina you faggot! Second place is for fucking losers".

* In the ''HarvestMoon'' series, winning a contest gets you high praise and affection from the other villagers. Don't win, even finishing in second, and everyone (even your spouse, if present) reacts in the same "You lost? You suck!" manner, whether it was second place or dead last.

* This is the case in almost every racing game initially. In later games it all becomes [[SecondPlaceIsForLosers fourth place is for losers]] but in the end you have to at least get a place above third if you want to unlock more races. Played straight in races where there is only 1 racer besides you like some events in {{NeedForSpeed}}

* This is the case in almost every racing game initially. In later games it all becomes [[SecondPlaceIsForLosers fourth place is for losers]] but in the end you have to at least get a place above third if you want to unlock more races.

This can at least feel that way to some athletes, who come so close and yet miss the mark. For example, many Olympians consider the Silver Medal worse than Bronze. A Bronze winner is happy to have placed at all, but a Silver winner only sees himself as second best. Often, they can take it too far and forget how well they actually did.

Compare VictoryGloating, TheBGrade.

* Olympic bronze medalists are said to be happier with their lot than Olympic silver medalists: A bronze medalist was close to not medalling at all, while the silver medalist ''could have had gold''. Let's face it though: The only situation in which it would suck to be second best in the world at something, is to have to stand next to the best person... who gets a bigger box to stand on... and your opponent's national anthem blaring in your face.
** The same thing goes to the tournament games (such as hockey and curling) in the Olympics. If you got silver, that means you just lost the gold-medal game, but if you got a bronze medal, that means you won the bronze medal game.

*** ''Especially'' noticeable with Olympic hockey. Gold medalists are still riding their victory high. Bronze medalists are all grins, more so since they had a day or two of rest to process. Silver medalists? Look about 2 seconds away from killing themselves.
** The Olympics can be especially prone to this sort of thing because of the one-chance aspect of winning every four years. The peaks of some high-level players' careers don't even last that long before they succumb to some sort of [[GameBreakingInjury injury, strain, or fatigue]]. In many sports, if you miss a world championship, there's always next year. On other sports where the winner is determined by your performance through the season, having a single bad tournament isn't necessarily a deal-breaker. The situation is doubled in cases where in non-Olympic events one athlete or team is utterly dominant but have one of their rare setbacks at the games.

* Olympic bronze medalists are said to be happier with their lot than Olympic silver medalists: A bronze medalist was close to not medalling at all, while the silver medalist ''could have had gold''.

* Played with on StarTrekDeepSpaceNine: Bashir was second in his class, and outwardly kicked himself for the simple blunder on the test that caused him to be such. However, after TheReveal about his "enhancements," it may be that he deliberately made the mistake as to keep his cover.

* ''Battlefield 3'' includes an achievement called "First Loser" for having the second highest point total in the match. Although this goes against the them of the ''BattlefieldSeries'', which usually rewards teamwork and downplays individual skill. Also, get this achievement if you are the best player on the ''winning team'' but were bested by someone on the losers.

* ''Battlefield 3'' includes an achievement called "First Loser" for having the second highest point total in the match. Which is completely ridiculous, as the entire ''BattlefieldSeries'' has attempted to reward teamwork and downplay individual skill. Moreover, it is entirely possible to get this achievement if you are the best player on the ''winning team'' but were bested by someone on the losers.