History Main / TheBGrade

* In real-life cases of this, this can be a sign of TigerMom-variety child abuse- the child's FreakOut is entirely justified knowing that they ''actually will'' be punished physically or emotionally over an unacceptable failure to be perfect.

* In the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode, "Cody’s Report Card!", Cody gets a B+ in spelling, and is worried his parents will disown him when they find out. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, it is revealed that the B+ was a typo, and that Cody actually got all A+’s on his report card.]]

** In the Season 3 premiere, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E1TheCrystalEmpirePart1 The Crystal Empire]]", Twilight comes out of a test with Princess Celestia looking distraught. Spike lampshades the trope by inquiring if she got an "A-? B+?" It turns out the "test" was an assignment to save a rediscovered empire from destruction, which she wasn't prepared for.

A straight-A student has just received a report card... along with some distressing news: there is a B in one subject. This makes the student disappointed at having their perfect record tarnished, while others wonder what the big deal is since they'd usually be content to get a B. When they truly understand how upset the person in question is, there usually is a pep talk reminding them how great they are and offering AnAesop about how [[MistakesAreNotTheEndOfTheWorld an occasional stumble is nothing to be ashamed of]]. Their overreaction is often caused by an EducationMama.

* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' has Cody as one of these. In the episode where it comes up the most (where he's forced to take Wood Shop due to picking an elective that ''not even the teacher showed up to''. It's revealed that he has extremely unrealistic ideas of what will happen to him if he doesn't ace every class. In a nightmare sequence he's made to be the janitor of a "Big Snooty Ivy League College" due to not acing Wood Shop. As he hysterically claims to his mom when she thinks he's putting too much pressure on himself:

** At the end, Zack offers to pass off his project as Cody's so the later won't get a bad grade, but Cody decides to just accept the C the teacher gives him. He perks up later on once he discovers he can designate the class as "Pass/Fail" so it won't affect his GPA.

** In "Kamp Krusty", Lisa almost has a nervous breakdown when she receives a B+ for 'conduct'. Hoover did it [[KickTheDog because she felt Lisa needed a little smudge on her record.]] Lisa's reaction (grab Hoover while maniacally mumbling that she needs to rectify this) [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard nearly breaks Hoover's arm.]]

* In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy]] / [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Timmy]] [[CrossOver Power Hour]]'', when Jimmy has swapped worlds with Timmy (and vice-versa), Mr. Crocker mistakes Jimmy for a big-headed Timmy and, SadistTeacher that he is, gives him an F on his grade report. Jimmy is so repulsed by the grade that it starts ''burning his hand''. This gets a CallBack later in the special when, as Jimmy confronts Crocker to save Fairy World, the latter threatens him with another F-grade, to which Jimmy responds: "[[BerserkButton Nobody gives James Isaac Neutron an F!]]"

The bane of ThePerfectionist. If someone else got a higher grade, it can be a case of SecondPlaceIsForLosers and if it happens often it can become a case of AlwaysSecondBest. [[FelonyMisdemeanor What Do You Mean, It's Not Heinous?]] is often the character's response to "It's just a 'B.'" If your character isn't bright enough to be traumatized by this trope, then perhaps they'll balk at their FMinusMinus. On the other hand, if even a B is too ''high'' of a grade for them to be happy, see DeliberateUnderPerformance. A similar attitude regarding reviews of works, particularly video games, is known as EightPointEight.

[-[[caption-width-right:206: "That proves it, ma'am... We all have different thresholds of pain!"]]-]

** Marcie reacts the same to her imperfect-but-still-high grade as Peppermint Patty does to her standard D-minus. ("''AUGH!") This prompts the explanation that they have different thresholds of pain.

* In one of her earlier appearances, Azula in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' practices her [[ShockAndAwe lightning techniques]]. She gets the form practically perfect, with only one little hair out of place. Her response? Angrily sweeping the hair out of her eyes and returning to her practice, declaring that "''Almost'' isn't good enough!"

* In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy]] / [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Timmy]] [[CrossOver Power Hour]]'', when everyone is mistaking Jimmy for a big-headed Timmy (and vice-versa), Mr. Crocker gives Jimmy an F ([[DontExplainTheJoke Y'know, since Fs are usually the grade Timmy usually gets]])...and the F starts ''burning his hand''! Unfortunately for Crocker he learns the hard way that [[BerserkButton you don't give James Isaac Neutron an F and live to tell about it!]]

** Not so much ''grades'', but in the episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero "Lesson Zero"]], Twilight Sparkle stresses out over being tardy giving Princess Celestia a friendship report for the first time ever (which, in most real-world schools, ''would'' dock a grade), thinking that it will lead to her being sent back to "magic kindergarten".
** Also, in the Season 3 episode "The Crystal Empire," Twilight comes out of a test with Princess Celestia looking distraught. Spike inquires if she got an "A-? B+?" It turns out the "test" was an assignment to save a rediscovered empire from destruction, which she wasn't prepared for.

* ''Literature/TheLangoliers'': Craig Toomy had a rather uncompromising father who had this attitude toward grades. An A minus resulted in a lecture "fraught with dire warnings of what life would be like digging ditches or emptying garbage cans". For a B, he got grounded for a week. It goes [[FreudianExcuse partway]] towards explaining why he's such a monster.

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* In Fred's section of [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10821479/1/5-Times-Hiro-Still-Had-a-Big-Sibling-1-Time-He-Was-a-Little-Brother 5 Times Hiro Hamada Still Had an Older Sibling, 1 Time He Was a Little Brother]], Hiro's going through this, being extremely upset about "not doing as well as I wanted" AKA getting a ''92'' on his first college exam. Slightly justified given that [[GradeSkipper Hiro graduated high school at 13]] and thus is probably used to getting perfect grades on everything; this ends up leading to a heartwarming moment when Fred praises him warmly for doing so well.

* ''Manga/TimeGuardian'' has Miu get a bad grade on a psychics test because she was adjusting her watch. This sets off the whole plot of the story.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' episode "Girls Behaving Oddly", Malina got an A-, causing her to be kicked out of the cheer leading squad and behaved oddly after she joined some girl gang. It turns out that [[spoiler:the teacher was about to give her an A+, but her pen ran out of ink.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DCSuperheroGirls'' episode #TheMinus, Diana gets an A- and spends the majority of the episode sulking over it and over correcting and scheduling events in her life so she can never get an A- again, which leads to the other girls taking the list and trying to convince her it’s ok to not be perfect all the time.

** The season four episode "Brain Dead" has Tish get a B on a test. But while she's perfectly fine with this, only being mildly disappointed in herself for not studying enough, she is greatly annoyed by ''everyone else'' (including ''the teacher who gave her the grade'') behaving like this is some unspeakable horror. Her friends spend part of the episode trying to find her a new defining identity since she can no longer claim to be TheSmartOne, settling on "[[FunnyForeigner exotic foreigner]]" since she's a second-generation [[{{Ruritania}} Eastern European]] immigrant.

* In ''Literature/TerraTrilogy Terra'', Fthfth obsesses over the two occasions when she only got one star after her grade, instead of two.

* In ''Literature/{{Terra}}'', Fthfth obsesses over the two occasions when she only got one star after her grade, instead of two.

** When discussing Boggarts, shapeshifters which take the form of one's worst fear, in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Ron sarcastically suggests that Hermione's Boggart would be a homework paper she got nine out of ten on. Becomes a BrickJoke when she has trouble on a Defense Against The Dark Arts "obstacle course", where a Boggart transformed into Professor [=McGonagall=], who told her she ''failed'' everything. This causes her to get a B-equivalent in Defence Against The Dark Arts, making that class the only one where Harry beat her in that year's exams.

** Honor roll student Thomas Kim (who turned out to be the MonsterOfTheWeek a sort of Hulk-like guy whose parents would take nothing less than perfection) got a 99% on a test (for leaving out a single contraction), and immediately complained that the teacher got his grade wrong (he later attacked the teacher at the parking lot, Hulked out and repeating "wrong"). It wasn't his fault though, as described above. When he complained, Richie (who wasn't exactly high on school achievements before becoming Gear - this was a season 1 episode) immediately asked if he could trade grades. Later in the episode, when Virgil and Richie visit Thomas having a study session with his dad. His father is clearly setting the bar pretty high.

** Virgil implies at the end of the episode that after both parents are informed offscreen about the truth, Thomas' father realizes that now is not a good time to be pushing his son so hard when he has anger-induced powers, and that he is helping him get treatment for them.
** Later still in the series finale, Richie (who had already become Gear) getting a B- on an exam is the first sign that he's losing his superintelligence.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' has subverted it, twice:
** "Imperfection": Tish shows her report card to the gang, and her straight-A grades. She is then surprised to read a negative comment concerning her perfectionism, which, ironically as she points out, tarnishes her report card.
** "Brain Dead": The roles are switched around somewhat. Tish gets a B on a test, but is completely fine with it. She is, however, greatly confused by ''her friends'' (and even the teacher who gave her the grade) behaving like this, with the others spending the episode trying to reinvent her as the FunnyForeigner friend (since she's a second-generation [[{{Ruritania}} Eastern European]] immigrant) because she can't be TheSmartOne anymore.

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* ''Manga/ZatchBell'' also plays it straight when the TeenGenius Takamine receives - horrors! - 70 percent on a history test, when before he was able to get full marks on ''everything'' without trying. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because whilst he may be a genuinely smart {{shonen}} hero, he's also skipping class and missing stuff because he has to heal up after his battles.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' offers something of an inversion - during his time under the influence of the Dark Seed, Ken Ichijouji was an excellent student who regularly topped his class in tests. After undergoing a HeelFaceTurn, his test results drop somewhat, and while he himself is quite shocked if aware of what's going on, his classmates are thorougly confused and concerned.
* ''[[Manga/TimeGuardian Toki No Shugomono]]'' has Miu get a bad grade on a psychics test because she was adjusting her watch. This sets off the whole plot of the story.
* In ''Manga/SilverSpoon'', obsessive student Hachiken Yugo achieves the best overall grades in his entire high school - but he isn't the #1 top student in any one class or subject, so he ''still'' feels like he hasn't reached his full potential.
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', Mello is the second-highest-ranking student at [[SchoolForScheming Wammy's House]], but all that matters is that he's not the first.
* Played with in the first OVA to ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura''. Syaoran is nervous about his grades, and opens his report card. He is relieved to find that he's gotten a B- (or the equivalent thereof) in Japanese (which is his worst subject, because it's not his native language). However, he doesn't show his grades to [[EducationMama his mother]] until she prompts him to do so.
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Fuutarou Uesugi can't help but be somewhat disappointed when, during the final exams, he doesn't get full 100 scores like he usually does, partly owed to his helping the Nakanos. His grades are still pretty high (over the 80s, and the teachers know he could have scored higher hadn't he been too tired to leave a few questions unanswered.
* Played for drama in ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'''s first term finals -- everyone expects Karma to ace Math as that's his best subject, but his tendency to [[BrilliantButLazy not truly listen to the lessons]] bites him when he gets an B+ (quite a bit below his midterm A+). After this, he cleans up his act and places much higher for the next major tests of the year.

* In Fred's section of [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10821479/1/5-Times-Hiro-Still-Had-a-Big-Sibling-1-Time-He-Was-a-Little-Brother 5 Times Hiro Hamada Still Had an Older Sibling, 1 Time He Was a Little Brother]], Hiro's going through this, being extremely upset about "not doing as well as I wanted" AKA getting a ''92'' on his first college exam. Slightly justified given that [[GradeSkipper Hiro graduated high school at 13]] and thus is probably used to getting perfect grades on everything; this ends up leading to a heartwarming moment when Fred praises him warmly for doing so well.

* In ''Film/ThreeIdiots'', Chatur can't stand coming up second in exams to Rancho.

* One of the stories in ''Chicken Soup for the Kid's Soul'' is based around this. Of course, the girl in question was upset because she knew her father was going to ''beat'' her when she brought home the straight A and 1 B report card. Yeah...
* In ''Literature/DearMrHenshaw,'' Leigh gets an A minus on his ''Ways To Amuse A Dog'' assignment in fifth grade. His teacher says the minus is [[DisproportionateRetribution for not standing on both feet.]]

* In ''[[Literature/LittleHouseOnThePrairie Little Town On The Prairie]]'', Laura despairs that she has not made one perfect grade in her school examinations (her history grade is "only" 99 and arithmetic is 92 plus).
* ''Literature/TheLangoliers'': Craig Toomy had a rather uncompromising father who had this attitude toward grades. An A minus resulted in a lecture "fraught with dire warnings of what life would be like digging ditches or emptying garbage cans". For a B, he got grounded for a week. It goes [[FreudianExcuse partway]] towards explaining why he's such a monster.
* In The Fowl Files from ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' it's mentioned that Artemis was once mortified to get a 99.9% on something (or something like 99.9%)
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' has a minor example--some PowerIncontinence happens to make it look like [[ActionGirl Rachel]] is suicidal, and her vice principal brings up her slipping grades as another sign that something may be wrong in her life. She's still getting an A-average, but barely. (Which is pretty good, [[WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld given the circumstances]]).
* In ''Literature/{{Terra}}'', Fthfth obsesses over the two occasions when she only got one star after her grade, instead of two.
* Discussed in ''Literature/ConElDiabloEnLosTalones'' when narrator Desi talks about his classmate Camilo, the high school's not-so-unofficial {{Insufferable|Genius}} TeenGenius:
-->I was sure that if his grades ever went down from A's to B's (unlikely), he would set fire to himself at the basketball court.
* In ''Literature/TheAmyVirus'', the Butts hold all three of their daughters to extremely high standards and are dismayed when their youngest starts bringing home B minuses.
* In ''Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture'', it's mentioned that the last time model student Mila Rutkevich cried, it was because of an assistant teacher who didn't know her and gave her a four (B-equivalent in the Soviet/Russian grading system) for her essay.
* ''Literature/MyDarkVanessa'': Vanessa remembers walking into her dorm room to see Jenny crying in bed because she got an 88.

* In ''Series/{{Selfie}}'', hard-working Henry becomes a little upset when he gets an 89 performance evaluation, which he compares to a B, saying he's never gotten one in his whole life.
* ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' -- Jessie has one of her standard meltdowns over getting a B. Also has a lesser meltdown over getting less on her [=SATs=] than Zach's.
* On ''Series/ModernFamily'', the Dunphys ban their kids from using the Internet. Being forced to study using an out-of-date encyclopedia, Alex gets a B on her science test, which infuriates her.
* ''Series/SmallWonder'' - A GirlOfTheWeek has been caught stealing tests. She says her parents would kill her if she got a B, prompting the quip from the show's main human kid character Jamie: "I'd kill to get a B."

* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'':
** Paris reacts badly to getting an ''A-minus!'' Not to mention what happened when several Ivy League colleges would have gladly accepted her -- save for Harvard. Poor girl was devastated.
** Rory is disappointed in her PSAT scores, even though they're really good -- because her math score is 20 points higher than her verbal score, even though she's generally better at language stuff than math stuff, so she must not have studied hard enough for the verbal section.
* In ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', Mindy deconstructed Mrs. Heffer's car and reconstructed it in her classroom, framed Drake by hiding his stolen sweater in the trunk, and then served as Mrs. Heffer's lawyer in an elaborate scheme for revenge because [[DisproportionateRetribution Mrs. Heffer gave Mindy a B]]. ''Several years previously.''
* In an episode of ''Series/ICarly'', Carly was distraught over the B she received in history class, leading her friend Sam to hack into the school's computer and change the grade without Carly's knowledge. However, once Carly found out, the guilt consumed her and [[HilarityEnsues hilarity ensued]] as she tried to change it back. Probably an [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggeration]], since the only reason Carly got a B was because she handed in her report on three hole paper, and the teacher doesn't like three hole paper. Another reason it was so important to her is because if it weren't for that B, she would have had her first all A report card, instead she gets a B+.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', when George Michael got an A-. Both he and his dad were disappointed.

* An episode of ''Series/FamilyTies'' revealed that Andy's kindergarten teacher was also Alex's more than a decade previously. Apparently Alex hasn't gotten over the fact that said teacher gave him a B in ''shoelace tying'' and his parents even told her he was "willing to take a make-up test".
** Alex thinks his girlfriend will leave him for the RomanticFalseLead, who got an A from a professor who "never" gives them out, while Alex got a B. He gets over it when she stays with him, pointing out that he has a romantic side that the other guy lacks.
* In one episode of ''Series/ParkerLewisCantLose'' ("Senior Jerry") Jerry Steiner gets promoted to the next class and manages to get the first (non-A(+)) B+ of his life; out of devastation he quits school and wishes to become a mason.

* ''Franchise/PowerRangers''
** It was (no pun intended) the B-plot ([[MonsterOfTheAesop complete with Killer Bee Monster]]) in the ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' episode "Grumble Bee", where [[TheSmartGuy Billy]] got upset over the first B he ever made on a test (in a [[{{Irony}} question about bees]], at that). That's what gave Rita the idea for the monster.
** Inverted in the ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' episode "Graduation Blues", where Billy has a similar freakout upon learning that his academic over-achievement means he's graduating high school a year early.
* A variation of this was used as the focus of an episode of ''Series/StarkRavingMad'': Maddie announces that as her last college assignment, she has to write a book report about Ian. Ian and Henry write it for her and the former is shocked when the report is awarded a "B". Ian goes to her professor to complain and slips out that he wrote the paper causing the professor to immediately fail Maddie. Henry manages to get the decision reversed by meeting the professor and telling a made up story about how the "Ian Stark" that visited him was an impostor. The professor believes him and all seems resolved...until the professor reveals that he examined the report further and decided to change the grade to a "C" due to its "[[WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma childish use of commas]]". Henry (who [[BrickJoke at the beginning of the episode]] was arguing with Ian over the proper usage of commas) then claims "all those commas were justified" once again rising the professor's suspicion. The episode ends with Henry telling Maddie that she's "going to summer school", hinting that the professor failed her again.

* ''The Bill Engvall Show'': Bryan, Bill's know-it-all son, gets a B, and his reaction is in line with the trope..
* On an episode of ''Series/ADifferentWorld'', Kim is stressed because she received a B on a midterm. This leads her to believe that she will not be able to get into medical school and has nightmares about it, complete with Walter and Freddie dressed as Killer Bees.

* One episode of ''Series/{{Bones}}'' introduces Brennan's old mentor. Booth jokingly asks if he gave her an A- when she gets a stern talking-to from him, to which she replies, annoyed "I've never gotten an A- in my ''life''."
* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Willow is extremely upset when she scores "only" 740 on the verbal section of the SAT.
-->'''Willow''': ''740?'' Verbal? I’m pathetic! Illiterate! I’m Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel!\\
'''Xander''': That's right. [[SarcasmMode And the fact that your 740 verbal closely resembles my combined scores in no way compromises your position as the village idiot.]]
* In ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' we get this piece of dialogue from Alex after they invite Ugh! to their school
-->'''Alex''': We're this close to getting Justin to cry and not because of a B.

* In ''Series/TheWestWing'', the President mentions that he scored 1590 on the UsefulNotes/SATs (after someone suggested that he got a perfect 1600), and then retook the test just to get the exact same score again.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** When the group's biology assignment is sabotaged and the teacher has to give them all a passing grade, this is Annie's reaction: "Why don't I just get pregnant in a bus station?"
** "Introduction to Teaching"'s B-plot centers on Annie getting an A- on an assignment and trying to find out why. As it turns out, the teachers at Greendale use A-'es to piss off overachieving students and make them drop the class. This leads to Annie rallying the students to demand "Slightly higher grades! Slightly higher grades!"
* ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'' has Cody as one of these. In the episode where it comes up the most (where he's forced to take Wood Shop due to picking an elective that ''not even the teacher showed up to''. It's revealed that he has extremely unrealistic ideas of what will happen to him if he doesn't ace every class. In a nightmare sequence he's made to be the janitor of a "Big Snooty Ivy League College" due to not acing Wood Shop. As he hysterically claims to his mom when she thinks he's putting too much pressure on himself:
-->'''Cody''': I'm not putting too much pressure on me! Harvard is putting too much pressure on me! Yale is putting too much pressure on me! Princeton! Stanford! MIT! If I don't ace Wood Shop, I'm going to end up as one of those guys who ''sells hot dogs and sleeps in a taxi!''
** At the end, Zack offers to pass off his project as Cody's so the later won't get a bad grade, but Cody decides to just accept the C the teacher gives him. He perks up later on once he discovers he can designate the class as "Pass/Fail" so it won't affect his GPA.
* In the "Subway Wars" episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother''. Ted, who teaches an architecture class at college, finds out about a website that allows students to rate their teachers. He checks it out and sees dozens of glowing reviews. But the one he notices labels him as "boring" and he spends most of the episode trying to prove he isn't by teaching his fellow commuters about the subject, much to their annoyance. Marshall calls him out on his attitude near the end, pointing out it was ''one'' review out of dozens of positive ones and the fact he got so many of those (plus the fact he's designing a major office building) shows he's a success.
* Exaggerated on ''Series/{{Glee}}'', where Mike's [[EducationMama strict Chinese father]] flips out over him getting an A- on a test (the episode's titular "[[Recap/GleeS3E3AsianF Asian F]]"), and wants Mike to drop football, Glee Club, and dating Tina to focus on his studies. Even Principal Figgins (who is also Asian, mind you) thinks Mr. Chang is overreacting.
* ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'': Sydney got a B and hated it.
* One episode of ''Series/LizzieMcGuire'' had Gordo getting nothing but B's from his science teacher. It turns out the teacher just wanted Gordo to challenge himself since he was so good at science.
* ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. Cuddy must have been one. She finished second in her graduating class and was disappointed with the result. Something similar happened when social services examined her house to determine if she was fit to be a parent.
* Played massively straight in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' when Paris and Neelix are stranded on a planet together. Neelix asks Paris how he did in the Starfleet survival course and Paris says he got a B-. Neelix deems the news "Not very encouraging" and, when Paris says his father taught the course, observes he obviously didn't play favourites. Goodness only knows how Neelix would have reacted if Paris had a got a ''C'': Taken out a phaser and shot himself to get it over with, probably.
* ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter'' "B-Minus Blues" (for Tiffany, of course).
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' has an early episode in which an honors student receives a C in Shop Class and proceeds to freak out because it could endanger his plans of getting into college early. When the teacher refuses to change the grade (and honestly that C was the best grade the boy could hope for; his project was so crappy), the student uses his meteor power to [[SelfDuplication split himself in two]] and murder the teacher. Talk about overreacting!
* In ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'', Maura hates giving grades to medical students because she is still upset about an A-minus she got in Biochemistry while in school.
* Subverted in ''Series/OpenHeart''. Wes comments that even with a 96% average he’s going to have a lot of difficulty getting medical scholarships, but he’s still proud of it and works it into his conversation with Dylan in order to impress her.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Done for drama in "The God Complex", where everyone's in a hotel that shows their worst fears. One character, a nurse, finds a room where her father chews her out for not doing well enough in her exams. [[spoiler:Since the fear is how the hotel gets into people's minds, this leads to her death.]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': This trope gets exaggerated ''and'' played for drama: [[spoiler:In Gai Amatsu's backstory, his father was such a perfectionist hardass that he wasn't satisfied when his son brought home 100s on his tests, telling him to shoot for 1000 instead. The day little Gai brought home a 99, his father acted as if it was something to be ashamed of and blamed the boy's "failure" on his spending too much time with his RobotDog Thouser. A devastated Gai got rid of Thouser and resolved not to rely on anybody but himself ever again, which lead to his becoming a selfish {{Jerkass}} himself because he refused to open up to anyone.]]
* At the beginning of one episode of ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'', Teddy's teacher is handing over the test results. Teddy and Ivy were expecting for an A and D respectively, but they both get a B. Naturally, Ivy embraces the first (real) B she ever got, while Teddy is trying hard to reason with her English teacher to give her an A.

* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', first-grader Susie Derkins fears that getting a bad grade on one research project (in first grade) will result in her having to go to a second-rate college. It didn't help that she was teamed up with [[BrilliantButLazy Calvin]]. In another strip, being sent to the principal's office with Calvin makes her even more frightened, yelling at Calvin that he's "going to hear it from my parents if I don't get my Master's Degree!"

* Sounds like Phase (Ayla Goodkind) at SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. Phase has been in Montessori and prep schools his whole life, and is shooting for all 'A's while taking a huge courseload, including several junior/senior classes even though he's a frosh. Even his friends have pointed out the 'what are you going to do when you get a B grade' issue to him.

* In ''WebOriginal/EdeValley'', this is what jumps-starts Cindy's character development. The one bad grade she got leads to her [[spoiler:accidentally killing her chemistry teacher and becoming a witch.]]
* Ladies and gentlemen, for your reading pleasure, [[https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Asian%20Grading%20Scale the "Asian Grading Scale"]].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'', Dijonay exchanged families with the Chang Triplets, and their father immediately chewed her out for having a B in math. "'B' means 'better work harder to get an A'!"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'' has subverted it, twice:
** "Imperfection": Tish shows her report card to the gang, and her straight-A grades. She is then surprised to read a negative comment concerning her perfectionism, which, ironically as she points out, tarnishes her report card.
** "Brain Dead": The roles are switched around somewhat. Tish gets a B on a test, but is completely fine with it. She is, however, greatly confused by ''her friends'' (and even the teacher who gave her the grade) behaving like this, with the others spending the episode trying to reinvent her as the FunnyForeigner friend (since she's a second-generation [[{{Ruritania}} Eastern European]] immigrant) because she can't be TheSmartOne anymore.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' used this as the motivation for [[MadScientist Professor Farnsworth and Wernstrom's]] [[TheRival rivalry]]. When Wernstrom was Farnsworth's student, Farnsworth once gave Wernstrom an A- on a test ("I'm sorry, but [[PokeThePoodle penmanship counts]]"), leading the student to swear he would get his revenge even if it took him 100 years. 99 years later, Wernstrom achieves his revenge by beating and humiliating Farnsworth at the Annual Inventors' Symposium, giving his hastily drawn mock-up the "worst grade imaginable": "An A minus, MINUS!"

* One of the villains on ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' was a kid whose mother wouldn't tolerate him being second in anything... Which prompted him to try to kill Max when she got a perfect score on a test that he got a ''very nearly'' perfect score on. Highest Score? Perfect 2400. The loser kid who's never going anywhere in life? ''2391''.
* There's an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' where Dexter comes home all worried about having to take his mother to see the principal. Dee Dee spends the entire episode wondering "Whadja do? Whadja do?" until Dexter transforms her into a copy of his mother, and takes her to the appointment, allowing her to find out from a tearful principal that Dexter got an A-minus on his last test. Of course, she immediately proceeds to go ballistic ("A lousy A-minus!?"). Then Dexter tells Dee Dee that if she were going to bother him so much about it, they should never have gone through the trouble of turning her into their mother.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'': Everybody gets an F on a quiz because Mr. Wilter gave them questions on the wrong book chapter. The students all complain about it, except for Reggie Bullnerd, who doesn't see what the big deal is because he's always getting F's.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
** In the episode "Unfair Science Fair", [[BollywoodNerd Baljeet]] fears receiving an A-minus on his science project.
** When the entire group dresses up as their worst fears for a haunted house in "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!", Baljeet dresses up as a failed math test.
** In "The Baljeetles", Baljeet is worried about getting a failing grade in a rock-and-roll music camp. He's actually disappointed, even ''angry'', when he finds out they're not being graded ''at all''... which actually inspires him to channel his nerd rage into [[http://phineasandferb.wikia.com/wiki/Gimme_a_Grade a heavy metal anthem about his desire to be a conformist over-achiever.]]
** This also happens in the SequelSeries, ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw''. By Melissa's own admission, a tremendous portion of her self-esteem is wrapped up in her grade-point average. In the episode "Sunny Side Up," she's forced to work with [[TheJinx Milo]] on a [[EggSitting science project which requires the team to build a container that will prevent an egg from breaking]]; [[OhCrap having had some experience with Milo]], [[CrazyPrepared she loads a wagon with egg cartons]], not one of which goes to waste.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'' episode "Girls Behaving Oddly", Malina got an A-, causing her to be kicked out of the cheer leading squad and behaved oddly after she joined some girl gang. It turns out that [[spoiler:the teacher was about to give her an A+, but her pen ran out of ink.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRaccoons'', Bentley is recruited as a computer technician for Sneer Industries by the Pigs, only for them to sabotage his work when they get jealous at how well he's doing. Sure enough, Bentley is fired and is moaning how his career prospects are ruined while Bert and Cedric can't get a word in edgewise of how no future employer is going to pay attention to a mishap that happened to someone as a child. Regardless, Cyril finds out the truth and Bentley is exonerated with an even stronger lock on a job with Sneer Industries when he is older.
* In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy]] / [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Timmy]] [[CrossOver Power Hour]]'', when everyone is mistaking Jimmy for a big-headed Timmy (and vice-versa), Mr. Crocker gives Jimmy an F ([[DontExplainTheJoke Y'know, since Fs are usually the grade Timmy usually gets]])...and the F starts ''burning his hand''! Unfortunately for Crocker he learns the hard way that [[BerserkButton you don't give James Isaac Neutron an F and live to tell about it!]]
* In "Breezing Listening Blues" on ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Brain gets a B- on a test and becomes convinced that his mind is being weakened by the breezing listening music that his parents recently started playing at their ice cream shop.
* [[InvertedTrope Inversion]]: Roger in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'' episode "Doug's Lucky Hat", after he steals Doug's lucky hat, gets a D- on a test and brags about it: "Look at this! A D minus! I actually passed the test! Doug! This hat has changed my life!!"
* In one of her earlier appearances, Azula in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' practices her [[ShockAndAwe lightning techniques]]. She gets the form practically perfect, with only one little hair out of place. Her response? Angrily sweeping the hair out of her eyes and returning to her practice, declaring that "''Almost'' isn't good enough!"
* ''WesternAnimation/FlyingRhinoJuniorHigh'': This is the StartOfDarkness for Earl P. Sidebottom. Once a straight-A student, his reaction to getting a D in shop class was to flee to the school's boiler room, build a reality-altering super computer, and terrorize the school as [[BigBad The Phantom.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Not so much ''grades'', but in the episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E3LessonZero "Lesson Zero"]], Twilight Sparkle stresses out over being tardy giving Princess Celestia a friendship report for the first time ever (which, in most real-world schools, ''would'' dock a grade), thinking that it will lead to her being sent back to "magic kindergarten".
** Also, in the Season 3 episode "The Crystal Empire," Twilight comes out of a test with Princess Celestia looking distraught. Spike inquires if she got an "A-? B+?" It turns out the "test" was an assignment to save a rediscovered empire from destruction, which she wasn't prepared for.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'':
** In "Him Diddle Riddle," one of Him's tasks to the girls is to take their UsefulNotes/SATs and get a score of 100. Buttercup scores a 25, Blossom (to her confused anger) scores a 10, but Bubbles--whose SAT sheet was done up with a drawing of a flower--scored ''1075''.
--->'''Him:''' ''(in complete shock)'' "Well, I'll be darned."
** This is played with in the "Painbow" episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls2016''. Blossom has a FreakOut because she got an A+, however ''everyone else'' received an A+ too due to the teacher being under mind control. People getting grades they didn't earn and the thought that she didn't deserve her grade are too much for her.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' had Egon Spengler confess that he once got an A- in college, which resulted in his parents [[DisproportionateRetribution refusing to talk to him for a week]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' episode "I, Excretus", Boimler is ThePerfectionist and can't stand the fact that his test only got him a 79, thus spends the episode pushing the grade higher and higher. Not only is this a case of AchievementsInIgnorance, as the test, along with all the others, are designed to be failed on purpose, but it's beneficial to helping the crew of the ''Cerritos'' once they find out what's going on.

* On ''Series/ModernFamily'', the Dunphys ban their kids from using the Internet. Being forced to study using an out-of-date encyclopedia, Alex gets a B on our science test, which infuriates her.