Line #19 Main/TooQuirkyToLose


1	A participant in a contest of some sort is really not as good as some of the other participants but wins first prize anyway thanks to a combination of various factors, but primarily sheer chutzpah.
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3	Ironically, this character does not necessarily have to be TheAce. In fact, they are sometimes a total loser who triumphs through a fluke or dumb luck - or sometimes simply because they are simply [[AchievementsInIgnorance too stupid to realize defeat]].
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5	This trope should be distinguished from PopularityPower because the person in question usually isn't popular at all. It's also closely related to CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass and {{Determinator}}. The term [[EnsembleDarkhorse "dark horse"]] is a more charitable way of referring to a character with these attributes. Such a "dark horse" may win a DarkHorseVictory if two superior competitors ignore them while focusing their efforts on each other.
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7	See also KarmaHoudini, which is the basic idea behind this trope, but applied to villains. TechnicianVersusPerformer is related, athough the reason for the Performer's success is usually clearer.
8	----
9	!!Examples:
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11	[[foldercontrol]]
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13	[[folder:Film]]
14	* The title character of ''Film/ForrestGump'', who manages to meet UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and inspire Music/ElvisPresley without even knowing it.
15	* A good example is the film ''Film/NapoleonDynamite''. Despite being an outcast the central character has success helping his friend become class president... with his dance skills.
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18	[[folder:Live Action TV]]
19	* In the first episode of ''Series/TheMunsters'', Herman attends a masquerade party dressed as King Arthur in a suit of armor. After removing his helmet and revealing his real face (i.e. that of FrankensteinsMonster), the partygoers think he's wearing a mask underneath another mask, and he wins a bottle of champagne for having the best costume.
20	* In ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' episode "The Man from Space", Ed Norton arrives at a costume party without changing out of his sewer worker outfit first. The judges think he's dressed as a man from space and wins first prize.
21	* {{Subverted}} in ''Series/DharmaAndGreg:'' When running for office, Dharma does things her typical quirky way, such as assigning everyone's jobs by drawing names from a hat instead of playing to their skills. After doing badly in a debate, Greg convinces her that she needs to be more rational if she wants to win.
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24	[[folder:Mythology]]
25	* The [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek]] myth of Arachne is...unclear on this. The basic elements of the story: Arachne was a young woman who was so talented at weaving that it drew comparisons to even Athena, who challenged her to a contest; when the dust has settled, Arachne has been turned into a spider (which is where the term "arachnids" comes from). The problem is that since many myths were passed on via OralTradition, the specifics vary wildly from telling to telling. Some of the time Arachne is a boastful {{Jerkass}} who brought the wrath of Olympus down on herself, while other times Athena is a JerkassGod who couldn't tolerate a mere mortal being anywhere near her level. Sometimes Arachne wins the contest and the transformation is Athena being spiteful, other times she loses and the transformation is punishment for her pride, and still other times the transformation is seen as a good thing (such as the version where Arachne loses and [[DrivenToSuicide hangs herself]] and Athena changes her out of pity and as a tribute to her talents). So whether Arachne falls under this trope or not really depends on which version of the story one is reading.
26	* Also subverted in the myth of the music contest between Apollo and Pan, only here it was not the winner himself who was punished. Apollo -- the very god of ''music'', for goodness sakes! -- and Pan asked King Midas of Phrygia (yes, the one with the "golden touch") to judge a contest between the two of them, with Apollo at the lyre and Pan on his flute. Pan was clearly an inferior being to Apollo (being, among other things, only ''half''-divine, as he was the son of the god Hermes and a wood nymph) yet played at least as well on his flute as Apollo did at his instrument, and ended up beating out Apollo for the prize. Midas, however, was too stupid to realize that one must never anger an Olympian god: Apollo, being a classic sore loser, humiliated Midas by giving him the ears of an ass.
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29	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
30	* Wrestling/WilliamRegal was once called upon to judge a singing contest on ''Monday Night Raw''. One of the participants was Wrestling/SantinoMarella, and Regal found him intolerably irritating. Wrestling/RonSimmons ([[{{Flanderization}} you know, the "DAMN" guy]]) came out to the arena and beat Marella up, drawing cheers from the audience. Regal was so grateful for this act that he announced Simmons as the winner - even though Simmons hadn't sung one note!
31	* Come to think of it, Santino Marella himself. He's a diminutive Sicilian wrestler (although actually from Canada) who has spent the better part of the past two years jobbing to more established Superstars on ''Raw''. He tends to be portrayed as pretty pathetic, or at best only semi-competent. Yet he has two Intercontinental Championship reigns to his credit (albeit ones he owed to absurdly fortunate circumstances) and became "Miss [=WrestleMania=]" in 2009 when (in drag) he eliminated former girlfriend Wrestling/BethPhoenix in a Battle Royal!
32	** In what may forever be his most absurd accomplishment, he became the runner-up of the 2011 ''Royal Rumble'' via a BrickJoke. You see Santino was knocked out early in his run in the match and was fortunate enough to fall under the bottom rope to the floor. About 10 minutes later, Wrestling/AlbertoDelRio was celebrating his apparent victory when Santino recovered and hit [[FinishingMove The Cobra]]! Santino started celebrating prematurely allowing Del Rio to recover and reverse Santino's elimination attempt, sending Santino over the top rope. But just imagine how close we were to seeing Santino Marella in the main event of ''Wrestling/{{Wrestlemania}}''!
33	** He was also a Tag Team champion at one time. His partner: [[Wrestling/VladimirKoslov a straight-faced Russian stereotype]], who he convinced to join in with his post-match trumpet mime celebrations when they won.
34	* In the summer of 2007, Wrestling/MaeYoung won a Divas' Bikini Contest on ''Friday Night [=SmackDown=]!'' despite A) wearing a standard one-piece bathing suit instead of a bikini; and B) ''being 84 years old''. She did try to prove she deserved to win afterward by [[FanDisservice starting to strip off her swimsuit]], but thankfully the other Divas stopped her.
35	** This was a CallBack to the Royal Rumble 2000, where Mae won the Swimsuit Competition and ''did'' expose herself to celebrate (albeit with prosthetics over her real breasts and a big red "Censored" sign over most of the screen)
36	* During [[VillainEpisode the unauthorized]] Wrestling/RingOfHonor BizarroEpisode ''A Night Of Hoopla'' Davey Richards won a "pants off dance off" despite keeping his pants on. Granted, the fans were adamant he leave them on when he started taking them off...
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39	[[folder:Web Animation]]
40	* Deconstructed with Taco from ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity'': despite her nonsensical sayings and bizarre suggestions, she managed to reach the final round. How? [[spoiler:[[ObfuscatingInsanity She was always of sound mind]], and knew that pretending to be insane would endear her to the audience.]]
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43	[[folder:Western Animation]]
44	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
45	** Somewhat unsurprisingly, [[TheDitz Ralph Wiggum]] got this treatment once. In particular, one thinks of the episode in which he entered "Diorama-Rama" a contest for the second-graders at Springfield Elementary. He didn't even try to make a diorama (mostly because he didn't know what a diorama was), instead simply bringing in a box full of vintage ''Franchise/StarWars'' figures. Despite the fact that Ralph clearly didn't even qualify, Principal Skinner so enjoyed seeing the vintage action figures that he gave Ralph first prize anyway. Ralph gleefully [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] the trope, chanting: "I beat the smart kids! I beat the smart kids!" - until, that is, he fell on the box of figures and [[AccidentalInnuendo bent his Wookiee]].
46	** In another episode, Bart entered a school science fair with an entry called "Can Hamsters Fly Airplanes?" Even though his "experiment" clearly did not prove or disprove any hypothesis, Principal Skinner [[CutenessProximity was so charmed]] by the sight of a hamster wearing flight goggles and a scarf and sitting in a model airplane that he pronounced Bart the winner.
47	* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Island'' was won by [[BigFun Owen]], who wasn't physically fit, wasn't very smart, and often times was TheLoad for his tribe.
48	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' titled "Top Of The Line" [[WhatCouldHaveBeen would have involved]] Gir, Mimi, Chip, and other sir units competing to be named the best model of Sir units, after certain circumstances all sirs other than the defective Gir are unable to continue and Gir wins.
49	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SabrinaTheAnimatedSeries,'' Harvey, a terrible dancer, has to compete against a literal Lord of the Dance; if he loses, Hilda (the god's ex) has to marry him. The judges pick Harvey because his bad dancing was original, while [=LotD=], [[TechnicianVersusPerformer while technically better, just aped all the best moves of famous dancers]].
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52	[[folder:Real Life]]
53	* In the 2006 reality-TV competition ''Skating With Celebrities'', actress [[Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Kristy Swanson]] really wasn't as good an ice-skater as her chief rival, TV reporter Jillian Barberie. But the judges on that show were so impressed by the heroic effort put forth by Swanson and her partner (and future husband) Lloyd Eisler that in the end, they awarded her the trophy anyway. (Of course, it helped that Barberie suffered a groin injury fairly early in the competition, which noticeably limited her ability to perform her most dazzling stunts.)
54	* Shows like ''Series/AmericasGotTalent'' and ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'' are practically built around this. The bottom line is "are you ''entertaining?''", and being weird can help give an edge over more mundane acts.
55	* Along the same lines, in ''Series/StrictlyComeDancing'' (the British equivalent of ''Series/DancingWithTheStars''), John Sergeant's complete lack of dancing ability did not in any way affect his popularity with the viewing public. Despite routinely receiving awful scores from the judges the viewers kept voting for him to stay in since he was so likable and entertaining. He eventually pulled out after ten weeks as he felt it would be unfair if he actually won the competition.
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