Line #41 PlayingWith/UnderdogsNeverLose


1	'''Basic Trope''': If they're the underdog in the BigGame, they'll win.
2	* '''Straight''': The Trope High [[TheWildcats Wildcats]] are the underdog going into the big championship game against the OpposingSportsTeam, but thanks to a mix of heart and luck, they pull out the win.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': The Wildcats are underdogs in every game they play, and often by large point margins. They win them all in a blowout.
4	* '''Downplayed''':
5	** The Wildcats are decent enough to reasonably expect to get into the final, but that final is against their better-funded, professionally-coached rivals who've always wiped the floor with them in the past.
6	** The Wildcats don't actually ''win'', but they do manage to draw the game with the top-dog team, gaining a great deal of respect in the process.
7	* '''Justified''':
8	** Just because they're not favored in the stat line doesn't automatically mean they'll lose.
9	** The other team got overconfident and screwed up, allowing the Wildcats to win.
10	* '''Inverted''':
11	** The pregame stat line dictates everything about Wildcats' games - if they say they're favored by 4 points, they win by exactly that amount.
12	** InAWorld where ''everyone'' is GenreSavvy, underdogs are always expected to win. But, with a heartwarming mixture of skill, teamwork, [[AwesomenessByAnalysis strategy]] and just [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome being generally better at the game]], the OpposingSportsTeam [[CurbStompBattle wipes the floor with the plucky Wildcats]].
13	* '''Subverted''': A second-half comeback brings it right DownToTheLastPlay - but the Wildcats player blows it. Wildcats lose.
14	* '''Double Subverted''':
15	** ...But wait! It was revealed that the OpposingSportsTeam was [[CheatersNeverProsper cheating]], and the Wildcats get one more chance to make the play - which they do. Wildcats win!
16	** The Wildcats are awarded a victory on pity.
17	** [[SecondPlaceIsForWinners The fact that they, a completely unknown team, finished second in the Series]] [[TheRunnerUpTakesItAll is much more amazing than the fact that one of the greatest known teams finished first]].
18	* '''Parodied''':
19	** To invoke the trope, every team in the league tries to claim they're the underdogs, even the teams who have been winning for decades.
20	** Because of this trope, the sports bookies flip the table when it comes to betting - a bet on the ''favored team'' actually pays out more.
21	** The Wildcats and their opponents end up arguing over who the true underdog is. Their opponents argue that [[LogicBomb since being superior in every way makes them likely to lose]] it means that they are the true underdogs.
22	** Due to the aforementioned LogicBomb [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment mentioned above]], playing sports [[RealityIsOutToLunch messes with reality.]]
23	** The Wildcats have no clue what they're doing, and most of them have never touched pigskin before. [[AchievementsInIgnorance They win perfect victories against every team they face.]]
24	** The very instant any sports team is opened, they have perfect seasons that would make even the '72 Miami Dolphins gaze in awe.
25	* '''Zig Zagged''':
26	** It comes down to the last play, but the Wildcats player is unable to make it. Then it's revealed the other team was cheating, and the Wildcats make the second chance...then that ruling is overturned when it's revealed the other team ''wasn't'' cheating.
27	** The reason the Wildcats are seen as underdogs is because they're hopelessly inconsistent. When things go their way they can be incredibly competent, but when they don't, they fall apart.
28	* '''Averted''': Sometimes underdogs lose, sometimes they pull an upset.
29	* '''Enforced''':
30	** [[AnthropicPrinciple Who wants to see a movie]] about a team of plucky underdogs, who lose, just as expected?
31	** On the other hand, if you wanted to watch two equally competent teams battle it out with nothing particularly at stake, you could... go watch a RealLife sport of your choice.
32	* '''Lampshaded''': "Whew, it's a good thing we were the underdogs, otherwise people wouldn't have been rooting for us!"
33	* '''Invoked''': The captain deliberately chooses the worst players imaginable, his GenreSavvy theory being that they'll have to win.
34	* '''Exploited''': The sports bookies try to spread rumors that the Trope High Wildcats are the underdogs so people will bet a lot of money on them.
35	* '''Defied''': "[[WrongGenreSavvy You aren't the plucky underdog heroes!]] You're just one of the hopeless teams in our [[TerribleIntervieweesMontage Terrible Opponents Montage]]!"
36	* '''Discussed''': "Wow, there's no way the Wildcats could win this one. My money's on them!"
37	* '''Conversed''': "Doesn't anyone else [[UnintentionallySympathetic feel sorry for the guys]] who practiced all year only to lose to a joke team?"
38	* '''Deconstructed''':
39	** [[HardWorkHardlyWorks Why should they bother trying?]] Another team that everyone expects to lose will swoop in and claim victory, and there is nothing that you can do about it.
40	** The Wildcats' victories cause them to become arrogant and complacent, and they lose to the latest up and coming underdogs.
41	** The story is heavily meta and intentionally reveals to the Wildcats that they cannot ever lose because of this. However, rather than being elated by this, the Wildcats end up feeling immensely unhappy because for all of their weaknesses and flaws, they genuinely wanted to win on ''their'' own skill and talents; finding out they've been basically guaranteed victory ''[[BecauseDestinySaysSo due to what is essentially the narrative deciding they must win]]'' makes their victories and triumphs feel hollow and undeserved to them.
42	* '''Reconstructed''':
43	** The threat of an underdog motivates everybody to never get complacent.
44	** All of the teams try mastering the art of gaining sympathy in the hope of winning.
45	----
46	Now listen, team, I know what they've been saying about us all year long. We've made it all the way here, and we can't let the doubters get us down now. So come back with me to UnderdogsNeverLose!
47	----
48	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
49	%%
50	%%* '''Implied''': ???
51	%%* '''Plotted A Good Waste''': ???
52	%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

Context PlayingWith / UnderdogsNeverLose