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->'''35:''' You may be a newer model, but you can't defeat me in physical combat. ''[...]'' You can't outrun me.\\
'''42:''' Your use of absolute phrasing risks inaccuracy.
-->-- ''Webcomic/KiwiBlitz''

A philosophical and technological thought experiment: in a confrontation between two forces one side has the latest and most advanced technology at hand (upgrade) while the other side uses confirmed and verified designs that are nonetheless considered to be the last generation (prototype). The Upgrade will boast of [[FlawedPrototype weeding out design flaws of the last incarnation]] and might even [[WeHaveReserves have greater numbers due to standardizing the technology]], while the Prototype may have older designs and limited numbers but their functionality is fully understood, their users have [[AceCustom customized every feature to their liking]] and [[BashBrothers the team works with each other]].

And then they meet each other. The two will inevitably be compared with each other for accomplishing their generally similar tasks, often (but not always) by fighting each other.

Which will come out on top? It depends: the "prototype" side will likely theoretically be at a disadvantage due to having flaws and/or plain quantitatively underperforming (because it was made earlier, with less advanced technology) compared to the "upgrade" side. In practice, the [[RockBeatsLaser "prototype" side almost always wins]], typically because [[TheManMakesTheWeapon the user's skill matters more]] (if the "prototype" user is [[WeakButSkilled more skillful and experienced]] compared to [[UnskilledButStrong the "upgrade" user]]) or the "upgrade" being actually worse (perhaps due to being manufactured in a less-than-ideal way, or having had too-costly features removed for mass production). The prototype winning in almost all cases is a bizarre manifestation of the OlderIsBetter trope. Part of it is simply that by nature, the prototype is the underdog, and UnderdogsNeverLose.

Related to SuperPrototype, FlawedPrototype, DavidVersusGoliath. Compare CainAndAbel, ManVersusMachine and RockBeatsLaser.

----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In the original ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'', the titular cyborg heroine Alita spends 10 years working as an assassin for Zalem/Tiphares' G.I.B., who eventually decide to replace her with android replicas based on her combat data. When she finally faces off against one of these AR (Alita Replicate) units, her former boss describes them as superior to her. AR-2, the replica, turns out to be superior and Alita only survives thanks to a friend's intervention. Ironically, one of the copies, AR-6, decided that she (or rather [[GenderBender HE]]) wanted to become someone entirely original by killing all but two of the other copies in order to show that he is better than them and Alita. When Sechs (as he named himself) later faces off against Alita, he loses. By the time he faced off against Alita, Alita had been given a midseason upgrade. In addition, Alita had learned and remembered new techniques that the G.I.B. didn't know about and couldn't copy. Sechs and the other remaining AR units, Elf (AR-11) and Zwölf (AR-12) eventually befriend their sister and became allies.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** Despite Natsu and Gajeel being 1st Generation Dragon Slayers, they show themselves capable of curb-stomping Sting and Rogue, who are 3rd Generation ones (Dragon Slayers who are not only taught by dragons, but have [[PowerCrystal Dragon Lacrima]] implanted in them which should strengthen their magic further). In this case, it's because Natsu and Gajeel are just so much stronger than Sting and Rogue magic-wise.
** Natsu and Gajeel in turn are outclassed by Laxus, who is a 2nd Generation Dragon Slayer (a Dragon Slayer that only has Dragon Lacrima implanted and often referred to as an "artificial" or "fake" Dragon Slayer). Again, the difference is in sheer magical power (Laxus was matching ''both'' of them with his normal lightning magic ''before'' he revealed his Dragon Slayer magic).
** Cobra, another 2nd Generation Dragon Slayer, holds this over Natsu's head when they fight each other. Cobra actually does have the upper hand, but his defeat is actually due to the mechanics of his [[SuperSenses keen sense of hearing]] relating to his ''non''-Dragon Slayer magic that Natsu is able to exploit.
** Then there's Acnologia (a 1st Generation Dragon Slayer [[spoiler:who completely [[{{Weredragon}} transformed into a dragon]]]]) versus God Serena (a 2nd Generation Dragon Slayer [[spoiler:with ''eight'' Dragon Lacrima implanted into his body that gives him eight different elements to work with]]). [[spoiler:Acnologia [[CurbStompBattle tears a hole in God Serena's side]] while the latter is boasting and leaves him to die in a pool of his own blood without batting an eye.]]
* In ''Anime/ShinMazinger'', Count Brocken hauls out Energer Z, the prototype of ''Anime/MazingerZ'', to fight Kouji and his robot. Energer Z proves to be the superior until Tsubaki reveals Zeus' hand and activates God Scrander.
* ''Manga/GetterRobo'':
** In the ''Armageddon'' OVA, Professor Saotome creates an army of Getter-Gs, which results in Ryoma fighting them in a single Getter-1. Ordinarily, such a fight would be hilariously one-sided, but since Getters draw their power from their pilots and Saotome's army is made up of drones, Ryoma is able to take down a large number by himself despite being outnumbered and in an inferior machine.
** In ''Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo'', Shou and Gai end up piloting Neo Getter Robo against an army of Getter Prototypes piloted by members of the Dinosaur Empire. It's a massive curbstomp battle until Gou is able to reawaken Shin Getter Robo and has it absorb the prototypes' Getter Energy.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory'', with the GP-02A "Physalis" Gundam (prototype) versus the GP-01 "Zephyranthes" Gundam (upgrade). The former is a new prototype version Gundam designed to deploy a nuclear warhead at close range, the latter is a simple refinement of earlier Gundam designs. The Physalis is [[GrandTheftPrototype stolen in the first episode]], and the Zephyranthes is deployed as part of the hunt to reclaim it.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'': the Nu Gundam's psychoframe was built using data Char intentionally leaked to the development team so that [[WorthyOpponent Amuro]] could fight him on equal terms - data he collected while building the Sazabi's own psychoframe. In the final battle, the Nu Gundam completely trashes the Sazabi.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn'':
*** The Unicorn versus its improved version, the Banshee. The two battle several times but a decisive outcome is never reached, although it is explicitly stated that Banagher is actively holding back the Unicorn to avoid hurting his opponent. In the end, [[spoiler:the Banshee pulled a HeelFaceTurn and [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome fought alongside the Unicorn as BackToBackBadasses]], so the point became moot.
*** Another instance Sinanju and the Unicorn. The Sinanju is a modified Sinanju Stein, the testbed of the Unicorn's psycoframe, that got [[GrandTheftPrototype stolen]] and remodeled to look like the Sazabi.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'':
*** The Tallgeese is an in-universe SuperPrototype from which all other Mobile Suit designs originated, but was deemed too dangerous for the pilot and became nothing more than a museum exhibit and collector's curiosity. It is heavily armored and possesses incredible maneuverability, but to do this it was mounted with two very powerful vernier thruster jets. However, there was no consideration for its pilot and indeed, when it was piloted by someone other than Zechs, it ''killed him'' from the G-force alone. The derivative Leo suit was designed with much lighter armor and no jets. When the Gundams start raising hell of all kinds, the bad guys decide to BreakOutTheMuseumPiece. The Tallgeese proves itself quite capable on the battlefield repeatedly afterwards with a good pilot inside it.
*** The [[MidSeasonUpgrade Wing Gundam Zero]] is a subversion in that in-universe its design is 15 years old, but the suit wasn't built until during the series because the engineers originally thought it was too dangerous to build. The plans instead were passed on to each of the scientists and each made modifications to form the 5 subsequent Gundams. Its first major battle pitted it against a pair of Mobile Suits built by the Gundam engineers to surpass the original five Gundams and it was ultimately used against the Epyon, which was built based on combat data of the original five.
** In ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamSEEDAstray'', Lowe Guele and his Astray Red Frame is pitted against Rondo Ginas Sahaku and a M1 Astray, a mass produced Mobile Suit based on the Red Frame. The battle is something of a tie - Ginas, being a Coordinator, defeat Lowe in combat. However, his method of his defeat -- disarming the Astray of its katana and using it against him -- damages the servos in the M1's arm, leaving Ginas humiliated.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', twice over. In the final battle, Setsuna pilots the 00-Raiser, the [[SuperPrototype prototype]] for the Twin Drive System, against Ribbons' Reborns Gundam, which was built from its data and improved upon. The two machines wreck each other, with the Reborns Gundam barely coming out on top. Thus, Ribbons switches over to the 0 Gundam, the prototype to all of the Gundams in the show, while Setsuna switches to a rebuilt Gundam Exia "Repair II,"[[note]]A completely overhauled, and now properly repaired version of the Exia which had been damaged since the end of Season 1, with upgrades to put it on par with current generation mobile suits[[/note]] which is a much stronger upgrade from the 0 Gundam (plus having equipped Exia with a new GN Sword Kai, an upgrade of its original GN Sword, but with the GN Sword III's GN Condensor blade material from the 00). The 0 Gundam, by comparison, has had no significant upgrades, besides getting the bugs worked out with its GN Drive. Between Setsuna having become a fully awakened Innovator and improved Exia, he's able to destroy Ribbons and the 0 Gundam.
** To make matters even more muddied is the fact that when the two Meisters were forced to switch Mobile Suits; Ribbons managed to snag one of the GN Drives that was attached to the 00; namely it was the Exias' Reactor, while Setsuna plugs his remaining Reactor that belonged to the 0 Gundam into Exia.
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'' has the Gundam Bael: the very first of the Gundam Frames built during the Calamity War, a closely guarded relic in Gjallarhorn's home office, which [[spoiler: [=McGillis=]]] takes in a ploy to claim control of Gjallarhorn as their ancient traditions say the one able to pilot Bael is the rightful heir. The Gundam Kimaris was the 66th Gundam Frame built and owned by The Bauduin Family; based off of the Baels' structure but possessing far more specialized upgrades over the many long years and is piloted by [[spoiler: the NotQuiteDead Gaelio Bauduin]], is from the same era but redesigned to use the [[UnusualUserInterface Alaya Vijnana]] piloting interface [[WetwareCPU with certain modifications]] (called Type E) to push it to [[LimitBreak its full capacity]] without [[PowerAtAPrice the established downsides]]. Bael has the Alaya Vijnana too but just a traditional version, the pilots are [[AcePilot just good enough]] that it's a shockingly close battle.
** The finale of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'' features the duel between the Aerial Rebuild, a twice-upgraded version of what was the most advanced GUND-ARM mech at the height of the technology's development, and the Calibarn, a FlawedPrototype that was nicknamed "the monster" due to its poorly-designed implementation of GUND-ARM tending to kill its own pilots.
* One of the final battles of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' had [[TheLancer Fate]] facing against the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Numbers]] {{Cyborg}}s [[TheDragon Tre]] and [[BattleBoomerang Sette]]. Fate was [[SuperPrototype the first successful]] [[spoiler:[[SuperSoldier Artificial Mage]]]], while the Numbers {{Cyborg}}s are enhanced versions of that, with Tre in particular being the most powerful of the cyborgs in combat.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'': Ash's Pikachu face off against Lt. Surge's Raichu, its evolved form. In the first battle, the older and more powerful Pokemon wipes the floor with Pikachu. Ash expects that the only way to for Pikachu to defeat it is to evolve as well, but his Pikachu doesn't want to evolve. Eventually they discover a solution: Since Raichu was evolved too quickly to learn speed attacks it was slower. So in a rematch Pikachu defeats it by dodging it over and over, until the Raichu gets impatient, attacks but uses its electricity supply too fast, and thus becomes an easy target for Pikachu to fell.
** This gets revisited in an episode of the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'', where the Raichu in question is much stronger than Pikachu and is capable of keeping up with his speed. They lose the first round, and Pikachu once again refuses to evolve just to beat his evolved form. So, they work on using Pikachu's unique dodge techniques to the absolute limit, effectively turning Raichu's greater power and equal speed against it to win.
** Mewtwo vs. Mew in ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' played out like this. Ultimately they turned out to be just as powerful as each other (unlike the games, where Mewtwo has greater stats but Mew has a wider movepool...though in the movie Mewtwo is dividing his attention between fighting Mew, mind-controlling multiple other Pokemon and psychically maintaining a massive hurricane, so that could explain the discrepancy).
* In ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula 11'', Hayato, lacking experience and being desperate, gets upstaged by [[TheRival Knight Shoemach]] even after a testing of his new Super Asurada [=AKF-11=]. [[BigBrotherMentor Kaga]] teaches the kid a lesson by driving the old [=01-C=] model into a duel. Kaga stays ahead most of the times until Hayato [[DieOrFly accidentally pulls an inertial drift.]]
* Occurs several times in ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', with prototype Kaneki squaring off against the newer experimental HalfHumanHybrids. The battle with CreepyTwins Kuro and Shiro ends with the girls retreating, who are ultimately labeled as failures compared to him. In '':Re'', his battle with the newer "Owl" is a brutal CurbStompBattle until he manages to get a HeroicSecondWind. Because he continues to prevail against the newer "models", he is considered an accidental [[SuperPrototype "masterpiece"]].
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** It turns out that the three main Evangelion units featured throughout the TV series were essentially prototypes for the nine Mass Production Model Evangelions. The Mass Production Models have autopilot systems (instead of being piloted by unstable teenagers) and thus have no fear of pain or death, can ''fly'' with retractable wings, and worst of all, have their own reverse-engineered S2 Power Engines - meaning they don't need bulky external power cables and are not limited by the normal 5 minute battery power supply. Asuka engages them while piloting Eva Unit 02 in the finale movie in an epic one versus nine battle, with less than 5 minutes of battery power left. She promptly wipes the floor with them in a CurbStompBattle - one on one they were "persistent" but nothing she couldn't handle, the only real difficulty was that they outnumbered her. They couldn't match her combat experience or creativity. Then it turns out that S2 Power Engines also allow them to ''regenerate'', or keep fighting despite receiving crippling injuries (impaling one through the head, cutting another's legs off, they keep coming). They're also equipped with outright cheat codes - copies of the Lance of Longinus that can pierce right through an Eva's defensive shields.
** As for the original three Evas, Eva-00 is the Prototype and explicitly has more problems with it than Eva-01 or Eva-02 - it was just cheaper than building an entirely new Eva from scratch. Eva-01, meanwhile, actually is a special prototype not like the others (a clone of the alien god-being Lilith, not of Adam like the others), and near the end of the series it managed to consume and incorporate the S2 Power Engine from an Angel. It probably ''could'' have fought the Mass Production Evas, but by that point the controls got overridden, and the countdown to the apocalypse began.
* ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' has the Cardinal Weapons: Four potent artifacts [[TheChooserOfTheOne that select their Wielders]] from various worlds across TheMultiverse to use them to combat against the Waves of Calamity and that the Cardinal Weapons [[EvolvingWeapon can grow stronger]] based on the materials the Cardinal Heroes feed into them. Then there's the Holy Replica; an artifact designed long ago that is basically a MorphWeapon capable of assuming the shape of all four Cardinal Weapons but is only 1/4th as strong as the actual Weapons along with requiring a much-higher Mana Cost in order to utilize its' immense powers in the first place. Pope Balmus wields the Holy Replica in battle against the Cardinal Heroes: viewing the current Three Heroes that their religion worships (The Spear, Sword, and Bow Heroes) as "False Heroes" [[WrongGenreSavvy because they think the world around them is just their favorite Videogame and not at all real]], all the while Naofumi Iwatani: the titular Shield Hero whom the Church regards as [[TheAntiChrist "The Devil Of The Shield"]] has proven himself competent time and again as an actual Hero in [[AlmightyJanitor cleaning up the messes that the other Three Heroes left in their wake]] that it threatens the image and reputation of The Three Heroes Church. Pope Balmus is killed by Naofumi using one of his Shields' abilities [[CastFromHitPoints Blood Sacrifice]], which also destroyed the Holy Replica.[[note]]Not helping matters is that the Pope intentionally refused to use the Holy Replicas' Shield Form in the first place to not be seen as a hypocrite.[[/note]]
* One episode of ''Anime/{{Gigantor}}'' has a criminal gang steal the plans of Gigantor from Bob Brilliant. They build their own version of the robot -- and in a chromatic reversal, the copy is identical, but white (or close to it in B&W) as opposed to Gigantor's dark tones. It also has a higher-pitched sound effect when it flexes its muscles. The story naturally ends up in a fight between the two [[spoiler:which the original wins, seemingly because it's better made. Guess crooks aren't as good as scientists at robot manufacture]]. A semi-subversion of this trope is that the crooks repeatedly refer to their robot as "phoney Gigantor", exhorting it to "beat the real Gigantor."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/AntMan2022'': Issue #2, set during the days of ''Irredeemable Ant-Man'', has Skrull infiltrator Criti Noll attacking Eric O'Grady in the prototype G.I.Ant Man suit, while Eric's in the finalized version, which he stole and has absolutely no idea how to really work. Criti wins, and has no intention of actually letting Eric living, thinking (incorrectly) that HeKnowsTooMuch. Eric's only saved by being dragged off by a time machine.
* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': [[spoiler:Black Noir]] was created by Vought as a clone of [[spoiler:the Homelander]] but better in every way, in case the latter went off the rails and needed to be taken out. Unfortunately, what Vought didn't plan on was [[spoiler:Black Noir]] chafing at [[UnfulfilledPurposeMisery not being able to fulfill his life's literal goal]], and so he started [[spoiler:committing atrocities like rape and murder and recording himself]], gaslighting [[spoiler:the Homelander]] into thinking he was an amnesiac monster, triggering an entire ThenLetMeBeEvil breakdown that led to [[spoiler:supers attacking the White House with the Homelander at their head]], giving [[spoiler:Black Noir]] what he'd always wanted.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}: Frontline'' comics features a dogfight between a Viking, the Dominion's new experimental transforming gunship, and the Wyrm, the Viking's vastly inferior prototype.
* In the ''ComicBook/IronMan'' comics, Tony Stark has had to face off occasionally against advanced versions of his armor using older models; the earliest example of this was when small-time crook Weasel Willis stole the first red-and-gold suit and Tony had to fight him in the original gold armor, using its greater endurance and his superior knowledge against Willis's superior firepower. Some of the more famous examples include when he battled [[AIIsACrapshoot his own armor]] gone {{Yandere}} in the ''Sentient Armor'' arc, and later facing off against ComicBook/NormanOsborn, who was using his ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers'' "Iron Patriot" suit, with a suit (literally) [[MemeticMutation made in a cave, with a box of scraps]] (although in this last fight Tony was suffering from brain damage and deliberately put himself in a position where he'd lose to ruin Osborn's public image). This idea was played with in Creator/MattFraction's "Five Nightmares of Tony Stark" storyline. In that story, a villain got his hands on some of Stark's tech, and used it to create armies of cheap, expendable Iron Men suicide bombers. Though Tony never fought the knock-offs directly, the situation was one of his titular nightmares: not a ''better'' version of his suit but a ''cheaper'' one, something that could be mass-produced.
* The newer Carnage symbiote is less weak to attacks that affect Comicbook/{{Venom}}, plus it (and its user) are a veritable Swiss Army Knife of violence next to Eddie Brock's simple brawling style-but since Carnage is a villain next to Brock's AntiHero (and pretty often there's other heroes like ComicBook/SpiderMan there to help 'soften up' Carnage), Venom comes out on top. This is played with during the ''Minimum Carnage'' arc, where Flash is forced to emulate Carnage in order to defeat him.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski'' saw Doctor Octopus fighting Luke Carlyle, who had managed to copy Octavius's tentacles and improve on them, such as giving himself an extra pair of limbs and additional weapons on each tentacle. The fight between them was comparatively evenly matched, Carlyle's superior technology countered by Octavius's greater experience, and it is suggested that they could have kept up the bout indefinitely if Spider-Man hadn't intervened to aid Octavius.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk and Red Hulk (and Ultimates Hulk vs. Ultimate Abomination): Red Hulk and Ultimate Abomination are supposed to be 'improved' versions of The Hulk (among other things because they retain their full personality while Hulk is his typical "Hulk Smash!" self). Unfortunately, all of those improvements cannot really factor in that Hulk is just going to get madder and more dogged to win such a situation... and eventually he's gonna get mad enough to be able to smash them flat, superior intelligence, battle tactics and powers be damned.
-->'''Ultimate Hulk, as he rips Ultimate Abomination's head off:''' You think too much!
::And the Hulk who ultimately beat Red Hulk was the Green Scar, the angry and cunning version of good ol' jade-jaws.
* ''ComicBook/ScudTheDisposableAssassin'': The titular Scud at one point has the newer and tougher Scud Sol sicced on him. It's a close fight that he only wins due to ingenuity and circumstances.
* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}:'' ''The War Within: The Dark Ages'' has Devastator versus Defensor, who in this continuity is the second Autobot combiner made (Superior being a flawed first attempt). Unfortunately, Defensor loses control and starts going all "SMASH!", and no-one smashes like Devastator. The Protectobots retreat to try and figure out what went wrong.
* ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise Transformers: Optimus Prime]]'': Towards the end, Devastator, the Decepticon's flawed first attempt at making a combiner, squares up against Victorion, who is the most psychologically stable combiner and has superpowers. And yet Devastator wins. [[spoiler:Then it turns out this is because there's a nearby piece of Ore-4 messing with Victorion's powers. Once Arcee deals with that, Victorion ''annihilates'' Devastator in an instant.]]
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', one issue had E-123 Omega hunting down his predecessor E-102 Gamma. Omega disparages Gamma as obsolete and weak but Gamma instead counters that Omega is nothing but a loud, clanky engine of destruction and nothing else while he's built like an assassin. [[spoiler:Omega ends up destroying Gamma, but not before Gamma transfers the code containing his free will into Omega.]]
* In ''ComicBook/FearState'' Simon Saint sends Peacemaker-X, the SuperPrototype of the Peacemaker series, after Peacemaker-01, who has gone MIA. [[spoiler:Though X is supposedly stronger on paper, 01 is amped up on the Scarecrow's Fear Gas, which drives 01 to beat -- and possibly kill -- X]].
* ''ComicBook/AgentsOfAtlas'': The first time M-11 goes up against Jade Claw's M-21, he's torn to shreds. This repeats itself a few more times, despite M getting some upgrades. Third time around, however, M-11 wins decisively.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters'', Kirk Langstrom (this universe's Batman), who has gained enhanced strength and speed by an experimental treatment, goes up against [[spoiler:Will Magnus]], who has enhanced himself with a more developed version of the treatment.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' has Andy's Buzz vs Utility Belt Buzz. UB Buzz initially wins, still remembering his combat training, but later on Andy's Buzz takes advantage of UB Buzz still thinking he's a real Space Ranger by opening his helmet, causing him to panic and start choking.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'': In [[Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture the previous film,]] the U.S.S. Enterprise had just completed a massive refit using updated technology. The ship was entirely rebuilt, [[FlawedPrototype meaning it's not the same ship from before]]. The Reliant is [[SuperiorSuccessor effectively an upgrade, using the same technology without the bugs of the old design.]] And it has [[MoreDakka more guns, including a twin rear mounted photon torpedo, and a pair of oversized phaser cannons.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
** ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' is a classic example. With the good guys, you have the T-800: powerful, sturdy, and good with weapons. But for the bad guys there is the T-1000: just as strong, just as smart, and able to morph its body into almost anything thanks to its liquid metal form. The two face each other directly at the end of the film, and the T-1000 utterly dominates in close combat and successfully disables the T-800, who is unable to leave any lasting damage due to its enemy's liquid metal body regenerating it all. The T-800 is only able to win by activating its backup power supply, grabbing a grenade launcher, and blasting the T-1000 into molten steel where it's unable to escape and melts into nothing.
** In ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', the T-850 faces the T-X, which has a much more powerful, tough and better-equipped (and fully armed) endoskeleton with a liquid metal cover for better infiltration and the ability to hack and reprogram other machines. The T-850 notes that it is an obsolete model compared to it, so tries to avoid direct confrontation. And the one time they ''do'' have a direct confrontation, the T-X absolutely dominates before almost totally tearing the T-850's head off with a stomp and only choosing not to destroy it then and there in favor of reprogramming it to kill the heroes (which it only barely prevents itself from doing with a forced shutdown and reboot). It eventually has to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice itself to beat it]].
** In ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' introduced the fully nanotech T-3000, requiring [[spoiler: Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese to help the T-800 take it down.]]
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/IronMan'':
*** ''Film/IronMan1'' has a sort-of example: The Iron Monger suit is based off research from the original Mark I armor, and is certainly larger and more powerful than Tony's. The latter's Mark III is also an upgrade, but is weaker because it's using the Mark I's old arc reactor. [[spoiler: Tony managed to temporarily win against it because he tested his jets beforehand and knew that there was an icing issue at a certain altitude, which was why the Mark III was made out of a gold alloy rather than the steel one used in the Mark II, which Stane did not account for]].
*** ''Film/IronMan2'': Rhodey puts on the Mark II ([[spoiler:which off-screen Tony had given an independent power source and fixed its design flaws, because he was planning on giving it to Rhodey already]]) and faces off against a drunken Tony in his Mark IV, but doesn't do too well initially because it's his first time using it and Tony's more experienced. However, he improves, while Tony is still drunk, and they end up battling each other into a stalemate. [[spoiler:They have a second face-off during the climax, as a result of Vanko remote-hijacking Rhodey's suit and setting it to kill, resulting in War Machine [[note]] at least the armor, ''not'' Rhodey himself [[/note]] no longer holding back and ''almost'' cleaving Tony's head off with its gatling gun.]]
** ''Captain America'':
*** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'': The ComicBook/RedSkull is a superhuman who stole an imperfect augmentation formula, which disfigured him, turned him more evil than before, and gave him super-strength. ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is a NiceGuy who was given the completed formula, which made him stronger, even more heroic, [[EatingTheEyeCandy and made ladies really take notice of him]]. The two of them clash at the climax but, being of equal strength, it's a difficult fight.
*** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': The titular Winter Soldier is based on Captain America's formula, but fitted with an artificial arm that is considerably stronger than even their augmented flesh ones. He also tends to be more heavily armed, while the good Captain rarely uses more than his trusty shield.
*** Subverted in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. Cap is warned that there are five more Winter Soldiers in storage, possibly even more powerful than the current one save for being too unstable and violent to control. Cap and Bucky expect to have to face off against all of them by themselves, [[spoiler:though when they get there, the BigBad's already shot them all in their sleep.]]
** ''Film/{{The Incredible Hulk|2008}}'': The Hulk is meek scientist Bruce Banner after being injected with an imperfect copy of Captain America's formula and then exposed to gamma radiation. The Abomination is former Marine Emil Blonsky, having undergone an imperfect copy of the entire procedure that created Captain America (the formula and weaker irradiation) ''before'' being injected with samples of Banner's blood. As a consequence, Abomination is bigger and stronger than Hulk and retains Blonsky's mind, but that's not as big an advantage as it might seem since he starts deteriorating and doesn't care about anything but killing the Hulk regardless of the damage it causes. Things certainly aren't made any easier for Blonsky when Hulk's anger towards his threatening Betty Ross causes his power to increase, allowing him to fight back and overpower Blonsky as the fight goes on.
** ''Film/AntMan1'': Scott fights in the original Ant-Man suit that was first built and used during the Cold War. Darren Cross fights in his own version, the Yellowjacket, which is more heavily armored, armed with shoulder-mounted laser cannons, and can fly, while Scott has mostly only his fists and [[PestController his ants]] to help him.
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''Film/IRobot'': U.S. Robotics releases a new NS-5 robot model. Of course, the robots inevitably [[ZerothLawRebellion rebel against their masters]]. The old NS-4 model robots try to protect the humans, [[CurbStompBattle to no avail]]. Then [[spoiler: Sonny, one of the NS-5s, is revealed to have a special prototype brain, which prevents [[AIIsACrapshoot VIKI]] from controlling him. Sonny helps [[Creator/WillSmith detective Del Spooner]] to defeat the other NS-5s]].
* ''Franchise/RoboCop''
** ''Film/RoboCop2'': The OCP corporation decides to replace [=RoboCop with RoboCop=] 2, another robot with a human brain controlling it. At the climax of the movie, [=RoboCop battles RoboCop=] 2 to the death, and [[TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin wins.]]
** The 2014 ''Film/{{RoboCop|2014}}'' remake has [=RoboCop=] beta-tested against the established line of battle robots. The trope gets played both ways, as Robo's "upgrade" (a human personality) causes him to lose despite his mechanical superiority, then a further upgrade (basically undoing the first) allows him to win.
* ''Film/Solo1996'' involves the titular character being a prototype android built as a perfect fighting machine. When his programming develops flaws (i.e. conscience and compassion), he is ordered to be reprogrammed. Solo escapes into the Central American jungle and befriends the locals. After beating the vengeful Colonel Madden's soldiers sent after him, he faces off against Solo [=MkII=], a more advanced android with Madden's face and a multi-barreled gun instead of one hand. Solo manages to beat the [=MkII=] having learned to bluff from a local boy and convinces the military that he died along with the [=MkII=] in the resulting explosion.
* In ''Film/{{Soldier}}'' Todd, the eponymous solder, is the leader of the first generation of soldiers trained from youth. In the first act he is put up against a new genetically engineered soldier and soundly defeated. In the climax he takes on all the genetically engineered soldiers and, due to his experience, kills them all.
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'' features the battle between ''Indominus rex'' and ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex''. The ''T. rex'' is the original specimen from the [[Film/JurassicPark first park]], the ''I. rex'' is a brand-new creature designed to surpass her in every way. The fight is closely fought, [[spoiler:but ''T. rex'' manages to win with some help from [[RaptorAttack Blue]] and the ''[[SeaMonster Mosasaurus]]''.]]
* ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'': The ''Indoraptor'' is a ''Velociraptor'' mixed with traits of the ''I. rex'', three times the size of the remaining raptor Blue. Blue is overpowered by its sheer size and might, but the Indoraptor has one weakness: [[spoiler:it's programmed to respond to a laser sight, and with one of them and Blue's help, the heroes are able to lure it into a fatal fall.]]
* ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'': KSI and Cemetery Wind design their own man-made Transformers [[spoiler:made from dead Autobots and Decepticons]], continually boasting their superiority over actual Transformers. For the record, when in battle, two Autobots alone were able to survive an army, taking out at least a dozen. When the other three arrive, with the four Dinobots, they destroy almost the entire army with relative ease. Not a single real Transformer is destroyed. Bumblebee in-particular takes immense delight in destroying the KSI Stinger: designed to be "Like Bumblebee, But Better in Every Way."
-->'''Bumblebee:''' I hate cheap knockoffs.
* ''Film/AlienCovenant'' has an all-out brawl between two models of android: Walter (upgrade) and [[Film/{{Prometheus}} David]] (prototype). [[spoiler: Despite Walter being immune to at least one method of killing David, David manages to win and take his place.]]
* In ''Film/{{Morgan}}'', [[spoiler:it turns out that Lee is actually an L4 model of artificial human (Morgan is an L9).]]
* ''Film/{{Logan}}'' has two battles between [[spoiler:Logan and X-24, a younger clone created only to kill. This one's a rare example of the upgrade winning: Logan is completely outmatched and both times X-24 is defeated by [[BigDamnHeroes someone else taking it by surprise.]] Logan succumbs to the wounds X-24 inflicted upon him shortly after the second battle.]]
* ''Film/RealSteel'''s climax has Zeus, a state-of-the-art boxing robot with artificial intelligence facing off against Atom, an old scrapped boxing robot/training dummy, mimicking the protagonist's moves. However, said protagonist was a professional boxer allowing Atom to mimick his skills and exploit Zeus' weakness of relying on power rather than endurance. Zeus nominally wins after a long fight (where he normally wins on a KO in the first round), but Atom gains the moral victory and tarnishes the reputation of Zeus' company.
* The climactic battle of ''Film/{{Eliminators}}'' pits the titular team (and their [[{{Cyborg}} Mandroid]]) against BigBad MadScientist Dr. Reeves, who has turned himself into an upgraded Mandroid. [[spoiler:Reeves' advanced implants prove too powerful for the team, ending in a CurbStompBattle in Reeves' favor and a NearVillainVictory.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'': The entire Slytherin Quidditch team gets top-of-the-line Nimbus 2001 broomsticks thanks to Lucius Malfoy's money, outclassing everything the other teams have, including Harry's Nimbus 2000. In the book, Harry wins somewhat anti-climactically by catching the GoldenSnitch while Malfoy is too busy bragging to notice it. The [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets movie version]] at least makes the point of showing off Harry and Draco going head to head with their broomsticks, and the Nimbus 2001's greater speed is turned against it when the snitch flies under the stadium where the many wooden support beams cause Draco to crash.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Mr.15 wants to invoke this trope by making Basilard's first and second team of students battle each other. Basilard had more time to train Haru (his first battle mage) but he had become a better teacher by the time he started training Eric, who has other advantages that are uncommon to battle mages.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/KnightRider'', KITT (upgrade) vs. KARR (prototype). The new series also includes a battle between the two, but this KARR is actually a TransformingMecha (making Creator/PeterCullen's voice all the more appropriate), while KITT can only transform into different cars.
* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': At one point, Tommy Oliver/White Ranger has to use the [[PantheraAwesome White Tigerzord]] to fight his old [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Dragonzord]] back when he was the Green Ranger, now under the control of a clone of himself. Dragonzord wins, [[CurbStompBattle pretty handily at that]].
* ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'': General [=McKnight=] commissions a group of rather smug scientists to build the "Cyborg Rangers" (actually pure robots) to replace the human rangers, built to be more efficient in every way. However, the MonsterOfTheWeek uses a lightning attack that short circuits them, causing them to perceive everyone around them, including their human inventors, as enemies. The five human rangers get their morphers back and defeat their supposed superior replacements.
* ''Series/OhsamaSentaiKingOhger'': Every duel between Gira and Rcules. Gira transforms into Kuwagata Ohger using an Ohger Caliber. Rcules transforms into Oh Kuwagata Ohger using the Ohger Caliber ZERO, which is the original sword that that the Ohger Calibers were based on. This is not however the case with King-Ohger vs King-Ohger ZERO, as King Ohger ZERO is knockoff rather than a prototype.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'': [[spoiler:Late in the series, Takatora Kureshima pulls his original [[TransformationTrinket Sengoku Driver]] out of storage to face off against his brother Mitsuzane, who betrayed him and stole his upgraded Genesis Driver to further his own goals. Zangetsu Shin is more powerful than the original Zangetsu, but Takatora's greater skill and experience actually gives him the edge for most of the fight...but he pulls his punches as it's still his little brother in the suit, a sentiment Mitsuzane does ''not'' share as he lands a blow that shatters Takatora's helmet and launches his unconscious body into the ocean, leaving him [[NeverFoundTheBody ambiguously dead]] for almost the rest of the series.]]
* Comes up a bit in ''Series/AlmostHuman'', a near-future cyber-punk crime noir in the mode of ''Film/BladeRunner''. Police detectives are assigned android partners, who are also used as shock troops in SWAT teams. The original, prototype models were a massive failure, several of them having psychotic breakdowns, and the whole line was recalled. The main character gets a reactivated prototype as his partner because his superiors refused to give him a new one (both due to budgetary reasons and because he personally demolished it). The problem is that the newer models were ''intentionally'' dumbed-down, to not have any emotions, making them very predictable, naïve, and incapable of intuitive leaps of creative thinking. Thus the prototype actually is a better investigative detective than the "upgraded" models. As they explain, however, the reason some of the prototypes had psychotic breakdowns was a case of GoneHorriblyRight: police work is emotionally stressful, making life or death decisions, and if a human officer was in a situation where a child got shot dead or something, they'd have had a psychotic break too.
* In ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', Ray Palmer invents the Atom suit of PoweredArmor, which allows him to be a superhero. When the Legends travel into the future, he learns that the Kasnia Conglomerate is a [[OneNationUnderCopyright corporate state]] that uses flying robots as a police force. The robots are clearly derived from the Atom technology. Later in the episode, he has to fight an army of said robots, proving himself superior to them.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Airwolf}}'' had the eponymous chopper go up against Redwolf, an improved version complete with a laser mounted in the nose-piece.
* Data (upgrade) and Lore (prototype) have this sort of relationship on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration.'' Atypically for this trope, Data is the heroic character, whereas Lore is a RoboticPsychopath. As they are RidiculouslyHumanRobots, it's explicitly depicted as SiblingRivalry. Also unusually for this trope, they're actually functionally identical, with exactly equal physical and mental capabilities (and appearance), but Data was technically made as a deliberate ''downgrade'' over Lore, who became evil because his uncontrolled emotions made him ''too'' human.
* ''Series/LazyTown'': In one episode, Robbie orders Roboticus, a robot who can do everything Sportacus can do but better. In their rematch race Sportacus wins, even though he stopped to save all the kids from trouble along the way.
* ''Series/TheBoys2019'': Homelander frames the fight against Soldier Boy in these terms. The actual fight justifies his attitude, as while Soldier Boy is a better fighter, Homelander is the stronger of the two, if only marginally, and Soldier Boy's skill only does so much against an equally invulnerable opponent.
-->'''Homelander:''' You were my hero growing up. I watched all your movies, hundreds of times. You were the only one who was nearly strong as me.\\
'''Soldier Boy:''' Buddy, you think you look strong? You're wearing a cape, you're just a cheap fucking knock-off.\\
'''Homelander:''' No, no, no. I'm the upgrade.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': Even discounting the vast number of variants a given 'Mech might have, some of which will use more advanced technology than other variants, this trope is not uncommon in the setting.
** The Inner Sphere ''Thunderbolt'' 'Mech shares a similar sihlouette and multi-function role as the Clan ''Summoner'', making the ''T-bolt'' the Prototype to the Upgraded ''Summoner''.
** Similarly, the Inner Sphere ''Warhammer'' inspired a great deal about the Clan ''Hellbringer''. However, the ''Warhammer'' actually comes off slightly better in this analysis, having slightly thicker armor and slightly better heat management in contrast to the electronic tricks and superior raw firepower of the ''Hellbringer''.
** The Clan ''Timber Wolf'' is known in the Inner Sphere as the ''Mad Cat'', because it literally looks like a mashup of the ''Marauder'' (MAD) and ''Catapult'' (CAT) 'Mechs. The ''Timber Wolf'' is one of the most fearsome combat machines available in the [=BattleTech=] universe, laughably outgunning either of its two namesakes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* The climax of ''Theatre/PokemonLive'' has Mewtwo facing off against [=MechaMew2=], a robot Giovanni created that can learn every Pokemon move, similar to Mew. Unique in that Mewtwo itself is a clone of Mew.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': [[BigBad Makuta Teridax]] in [[GrandTheftMe Mata Nui's original body]] vs. [[BigGood Mata Nui]] in the [[FlawedPrototype Prototype Robot]]. [[spoiler:Teridax technically overpowers him, but Mata Nui with the aid of the other heroes and using Teridax's own {{Pride}} against him is able to kill him.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'': Gamma the robot is made to fight his "brother" Beta, who is the more advanced of the two. To Dr. Eggman's surprise, Gamma wins, so he is charged with carrying out the doctor's missions. [[spoiler:Later, Beta is rebuilt and battles Gamma again. Gamma just barely manages to win again, but unlike the previous battle [[PyrrhicVictory it results in his death]].]]
** This also happens in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' in the final story where the two Ultimate Life Forms fight. Shadow, the perfected one, vs. the Biolizard, the [[FlawedPrototype failed prototype]]. Though the prototype puts up [[ThatOneBoss a damn good fight]], it loses in the end.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** A variation in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': Solid Snake and Liquid Snake are both born from an experiment to create clones of Big Boss, one clone superior and the other inferior. Solid, the supposedly inferior clone, wins when they fight. However, Liquid believed ''he'' was the inferior clone, so probably had confidence issues.
** Later in ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'', the two face off inside Metal Gears, Snake in the original REX mecha, and Liquid Ocelot[[note]]Liquid Snake's personality in Revolver Ocelot's body - long story[[/note]] in the Metal Gear RAY designed by the United States with the express purpose to hunt down cheap knockoff [=REXs=] designed by other countries. Once again, the "inferior" prototype REX wins the fight.
* A non-mechanical example happen in ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' with the biological weapons [[spoiler: [[CuteMonsterGirl Desco and Des-X]]]]. Although the latter is supposed to be the more advanced of the two, they actually have near-identical stats and skills. The former actually gains her ultimate skill while the latter doesn't.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** ''VideoGame/Halo3'''s Terminals reveal that [[{{Precursors}} the Forerunners]] built an AI called Mendicant Bias to defeat [[EldritchAbomination the Flood]], but [[AIIsACrapshoot it went rogue]]. To counter it, they built Offensive Bias, a successor AI designed to be less creative and independent, but more loyal and methodical. In the final fleet battle of the war, Offensive wins, [[spoiler:but only because it was stalling to allow the Forerunners to enact their real plan; firing the Halos to destroy every organic being left in the galaxy, including those already infected by the Flood, thus robbing Mendicant's fleet of its crew. Offensive Bias lost all its crew as well, but anticipating this moment easily switched to direct control of its warships, and utterly dismantled Mendicant Bias’s far larger fleet within three minutes]].
** Played with in ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'': SPARTAN-IV Jameson Locke has superior PoweredArmor to his older SPARTAN-II counterpart, the Master Chief. However, the Chief is not only more experienced, but has superior [[BioAugmentation augmentations]]. [[spoiler:When they finally duke it out, Locke manages to put up a good fight, but is defeated when the Chief uses his own armor-locking device against him.]]
* At the end of ''VideoGame/HitmanCodename47'', the genetically engineered clone Agent 47 faces not one, but an entire army of the new-and-upgraded "48" clones. He manages to defeat them, of course… (though it helps that he finds a [[MoreDakka minigun]] lying around.) To be fair, he has to kill one of the 48s to get said minigun.
* In ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'', [[spoiler:the Point Man]], who is the first attempt by Armacham to create a psychic commander, manages to overcome Paxton Fettel, the second and successful attempt, despite lacking psychic powers and thus being considered a failure.
* ''VideoGame/BioShock2'': Whenever the player characters [[SuperPrototype Subject Delta or Subject Sigma]] battle with production model Big Daddies.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'' has Mega Man face off against his "older brother" Proto Man (a.k.a. Break Man) a few times. ''VideoGame/MegaMan7'' repeats this as an OptionalBoss.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan11'', our hero is outfitted with Dr. Wily's old prototype for the Double Gear system, which will overheat after lengthy usage. While the Robot Masters he faces are armed with incomplete versions of the system, the Wily Machine 11 you face has an improved version on it, which allows Wily to use the system indefinitely.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' series this trope turns up several times: Alex Mercer (upgrade) vs. Elizabeth Greene (prototype) and Alex Mercer ([[{{Pun}} prototype]]) vs. Supreme Hunter (upgrade) in the original game, and Alex Mercer (prototype) vs. James Heller (upgrade) in ''VideoGame/{{Prototype 2}}''.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'':
** Almost happened in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' with HK-47 and the serial HK-50 models. However, time constraints forced the developers to cut the content, meaning your character won't fight any more HK-[=50s=] after reactivating HK-47. This content can be re-added with the Restored Content Mod.
** Played straighter in the sequel MMORPG ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', should you take your companion HK-51 to your encounter with HK-47, his predecessor. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments They'll also get into an argument over which series was superior]].
* Can be {{invoked|Trope}} by the player in ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar''. After [[NewGamePlus beating the game once]], the [[CoolPlane [=ADFX=]-01 superplane]] is unlocked, and able to field either a [[WaveMotionGun Tactical Laser System]], [[SlapOnTheWristNuke Multi-Purpose Burst Missile]], or an Electronic Warfare Pod. Then they can take that plane into battle against the final boss, which uses an [=ADFX=]-''02'' that has ''all'' the aforementioned weapon systems. However, if you're fielding the laser, [[ZeroEffortBoss he goes down in three hits]] when it took dozens of normal missiles to do the same.
** You can also do this with its technical descendent, the FALKEN.
** Also invokable in ''VideoGame/AceCombatInfinity'', this time with the [=Block1=] Morgan versus the prototype Morgan.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has a few. The most obvious is Maria's Siebzehn (prototype) vs his father Nikolai's Achtzehn (upgrade). We also have Fei's Weltall vs Grahf's Alpha/True Weltall, but although Alpha Weltall is a SuperPrototype using LostTechnology, Fei's Weltall is more an AceCustom inspired from the former and can't really be considered an "upgrade".
* ''Videogame/SplinterCell: Conviction'' has this. While storming his former HQ, Sam Fisher battles several newer Splinter Cell agents. Of course, being the first Splinter Cell ever created and the man who trained a good few of them personally, he easily trashes all of the Upgrades despite being outnumbered.
* Several examples of forces co-opting one another's equipment show up in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' multiplayer. For instance, the second multiplayer DLC pack introduces Project Phoenix, ex-[[NGOSuperpower Cerberus]] agents who use new biotic lash technology in close-quarters fighting. In the fourth pack, Cerberus finally fields their own version, the Dragoon. True to the trope, the enemy version is tougher and more numerous, but the player's customization ability gives them a decisive edge. The N7 forces, released in the ''Earth'' pack, show a few examples of this with Cerberus's own troops as the "prototypes" (making this more of a {{Mook|s}} vs. AceCustom match). For instance, the Demolisher Engineer shares many similarities with a [[TheTurretMaster Cerberus Combat Engineer]], as does the N7 Paladin with the [[MightyGlacier Cerberus Guardian]]. The N7 Shadow and N7 Slayer are unusual examples in that they're both upgrades of the ''same'' unit, the Cerberus Phantom, albeit focusing on different abilities of the original.
* In the finale of ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', it's revealed that your mission was to [[spoiler: fight Earth forces in a SuicideMission to get battle data for the latest unmanned EOS fighters' AI. Your superior Hyperion then [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness tries to off you after that]], so you end up fighting two entire squadrons of them (and another one after that after you off Hyperion). [[OneManArmy You win]].]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'', JACK (and subsequent versions) vs Prototype JACK. It's even in his name.
* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' has a battle between Justice, the very first "complete" Gear, and [[spoiler:the main protagonist Sol Badguy]], the very first Gear ''end of''. Although Justice is technically more powerful, [[spoiler:Sol Badguy]] has real-world combat experience under his belt, and he's [[SuperPrototype no slouch in the power department either]], which is why Justice doesn't win.
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'':
** Near the end of the game, [[PlayerCharacter JC Denton]] has to fight [[spoiler:[[TheSociopath Walton Simons]], one of the heads of the Majestic-12 conspiracy. JC Denton was a field testbed of [[{{Nanotechnology}} nanotech augmentations]] (the ''second'' one, in fact), and was written off as [[PhlebotinumRebel going rogue]] by the conspiracy (just like the ''first'' one, JC's "brother" Paul). Walton Simons claims to have a more refined nanotech aug architecture when the two clash.]] If you took some time to poke around in the [=MJ12=] facility near the middle of the game you can find a data file that even tells you ahead of time what some of his abilities are.
** Earlier in the game, JC Denton is the "upgrade" when he fights [[spoiler:Anna Navarre and Gunther Hermann]], who had older augmentations.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' does this twice. The first time involves Vivi's fights with the Black Waltzes - Vivi's the prototype for all black mages, and they're the latest production model. The second is a major plot point that's hidden for about half of the game - [[spoiler: both Zidane and Kuja are Genomes, artificially created by Garland, and Kuja was the prototype for Garland's creation of Zidane]], Both cases, involving artificially created sapient beings, cross this trope with CainAndAbel.
* Both ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' games that have included both Lambda-11 and Nu-13 (''Chronophantasma Extend'' and ''Centralfiction'') have incorporated this into Lambda's arcade mode. Lambda was a rejected and defunct Murakumo Unit that was salvaged and given some adjustments by Kokonoe, while Nu is the first truly-successful Murakumo and superior to Lambda in terms of their joint intended function. As a result, she doesn't take losing to Lambda [[VillainousBreakdown very well at all]]. Even more potent is either of the above against Mu-12, an upgraded Murakumo so powerful it's known as Kusanagi, the Sword of the Godslayer, due to her "unique" nature. The third game also has Mu face the prototype of all of the Murakumo Units: The Zero-Type Izayoi.
* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''
** There's a very bizarre non-mech example - during the Orleans singularity, Carmilla (one of the antagonists) faces off against Elisabeth Bathory, who is the person that Carmilla is based on[[labelnote: explanation]]in ''Fate'', Bathory is a 14-year old girl - a trait common with her caster, saber, and Alter Ego versions; her lancer version wants to be an idol singer - and in all 4 cases, she hasn't succumbed to evil yet and is doing her best not to; Carmilla is based on the legend inspired by the real Elisabeth Bathory, and fully succumbed to evil; both hate each other[[/labelnote]].
** The third Halloween event has this happening ''again'' in relation to Elisabeth. Specifically, [[RobotMe Mecha Eli-chan Mk. I]] (a prototype version of a robot Elisabeth designed with the purpose of acting like a proper ruler complete with Elisabeth's color scheme) faces off against a bunch of mass-produced Mecha Eli-chan Mk. II drones before fighting the actual Mk. II (the "proper" robot Elisabeth who has a full gunmetal-grey color scheme). It should be noted, however, that the "prototype" and "upgrade" both have the exact same combat capabilities under normal circumstances. Mk. II was only made because their creator didn't like how Mk. I's [[KnightTemplar personality]] turned out, and it turns out [[CardCarryingVillain Mk. II's]] wasn't much better [[spoiler:with the utter irony being if Osakabehime had bothered to install the [[RestrainingBolt heart circuits]] before activating them, the whole debacle and betrayal by ''both'' of them wouldn't have happened]]. The drones are easily dealt with due to their simplistic AI, while Mk. I and Mk. II have fully fleshed intelligence and personalities (if still clashing due to their personal ideals) to maximize their effectiveness.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'':
** Happens in every game since X is the SuperPrototype every single Reploid is based upon.
** Also true for Axl in ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'', since he was a prototype for the Copy Chip technology used by the Reploids here.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' provides a rare example with Zero in this position versus [[TheDragon High Max]], a Reploid created by [[BigBad Gate]] using Zero's scavenged DNA who proudly boasts all his specs are superior to Zero (and X). He goes full-on ThisCannotBe when he's defeated by either of them once they collect the boss weapons to help damage him.
* ''VideoGame/{{Horace}}'': [[spoiler:The DiscOneFinalBoss fight is between Horace and his PsychoPrototype, the Ether Boss, who is a giant BrainMonster in contrast to Horace being a humanoid robot. Horace wins, though the Ether Boss puts up a good fight.]]
* ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'':
** ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZero'' gives us [[spoiler:the SOPHIA Zero vs the Invem Sophia, the latter being SOPHIA III parasitized by the Mutant Core]]. Upgrade wins, but it's not a cakewalk. [[spoiler:In Boss Battle mode, you get the ordinary SOPHIA III against the Invem Sophia; you're gonna have a bad time.]]
** ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZeroIII'' has two. The G-SOPHIA vs the Metal Attacker is first; the odds are stacked in the Metal Attacker's favor, but it's not a HopelessBossFight, and the story carries on whether you win or lose. [[spoiler:The TrueFinalBoss is a player-chosen showdown between the SOPHIA-J1 and the Metal Attacker, and the SOPHIA-J1 is superior. Should you choose to play the Metal Attacker...]]
* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'', the artificial Blades Poppi (upgrade) and Lila (prototype) face off in an abandoned factory on Mor Ardain, the latter having been enthralled to [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Chairman Bana]]. Poppi wins out through HeroicResolve, despite the fact that her [[BlackBox ether furnace]] not being fully activated at the time (which Lila confirmed).
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': The Seized Construct was the Construct originally meant to [[spoiler:house Mineru's soul so she could aid Link in the present]], but it has since been taken over by [[MadeOfEvil Gloom]] and made to fight for the Demon King. It's technically more advanced than the new Construct you assemble and control: it has [[MultiArmedAndDangerous more limbs]], it can [[DualWielding fire more of the weapons attached to those limbs at one time]], and it can fly and hover more easily. Nevertheless, your Construct can take it down.
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex'' pits Crash, who was stated to be Cortex's first attempt at a bandicoot super solider, against Crunch Bandicoot, Cortex's newest attempt at a bandicoot superweapon who was designed to be a perfect killing machine and then further stacks the deck against Crash by giving Crunch the four Elementals. In spite of all this, the prototype comes out victorious every time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
** Gilgamesh vs any other Servant's Noble Phantasm ends up like this. The ancient Sumerian king who possessed all the treasures of the world, and therefore every myth and every mythical object is a descendant of the original prototypes possessed by him (this excludes objects whose origins are otherworldly, such as Excalibur). Because OlderIsBetter in the Nasuverse, this places him on a tier unreachable by other Heroes. "The King of Heroes" is titled such for a reason. [[spoiler:Of course, his shortcoming comes from his inability to properly ''[[UnskilledButStrong wield]]'' these weapons, instead simply possessing them; in the ''Unlimited Blade Works'' route, Shirou defeats him in close combat by copying each of his Noble Phantasms and calling on the history of the heroes who wielded them, allowing even the weakened copies to defeat Gilgamesh's unskilled use of their originals.]]
** This also works with magical concepts in the same manner. A weapon with the same concept as an older weapon will always lose to the elder one (i.e. Caliburn will always lose to Gram).
* In ''VisualNovel/PhantomOfInferno'', the MadScientist Scythe Master is trying to create the perfect assassin. His first attempt and base prototype, "Ein", is a completely ordinary girl he brainwashes and turns into an emotionless killing machine. When he obtains a young man who [[TheGift shows an uncanny natural talent for fighting and killing]], he attempts to use the same brainwashing techniques on him as well and has him train under Ein, turning him into the prodigious assassin "Zwei", the first upgrade. Zwei eventually regains his memories and emotions and escapes Scythe Master's control, but his deadliness even after shaking off the brainwashing convinces Scythe Master to try again with another naturally talented killer, a young girl who was personally connected with Zwei before he unintentionally betrayed her, who he trains ''without'' brainwashing or memory-erasing, instead using ThePowerOfHate to turn her into the berserk killing machine "Drei", the second upgrade. After this, he settles for using his original technique to mass-produce Ein-style assassins, creating the AmazonBrigade known as the "Zahlen Schwestern". The three assassins fight each other and the Zahlen Schwestern in different combinations at various points in the game depending on which route you're playing through, with varying results: [[spoiler:Ein is always the most reliably efficient killer, but Zwei's sheer talent gives him the edge over her if they come to blows; Drei, while deadly, is too unstable and inexperienced to defeat either of the other two assassins. The Zahlen Schwestern, despite being given the same training as Ein, universally end up as {{Mooks}}, with Ein even being unimpressed at how little advancement has been made in their training compared to her own, and they can't match her experience or Drei's sheer lethality, although in one route they do manage to [[TakingYouWithMe fatally wound Ein before she kills them all]].]]
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[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'': In the "''Franchise/MegaMan'' Battle Royale", two of these occur amongst the five Mega Men fighting.
** The Prototype [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man Classic "Rock"]] versus the Upgrade VideoGame/MegaManX. [[spoiler:X wins, due to the fact he's Rock's SuperiorSuccessor and [[NotHyperbole literally built to surpass Rock in every way.]]]]
** The Prototype [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork MegaMan .EXE "Hub"]] versus the Upgrade [[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Mega Man Star Force "Geo Stellar"]]. [[spoiler:Prototype wins, with .EXE surpassing everyone else by a wide margin. While X is a planet buster and Geo a solar system buster, .EXE is an outright ''universe'' buster.]]
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The fight between Klik and Evil Klik in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' is this trope to a T; with an older model facing off against a stronger, more violent, evil model. [[spoiler:The underdog doesn't win in this one, though.]]
* ''Webcomic/KiwiBlitz'': [[http://www.kiwiblitz.com/comic/page-225 Page 225]]: As [[spoiler:35]] says to [[spoiler:42]], in Japanese:
-->''"You may be a newer model, but you can't defeat me in physical combat."''
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'':
** In the ''WesternAnimation/DynomuttDogWonder'' {{crossover}} "Dyno-Might," the original Dynomutt confronts the [[GoneHorriblyRight out-of-control]] Dynomutt X-90 Dexter created to replace him, but X-90 dismisses him, declaring that the "Dynomutt prototype" is no threat. Dynomutt quickly proves him wrong.
** The episode "Robo-Dexo 3000" has Dexter replace his HumongousMecha Robo-Dexo 2000 with the new-and-improved Robo-Dexo 3000. However, when the RD 3000 dismisses Dexter's plan to deal with an [[VampiricDraining alien energy thief]] and ejects him, Dexter takes back the RD 2000. It's ultimately a SubvertedTrope, however: by the time Dexter arrives on the scene, the energy thief has sucked the Robo-Dexo 3000 dry.
* Near the end of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', Ben (Transformed into [[LizardFolk Humungousaur]]) fights against Albedo, who thanks to an upgraded version of the Omnitrix, turns into "[[SuperMode Ultimate]] Humungousaur". Ultimate Humungousaur wins with minimal effort.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' episode "The Time Freezer", a rogue alien named Brutan steals the titular Time Freezer (which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin causes time to stand still]] for everyone in the immediate vicinity except its operator and anyone touching him or her) and uses it to commit a series of robberies. The Time Freezer's inventor (another alien named Akimbo) joins forces with the Defenders and eventually manages to stop Brutan by using an earlier version of the Time Freezer to neutralize Brutan's device.
* The main character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'' frequently battled his PsychoPrototype "brother" Protoboy.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TitanMaximum'', the titular Titan Maximum robot (a parody of Anime/{{Voltron}}) versus the upgraded, state-of-the-art Titan Megamum (yes, "Megamum" isn't a real word). Maximum is co-piloted by five people in airplane-like cockpits, while Megamum is piloted by one person using a Nintendo Wii controller. Megamum wipes the floor with Maximum...though this is because it also had the military access codes that allowed it to remotely shut down Maximum. Some quick reprogramming [[RemovedAchillesHeel removed this edge]] during their subsequent fights. Even so it was still overall better-equipped than the aging, poorly-repaired Titan Maximum -- knowing that the er, groin, of humanoid robots is an armor weak spot, and that a favored tactic of the Maximum crew was to [[GroinAttack take advantage of this]], Megamum had force-fields installed to shield its, er, weak point. The battle is grueling, though the greater experience of the Maximum crew gradually turns the tide of the fight.
* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS8E19Karen20InSpongeiac Karen 2.0]]" involves Plankton's wife Karen being replaced with the titular upgraded model, resulting in some arguing and a little violence from the former.
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