History Main / IFightForTheStrongestSide

* In ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics:

* In ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' story arc ''Untold Tales of ComicBook/BlackestNight'', the Rainbow Raiders (a group carrying on the legacy of the original Rainbow Raider) attempted to side with the [[ZombieApocalypse Black Lantern Corps]]. However, they have no idea how becoming a Black Lantern actually works and end up killing themselves for nothing.
* In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', Kalibak's forces follow the strongest. So when Kalibak himself ends stomped by Tawky Tawny, he orders his warriors to gang up on him. They refuse, as, well, his defeat has already kind of proven ''he'''s not the strongest.
* The final issue of ''ComicBook/ElCazador'' ends with Lady Sin offering [[spoiler:her defeated foe Redhand Harry]] an alliance (possibly conditional on his knowing Latin). While his reply was not actually given, under the circumstances it was almost certainly a "yes".

* In ''Franchise/XMen'' storyline ''ComicBook/XCutionersSong'', Stryfe defeats Apocalypse, and then points out to Apocalypse's followers that their master's own "the Survival of the Fittest" creed means they should follow ''him'' now. Apocalypse's troops agree and side with Stryfe.

* ''Anime/Stratos4'':
-->'''Mikaze:''' Whose side are you on?\\
'''Karin:''' *pause* The winning side.
* Thorkell in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' repeatedly inverts this trope, in that he tends to join the weakest side [[BloodKnight because the stronger side is more fun to fight.]] He ends up [[spoiler:playing it straight after being beaten up by Thorfinn and then stared down by Canute]] -- of course, the fact that the latter has proclaimed that he's going to pick a fight with [[spoiler:the King of Denmark]] may also be a contributing factor.
* Breo's girlfriend in ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', who automatically dumped him and hit on the guy who beat him.

* The Spriggan 12 of ''Manga/FairyTail'' are twelve extremely powerful wizards who serve Emperor Spriggan of the Alvarez Empire as his PraetorianGuard. Prime Minister Yajeel's conversation with Markarov implies that the main reason they follow Spriggan is because even they pale in comparison to him.
* In ''Literature/FateApocrypha'', Creator/WilliamShakespeare is a Caster class Servant. He is only willing to work for whoever he considers the "main character" and will abandon them if someone comes along who better fits that description. This carries on to his appearance in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite'', it's implied that Snivy abandoned her Trainer because she deemed him/her too weak. In [=BW129=], when a group of abandoned Pokémon are causing mischief as pirates, with Meowth translating, Pignite tries to convince them that they can find happy encounters in new Trainers, and then Snivy said that they could always abandon their Trainer if they're useless. Iris points out that something did in fact happen in Snivy's past that involves her previous trainer.
** In ''Anime/PokemonToBeAPokemonMaster'', when Ash and Misty are fighting over a wild Clauncher it agrees to willingly follow whoever proves themselves to be the stronger Trainer, with Misty winning the battle due to Ash [[TheBusCameBack having his B-team at the time]] and [[DramaPreservingHandicap giving Misty a fighting chance by not using Pikachu]] in their 1v1.

* Moyuru Koda from ''Anime/DevilmanCrybaby'' seeks to join the stronger side once he decides his own survival is more important than anything else. Seeing Akira's defeat by Xenon in their first encounter convinces him to join the demons. His choice comes back and bites him in the butt when Akira -who is no match for Satan but is still more powerful than Moyuru by several orders of magnitude- swiftly tears him in half.
* ''Manga/LoneWolfAndCub'': When the [[{{Ninja}} Oniwaban]] begin hounding him, Itto Ogami taunts them for becoming the Yagyu Clan's dogs. Two Oniwaban reply the Yagyu control the government and opposing them is suicidal.

* Sao Feng, in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' says "There is no honor in fighting for the weaker side" when it's revealed he's been working with the Royal Navy.

* In ''[[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms Destiny of an Emperor]]'', [[spoiler:Lu Bu]] decides to serve Yuan Shao upon seeing how big and powerful his army is.
* Near the end of the second book in Creator/HarryTurtledove's Tale of Krispos series, the BigBad [[EvilSorcerer Avshar]]'s [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Haloga mercenaries]] start to desert him when [[TheHero Krispos]] finally manages to beat him. The first man to join Krispos tells him that he only followed Avshar because he thought he was the strongest man in the world, but Krispos beat him, so that means that Krispos is the strongest and he must serve him.

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', when Nobby Nobbs was a soldier, the generals used to keep an eye on what uniform he was wearing in order to judge how the battle was going.
* In ''Literature/IntoTheHinterlands'', the Cutter Stream Colonies start out allied to a nearby group of [[SpaceNomads Riders]], though the alliance is much more ephemeral than the Stream government thinks it is. After Allenson loses his first campaign against the Terrans, the Riders defect en masse to the other side.
* In the Aesop's fable "The Birds, The Beasts, and The Bat," the birds and the beasts are at war. The bats repeatedly switch sides to fight for whichever side is currently winning. When the war is over, neither the birds nor the beasts want anything to do with the bats for being so two-faced, [[JustSoStory and that's why they hide in caves during the day and only come out at night]].

* The Season 1 finale of ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' sees the [[DirtyCop corrupt members of]] the [[BadCopIncompetentCop Gotham City Police Department]] switch their support to Sal Maroni after an attempt on Carmine Falcone resulted in Falcone being hospitalized.

* In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', this is the reason why [[spoiler:[[ThePsychoRangers the A-Squad Rangers]] [[FaceHeelTurn defect to Grumm's side]] in the SeriesFinale]], claiming they want to be "on the winning side".

* Major Dan Carter, the sole human villain of ''VideoGame/CTwelveFinalResistance'', is a former human soldier who, upon realizing humanity doesn't stand a chance against an AlienInvasion, instead defected to the alien's side, even helping his alien masters capture humans and converting them into cyborg slaves.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars 2'' has this. After [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Hawke]] kills [[BigBad Sturm]] and declares himself the new leader of Black Hole, the three remaining Black Hole lieutenants are visibly shocked. [[DumbMuscle Flak]] and [[EvilGenius Lash]] quickly decide to follow Hawke, since they don't care who's in charge as long as they still get to do their thing. [[SmugSnake Adder]] is more visibly disturbed by this chain of events, but after uttering the trope name almost verbatim, Hawke cuts him off mid-sentence and accepts his allegiance before he can regain his train of thought.]]
* [[MadScientist Dr. Yi Suchong]] in ''VideoGame/BioShock'' has a habit of making himself valuable to the enemy. When the Japanese killed every other man in his city in Korea during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, they kept him alive because he could sell them quality opium. After Fontaine was killed and his company seized by Ryan Industries, Suchong's only major complaint was that Ryan didn't pay as much as Fontaine.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Mazken (aka Dark Seducers), are an intelligent race of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]] in service to the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] [[MadGod Sheogorath]]. Mazken are said to be a treacherous race that will quickly switch allegiances if it becomes beneficial to them. The group of Dark Seducers fought in ''[[VideoGame/AnElderScrollsLegendBattlespire Battlespire]]'' betrayed their former master (a lieutenant of [[TheSacredDarkness Nocturnal]]) to side with [[DestroyerDeity Mehrunes Dagon]] when he promised them greater power. Because of this, it's difficult to tell if they've always been servants of Sheogorath or if he is simply their race's most recent master of convenience.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** This is a staple of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] culture, going hand in hand with their beliefs that AsskickingLeadsToLeadership and their tendency toward HonorBeforeReason. Dragons will only follow those who prove themselves to be the strongest. Odahviing, [[TheDragon the right-hand]] of [[BigBad Alduin]], aids the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] after the Dragonborn forces Alduin to run away at the Throat of the World and captures Odahviing themself. Odahviing explains that he is doing this because a) he wants to free himself and b) after Alduin fled like a DirtyCoward, Odahviing and the other Dragons are no longer certain that he is worthy to lead them. After the Dragonborn defeats Alduin, Odahviing will swear his loyalty, allowing the Dragonborn to summon him with the "Call Dragon" shout. An interesting variation comes from the backstory - Paarthurnax betrayed Alduin and sided with Mankind during the last Dragon War, teaching the Ancient Nords the [[WordsCanBreakMyBones Thu'um]], the draconic LanguageOfMagic, which allowed them to turn the tide and defeat Alduin and his followers once and for all. Essentially, Paarthurnax chose to follow the strongest side as all Dragons do... he just happened to ''make'' them the strongest side first.
*** The dragon example is repeated in the ''Dawnguard'' DLC with Durnehviir, an undead Dragon bound to the Soul Cairn and thus unable to truly be killed. He swears fealty after the Dragonborn proves to be the ''[[WorthyOpponent first]]'' person to ever defeat him.
*** Jarl Elisif proves to be one if the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Stormcloaks]] win the CivilWar questline. Elisif, who [[RebelLeader Ulfric Stormcloak]] widowed to become High King, [[spoiler:will submit to the Stormcloaks since the Empire is now gone from Skyrim and she has no other choice. She still despises Ulfric however]].

* You meet a ''lot'' of these guys in the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series. A lot of characters won't join until you have a castle of a certain size, which depends on how many other characters have joined you; some won't join until you have a certain number of characters, period. The implication is that they want proof you have a large enough army to do anything before they sign up.

* Happens to Augus in ''Videogame/AsurasWrath''. As shown in episode 15.5's interlude, Augus wasn't interested in joining the eight Guardian Generals at first, stating that they were "weaklings". Then Deus came along and fought him to a tie. After the fight, Deus promises Augus that all battles will be like the one they were in if he joins his cause. [[BloodKnight Augus complies]].
* In ''Videogame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'':
** Several missions have you allied with a person who is allied with the Sith Empire [[TheQuisling just so he can become Prime Minister of the planet]]. If he becomes Prime Minister or not depends on how much a [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential dick you are]]. In addition, your Bounty Hunter character can express this as the reason for working with the Empire.
** Surprisingly ''inverted'' with the Mandalorians of that era. they are fighting ''for'' the Empire because they actually have more respect for the strength of the ''Republic and Jedi''. They don't want to fight ''for'' the strongest side. They want to test their mettle ''against'' it. Somewhat played straight by Jicoln Cadera's faction, who rebelled against the current Mandalore since they revered Mandalore the Vindicated, who supported the Republic for this reason.
* Canderous gave the same inversion of this trope ("I want to test my strength ''against'' the strongest side") for why his people fought the Republic in ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' [[spoiler:Later, after TheReveal, he swears UndyingLoyalty to your character because you ''are'' Revan, the one who kicked their shebs into obscurity, playing this entirely straight.]] Then again, seven people and two droids in a stolen smuggling boat against the entire might of Malak's armies is just the kinds of insane odds [[ProudWarriorRace Mando'ade]] ''dream'' of fighting.
* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'', the Broodmothers (Zerg Queens that take the place of the old Cerebrates) were specifically programmed by Kerrigan to follow this logic. Dehaka, who joins with Kerrigan on the planet Zerus, cites this as his reason for joining her. However, he also subverts this later after they learn of [[spoiler:Amon's]] existence, and Kerrigan asks Dehaka if he's considering joining as he's most certainly stronger than her. Dehaka says that may be true, but he's also smart enough to know that [[spoiler:Amon]] is an OmnicidalManiac, so no good will come of siding with him.
* Inverted by the god Skaen in ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity''. The god of hatred, resentment, quiet loathing, and -- most importantly -- rebellion, he will abandon any followers of his once they fulfil their ambitions or otherwise become too powerful, favoring only those who are both oppressed and willing to bargain with a creature as bloodthirsty as Skaen.
* Saïx in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' outright says that TheHeartless ally with whoever's strongest, though this refers not to them making peace with or joining [[TheHero Sora]] (which would be...[[AlwaysChaoticEvil problematic]] on several levels), but to them ditching [[WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] and the Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon villains for the EvilerThanThou Organization XIII.
* Lantry and Kills-in-Shadow joins your party for this reason in ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}''. In Lantry's case it's because he's a TagalongChronicler who believes in Great Person History, and thus attaches himself to interesting/strong people because they tend to shape interesting history to chronicle ([[IOweYouMyLife that you saved his life helps, too]]). Kills-in-Shadow, meanwhile, is a {{Beast|Man}}woman, and [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership in their society a leader must be strong]] -- Killsy just applies the same logic to a non-beastman (you). In fact, a great way to increase Killsy's Loyalty to you is to ''insist'', upon meeting her, [[LetsYouAndHimFight that you should fight so you can prove your strength to her]].

* This appears to be the case for the Dai Li in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. Because Earth King Kuei was weak and merely a puppet, they had to answer to Long Feng, who was mostly in charge of the government. When Azula came along, Long Feng sought an alliance with her, but she proved to be a much stronger leader to the Dai Li, causing them to switch allegiances. By the time of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', the new Earth Queen went out of her way to avoid being as weak as her father (by being an evil tyrant), thus the Dai Li decided to pledge their loyalty to her.
* In the ''{{Franchise/Transformers}}'' mythos, most Decepticons or Predacons serve only the [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership most powerful]] among the faction. Should a leader be deposed through either trickery or combat, the bulk of the army will quietly settle under the usurper's authority without much in the way of objection after the dust settles (though the process is rarely smooth if the usurper isn't up to snuff). As far as the 'Cons are concerned, you're only worthy of authority if you can hold onto it. If somebody else takes it, then they deserved it more than you. As you'd imagine, this policy tend to lead to a ''lot'' of [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder scheming]] among the [[TheStarscream higher ranks]].

** This is heavily implied to be the case for Killer Frost, when Gorilla Grodd attempted to stage a coup on ComicBook/LexLuthor, she was on his side but when it failed, then immediately switched allegiances and froze the other mutineers.

** Tala's modus operendai seems to be "bone the strongest" as she starts off in a (possibly) romantic relationship with Gorilla Grodd, then switches over to hanging off Luthor the moment he took control of the society.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': During the Clone Wars, Mandalore is shown to have entered a period of peace in spite of their ProudWarriorRaceGuy history, which Clan Vizsla disagreed with and so they formed the terrorist organization Death Watch under the leadership of Pre Vizsla. This eventually led them into a pragmatic alliance with Darth Maul to set up a false flag operation with Maul as the leader of a new, galaxy-spanning crime syndicate which will briefly take over Mandalore, allowing Vizsla and Death Watch to liberate it, become heroes, and end the pacifist government of Satine Kryze. When Vizsla decides to keep Maul locked up instead of setting him up to run his syndicate out of Mandalore, Maul engineers an escape and challenges Vizsla to a duel, killing him and claiming leadership of Death Watch in the process. Most of the Death Watch then sides with him, but Satine's sister Bo-Katan--who was also Vizsla's second-in-command--objects and goes on to lead a resistance against Maul in the Final Season and then the anti-Empire Mandalorian factions during ''Rebels''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Double Trouble starts working for the Horde explicitly for money, but as soon as they found out the Rebellion had a superweapon, they switched their alliance to be on the winning side. Then, when the Galactic Horde shows up and starts steamrolling the Rebellion, Double Trouble tries joining them, though they quickly wind up disillusioned since a group of HiveMind drones make a poor audience for Double Trouble's dramatic flair.

-->'''Cheese''': "When it was my uncle, I was with my uncle. When it was Marlo, I was with him. But now, nigga-" [[CurseCutShort BANG]]

* In "Series/TheWire", this is "Cheese" Wagstaff's rationale for his ChronicBackstabbingDisorder, namely in regard to Prop Joe and Marlo Stanfield. Unfortunately for him, Cheese is TooDumbToLive and admits this right in front of Joe's former right-hand man Slim Charles...[[BoomHeadshot who happens to be holding a pistol right as Cheese does so]].

*** This is a staple of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] culture, going hand in hand with their beliefs that AsskickingLeadsToLeadership and their tendency toward HonorBeforeReason. Dragons will only follow those who prove themselves to be the strongest. Odahviing, [[TheDragon the right-hand]] of [[BigBad Alduin]], aids the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] after the Dragonborn forces Alduin to run away at the Throat of the World and captures Odahviing themself. Odahviing explains that he is doing this because a) he wants to free himself and b) after Alduin fled like a DirtyCoward, Odahviing and the other Dragons are no longer certain that he is worthy to lead them. After the Dragonborn defeats Alduin, Odahviing will swear his loyalty, allowing the Dragonborn to summon him with the "Call Dragon" shout. An interesting variation comes from the backstory - Paarthurnax betrayed Alduin and sided with Mankind during the last Dragon War, teaching the Ancient Nords the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the draconic LanguageOfMagic, which allowed them to turn the tide and defeat Alduin and his followers once and for all. Essentially, Paarthurnax chose to follow the strongest side as all Dragons do... he just happened to ''make'' them the strongest side first.

See also AsskickingLeadsToLeadership FairWeatherFoe.

See also AsskickingLeadsToLeadership.

** In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesAimToBeAPokemonMaster'', when Ash and Misty are fighting over a wild Clauncher it agrees to willingly follow whoever proves themselves to be the stronger Trainer, with Misty winning the battle due to Ash [[TheBusCameBack having his B-team at the time]] and [[DramaPreservingHandicap giving Misty a fighting chance by not using Pikachu]] in their 1v1.

* In ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'', Creator/WilliamShakespeare is a Caster class Servant. He is only willing to work for whoever he considers the "main character" and will abandon them if someone comes along who better fits that description. This carries on to his appearance in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''.

** In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesAimToBeAPokemonMaster'', when Ash and Misty are fighting over a wild Clauncher it agrees to willingly follow whoever proves themselves to be the stronger Trainer, with Misty winning the battle due to Ash [[TheBusCameBack having his B-team at the time]].

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}} Black and White'', it's implied that Snivy abandoned her trainer because she deemed him/her too weak. In [=BW129=], when a group of abandoned Pokémon are causing mischief as pirates, with Meowth translating, Pignite tries to convince them that they can find happy encounters in new trainers, and then Snivy said that they could always abandon their trainer if they're useless. Iris points out that something did in fact happen in Snivy's past that involves her previous trainer.

See also AsskickingEqualsAuthority.

*** This is a staple of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] culture, going hand in hand with their beliefs that AsskickingEqualsAuthority and their tendency toward HonorBeforeReason. Dragons will only follow those who prove themselves to be the strongest. Odahviing, [[TheDragon the right-hand]] of [[BigBad Alduin]], aids the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] after the Dragonborn forces Alduin to run away at the Throat of the World and captures Odahviing themself. Odahviing explains that he is doing this because a) he wants to free himself and b) after Alduin fled like a DirtyCoward, Odahviing and the other Dragons are no longer certain that he is worthy to lead them. After the Dragonborn defeats Alduin, Odahviing will swear his loyalty, allowing the Dragonborn to summon him with the "Call Dragon" shout. An interesting variation comes from the backstory - Paarthurnax betrayed Alduin and sided with Mankind during the last Dragon War, teaching the Ancient Nords the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the draconic LanguageOfMagic, which allowed them to turn the tide and defeat Alduin and his followers once and for all. Essentially, Paarthurnax chose to follow the strongest side as all Dragons do... he just happened to ''make'' them the strongest side first.

* Lantry and Kills-in-Shadow joins your party for this reason in ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}''. In Lantry's case it's because he's a TagalongChronicler who believes in Great Person History, and thus attaches himself to interesting/strong people because they tend to shape interesting history to chronicle ([[IOweYouMyLife that you saved his life helps, too]]). Kills-in-Shadow, meanwhile, is a {{Beast|Man}}woman, and [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority in their society a leader must be strong]] -- Killsy just applies the same logic to a non-beastman (you). In fact, a great way to increase Killsy's Loyalty to you is to ''insist'', upon meeting her, [[LetsYouAndHimFight that you should fight so you can prove your strength to her]].

* In the {{Transformers}} mythos, most Decepticons or Predacons serve only the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority most powerful]] among the faction. Should a leader be deposed through either trickery or combat, the bulk of the army will quietly settle under the usurper's authority without much in the way of objection after the dust settles (though the process is rarely smooth if the usurper isn't up to snuff). As far as the 'Cons are concerned, you're only worthy of authority if you can hold onto it. If somebody else takes it, then they deserved it more than you. As you'd imagine, this policy tend to lead to a ''lot'' of [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder scheming]] among the [[TheStarscream higher ranks]].

* As seen in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', this is a rather logical side-effect of the Mandalorian culture being based around the idea of [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking "leadership belongs]] [[KlingonPromotion to the strongest"]]; since they are used to just falling in line when one of their own takes over, many of them are happy to fall in line when some other power proves strong enough to defeat the Mandalorians as a whole. This is why most Mandalorians are working for the Empire.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', it turns out that Byrne is a rogue Lokomo who is trying to revive the tribe's enemy, the demon king Malladus, because he could only get the power he wants that way. After his defeat against Link and Zelda, he goes back to Malladus' whereabouts to witness his awakening; yet the villain [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves one-shots his servant with a magic blast]]; as a result, the now-betrayed character joins the good guys' side.

* From the 2010s onwards, numerous businesses have expressed their support for Pride Month by posting messages of support on their social media profiles and changing their logos to rainbow variants for the duration of the month. Plenty of individuals on the LGBT+ spectrum don't appreciate the effort, as this superficial show of support only came after queer rights were fought for and won over decades of grassroots campaigning.

** It's also perceived as hypocrite rainbow-washing considering that local profiles of the same companies do NOT express support in nations where LGBT is still taboo or outright illegal, such as many Middle East countries.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', it turns out that Byrne is a rogue Lokomo who is trying to revive the tribe's enemy, the demon king Malladus, because he could only get the power he wants that way. As soon as Malladus is awakened, [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves he one-shots Byrne with a magic blast]].

* Sao Feng, in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' says "There is no honor in fighting for the weaker side" when it's revealed he's been working with the Royal Navy.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** House Tyrell and their vassals will always back the winning team and will drop anyone at the drop of a hat if they become a liability. If both sides of a war appear to be evenly matched they'll simply stay out of it. The one time they stayed loyal to anyone they lost a war.
** Why nearly fifty thousand barbarian warriors follow Daenerys. The Dothraki only fear three things. The poison salt water, lightning storm fires on the Great Grass Sea and of course by extension; ''dragons''. Dany is not only able to walk through the biggest threat to their way of life; which causes all their warriors and shamans to kowtow in reverence. But is topped even further when her mount is revealed to be the largest dragon left in existence, effectively making Dany the greatest rider who ever lived in their history. They follow her easily over the sea after all that and obey her without question.
* Isabella in ''Series/RobinHood'' specifically states that she wants to be on the winning side, and this (along with an [[WomanScorned ill-timed break up speech]]) is what causes her to turn ''against'' Robin and the outlaws.
* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' there is a {{human alien|s}} named [[http://farscape.wikia.com/wiki/Vreena Vreena]] that betrays her people because of this.
-->"Peacekeepers, scarrans, what does it matter who rules? I'll never be in charge. I'm just doing what I have to to survive."
* Tyr from ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' uses this as an ExactWords scam on a temporary ally. He never said he was on ''their'' side, he said he'd chosen ''the winning side''.
* In ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'' season 3, Spartacus kills Seddulus, the leader of a Germanic tribe, prompting the rest of the tribe to join him out of respect.
* Discussed in ''Series/DoctorWho'' when new prime minister Harold Saxon [[spoiler:(The Master)]] criticizes those working for him for being traitors to their party, having gone to work for him only after they realized their party would lose the election. [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves He then kills them.]]

* In the backstory of ''Series/TheBoys2019'', Frederick Vought switched sides from Nazi Germany to the United States during World War II when the Wehrmacht started to lose ground. [[spoiler:His widow Stormfront is even willing to work under Stan Edgar, an African-American {{muggle|s}}, as long as the experiments with Compound V continue under his watch]].

-->'''Mikaze''': Whose side are you on?\\
'''Karin''': *pause* The winning side.

* ''Anime/MonsterRancher'': [[spoiler: When [[TheStarscream Durahan's]] attempt at overthrowing [[BigBad Moo]] fails, his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Lilim betrays him, revealing that she prefers to serve powerful men, and his failure proves that Moo's stronger than him.]]

* The final issue of ''ComicBook/ElCazador'' ends with Lady Sin offering [[spoiler: her defeated foe Redhand Harry]] an alliance (possibly conditional on his knowing Latin). While his reply was not actually given, under the circumstances it was almost certainly a "yes".

* In ''Franchise/XMen'' storyline ''X Cutioners Song'', Stryfe defeats Apocalypse, and then points out to Apocalypse's followers that their master's own "the Survival of the Fittest" creed means they should follow ''him'' now. Apocalypse's troops agree and side with Stryfe.

* ''Fanfic/MyFathersSon'': Like in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', this was why Tywin was hesitant to get involved in [[spoiler: Rhaegar's Rebellion]] since he didn't want to back a losing team. He's pushed into action by receiving prophetic summons from Melisandre. She showed him that failure to act would only make things worse down the line, but once he sees [[spoiler: Rhaegar's new dragon]] he instantly knew he backed the winning side.

* In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'', [[GiantFlyer Rodan]] allies himself with whomever is the Alpha amongst the other monsters. When [[BigBad King Ghidorah]] usurps the position of the King of Monsters from Godzilla, Rodan swears allegiance to him. [[spoiler: But after Godzilla reclaims his status as the Alpha, Rodan bows to him along with several other Kaiju that arrived after the fight.]]

--> '''Célestin:''' I'm with the winners. Today, it's the Nazis. If it changes tomorrow, I'll adapt.

* Near the end of the second book in Creator/HarryTurtledove's Tale of Krispos series, the BigBad [[EvilSorceror Avshar]]'s [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Haloga mercenaries]] start to desert him when [[TheHero Krispos]] finally manages to beat him. The first man to join Krispos tells him that he only followed Avshar because he thought he was the strongest man in the world, but Krispos beat him, so that means that Krispos is the strongest and he must serve him.

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' there is a [[HumanAliens human alien]] named [[http://farscape.wikia.com/wiki/Vreena Vreena]] that betrays her people because of this.

* Discussed in ''Series/DoctorWho'' when new prime minister Harold Saxon [[spoiler: (The Master)]] criticizes those working for him for being traitors to their party, having gone to work for him only after they realized their party would lose the election. [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves He then kills them.]]

* In ''Series/BreakingBad'' Saul Goodman takes this attitude as the main reason he partners up with Walt, in the "opportunistic" style of the Trope. He even explains to Jesse, "That's the way of the world, kid, go with the winner," to explain his allegiance. [[spoiler: Subverted in the end, though. When Walt DOES become the strongest side by killing Gus, his actions have become too extreme for Saul. Unfortunately, by that time Walt won't let him back out.]]

* In ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', this is the reason why [[spoiler: [[ThePsychoRangers the A-Squad Rangers]] [[FaceHeelTurn defect to Grumm's side]] in the SeriesFinale]], claiming they want to be "on the winning side".
* In the backstory of ''Series/TheBoys2019'', Frederick Vought switched sides from Nazi Germany to the United States during World War II when the Wehrmacht started to lose ground. [[spoiler: His widow Stormfront is even willing to work under Stan Edgar, an African-American [[{{Muggles}} muggle]], as long as the experiments with Compound V continue under his watch]].

* The reason why Wrestling/KurtAngle betrayed Wrestling/{{WWE}} to join Wrestling/TheAlliance, saying that he represents everything great about America; he is a winner, and he fights for the winning side. This was [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] at Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 2001, as he was actually Wrestling/VinceMcMahon’s [[TheMole mole]] and cost the Alliance everything in their WinnerTakeAll match.

*** Jarl Elisif proves to be one if the [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Stormcloaks]] win the {{Civil War}} questline. Elisif, who [[RebelLeader Ulfric Stormcloak]] widowed to become High King, [[spoiler:will submit to the Stormcloaks since the Empire is now gone from Skyrim and she has no other choice. She still despises Ulfric however]].

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', when Zelos is asked which side he would fight for, Zelos answers "the one that's likely to win," though he admits that he'd want to help SaveBothWorlds if all sides were equal. [[spoiler: He utters this line again after betraying the party to Yggdrassil. However in all but one of the endings, [[ChangedMyMindKid he turns out to be lying]] and was pulling a FakeDefector act to help Lloyd's party; he just didn't tell them first.]]

* Canderous gave the same inversion of this trope ("I want to test my strength ''against'' the strongest side") for why his people fought the Republic in ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' [[spoiler: Later, after TheReveal, he swears UndyingLoyalty to your character because you ''are'' Revan, the one who kicked their shebs into obscurity, playing this entirely straight.]] Then again, seven people and two droids in a stolen smuggling boat against the entire might of Malak's armies is just the kinds of insane odds [[ProudWarriorRace Mando'ade]] ''dream'' of fighting.

* Lantry and Kills-in-Shadow joins your party for this reason in ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}''. In Lantry's case it's because he's a TagalongChronicler who believes in Great Person History, and thus attaches himself to interesting/strong people because they tend to shape interesting history to chronicle ([[IOweYouMyLife that you saved his life helps, too]]). Kills-in-Shadow, meanwhile, is a [[BeastMan Beastwoman]], and [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority in their society a leader must be strong]] -- Killsy just applies the same logic to a non-beastman (you). In fact, a great way to increase Killsy's Loyalty to you is to ''insist'', upon meeting her, [[LetsYouAndHimFight that you should fight so you can prove your strength to her]].

* In the {{Transformers}} mythos, most Decepticons or Predacons serve only the [[AssKickingEqualsAuthority most powerful]] among the faction. Should a leader be deposed through either trickery or combat, the bulk of the army will quietly settle under the usurper's authority without much in the way of objection after the dust settles (though the process is rarely smooth if the usurper isn't up to snuff). As far as the 'Cons are concerned, you're only worthy of authority if you can hold onto it. If somebody else takes it, then they deserved it more than you. As you'd imagine, this policy tend to lead to a ''lot'' of [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder scheming]] among the [[TheStarscream higher ranks]].

* Discussed in ''Series/DoctorWho'' when new prime minister Harry Saxon [[spoiler: (The Master)]] criticizes those working for him for being traitors to their party, having gone to work for him only after they realized their party would lose the election. [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves He then kills them.]]
* In Series/AgentsOfSHIELD, The Clairvoyant [[spoiler:a.k.a. Agent John Garrett]] gives this as an explanation for his allegiance to HYDRA:

* ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Shades Alvarez is consigliere to various crime bosses in Harlem. His loyalty though can be compromised if his cohorts become self-destructively violent or aggressive. If it's clear his employer is losing it, he will find a new employer. He won't cross them, but if they cross him, [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal he's not holding back]].

*** This is a staple of [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] culture, going hand in hand with their beliefs that AsskickingEqualsAuthority and their tendency toward HonorBeforeReason. Dragons will only follow those who prove themselves to be the strongest. Odahviing, [[TheDragon the right-hand]] of [[BigBad Alduin]], aids the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] after the Dragonborn forces Alduin to run away at the Throat of the World and captures Odahviing himself. Odahviing explains that he is doing this because a) he wants to free himself and b) after Alduin fled like a DirtyCoward, Odahviing and the other Dragons are no longer certain that he is worthy to lead them. After the Dragonborn defeats Alduin, Odahviing will swear his loyalty, allowing the Dragonborn to summon him with the "Call Dragon" shout. An interesting variation comes from the backstory - Paarthurnax betrayed Alduin and sided with Mankind during the last Dragon War, teaching the Ancient Nords the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the draconic LanguageOfMagic, which allowed them to turn the tide and defeat Alduin and his followers once and for all. Essentially, Paarthurnax chose to follow the strongest side as all Dragons do... he just happened to ''make'' them the strongest side first.

** Sellswords are notorious for switching sides like this. When Queen Daenerys Targaryen accuses Brown Ben Plumm of betrayal, he simply points out that his mercenary company, the Second Sons, took a vote, and didn't think she was going to win. Given that they originally were hired to fight her and then defected, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Now that Daenerys has proven herself a DragonRider, the Second Sons look ready to defect to her side again.

* In the Aesop's fable "The Birds, The Beasts, and The Bat," the birds and the beasts are at war. The bats repeatedly switch sides to fight for whichever side is currently winning. When the war is over, neither the birds nor the beasts want anything to do with the bats, and that's why they hide in caves during the day and only come out at night.

* ''Fanfic/MyFathersSon'': Like in ASongOfIceAndFire, this was why Tywin was hesitant to get involved in [[spoiler: Rhaegar's Rebellion]] since he didn't want to back a losing team. He's pushed into action by receiving prophetic summons from Melisandre. She showed him that failure to act would only make things worse down the line, but once he sees [[spoiler: Rhaegar's new dragon]] he instantly knew he backed the winning side.

** During Robert’s Rebellion Lord Frey refused to pick a side and kept his house out of the war, despite his Lord Paramount fighting against the crown. After the Battle of the Trident, everyone realized the Loyalist side was going to lose. Lord Frey ''then'' deployed his forces [[TheCavalryArrivesLate and arrived after the battle was over]] assuring Lord Tully he was coming to help. Tully was unimpressed and dubbed him “The late Lord Frey”.

** {{Magic wand}}s in the Franchise/PotterVerse function as LoyalPhlebotinum for their specific owners but may switch allegiance via YouKillItYouBoughtIt. Notably, the most powerful wand in the world, the Elder Wand, is also the most fickle as you don't even need to kill anyone to earn its loyalty; beating the owner in a WizardDuel can work just as well even if nobody dies. Granted, acquiring the Elder Wand in particular tends to entail murdering the owner outside the context of a duel, since beating it in a fair fight is a nigh-impossible feat that only [[spoiler:Albus Dumbledore]] is known to have accomplished[[note]]and possibly the medieval wizard Egbert the JustForFun/{{Egregious}}, since Dumbledore's notes on ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard'' mention that Egbert won "a ferocious duel" against an enemy who wielded an infamously formidable wand made of elder[[/note]]. But you can also wrest control of the wand by [[ToWinWithoutFighting disarming its owner before a fight can even begin]]. The Elder Wand can even shift loyalty ''by proxy'' if the owner loses a duel ''while using a different wand''. That's how fickle the Elder Wand is, people, and it's a major part of what led to [[spoiler:Voldemort's death]].