History Main / AlwaysSecondBest

* The current {{Batgirl}} is Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, aka girl Robin, aka girl who screws up every major plan. Her predecessor, Cassandra Cain, was a much better fighter, with a far better track record and even a cooler tragic backstory (Steph's father was the Quizmaster, a B-rate Riddler rip-off, Cassandra's father is David Cain, one of the best assassins in the world). Key to this relationship, however, was that Stephanie showed no bitterness towards Cassandra for all of this -- they were, in fact, good friends --and accepting it in good humour, attempting now and then to do the best with what she had rather than seethe about being in second place. This was also partly because there was one key area that Stephanie could trump Cassandra -- social skills (Cassandra having such a maladjusted upbringing that she could barely read, write or speak coherently until being a teenager).

So they're number two, making them prime material for RivalTurnedEvil. If a SiblingRivalry is involved it could make them the {{Unfavorite}}.

So they're number two. They're prime material for RivalTurnedEvil.

* Ron Weasley from the ''HarryPotter series'' suffers from this throughout the first half of the series. To start ff with, he's always in the shadows of his older brothers who were, in order: [[TheAce Headboy, Captain of the Quiditch Team]], [[TeenGenius a prefect]], and [[BrilliantButLazy Popular Pranksters]]. Add to the fact that his best friends were respectively TheChosenOne, Harry, and [[ChildProdigy top student of their year]], Hermione, Ron suffers a massive inferiority complex for much of the series.

* The current {{Batgirl}} is Stephanie Brown, aka Spoiler, aka girl Robin, aka girl who screws up every major plan. Her predecessor, Cassandra Cain, was a much better fighter, with a far better track record and even a cooler tragic backstory (Steph's father was the Quizmaster, a B-rate Riddler rip-off, Cassandra's father is David Cain, one of the best assassins in the world).

* This is the defining trope of ''[[SpecialA Special A]]'', with Hikari forever trying (and failing) to beat Kei at anything.

Compare CantCatchUp. TheWorfBarrage. RomanticRunnerUp is a version of this character specific to romance stories. When it's more perceived than actual, it's AlwaysSomeoneBetter.

--> '''Bob Seger,''' "Beautiful Loser" by

* Kyo in Fruits Basket.

** To the point it made it to an expression, "X is the Poulidor of this game" meaning X allways comes second.

* Amanda Kimmel and Russell Hantz both came in second on ''{{Survivor}}'' twice. [[BlessedWithSuck In a row]].

*Amanda Kimmel came in second on "''{{Survivor}}'' twice. In a row.

* The Rivals from the {{Pokemon}} games, especially Blue and Silver. They're all highly skilled trainers who manage to beat all eight Gym Leaders (and, in Blue's case, the Elite Four) yet always manage to lose to the trainer. The first two generations tied this into AnAesop about ThePowerOfLove, but in the third and fourth generations, you're just better than them.