History Main / BestForLast

* Similarly, in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' book ''A Spell for Chameleon'', Bink is exiled from Xanth for not having any magical talent. [[spoiler: It turns out that he does have the magical talent to be immune to harm from magic, a "magician" level talent.]]

** It's worth noting that the episode where Takeru and Iori get their Jogress is when the team finally manages to do some serious damage to [=BlackWarGreymon=]... which makes up for the fact that their combined digimon looks like a giant teapot.

* In an episode of ''Series/NewsRadio'', the characters were each given a gift by their extremely rich boss. While Matthew didn't have to wait, he still had time to get jealous; the others got really extravagant gifts; he was given, in the form of a collection of tapes, his favourite old-time radio show, ''FibberMcGeeAndMolly''. He was disappointed by the gift, until the boss explained that he'd given him ''the show'' - not just tapes of it, but all the rights to the show itself (suddenly everyone else feels jealous and slighted because their gifts weren't as extravagant).

* In ''The Book of Three'', the first volume of the Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain, Prince Gwydion bestows upon his friends gifts of great value. Fflewddur receives a harp string which will never break, Eilonwy receives a magic ring, Doli gets the ability to turn invisible at will. Then (similar to Galadriel in the above example), he asks Taran last of all what gift he might like, and Taran requests the thing he wants most of all: to go home.

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''Film/SkyHigh2005'', Will is the only one at the school without powers. Halfway through the film he gets super-strength [[spoiler: [[FlyingBrick and flight]]]].

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC: Fan Works]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

** Near the end, she turns to Gimli, for whom she apparently has no gift at all, and asks what he might request of her. He dares to ask for a strand of her beautiful hair, and she is so impressed and charmed by the request[[note]]more the reasoning behind it (to serve as a symbol of friendship between Elves and Dwarves); in the distant past she had repeatedly refused Fëanor's identical request because he wanted to use her hair as raw material for making gems[[/note]] that she gives him three. This seems like a subversion, since ''hair'' isn't much compared to the valuable gifts she gave to the other companions, nor does he get a "better" gift later,[[note]]in fact, when he, Legolas, and Aragorn get messages later, the usefulness of the one for Gimli expires due to the identity of the messenger,[[/note]] but Gimli considers it the most priceless treasure imaginable.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* In ''Film/SkyHigh'', Will is the only one at the school without powers. Halfway through the film he gets super-strength [[spoiler: [[FlyingBrick and flight]]]].

* ''FushigiYuugi'': In a slight twist on the trope, Tamahome is left out when the other Suzaku seishi receive holy items that increase their powers. He is led to believe that he is being punished for insulting Taiitsukun (the benefactor), when in fact he receives no item because his powers do not manifest themselves through any physical object. He discovers later that he was "upgraded" after all.
* In ''GateKeepers'', Banchou doesn't manifest his own Gate power until the last episode, and several times before that, some of the other characters wonder if he even has one. While not quite "best", his power is impressive enough to let him fight his way out of a monstrous Invader that had tried to swallow him.
* In the ''TokyoMewMew'' manga, Ichigo is the last to find Mew Aqua, and saves the whole city with its ''residue'' -- that and ThePowerOfLove.

* In an episode of ''NewsRadio'', the characters were each given a gift by their extremely rich boss. While Matthew didn't have to wait, he still had time to get jealous; the others got really extravagant gifts; he was given, in the form of a collection of tapes, his favourite old-time radio show, ''FibberMcGeeAndMolly''. He was disappointed by the gift, until the boss explained that he'd given him ''the show'' - not just tapes of it, but all the rights to the show itself (suddenly everyone else feels jealous and slighted because their gifts weren't as extravagant).

* In ''[[TheRiftwarCycle Magician: Apprentice]]'' when children reach their maturity they are taken as apprentices in the naming ceremony. It's a stressful time because not all the children know which Master will choose them as an apprentice; the greatest fear is to be left out at the end. Poor Pug is left to the end and thinks he was the only one not chosen. Of course, there was ONE master that hadn't picked yet.

* In Film/SkyHigh, Will is the only one at the school without powers. Halfway through the film he gets super-strength [[spoiler: [[FlyingBrick and flight]]]].

* Subverted in a host segment of ''MST3K'': Joel decides to give each of the Bots a present. Gypsy and Tom Servo each get fun/exciting toys. Claiming he saved the best for last, Joel gives Crow... a pair of dress slacks (Crow doesn't even wear clothes, and is hardly ever seen from the waist down).

* In ''KirbyRightBackAtYa'', Escargoon says an interesting variation of this trope in the fifty-third episode. "Luckily, we saved the worst for last." And out of all the five Martial Arts All-Stars that Kirby battled throughout the episode, the "worst" that was saved for his last opponent was none other than Yankee Sekitori, the super-sized sumo wrestler.

* In ''AChristmasStory'', Ralphie spends the whole film wishing for a Red Ryder BB Gun. When Christmas comes, he gets a few nice presents (and a horrible pink bunny suit), but no gun. His parents announce the end of gift-giving... but wait! There's one more present hidden behind the desk. It's a Red Ryder BB Gun!
* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'', Andy's mom saves Buzz Lightyear for the special last gift he receives at his birthday party.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', CPU controlled trainers who use more than one Pokemon will typically save their strongest for last.

[[AC: Real Life]]

* History has proved that if you play by this trope, chances are that you're gonna lose the battle, if not the war:
** In the Battle of Waterloo; if Napoleon had let his Imperial Guard be the front force of his attack against Wellington's center instead of holding them back, he might have crushed them before the Prussians came.
** During D-day; if the Germans had sent their best tank forces right at Normandy's beaches instead of keeping them deep in France, the Normandy landing might have become a bloody failure.
** The Battle of Hastings; William the Conqueror's decision to not let his Norman troops lead the charge against the Saxons' shield wall, but his weaker Breton troops almost cost him the victory. He only won when he wised up and let the Norman cavalry lead the charge through the rest of the battle.
** The Battle of Austerlitz; if the Russians had sent their Imperial Guard against the Frenchmens' weaker right flank at the village of Sokolnitz then maybe they would have won the battle.
* While having reserves is an important part of warfare, there's a fine line between committing reserve forces too early and too late.
* This is standard strategy for relay races: a team's best runner almost always runs the last leg of the race.
* In baseball, a team's closer is typically their best reliever. Inverted in cricket, where a limited number of overs encourages teams to always use their best batsmen first. If they never get put out then the weaker batsmen never need to participate.

** Violet is a lesser example, in that she doesn't learn to control her shields properly until late into the movie, but does some impressive things with them afterward.

* In baseball, a team's closer is typically their best reliever.
** Inverted in cricket, where a limited number of overs encourages teams to always use their best batsmen first. If they never get put out then the weaker batsmen never need to participate.

* Jack-Jack is referred to early on in ''TheIncredibles'' as the only family member without a superpower. At the end, however, it is revealed that he can turn into flames, metal, and a demon. (In a bonus short on the DVD, he is also shown levitating, teleporting, spitting acidic saliva, and many others.)

* In SkyHigh, Will is the only one at the school without powers. Halfway through the film he gets super-strength [[spoiler: [[FlyingBrick and flight]]]].

* In ''Franchise/Pokemon'', CPU controlled trainers who use more than one Pokemon will typically save their strongest for last.

* Another literary example: In the novel ''TheGiver'', when all the people becoming adults are receiving their careers, main character Jonas appears to be skipped. At the end of the ceremony, they announce that he's to be given the most important job of all.

* In ''LordOfTheRings'', Galadriel presents the Fellowship with various gifts -- an elven bow for Legolas, gold and silver belts for Boromir, Merry, and Pippin, and so forth:

** In the Battle of Waterloo; if Napoleon had let his Imperial Guard being the front force of his attack against Wellington's center instead of holding them back, he might had crushed them before the Prussians came.
** During the D-day; if the Germans had sent their best tank-forces right at Normandy's beaches instead of keeping them deep in France, the Normandy landing may have become a bloody failure.
** The Battle of Hasting; Wilhelm the Conqueror's decision to not let his Norman troops led the charge against the Saxons' shield wall, but his weaker Breton troops almost costed him the victory. He only won when he wised up and let the Norman calavry led the charge through the rest of the battle.
** The Battle of Austerlitz; if the Russians had sent their Imperial Guard against the Frenchmens' weaker right flank at the village Sokolnitz than maybe they had won the battle.

** Then again, the job involves being made into the OnlySaneMan and trapped in a world where no one else has emotions.

* ''ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'': The Terran heroes who come over get powers, except for Makoto, who seems to be left out. However, he eventually learns that he has a power after all and it's an earthshaking one: the power to reach the soul of LostTechnology and communicate with it, allowing him to control everything from simple gadgets to the most devastating weapons in that world.

* In ''The Book of Three'', the first volume of the PrydainChronicles, Prince Gwydion bestows upon his friends gifts of great value. Fflewddur receives a harp string which will never break, Eilonwy receives a magic ring, Doli gets the ability to turn invisible at will. Then (similar to Galadriel in the above example), he asks Taran last of all what gift he might like, and Taran requests the thing he wants most of all: to go home.