History Main / ChampionsOnTheInside

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The baseball episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine.'' The Niners lose, significantly, but in the process Sisko is reminded that baseball is meant to be ''fun'', and he shouldn't let his rivalry with the other captain interfere with that, and Rom gets to be a hero.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': The [=McKinley=] High glee club lose at Regionals at the end of season one, but have a great time and get to continue glee club for another year.\\
\\
They lose Nationals at the end of season two as well. Though it might be more of a case of them deserving what they got since they were [[BrilliantButLazy more than capable of doing better, but were extremely poorly prepared]] and how [[LoveRuinsTheRealm their leads seem to care more about their tumultuous romance than the team's well-being]].

* In the baseball drama ''TaishouYakyuuMusume'' (''Taishou Baseball Girls''), the girls middle school baseball team loses by a single point to their nationals-contending boys team rivals when the protagonist is off by a few millimeters in her last second slide to home base. This is still considered to be a good ending as the girls have earned the respect of their rivals, and more importantly have proven to themselves that being girls does not mean that they can't achieve anything they put their minds to.

* ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' and ''Rocky Balboa'' both have this as the point, with BasedOnATrueStory on the first film to boot.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/{{Cars}}'', Lightning [=McQueen=] loses the big Piston Cup race to a cocky opponent, but is still revered by everyone due to helping the King finish the race. The actual winner on the other hand, not only loses the sponsorship of Dinoco, but the respect of most everyone.

-->Team member exiting plane: Hey, look! There's a big crowd to welcome us back even though we lost.
-->Moe: Hey, I'll give you something to cry about, you loser! You can't catch a football? Let's see if you can catch a rock!

* In ''Film/RunFatboyRun'', Dennis manages to come dead last in the London Marathon after getting a TwistedAnkle very early in. Despite this, he limps the final hundred yards to a cheering crowd.

* In the film ''Film/CoachCarter'', even though the protagonists lose the championship, they return home to a gymnasium full of all their friends and family cheering for them. The epilogue makes it clear that every one of them was able to graduate and go to college due to the titular coach inspiring them not to give up. It helps that their coach was SamuelLJackson.

* ''Best of the Best''. It's the last match of the U.S./South Korea karate tournament and the South Koreans are ahead by a few points. The South Korean fighter is badly hurt but still standing, and could be killed if the American fighter hits him at full power. He's also the guy who accidentally killed the American fighter's brother years ago during a match. The American decides not to attack the South Korean, allowing time to expire and the U.S. to lose the tournament. The Americans are dismayed by the loss but believe their colleague did the right thing. The South Korean team, recognizing the honor and mercy shown by their opponent, give their gold medals to the American fighters because they feel the Americans truly won.

* In the film ''Coach Carter'', even though the protagonists lose the championship, they return home to a gymnasium full of all their friends and family cheering for them. The epilogue makes it clear that every one of them was able to graduate and go to college due to the titular coach inspiring them not to give up. It helps that their coach was SamuelLJackson.

* ''SchoolOfRock'': The School loses at the Battle of the Bands, but everyone loves them, and they get a nice future in the closing credits.

Even though they did lose the big game, the protagonists are still better people because of [[ItsTheJourneyThatCounts what they had to go through]] to get there. Happens often in movies BasedOnATrueStory, with a WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue to show you that everyone still went on to be successful despite this loss. Although this trope used to be considered a [[TwistEnding twist]] on the usual UnderdogsAlwaysWin story, it's actually starting to become the most common ending.

Except for this time. This time, the underdogs lose by one fourth of a point in the last two seconds of over-time because the star player [[TwistedAnkle twisted his ankle]] at the worst possible time. The team's spirit is utterly crushed and they feel like they let everyone down. But then, their fans all start to cheer, the JerkJock captain of the rival team comes to praise them for being such {{Worthy Opponent}}s, and their coach congratulates them on playing such a great game. When they ask why everyone is so excited that they lost, their coach tells them that it's because they're still winners. ''On the inside.''

* ''Rocky'' and ''Rocky Balboa'' both have this as the point, with BasedOnATrueStory on the first film to boot.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The movie ''CoolRunnings'', loosely based off the first Olympic attempt by the Jamaica bobsled team. They lose, but prove that they're capable of competing in the Winter Olympics.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The baseball episode of ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine.'' The Niners lose, significantly, but in the process Sisko is reminded that baseball is meant to be ''fun'', and he shouldn't let his rivalry with the other captain interfere with that, and Rom gets to be a hero.
* ''{{Glee}}'': The [=McKinley=] High glee club lose at Regionals at the end of season one, but have a great time and get to continue glee club for another year.\\

* The movie ''Cool Runnings'', loosely based off the first Olympic attempt by the Jamaica bobsled team. They lose, but prove that they're capable of competing in the Winter Olympics.

* At the end of ''{{Film/Cars}}'', Lightning [=McQueen=] loses the big Piston Cup race to a cocky opponent, but is still revered by everyone due to helping the King finish the race. The actual winner on the other hand, not only loses the sponsorship of Dinoco, but the respect of most everyone.

Except for this time. This time, the underdogs lose by one fourth of a point in the last two seconds of over-time because the star player twisted his ankle at the worst possible time. The team's spirit is utterly crushed and they feel like they let everyone down. But then, their fans all start to cheer, the JerkJock captain of the rival team comes to praise them for being such {{Worthy Opponent}}s, and their coach congratulates them on playing such a great game. When they ask why everyone is so excited that they lost, their coach tells them that it's because they're still winners. ''On the inside.''

* ''{{Pokemon}}'': Save for the Orange Islands FillerArc, in the nearly thriteen years that the show has been on the air, Ash Ketchum successfully battles almost all the way to the championship, only for AlwaysSomeoneBetter, or, in the case of the Sinnoh League, straight up DiabolusExMachina, to rear its head. However, these defeats only temporarily discourage Ash, and instead are used to encourage him to keep going and train harder.

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* In ''Rollbounce'', the protagonist, in a roller-skating competition, attempts a complicated move he's been practicing for weeks... and falls flat on his butt. The JerkJock competitor gives him a thumbs up for even trying it.

[[AC: Live Action TV]]

* ''{{Glee}}'': The McKinley High glee club lose at Regionals at the end of season one, but have a great time and get to continue glee club for another year.\\

----

So your RagtagBunchOfMisfits has finally learned to work together, become a [[{{Nakama}} family]], and made it all the way to the championship. Now all they have to do is win the big game, which is easy, because UnderdogsNeverLose.

Except for this time. This time, the underdogs lose by one fourth of a point in the last two seconds of over-time because the star player twisted his ankle at the worst possible time. The team's spirit is utterly crushed and they feel like they let everyone down. But then, their fans all start to cheer, the JerkJock captain of the rival team comes to praise them for being such {{Worthy Opponent}}s, and their coach congratulates them on playing such a great game. When they ask why everyone is so excited that they lost, their coach tells them that it's because they're still winners. ''[[{{Narm}} On the]] [[NarmCharm inside]].''

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]

* YourMileageMayVary, but it seems apparent that this is the writers' intent for [[Pokemon Ash Ketchum]] when it comes time to compete in a regional tournament. Save for the Orange Islands FillerArc, in the nearly 13 years that the show has been on the air, Ash successfully battles almost all the way to the championship...only for AlwaysSomeoneBetter(or, in the case of the Sinnoh League, straight up DiabolusExMachina) to rear its head. However, these defeats only temporarily discourage Ash, and instead are used to encourage him to keep going and train harder.

* ''Best of the Best''. It's the last match of the U.S./South Korea [[strike:taekwondo]] karate tournament and the South Koreans are ahead by a few points. The South Korean fighter is badly hurt but still standing, and could be killed if the American fighter hits him at full power. He's also the guy who accidentally killed the American fighter's brother years ago during a match. The American decides not to attack the South Korean, allowing time to expire and the U.S. to lose the tournament. The Americans are dismayed by the loss but believe their colleague did the right thing. The South Korean team, recognizing the honor and mercy shown by their opponent, give their gold medals to the American fighters because they feel the Americans truly won.

* SchoolOfRock lose at Battle of the Bands, but everyone loves them, and they get a nice future in the closing credits.

* ''{{Cars}}''.

* [[{{Glee}} The McKinley High glee club]] lose at Regionals at the end of season one, but have a great time and get to continue glee club for another year.
** [[spoiler: They lose Nationals at the end of season two as well. Though it might be more of a case of them deserving what they got since they were [[BrilliantButLazy more than capable of doing better, but were extremely poorly prepared]] and how [[LoveRuinsTheRealm their leads seem to care more about their tumultuous romance than the team's well-being]].]]

Except for this time. This time, the underdogs lose by one fourth of a point in the last two seconds of over-time because the star player twisted his ankle at the worst possible time. The teams spirit is utterly crushed and they feel like they let everyone down. But then, their fans all start to cheer, the JerkJock captain of the rival team comes to praise them for being such {{Worthy Opponent}}s, and their coach congratulates them on playing such a great game. When they ask why everyone is so excited that they lost, their coach tells them that it's because they're still winners. ''[[{{Narm}} On the]] [[NarmCharm inside]].''

* [[{{Glee}} The McKinley High glee club]] lose at Regionals at the end of season one, but have a great time and get to continue glee club for another year.

* The baseball episode of ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine.'' The Niners lose, significantly, but in the process Sisko is reminded that baseball is meant to be ''fun'', and he shouldn't let his rivalry with the other captain interfere with that, and Rom gets to be a hero.