History Main / ICouldaBeenAContender

* This is how the plot of ''LightNovel/ICouldntBecomeAHeroSoIReluctantlyDecidedToGetAJob'' starts off. The protagonist Raul was the top of his class to become a hero, only for the [[BigBad demon king]] to kick the bucket. With peace brought into the world, the hero business was closed down and he's forced to work as a retail sales clerk, [[CripplingOverspecialization unable to find a job with abilities that he can't use in any other businesses]].

** Rocky Balboa is past his boxing prime at 30, his legs are going and soon everything's going to go with them. He's never progressed past low-stakes fights in dive bars, and moonlights as an enforcer for a loan shark to pay his bills. As a gimmick to fill an empty fight card, he's offered a title shot against Apollo Creed, the reigning Heavyweight champion. Rocky knows that he has no chance of actually winning, but he decides to give it his all to prove that he's not just "a bum".

** The old trainer Mickey Goldmill is crusty and bitter because he was never a success as a fighter.
** Rocky himself, which is one of the more realistic twists in the franchise. Despite only being thirty, Rocky is past his prime and missed his calling, stating that his legs are going and soon everything's going to go with them. Of course, the sequels changed all this by making him a successful fighter into his 40s and even brought him back when he was pushing sixty for another fight.
** Actually Zig-Zagged throughout the series. After winning his first world title, he's portrayed as a paper champion in the third before coming back and then having a forced retirement due to blunt-force trauma from the fourth. The last movie mostly ignores that last plot point, but makes his past-his-prime status a reality so that they can focus on strength training to make up for his lack of mobility.

** Similarly, Makoto was all set to become a professional swimmer until she got involved in a car accident that injured her leg. [[spoiler:In the UpdatedReRelease, in the Triangulum Arc, she subconsciously had knowledge of where the accident would take place and used a different route to avoid it altogether. Even so, she ended up dropping her dream and works with [=JP's=] anyway.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':

* ComicBook/LexLuthor keeps thinking of how he could have saved the world and humanity with his great intellect if not for ComicBook/{{Superman}}, and that he actually hates developing WeaponsOfMassDestruction and other MadScientist devices. This is repeatedly shown as a self-delusion, however, and both in Pre-Crisis and Post-Crisis stories, Superman has contempt for Luthor for wasting his genius on petty schemes when he could have saved the world years ago if he wanted.

* In the ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica''/''ComicBook/IronMan'' miniseries ''The Armor and the Shield'', the two face a group of aspiring heroes who call themselves the Paladins, who were trained under the Fifty-States Initiative (''ComicBook/CivilWar'') but never had a chance to do anything before the program collapsed. They were manipulated into assisting a conspiracy that would allow Veronica Eden to take control of Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. to eliminate or control all superhumans, but when their role in the scheme was exposed they tried to attack Rogers and Stark to cover it up. Team leader Vox observed that the team never had the chance to prove themselves, but Rogers countered that every day was a chance to prove themselves heroes, and the problem was that some people just didn't have the sense of responsibility to be real heroes, affirming that the Paladins had been tested and found wanting.

** ''Ultimate Spider-Man'' portrays scientists like Doctor Octavius and Shocker this way. Genuinely brilliant scientists and technicians who as a result of circumstances end up becoming villains.

* ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderman:'' Boomerang deeply misses his days of being a professional baseball player before being kicked out over a bribery scandal [[spoiler:and his overarching goal is to play one more game while in disguise.]]

* Double subverted in the film version of ''Film/{{Daredevil}}''. Matt Murdock's father used to be a boxer and ended up working as an enforcer for the mob. After Matt gets blinded, his father decides to clean up his act and become a boxer again. He does very well for himself. [[spoiler:Then, as he's preparing for a fairly major fight, he finds out that the mob's been behind all his victories, paying his opponents to throw fights.]]

* ''Film/TheGodfather'' Played with: Don Vito Corleone expresses his regret to his son Michael that he couldn't turn the family legit in his lifetime, or at least spare Michael from taking over as Don. In this case, it's the father despairing for his son:

* In [[UsefulNotes/TheEighties 1980s]] UsefulNotes/{{Mumbai}} there were two classmates, Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli who were seen as UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} prodigies. Both of them had been sent to a famous coach Ramkanth Achrekar to hone their batting skills. Both of them emerged as perfect foils for each other. While Tendulkar was a budding technical right handed batsman, Kambli was the flashier more aggressive left handed batsman. Tendulkar would be selected into the Indian cricket team as a sixteen year old in 1989, make his One-Day debut that year and make his test debut in 1990, becoming the youngest international test centurion ever. Kambli would join Tendulkar on the One-Day squad in 1991but he’d have to wait till early 1993 to make his test debut. And it was a memorable one, with Kambli scoring a double century on his home ground in Mumbai, then following it up with another double century in Kolkata a few months later against a different opponent. He’d reach 2000 test runs weeks later, becoming one of the fastest to reach it. Kambli was now being hailed as “Tendulkar’s left handed equivalent”, with some even claiming that he had more raw talent than Tendulkar. But the two men handled the sudden onset of wealth and fame in different ways. While Tendulkar, who came from a middle class family, was content to live a quiet private life with his physician wife, Kambli embraced a hard drinking party animal lifestyle. Which did neither his fitness nor his concentration any good, and his batting performance started to falter.

->'''Charley Malloy:''' Look, kid, I -- how much you weigh, Slick? When you weighed one hundred and sixty-eight pounds you were beautiful. You coulda been another Billy Conn, and that skunk we got you for a manager, he brought you along too fast.
->'''Terry Malloy:''' It wasn't him, Charley, it was you. Remember that night in the Garden you came down to my dressing room and you said, "Kid, this ain't your night. We're going for the price on Wilson." You remember that? "This ain't your night"! My night! I coulda taken Wilson apart! So what happens? He gets the title shot outdoors on the ballpark and what do I get? A one-way ticket to Palooka-ville! You was my brother, Charley, you shoulda looked out for me a little bit. You shoulda taken care of me just a little bit so I wouldn't have to take them dives for the short-end money.
->'''Charley Malloy:''' Oh I had some bets down for you. You saw some money.
->'''Terry Malloy:''' You don't understand. I coulda had class. [[TropeNamers I coulda been a contender!]] I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.

{{Retirony}} is especially cruel when it strikes a character down in their prime just as they begin embarking on success and glory. At least the old soldiers in combat made something out of their lives even if they found no peace afterwards. These young souls don't have the opportunity to become somebodies -- they get just a little taste of it before suffering a CareerEndingInjury or when circumstances, including death force them to throw it all away. Naturally, this will be right after (or right before) they reach the point that would make them bonafide superstars.

** Ultimate Spider-Man portrays scientists like Doctor Octavius and Shocker this way. Genuinely brilliant scientists and technicians who as a result of circumstances end up becoming villains.
** For a long time in the comics, many saw Peter Parker himself as this. A science prodigy as a high school student who makes a living as a freelance photographer and was traditionally seen as the underachiever in his social circle. The fact that by his mid-20s he kept having the same life as his high school days (balancing his Aunt, his relationships, his rent, his superhero work) only cemented this. For a time, writers made him a CEO of his own corporation specifically to challenge this idea, and also to update the setting since it strains credibility for Spider-Man to remain poor and struggling and ''still'' operate in a contemporary New York of high student loans, high rent and constant expenses.

* Marty's BadFuture in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII''; A car accident resulted in a hand injury that left him unable to play the guitar.

-->''In the book, Carrie, she was just a complete loser and I felt there needed to be some...a little ray of hope...it would make it sadder if Carrie could have been the Prom Queen, that if there was a possibility she could pull it off. It would make it sadder when the walls came tumbling down.''
* {{Inverted|Trope}} by ''Film/CitizenKane'', when he is forced to give up the control of his empire. Hardly a nobody. Very disillusioned, he reflects that it was his ''advantages'' that stole him his chance at true greatness:

* Double subverted in the film version of ''Film/{{Daredevil}}''. Matt Murdock's father used to be a boxer and ended up working as an enforcer for the mob. After Matt gets blinded, his father decides to clean up his act and become a boxer again. He does very well for himself. [[spoiler:Then, as he's preparing for a fairly major fight, he finds out that the mob's been behind all his victories, paying his opponents to throw fights]].
* Deconstructed in the film ''Film/TheFan''. Creator/RobertDeNiro's character is convinced that he could have been a major league baseball player and latches onto Creator/WesleySnipes' character as someone to live vicariously through. Things go downhill fast. [[spoiler:Near the end of the movie, it turns out that De Niro's character had never played ball beyond ''little league'']].

* ''Film/TheGodfather'' Played with: Don Vito Corleone expresses his regret to his son Michael that he couldn't turn the family legit in his lifetime, or at least spared Michael from taking over as Don. In this case, it's the father despairing for his son:

* ''Film/HappyGilmore'' features the main character becoming a pro golfer under the tutelage of Chubbs Peterson, a former golfer who was hyped up by Sports Illustrated to be "the next Arnold Palmer" until an alligator bit off his hand, forcing him to retire.
-->'''Chubbs:''' Yeah, tournament down in Florida. I hooked my ball in the rough down by the lake...damned alligator popped up! Cut me down in my prime!
* ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife'' - everything in George Bailey's life [[StatusQuoIsGod conspires to trap him in Bedford Falls]]. Sure, he eventually realizes it was [[TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong probably better for everyone else]] that way, but Creator/FrankCapra doesn't [[BadNewsInAGoodWay sugarcoat]] the initial regret and frustration as it all piles onto George's shoulders.

* In ''Film/NapoleonDynamite'' Uncle Rico is this character played for laughs. He firmly believes that if his high-school coach had just let him carry a football during a crucial game back in 1982, that he'd be a Hall of Fame NFL star today. Most of his activity in the movie is spent passive-aggressively abusing his nephews and earning enough money for a time machine to transport himself back to his old high school glory days. It is revealed towards the end of the film that he was a benchwarmer, and was never actually in the game at all.

* The TropeNamer is ''Film/OnTheWaterfront'', which has Terry calling out his brother Charley for making him [[ThrowingTheFight take a dive]] against Wilson and ending his boxing career before it even had a chance to begin. A double-layered irony, as the claim is not even "I coulda been a champion" but merely "I coulda been ''a contender''" -- that is, he could have had a chance... at having a chance.

** Actually Zig-Zagged throughout the series. After winning his first world title he's portrayed as a paper champion in the third before coming back and then having a forced retirement due to blunt-force trauma from the fourth. The last movie mostly ignores that last plot point but makes his past-his-prime status a reality so that they can focus on strength training to make up for his lack of mobility.

** There was Rhaegar Targaryen, one of the most promising warriors in not only the history of his house but also the Seven Kingdoms, and was prophesied to become the Prince That Was Promised (although he thought that his son, Aegon, was the one). Unfortunately, he was born as heir to the [[TheCaligula Mad King Aerys]], who was jealous of his son's popularity, and then brought the fall of the entire house, the early deaths of Rhaegar and his children, and the exile of the remaining Targaryens to Essos. The only person who doesn't idolize Rhaegar in the present day is Robert Baratheon, and a few lament what could have been had he reigned on the Iron Throne.

*** His mother Daena Targaryen could have been queen in her own right after her brother King Baelor died, but she had no supporters after her [[GirlInTheTower long confinement]]. Also, the brutal civil war that happened when her grandmother Rhaenyra tried to become queen (after which [[HeirClubForMen women were de facto barred]] from the throne) was still fresh in everyone's collective memories. Her uncle Viserys ([[TheGoodChancellor who pretty much ruled Westeros for the past decade and a half because his royal nephews couldn't be bothered to]]) took the throne instead.

* Ted, the co-pilot in ''Series/PanAm'', used to be a Navy test pilot...until he crashed his plane, [[spoiler: ruining his chances of getting into the space program]]. The worse part is, that it was probably an equipment malfunction but the faulty equipment was manufactured by Ted's father's company and his father killed the investigation to preserve his contracts.

* In ''Series/{{Graceland}}'' Johnny could have been a US Navy SEAL but on the last day of Hell Week, he was hit by a boat. It's subverted because he is not really bitter about it. His time in the Navy got him US citizenship and after leaving the Navy he easily landed a job as an FBI agent.

* The [=UnSub=] of one episode of ''Series/CriminalMinds'' was a former high school football star in a small, football-obsessed town, who was reduced to working as a garbageman after blowing out his knee in his senior year, while his teammates abandoned him and went on to college on scholarships, and had the successful careers and families he believed he should have had. He got his "revenge" on the team by abducting their neglected, soccer-playing daughters and forcing them to kill each other.

* On ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' Sherlock tries to avert this for his colleague and friend Detective Marcus Bell. Marcus is a top-notch detective and his cooperation with Sherlock has produced spectacular results. However, Sherlock realizes that Marcus's career has become too tightly tied to Sherlock. When Captain Gregson retires, the new captain might have a less enlightened view of police consultants like Sherlock and Joan, so they would be forced to move and Marcus's career would likely be sidelined. To void this, Sherlock passes Marcus's file to a friend in the US Marshall Service who's more than happy to offer Marcus a job. Becoming a US Marshall would be an ideal job for Marcus and would allow him to progress his career. Marcus is not happy with the meddling but admits that if he did not take the US Marshall job he would probably regret it for the rest of his life.

* Rom from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' is an absolute genius when it comes to engineering who could have very easily thrived had he pursued a career in that field, but instead chose to follow [[ProudMerchantRace Ferengi]] cultural expectations and become a businessman (which he has zero talent for). This is what motivates his son Nog to join Starfleet because he knows that he isn't cut out to be a businessman either and [[LoserSonOfLoserDad doesn't want to make the same mistake]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately subverted for Rom as well, as Nog's example makes him realize he can strive for better too and he steps away from business to start a career in engineering. Just before the [[GrandFinale series finale]] he's appointed to be the new Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, so that he can oversee the transition of Ferengi society into a democracy.]]

* Mitsuki Hayase in ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts''. At the beginning of the story, she's already a bonafide Olympic-grade swimmer. Then, [[WhamEpisode her best friend Haruka got hit in a car accident, all because she chatted with her other friend, Haruka's would-be boyfriend, Takayuki, way too long on his way to date Haruka]]. At that point, she became unable to swim further, eventually quits, and ends up as a [[{{Salaryman}} salary woman]]. Over time, when she passes a swimming pool, she's always reminded of this fact. [[FromBadToWorse And things just go downhill from that point on]].
** The anime version at the end also had a shot of her looking at the newspaper, and saw Haruka's sister Akane, also Mitsuki's 'protege/successor', eventually making it to the Olympic championship, which makes [[BittersweetEnding the ending really bittersweet]], even if Takayuki returned his love to her and promises to restart anew together.

* Despite having a life of fame and fortune, Sarah Lynn of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' always wanted to be an architect - an aspiration shot down by everyone around her, including [[StageMom her own mother]]. This dream continues even in her adult years. [[spoiler:And is even her final words before her fatal overdose.]]

** Homer admired UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy and dreamt of being President one day during his childhood. As a middle-aged man, he remarks the constant disencouragement and contempt he received from his father turned him into [[TheAlcoholic an alcoholic]] and a deadbeat. For similar reasons, he also failed to be a gymnast.

** This is also true of some of the women characters. Marge Simpson while a dedicated housewife, occasionally wonders about what she gave up to be with Homer, Edna Krabbappel laments her poor love life and her boring job teaching disinterested fourth graders at a terrible school. Even the kids, however talented they may be, are probably stifled by the town and the education system and Lisa Simpson constantly fears that she will never fulfill her potential.

-->'''Maul:''' I was apprentice to the most powerful being in the galaxy once. I was destined to become...so much more. But I was robbed of that destiny by the Jedi, by [[ArchEnemy Obi-Wan Kenobi]].

* Creator/ChristopherMarlowe was 29 years old when he died in a bar brawl at Deptford. He was the most popular and successful playwright of his time and highly admired. Today he's remembered for being the guy who influenced Creator/WilliamShakespeare which is a high honor at any rate, but his own plays ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus'', ''Theatre/EdwardII'', ''Theatre/TheJewOfMalta'', ''Theatre/{{Tamburlaine}}'' are far less performed and adapted than Shakespeare's, and he's read by academics and Elizabethan scholars rather than general public. Creator/JorgeLuisBorges noted that many of Marlowe's lines have power equal to Shakespeare, and note that at the time of Marlowe's death, Shakespeare had still to find his voice. Many critics have argued that if he had lived longer, he would perhaps have had a body of work equal to or ''greater'' than Shakespeare.

** The most famous example, in English history, is Edward the Black Prince, heir to King Edward III, a key commander at the Battle of Crecy during UsefulNotes/TheHundredYearsWar, seen by many as the "flower of chivalry". He died in his 40s, a year before his father, and the reign passed to his young son, UsefulNotes/RichardII. Indeed, historians note that the Black Prince's death and the SuccessionCrisis that stemmed from the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses could have been averted had the Prince lived longer.

* Charles Stewart Parnell is this for UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}}. He was a Protestant who was popular and liked by Catholic Irish, sought to create consensus for Home Rule in the Parliament and he was a partial TropeMaker of the "Boycott" protest tactic[[note]]Named after an English land agent Charles Boycott who was ruthlessly preying on poor tenants. In order to make a protest, Parnell proposed to his constituents that they refuse to treat Boycott socially, refuse to work on his lands, and refuse to sell or treat him socially in any way, with Boycott's name becoming a verb. This protest was used in many non-violent resistance movements, most notably in UsefulNotes/{{India}}, UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica and is still a major part of the global protest toolkit and lexicon[[/note]]. He was regarded by historian A. J. P. Taylor as a founder of Irish nationalism. Yet, Parnell's career was undone by a sex scandal which led him to be abandoned by the fragile coalition that was kept around him, with the Catholic clergy especially abandoning him, creating divides between them and the Liberal Republican (such as Creator/JamesJoyce who kept referring to Parnell in his books in a very positive, even hagiographic, manner). Parnell is seen as the one politician who could have healed the Catholic-Protestant Divide and many in Ireland and England think that if his career was not disgraced, the UsefulNotes/TheIrishRevolution and UsefulNotes/TheTroubles could have been avoided entirely. He was known as "the Uncrowned King of Ireland".

** What would history have been like had Hannibal Barca conquered Rome? Or if Queen Boudicca liberated Britain? Or Spartacus triumphed in the Third Servile War? Of if Arminius succeeded in uniting Germany into a counter-Empire of Rome as he envisioned? Could Hannibal have sustained and consolidated his conquests and then built and ruled a united Carthago-Roman Empire? Could Britain have maintained its matriarchal traditions and become a proto-feminist Kingdom? Could slavery have been abolished in the classical world? The spectacular, prodigious displays of talent in these individuals' brief careers, have made them a favorite of alternate historians and novelists.

* After she made the cover of Time at the age of eighteen around the time ''Film/PrettyInPink'' was released, big things were expected of Creator/MollyRingwald, who had made a splash with ''Film/SixteenCandles'' and ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. However, an acrimonious split with Creator/JohnHughes, failed attempts to gain more respect as a young actress, and her own personal crises led to her career going downhill by the end of the eighties. Since ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager'', she's mainly been playing smaller parts, particularly mothers or mother figures, for [[MoneyDearBoy an easy paycheck.]] The remnants of her fanbase aren't exactly pleased with what she's become.

{{Retirony}} is especially cruel when it strikes a character down in their prime just as they begin embarking on success and glory. At least the old soldiers in combat made something out of their lives even if they found no peace afterwards. These young souls don't have the opportunity to become somebodies -- they get just a little taste of it before suffering a CareerEndingInjury or when circumstances force them to throw it all away. Naturally, this will be right after (or right before) they reach the point that would make them bonafide superstars.

Then Wrestling/HulkHogan and Wrestling/EricBischoff [[DorkAge happened]]. These days, TNA is a running joke, mocked by the fans that once held it up as the future of ProfessionalWrestling, with constant shots at their nonsensical storylines, idiotic business management, and outright ''asinine'' PR decisions. Many are actually hoping it dies rather than continue on as a pale shadow of its former glory because TNA has fallen that far as a promotion.

->'''Terry Malloy:''' You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender! I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it. It was you, Charley.

** In the 'Club of Heroes' arc in Creator/GrantMorrison's [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman run on]] ''Batman'', several of the Batmen of All Nations have fallen prey to this since the team-up which could have propelled them to international prominence and fame sputtered out after two meetings, one of which Batman himself didn't bother to show up for. [[spoiler:Wingman]], however, suffers most of all, since his bitterness at being denied what he sees as his chance to be in the big leagues leads to his FaceHeelTurn in that arc. Batman, naturally, is scathing:

* ''Film/{{Carrie}}'' according to Sissy Spacek. As she explains in ''A Decade Under the Influence'':

* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by ''Film/CitizenKane'', when he is forced to give up the control of his empire. Hardly a nobody. Very disillusioned, he reflects that it was his ''advantages'' that stole him his chance at true greatness:

* ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'': While {{downplayed|Trope}} as the titular Endo actually knows he is unlikely to go pro even without his CareerEndingInjury, he is working actively to {{def|iedTrope}}y this trope. This is because his past has been so entwined with baseball (his father is the school baseball coach in a rural community) that he doesn't want to make himself ''hating'' the sport because of this. This is why he made a clear cut from competitive play (even declining an offer for a PostInjuryDeskJob from the school baseball team) and trying to explore the possibilities in a career in sports commentary.

** Downplayed with Leo Farley. He muses that if he hadn't retired he could've made police commissioner of the NYPD and that he misses police work, but then tells himself that protecting his family is much more important to him, he having quit after Blue Eyes murdered his son-in-law and threated to kill his daughter and grandson.

* Ursula Vernon wrote a [[http://ursulav.deviantart.com/art/It-Was-A-Day-398345793?q=gallery%3Aursulav&qo=4 poem]] which is partly about people who haven't succeeded in life and blame others for it.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** Ned Stark thinks his late brother Brandon would have been the better Lord of Winterfell.
** There was Rhaegar Targaryen, one of the most promising warriors in not only the history of his house but also the Seven Kingdoms, and was prophesied to become the Prince That Was Promised (although he thought that his son, Aegon, was the one). Unfortunately, he was born as heir to the [[TheCaligula Mad King Aerys]], who was jealous of his son's popularity, and then brought the fall of the entire house, the early deaths of Rhaegar and his children, and the exile of the remaining Targaryens to Essos. The only person who doesn't idolize Rhaegar in the present day is Robert Baratheon, and a few lament what could have been had he reigned on the Iron Throne.
** Viserys Targaryen II was the longest-serving Hand and was already old when he became king. He reigned for only a year and it's thought he could have done the realm more good had he lived.
** Daemon Blackfyre was considered the greatest uncrowned king of Westeros. His failed rebellion cemented him only as a villain.
*** His mother Daena Targaryen could have been queen in her own right after her brother King Baelor died, but she had no supporters after her [[GirlInTheTower long confinement]]. Also, the brutal civil war that happened when her grandmother Rhaenyra tried to become queen (after which [[HeirClubForMen women were de facto barred]] from the throne) was still fresh in everyone's collective memories. Her uncle Viserys ([[TheGoodChancellor who pretty much ruled Westeros for the past decade and a half because his royal nephews couldn't be bothered to]]) took the throne instead.
** Prince Baelor Breakspear shared the same reputation as Daemon but he got accidentally killed in a tourney melee.
** "King" Renly Baratheon was popular but he was assassinated. Thanks to the regime's PR machine, he is remembered as a hero who lifted the siege of the capital instead of TheUsurper that caused the siege in the first place.
** Subverted in the case of Willas Tyrell. Willas broke his leg in a tournament he entered at age fourteen, and the break never healed properly, effectively killing his dreams of knighthood. However, he quickly re-invented himself as a GentlemanAndAScholar and became one of Westeros' leading experts on falconry and animal husbandry, as well as something of a political prodigy.
** After her little brother Jaehaerys became king (and generally held to be the ''best'' king Westeros ever had), Queen Rhaena spent the rest of her life grumbling about how he and his sister-wife "stole" the throne from her, even though she spent all her time in seclusion, had NoSocialSkills even before the massive TraumaCongaLine that followed her marriage, and never showed any interest in actually ruling to begin with.
* In ''Literature/KeepingYouASecret'', Holland's mother wanted to be a lawyer but never did because she got pregnant in high school. She both resents Holland and wants her to live out her mother's dreams -- she relentlessly drives Holland to take advanced classes, become student body president, apply to the country's top universities. She assumes that Holland is going to major in pre-law, and won't let Holland tell her otherwise. Furthermore, she micromanages her daughter's life, even spying on her, constantly telling her that she doesn't want her to "throw away her life" as the mother did.

* ''LightNovel/EndoAndKobayashiLiveTheLatestOnTsundereVillainessLieselotte'': While {{downplayed|Trope}} as the titular Endo actually knows he is unlikely to go pro even without his CareerEndingInjury, he is working actively to {{def|iedTrope}}y this trope. This is because his past has been so entwined with baseball (his father is the school baseball coach in a rural community) that he doesn't want to make himself ''hating'' the sport because of this. This is why he made a clear cut from competitive play (even declining an offer for a PostInjuryDeskJob from the school baseball team) and trying to explore the possibilities in a career in sports commentary.

* The central premise of ''Series/{{Suits}}'' is based on a subversion. Mike could have been a great lawyer but the PoisonousFriend influence of Trevor got him expelled from college. When the series starts he is reduced to taking exams for other people for money and is about to be busted for being a drug courier. A chance encounter with Harvey, a top-level lawyer in one of the best law firms in the city, gives him a second chance. Harvey is so impressed by Mike that he hires him as his associate even though Mike has no law degree. Mike now has to use all his skills and talent to keep this dream job.

** Ultimate Spider-Man portrays scientists like Doctor Octavious and Shocker this way. Genuinely brilliant scientists and technicians who as a result of circumstances end up becoming villains.
** For a long time in the comics, many saw Peter Parker himself as this. A science prodigy as a high school student who makes a living as a freelance photographer and was traditionally seen as the underachiever in his social circle. The fact that by his mid-20s he kept having the same life as his high school days (balancing his Aunt, his relationships, his rent, his superhero work) only cemented this. Recently, writers have made him a CEO of his own corporation specifically to challenge this idea, and also to update the setting since it strains credibility for Spider-Man to remain poor and struggling and ''still'' operate in a contemporary New York of high student loans, high rent and constant expenses.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''Film/NapoleonDynamite'' Uncle Rico is this character played for laughs. He firmly believes that if his high-school coach had just let him carry a football during a crucial game back in 1982, that he'd be a Hall of Fame NFL star today. Most of his activity in the movie is spent passive-aggressively abusing his nephews and earning enough money for a time machine to transport himself back to his old high school glory days. Double subverted when it's revealed towards the end of the film that he was a benchwarmer and was never actually in the game.