History Main / UnderdogsNeverLose

* In ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'', the four main characters Vivio, Einhart, Rio and Corona are not the only contestants, who participate in the Inter-Middle Championship for the first time. One of the others in Miura Rinaldi, a pupil of the Wolkenritter, who is, like Einhart, just two years older than the ten years old Vivio, Rio and Corona. In her first match, she fights the 18 years old veteran Micaiah Chevelle, who has participated in the tournament for seven years. To surprise to everyone, Miura wins. And then, there is her third match, against ''TheHeroine'' Vivio, a BroughtDownToBadass CloneJesus and the daughter of [[{{Badass}} Nanoha and Fate]]. ''Side character'' Miura wins. She defeats the main character of the series in the third preliminary round of a ''tournament''.

* In ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'', the four main characters Vivio, Einhart, Rio and Corona are not the only contestants, who participate in thee Inter-Middle Championship for the first time. One of the others in Miura Rinaldi, a pupil of the Wolkenritter, who is, like Einhart, just two years older than the ten years old Vivio, Rio and Corona. In her first match, she fights the 18 years old veteran Micaiah Chevelle, who has participated in the tournament for seven years. To surprise to everyone, Miura wins. And then, there is her third match, against ''TheHeroine'' Vivio, a BroughtDownToBadass CloneJesus and the daughter of [[{{Badass}} Nanoha and Fate]]. ''Side character'' Miura wins. She defeats the main character of the series in the third preliminary round of a ''tournament''.

* In ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'', the four main characters Vivio, Einhart, Rio and Corona are not the only contestants, who participate in thee Inter-Middle Championship for the first time. One of the others in Miura Rinaldi, a pupil of the Wolkenritter, who is, like Einhart, just two years older than the ten years old Vivio, Rio and Corona. In her first match, she fights the 18 years old veteran Micaiah Chevelle, who has participated in the tournament for seven years. To surprise to everyone, Miura wins. And then, there is her second match, against ''TheHeroine'' Vivio, a BroughtDownToBadass CloneJesus and the daughter of [[{{Badass}} Nanoha and Fate]]. ''Side character'' Miura wins. She defeats the main character of the series in the second round of a ''tournament''.

* In ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid'', the four main characters Vivio, Einhart, Rio and Corona are not the only contestants in their Inter-Middle Championship. One of the others in Miura Rinaldi, a pupil of the Wolkenritter, who is, like Einhart, just two years older than the ten years old Vivio, Rio and Corona. In her first match, she fights the 18 years old veteran Micaiah Chevelle, who has participated in the tournament for seven years. To surprise to everyone, Miura wins. And then, there is her second match, against ''TheHeroine'' Vivio, a BroughtDownToBadass CloneJesus and the daughter of [[{{Badass}} Nanoha and Fate]]. ''Side character'' Miura wins. She defeats the main character of the series in the second round of a ''tournament''.

* Spike Dudley's singles run in {{Wrestling/ECW}} was built on alternately playing this trope straight and subverting it. A Spike Dudley match would just as likely end with Spike pulling off an improbable victory (taking a beating in the process) or getting utterly trashed (but [[TheDeterminator never giving up]]).

* Spike Dudley's singles run in {{ECW}} was built on alternately playing this trope straight and subverting it. A Spike Dudley match would just as likely end with Spike pulling off an improbable victory (taking a beating in the process) or getting utterly trashed (but [[TheDeterminator never giving up]]).

** This actually a well-known phenomenon in any professional (or just SeriousBusiness) game: You can't predict the opponent's MetaGame if they don't ''have'' a metagame. It is a phenomenon noted in Game Theory. Essentially, in many situations, there is usually a best choice and strategy. And more often than not, the only thing that can beat this is no plan at all as part of making a good choice in a game is based on what you know the other person to be doing. This is especially notable in games where patterns play a heavy part of the game like poker. The unseen corollary then becomes to switch to tactics that are particularly effective against new players.

* Played with in VideoGame/{{Fallout3}} with the Tenpenny Tower quest. Despite having enough money to purchase a room, Roy and his ghouls are denied entry into the complex because [[FantasticRacism they're ghouls]]. Obviously the underdogs in the affair, helping them gain entry is the [[KarmaMeter morally high]] option. Come back later and [[spoiler:the "underdogs" have killed every human in the tower.]] NiceJobBreakingItHero.

* The ''{{CHERUB}}'' book "Divine Madness" has James try to envision himself "as the plucky underdog in a kids movie" during a Martial Arts exercise. Needless to say, he's one of the "losers" when it's all over.

* Played dead straight in MercedesLackey's ''TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms''. A GenreSavvy troop leader recruits [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits an army entirely of teenage girls]] knowing The Tradition (an ambient magical force in the land) will enact this trope and make them all fight like experts.

* [[TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] is often the underdog, and usually wins in the end. At one point, he ends up fighting the Billy Goats Gruff (no, really), who are a fairy tale example, for beating the much larger and more powerful trolls. When Harry faces the eldest (and most powerful) brother, he acknowledges Harry as [[WorthyOpponent a fellow underdog]].
-->'''Eldest Gruff:''' I dislike being cast as the troll.
** Dresden may be a subversion of this, as while he's normally in an underdog position, he's one of the smartest, strongest, and most clever wizards out there. It's gotten to the point where most powerful enemies are more concerned about him than the entire White Council.
* The ''PitDragonTrilogy'' initially ignores this, then ''mocks it''. Heart's Blood is big, tough, and most certainly not an underdog.

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT05mByzByQ In this sketch]], the more the coach of the opposing baseball team recognizes this and [[SportsStoryTropes other related tropes]], [[OhCrap the more hope for a victorious outcome for his team he loses]].

Related to TheGoodGuysAlwaysWin. InvincibleIncompetent is this trope as used in fiction. Can overlap with the UnspokenPlanGuarantee -- both tropes happen because watching a foregone conclusion happen as expected, whether because it's part of the plan or because the expected winner is [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment expected to win]], is boring for the audience.

!Examples:

->''"The clacks company was a big bully, sacking people, racking up the charges, demanding lots of money for bad service. The Post Office was the underdog, and an underdog can always find somewhere soft to bite."''

* In ''HereComesTheBoom'', an overweight high school teacher, played by Kevin James, trains for a few months and then goes on to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter and wins a UFC tournament... after just a few months training.

* Often implied with Rey Mysterio, having the moniker of "The Ultimate Underdog" and generally something of a bully magnet for [[EvilIsPetty heel wrestlers]] due to his small stature. Despite that however he is noted for his remarkable agility in ring and fairly large success rate. The large amount of losses he suffers are usually made obvious they are due to unfair stipulations or illegitimate tactics from his opponent.

* In ''Here Comes the Boom'', an overweight high school teacher, played by Kevin James, trains for a few months and then goes on to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter and wins a UFC tournament... after just a few months training.

* Played dead straight in MercedesLackey's ''Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms''. A GenreSavvy troop leader recruits [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits an army entirely of teenage girls]] knowing The Tradition (an ambient magical force in the land) will enact this trope and make them all fight like experts.

* ''Webcomics/SurvivorFanCharacters'' loves this trope: nine times out of ten when a positive underdog player or alliance is played up as being hopelessly outmatched by a more numerous and villainous alliance, one of its members will go on to win the whole thing, with four out of its first nine winners fitting this trope perfectly. The only real exception to this is Norman from Season 6 who was the last guy remaining but seemed to have a fighting chance against the crumbling female alliance, only to be eliminated in the same episode.

* Played straight in ''Kingpin'' until the hero pulls ahead and the ''villain'' needs a MillionToOneChance to win. Then, that trope takes over...

* Parodied in [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28032 this Onion article]], which is also a send-up of an entire genre of summer camp movies.

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]

* Horriby averted by TripleH at Wrestlemania XIX in his match against Booker T. Booker was presented as the underdog all the way in: HHH cut some truly horrible promos (some of which bordered on racism), and by the time the feud was white hot, Booker could not have been more underdog. HHH had been presented as an unstoppably dominant force of selfish evil, and Booker a man who'd made some poor decisions, but could redeem himself at 'Mania. In the match, it turned out that HHH ''was'' an unstoppably dominant force. Given that 'Mania title matches usually feature performers kicking out of finishers (to show the importance of the event), HHH duly kicked out of Booker's finishers. When Booker got hit with HHH's first finisher, he stayed down, and HHH got the strap. What made this even more galling was that HHH waited ''twenty seven seconds'' to make the pin, meaning he not only squashed the underdog, he got a legitimate ''thirty count'' against the Booker Man. After that, it was pretty much all over for T, and it wasn't until his "King Booker" gimmick a few years later that he managed to build up the slightest credibility as a main eventer again. Needless to say, there's a reason that HHH's 2002-2004 season is called "The Reign of Terror."
** It was also around this point that Triple H's status as son-in-law to VinceMcMahon (he was dating StephanieMcMahon at the time and they were married later that year) came under intense scrutiny from Smarks.
* Spike Dudley's singles run in {{ECW}} was built on alternately playing this trope straight and subverting it. A Spike Dudley match would just as likely end with Spike pulling off an improbable victory (taking a beating in the process) or getting utterly trashed (but [[TheDeterminator never giving up]]).

[[folder:Theatre]]
* As much as you can expect out of a play that can be translated as "The Miserable Ones", this trope painfully averted in ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', [[DyingMomentOfAwesome one red flag wave at a time]].

[[folder:Literature]]
* Arguably, subverted in ''[[Literature/{{Discworld}} Unseen Academicals]]'', in that the United team hadn't had as much time to practice with the new football and new rules as the Unseen University team, nor did it include an orangutan goalkeeper. Of course, in this instance the real issue wasn't who'd win the match, but who'd ''survive'' the match.
** The United captain said at the end that his team probably could have won if certain members hadn't wasted their efforts on [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat shenanigans]].

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Actually subverted in the season one finale of ''Series/{{Glee}}'', in which [[spoiler:New Directions is a big hit with the audience at regionals but ultimately loses -- fair and square, because several of the judges are snobs.]]
** And subverted again in the season two finale, in which [[spoiler: New Directions loses badly at Nationals, ''as a direct consequence'' of trusting to their underdog powers of 'heart', enthusiasm and lack of preparedness, as well as the unprofessionalism of their default lead singers]].
* Also subverted in a ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode where the inexperienced crew plays a baseball game against a super-skilled team of Vulcans. They get clobbered, but they do manage to score one run in the [[DownToTheLastPlay last inning]] and celebrate anyway.
** They celebrate because the Vulcan captain is an asshole and had declared the [[IncrediblyLamePun DSNiners]] wouldn't score at all. They did it just to piss him off, and succeeded.
* A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example in the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "TKO". Walker Smith, the underdog, fights the Sho-Rin Gyor to an honorable draw.

[[foldercontrol]]

* In ''CoachCarter'' the school basketball team qualifies for the state tournament as the lowest seed and get mocked by their opponents (who are much better on paper). [[spoiler:They lose the game, though not until [[DownToTheLastPlay the final shot]], and win the respect of their opponents. The students also emerge from the experience as overall better people, not just as better students.]]
* In Here Comes the Boom, an overweight high school teacher, played by Kevin James, trains for a few months and then goes on to become a professional mixed martial arts fighter and wins a UFC tournament... after just a few months training.

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[[folder:Comics]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Actually subverted in the season one finale of ''{{Glee}}'', in which [[spoiler:New Directions is a big hit with the audience at regionals but ultimately loses -- fair and square, because several of the judges are snobs.]]

* In WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra we follow the plucky Fire-Ferrets, a pro-bending team composed of a young Avatar-in-training and two brothers off the street. They are very much expected to lose against the defending champs, [[OpposingSportsTeam the Wolf-Bats.]] [[spoiler: Thanks to some beyond-blatant cheating from the Wolf-Bats, they lose the championship game... though the winners [[LaserGuidedKarma lose their ''bending''.]]]]

* Ash's match with his Unova League rival Cameron in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}} notably has this happen to Cameron. Cameron accidently brought only 5 mons to Ash's 6, ends up facing half his team with only Riolu, two of wich have a type advantage and still pull off the win. Notably flying in the face of Ash's luck wich is more typical of anime, combined with Unova being the Pokemon version of America shows some implications. Oddly enough he gets beaten 3-6 right after.

* In WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra we follow the plucky Fire-Ferrets, a pro-bending team composed of a young Avatar-in-training and two brothers off the street. They are very much expected to lose against the defending champs, [[OpposingSportsTeam the Wolf-Bats.]] [[spoiler: Thanks to some beyond-blatant cheating from the Wolf-Bats, they lose the championship game... though the winners [[LazerGuidedKarma lose their ''bending''.]]]]

* In WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra we follow the plucky Fire-Ferrets, a pro-bending team composed of a young Avatar-in-training and two brothers off the street. They are very much expected to lose against the running champions and very powerful Wolf-Bats. [[spoiler: Thanks to cheating from the Wolf-Bats, they lose the championship...though the winners loose their ''bending''.]]