History Main / XMustNotWin

-->''Bertram:'' Worth it!!!

->'''Fluttershy:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That big...dumb...]] [[LetsGetDangerous MEANIE!]]

It is a spiteful component of persistence; even when it's the good guys who feel this way about the bad guys, it [[AntiHero raises some form of moral ambiguity that this fuels it]]. On the otherhand, this is also used in cases were the character in question winning [[OmnicidalManiac really would be a very ]] [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans bad idea]].

* Often times [[AnimalWrongsGroup PETA's]] involvement in a cause will lead many people to oppose the cause more than they would otherwise, simply because they despise the thought of allowing PETA victories.

* In the ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat Mortal Kombat]]'' [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 reboot]], [[spoiler:this gets ''inverted'' as Raiden finds out the prophecy of "[[ArcWords He must win]]" means that Shao Kahn must take over Earth in order for the realms to be saved from Armageddon. Though played straight in the sense that Shao Kahn ''is'' the Armageddon the realms need to be saved from; its just that, if he is allowed to conquer Earth in the past, then the Elder Gods will destroy him before he can attain godlike power in the BadFuture.]]

* In Creator/AchievementHunter's ''[[LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries Let's Play Minecraft]]'', this is pretty much the team's thoughts on [[Creator/GavinFree Gav]][[{{Troll}} in]]: if he's close to victory, they'll pull out the stops to make sure he doesn't win. It's the only reason why, when he's putting on his A-Game, he's only won three Tower of Pimps.

* In [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the Mortal Kombat reboot]], [[spoiler:this gets ''inverted'' as Raiden finds out the prophecy of "[[ArcWords He must win]]" means that Shao Kahn must take over Earth in order for the realms to be saved from Armageddon. Though played straight in the sense that Shao Kahn ''is'' the Armageddon the realms need to be saved from; its just that, if he is allowed to conquer Earth in the past, then the Elder Gods will destroy him before he can attain godlike power in the BadFuture.]]

* In the ''LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries'', this is pretty much the team's thoughts on [[{{Troll}} Gavin]]: if he's close to victory, they'll pull out the stops to make sure he doesn't win. It's the only reason why, when he's putting on his A-Game, he's only won three Tower of Pimps.

[[AC:WebOrigina]]
* In the ''LetsPlay/AchievementHunterMinecraftSeries'', this is pretty much the team's thoughts on [[{{Troll}} Gavin]]: if he's close to victory, they'll pull out the stops to make sure he doesn't win. It's the only reason why, when he's putting on his A-Game, he's only one three Tower of Pimps.

->'''Fluttershy:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That big...]] [[UnstoppableRage dumb...]] [[LetsGetDangerous MEANIE!]]

Of course, it is a somewhat spiteful component of persistence; and even when it's the good guys who feel this way about the bad guys, it does arguably [[AntiHero raise some form of moral ambiguity that this fuels it]]; but expect more child-friendly works to gloss over this. On the otherhand, this is also frequently used in cases were the character in question winning [[OmnicidalManiac really would]] [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans be a]] [[MoralEventHorizon very bad]] [[CompleteMonster idea]].

->'''Fluttershy:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That big... dumb... MEANIE!]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]

*** And for more Cartman, in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head," Cartman pretends he (or his hand, at least) is JenniferLopez. "Ms. Lopez" creates a hit album, gets affectionate with BenAffleck, and enjoys the wealth and fame of celebrity life via XanatosSpeedChess. The reason is to make Kyle admit the possibility that the hand is an independent living being from Cartman and calls the whole thing off when Kyle makes even the tiniest admission. [[spoiler: In the episode "200," the hand is proven to be an actual separate entity.]]

* In [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the Mortal Kombat reboot]], [[spoiler:this gets ''inverted'' as Raiden finds out the prophecy of "[[ArcWords He must win]]" means that Shao Khan must take over Earth in order for the world to be saved from Armageddon.]]

->'''Rarity:''' Oh Fluttershy, would you be a dear and ''fly faster please!''
->'''Fluttershy:''' I can't!
->'''Twilight:''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext If you can't catch [Rainbow Dash], Discord wins!]]
->'''Fluttershy:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That big... dumb... MEANIE!]]
-->- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sspE4a6gpmE This]] scene from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''

This is when wanting to avoid letting a particular character be victorious provides fuel for the other character's [[{{Determinator}} persistence]] in fighting against them.

See also SpitefulAI. This is one of the main drivers of political maneuverings both in fiction and in RealLife. See EnemyMine, BalanceOfPower, etc.

!! Examples:

* Parodied in ''Manga/SketDance''. Telling the Student Council or the Sket Dan that the other group is involved in something is a perfect way get to them to join in. This is especially pronounced with Tsubaki and Bossun, due to [[spoiler:SiblingRivalry]]

* Batman's insistence in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' on not letting TheJoker win [[spoiler:is what drives him to make a ZeroApprovalGambit in order to preserve Harvey Dent's image.]]
* Disney's ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' has the gargoyles trying this on Quasimodo, [[spoiler:who responds to "you can't let Frollo win" with "[[SubvertedTrope he already has]]." Then on hearing Frollo's words as he tries to burn Esmeralda alive, [[DoubleSubversion Quasimodo changes his mind and keeps fighting anyway]].]]

* In [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the Mortal Kombat reboot]], [[spoiler:this gets ''inverted'' as Raiden finds out the prophecy of "[[ArcWords He must win]]" means that Shao Khan must take over Earth in order for the world to be saved from Armageddon.]]

* Plankton of ''SpongebobSquarepants'' is a conniving sociopath who usually wants to steal the Krabby Patty formula and take Mr Krabs' hard earned success. However, even when Plankton is using legitimate methods to gain customers, Krabs is insistant on sabotaging any profit he makes and claiming it for himself. This reached such obsessive grounds that Krabs became obsessed with destroying Plankton when he gained ''one customer'', making it not just a case of "X Must Not Win" but "X Must Not Lose Humbly".
* Kyle's feud with Cartman in ''SouthPark'' is usually justified given the latter's highly malicious intent. However even in petty wars, Kyle takes a sometimes disturbing extra mile to make sure Cartman's plans go up in smoke. eg. In "Douche And Turd" he and Cartman create opposing school mascots, with Kyle using increasingly manipulative methods to get people to vote against Cartman's candidate. Similarly ''a lot'' of Cartman's intentions are built around making Kyle lose.
-->'''Butters:''' Whoa, you sure seem with it, Eric. You must have some... ih-inspiration.
-->'''Cartman:''' Yes, the tears of Kyle Broflovski when he loses his ten dollars to me.
** To add onto the Cartman example, there are plenty of occasions Cartman comes out with amazing success and fame due to a bet with Kyle, but brushes it all off because he didn't win the bet in particular. In "Christian Rock Hard" for example, Cartman bets Kyle he can make a Platinum album before him. Cartman succeeds in making a highly successful Christian rock band, gaining enormous popularity and wealth. However once he finds out that Christian record labels don't give out Platinum albums (thus he can never win his bet with Kyle) [[VillainousBreakdown he flies into a rage in public]], destroying the band's career.

* In ''{{Peanuts}}'', whenever Charlie Brown has any real chance of winning something, someone has to be around specifically to prevent him from achieving the victory, usually Snoopy.
** The most prominent case is in ''ABoyNamedCharlieBrown'', where he is one of the two remaining contestants on a winner-takes-all national spelling bee. Charlie Brown screws up spelling "beagle" due to a combination of Snoopy (who is a beagle) following him along and worry over Linus getting angry at Charlie Brown for a trivial reason.
** In ''RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown'', Charlie Brown's team is set to win the river race, but the bullies sabotage his boat, allowing Woodstock to win.

* Often times [[AnimalWrongsGroup PETA]]'s involvement in a cause will lead many people to oppose the cause more than they would otherwise, simply because they despise the thought of allowing PETA victories.

* Batman's insistence in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' on not letting TheJoker win.

* Batman's insistence in ''TheDarkKnight'' on not letting TheJoker win.

* In [[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 the Mortal Kombat reboot]], [[spoiler:this gets ''inverted'' as Raiden finds out the prophecy of "[[ArcWords He must win]]" translates to Shao Khan must take over Earth in order for the world to be saved from Armageddon.]]

* Parodied in ''SketDance''. Telling the Student Council or the Sket Dan that the other group is involved in something is a perfect way get to them to join in. This is especially pronounced with Tsubaki and Bossun, due to [[spoiler:SiblingRivalry]]

* Batman's insistence in ''TheDarkKnight'' on not letting Joker win.

* Parodied in SketDance. Telling the Student Council or the Sket Dan that the other group is involved in something is a perfect way get to them to join in. This is especially pronounced with Tsubaki and Bossun, due to [[spoiler:SiblingRivalry]]

* Batman's insistence in TheDarkKnight on not letting Joker win.
* Disney's Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame has the gargoyles trying this on Quasimodo, [[spoiler:who responds to "you can't let Frollo win" with "[[SubvertedTrope he already has]]." Then on hearing Frollo's words as he tries to burn Esmeralda alive, [[DoubleSubversion Quasimodo changes his mind and keeps fighting anyway]].]]

* In the FatherTed episode ''Cigarettes and Alcohol and Rollerblading'' after being goaded into giving up something for Lent by [[SitcomArchNemesis Father Dick Byrne]], Ted gives Dougal a lecture on the importance of Lent, something far more important than the sacrifices made by Jesus as the latter points out, but beating Dick Byrne at his bet.

Of course, it is a somewhat spiteful component of persistence; and even when it's the good guys who feel this way about the bad guys, it does arguably [[AntiHero raise some form of moral ambiguity that this fuels it]]; but expect more child-friendly works to gloss over this.

*** And for more Cartman, in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head," Cartman pretends he (or his hand, at least) is JenniferLopez. "Ms. Lopez" creates a hit album, gets affectionate with BenAffleck, and enjoys the wealth and fame of celebrity life via XanatosSpeedChess. The reason is to make Kyle admit the possibility that the hand is an independent living being from Cartman and calls the whole thing off when Kyle makes even the tiniest admission. (In the episode "200," the hand is proven to be an actual separate entity.)

-->- [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sspE4a6gpmE This]] scene from ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''