History Main / XMustNotWin

* In the ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' [[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; it's 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.]]

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 other hand, this is also used in cases were the character in question winning [[OmnicidalManiac really would be a very ]] [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans bad idea]].

* In the {{Angel}} episode "Destiny," this is Spike's pretty-much-admitted motive for competing with Angel and trying to prove that he has the status of "the Shanshu prophecy's ChosenOne," to the exclusion of Angel.

* In many of the ''WebVideo/SmoshGames'' Game Bang, the crew would try to team up against Sohinki to stop him from winning all the time. Usually doesn't work though, since the cast tend to have a bad team work and ended up killing each other all the time.

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

!! Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Batman's insistence in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' on not letting SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker win [[spoiler:is what drives him to make a ZeroApprovalGambit in order to preserve Harvey Dent's image.]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

-->'''Lydon:''' I’m working on next month’s Oscar nominations. Any preference?
-->'''Cigarette-Smoking Man:''' I couldn’t care less. What I don’t want to see is the Bills winning the Super Bowl. As long as I’m alive, that doesn’t happen.
-->'''Jones:''' That’ll be tough, sir. Buffalo wants it bad.
-->'''Cigarette-Smoking Man:''' So did the Soviets in ’80.
-->'''Jones:''' What are you saying? That you rigged the Olympic hockey game?
-->'''Cigarette-Smoking Man:''' What’s the matter? Don’t you believe in miracles?

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

** Behzinga also gets this treatment in various non-''GTA'' games without KSI.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* In the ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' [[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; it's 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.]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' two-parter "Return Of Harmony" has Fluttershy flying faster on being told the alternative is to let Discord win.

* Plankton of ''WesternAnimation/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 ''WesternAnimation/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.

*** And for more Cartman, in "Fat Butt and Pancake Head," Cartman pretends he (or his hand, at least) is Music/JenniferLopez. "Ms. Lopez" creates a hit album, gets affectionate with Creator/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.]]
*** However, when Cartman does win, he's still not satisfied unless he can rub the victory in Kyle's face indefinitely. In [[Recap/SouthParkS6E8RedHotCatholicLove "Red Hot Catholic Love"]], after spending most of the episode gloating over winning their bet (about if it's possible to [[ItMakesSenseInContext crap out of your mouth]]) Kyle being a GracefulLoser makes him so angry he storms off and even leaves the money behind.

[[AC:Other]]
* Often times 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.

** 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.

* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' "Hunting Trilogy" generally convey DaffyDuck as this towards WesternAnimation/BugsBunny. While touting himself as a self proclaimed self preservationist, Daffy takes increasingly stubborn lengths to make sure Bugs gets shot by Elmer Fudd instead of him, to the point of even berating and directing Elmer, the very guy he's trying to avoid, to shoot Bugs (which always end up backfiring onto him). In both "Rabbit Seasoning" and "Duck Rabbit Duck" Daffy's downfall stems from coming out of his hiding place at the start of the cartoon when Bugs is already outsmarting Elmer, not satisfied with coming out safe but Bugs not getting shot.

* If you replace AH with the Creator/UltimateSidemen, ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' competitions with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' races, and Gavin with WebVideo/KSIOlajidebt, you will have the same ordeal; a popular British gamer getting screwed over by the rest of his mates.

* In ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': ''TheMagiciansNephew'', Jadis has this attitude towards her sister. She wipes out her entire planet rather than let her sister win a civil war and become queen in her stead.

* 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.

** In ''WesternAnimation/RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown'', Charlie Brown's team is set to win the river race, but the bullies sabotage his boat, allowing Woodstock to win.

* 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.

** In ''RaceForYourLifeCharlieBrown'', Charlie Brown's team is set to win the river race, but the bullies sabotage his boat, allowing Woodstock to win.

See also SpitefulAI. This is one of the main drivers of political maneuverings both in fiction and in RealLife. See EnemyMine, BalanceOfPower, etc. For when the ''writers'' can't let a character to win for various reasons, see FailureIsTheOnlyOption.

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

* Similar to the Kyle example above is Dib from ''InvaderZim''. Though Dib primarily clashes with Zim to keep the latter from conquering the Earth, Dib can't abide Zim succeeding even in low-stake battles. The best example is in "Door to Door", where literally Dib's only reason for participating in the titular fundraiser is to keep Zim from winning first place and the "secret prize".

*** 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 Creator/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.]]

*** However, when Cartman does win, he's still not satisfied unless he can rub the victory in Kyle's face indefinitely. In "Red Hot Catholic Love", after spending most of the episode gloating over winning their bet (about if it's possible to [[ItMakesSenseInContext crap out of your mouth]]) Kyle being a GracefulLoser makes him so angry he storms off and even leaves the money behind.

* The ''Looney Tunes'' "Hunting Trilogy" generally convey DaffyDuck as this towards BugsBunny. While touting himself as a self proclaimed self preservationist, Daffy takes increasingly stubborn lengths to make sure Bugs gets shot by Elmer Fudd instead of him, to the point of even berating and directing Elmer, the very guy he's trying to avoid, to shoot Bugs (which always end up backfiring onto him). In both "Rabbit Seasoning" and "Duck Rabbit Duck" Daffy's downfall stems from coming out of his hiding place at the start of the cartoon when Bugs is already outsmarting Elmer, not satisfied with coming out safe but Bugs not getting shot.

->'''Twilight:''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext If you can't catch [Rainbow Dash], Discord wins!]]
->'''Fluttershy:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That big... dumb...]] [[LetsGetDangerous MEANIE!]]

* Bertram of ''FamilyGuy'' will do anything to destroy Stewie, even if it means creating a time paradox that ''destroys the entire time space continuum'' in the process.

* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' two-parter "Return Of Harmony" has [[spoiler:Fluttershy flying faster on being told the alternative is to let Discord win.]]

* 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]]

*** However, when Cartman does win, he's still not satisfied unless he can rub the victory in Kyle's face indefinitely. In "Red Hot Catholic Love", after spending most of the episode gloating over winning their bet (about if it's possible to [[ItMakesSenseInContext crap out of your mouth) Kyle being a GracefulLoser makes him so angry he storms off and even leaves the money behind.

*** Though for Cartman winning isn't enough, he needs to be able to rub the victory in Kyle's face indefinitely. In "Red Hot Catholic Love", after spending most of the episode waving the money he won in their bet (over if it's possible to [[ItMakesSenseInContext crap out of your mouth) in Kyle's face, Kyle being a GracefulLoser makes him so angry he storms off and even leaves the money behind.

* In the ''VideoGame/MortalKombat'' [[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.]]

* If you replace AH with the Ultimate Sidemen, ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' competitions with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' races, and Gavin with WebVideo/KSIOlajidebt, you will have the same ordeal; a popular British gamer getting screwed over by the rest of his mates.