History Main / XMustNotWin

* NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick actually invoked one in the form of a bounty in 2020 after Kyle Busch, who also owns a race team in it, won his seventh straight start in the Truck Series. Gander Outdoors, the title sponsor of the Truck Series, matched it, putting the total bounty at a hundred thousand US dollars. Chase Elliott succeeded in claiming it the first time of asking.

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/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]]]].

** When it comes to Nintendo games, Matt gets the treatment. Unfortunately, he's so much better that it usually doesn't change much.

* Due to PETA's not-entirely-undeserved reputation as an AnimalWrongsGroup[[note]]which [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment we are not going to elaborate on]], at least not here[[/note]], PETA's involvement in a cause will frequently lead many people to oppose the cause more than they would otherwise, simply because they despise the thought of allowing PETA to have any victories whatsoever.

* 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]].

* In the final episode of ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' [[spoiler: Jack is so hellbent on not letting Rhys get away with ruining his plan to take over the galaxy again that he [[InTheBack sneaks up an override port behind Rhys and plugs himself into his head again,]] immediately hijacking control of his arm, and forces him to strangle himself with the intent to kill him. When Rhys reminds him that if he dies, Jack will die too, [[TakingYouWithMe Jack says that he knows, but them both dying will be, "more of a draw," and it's worth dying to watch Rhys die.]]]]

* 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'', [[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 [[CheatersNeverProsper for ignoring the rules of Mortal Kombat]] before he can attain godlike power in the BadFuture.]]

* Due to PETA's not-entirely-undeserved reputation as an AnimalWrongsGroup[[note]]which [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment we are not going to elaborate on]], at least not here[[/note]], PETA's involvement in a cause will frequently lead many people to oppose the cause more than they would otherwise, simply because they despise the thought of allowing PETA to have any victories whatsoever.

* 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.

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]] - see also EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce.

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

* 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]].]]

* 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.]]
* In the final race of ''Film/SpeedRacer'', Royalton agrees to pay all of the other racers a lot of money if they can collectively prevent Speed from winning the race. As this money is more than the prize money for the race, it effectively means everyone else is cooperating to get Speed to crash or slow him down so someone else could overtake him.
* In ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker'' this is why Hux betrays the First Order.

* In the ''Series/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.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': In "Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man" we discover that CSM is personally responsible for the Buffalo Bills never winning a UsefulNotes/SuperBowl. [[note]]In real life the Bills got into the Super Bowl four times in a row, but never won.[[/note]]

* [[http://ynnen.blogspot.com/2005/08/king-is-dead-long-live-king-kingmaking.html This]] essay on the KingmakerScenario calls this "The Vendetta" - whatever the reason, player A no longer cares about trying to win the game themselves, and has adopted an attitude of "I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure player B doesn't win."

** Kyle's feud with Cartman 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. 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.

* Due to the way network television works, there have been cases of successfull TV shows that were intentionally sabotaged by being switched to the FridayNightDeathSlot, budget cuts and similar issues, because a network executive wants the show gone, and need it to perform poorly to motivate cancellation. Reasons range from attracting the "wrong" audience, because the executive personally dislikes the show, and in some cases, because the show was greenlit by their predecessor, and they don't want a successfull product making them look good.

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 win for various reasons, see FailureIsTheOnlyOption.

* Sports rivalries run on this. Every team's list of greatezt victories includes an upset win that ruined a rival's chance to win something.

'''Fluttershy:''' That big... dumb... MEANIE!

* If you replace AH with the Creator/UltimateSidemen, ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' competitions with ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' races, and Gavin with Creator/{{KSI}}, you will have the same ordeal; a popular British gamer getting screwed over by the rest of his mates.
* Behzinga also gets this treatment in various non-''GTA'' games without KSI.

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.

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 ''Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them'', author Creator/AlFranken says this is one aspect of American politics he deeply hates, calling it the "I-will-stop-you-from-doing-good-because-I-don't-want-you-to-get-credit" factor.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' this is [[FusionDance Stevonnie's]] motive for racing a smug [[JerkAss jerk]]. However, mid-race she falls apart and realizes that she's let him get under her skin, and that focusing on beating him is still giving him attention, which is what he really wants.