History PlayingWith / DarkHorseVictory

** Alice and Bob's routines were ''[[EpicFail that]]'' much of a disaster.

** Alice and Bob spend too much time sabotaging each other and forget to actually do their thing; Charlie wins by simply focusing on what he's doing.

** Charlie ''does not'' prepare at all. He is put into the competition and stands there on the stage doing nothing and still wins, because he is the hero[[note]]queue Alice or Bob: "now I know what WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck feels"[[/note]].

** "[[StatusQuoIsGod Having either win would answer the show's driving question of who is better, and we don't want that]]."

** "This is a ''dog'' show, not a ''sock puppet'' show. We did not kicked out Charlie immediately because we did not wanted to look overly cruel, but sorry, he is not eligible for winning."

** Bob and Alice do end up forgetting about their rivalry, but only because they've turned their animosity for each other onto Charlie.

** Alice and/or Bob accept Charlie's win graciously... [[WeWinBecauseYouDidnt because it means the other did not win]].
* '''Played for Drama''':

** Alice and/or Bob protest Charlie's win, which leads to revelations about the judges being corrupt or at least incompetent.

* '''Played for Drama''': Charlie's win shoots Bob's and Alice's self-confidence in the foot and they spend the next day in a funk.

** Charlie ''does not'' prepare at all. He is put into the competition and still wins, because he is the hero.

** The reason why Charlie won is utterly dumb -- ex. the grand prize is a trip to Paris and he is the only member of the cast who is not in the DHS "No Fly" list.

* '''Played for Laughs''': Bob and Alice react to Charlie's win in goofy ways.

* '''Enforced''': "We need to put the rivalry into perspective by having a third party win everything!"

* '''Straight''': Bob and Alice are participating in the T. Roper High School Talent Show, and both are bitter rivals. At the end of the night, though, the grand prize is given to Charlie, who neither of them knew.
* '''Exaggerated''':
** Bob and Alice have been training for the talent show for months, and Charlie just shows up at the last minute -- but still wins.
** Charlie is the announcer, or the guy who opens the stage's curtains, the caterer or even the valet - whatever role he is fulfilling in the party, he is not a contestant at all and may not even be eligible. He still wins by a landslide.

** The judges were split on Bob and Alice's fairly similar routines, but Charlie's was different enough to win the lion's share of votes.

** Alternatively, Alice and Bob each want to ''lose'' the competition. Both try to lose purposely and try to make the other one win. In the end Charlie wins, satisfying all three of them.

** However, the ''real'' winner is Dave, who have received even LESS focus than Charlie and had not even been introduced in the storyline before this point.
** The announcer continues, "Charlie! YOU ... didn't win by a small margin. You won by a ''[[CurbStompBattle large]]'' margin!"

** Bob's and Alice's respective skits were lavishly produced and Charlie's was clearly thrown together in the eleventh hour. And yet he still wins.
** Charlie ''does not'' prepare at all. He is put into the competition and still wins, due to the fact that he is the hero.

** A horse breeder sponsors the talent show and they give the grand prize winner a [[VisualPun black Friesian horse]].
* '''Zig-Zagged''': The judges are going to nominate Charlie for the win. But then, the judges realize that Alice's routine had some [[FridgeBrilliance good points that they missed at first glance]]. But then, after some thinking, they agree that Charlie's routine is best. But here comes Bob, at the last minute...

* '''Exploited''': Other characters see their rivalry distracting them from other competition and bet on the third party who ultimately wins.
* '''Defied''':

** "To those who stuffed the ballots with Charlie's name: ha, ha, very funny, but he is not a contestant, so he does not counts."

* '''Conversed''': "That's certainly a plot twist, but it doesn't make sense in the story. Alice and Bob were gonna go on to nationals!"

** Bob and Alice don't resolve anything by losing ... both are just as bitter as they once were.

** Next year, Charlie joins the conversation as one of the favorites along with Alice and Bob, but the now-three-way rivalry distracts all of them and Dave becomes the new out-of-nowhere winner.

** The reason Charlie, who is not even a contestant, won the prize is much more insidious than it first appeared: he either somehow [[BackstoryInvader made everybody forget that little detail all of a sudden]] or he [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse holds power over the judges that they dare not defy]].