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4->''"Shadows are in reality, when the sun is shining, the most conspicuous thing in a landscape, next to the highest lights."''
5-->-- '''Creator/JohnRuskin'''
6
7This is when one creator or character is pushed out of the spotlight and another member of the team gets all the credit.
8
9Distinct from LesserStar, where equal credit is given for unequal work. This trope is about equal work that results in unequal credit. Compare with BreakupBreakout.
10
11Compare OvershadowedByAwesome and AlwaysSecondBest, where the person in the spotlight really is better than the person in the shadows.
12
13----
14!!Examples:
15[[foldercontrol]]
16
17[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
18* Kotetsu T. Kaburagi/Wild Tiger serves as an example in ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'''s ShowWithinAShow, [=HeroTV=]. While they do about the same amount of work as a hero team, it's Barnaby Brooks Jr. that gets all the publicity, interviews, photoshoots, fans, and credit. This is taken to its logical conclusion in the thirteenth episode when [[spoiler:Kotetsu pulls a BatmanGambit that allows Barnaby to take down Ouroboros terrorist Jake Martinez]], and the public completely ignores his contribution to the fight. He's naturally a bit annoyed by this.
19* In-universe example in ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': despite being instrumental in many battles throughout the hundred-year-war, most of the public do not know Guts' name, or indeed that of anyone in the Band of the Hawk outside their leader, Griffith. Everyone that meets him, friend or foe, is merely pulled along by his charisma and into the currents of his own mighty dream. This eventually causes Guts to leave the group entirely, as he feels he can never truly discover himself as long as he is within Griffith's shadow. [[spoiler: This has catastrophic consequences as it's the catalyst for the series of events leading to the Eclipse and Griffith's transformation into Femto]].
20* In the ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' spinoff ''Manga/FourTownFourReal'', Aaron Z. feels this way about Robaire with respect to their success as musical artists. There is even a panel where Aaron Z. imagines himself walking in Robaire's shadow.
21[[/folder]]
22
23[[folder:Film]]
24* Creator/MarxBrothers: Groucho and Harpo Marx have always been the most prominent names in the group. If you're lucky, they may remember Chico too. The one that everyone forgets is Zeppo; granted he only appeared in their movies until ''Film/DuckSoup'' (1933) and was usually the straight man. Gummo, who quit around World War I, is more like ThePeteBest.
25* ''Film/WaynesWorld'' is named after Wayne, however, Garth is no less important in the scheme of things, gets about equal screen time, and provides just as many memorable lines.
26* An in-movie example occurs as a running gag in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc''. Whenever Mike appears in the media he is always covered up by something, like the barcode of a magazine or the company logo in a commercial, or in the [[WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity prequel]] where his student ID photo cut off at his forehead. (Meanwhile, Sulley is always front and center.) Whenever this happens, Mike initially appears shocked but then talks excitedly about being in print/on TV/being a college student, never even noticing the unfortunate circumstances.
27* Modern-day fans of ''Film/TheThreeStooges'' tend to view Shemp in this manner (and the less said about Joe Besser the better), in comparison to the massively popular Curly. Ironically, back when the shorts were filmed, Shemp was the only Stooge who had a singles career but agreed to join the act after Curly got sick so Moe and Larry wouldn't be out on the street.
28* In both the book and film versions of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', the story focuses less on Roger and more on the human detective, Eddie Valiant. In the book, Roger was Eddie's shifty client, and although he was pivotal to the story, the focus was clearly on Eddie and his investigations. In the movie, Roger gets the plot rolling, but after that, his job consists mostly of hanging around with Eddie and acting goofy. Even in his cartoons in-universe, Roger gets second billing behind Baby Herman, even though (like Wile E.) he gets the lion's share of the laughs. Never more blatant than when he ''saves Eddie's life'' (if only momentarily) at the Gag Factory, then drops right back down to "goofy" again without so much as a thank-you on Eddie's part - although his wife, Jessica, whom he also saved, at least gives him some of the respect he's desperately been trying to earn.
29[[/folder]]
30
31[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
32* ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'': Ask most people to name all the members of Monty Python and you're bound to hear Creator/JohnCleese first, then Creator/EricIdle, Creator/MichaelPalin, and maybe Creator/TerryGilliam, but Creator/GrahamChapman and to a lesser extent Creator/TerryJones are only known primarily by Python fans. There is a bit of historical irony here because John Cleese (who formed one of the writer teams with Graham Chapman) felt that he was doing all the work and Chapman was getting all the attention.
33* ''Series/OnceUponATime'' focuses just as much on both Emma and Regina's stories, with them both being presented as necessary for the other's story. However, most of the attention of fans is put on Regina's redemption arc rather then Emma's journey to be a hero. This is mainly because most found Regina's story to be more interesting. While Emma is still popular in the fandom, she remains overshadowed by Regina even to this day in the eyes of both the fans and general public.
34[[/folder]]
35
36[[folder:Music]]
37* Richard Carpenter was mainly responsible for writing, producing and arranging the music of Music/TheCarpenters, but his sister Karen, the vocalist and drummer, has gotten much more attention and popular acclaim as the duo's music has undergone a critical re-evaluation. The circumstances of her tragic death arguably made Karen an even more sympathetic and compelling character.
38* Dave Stewart is acclaimed for his writing and producing, but his Music/{{Eurythmics}} partner, vocalist Annie Lennox, is much better known to the general public.
39* Most people seem to think Music/{{Macklemore}} is a solo artist and not part of a duo. Ryan Lewis is the producer, but most people aren't sure what he does, and few people aside from Macklemore's biggest fans really know anything about him other than his name. The fact that Macklemore is the face of most of the music videos, often the only one present (if Lewis is present, he's mainly in the background), further proves this. The cover for the "Downtown" single even puts Macklemore's front and center; Lewis is crammed in with the many credited guest artists.
40* The Three Tenors have sometimes been referred to as Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Carreras "the other guy"]]. Especially on Series/{{Seinfeld}}.
41* John Deacon of Music/{{Queen|Band}} is usually thought of as "the other one" compared to the more outgoing, LargeHam members of the band. Actually, in almost any other band he would have been LeadBassist (Type A), but as it happened he worked with people who just wouldn't be outdone. Still, he penned several of their big hits, and contributed enormously to the songs he didn't write: Music/BrianMay says that after his retirement, Queen lacks a kind of magic that Deacon used to bring.
42* John Entwistle of Music/TheWho, regarded by many as the greatest bass player of all time, is certainly a lot better-known than the bassists of most famous bands, but still nowhere near as famous as Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey or Keith Moon.
43* John [=McVie=], the bassist for Music/FleetwoodMac, is probably the least known member of the group in spite of being half of its namesake and one of only two members who have been in the band since it started, especially compared to singer-songwriters Lindsay Buckingham, Music/StevieNicks and Christine [=McVie=], original bandleader Peter Green and [[AllDrummersAreAnimals co-group namer Mick Fleetwood]].
44* Ask any person about who was in Music/{{Nirvana}} and they will pretty much forget Krist Novoselic. While Kurt Cobain is easily the band's most famous member (DeadArtistsAreBetter may have had something to do with it), Music/DaveGrohl formed Music/FooFighters and escaped what would have otherwise been a fade into obscurity.
45* John Paul Jones, the bassist ([[NobodyLovesTheBassist noticing a theme]]?) of Music/LedZeppelin. Though he did like being able to walk around cities [[CursedWithAwesome without being recognized]] while the rest of the band couldn't leave their hotel room without being mobbed by fans since most people didn't know what he looked like.
46** This is also a general philosophy of many bass players, that you should play in such a way that it provides a framework for the guitarist, singer, and keyboardist to do their stuff without distracting the audience. Essentially if you're doing your job well no one knows you're there until you flub, disconnect from the mix, what have you, and then your absence is immediately noted. See [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OMGgqXCLVw this video]] of Music/FranzFerdinand.
47* Music/BlueCheer is considered one of the pioneering HeavyMetal bands alongside Music/BlackSabbath. However, outside the metal community (and even within) they're almost completely unheard of compared to Sabbath. This is despite the fact that they're the first American band to play metal.
48* Of "The Jackson Five", Music/MichaelJackson was obviously the most famous. Ask who the other four members are, and most could get Jermaine, Tito, and Marlon. Poor Jackie Jackson. Then there's SixthRanger Randy Jackson (not the one from ''Series/AmericanIdol'').
49** Of the female Jackson children, Music/{{Janet|Jackson}} is the most well-known and is the second most famous Jackson after Michael. Most people have at least heard of [=LaToya=]. Rebbie, the oldest of all the Jackson children, is also the most obscure.
50* The only Osmonds that most people are familiar with are Series/DonnyAndMarie.
51* Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert of Music/NewOrder. Not as well known as front-man Bernard Sumner or Bassist Peter Hook, they even called their spin-off band "The Other Two".
52* On a more macro level, there are entire swaths of musicians that aren't talked about. Who plays the instruments during a Music/BackstreetBoys concert? Who wrote Music/CelineDion's hits? Who records, mixes, engineers Music/KatyPerry? What ''is'' a RecordProducer? These people provide contributions to the music industry that are absolutely vital, but it's an easy bet that the average troper reading this entry hasn't once spared them a thought.
53** Electronic producers like Music/DavidGuetta, Music/CalvinHarris, Music/{{Avicii}}, and Music/{{Zedd}} have largely averted this by being credited on all of their hits. Avicii in particular avoided high profile guest vocalists, to the point of not even crediting the vocalists he worked with.
54** Music/WeirdAlYankovic's band is a case where some might know, [[LongRunnerLineUp if only because it's the same since the 80s]].
55* Guitarist Andy Summers and, to a lesser extent, drummer Stewart Copeland of Music/ThePolice were largely overshadowed by bassist/singer/songwriter Music/{{Sting}}, who also became the group's BreakupBreakout as a solo artist. Oddly enough, whilst they didn't receive the same individual credit, the band as a whole was far more popular than Sting's solo career.
56* Operatic librettists. Traditionally, operas were written in two stages: a librettist would write the libretto (Italian: little book) containing the script and lyrics, and then basically hawk it out to a composer, who would set the whole thing to music. Also traditionally, the composer would be listed as the creator of the work, with the librettist listed as a secondary figure, and usually known only to opera buffs. There are only two well-known exceptions to this: Creator/WSGilbert of Creator/GilbertAndSullivan, and Music/RichardWagner, who wrote his own librettos.
57* Music/{{Aerosmith}} is divided by fans into the Toxic Twins (frontman Steven Tyler and lead guitarist Joe Perry) and the Less Interesting Three or [=LI3=] (rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer).
58* Art Garfunkel of Music/SimonAndGarfunkel, to the point of being the former TropeNamer for LesserStar. It was renamed to keep RealLife examples off the page, but it's just as well because Garfunkel wasn't actually an example of that trope, but rather this one--and, even then, mostly by virtue of Music/PaulSimon's BreakupBreakout.
59* Alex Lifeson of Music/{{Rush|Band}} is as talented at Neil Peart and [[LeadBassist Geddy Lee]] but still gets this. A rare example of the lead guitarist being less memorable than the drummer and bassist.
60* Nearly everyone who's performed with Music/EricClapton. Ginger Baker of Music/{{Cream}} has somewhat escaped this, and Steve Winwood and [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Duane Allman]] are famous for other projects as well, but most of the others are mostly known for performing with Clapton, despite often being quite talented in their own right. (Ironically, Jack Bruce of Cream was better known than Clapton during the band's initial period of activity, but Clapton had a massive BreakupBreakout.)
61* To an extent, Music/{{Pantera}} bassist Rex Brown is often forgotten among his former band-mates, becoming especially obscure after the breakup of Pantera, as he did not side with either Phil Anselmo nor Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul in their feud.
62* Music/{{Rage Against the Machine}} has an excellent, almost jazzy rhythm section in Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk; however, they are both largely overshadowed by Zack de la Rocha, who in turn is overshadowed by Tom Morello, primarily due to Morello's incredibly innovative guitar playing style and remaining in the spotlight through Music/{{Audioslave}} whereas de la Rocha faded into obscurity.
63* Jermaine Jackson and Kelly Rowland both found success as solo artists following the dissolution of their [[Music/TheJacksonFive respective]] [[Music/DestinysChild groups]] only to be completely overshadowed by a [[Music/MichaelJackson fellow]] [[Music/{{Beyonce}} ex-bandmate]]. In fact, while Michael and Beyoncé are more recognized for their solo work than as part of a group, Jermaine and Rowland are famous in the exact opposite way.
64* NuMetal was often seen as the most commercially profitable genre of metal during its prime, with numerous acts gaining massive commercial success. In reality, this only applied to a handful of bands. Namely Music/{{Korn}}, Music/{{Deftones}}, Music/LimpBizkit, Music/{{Slipknot}}, Music/{{Disturbed}}, Music/{{Godsmack}}, Music/LinkinPark, Music/PapaRoach, and Music/{{Evanescence}} (and Music/SystemOfADown, if you consider them nu metal). Music/{{Sevendust}}, Trapt, Saliva, Music/{{POD}}, and Music/DrowningPool also had success, but not to the same extent. Compare this to the glut of acts who failed to have that same success such as Music/CoalChamber, Music/ThirtySixCrazyfists, Music/AlienAntFarm, Martyr AD, Music/GuanoApes, Crazy Town, Stereomud, Ultraspank, Spineshank, Systematic, Injected, Skrape, Primer 55, Unloco, Orgy, Presence, Hot Action Cop, Music/DemonHunter, Nonpoint, Mushroomhead, Shuvel, Twisted Method, Music/{{Skindred}}, Music/StaticX, Flaw, Music/{{Cold}}, Dry Kill Logic, Music/{{Kittie}}, Music/MachineHead, hed (p.e.), Ra, Lifer, Music/{{Otep}}...
65* The 2010s saw a massive revival of teen heartthrobs and boy bands in the pop music world. Dozens and dozens have aimed for commercial success, but only two have actually become worldwide megastars: Canadian pop-R&B singer Music/JustinBieber and British-Irish boy band quintet Music/OneDirection. The only other acts to have had achieved success, though not to the same extent, during the decade were Australian pop-punk group Music/FiveSecondsOfSummer and Canadian singer-songwriter Music/ShawnMendes (who later broke into the mainstream by reorienting himself as an adult act). Compare that to the glut of acts who have fallen flat on their face in their attempts to break through, such as JLS, Mindless Behavior, Cody Simpson, Greyson Chance, Jacob Latimore, Union J, District 3, [=Emblem3=], Midnight Red, IM5, Austin Mahone, Conor Maynard, Jake Miller, The Vamps, Rixton, Troye Sivan, and perhaps most embarrassingly, Series/BigTimeRush and Music/TheWanted, [[HollywoodHypeMachine who were being pushed especially hard]]. All of these acts, with the exception of the American ones who couldn't even make it there, had their popularity limited to their home country.
66* A similar scenario happened with girl groups: American Music/FifthHarmony and British Music/LittleMix have overshadowed all the other 2010s girl groups in their respective home countries. The less-popular of the two in each country is the only other one to really have a major following there. While both of them are easily bigger than anyone in the aforementioned "failure" group of males (at least in their home countries), but ''far'' below Bieber/1D levels, they're really not that far off from where 5SOS and Mendes are.
67* Music/LinkinPark to many people is lead vocalist/{{metal scream}}er Chester Bennington, rapper/multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda, and four other guys. Guitarist Brad Delson may get recognition, if only for the afro (despite the fact that he co-founded the band), while turntablist Joe "Mr." Hahn was pretty well-known in their earlier days for his DJ scratches but today is just in the background. As for drummer Rob Bourdon and [[NobodyLovesTheBassist bassist]] Dave "Phoenix" Farrell? Not so much.
68* Music/{{Haim}} is a pop-rock [[GirlGroup girl band]] centered around sisters [[BandOfRelatives Alana, Danielle, and Este Haim]]. But who's [[TheOneGuy that one guy]] you see drumming in the background at their concerts? That's Dash Hutton, their unrelated friend. Despite being an official member, he's rarely seen in promotional material.
69* Music/SleighBells has Derek E. Miller who plays all the instruments, produces the albums, writes the songs, and basically does all the heavy lifting, but is completely overshadowed by Alexis Krauss, who only sings. This is a bit odd since the band is well-known for the amazing instrumentation used to create all sorts of wild sounds. Given that a female lead singer of a band (especially a MsFanservice) almost always overshadows the rest of the group unless there are other girls in it or there's a male that [[VocalTagTeam also sings]], this is obvious.
70* Mark Ronson is a very successful producer in the UK, but never had a hit in the US until 2014/15 with "Uptown Funk!" Unfortunately, outside the UK he was completely stuck in the shadow of its featured vocalist, global pop superstar Music/BrunoMars, and it's almost universally seen as Mars' song rather than Ronson's. His name is literally a footnote, and even the music video put all attention on Mars with Ronson only making cameos. As a result, Ronson himself had so little momentum coming out of the song that it failed to translate into any sales for its parent album ''Uptown Special'' outside the UK and, aside from a credit on an A$AP Rocky song that scraped the bottom of the charts for one week, Ronson [[OneHitWonder never set foot on a non-British singles chart again]]. (A similar situation has happened with the Music/{{Amy Winehouse}}-sung "Valerie", although it was nowhere near as bad as with "Uptown Funk!")
71* Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}'s ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' was meant to be a vehicle that would launch the music career of its star Music/VictoriaJustice. It certainly launched a music career alright, just not hers. Instead, supporting actress Music/ArianaGrande started a ''massively'' successful career as a pop sensation, producing numerous hits and platinum albums. Her meteoric rise to fame has completely eclipsed Justice (and the other five cast members), and her whole Nickelodeon roots for that matter. In fact, she's easily the biggest celebrity Nickelodeon has ever produced in its entire existence[[note]]unless, of course, you count the ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''-bred [[Music/{{Drake}} Aubrey "Drake" Graham]], but that show was a Canadian import and only aired on their [=TeenNick=]/The N side channel[[/note]].
72* 2015 saw a trend of completely unknown rappers scoring surprise hits thanks to exposure through Vine. Specifically, they were Fetty Wap ("Trap Queen"), T-Wayne ("Nasty Freestyle"), Silento ("Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)"), and [=iHeartMemphis=]/[=iLoveMemphis=] ("Hit the Quan"). Of the four, however, only Fetty Wap has had any success afterwards, becoming a rap superstar. [[OneHitWonder None of the latter three rappers ever had another hit]]. And of the other three songs, only "Watch Me" is still well-remembered to this day.
73* A similar case to "Uptown Funk!" happened with "The Hanging Tree" by Music/JamesNewtonHoward featuring Creator/JenniferLawrence from ''Film/TheHungerGamesMockingjayPart1''. Despite being the lead artist, Howard was completely overshadowed by Lawrence, to the point that even ''Billboard'''s articles on the song's chart run used titles such as "Jennifer Lawrence Debuts on Hot 100" and barely made Howard a footnote. Since Lawrence is an A-list celebrity actress and Howard is a movie composer almost completely unknown to the general public and not even as known to film fanatics as the likes of Music/JohnWilliams and Music/HansZimmer, this was inevitable.
74* The other bloke out of Music/{{Wham}}, who at the start had equal billing in a two-boy BoyBand with a then-starting-out Creator/GeorgeMichael. George's career went stellar. The other bloke's [[note]]Andrew Ridgeley. Andrew ''who''? Exactly. [[/note]] ''didn't''.
75* PowerMetal[=/=]SpeedMetal band Music/DragonForce has guitarist Herman Li, who is well-known for his insanely technical guitar solos and has reached a level of MemeticBadass within the community. For some, it might be easy to forget that they have ''another'' guitarist with Sam Totman, who's been around since the beginning alongside Li, as the band had been started based around their dual-shred guitars. Despite being just as skilled at his instrument, engaging in similarly technical solos, and (unlike Li), taking a big part in the main songwriting process, he is nowhere near as well-known as Li. Being a TokenMinority in metal alongside having a very distinct appearance can definitely help with sticking out from the rest.
76* Tim Yeung, when he joined Music/MorbidAngel. There's not much debate whether or not he is a skilled or famous drummer, but the guy he was filling the shoes for? [[LeadDrummer Pete Sandoval]], who is the TropeCodifier for DeathMetal drumming. Unfortunately for Yeung, he was destined for ReplacementScrappy status from the word go.
77* Music/LacunaCoil tried to avert the standard "[[MaleBandFemaleSinger female lead singer overshadows male backup band]]" stigma by pairing Cristina Scabbia with male singer Andrea Ferro. Unfortunately, that didn't stop the latter from ultimately languishing in the former's shadow.
78* Japan has a wide variety of rock and metal bands that are popular back home and have a worldwide cult following. However, the only Japanese bands that have made an impression on the mainstream American markets are heavy metal groups Music/{{Loudness}} and Music/BabyMetal.
79* Future Classic, an independent label from Australia, has a wide variety of acts who have their own followings such as Chet Faker, Classixx, Flight Facilities, Panana, Jagwar Ma, and Ta-ku. However, ''none'' of them have achieved anywhere near as much success or recognition as a single artist they share the label with -- Flume.
80* For many people outside of the fans, the Music/PetShopBoys are Neil Tennant and... that guy who wears the sunglasses and stands at the back playing the synths (a.k.a. Chris Lowe). Though this one is in part intentional, since Lowe is also apparently rather shy and introverted, and prefers maintaining a low public profile.
81* K-Pop is huge back home in South Korea and has quite a big following with the Asian diaspora. But, for a long time, only one artist from the genre was widely-known around the world to the public at large: Music/{{PSY}}. Ironically, back in Korea PSY is seen as a B-lister at best, his only real standout quality there being "the guy who had [[Music/GangnamStyle that worldwide megahit]] a few years back". Nowadays there is only one K-pop who has achieved global megastardom -- Music/{{BTS}}, easily the most popular boy band of the 2010s not named One Direction. Although other groups (Music/BlackPink et al.) have been getting more Western exposure in their own right over the course of TheNewTwenties, BTS is still by far the most recognizable one to the general public.
82* Rapper Music/MachineGunKelly, or MGK, was always been seen as a third-rate Eminem clone who has long been stuck in the shadows of other white rappers, like Music/{{Macklemore}}, Music/MacMiller, Music/GEazy, and, of course, Eminem himself. He only had one real hit, with “Bad Things”, and that was solely because Music/CamilaCabello sang the chorus. His second hit “Rap Devil” got attention solely for being a diss track against Eminem, and he ended up shifting to rock music afterwards. He is also known nowadays for his relationships with model [[MaleGaze Sommer Ray]] and especially Creator/MeganFox
83* Music/AndyGibb had several hit singles in the US but was always an afterthought compared to his three older brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice, aka Music/TheBeeGees. This affected him personally as it seemed to have left him being very insecure since he was mostly considered to just be "the baby brother of the Bee Gees". This probably played a part in him developing the drug addiction that led to his death aged just 30.
84* Music/MandyMoore began her early singing career in pop music in the [[TheNineties 1999]], with hits like "Candy", "Walk Me Home" and "I Wanna Be With You", joining a bevy of female solo teenage stars such as Music/BritneySpears, Music/ChristinaAguilera and Music/JessicaSimpson that would be popular at around the same 1998-1999 time period. Moore would later mention that she felt she would always "be number four" when being mentioned in lists of pop female stars of that time period after Spears, Aguilera, and Simpson, never really standing out in that crowd, which might be another factor in Mandy switching to her more recent folk-pop singer-songwriter direction by the mid-[[TheOughties 2000s]].
85* The Music/VitaminStringQuartet is well-known for its classical covers of just about any song to touch the charts. Sadly, the similar [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoVssb0HYmpI4gsvLIpcmMQ Vitamin Piano Series]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAPvqBYFgNxkr3io149RCfA Vitamin Baroque]] could never live up to the glory of their labelmate, and neither has released anything in about a decade (the latter only made [[ShortRunners four albums]], now almost ''a hundredth'' of [[ArchivePanic VSQ's]].)
86* Due to his extreme popularity and ability, Music/{{Eminem}}'s groups suffer this problem.
87** D12 struggled for hits and to sell seats at their tours when Slim Shady couldn't be there, despite Eminem's desperate attempts to give the group its own identity without him. Their biggest hit, "My Band", is a parody of this dynamic, presenting Slim as an egomaniacal BoyBand heartthrob soaking up attention from girls, while the other members of the group are ignored by the media and squabble about their resentment of the star. At the end of the song, Bizarre punches Slim out on stage and reveals himself to be the real talent.
88** Despite Royce da 5'9" being a respected underground rapper who Eminem has been crediting as a major influence on him since the 90s, Bad Meets Evil (a group consisting of Royce and Eminem) failed to make him a household name. BME had decent-sized PopRap crossover hits in TheNewTens with "Lighters" and "Fast Lane" in which Royce more than pulled his weight, yet Royce is still largely unknown or considered a footnote to Marshall. (Eminem's [[ComicallyLopsidedRivalry self-declared]] ArchNemesis Benzino even dissed Royce for this, accusing him of being Marshall's Black slave -- Royce retorted by telling Benzino to log off and look after his daughter.)
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Mythology]]
92* Sodom and Gomorrah were in for it together for evilness, and a miffed God [[BoltOfDivineRetribution nuked them from orbit.]] Thus, "sodomy" entered our language... but have you ever been accused of gomorrhy? [[note]]Fun fact: There is some Mr. Cain Gomorrhy listed on IMDB, again he only played the second violin, being assistant director under the legendary Walerian Borowczyk.[[/note]]
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
96* Wrestling/PedroMorales is one of the biggest stars of his era and the first Latin American to win a "recognized" World title. Unfortunately, Wrestling/BrunoSammartino was also in his era and Morales was never truly accepted as a worthy successor by the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} World Wrestling Federation]] fans. This wasn't such a big deal at the time, but as the WWF systematically destroyed every other territory it could, it retroactively made Pedro being in Bruno's shadow in one territory have more impact on his image.
97* Wrestling/MartyJannetty: Following the breakup of the Rockers, Wrestling/ShawnMichaels would go on to become a future WWE Hall of Famer, win multiple championships, and be considered one of the greatest wrestlers ever to lace up the boots, while Janetty would fade into obscurity. Shawn's shadow is/was so vast, the former name for BreakupBreakout was "The Jannetty".
98* Tarzan Goto is considered one of the founding fathers of Wrestling/{{FMW}} but was simply unable to draw without Atsushi Onita's help, leading him to job in attempts to build credibility in younger wrestlers, giving them a chance to draw whenever Onita wasn't around. Goto would go on to run his own "Shin" FMW shows in an attempt to become a top draw himself. Even when Onita was gone from FMW Goto wound up in the shadow of Megumi Kudo, leading to Japan's first mixed tag team match when Goto [[BattleCouple brought his wife along]] to do something about it and Kudo brought in Riki Fuji to handle him.
99* As a singles wrestler, Wrestling/KyleOReilly's Wrestling/RingOfHonor career has often been derisively compared to his former TagTeam partners Davey Richards and Wrestling/AdamCole. As a TagTeam wrestler, however, he's found much more success with Bobby Fish as Wrestling/{{reDRagon}} than he ever did riding either of their coattails. In 2015, O'Reilly started to find more success as a singles wrestler only to be thwarted in every title match he earned by Adam Cole, who [[InvokedTrope wanted to keep O'Reilly in his shadow]]. Kyle finally broke out after beating Cole, who was in his second reign as ROH Champion, at the 2016 ''Final Battle'', finally starting his first singles title run...only for Cole to be given a rematch by Wrestling/{{New Japan|ProWrestling}}'s officials at ''Wrestle Kingdom 11'' and [[YankTheDogsChain win the belt back]], becoming ROH's first three-time world champion, before ROH itself could even book O'Reilly any title matches.
100* Wrestling/TedDiBiaseJr: Was initially labeled the breakout star of Legacy but instead Wrestling/CodyRhodes would go on to become one of the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champions as well as one of the WWE's top heels for a time and would go on to even greater success in organizations like Ring of Honor and (especially) All Elite Wrestling. [=DiBiase=], on the other hand, was relegated to Wrestling/WWESuperstars territory and basically retired in 2013 after choosing to not renew his contract. If Cody's shadow wasn't enough, there was an even bigger shadow hanging over him: [[Wrestling/TedDiBiase his father]].
101* The first luchador Wrestling/{{CMLL}} gave the Wrestling/{{Mistico}} gimmick to became the undisputed top draw in not only the promotion but the entire nation, with strong arguments that he was the breakout star of the planet. That argument fell apart when his success in Latin America and Asia was followed up by the disastrous Wrestling/SinCara gimmick in WWE, which coincided with CMLL trying again by giving [[TheGimmick the Místico gimmick]] to Dragon Lee, who merely drew decent critical response and financial gain. The Dragon Lee gimmick in turn went to a rookie luchador who took everyone by surprise and became one of CMLL's foremost stars, leaving their first Dragon Lee stuck in ''two'' shadows.
102* The only member of the Spirit Squad who is still well-known today is Nick "Nicky" Nemeth, now better known as Wrestling/DolphZiggler.
103* Stu Hart had twelve children, all of whom were involved in the wrestling business, but only two of them are particularly well-known: Wrestling/{{Bret|Hart}} and Wrestling/{{Owen|Hart}}.
104* The best-known members of the Guerrero family are easily Wrestling/{{Eddie|Guerrero}} and Wrestling/{{Vickie|Guerrero}}. The only other member most people will be able to name is [[Wrestling/ChavoGuerreroJr Chavo Jr.]] Unless you're in Mexico, where Gori, Mando, Héctor, and Chavo Sr. are also well known. Chavo Sr was fairly popular in the NWA territorial system, it's just that WWF systematically destroyed that.
105* Wrestling/LannyPoffo, brother of Wrestling/RandySavage, is often considered the prime example for a wrestler being stuck in his sibling's shadow. Their father, Angelo Poffo, has also been overshadowed by Randy.
106* Tag team Harlem Heat consisted of Wrestling/BookerT and Stevie Ray. Booker went on to have a highly successful singles career, while Stevie Ray floundered and eventually retired.
107* The Knight wrestling family: Britani Knight, a.k.a. WWE's Wrestling/{{Paige}} and AEW's Saraya, is by far its most famous member, with the only other well-known one, at least in America, being her mother, Saraya Knight.
108* Wrestling/RicFlair has four children, the best known of which is his younger daughter, Wrestling/{{Charlotte|Flair}}. While not nearly as well known, his two sons David and Reid have their own notoriety: the former for his infamous flop of a career and [[MemeticMutation memetic entrance video]], the latter for dying tragically at the age of 25 and for his death being tastelessly referenced by WWE in a Paige/Charlotte angle. His older daughter, Megan, on the other hand, is virtually unknown, even being overshadowed by her husband Conrad Thompson, a well-known wrestling podcaster.
109* Wrestling/MattHardy is far from unknown, but still not nearly as recognized as his younger brother [[Wrestling/JeffHardy Jeff]]. However, his "Broken" Wrestling/{{TNA}} run in 2016 helped remedy that... to a degree.
110* Many people recognize Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys as Bubba Ray and D-Von. The other Dudleys from ECW are mostly forgotten, with the possible exception of Wrestling/{{Spike|Dudley}}.
111* Julio Dinero was one of four members of the TNA stable the Gathering. Unfortunately for him, the other three members are all much better known than him: Wrestling/{{Raven}}, Wrestling/MickieJames, and Wrestling/CMPunk.
112* After the Steiner Brothers split up in 1998, Wrestling/{{Scott|Steiner}} became the genetic freak "Big Poppa Pump" while Rick has more or less faded into obscurity, which is ironic since Rick was more popular with the fans than Scott was prior to the split.
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114
115[[folder:Radio]]
116* ''Radio/TheRickyGervaisShow'' has Steve Merchant. Ricky Gervais is the namesake and Karl Pilkington is, well, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Karl Pilkington]].
117[[/folder]]
118
119[[folder:Video Games]]
120* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''
121** Diddy Kong from the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1''. He can do everything Franchise/DonkeyKong can do, with the exception of defeating a specific kind of enemy (Krusha), and is even far superior in some aspects such as running faster, swimming more precisely, and making long jumps better. You could beat the entire game playing as Diddy alone and probably have an easier time of it[[labelnote:*]]And in fact, the GBA version's NewGamePlus mode requires you to do just that.[[/labelnote]]. However, canonically, he's Donkey Kong's "wannabe sidekick" and didn't get his chance to shine until the sequel ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'', where he was in turn overshadowed by his newbie companion...
122** Dixie Kong in ''Diddy's Kong Quest'' may be a little slower than her boyfriend, but other than that barely-noticeable detail, she surpasses him in every way. Not only is she a more precise jumper and swimmer, but she can also do the famous ponytail twirl, wherein she hovers to the ground slowly by using her long ponytail as a propeller. This game is a little fairer because it makes it crucial to play as either one character or the other at specific times, but it may also be worth mentioning that in her own game ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'', she was not surpassed by Kiddy Kong.
123* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' is a little weird about this. Ask anyone who the star is, and most will say it's Banjo, even though the titles of three out of five games also include his partner Kazooie. The second game, ''Banjo-Tooie'', opts for a silly title pun instead of recognizing the second lead's name (it's even lampshaded by Kazooie herself at the end of the first game), and ''Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge'' has her name in it as well, although she isn't in it for the first few worlds. Indeed, in the first two games, Kazooie's the one doing the majority of attacking and acrobatics when the two are teamed up, with Banjo mostly just doing the walking around and (in the first game) the Claw Swipe and Roll (the second game replaced the Claw Swipe with a pecking attack by Kazooie and had Kazooie assist with the Roll). This holds true even in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''; many people refer to the fighter officially known as "Banjo & Kazooie" as "Banjo", even though more than half of the duo's moveset involves Kazooie (among other things, Kazooie provides the aerial jumps and dash for the duo, and she also is an active participant in all of their smash attacks and special moves).
124* Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog: This is kind of inevitable when you have an entire franchise named after the titlur character, but some of Sonic's most-well known supporting characters suffer from this problem.
125** This is one of the biggest internal conflicts of Tails' character. Tails has always looked up to and admired [[TheHero Sonic]] as a mentor and parental figure, but this has resulted in the Hedgehog becoming his LivingEmotionalCrutch to an extent, and tends to struggle to act without Sonic's guidance. Despite being highly intelligent and skilled in his own right, Tails simply lacks the confidence and self-esteem to truly breakout on his own and is content just being the KidSidekick. This gets addressed with VideoGame/SonicFrontiers where Tails expresses frustration with himself over this and sees himself as a burden to Sonic. Sonic reassures him that it's perfectly fine if he makes mistakes and doesn't see him as a burden at all and with his blessing, Tails resolves to become a hero in his own right and strike out on his own as a hero.
126** To a lesser extent, Knuckles too. While he doesn't have anywhere near as much of a hang up about it as Tails, a large source of Sonic and Knuckles' rivalry is built on the fact that Knuckles is jealous of Sonic's lifestyle, being able to WalkTheEarth and go where he pleases, whereas Knuckles is stuck guarding the Master Emerald on Angel Island all of the time. Also Knuckles is something of a ButtMonkey at times whereas Sonic is LovedByAll.
127* Being stuck in the shadow of his father [[MagnificentBastard Cao Cao]] has been Cao Pi's story path since his debut in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors 5''; he doesn't get a break even in the [[VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi crossover game]], as the warriors of Wei are still more loyal to Cao Cao (who is outright ''presumed dead'' until near the end of the plot) than to him in the first game, and he has to share an uneasy spotlight with his father in the sequel (though in the final battle Cao Cao does officially hand the baton over). By the fourth Orochi game he finally has a more prominent role than his father. Unfortunately it's as a lieutenant to a secondary villain.
128* [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]] has incorporated this into his character. Initially a PaletteSwap of Mario, even after he underwent DivergentCharacterEvolution he failed to get a starring role in anything except the ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' series and the poorly received ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing''. The canon now portrays him to be just competent as his brother (albeit [[LovableCoward significantly more cowardly]]), but perpetually ignored for his contributions.
129** In the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games (especially ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', but somewhat less so later on), Luigi is often the victim of being a ForgettableCharacter and AccidentalMisnaming.
130** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' has this example: if you beat the game as Luigi (in 2-player), the first three words of text are "Thank you Mario" while Luigi is still on the screen.
131** But come 2013, Nintendo is giving him some recognition, dubbing this year Advertising/TheYearOfLuigi, specifically releasing 3 games (''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'', ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'', and ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'') that give him ADayInTheLimelight, putting Luigi-themed content in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing New Leaf'' and ''VideoGame/StreetPassMiiPlaza'', re-releasing his first 4 games (''VideoGame/MarioBros'', ''VideoGame/WreckingCrew'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'') on the Platform/WiiU's Platform/VirtualConsole, and making him playable from the get-go in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' (previous 3D ''Mario'' games required you to unlock him after playing through as Mario).
132** Luigi's enemy counterpart (Waluigi) has it even worse, he has never had his own solo game and indeed is rarely even a playable character outside of sports and party games. He also has never achieved a status higher than assist trophy in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. Compare that to Peach's own "Luigi", Daisy, who at least got in as an Echo Fighter despite being in the same boat.
133* Thanks to ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Xande]] has become this in favor of Cloud of Darkness. This is despite Xande was the BigBad for most of the game, while Cloud of Darkness was a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere that didn't appear to have much involvement until the very end.
134* Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment has two important fighting game franchises: ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' and ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur]]''. However, despite having a large fanbase, the latter tends to get overshadowed by the former by Namco. Especially in later years, where ''Soulcalibur V'' was rushed out the door in less than a year with cut funding and staff, while ''Tekken'' was treated as a masterpiece that gets all the love and attention.
135* Similar to Bandai Namco, Creator/ArcSystemWorks has two important fighting game franchises: ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' and ''Franchise/BlazBlue''. However, despite the latter having a large fanbase and being a mainstay for the company since the late 2000s due to [[ScrewedByTheLawyers licensing issues]] relating to the former, once ''Guilty Gear'' returned with ''Xrd'', ''[=BlazBlue=]'' would soon be overshadowed by its reunited counterpart. Especially by the end of the 2010s, where ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle Cross Tag Battle]]'' suffered a very controversial launch with its [=DLCs=] due to it being rushed out the door for Evo, and ''Alternative: Dark War'' suffered a TroubledProduction and when it finally came out it underperformed and shut down barely a year after launch. Meanwhile ''Guilty Gear'' would go on to be heralded as the company's masterpiece that gets all the love and attention, with ''-STRIVE-'' going on to sell nearly a million copies almost a year after launch.
136* The {{Abandonware}} game ''Lion'' is objectively better than ''VideoGame/WolfDOS'' in terms of gameplay, graphics, and overall implementation, with ''wolf's'' only advantages being a possibly more popular animal choice and coming out first, but ''Lion'' is strongly overshadowed by the latter on {{Abandonware}} websites (it's never even gotten a page on here!) Though, OverlyNarrowSuperlative is in effect here for ''VideoGame/WolfDOS'', as both games are very, very old and very obscure outside of their tiny {{Abandonware}} niche.
137* Played for laughs and comically exaggerated by the Midnight Riders in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2''. Riggs Donner, the bass player and keyboardist, was on the initial lineup of the group for a few years and one official album before getting run over by a truck (and was reportedly such a drunken mess that they had to get a roadie to play most of his parts). He was then replaced by "[[NobodyLovesTheBassist provisional temporary band member]]" Jake Thorne, who has remained with the group for twenty-four years, has writing credits on many of their songs, and wrote and performed [[BreakawayPopHit their only number-one hit]]. And he still has to give half his paycheck with Riggs's widow, because he has some big shoes to fill.
138[[/folder]]
139
140[[folder:Web Original]]
141* The ''[=FreddieW=]'' videos are made by both Creator/FreddieWong and Brandon Laatsch, though Brandon's less heard of because Freddie's name is on the channel and stars in most of the videos.
142[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:Western Animation]]
145* The WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Road Runner]] cartoons have an incredibly blatant example. It's all about Wile E. Coyote and his ridiculous plans for catching and eating the bird. He probably gets three times as much screen time as the Road Runner in every cartoon.
146* In-universe examples from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
147** Despite being the eldest child and heir to the throne, Zuko is constantly overlooked by his father in favor of his obscenely talented younger sister, Azula. This becomes one of the main driving forces of his personality within the show.
148** As the series enters Season 3, we discover through CharacterDevelopment that Azula thinks she's stuck in Zuko's shadow when it comes to their mother's love. It's the driving force behind Azula's negative actions towards her brother [[spoiler: and the reason why she has a mental breakdown in the end.]]
149* An in-universe example in ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'': part of the reason Eustace is such a mean person is that he was always mocked and belittled by his parents and his brother Horst, the latter being his parents' favorite and who they were always derisively comparing him to. Even after Horst died at some point, his abusive mother never let up and her first appearance in the series is pretty much entirely her making fun of him while doting on Courage, to Eustace's chagrin. This isn't a single-episode thing, either: it's a major part of Eustace's characterization and his relationship with Horst comes up several times over the series, including a flashback which shows Horst was just as mean as their parents, calling Eustace "Useless" instead when all he wanted to do was spend time with his brother.
150[[/folder]]
151
152[[folder:Real Life]]
153* Frank James, UsefulNotes/JesseJames' brother, has become relatively obscure in modern culture and exists largely in Jesse's shadow, even though the two were equally infamous in the old West and committed their criminal acts as a pair. It turns out an alliterative name counts for a lot.
154* Creator/KarlMarx and Friedrich Engels penned ''The Communist Manifesto'' together, but Marx is the only one directly associated with it (with Marxism being another name for communism), while Engels is unknown to many who don't study Marxism.
155** Engels is somewhat better known in the UK for his seminal work ''On the Condition of the Working Classes in England'', which was the first serious academic survey of urban living conditions in the age of industrialization. It took forty years for anyone to get around to an English translation, but it was still relevant enough to influence a lot of British political and economic reformists well into the 1920s.
156* After one of the authors of ''Webcomic/OffWhite'' became a real-life example of this trope, they tried to avert this by doing things like alternately posting pages on both their ''Website/{{deviantart}}'' accounts.
157* Many kids with older siblings tend to feel this way, sometimes into adulthood.
158* Ever heard of Christian Friedrich Henrici (aka Picander, his pseudonym), the lyricist for Music/JohannSebastianBach's {{cantatas}}? Chances are even those who are into Bach's music haven't heard of him. Picander (as he is known on [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]) wrote the lyrics for many of Bach's religious and secular cantatas, yet he is obscure to all but the most learned Bach scholars. Part of the reason why he is so unknown is that it is general practice to attribute a classical work to the one who has composed the music; hence, Picander is unknown while Bach is always in the spotlight.
159** Bach also had composers create the melody line for each cantata movement; Bach would then create the actual music for the movement based on that melody. Such melody composers remain even more obscure than Picander.
160* Most fans of UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball agree that this happened with Creator/{{Peyton|Manning}} and Eli Manning, two brothers who played quarterback for different teams in the NFL. It's just a question of who was stuck in whose shadow that tends to start a few arguments. Peyton was clearly the better of the two players, having had to carry multiple teams by himself in a few big games, but he had a reputation as a choke artist in the playoffs, making it to the UsefulNotes/SuperBowl four times and only winning twice—enough so that he's the former TropeNamer for EveryYearTheyFizzleOut. On the other hand, Eli was far less accurate in throwing and had multiple losing seasons, yet showed flashes of real brilliance, winning the Super Bowl both times he appeared, including against [[DefeatingTheUndefeatable the at-the-time undefeated New England Patriots]]. It comes down to a debate over whether "consistently good" or "subpar with occasional streaks of excellence" is better.
161* Everyone who is familiar with ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' (and many who aren't) knows who Creator/GaryGygax is. You'd have to look harder to find someone familiar with Dave Arneson, despite him being ''more'' influential in creating the tabletop RPG (he was the one who had the idea in the first place and wrote the original rules set; Gygax[[note]]who was first and foremost a wargamer and never fully accepted role-playing as a form of game-play[[/note]] helped develop the rules, did most of the work necessary for publishing the game, and knew someone (Brian Blume) who could fund the venture). It seems to have gotten a bit better after Arneson's death, though and was never overly severe. Almost everyone who's actually knowledgeable about the game knows who he is even if he didn't have the same mainstream familiarity as Gygax, and he remains the second person credited in the Players Handbook.
162* Creator/LaurenFaust gets way more credit from fans of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' and ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' than her husband Creator/CraigMcCracken, and he made the shows; she just worked on them. This might have something to do with her being the mind behind ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''.
163* The 2012 United States Olympic women's gymnastics team. Jordyn Wieber, Aly Raisman, and Kyla Ross did not gain nearly as much publicity as Gabby Douglas and [=McKayla=] Maroney (the former for her actual gymnastic accomplishments and the latter because of an internet meme.)
164** Same deal with the 2008 team. Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin pretty badly overshadowed the rest of the squad. Alicia Sacramone remains a gymternet favorite, but Chellsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek, and Bridget Sloan are almost entirely forgotten by all but the hardcore fans.
165** Find someone who isn't a lifelong gym fan and ask them to name all members of Atlanta's Magnificent Seven. Their response will probably be, "Dominique Moceanu, Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, that one girl who hurt her ankle (Kerri Strug), and.... uh...." Poor, poor Amanda Borden, Jaycie Phelps, and Amy Chow.
166** Mary Lou Retton. Does anyone really remember any of her teammates in the '84 Olympics? Maybe Julianne [=McNamara=], but that's it.
167** In 2016, it's Douglas and Simone Biles taking all the media attention. Raisman got her fair share of further recognition for being "the other returnee".
168*** The tables have turned slightly: two silver medals and a team gold later, Raisman got a lot more media attention (alongside Biles) than Douglas this time around. Douglas's only medal has been the team gold. Aside from being replaced by Biles, Douglas only got attention for not placing her hand on her heart during the medal ceremony.
169** For 2020, Biles was not only unquestionably the face of the U.S. gymnastics team, but with Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt retired, arguably the face of the entire 2020 Olympics.
170* The 2014 Nobel Peace Prize was won by Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, but, given the fame she already had, it was the former who got all the media attention as the latter was ignored.
171* Male American professional soccer players are hit by this ''hard''. On the home front, they're almost completely overshadowed by the women, especially following their victory in the 2015 World Cup. When it's strictly men's soccer being discussed, the American players are barely a blip on the radar compared to some of the South American and European superstars like UsefulNotes/DavidBeckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Lionel Messi. In fact, while most people, American or not, who aren't die-hard soccer fans will be hard-pressed to name even ''one'' male soccer star from the States, there are inversely little-to-no well known U.S.-known international soccer stars on the female side.[[note]]The only arguable exceptions are Brazil's Marta, Canada's Christine Sinclair, and Australia's Sam Kerr—all of whom have played much of their club careers in the US, with Sinclair having played for Portland's team in the National Women's Soccer League since that league started up in 2013.[[/note]] This lack of American male success is probably why soccer is generally considered to be "[[AmericansHateTingle hated]]" [[SoccerHatingAmericans in America]].
172* After Creator/RondaRousey took [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship UFC]] by storm in 2015, she has all but overshadowed the entire industry of mixed martial arts in the eyes of non-fans. Very few people outside the UFC fan base (or at least target demographic) will likely be able to name any other MMA fighter -- with the only one coming close being Holly Holm, for being the one to end her streak. With Rousey's MMA career over, Irish phenomenon Conor [=McGregor=] has replaced her as the face of the sport.
173* Jack Butler, the original writer, editor, and promulgator of the EvilOverlordList is said to have been damned surprised to find that his list had been copied, copyrighted, and "made famous" by Peter Anspach. Butler has -- by way of a successful lawsuit -- regained control over his creation, but the damage is pretty much done. If people attach a creator credit to the EvilOverlordList, they invariably think of the man who copyrighted it, not the man who actually created the thing.
174* In TheSixties three men created titles that were the foundation for Franchise/MarvelUniverse and Creator/MarvelComics as we know and love - Creator/StanLee with artists Creator/JackKirby and Creator/SteveDitko. However, while Lee had a much lesser role than many believe, often providing just general plot outline or the idea and writing dialogue on the already finished pages, he also had a much greater media presence and popularity among the fans, overshadowing the latter two even in the mainstream eyes. This, combined with their increasing mistreatment ended with both of them leaving the company, a move that for many was the beginning of MediaNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks.
175* In general, if a Senator of Representative is more outspoken on a national level, chances are that they'll command more name recognition:
176** Ed Markey is the junior Senator from Massachusetts. Good luck finding anyone outside of Massachusetts who could tell you that, though, because the ''senior'' Senator from Massachusetts happens to be a populist firebrand named Elizabeth Warren, who eats national attention for breakfast.
177** John Cornyn of Texas is nominally the second most powerful Republican senator in the U.S. (until 2019), but he's barely a blip on the national radar compared to his home state's ''other'' senator: Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz.
178** There are 27 congressmen in New York[[note]]Technically 26 since the 27th District’s seat is vacant after Chris Collins’ resignation, and as the state is expected to redistrict following the release of the 2020 census results[[/note]]. Can you name any of them besides Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? Maybe Elise Stefanik due to her prominent role in the Trump impeachment hearings.
179*** Note, this might not hold [[Main/CreatorProvincialism if you live in New York yourself.]]
180** Roy Blunt of Missouri is well known for being one of few Republicans to hold leadership roles in both the House and Senate chambers. Despite that, he is ''far'' less known nationally that his state's highly controversial junior senator, Josh Hawley.
181** Patrick Leahy of Vermont was the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate from the 2012 death of UsefulNotes/DanielInouye until his own retirement after the 2022 elections. He'd be a sure-fire standout for the second-smallest state in the country — except for the fact that he's virtually unheard of compared to Vermont's other, nationally-recognized senator: UsefulNotes/BernieSanders. In fact, Leahy is probably better known for being a Franchise/{{Batman}} fanboy (becoming a PromotedFanboy through appearances in WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries, Film/BatmanAndRobin and Film/TheDarkKnightRises).
182** Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, despite his long career, was largely unknown even in his home state, gaining virtually no national attention compared to his state’s other senator, the nationally-recognized Marco Rubio. This has been averted once he was ousted from the Senate by Rick Scott, as he was the state’s popular incumbent governor. A sitting senator losing re-election in a swing state during an election cycle favoring his party is an insurmountable task, but Nelson’s anonymity compared to Scott allowed the latter to pull off the upset. Scott is still not nearly as well-known nationally as Rubio is, but he’s definitely more famous than Nelson was.
183* An interesting case in 2011, when two giants of the computing industry died within a week of each other. First was Creator/SteveJobs, who was instrumental in bringing personal computers and various other devices to the masses. The other was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Ritchie Dennis Ritchie]], creator of the C programming language (from which nearly all modern languages are descended) and thus indirectly responsible for every bit of software running on those devices. Ritchie's death was barely a footnote in all the media hype surrounding Jobs.
184[[/folder]]

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