It seems people are trying to squeeze the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election and Trump's win into this trope as an example. I would argue that this does not fit the definition: "A Dark Horse Victory involves a third competitor winning in a competition with two major rivals."
Trump and Clinton were the two major rivals so his win does not fit the definition of this trope (although it might as noted in the first post, the traditional definition). Now, if a third party candidate (e.g. Libertarian or Green Party) had won, it would be this trope with that third party the Dark Horse. I do agree Trump wining the Republican nomination does fit this trope as given in the Political tab.
The new example added yesterday: "After having the entire mainstream media, Holloywood, and both poltiical parties agiasnt him, Donald Trump's 2016 presidential victory was this in the highest order." might fit some "Underdog" trope (I haven't checked) but not this one.
Hide / Show Replies
Yeah, that's entirely unrelated to this trope.
Moreover, right now, it's complete and utter flamebait. It shouldn't go in anywhere.
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Some of the examples feature only one "shoe-in" who is expected to win and not winning, rather than having two clear rivals and a third party. I think people are confusing the normal usage of the term "dark horse" with the trope definition, where there are specifically two rivals competing and a third party wins.
Cut some natter from the politics section: It's possible there's more examples in there, but it's mostly natter.
- Possible subversion: Nelson turned out to be insanely unpopular and the party moved their support back to Turnbull.
- And now, Turnbull's losing popularity and party support... but Peter Costello is retiring from politics, so if Turnbull gets dumped, the frontrunner would appear to be Joe Hockey.
- And now Turnbull has been dumped, his successor is not Hockey but Tony Abbott, by one vote (yes we had politicians named Abbott and Costello. Unfortunately, they were not party leader and deputy at the same time)
- On Gruen Nation, when the topic of celebrity endorsements for the 2010 election came up, it was suggested that Steve Bradbury (see Sport, below) should endorse Tony Abbott.
- Possible subversion: Nelson turned out to be insanely unpopular and the party moved their support back to Turnbull.
Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Needs Help
, started by Larkmarn on Nov 14th 2014 at 7:40:09 PM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman