Always Someone Better: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}

{{quote|''Smile like you've got nothing to prove''<br />

''No matter what you might do''<br />

''There's always someone out there cooler than you''|'''Ben Folds'''}}

It's not uncommon for the characters to be siblings, not unlike the [[Aloof Big Brother]] -- e—e.g. [[Cheers|Sam Malone]]'s brother was more popular than him, [[Monk|Adrian Monk]]'s brother was better at deduction. The [[Older Than Radio|classic]] better sibling is, of course, [[Sherlock Holmes|Mycroft Holmes]], better known as "Sherlock Holmes' smarter brother."

By the end of the story, one of three things has usually happened: the regular character has been totally humiliated trying to beat the other character; he has grown up and realized that he just doesn't need to be the best, and becomes happy being ''second'' best; or has bested their superior. The most common ways for besting them in action shows is by outwitting or tricking them, finding their [[Achilles' Heel]], using a [[Forgotten Superweapon]], getting into an [[Unstoppable Rage]], or just a good old-fashioned [[David Versus Goliath]] confrontation. Sometimes, the character just has to get over their mental block/self-esteem issue, which was the problem all along.

This is generally just a one-shot character, but in continuing, action-oriented shows, this character can sometimes turn into a recurring villain or [[Big Bad]] with whom the Hero develops a rivalry. In many cases, the [[Green-Eyed Monster|rivalry]] is entirely one-sided (either the rival [[Unknown Rival|doesn't know that his challenger exists]] or -- muchor—much to the mortification and fury of the challenger -- likeschallenger—likes their rival and considers them a friend, and thus doesn't enjoy competing with them. In other situations, the better character is a [[Jerkass]] who just ''loves'' to lord his superiority over the Hero.

Sometimes overlaps with [[The Ace]]. In a [[Monster Protection Racket]], a character can seem this way before they're revealed. See also [[Always Second Best]]. [[Always a Bigger Fish]] is the version for monsters.

** Paul, during the Sinnoh Arc -- {{spoiler|until the Suzuran Conference.}}

** Shooti during the Unova Arc but quickly [[Subverted]] in his fourth apperanceappearance when they tie.

* In ''[[Tower of God]]'', one character is so frustrated about this and [[Can't Catch Up]], that he decides to kill {{spoiler|Lahel}} to stop Baam from climbing. When Baam once again proves his genius by saving her with a technique he had just been shown, said character gives up and commits suicide.

{{quote| {{spoiler|'''Ho''' }}: I've always asked myself: Why did God give that thing so much power… and me too little power to protect my friends?}}

* ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2½]]'' deserves a spot on this page. The main cast is already superhuman (and even here they're jockeying for "betterness"), and they routinely come across other people ''who are better.'' Most of this main cast will [[Take a Level In Badass]] to defeat the better bunch, but only after having their collective/respective backsides handed to them. Victory is often about exploiting a weakness instead of through the application of superior firepower.

*** And then it turns out that this has less to do with Ace being just that strong, and more to do with the fact that Luffy as a kid was a total wimp that couldn't even land a punch, let alone put up a fight.

* ''[[The Slayers]]'' had Luna Inverse, Lina's older sister and the only person in a world full of chaos-demon-gods who scared her. She could trounce any of the bad guys Lina faces, being a reincarnation of one of the world's supreme gods... if she had any ambition beyond being a part-time waitress.

* Being about sports, this happens kind of a lot in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'', where there's at least one of these on any major opposing team. For instance, Sena's come up against Riku, the guy who taught him how to run in the first place; Panther, at once a kindred spirit and a total opposite who is actually even faster than him; and Yamato Takeru -- theTakeru—the ''real'' Eyeshield 21.

** ''[[Slam Dunk]]'': Sendoh, Fujima, Maki, the Sannoh team, Okita from the movies. Rukawa also was the [[Always Someone Better]] for both Sakuragi ''and'' Kiyota from Kainan.

*** Strike thatAlso, the best example of the trope is Bryan Hawk experiencing this with Takamura. Sawamura also experiences this.

* ''[[Highlander the Search For Vengeance]]'' features the main villain: Marcus Octavius, as Colin MacLeod's [[Always Someone Better]]. He just won't take vengeance-driven Colin seriously, even after 1000 years.

* Kagome Higurashi has Kikyou, her past incarnation ''and'' love rival, as her [[Always Someone Better]] in ''[[Inuyasha]]''. Kikyou was a brilliant, [[Yamato Nadeshiko|gentle]] [[Miko]] when she lived, and a [[Broken Bird|conflicted undead Miko]] when she was [[Came Back Wrong|forcefully revived]]; aside of her love for Inuyasha, Kagome's biggest conflict is constantly feeling that she's gotta re-assert her own identity [[Replacement Scrappy|to not have everyone tell her she's inferior to Kikyou]].

* [[Kare Kano|Kare Kano's]]'s Yukino was considered to be the perfect person by her peers until Arima came into her life.

* [[Comic Book Adaptation|The manga chapter]] of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] A's]]'' that dealt with their school life depicted [[New Transfer Student]] [[Teen Genius|Fate (and to a lesser extent, Nanoha)]] as this for [[Those Two Guys|over-achiever Alisa]]. Already annoyed when she saw Nanoha and Fate get the same perfect scores as she did in a math test, Alisa outright challenges Fate for the first place in the upcoming Prep Exam when Nanoha mentioned that Fate was so smart, she even helps her older sister Miyuki solve her high school math problems.

** ''[[Nanoha Force|]]'': The Huckebein family]] seems to be this to the Yagami family. Especially their leader Curren Huckebein which shares various similitudes with Hayate but also seems to be superior to her in almost every aspect(more powerfull, close-combat capable, more reliable leader to her followers, etc...), also the rest of the Huckebein are treated more or less like a stronger and badder version of the Wolkenritter.

* As Peacock's number one talent, Ayaori serves as [[Always Someone Better]] to Ryo in ''[[Penguin Revolution]]'', and typically for the trope is also Ryo's adopted brother. Less typically, they're both very fond of each other and Ryo, while competitive, bears no resentment towards Ayaori.

* ''[[Kekkaishi|]]'': Yoshimori's]] older brother Masamori is first shown as one of these, being incredibly powerful at a young age, the object of Tokine's affection, and overall everything Yoshimori wants to be. Their grandparents Tokiko and Shigemori play this role to Masamori, with the former being able to mend holes in space and dimensions using her powers.

* In ''[[Bleach]]'' Renji Abarai trained for decades to defeat Byakuya Kutchiki to reclaim his old relationship with his [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|childhood friend]] Rukia whom he views as having been stolen from him when Byakuya adopted her into his clan. Not only does he completely fail to defeat Byakuya despite achieving bankai because a new bankai is nowhere near the level required to fight a captain, but some punk human kid who's been a Soul Reaper for all of two months shows up, kicks his ass, kicks Byakuya's ass, saves Rukia from being executed by Soul Society all despite having a brand new bankai himself. The only way it could possibly suck worse for Renji is if this upstart kid was the [[The Hero|main character]]. [[Oh Crap|Oh, wait...]]

* Raigyo from ''[[Xam'd: Lost Memories]]'' exists to make protagonist Akiyuki feel terribly inadequate both as a Xam'd and as a crewmember of the Zanbani Postal Ship. The point is stressed further by the fact that Akiyuki is stuck mostly wearing Raigyo's hand-me-downs which, with Raikyo being a good head taller and utterly ripped, are almost comically oversized on the poor kid -- meaningkid—meaning that he has big [[Incredibly Lame Pun|shirts to fill]] both figuratively and literally.

** Let's not forget Furuichi's resentment towards Akiyuki, who has everything Furuichi wants -- mainlywants—mainly, the affections of their love interest Haru. And when Furuichi puts the matter in his own hands to get what he wants in Episode 14, {{spoiler|things don't end well for the guy.}}

* In ''[[Crossbone Gundam]]: The Steel 7'', Giri (former [[Ace Pilot]] for [[The Empire|the Jupiter Empire]]) initially refuses to help [[La Résistance|the Crossbone Vanguard]] fight a revived Empire because he says it's not his concern anymore. Then he learns that the JE's leader is his own personal [[Always Someone Better]], who twists the knife further when he shows up to kill the heroes by mocking Giri as the Empire's ''second'' best pilot. After that things are [[It's Personal|a mite more personal]] and Giri readily joins up.

{{quote| '''Kakashi''': In this world, there are children younger than [[Kid Hero|you,]] yet stronger than me.}}

* [[Hikaru no Go|]]: Sai to Touya Akira.]] Also, Touya Akira to Hikaru.

{{quote| "W- watch... S- see... What I- I can never- '''WILL''' never be. ''Dancing'' before me... When I was a child, ''afraid'' of a single wild dog... And that girl appeared, no more than ten, ''slicing'' it in half. The ''same'' feeling. Only ''now'', remembering my ''emotion''... It wasn't ''fear'' of her. No... I ''already'' knew... '''Instinctively'''... That she'd walk ahead of me the rest of my life. Accepting that, I felt no fear. No ''resistance''. Only familiar, comfortable ''despair''. I ''remember'' it now... What I felt then...It was awe..."}}

* Both Keith/Sky High and Barnaby Brooks Jr. serve as this to Kotetsu/Wild Tiger in ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', in slightly different ways. Keith overshadows Kotetsu by the virtue of being [[The Ace|comically amazing in every way]]. Barnaby, on the other hand, gets to make Kotetsu feel inadequate by having the exact same powers while being younger, [[Bishonen|better looking]], more competent, and more loved by fans and sponsors alike. Later on in the series, however, {{spoiler|Kotetsu's [[Always Someone Better]] relation sort of flips around in a way, as Barnaby starts seeing ''him'' as someone he can't ever hope to compare to.}}

{{quote| '''{{spoiler|Barnaby}}:''' There's no one I particularly aspire to be like, but there ''is'' someone I'm no match for... I just aspire to be someone who's worthy of his trust.}}

* ''[[ToA AruCertain Majutsu noMagical Index]]'': [[Always Someone Better]] comes up a lot in this series, though mostly in the minds of the [[Unknown Rival]].

* In the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' Marvel comic series, before the actual events of the comic, Snake-Eyes became Storm Shadow's [[Always Someone Better]], with some judicious manipulation from Firefly.

* In the new ''[[The Transformers IDW|Transformers]]'' series from IDW, Sixshot seems to be ''every'' Decepticon's [[Always Someone Better]] ... or he would be, if anyone but Megatron weren't so afraid of him they strip gears at the mention of his name.

* In many ways, and in a rare example of the [[Always Someone Better]] being a main character, Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) of the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]] is the [[Always Someone Better]] to his arch-nemesis [[Dr. Doom]], with regards to science at least; one of Doom's key driving motivations is to prove himself superior to Richards, who has always demonstrated that he's just that little bit smarter and better than Doom. In this case, the rivalry is far from unnoticed, although it's always Doom who actively plans and attempts to humiliate and subdue Reed, who is less interested in proving himself superior to Doom and in fact considers it a waste that Doom expends his still-impressive intellect on what amounts to little more than petty jealousy. It is worth noting, however, that Doom is an equally-powerful sorcerer, and is in fact more powerful than Richards in this respect. However, he still meets the basic nature of the trope, as he is obsessed with besting Richards entirely on his own terms, i.e. with science, and even when he uses his formidable skills in sorcery against Richards, Richards nevertheless manages to find some way to outwit him and win.

** [[Doctor Strange]] is Doom's [[Always Someone Better]] in magic, proving that Doom just can't win. You think he'd be happy being second in two fields to the world's best, but no.

** Reed is also the [[Always Someone Better]] to The Wizard, who has actually given up on beating him with science and just wants him dead so he can be the best, resulting in a whole lot of Frightful Fours, one of which had five members. Reed is surprisingly calm about this, except when it's actually happening; he never sits around worrying about what the Wizard's going to do next.

** Interestingly, Luthor has actually justified his hatred of Superman by claiming he is this to ''the entire human race'', and all human achievement pales when compared to the things "the alien" can do ''effortlessly''. Lex has even gone so far as to tell Superman that as soon as he's out of the picture he will solve all of humanity's problems himself, thus proving his superiority to all. However, this is proven as a petty lie after the events of [[Fifty Two|52]], when Superman was out of commission for a year and Luthor did nothing but be his scheming evil self. Superman taunts him for this: "Where's the cancer cure, Lex?"

{{quote| '''Luthor''': I could have saved the world if it wasn't for you!<br />

** [[Captain Atom]] is this for the entire [[DC Universe]]. Whenever there is a threat that [[Superman]] can't handle for one reason or another, a threat that will spank [[Green Lantern]] and utterly humble [[Shazam|Captain Marvel]]... it almost always falls to [[Captain Atom]] to take care of, because there are no real limits to his powers because he is a [[Physical God]] to end all [[Physical God|Physical Gods]]s. In ''Captain Atom: Armageddon'', he shows up in the ''Wildstorm'' universe and plays this role to ''[[The Authority]]''. By which we mean the ''whole team'' combined.

* [[Batgirl|Stephanie Brown]], [[Never Be a Hero|who always failed to measure up to other superheroes and was constantly told to stop trying]], [[Took a Level Inin Badass|improved in almost all areas of crimefighting]] after [[Legacy Character|she assumed the mantle of Batgirl]] from [[Characters/Batgirl|Cassandra Cain]]. However, in one issue her own ongoing series [[Supergirl]] stops by for a night together and outshines Stephanie ''in every way''. Not only does she have natural superpowers, but she is also able to undestand the [[Techno Babble]] explanation for why they are fighting [[Dracula]], and in their civilian identities Supergirl has a much greater zeal for college life than Stephanie did. Stephanie, however, never resented Supergirl for any of this, and liked her ''even more'' because of how awesome she was.

* [[Wolverine]] has often claimed to be the best there is at what he does. Perhaps no enemy of his has presented more conclusive evidence against this than Tomi Shido - the Gorgon. Faster, stronger, smarter, more agile, more silent, more skillful, all despite his mutant powers having nothing to do with any of these things. Many of Wolvie's enemies are in some way an equal match for him, but the Gorgon is, simply put, ''too much'' for ''Wolverine'', even according to the man himself. It took using his own [[Taken for Granite]] powers against him to put him away... but sometimes [[He's Back|you just can't keep a bad man down]].

{{quote| '''Claremont:'''Father and son. That's why Sabretooth always considered Logan "sloppy seconds" to his "original" / "real deal." The other critical element in my presentation of their relationship was that, in their whole life, Logan has never defeated Sabretooth in a knock-down, drag-out, kill-or-be-killed berserker fight. By the same token, on every one of his birthdays, Sabretooth has always managed to find him, no matter where Logan was or what he was doing, and come within an inch of killing him. For no other reason than to remind him that he could.}}

* Like Wolverine above, Taskmaster is ''supposed'' to be this for the [[Marvel Universe]] mercenaries. Like Richard Dragon of DC, he's the one who "trains the best." DC stops Dragon from suffering from [[The Worf Effect]] or [[Badass Decay]] by not having him around when he's not teaching. Taskmaster gets his butt kicked all over.

{{quote| Taskmaster: Truth is, you're that good. You've ''always'' been that good. Which won't even get you a cup of coffee until you can figure out how to be a ''professional...''}}

* Minnesota Fats from ''[[The Hustler (film)|The Hustler]]''.

* Woody and Buzz in the first ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' movie, Buzz appears to be better at Woody in everything when he first arrives.

* ''The Shadow Club'' by Neil Shusterman was devoted to this concept, with seven second-best children being driven to incredible lengths to humiliate their [[Always Someone Better|better]]. They start off sympathetic, one girl is even being ignored by her parent and step-parent DURING THEIR WEDDING because of her superior cousin, but {{spoiler|they ultimately begin to cause serious harm to their rivals, and nearly kill one of them and an innocent bystander}}.

** Then, for extra fun, a sequel is made in which [[Always Someone Better|the better]] arrives who is better than EVERYONE at EVERYTHING. When he too is targeted, the adults suspect the former Shadow Club of being the cause, but they are surprisingly innocent and the main character begins sleuthing to figure out who is trying to frame them.

{{quote| '''Ender:''' I've had too many teachers, how was I supposed to know you'd turn out to be a-<br />

** Ender himself is the [[Always Someone Better]] to every other student in battle school (with the possible exception of Bean), especially Bonzo.

* In [[Timothy Zahn]]'s ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'', (part of the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]''), we are introduced to Winter Celchu, Leia's aide and a friend from childhood, who had been invaluable during the less certain times of the Rebellion. Leia, when it comes to gracefulness and elegance, thinks of Winter as her [[Always Someone Better]], as she can wake up in the middle of the night, leave her hair unbrushed, wear only a plain robe, and still seem more poised than Leia feels. Of course, Leia was lying in bed pregnant at the time...

** Another way she might be Leia's [[Always Someone Better]] is that due to her responsibilities, Leia had to leave her children with Winter quite often.

* Walter Tevis's fictional ''The Hustler'', later made into a movie, focuses on protagonist Eddie Felson's goal to beat Minnesota Fats, the best pool player in America.

* [[What Could Have Been|Early drafts]] of ''[[Harry Potter and Thethe Goblet of Fire (novel)|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'' had Hermione dealing with an [[Insufferable Genius]] who proved to be a match for her. See [https://web.archive.org/web/20120208051719/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=3 here] for more details.

* In ''[[Chalion|The Curse of [[Chalion]]'' by [[Lois McMaster Bujold]], Caz has a flashback to an epiphany he had during his youth. While Cazaril was considered the best fencer in the castle, he was paired off as a sparring partner to a visiting youth and was thoroughly convinced of his own superiority, only to be soundly trounced by the visitor. The realization that there's [[Always Someone Better]] had a profound effect on his development from then on.

* In [[Child Ballad]] #132 ("The Bold Pedlar and Robin Hood"), [[Robin Hood]] & [[Little John]] meet a pedlar in Sherwood Forest who beats both of them in hand-to-hand combat. He finally reveals his name to be "Gamble Gold" and himself to be an exile from England for murder--atmurder—at which point it is determined that he is Robin Hood's cousin (specifically, the son of his mother's sister, so that their relationship is in no doubt). This actually seems to make the beatings more acceptable, as all three then finish out the song merrily drinking together at an alehouse.

* In David Duncan's ''[[The Reluctant Swordsman]]'' series, Wallie Smith, transported into the body of the seventh level swordsman Shonshu, is given all of Shonshu's skill and ability with a blade. He's literally unbeatable except that a god tells him there's "one as good" out there somewhere. The climax of the book comes after Wallie has faced that one and discovers that {{spoiler|his protege, Nnanjji, has gone from being a second level to being the youngest seventh in history-- and easily bests the "one as good," making ''him'' the true destined wielder of the Goddess's Sword.}}

{{quote| "Your thoughts on numerology are most interesting," Waterhouse says loudly, running Mr. Drkh off the rhetorical road. "I myself studied with Drs. Turing and von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton." Father John snaps awake, and Mr. Drkh looks as if he's just taken a fifty-caliber round in the small of his back. Clearly, Mr. Drkh has had a long career of being the weirdest person in any given room, but he's about to go down in flames.}}

* Averted in Lawrence Watt-Evans's ''[[Lawrence Watt -Evans|The Annals Of The Chosen]]'' series. The main character is (magically) the greatest swordsman in the world, and this is never contradicted, nor is there ever any suspense over him losing a (sword)fight. Of course, he has to worry about [[Sorcerous Overlord|everything else]].

* A variant occurs in ''[[Literature/Emperor|Emperor]]: The Field of Swords]]'', based on a historical incident. While conquering Spain, Julius Caesar comes across a statue of Alexander the Great, and temporarily falls into depression upon realising that he has lived almost as long as Alexander but accomplished much less.

** Chandler can also be seen to be paranoid about Richard being better than him, due to Monica having been in love with him, as well as being suave, rich and able to grow a moustachemustache.

* ''[[Angel]]'' had the [[Buffy-Speak|weird undefined demon-ish...thing]] The Immortal, who in his single not-quite-appearance managed to embody Spike and Angel's insecurities, by constantly one-upping them at everything they did--withoutdid—without even trying. He did both Darla and Drusilla while they were still seeing Angel and Spike respectively, and in the present day was supposed to be dating ''Buffy''. The entire demon world, of course--andcourse—and some of the magical world that wasn't fond of demons--fawneddemons—fawned over him and considered him an idol. In a subversion, at the end of the episode, Spike and Angel were no more over their inferiority complex than before. (In fact, the whole episode played out like the [[Author Appeal|writer had]] a huge [[Fetish Fuel|cuckolding fetish]].)

** Angel himself felt paranoid that The Groosalugg was taking over his life.

* It's subverted in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "[[The Ace|Superstar]]," when previously [[Nerd|nerdlynerd]]ly Jonathan shows up ''everyone'' on the cast. He even takes over the opening credits montage. Unfortunately, {{spoiler|being perfect created an [[Evil Twin]] which doubled as his [[Kryptonite Factor]], which only Buffy was able to destroy.}}

*** While Faith effortlessly draws all the attention away from Buffy in the episode where she first appears, later in the season she is complaining that ''Buffy'' is ''her'' [[Always Someone Better]]. Apparently Faith is great at making a first impression, but Buffy is the one who can inspire long-term loyalty.

** Both Frasier and Niles live in terror of it some day being proven that one is [[Always Someone Better]] to the other, which is one of the contributing factors to their [[Sibling Rivalry]]. Once, it was revealed that Niles possessed a greater IQ than Frasier which, as they were meeting Nobel Laureates for lunch the next day, prompted much scrambling from each to prove that each was equal to / better than the other. The [[Hilarity Ensues|resulting chaos]] demonstrated that whilst Niles might have the edge in IQ, they were about equal for common sense and maturity.

* ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'': In another example of the sibling being the rival, [[Stargate Atlantis|Rodney McKay's]] sister Jeannie is possibly even more brilliant than he is-but has chosen to settle down and have a family, rather than become a "real" scientist like him.

** He also has to accept Samantha Carter.

** Happened again with Declan Rand, who has become something of a recurring foil and romantic rival. He's also a phony (criminal profiler) who solves mysteries, but nto to make money, rather because he's a bored rich genius. Who has the lead singer for [[Tears for Fears]] over for lunch, and his own personal dessert chef.

** Actually, Data turned out to be Lore's [[Always Someone Better]]. While Lore had emotions, they were so powerful they caused his behaviour to be erratic and sociopathic, which frightened the other colonists. Data was built as a quick replacement for Lore, possessing emotions but at a very muted level so they couldn't overpower his logic. When reactivated, Lore is obsessed with killing his brother and taking his place as the "better" son. Oddly enough, their creator Dr. Soong claims neither is better than the other and they're pretty much identical save for a few programming codes.

* In ''[[Red Dwarf]]'', Arnold Rimmer's alternate-universe counterpart shows up and is better than him at ''everything'' -- simply—simply because he got the right kind of motivation in his early adult life.

* ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' - Caroline feels this way about Elena.

** Rachel herself functions as the [[Always Someone Better]] for everyone else in New Directions, particularly in Season One - though one who's heavily invested in having them all recognise and accept her superiority. This is interestingly inverted in Season Two, however, as she's increasingly shown not to be definitively ''better'' at anything than all the other members of the club - she has vocal equals in Mercedes and Kurt, and is relegated to the back row with the weakest dancers in several numbers while Tina and Kurt move to the front row alongside Brittany, Santana and Mike.

* In ''[[Community]]""'' episode [[Community/Recap/S1 /E11 The Politics of Human Sexuality|The Politics Of Human Sexuality]] Abed turns out to be this for Troy with regards to athleticism . Parodied, in that Abed is clearly not interested in athletics where Troy is immediately driven into a fit of paranoid insecurity by the fact that Abed manages to throw a piece of trash into a garbage can when Troy misses, and it just gets worse from there.

* The character Topper from ''[[Dilbert]]''. He is really a better example of this trope than any of the examples in the other, more obscure categories like "Film" or "Television".

** Played somewhat straighter with Captain Awesome, who is Mr Perfect's [[Always Someone Better]], he even has the same powerset as Mr Perfect, albiet at a much higher level.

{{quote| '''Jermaine:''' I win all the games, get all the girls, [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|do all the dishes]]... I'll always beat you. You'll never be able to surpass my level of-- YOU SUCK AT LIFE.<br />

** Although Junpei being as colossally inept as he is, everyone is the Someone Better.

* ''[[Inazuma Eleven]]'' in general.

** Before the [[Flanderization]] which bears his name had set in, Ned Flanders was very much an [[Always Someone Better]] to Homer. Flanders made more money, had a better house, better things, a more attractive wife (while she was alive), better-behaved and more affectionate children -- hechildren—he had ''everything'' better than Homer. This was ''why'' Homer hated him so much. Ned's Christian faith was initially just the reason why Ned was too nice to realize all this. There was even an early episode where Homer makes Bart compete with Ned's son Todd in a miniature golf tournament that fits this trope to a T, especially when a loophole in a bet makes both him and Homer have to mow the other's lawn in a dress and Ned doesn't even mind that much.

{{quote| '''Bart:''' You make me sick, Homer. You're the one who told me I could do anything if I just put my mind to it!<br />

'''Homer:''' Well, now that you're a little bit older, I can tell you that's a crock! No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you.<br />

* In the ''[[Thomas the Tank Engine]]'' [[The Movie|Movie]] ''The Great Discovery'' an engine named Stanley is introduced. The narrator describes him as "Shinier, bigger and stronger than Thomas". He's also instantly popular with all the other engines ''including'' the arrogant ones like [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit|Gordon]] and [[Jerkass|James]]. Thomas' jealousy towards Stanly (which is amusingly similar to that of Homer Simpson's attitude towards Ned Flanders, pointed out above) is a major plot driving force of the film.

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'' had an [[Always Someone Better]], the [[Ninja]] Kyodai Ken, appear in two episodes: "Night of the Ninja" and "Day of the Samurai." Both times, Kyodai is built up as a fighter Batman cannot hope to beat. Batman beats him the first time by holding back until he can beat Kyodai without revealing his secret identity. The second time, he uses hidden armor to keep Kyodai from using a deadly pressure-point strike on him.

* Mandark in ''[[Dexter's Laboratory|Dexters Laboratory]]'' is originally introduced as one of these, smarter and more efficient than Dexter in nearly every field imaginable (to the point of being able to read Dexter's mind), and he even has a not-so-secret laboratory that's even larger than Dexter's. However, once Dexter discovers Mandark's weakness, a crippling infatuation with his older sister [[The Ditz|DeeDee]], the tables were turned rather quickly. In subsequent appearances, Mandark's competence as [[The Rival]] was entirely dependent on the needs of the episode.

* Lila was introduced like this in ''[[Hey Arnold!]]!''. Helga, Phoebe, Rhonda and all the other girls were jealous of her beauty, her cute dresses and her sweet disposition and ostracized her out of jealousy. {{spoiler|It turns out Lila envied ''them'' because she not only was very shy, she had a sad home life with a [[Missing Mom]] and a sweet yet unemployed single dad.}}

* In ''[[Lilo and& Stitch: The Series|Lilo and Stitch The Series]]'', Stitch ends up thinking too highly of himself with his cousin catching success. Jumba, fed up with Stitch's obnoxious attitude, creates experiment 627, a red and yellow, conehead, purple-nosed experiment that looks like a bigger, badder, and worse-mannered version of Stitch but with powers from 20 different experiments but absolutely none of stitch's weaknesses, 6 retractable arms, an extra retractable ''head'', inability to drown in water, and an ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]''-based retractable mouth. As his villainous rival, 627 dances a [[Humiliation Conga]] around Stitch as he bests him at everything he does. In the end, Stitch manages to outwit him by taking advantage of his extreme sense of humor and dehydrated him back into an experiment pod. Afterwards, towards the end of the episode [[Foreshadowing|Jumba creates another experiment pod labeled "628" and locks it away in his vault]].

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender|]]'': "You're just like my sister. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born."]]

* In ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011 series)]]|the 2011 ''ThunderCats'']] Tygra, a seemingly [[Aloof Older Brother]] and adoptive [[Spare to the Throne]], actively [[Invoked Trope|invokes]] this trope against his younger brother, the crown prince Lion-O, frequently showing him up in public and fomenting opinion that [[Rebel Prince]] Lion-O is [[The Wrongful Heir to the Throne]]. Tygra goes so far as to openly brag to their father, with Lion-O in earshot, "I just would have been a better [king]."

* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)/Recap/S2 E8/E08 The Mysterious Mare Do Well|The Mysterious Mare-Do-Well]]", Rainbow Dash gets shown up by the titular character when she keeps stopping disasters before she can, eventually stealing away her fan club. In the end {{spoiler|it turns out to have been her friends trying to teach her a lesson in humility}}.

** With their recent{{when}} (and painful) fall from grace: The Dallas Cowboys to the New York Giants.

* Musicians run into this problem all the time, especially at conservatories. Generally speaking, almost everyone who attends such a school (e.g., Juilliard) is the best in his or her own hometown. With everyone being so good, it's inevitable that someone is always going to be better. Sometimes, just walking into auditions and hearing the competition warm up is a very quick reminder of this trope.

* This article in the New York Times. [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/fashion/26DCDEB.html This article] in the ''New York Times''.

** It's been suggested that schools like Harvard made changes to admit students without top grades who excelled in other ways to deal with that very problem. They needed someone to be at the bottom of the class who wouldn't mess up the quad by blowing their brains out.

* Another place this happens is prison. You may go in being the biggest and baddest guy in the neighborhood, but there is always someone on the inside that is bigger and badder than you.

* [[wikipedia:Edward Pellew|Sir Edward Pellew, Lord Exmouth]], was a [[Badass]] [[Brits With Battleships|Royal Navy Officer]] in the [[Wooden Ships and Iron Men|French Revolutionary Wars]]. -- Which caused an embarassingembarrassing moment for his brother, Israel (also very good, just not up to his brother's level), when he captured the French Admiral at Trafalgar:

{{quote| '''Admiral Villeneuver''': There is no shame in surrendering to the gallant Sir Edward Pellew<br />

'''Israel Pellew''': (*pissed) I am his brother, Israel<br />

* Despite being just as outspoken as his brother, Peter Hitchens has never been quite on the same level of charm, wit and conversation as [[Christopher Hitchens]]. Which is perhaps one reason why he holds almost every single contrary opinion to his brother's.

[[Category:Always Someone Better{{PAGENAME}}]]