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{{trope}}
[[File:Colossal titan vs Eren.png|448px|thumbnail|link=Attack on Titan (anime)|Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind die Jäger!!!]]
{{quote|"''Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.''"
|'''''[[The Bible]]''''' (1 Samuel 17:49)}}
Any climactic combat or competition where the hero is the underdog<ref>Of course [[Underdogs Never Lose|in fiction this means they are all but guaranteed to win]]</ref>. Generally refers to conflicts where the hero is of much smaller physical stature than the villain. The hero will usually win if he's [[Weak but Skilled]] in contrast to the [[Unskilled but Strong]] foe, or otherwise ''very'' good at [[Deadly Dodging]]. If the villain is ''much'' larger, the hero may attempt a [[Colossus Climb]].
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Often overlaps with [[Evil Is Bigger]], which specifically covers size differences.
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* This trope is a staple of the [[Shonen]] genre, which usually features scrappy teenage protagonists going up against fully grown villains with a clear advantage and defeating them.
* Thorfinn versus Thorkell in [[Vinland Saga]], with no clear cut victor in either of their two fights, though Thorkell concedes the second fight after Thorfinn tears out his eye.
* The basic premise of ''[[
* Touma in ''[[
** Shiage is an even bigger underdog in his fights against superpowered enemies, he doesn't have any superpower at all.
* The titular ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' vs. just about anyone he goes head to head with, especially Shin and Agon.
** In reality, however, neither Agon or Shin are especially tall, Sena's just ''that'' short. A better example would be the lanky Mizumachi vs the stout Komosubi.
* ''[[Battle Angel Alita|GUNNM]]'': Gally/Alita is a female cyborg 5 foot tall and that doesn't appear to be more that 20. She routinelly defeats foes many times her size (however, her battle style being designed to handle larger foes, said foes' overconfidence, and the fact that [[Cute Bruiser|her bodies]] [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse|are most of the time advanced combat models]] are important factors). In almost every important battle she fought, she was stated as [[Weak but Skilled]] (and lost to more skilled and stronger opponents), and the 2 important battles she was stronger, one she only won because her flesh-and-blood opponent though it'd be appropiate, and the other she toyed with her opponent {{spoiler|until her body was hijaked by the superpower she was stealing her power source, and got punched to pieces. She survived and may get better...}}
** Also, Sechs taking on the Jovian seeded team by him/herself and putting up a fight (the first form of said "team" was about 500 meters wide, and got larger), Zazie and her relatively weak body (and [[More Dakka|tons of guns]]) fighting in the ZOTT semifinals and finals (where 2 superpowers try their latest MDW, and those LOST before the finals), and Caerula Sanguis fighting a cyborg with Chinese Swords.
* [[Evil Diva|Diva's]] [[Nigh Invulnerable|Chevaliers]] in ''[[Blood
* Soccer manga ''Giant Killing'', whose title redirects here, is basically about this: the protagonist is a coach whose mission is to bring a bottom-feeder Japanese team (for which he played in his professional career and was an idol before moving to an English team in the same situation) up to top contender level.
* ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'': Kenshiro isn't exactly a small guy, but he usually takes on huge people, sometimes ''twice'' his size, and wins handily most of the time (keeping in mind that Raoh is also bigger than him).
* Repeatedly for the eponymous character of ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]''. Fate: More experienced. Reinforce: More powerful. {{spoiler|Vivio}}: More powerful. {{spoiler|Thoma}}: ... Yeah.
* Referenced by name in ''Robotech'' where it compares the battle between the SDF-1 and the Zentraedi fleet to this.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', Manjoume's duel against his [[Corrupt Politician]] (and [[Jerkass| complete jerk]]) of a brother Chosaku clearly fit the Trope, but whether it was a straight example or an inversion is hard to determine, because it's hard to say who was David and who was Goliath. Chosaku was using a deck full of powerful Dragon beatsticks, while Manjoume had a deck full of monsters will only 0 Attack Points, and seeing as Manjoume won, the obvious answer is, the Trope was played straight. On the other hand... Seeing as Manjoume had built his deck using a careful and clever strategy, while Chosaku was sloppy and used almost no strategy other than [[Attack! Attack! Attack!| "hit him with everything you have"]], one could argue that the opposite was true, and that Manjoume was more of a Goliath here than his [[Small Name, Big Ego]] brother ever could be.
== [[Art]] ==
* [[Irony|Ironically]] enough, Michelangelo's iconic statue of David is almost eighteen feet tall. Except that he's looking up, and has a terrified look on his face...
==
* Unintentional evocation of this trope is the reason it's hard to write good Superman villains. Unless you make them even more powerful than Superman (which gets boring after a while) or have them regularly exploit one of his weaknesses (The Kryptonite Man, Metallo, Ruin, etc.), many of Supes' villains end up looking better by simply being able to go up against him—most notably normal humans like the Prankster, Toyman, and of course Luthor. Prankster and Toyman are generally in it for the laughs (the Prankster has been seen complaining to Black Canary that she hit him harder than Superman ever does). Lex has been accurately described as "a man fighting God".
* An inversion of this appears about halfway through ''The Incredible Hulk'' (2008 film), when the still-human SAS agent Emil Blonsky goes toe-to-toe with the Hulk in melee combat (thanks to a dose of Captain America [[Super Soldier]] serum). Similar to the Superman example, despite being the villain Blonsky looks much cooler simply for being able to go up against the Hulk without being instantly killed.
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*** There have also have been times where Hulk is in the David position. Of course, he's usually still the stronger one.
* [[Spider-Man]] versus his [[Rogues Gallery]] member [[Meaningful Name|The Rhino]].
* DC's ''[[The Haunted Tank]]'' is an M3 Stuart, a light tank that was considered unsuitable for anti-tank operations by US's entry into World War II. Even with the ghost of a Confederate general aiding them, the crew is forced to depend on their superior agility to survive against German tanks. Later appearances start to drift a bit further from reality however.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* In what is probably the greatest example of this trope in any form of media ''anywhere '''ever''''', the ''[[Ranma ½]]/[[Dragonball Z]]'' crossover ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/456898/1/Human_Saiyajin Human Saiyajin]'' gives us <s> [[That Man Is Dead|Ranma]]</s> Ranko Saotome vs Perfect Cell. Even after several power-ups, Ranko doesn't even have the ki levels necessary to level a few city blocks, where Cell is ''far'' past being capable of causing an [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]. This difference in power also translates into their physical attacks; Cell can KO Ranko in one solid hit, where Ranko has to resort to [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]] just to ''annoy'' Cell... but Ranko isn't the greatest martial artist in the world for nothing, and she manages to keep up with Cell by invoking [[Weak but Skilled]] ''HARD'', capitalizing on her knowledge of the art to predict where Cell is going to move and strike, basically fighting the entire battle a step ahead of Cell and using every trick in her arsenal to keep her opponent off balance and unable to counterattack. It's only after Cell figures out how to see through the Umisenken that Ranko goes down, but not before she snaps off a [[Finishing Move|Hiryu Shoten Ha]] powerful enough to spawn a gods-be-damned ''hurricane''.
==
* This trope makes frequent appearances for comedic effect in martial arts movies, where the hero must fight a towering character who cannot be affected by his "weak" attacks.
** ''[[Game of Death]]'', pitting Bruce Lee vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. This was a bit of a subversion as not only did KAJ's character possess a significant height, strength, and reach advantage, but was also [[Lightning Bruiser|remarkably fast and agile for his size]] while being a match of Lee's character in terms of fighting ability.
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* Played with in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'', where the David is the nearly 50-feet tall Ginormica, pitted against a 350-foot [[Humongous Mecha]].
* You would have thought the story of impoverished orphan newsboys going on strike against newspaper tycoon Joseph Pulitzer was already an obvious David Versus Goliath story, but just so we didn't miss it, one of the main characters of [[Newsies]] is named "David", another character draws his attention to the coincidence ("As in David and Goliath?"), and then there's a further reference in one of the songs ("We'll slay the giant!").
* Say what you want about ''[[X-Men
* Subverted in ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', where size and power differences are generally respected. {{spoiler|Trudy's Scorpion plane realistically loses against Quaritch's Dragon flying fortress after he manages to flush her into open air (she was holding her own when hiding in the rocks), and the bullet-proof giant rhino things absolutely crush the tiny powered armor suits the humans use.}} It is played straight with {{spoiler|Jake and the toruk}}, though.
** Inverted at the end with Quaritch's last stand.
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* The final fight of ''[[Real Steel]]'' with Atom, a [[Good Old Robot]] built specifically as a sparring robot souped up by a young [[Gadgeteer Genius]] and Zeus, the undefeated reigning champion that has always won within two rounds. The announcers even advertise it like this.
* [[Indiana Jones]] is usually the "David" in a fist-fight against a bigger opponent.
* [[Austin Powers]] judo-kicks the much larger Fat Bastard into submission in the third movie; bonus points when you realize [[Acting for Two| Mike Meyers is playing both roles.]]
== [[Literature]] ==
* Played with in the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Flight of the Old Dog''. Near the end, the Old Dog is [[Incredibly Lame Pun|hounded]] by a MiG-29 Fulcrum. Although the Old Dog is a massive bomber and the Fulcrum is a much smaller fighter, the Fulcrum is clearly the Goliath because the Old Dog is not only less manoeuvrable or speedy, but also [[You Can Barely Stand|Can Barely Stand]], with damaged/malfunctioning equipment and crew members far from their best.
* Imminent in the ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' series: the Star Empire of Manticore and {{spoiler|the Republic of Haven}} vs. the Solarian League. The Solarians comprise two-thirds of the total human population of the entire setting, but Manticore and {{spoiler|Haven}} have the most advanced militaries and tactics.
** The earlier Manticore / Haven war was an even more one sided affair, if you just looked at numbers.
** Many of Harrington's earlier battles, as a mere ship captain: taking her smaller ship against much larger, and better armed ships. ''Fearless'' vs ''Sirius'', and ''Fearless II'' vs ''Thunder of God''.
** The Elysian navy versus the People's Navy and [[State Sec]] task force sent against {{spoiler|Hades}}. The remnants and captures from a few squadrons of battlecruisers, plus a bunch of formidable but immobile orbital defenses that weren't even in range at the time, against an entire major Naval task group. {{spoiler|Unconventional, extremely risky tactics for the win. And stupidly predictable [[State Sec]] flight patterns for the lose.}}
** In the Manticore/Solarian case, it's debatable which side is David, and which Goliath. The Solarians indisputably have the numerical advantage (roughly 110 to 1 in terms of ship counts), but Manticorian technology is so far ahead that the only way Manticore can lose a fight is to run out of ammo.
== [[Live
* In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episode "Valiant", the titular ''Defiant''-class ship goes up against a Dominion super-battleship in every way their superior, confident that they (a literal cadet crew, caught behind enemy lines when the war started and the senior officers killed) can exploit a design weakness to destroy it. However, it doesn't work, and the ship is [[Curb Stomp Battle|appropriately stomped]]. That's what happens when your crew is called [[Red Shirt|Red Squad]].
** In another episode, Sisko takes a parallel-universe ''Defiant'' and defeats a much larger, much heavier armed battleship. The ''Defiant'''s smaller profile and maneuverability win out over the larger ship, flying so close to the thing they couldn't get a lock on it. The main difference was that [[The Captain|Sisko]] was the one in command.
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* Villainous example, inverted: In the original ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'', normal-size Tommy has a typical [[Curb Stomp Battle]] with four Rangers (Jason being captured), and they summon the Megazord, which quickly overpowers him (When he is later grown to giant size by Rita, he returns the favor).
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* The trope namer is the aforementioned story in the Old Testament Book of 1 Samuel, making it [[Older Than Feudalism]]
** A subversion when you realize that David was a good enough slingster that he easily could have beaten Goliath (slings can have the force of a bullet).
* [[Jack the Giant Killer]]
* [[Jack and the Beanstalk]]
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* [[Hansel and Gretel]] versus the Witch
* [[The Three Little Pigs]] versus the Big Bad Wolf
* Perseus versus the Kraken
== [[Music]] ==
* Peter versus the Wolf in ''[[Peter and The Wolf]]''.
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] has put on several matches between Rey Mysterio (who is 5'6" and 170 lbs.) and The Big Show (who is billed as 7 feet tall and 500 lbs.), and even promoted them as "David versus Goliath" matches.
** Later, Mysterio was pitted against The Great Khali, who is even taller than the Big Show.
** Currently, Mysterio is feuding with Kane, who is about Big Show's height but weighs less. Man, they just ''love'' to make Rey fight tall guys, don't they?
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* This isn't just the guys who have to deal with this. Any other woman who has to deal with Nia Jax (who's 6 feet) is the David, and only a few, like Bayley, had found a way.
==
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has a few abilities that contribute to this; the first example is probably Elvish Archers (2/1, first strike) vs. Ball Lightning (6/1, trample). The Ball Lightning's power is three times greater than the Archers', but the first strike ability means the Archers do their damage first, killing the Lightning. However, Magic being Magic, the attacker can intervene, and the defender can intervene in that as well.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Any story that pits [[La Résistance]] against [[The Empire]].
** And, on a less macrocosmic scale, any fight sequence where an [[Eldritch Abomination]] is [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|taken down by a small group of normal humans]]. Very popular at the ends of [[Role Playing Games|RPGs]].
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* Bosses tend to be much bigger than the protagonist in a lot of games, especially 2-D side scrollers.
* [[Super Mario Bros.]] has Mario (and Luigi) vs Bowser. Especially evident when he does [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever]].
* No matter what character you use in ''[[Marvel vs. Capcom 3]]'', he or she will be a David to [[Final Boss|Galactus]]'s Goliath, who towers over all of them.
* ''[[Age of Wonders]]: Shadow Magic'' has a cheap unit enchantment Mighty Meek, which gives an unit bonus to hit and to damage ''per level that its target is stronger than it''. Some level 1 units can become quite dangerous, if in [[Glass Cannon]] way, especially units with Polearm — it stacks with their bonus vs. cavalry and flyers, and most of them also have First Strike.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' it almost seems to be an unofficial game mechanic that the larger a boss is, the easier it is to defeat. Some examples:
** The Rock Titan and Darkside are almost an embarrassment to the Heartless. The first you just have to hit its legs until it falls and then climb up on its chest and hit it in the head. You might even be able to defeat it before it gets up. Darkside is another boss you can climb up on and pound in the face, but at least it has the excuse of [[Warmup Boss| being the first boss.]]
** Genie Jaffar is a giant, terrifying-looking monster, but while Sora can't harm him directly and can only damage him by striking his lamp, doing so is almost too easy. His one attack - which he barely even uses - is to throw a huge fireball at Sora, which doesn't do much damage at all.
** Behemen is another [[Colossus Climb]] boss and a [[Damage Sponge Boss]], but does little but stand there as you pound on his horns.
** Ursula. Yeah, hotkey your Fire spell to the triangle-button and you have this fight won, just spam said spell on the cauldron until she's stunned and then close in and hit her. It will take a few times, but it's easier done than said. Her second, even larger form is more of a challenge, but still more bark than bite.
** Opposite Armor is a variation of Guard Armor that's easier than the original. It has a ''very'' powerful attack, but has to charge it for a few seconds, and it's easy to dodge, and easy to hit him when he's charging up.
** Of course, there are exceptions to this. Cerberus is likely the [[Wake Up Call Boss]] of the game and Chernabog will seriously make you reconsider your strategy.
* A constant feature in ''[[Castlevania]]'' - bosses in these games are ''huge'', usually much larger than the protagonists are.
==
* In ''[[Nip and Tuck]]'', in the [[Movie Within A Movie]] storyline "Rebel Cry," it is first subverted at the beginning of the storyline when the small, scrappy Rebel forces are thoroughly trounced by the Federation military... then played straight through the rest of the arc when the the pilot of the Rebel Cry, pushed one step too far by the Federation's punitive rules, steals back his own ship and proceeds to make monkeys out of (in order) a Federation battleship commander, an Federation battle fleet, and the all-powerful Federation itself...
* ''[[Karate Bears]]'' are generally the larger combatant [http://www.karatebears.com/2011/12/big-trouble.html but not always.]
* ''[[Mezzacotta|Lightning Made of Owls]]'' [http://www.mezzacotta.net/owls/?comic=61 explores] a possible "sequel" to the classic version of story.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* In the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUEFxSOVd6A very first episode] of ''[[Cause of Death]]'', the protagonist battles a ''much'' larger man than he. {{spoiler|He wins. With help from a granola bar.}}
* ''[[Cracked.com]]'' cites a few cases, Mr. Wong not among them.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20140902101701/http://www.cracked.com/article/93_the-7-most-badass-man-vs.-beast-showdowns/ The 7 Most Badass Man vs. Beast Showdowns] includes a man driving a bear by kicking in the face and a women driving a way hippo by hitting in the head with a stick.
** [http://www.cracked.com/article_20468_the-6-most-mismatched-battles-ever-won-by-underdogs.html The 6 Most Mismatched Battles Ever Won by Underdogs] describes victories by severely outnumbered forces in Persia, the Ottomans, Korea, Hungary, and the Mongols.
* From the ''[[SCP Foundation]]''; how could [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-131 SCP-131] (a pair of [[Ridiculously Cute Critter| cute little guys]] with [[Non-Malicious Monster| the personality of curious kittens]]) possibly stand up to [[The Dreaded| a remorseless, homicidal monster]] like [https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-173 SCP-173]? Simple. SCP-173 can only attack someone who is not looking at it, and should you encounter it, blinking even once means doom. However, SCP-131 cannot blink, because much like a fish, their single eyes have no eyelids. Thus in one story where SCP-173 escaped its cell, they saved the day by keeping it occupied while the guards ran to get help.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* [[Mickey Mouse]] versus Pegleg Pete
* Jerry versus Tom
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* [[Popeye (comic strip)|Popeye]]'s foes, especially Bluto, are far taller than him, but of course they ''always'' regret taking on the smaller sailor-man.
* Subverted in ''[[ReBoot]]''. During the start of the third season its Enzo as David and Megabyte as Goliath, and Enzo completely fails to beat him. Megabyte could kill Enzo anytime he wants to, and there's nothing Enzo can do about it. Enzo needs a [[Time Skip]] just to reach Megabyte's level, which renders them the same size.
* Traditionally, in any version of ''[[Transformers]]'', Megatron is one of the biggest, nastiest, meanest of the Decepticons. {{spoiler|But in the epic finale of ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', to the shock of, well, everyone, Magatron was actually ''slain'' by ''Bumblebee'', the smallest hero of them all.}}
* [[Mighty Mouse]] versus almost any villain he faces.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Physics act ''just'' the way they do in the biblical story. A sling stone has as much kinetic energy as a pistol bullet, and a skilled slinger can achieve uncanny accuracy. (That said, the slung stone was not the last, killing blow; having felled Goliath, David then decapitated him with his own sword.)
* Probably the reason why the American public is supportive of the United States being required by law to come to the aid of Taiwan should Communist China attempt military action on the democratic island.
* The Vietnam War.
* The recent{{when}} elections in Japan had the reiging Liberal Democratic Party (in power since the Fifties!) as Goliath versus the 13-year-old Democratic Party of Japan. Despite the LDP's clout, they were still beaten by the smaller and younger DPJ.
* On a national scale, there was the Winter War of 1940 between Finland (a relatively small Nordic nation) and the Soviet Union (a colossal nation with one of the world's largest militaries, 30 times as many planes, and 100 times as many tanks). Thanks in no small part to exceptionally cold (even for Russians) winter and extremely well-entrenched defence line judged later to be impenetratable sans for with nuclear weapons, Finland was able to hold off the Soviets for far longer than anyone expected.
** Also helped by the fact that Stalin [[The Purge|purged]] (read: fired, imprisoned or killed) [[Villain Ball|most of his competent officers prior to the invasion]].
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** simply put the Yamato, (the Japanese flagship) had more displacement (read size) than ''THEN THE ENTIRETY OF TAFFY 3 COMBINED''
*** Taffy 3 performed a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] on Center force by simply being that [[Badass]].
* Jon Ossoff lost a special election for Georgia's 6th district despite having the highest campaign funding for a House race in US history with a funding advantage of 8.3 million for his 4 month campaign <ref>Note: His funding was almost as much much as John McCain's successful 2008 presidential primary run and more than Bob Barr's entire 2008 Presidential run.</ref> and faced a nationally obscure Georgia politician. Ossoff wound up [[Hoist by His Own Petard|done in by his funding advantage]] as it made it obvious he was a pawn for outside interests and he made himself despised by using the money to run a very limited set of adds repeatedly. Ossoff got fewer votes than Rodney Stooksbury, the Democrat who ran in the previous year's election for the district, despite there being [[Crack Defeat|no evidence Stooksbury even existed]] (no funds raised, no campaign history, no photograph, listed address is vacant and no neighbors have heard of him).
* Boxer David Haye at 6"3 took on the 7"2 over 22 stone (310 pounds) Valuev, the heaviest boxer in history. Even though he broke his wrist in the attempt he came out on top.
{{quote|""He is the ugliest thing I have ever seen. I have watched Lord of the Rings and films with strange looking people, but for a human being to look like he does is pretty shocking." - Haye }}
** That's not so much David Versus Goliath as Goliath Versus Bigger Goliath.
* Inverted ''completely'' by Manny Pacquiao against the taller, longer-reaching Oscar de la Hoya on their December 8, 2008 "Dream Match" for eight rounds. As [http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/fightcred/round?id=3733277 ESPN's analysis] put it in round 5, "Forget pull the trigger, De La Hoya doesn't even have a gun."
** Inverted again, this time against Antonio Margarito in the Pacquiao Versus Margarito fight. Pacquiao did such a good job in the fight that pictures of a chinky-eyed Asian boxer are currently going around while people claim it's really Margarito. {{spoiler|It is.}}
*** Forget Filipinos jeering that Margarito's name became ''[[Incredibly Lame Pun|Maga rito]]'' (it's swollen right here). Medical experts state that Pacquiao successfully fractured Margarito's right orbital bone, forcing the latter to undergo rehabilitation for half a year before stepping again in the ring.
** Trope followed by Vitali Klitschko vs. Danny Williams, though, almost four years before.
* Buster. Freakin. Douglas. That is all.
* Perhaps the most extreme examples (and one of the earlier ones caught on video) was the title bout between Jess Willard and Jack Dempsey in 1919. Many people thought the fight would be a mismatch as Willard had about 6 inches and 60 pounds on the smaller Dempsey. Instead Dempsey unleashed perhaps the most savage and brutal [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] in boxing history on Willard and forever etched his legend into boxing lore. To this day Dempsey's name is synonymous with the words ruthless and relentless in boxing circles, and many latter days fighters such as Mike Tyson purposefully adopted and imitated a number of Dempsey's mannerisms.
* Randy Couture's [[Mixed Martial Arts]] victory over Tim Sylvia, a man seven inches taller, forty pounds heavier, and thirteen years younger. "Big man versus small man" MMA fights are very popular in Japan. Fedor Emelianenko (183 cm and 100 kilos) has faced and defeated the aforementioned Tim Sylvia (203 cm), Mark Hunt (125 kilos), Zuluzinho (201 cm and 177 kilos!), and Choi Hong-man (166 kilos and an unbelievable 218 cm)... all in one round each. He also has a notable win by decision over Semmy Schilt (212 cm and 133 kilos). However, the smaller man in these matches is invariably far more skilled than his opponent and highly favored to win.
** Eventually inverted in both mans cases. Randy moved back to Light Heavyweight after losing Heavyweight title to [[Brock Lesnar]] and Fedor was completely dominated by Antonio Silva (194 cm and 130 kilos). In early days of MMA big fighters usually coasted on their size (or in case of Hunt and Schilt were kickboxers with almost no grappling skill) and could be defeated by smaller, skilled guys. Modern Goliaths like Lesnar, Alistair Overeem and Antonio Silva bring both size and skill, meaning former Heavyweight greats who weigh around 100 kg (Fedor, Mirko Cro Cop, Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira) are no longer as dominant as they used to be.
** The secret is that unlike kickboxing a MMA fight can go to the ground, where the height and weight can ''sometimes'' be a disadvantage when grappling there. While Fedor basically slugged out Zuluzinho and Sylvia on their feet, Choi actually took Fedor down and Hunt almost submitted Fedor on the ground before he eventually came back to beat them on the ground.
** There was also the 2009 Super Hulk Tournament where four guys of varying lighter weights were put up against four apparent behemoths—middleweight Ikuhisa "Minowaman" Minowa against Bob Sapp, middleweight Gegard Mousasi against Mark Hunt, light heavyweight Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou against Jan "The Giant" Nortje, and the debuting ex-Major League Baseball player Jose Canseco against Choi Hong-man; with the exception of the untrained, mid-40s Canseco all of the "Davids" won, complete with Bob Sapp (getting a bye thanks to the "injured" Mousasi withdrawing) being eliminated twice, and the finals are between the middleweight Minowa and light heavyweight Sokoudjou.
* These fights happen all the time in K-1 kickboxing, where the only weight classes are at 70kilos and unlimited. This has lead to such notable matchups like Mighty Mo (slightly over 6 feet) vs Choi Hong Man (towering over 7 feet), where Mo KO'd the Korean giant with a single punch, Kaoklai Kaennorsing (80 kilos) vs Mighty Mo (at 130 kilos), where Kaoklai knocked Mo out with a flying kick to the head, and Nicholas Pettas (at less than 6 feet) vs Kim Young Hyun (almost as big as the aforementioned Choi Hong Man) where Pettas thrashed the Korean giant with a fury of ruthless kicks.
** Speaking of K-1, Kid Yamamoto of the now defunct K-1 Hero's and now, DREAM promotions made it a point to fight at the 155 lb. weightclass, while he walks around at 143 lbs and 5'4. He fights people who weigh in at 155 lbs. and regain all their water weight before the actual fight (We're talking 10 pounds or so, here). He has a record of 17-1 - I think you can figure out the rest. 20 pounds isn't that huge of a number but size definitely matters in this sport. That's why there ARE weight classes.
* Somewhat a case of "Goliath Versus Bigger Goliath," but Cain Velasquez (6 foot 1, weighed in at 244) defeated Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight championship (6 foot 3, weighed in at 264) when his wrestling skill was at least roughly on par with Lesnar's but his striking skill was ''that'' much better. (It should be noted that heavyweight has a much, MUCH wider range of allowed weights than any other weight class.)
* Played straight and ultimately inverted by Royce Gracie. With an unimpressive-looking physique and anywhere from 175 to 180 pounds (he'd be a middleweight under the modern weight classes), he didn't look very imposing. In fact, that's why Rorion Gracie, the founder of UFC, chose him instead of Rickson to be their torchbearer, to prove that the style could overcome physical limitations. For a while, it looked like the classic scrappy-little-guy-finds-a-way-to-prevail story. Then a few ugly facts entered the picture...like, while he may not have been massive, he had tremendous speed, flexibility, stamina, and toughness, and he had ''tremendous'' strength for a middleweight. Not to mention that he was a master of ground fighting, something most of his opponents didn't know the first thing about. By the time UFC 5 rolled around, he was downright legendary, so much so that ''Ken Shamrock'' was frightened of him. This was almost certainly the main reason Gracie was able to escape with a draw in their matchup, as Shamrock (who actually had a pretty good chance of winning) was too intimidated to get any real offense going.
* [http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?printable=true How David Beats Goliath] is a ''[[New Yorker]]'' article about this trope and its subversions. It talks mainly about a girls' basketball team reaching the National Junior Basketball Championships due solely to the full-court press (Instead of the 'normal' method of immediately retreating to guard your own basket when the other team has possession, the full-court press is aggressively defending against the other team in their own court.) The main reason that the full-court press worked is that it wears down both teams' stamina much faster - and the girls' team had worked almost solely on building stamina. The girls' team rode roughshod over other teams with taller girls and better shooting technique due to the fact that the other team couldn't get shots off due to having the ball stolen when they weren't expecting it, or losing possession for not bringing the ball back into play or in the other team's court fast enough. In some cases, they had 25-0 leads over other teams. The girls were then castigated by the other teams for playing 'unfairly' and not letting the teams 'develop basketball skills' - to the degree that fights nearly broke out. The team then lost its final game by caving to pressure and playing the 'proper' way after the referee (supplied by the opposing team) called excessive amounts of fouls. The general moral of the story is that when David plays by Goliath's rules, David usually gets crushed. However, by changing his tactics, David can become the favorite over Goliath. However, Goliath will respond in kind by using social pressure to force David to fight by Goliath's rules.
** That's quite a moral.
* Essentially the reason why a lot of people dislike or even hate certain successful sports sides like Manchester United (association football) or Australia (many sports, but especially cricket). Also part of the reason why [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys]] get on people's nerves: many if not most people prefer siding with underdogs.
** Any team playing the New York Yankees, but specifically, the Brooklyn Dodgers.
* Super Bowl III. The AFL was largely considered a second-rate league behind the NFL and had lost the previous two Super Bowls to that league. The AFL champion New York Jets were now handed the daunting task of taking on the Baltimore Colts, a 13-1 team that would overwhelm opponents with stingy defense and potent offense. The Colts were favored by a ridiculous 22 point spread, but that didn't stop Jets quarterback Joe Namath from guaranteeing a win. The Jets would go on to shock the world, winning 16-7.
* Super Bowl XXXVI. The St. Louis Rams were coming off a 14-2 season with the NFL's top offense, the league MVP Kurt Warner, and the Offensive Player of the Year Marshall Faulk. They were just one year removed from winning one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time, and were largely considered a better squad than 1999. They would have to play against a scrappy New England Patriots squad that came in at 11-5, barely (and controversially) won their two playoff games to reach the big game, was led by a backup quarterback after their starter severed an artery in his chest, and were 0-2 in Super Bowls prior. The Patriots had to play 60 minutes of near-perfect football and still barely escaped with a 20-17 win in the final seconds.
* Super Bowl XLII is an absolutely perfect example of this trope. The New England Patriots (boasting what many called the greatest offense in NFL history), led by quarterback Tom Brady (league MVP by a large margin, with stats worthy of some deeming his 2007 season the best ever of any NFL quarterback) and Randy Moss (who had scored the most touchdowns of any wide receiver in NFL history that year), went undefeated in the regular season, a 16-0 mark that no other team had ever accomplished, and on top of that, defeated the same New York Giants they would face in the Super Bowl in Week 17 of the regular season in what was an extremely climactic battle. Their opponents, the aforementioned Giants, were a Wild Card team who had barely made it into the Playoffs, had to eke out wins in the post-season on the road by slim margins, and had many players sidelined by injury. The Giants, however, used their effective pass rush to force Tom Brady into quick throws. The Patriots were unable to score the large amount of points they were accustomed to, and this kept the Giants in the game. Despite Brady still performing at a high level in the game, his team scored only two touchdowns (in ironic fashion, before the big game, Brady literally laughed at the fact that Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress claimed that the Patriots would only score 17 points in the Super Bowl—the team averaged roughly 35 points per game in the regular season). The Giants would win the game after an improbable play in which Eli Manning escaped the grasp of numerous would-be New England tacklers and hurled the football down the field, which was caught by David Tyree by pinning it against his own helmet as New England's Rodney Harrison forcefully tackled him and attempted to pry the ball loose. New York would then score the winning touchdown and force a turnover on downs as the Patriots attempted to get in field-goal range with 29 seconds remaining.
* Super Bowl XLIII: The Arizona Cardinals, a franchise known for its inability to go to the playoffs and who has the second longest championship drought in American professional sports, facing off against the Pittsburgh Steelers, quite well known for their ability to make it to Super Bowls. In fact, they've been to more Super Bowls than any other team in the league minus the Cowboys. The Cardinals nearly won on a valiant, almost inhuman fourth-quarter effort by receiver Larry Fitzgerald, but the Steelers came back and earned a 27-23 win to obtain their sixth Super Bowl.
* In college Football September 1, 2007 Appalachian State (a Division I-AA school) defeated #5 ranked Michigan. ''At Michigan!''
* Also in college Football, the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Boise St-Oklahoma. Heck, when the broadcast team openly acknowledge the trope ("This is truly a David and Goliath situation" etc), and an undefeated team goes up against one of the winningest teams in the history of the sport. And pulls off one of THE most improbable and thrilling wins....yeah, I think it qualifies.
* In College Basketball March 26, 2006. University of Connecticut, a team with 6 players that would be drafted in the NBA, a 1 seed in their bracket in the NCAA tournament, and the odds on favorite to win the whole thing, takes on George Mason, a school that had only 3 tournament appearances before the 2006 tournament. The Patriots, no relation to the cheaters from New England mind you, shock everyone with an 86-84 overtime victory, sending them to the Final Four and [[U Conn]] players to the coldness of the NBA.
* And who can forget the ultimate David in the 1980 US Hockey team, a bunch of College kids that defeated the all mighty Soviet team...after getting creamed by THE SAME TEAM 13 days earlier.
* Baseball has this at times, but the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays have to take the cake. They play in the AL East division, home to the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox (teams with virtually limitless coffers and very solid teams; their payrolls are about $200 million and $150 million, respectively). With a payroll of ~$40 million, they ''win the AL East outright'', and they make it to the World Series before losing to the Phillies after being tabbed as the underdogs in every round (especially the AL Championship Series, which they barely took over the Red Sox).
* Football (Soccer) has a version of this which is known by fans and insiders as Giant Killing, where a small team who would usually have no chance of beating a huge team will pull it off. [[The FA Cup]] is usually where to find it, happens more than you imight imagine...
** Great example was the 2011 Women's [[FIFA World Cup]]. Two times champion United States, home of great players such as Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, and Megan Rapinoe, pulled many victories such as defeating the strong Brazilian team ''in a 122 minute plus penalties match'', was in the finals against Japan, which reached there mostly through upsets (including defeating home team and defending champions Germany). Amazingly, the American [[Amazon Brigade]] that towered over the Japanese (literally. Some of the above listed names are almost 6 ft, while the average height of the Japanese players was under 5'5'') failed to score only on seemingly endless opportunities and the [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Nadeshiko]] [[Plucky Girl|Japan]] resisted until the penalty shootouts, [[Dark Horse Victory|which they won]].
* Not entirely uncommon in roller derby; some smaller players have made an art out of taking out larger ones. It involves a certain level of momentum and landing a shoulder check in just the right place, in such a way as to lift the other player into the air without very much effort. And, since most jammers are the smallest, lightest players on any given team, pretty much every jam involves a certain level of David v. Goliath for them to get through the pack in the first place.
** Roller derby also has inversions at times; while jammers are typically small, super fast players who can get through the pack without being hit at all, some teams have "heavyweight jammers," large women who are nearly impossible to knock down, who can clear their own path, or who can wipe smaller jammers clean off the track.
* The 2010 Seattle Seahawks were the first NFL team in a non strike shortened year to win a division with a losing record. Their playoff game was against the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints. How much of an underdog were they? Before the game [[The Onion]] posted a picture of the Seahawks with the caption, "Saints get first round bye." Despite being double digit underdogs, Seattle pulled out the victory propelled by an amazing touchdown run, leading to the infamous headline, [https://web.archive.org/web/20120113193200/http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/new-orleans-saints-lose-firstround-bye,18755/ "New Orleans Saints Lose First Round Bye."]
* The 2001 World Series featured The New York Yankees who were playing for the 4th consecutive World Series vs the Arizona Diamondbacks, who were playing their fourth season. Despite multiple comebacks from the Yankees and having to face the greatest closer in baseball history, the Diamondbacks prevailed
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