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The character who is the best-of-the-best with a supporting cast that [[Can't Catch Up]] comes across someone even better than them; [[The Ace|someone more powerful]] than the [[Superhero]], or more skilled than the [[Ninja]], or smarter than [[The Professor]], or richer and more important than the rich important guy, or a better banjo player than the master banjo player, etc.
It's not uncommon for the characters to be siblings, not unlike the [[Aloof Big Brother]] -- e.g. [[Cheers
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.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Pokémon (
** Ritchie, during the Indigo Plateau.
** Harrison, during the Silver Conference.
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** More appropriately, it's about discovering that the enemy is a one note wonder, and combat that avoids their special trick easily defeats them.
* In ''[[Spiral]]'', Narumi Ayumu's older brother, Kiyotaka, is far and away his superior (though he also seems to have vanished from the face of the earth for the anime portion of continuity).
* ''[[
** Also, Luffy's Brother Ace. He was already [[Charles Atlas Superpower|stronger]] than Luffy ''before he got his [[Playing
*** 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.
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** ''[[Captain Tsubasa]]'': Tsubasa himself (being [[The Ace]] of sorts), Wakabayashi, Hyuuga, Schneider, Pierre, Santana.
** ''[[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.
** ''[[
*** Don't forget the doubles matches, especially during the Hyotei arc. "Sannin de doubles," anyone?
** ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]'': Ichirou Miyata at the beginning, Eiji Date, Ricardo Martinez.
*** Strike that, the best example of the trope is Bryan Hawk experiencing this with Takamura. Sawamura also experiences this.
** ''[[
* ''[[Code Geass]]'': Schneizel is this to Lelouch. He is the only person he couldn't defeat in when they were kids. they tie when they played later. And the final battle was won by {{spoiler|Lelouch}} because he was able to think in ways his opponent couldn't.
* ''[[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.
* Miki Koishikawa from ''[[Marmalade Boy]]'' often saw her love rivals for Yuu's affections this way. Almost a whole episode in the anime is about Miki watching the beautiful and elegant Arimi Suzuki from afar and thinking she's just a little girl when compared to her.
* Kagome Higurashi has Kikyou, her past incarnation ''and'' love rival, as her [[Always Someone Better]] in ''[[
* [[Kare Kano|Kare Kano'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.
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** [[Word of God]] even said the Tokiko is the best kekkaishi
** However, after much plot development, Yoshimori goes through more training, and eventually can do things not even Masamori can do.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Special A]]'', the main character Hikari Hanazono's sole objective in life is to one-up her life rival Kei Takishima. Since the day he beat her in a pro wrestling match, Hikari has challenged Takishima in everything from test scores to high jumping over a moutain-sized vaulting horse. Each time Takishima beats her with incredible ease and non-chalantly calling her "Miss No.2" which only fires Hikari's spirit even more.
* This is the entire plot basis of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!''.
* Sakuma Ryuichi (and, to a lesser extent, Seguchi Tohma) are this for Shindou Shuichi in ''[[Gravitation]]''.
* In [[Great Mazinger]], Tetsuya is pictured to be much more superior than Koji in many ways during his introduction, being a basically same character with their only difference was Tetsuya being better, more mature but more arrogant than Koji. When Koji returns after being [[Put
* 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...]]
** A more appropriate example would be [[The Hero|Ichigo]] himself. In record time, he becomes a shinigami capable of fighting and defeating captains to save Rukia and [[Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right|change Soul Society]] enough to ensure Rukia won't be executed once he's gone home. It seems as though he's achieved his goal when the real [[Big Bad|villain]] puts in his appearance, able to stop Ichigo's unstoppable blade with a single finger. The significance of this moment is lampshaded in the anime by having Aizen not only stop Ichigo's blade with his finger, ''but actually bring Ichigo's theme music to crashing halt mid-note''.
* In ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', Negi's [[True Companions|Ala Alba]] has been trying to catch up to his [[Disappeared Dad|father's]] [[Badass Crew|Ala Rubra]] since before they were officially formed.
* Raigyo from ''[[
** Let's not forget Furuichi's resentment towards Akiyuki, who has everything Furuichi wants -- 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.}}
* Athrun Zala is this to fellow red suit Yzak Joule in ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', who always is at the top in everything. Though Yzak tries his hardest he never quite manages to get within Athrun's range and ends up being the No. 2. Let's say it does not really make things better that Athrun seems to be mostly oblivious to the fact that he is causing Yzak in fact a lot of [[Tsundere]] moments.
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* Deconstructed in ''[[Medaka Box]]''. The titular character can and does copy any physical ability she sees and any other character's "abnormal" power she comes in contact with. This means she can copy, say, Akune's "superhuman" abnormality, or Maguro's "perfection" abnormality...but she can also absorb and perfect things that don't need to be perfected, like {{spoiler|an abnormal desire to kill others, or the abnormal ability to cause everything you touch to decay.}}
* Master Hiko Seijuro of [[Rurouni Kenshin]]. Hiko chose Kenshin as his successor because of his spirit, but because Kenshin doesn't have the physique he will never reach Hiko's level. {{spoiler|Kenshin does defeat him once with the final succession move, but it's completely unblockable, even by someone like Hiko.}}
* As [[Big Bad|Anotsu]] from ''[[Blade of the Immortal]]'' so [[In Love
{{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.}}
* Specklerex from ''[[
* ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'': [[Always Someone Better]] comes up a lot in this series, though mostly in the minds of the [[Unknown Rival]].
** Touma Kamijo to Accelerator. Despite Accelerator's genius intellect and [[Superpower Lottery]], Touma can kick his ass. Touma can easily solve problems without resorting to deadly force, Accelerator struggles with this. Touma can easily make connections with people and [[Defeat Means Friendship|befriend defeated foes]], Accelerator struggles to even open up to his adoptive family, etc. Accelerator is jealous, but awkwardly looks up to him.
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** Speaking of Dr. Strange, it may be more appropriate to say that he's this to Baron Mordo (the ''other'' former disciple of the Ancient One) rather than Doom; Doom certainly obsesses less about Strange in particular than the not-so-good Baron does.
** Furthermore, while Richards lends his name to the [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] trope for a good reason, Doom actually uses his incredible intellect to make Latveria, the nation he rules, into a high-technology utopia. However, Reed's technology is still usually superior to Doom's efforts.
* Similarly, this motivation is attributed to [[Lex Luthor|Lex Luthor's]] hatred of [[
** 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 />
'''Superman''': [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check|You could have saved the world years ago if it mattered to you, Luthor]]. }}
** [[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 [[
* A lot of [[British Comics|British children's comics]], such as ''[[The Beano]]'' and ''[[The Dandy (
* The Human Torch played this role in early ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' stories. No one character plays the role now.
** In fact, Torch and Spidey eventually switched the roles for awhile. Peter was smart enough that he could keep up with Reed's scientific lectures, developed a friendly rapport with Sue and Ben, and was even good with watching Franklin. There was a period where Johnny resented the fact that Peter was practically more of a member of his own family than ''he'' was. They eventually worked this out, though, and became best buddies, until [[One More Day]] caused an identity reset. While they're friends again, sort of, now that Peter's again revealed his identity to the Four, they aren't near as close as they once were.
* The first page quote comes from ''[[She
* In [[Bronze Age]] ''[[
* [[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 In 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]].
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== Fan Fiction ==
* In ''[[Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality (Fanfic)|Harry Potter and The Methods of Rationality]]'', Harry realizes Hermione's ability to rapidly assimilate information and do academic work better, as well as having unwavering morality is superior to him. Hermione, in contrast, recognizes that Harry is a [[Chessmaster]] that she frankly cannot outplot no matter what she tries, and that he's far less naive than her. Both of them are jealous of the other's better points.
* ''[[Calvin and Hobbes: The Series
== Film ==
* The movie ''[[Excalibur (
* Lancey Howard in ''[[The Cincinnati Kid]]''.
* Minnesota Fats from ''[[
* Woody and Buzz in the first [[Toy Story]] movie, Buzz appears to be better at Woody in everything when he first arrives.
* Helen is this to Annie in ''[[Bridesmaids]]''. {{spoiler|It turns out that she's not-so-perfect after all, and far from what Annie thinks was upstaging her mainly out of thoughtless over-eagerness and a desire to fit in rather than maliciousness or competitiveness.}}
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== Literature ==
* The concept was subverted in [[
* The ''[[Goosebumps]]'' book ''How I Learned To Fly'' has Wilson, a character who is [[The Ace]] and [[The Rival]] to the protagonist, and seems to be able to do everything better than him. It ends up [[Hoist
* The novel (later [[The Film of the Book|turned into a film]]) ''[[Hating Alison Ashley]]'' is based on this.
* ''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}}.
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* In ''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.
** Also, in the sequel ''Paladin of Souls'', Illvin muses that his elder half-brother was always better than him at everything they tried... {{spoiler|the one thing Illvin could do that his brother could not was fall in love with Ista. Aww.}}
* In ''[[
* 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--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.}}
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* In ''[[Friends]]'', Chandler panics when Monica refers to a colleague as the funniest guy she's ever met.
** 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 moustache.
* ''[[
** Of course, later, it is established in the in-canon ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
** Spike also feels this way towards Angelus - who is more skilled, tougher, and more attractive to Drusilla. And then both get souls and he feels this way towards Angel, who is skilled, tougher and more attractive to Buffy. Poor Spike just can't win.
** Angel himself felt paranoid that The Groosalugg was taking over his life.
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*** When JD, Turk, and Cox go to confront him, they find that he's been stuck washing his hands for hours, frustrating himself nearly to tears.
* In ''[[Doogie Howser, M.D.]]'' Doogie is this to Jack. He happens to be a perfectly competent doctor (perhaps equal to Doogie in skill) but can never get out of the shadow of his teenaged co-worker. This frequently leads to them being (friendly) rivals and attempting to one-up each other. Doogie, in order to compensate for his youth, feels he has to be the best so he isn't underestimated, while Jack also needs to prove himself equal to the exceptional Doogie. This eventually leads to him leaving about halfway through the series.
* ''[[
** Remade for the 80's version, where as intended by the original author, he loses {{spoiler|but discovers that the "death" is only metaphorical. If he'd won, he would've been remembered forever.}}
* In an ''[[Everybody Loves Raymond]]'' episode, Debra hires a babysitter... then regrets the decision when the sitter turns out to be more popular with the kids than she is. And then she regrets the decision to let her go when she sees what the kids do to Marie when she babysits...
* John Cleese guest-starred on ''[[3rd Rock
** In another episode, [[Hot Amazon]] Sally obsessed over trying to take down a buff woman, played by Chyna, who repeatedly subdued her effortlessly.
* In ''[[Andromeda]]'' the Magog worldship proved this true to Rommie's chagrin.
** Say it with me: [[Two Words|World.]] [[Exactly What It Says
* Shawn Spencer of ''[[Psych]]'' encountered an FBI detective who was everything he wasn't in the episode ''Psy vs. Psy''. He got to upstage her in the end.
** 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.
* In ''[[Firefly]]'' River makes Simon (for whom " 'gifted' is the term") look like "an idiot child". However that doesn't seem to bother him. He's just [[Undying Loyalty|that kind]] of [[Big Brother Instinct]].
** Saffron is an expert seductress, but she meets her better in the form of Inara.
* ''[[
* In one episode of ''[[Big Bang Theory]]'', "The Jerusalem Duality", Sheldon meets a young version of himself in Dennis Kim, who proceeds to shake Sheldon's confidence in his research. [[Hilarity Ensues]].
* ''[[Chuck]]'' has both Bryce Larkin for the first two seasons and Daniel Shaw for most of the third.
* In ''[[Star Trek:
** 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.
*** Which doesn't say a lot since everything about them is controlled by programming codes.
* In ''[[Full House]]'', Stephanie is the best speller in her class and is pumped for the spelling bee. When she loses that, and a subsequent unofficial rematch to classmate Davy Chu, the wind is knocked out of her sails and she storms off in a tantrum. Danny then gives her the "always someone better" speech.
** There's also an entire episode dedicated to Stephenie's Middle Child Syndrome, where she imagines both of her sisters upstaging her at everything.
* In ''[[
** One of them was held back a grade in school. Instead of destroying his life it taught him that failure has real consequences. Consequences that can be overcome by effort.
* [[The Vampire Diaries]] - Caroline feels this way about Elena.
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** 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.
** And Vocal Adrenaline as a whole is one for New Directions as a whole.
* In ''[[
** Also, in the paintball special, Josh Holloway guest stars, and Jeff becomes unnaturally jealous of his good looks.
** Don't forget Rich from the Pottery episode.
* The Dallas Strike Force in ''[[
** As well as the character in the pilot constantly described as "The Second Best Assassin In The World" much to his annoyance.
* In ''[[Downton Abbey]]'', Mary (and to a lesser extent, Sybil) for Edith.
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{{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 />
'''Jermaine:''' Lester's such a great friend. I'm better than him at everything. Man, what would I do without him? }}
* [[
== Video Games ==
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* This pretty much describes the relationship between Kieran and Oscar in ''[[Fire Emblem]] : Path of Radiance'' (and subsequently ''Radiant Dawn''). Kieran is a loud, obnoxious man who challenges Oscar at every possible moment, yet Oscar isn't even aware of it until he breaks Kieran out of prison. Needless to say, he is indifferent to Kieran's continued proclamations.
* ''[[Grandia II]]'''s protagonist Ryudo has always been a lesser swordsman than his brother Melfice. This becomes a considerable problem when the group meets the now [[Omnicidal Maniac|psychotic]] [[Cain and Abel|brother]] at various points in the game, generally leading to a [[Hopeless Boss Fight]] or two before Ryudo is finally able to defeat him.
* Dias Flac is this to Claude in ''[[
* ''[[Ace Combat]] Zero: The Belkan War'' has Larry "Solo Wing Pixy" Foulke, who starts off more famous/notorius than player character Cipher. Eventually, Cipher manages to become better, as demonstrated when {{spoiler|Cipher in his F-15 squares off against Pixy in the Morgan and wins.}}
* Unprovable, but it seems like Scarlet in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' immediately hates Tifa for innocently being more [[Stripperific]] and better equipped for it than she without even trying. Well, there has to be some reason, and the way Scarlet dresses... Kind of a subversion, since played straight it would be more fitting the other way around.
** From the same game, sing it with me: "anything Cloud can do, [[The Ace|Zack]] can to better..."
* Your rival in ''[[
** ''[[
** Also in Pokémon, the opponents in the Battle Tower/Frontier will always beat you no matter how much more skilled you are, because [[The Computer Is
** You're this once again to ''both'' of your rivals in [[
* ''[[Mega Man (
* A lot of the animosity between the [[Player Character]] and [[The Resenter|Junpei]] in [[Persona 3]] is specifically attributed to this trope.
** Although Junpei being as colossally inept as he is, everyone is the Someone Better.
* The Moriya shrine in ''[[
** In general, Reimu is this to Marisa, along with [[Hard Work Hardly Works]].
* [[Inazuma Eleven]] in general.
* In the reboot of ''[[
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* Dora's brother Sven in ''[[Questionable Content]]'' is more popular with the opposite sex (often stealing Dora's friends) and better at earning money than his sister, a fact that bothers her to no end.
* Played with in [http://samandfuzzy.com/1125 this] ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]''.
* Dave Strider of ''[[
* Max Powers in ''[[PvP]]'' is, in Cole's own words, a better person than Cole in almost every way. Cole disliked him because he was a constant reminder of just how flawed a person Cole is in comparison.
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[
== Western Animation ==
* In ''[[The Simpsons (
** 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 -- 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.
*** There's another joke in there about how Flanders is basically a nice, helpful guy, but Homer hates him more than anyone else solely for this reason. Of course, then Flanderization kicked in and he became insanely pious, which gave Homer a legit reason and lost the joke.
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'''Bart:''' Gotcha. Can't win, don't try. }}
* 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 [[Upperclass 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.
* ''[[Codename
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
** Making it even more appropriate, the words "Always Someone Better" appear in the episode.
** The first episode plays out as if Bruce simply has performance anxiety while fighting someone on his own level in front of others. During a flashback of him and Kyodai training in the dojo, Kyodai soundly defeats him in front of their master and class. The fight at the climax of the episode plays out more or less the same way until some padding falls on top of Bruce's love interest, leaving her unharmed but obstructing her view of the fight. There might be some [[Fridge Brilliance]] here when you realize that Batman's persona and power are built around two things; being seen as little as possible in general, and being so skilled as to utterly dominate his enemies as quickly as possible. When both of these factors are taken away, Bruce freezes up.
* Whenever Gizmoduck guest stars on ''[[Darkwing Duck (
* The episode "The Original Fry Cook" of ''[[
* One episode of ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' had a costumed crimefighter, "Serpentman" come out of nowhere and begin upstaging the Joes in their fight against COBRA, complete with a toadying news crew that followed him around everywhere, reporting on his successes. Naturally, it turns out to be another of Cobra Commander's schemes, intended to make the Joes look unnecessary and lose public support and government funding. What's great is that it actually ''works'', until C.C. screws it all up.
* ''[[
** Note also that the kid was specifically trying to be low-key about his talents---as he points out near the end of the episode, everybody else only found out how great he was at everything because ''they'' kept challenging ''him,'' trying to find something he wasn't perfect at. He only went along with it because they kept insisting.
* In one episode of ''[[
* Mandark in ''[[
** And then came an episode where a ''female'' new student outdoes both of them, leading to some Roadrunner-esque attempts to take her out... until she says at the end she moved on to a different subject to excel at.
* Jonas Venture Jr. in ''[[
** Phantom Limb was like this compared to the Monarch. Descendant of a long line of costumed adventurers, he was handsome, refined, had an intellect comparable to Jonas Jr., able to handle Brock at his own level, and was high enough in the Guild of Calamitous Intent's ranks to have direct command over its sizable forces. This was subverted or deconstructed, when {{spoiler|he lost Dr. Girlfriend to the Monarch because he was too refined and lacked the passion that the Monarch has. He was also sexist, mainly having Dr. Girlfriend around as glorified eye candy, unlike the Monarch who listened to her ideas and respected her. The end of season two has him losing his career, and some limbs, when his take over attempt is foiled by a huge number of unexpected events.}} As season three showed {{spoiler|he was disowned from by his family for having deformed limbs, a botched lab experiment brought them to normal size and granted him his death touch power.}}
*** Phantom Limb returned in season 4, where he had gone insane and ''really'' withered away; he had about as much muscle mass as the Monarch now. He was captured by the Guild. By the latter half of the season, however, he was back as a dangerous villain who sets up a legitimate villain guild of his own.
** Another episode had Dr. Orpheus meeting with the man who stole his wife and finding he was younger, handsomer, and a better sorcerer, even able to jump back and forth between dimensions (Orpheus studied for decades to just ''perceive'' a separate universe). {{spoiler|Orpheus finds however, the other guy has been using a shortcut- he had a mystical item surgically implanted into his brain that granted him greater power than he should really have. They make peace at the end of the episode, with the other guy explaining that he saw what a workaholic Orpheus was and wanted to find a way to get results without losing connections with his friends and family.}}
* In ''[[
* Cartman's alter-ego, Bulrog, hangs a lampshade on this in episode 801 of ''[[
* In an episode of ''[[Captain N:
** And of course, it was Link who had to learn to move past his jealousy and accept Kevin.
* In the '80s cartoon of ''[[
* ''[[
* Lila was introduced like this in ''[[
* ''[[
* [[Big Bad]] Vlad Masters of ''[[
** In the last episode Vlad puts together a team of ghost fighters known as Masters' Blasters that proceed to hunt down and stop any ghosts before Danny can.
* In ''[[Lilo and Stitch: The Series
* [[Avatar: The Last Airbender
** Subverted, too, when Zuko's comments about Azula's insanity growing to the point where he can actually notice her bending being off makes it seem like he'll be able to beat her now...and he can't. Or at least he would've, but Azula is still smart enough to fight dirty. Katara, however, proves that ''she's'' this trope to Azula shortly thereafter, and even beats her in the same way Azula beat Zuko; improvising something unexpected when put on the spot, just more badass.
* In ''[[Thundercats 2011
* ''[[
* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
|