History AlwaysSomeoneBetter / TheDCU

** In ''[[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] Superman'' comics, this was Vartox's shtick. Vartox was the superhero protector of a distant planet. He had been superheroing longer than Supes and had an even wider array of powers than he did. Fortunately, Vartox was a hero, and the two were nominally friends. ''Un''fortunately, Vartox frequently showed signs of emotional instability, and seemed to get mind-controlled or otherwise manipulated every time he showed up, so the two ''always'' got in a fight. Supes couldn't out-muscle him, so he always had to win by using his head.

* ''ComicBook/TheGoldenAge'': Jay Garrick, the original Flash, is implicitly this to his fellow [=JSA=] speedster Johnny Quick, who tacitly admits that Jay was faster. Johnny also notes that Jay is HappilyMarried (Johnny is recently divorced) and owns a successful company (Johnny works late and lonely hours as a reporter who stays out of the limelight). However, Johnny has a reputation as TheReliableOne in the superhero community and does a lot of planning and [[IncrediblyLamePun legwork]] for the final battle, while Jay only contributes briefly before being PunchedAcrossTheRoom.

** This motivation is attributed to Post-1986 ComicBook/LexLuthor's hatred of Superman. Lex Luthor was the most powerful man in Metropolis, with even politicians and law enforcement afraid to cross him, until Superman arrived in town and not only showed Lex up but emboldened the police and mayor to stand up to Lex as well. In ''Man of Steel (1986)'', Lex tried to hire Superman as one more obedient employee, and he never forgave Superman for being the first person in Metropolis ever to dare to say "no" to him. This is further compounded by the fact that, over the years, Superman's increasing popularity has drastically overshadowed that of Lex. The obvious factor that Superman has a whole load of awesome super powers and Lex doesn't, which Lex is rather bitter about. Luthor has actually justified his hatred of Superman by claiming he is this to ''the 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 ''ComicBook/SupermanUpUpAndAway'', 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?"

* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane is a {{downplayed|Trope}} form of this to Batman. He utterly destroys him in their first fight, [[spoiler: and in their rematch, Batman is only able to beat him by disabling his [[AttackItsWeakPoint mask]]]]. However, Batman was also in [[WorfHadTheFlu bad shape, deteriorating condition, and way out of his prime]]. Additionally, [[spoiler: Bane's mask was initially a strength; it actually prevented him from feeling pain, which gave him an advantage until Batman turned it into a weakness]].

* In the first mid-season finale of ''Series/TheFlash2014'', Barry finally meets and confronts the Reverse-Flash, his mother's killer. Everything had been building up to this epic fight... which has Barry being on the end of a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown by the man in the yellow suit, who is clearly much faster than him. Barry even admits he's no longer the fastest man in the world, and Firestorm has to save his ass from being beaten to death by the other speedster. Season 2 introduces Zoom, a crazed speedster from a parallel world, who delivers an even more brutal beatdown during his first fight with Barry, leaving the latter unable to walk for a few days. Season 3 brings Savitar, a self-described "god of speed", whose mastery of the Speed Force is unparalleled. Savitar even states that neither the Reverse-Flash nor Zoom were Barry's real enemies. It's always been him. On the hero side, Wally turns out to be faster than Barry ''on his first day''. His progress is also much faster than Barry's. Once Barry realizes that, he starts training Wally to be even faster in order to [[spoiler:be fast enough to save Iris from Savitar in the near future]]. Wally has greater speed, but Barry has learned many tricks and has plenty of experience. He's also no longer as brash as the more youthful Wally. There's also Grodd, a metagorilla with PsychicPowers and advanced intelligence, not to mention inhuman strength. Barry can't do much about him, and even his patented supersonic punch is easily intercepted by Grodd. Then Grodd is sent to Gorilla City on Earth-2, a place chock-full of metagorillas just like Grodd. Now Grodd is forced to bow down to Solovar, the ruler of Gorilla City. When we are shown a fight between Grodd and Solovar in the next episode, the latter utterly [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomps]] the former, and only Barry's interference stops Solovar from finishing off his opponent.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': The {{ninja}} Kyodai Ken appears 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. 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.

** In the Silver and Bronze Ages, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was this to her best friend Barbara Gordon, the original ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}. Babs envied Kara because she was a baseline, non-powered martial artist, whereas her friend was virtually a PhysicalGod. In ''ComicBook/TheAttackOfTheAnnihilator'' and other adventures, Barbara thought that Kara was very lucky because she could do almost anything. However she complained about it loudly once, and Supergirl told her that having powers isn't what defines a hero.

** The Riddler is an EvilGenius whose dream is to become the WorldsSmartestMan, but that is a TragicDream because he lives in Gotham, home of the GreatDetective Batman. As long as Batman proves he is smarter than the Riddler, the Riddler will continue to threaten Gotham City with his CriminalMindGames and the SuperheroParadox.

** In the Silver and Bronze Ages, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} was this to her best friend Barbara Gordon, the original ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}. Babs envied Kara because she was a [[BadassNormal baseline, non-powered human]], whereas her friend was virtually a PhysicalGod. In ''ComicBook/TheAttackOfTheAnnihilator'' and other adventures, Barbara thought that Kara was very lucky because she could do almost anything. However she complained about it loudly once, and Supergirl told her that having powers isn't what defines a hero.
** [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Post-Crisis]] Supergirl is this to her friend Stephanie Brown, who always failed to measure up to other superheroes and was constantly told to stop trying, improved in almost all areas of crimefighting after she assumed the mantle of Batgirl from Cassandra Cain (Who had been this to her as well for some time, which resulted in some good-natured teasing between the two). However, in one issue of ''ComicBook/Batgirl2009'', Kara 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 understand the TechnoBabble 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.

--->'''Superman:''' ''"There's something Batman told me a long time ago and it stuck with me. No matter how good a fighter you are, there’s always someone better out there."''

** In the [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]] crossover "From Eternia - With Death!", it is shown that Superman is stronger than He-Man. Superman may be weak to magic, but if he can dodge magical attacks, then he can easily defeat even the likes of Skeletor.

* Franchise/{{Batman}}:
** At different points, both [[ComicBook/RedHood Jason]] and [[ComicBook/Robin1993 Tim]] have felt this way about [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]]. All three of them are highly skilled in different ways, but Jason and Tim lacked Dick's acrobatic talents, and Jason felt somewhat bitter about the fact that Dick was Bruce's favoured son. He was probably justified - when [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily the Joker beat Jason to death]], Bruce didn't break his [[ThouShaltNotKill No Kill rule]], but when Bruce ''[[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis thought]]'' [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis someone had killed Dick]], [[BatmanGrabsAGun he grabbed a gun]]. Tim at least has never resented Dick for this, he just accepts it as the way things are.
** [[ComicBook/RedRobin Tim Drake]] believes that this is what motivates his successor Damian Wayne to act like a {{Jerkass}} to their sister [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]]: Bruce [[ParentalFavoritism has always had more faith]] [[TheAce in her]]. Cassandra is definitely this to her best friend [[ComicBook/Batgirl2009 Stephanie Brown]], who is a more realistic BadassNormal rather than the WorldsBestWarrior like Cassandra.

** [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 PostCrisis]] Supergirl is this to her friend Stephanie Brown, who always failed to measure up to other superheroes and was constantly told to stop trying, improved in almost all areas of crimefighting after she assumed the mantle of Batgirl from Cassandra Cain (Who had been this to her as well for some time, which resulted in some good-natured teasing between the two). However, in one issue of ''ComicBook/Batgirl2009'', Kara 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 understand the TechnoBabble 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.

** The Riddler is an EvilGenius whose dream is to become the WorldsSmartestMan, but that is a TragicDream because he lives in Gotham, home of the GreatDetective Batman. As long as Batman proves he is smarter than the Riddler, the Riddler will continue to treathen Gotham City with his CriminalMindGames and the SuperheroParadox.

** In [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] Superman'' comics, this was Vartox's shtick. Vartox was the superhero protector of a distant planet. He had been superheroing longer than Supes and had an even wider array of powers than he did. Fortunately, Vartox was a hero, and the two were nominally friends. ''Un''fortunately, Vartox frequently showed signs of emotional instability, and seemed to get mind-controlled or otherwise manipulated every time he showed up, so the two ''always'' got in a fight. Supes couldn't out-muscle him, so he always had to win by using his head.

** This motivation is attributed to Post-1986 ComicBook/LexLuthor's hatred of Superman. Lex Luthor was the most powerful man in Metropolis, with even politicians and law enforcement afraid to cross him, until Superman arrived in town and not only showed Lex up but emboldened the police and mayor to stand up to Lex as well. In ''Man of Steel (1986)'', Lex tried to hire Superman as one more obedient employee, and he never forgave Superman for being the first person in Metropolis ever to dare to say "no" to him. This is further compounded by the fact that, over the years, Superman's increasing popularity has drastically overshadowed Lex. The obvious factor that Superman has a whole load of awesome super powers and Lex doesn't, which Lex is rather bitter about. Luthor has actually justified his hatred of Superman by claiming he is this to ''the 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 ''ComicBook/SupermanUpUpAndAway'', 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?"

* ComicBook/CaptainAtom is this for the entire [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]]. Whenever there is a threat that Franchise/{{Superman}} can't handle for one reason or another, a threat that will spank Franchise/GreenLantern and utterly humble [[Comicbook/{{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 PhysicalGod to end all {{Physical God}}s. In ''Captain Atom: Armageddon'', he shows up in the ''Wildstorm'' universe and plays this role to ''Comicbook/TheAuthority''. By which we mean the ''whole team'' combined. Captain Atom has more powers but he admits that he's just a C- grade superhero as he's always a step too slow or too navel-gazing to be the first to save the day.

** At different points, both [[ComicBook/RedHood Jason]] and [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]] have felt this way about [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]]. All three of them are highly skilled in different ways, but Jason and Tim lacked Dick's acrobatic talents, and Jason felt somewhat bitter about the fact that Dick was Bruce's favoured son. He was probably justified - when [[ComicBook/ADeathInTheFamily the Joker beat Jason to death]], Bruce didn't break his [[ThouShaltNotKill No Kill rule]], but when Bruce ''[[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis thought]]'' [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis someone had killed Dick]], [[BatmanGrabsAGun he grabbed a gun]]. Tim at least has never resented Dick for this, he just accepts it as the way things are.

* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** In the Silver and Bronze Ages, Supergirl was this to her best friend Barbara Gordon, the original Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}. Babs envied Kara because she was a [[BadassNormal baseline, non-powered human]], whereas her friend was virtually a PhysicalGod. Several times Barbara thought that Kara was very lucky because she could do almost anything. However she complained about it loudly once, and Supergirl told her that having powers isn't what defines a hero.
** ComicBook/PostCrisis Supergirl is this to her friend Stephanie Brown, [[NeverBeAHero who always failed to measure up to other superheroes and was constantly told to stop trying]], [[TookALevelInBadass improved in almost all areas of crimefighting]] after [[LegacyCharacter she assumed the mantle of]] Comicbook/{{Batgirl}} from [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2000}} Cassandra Cain]] (Who had been this trope to her as well for some time, which resulted in some good-natured teasing between the two). However, in one issue of [[ComicBook/{{Batgirl2009}} her own ongoing series]] Kara 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 understand the TechnoBabble 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.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:
** This motivation is attributed to ComicBook/LexLuthor's hatred of Franchise/{{Superman}}, starting with Creator/JohnByrne's reboot in the 1980s. Lex Luthor was the most powerful man in Metropolis, with even politicians and law enforcement afraid to cross him, until Superman arrived in town and not only showed Lex up but emboldened the police and mayor to stand up to Lex as well. In John Byrne's version of the first meeting between Lex and Superman, Lex tried to hire Superman as one more obedient employee, and he has never forgiven Superman for being the first person in Metropolis ever to dare to say "no" to him. This is further compounded by the fact that, over the years, Superman's increasing popularity has drastically overshadowed Lex. The obvious factor that Superman has a whole load of awesome super powers and Lex doesn't, which Lex is rather bitter about. Luthor has actually justified his hatred of Superman by claiming he is this to ''the 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 ComicBook/FiftyTwo, 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?"
--->'''Luthor:''' I could have saved the world if it wasn't for you!\\
'''Superman:''' [[CutLexLuthorACheck You could have saved the world years ago if it mattered to you, Luthor]].
** In [[UsefulNotes/TheBronzeAgeOfComicBooks Bronze Age]] ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics, this was Vartox's shtick. Vartox was the superhero protector of a distant planet. He had been superheroing longer than Supes and had an even wider array of powers than he did. Fortunately, Vartox was a hero, and the two were nominally friends. ''Un''fortunately, Vartox frequently showed signs of emotional instability, and seemed to get mind-controlled or otherwise manipulated every time he showed up, so the two ''always'' got in a fight. Supes couldn't out-muscle him, so he always had to win by using his head.
*** The Pre-Crisis Brainiac also had a similar brief rivalry with another alien supervillain known as [[https://comicvine.gamespot.com/grax/4005-33673/ Grax]]. Where Brainiac prided himself on his twelfth-level intellect, Grax was claimed to possess a staggering ''twentieth''-level intellect. Their rivalry was understandably quite fierce—Grax would often steal and modify Brainiac's technology for his own use, while Brainiac more than once acted to sabotage Grax's plans to destroy Superman out of a combination of jealousy and vengeance.
** In Bronze Age story ''Comicbook/WarWorld'' Superman runs into Comicbook/TheSpectre, the embodiment of the Wrath of God in Franchise/TheDCU, and they have a short-lived... fight, if you can call him that because The Spectre is inconceivably more powerful than Superman. Clark cannot outfight him and definitely cannot outrun him.

* ComicBook/CaptainAtom is this for the entire [[Franchise/TheDCU DC Universe]]. Whenever there is a threat that Franchise/{{Superman}} can't handle for one reason or another, a threat that will spank Franchise/GreenLantern and utterly humble [[Comicbook/{{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 PhysicalGod to end all {{Physical God}}s. In ''Captain Atom: Armageddon'', he shows up in the ''Wildstorm'' universe and plays this role to ''Comicbook/TheAuthority''. By which we mean the ''whole team'' combined. Captain Atom has more powers but he admits that he's just a C- grade superhero as he always a step too slow or too navel-gazing to be the first to save the day.

!!Franchise/TheDCU

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': Mala is the Amazon who traditionally comes in second behind Diana in all Amazon competions of agility, fighting skills and strength, and once ComicBook/{{Artemis}} was introduced she was pushed even further back in the field. Unlike most of the examples Mala does not resent Diana, or Artemis, in the slightest and sees their skill levels and abilities as something to strive towards instead hoping to one day surpass or reach them but okay with the fact that she is unlikely to do so.