History Main / BornWinner

* In the ''Merchant Princes'' series by Creator/CharlesStross, the ability to travel between worlds is a recessive genetic trait.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Carolina ''knows'' she's the best, so when Agent Texas comes along and starts handing her ass to her she doesn't take it well. In fact, she'd do ANYTHING to regain her position at the top. Agent Texas, however, appears to be an even more born winner than she is. [[spoiler:Tex is actually an inversion. She's an incredibly dangerous soldier, but the unique circumstances of her existence means that she has been conditioned to fail when it really matters.]]

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Literature/VampireHunterD'' -- Vampires (and [[HalfHumanHybrid dhampyrs]]) again.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD'' -- Vampires (and [[HalfHumanHybrid dhampyrs]]) again.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* The eponymous hero in ''Siegfried'' by Music/RichardWagner.
[[/folder]]

Compare PunyEarthlings, where the earthlings are ''so'' puny that not even TrainingFromHell or a CharlesAtlasSuperpower lets them overcome it; they simply CantCatchUp. Born Winners are a leading reason why HardWorkHardlyWorks, and will often be an InvincibleHero and if the writer is lazy enough, an outright GodModeSue. They may or may not have been BornLucky. Beware those who are WeakButSkilled, though...

* In the Philippines, TV network {{Creator/ABS-CBN}} was always like this, winning every match against its rivals, primarily [[AlwaysSecondBest GMA]] and [[TakeAThirdOption TV5]].

* In the Philippines, TV network {{Creator/ABS-CBN}} was always like this, winning very match against its rivals, primarily [[AlwaysSecondBest GMA]] and [[TakeAThirdOption TV5]].

* While Mob may have won ''Manga/MobPsycho100'''s SuperpowerLottery, his younger brother Ritsu won the genetic lottery in basically everything else -- so much so that Ritsu's become Salt Middle School's SchoolIdol within his first year and is unanimously considered {{The Gift}}ed Kageyama brother even though Mob literally has psychic powers. However, Ritsu is just as dissatisfied with his natural talents as Mob is with his, as Ritsu's [[BigBrotherWorship world entirely revolves around his brother]]; and not only does the resulting SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome drive a wedge of MutualEnvy between the siblings, it also serves as potential fuel for Mob's [[AngstNuke destructive emotional explosions]] that scare both of them more than anything.

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] is the strongest Titanian Eternal, if not of the entire [[ComicBook/TheEternals Eternal race]], to have ever lived thanks to being a mutant that made him stronger than the average Eternal and have more potent comic energy powers.

* [[ComicBook/XMen Human mutants]] in the Marvel Universe are born with a variety of superpowers, but a good number of them tend to be more powerful than any regular human. The one mutant that hit the jackpot, however, is Franklin Richards, son of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards and Sue Storm]]. He was born a RealityWarper of such potential that one adult version of him was able to revive and control ''[[CosmicEntity Galactus]]''.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Basically any of Marvel's mutants (although many of them have drawbacks). That said, most of them manifest as {{puberty superpower}}s.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Anime/BurstAngel'' - {{Artificial Human}}s. Meg doesn't counts for being a FauxActionGirl.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Anime/BloodPlus'' - [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Chiropterans]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Anime/BlueGender'' - Yuji and the other Sleepers' with their "B-cells"
* ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' - Only those born with magic power are really any use. {{Lampshaded}} in one episode where Mei-ling complains about not being able to contribute due to her lack of magic power; results in a PlotTailoredToTheParty where she uses her martial arts skills to help defeat the Twin card.

** Sakura herself is the biggest born-winner in the story (and maybe even in Clamp's multiverses), she was born with power, but by meeting Kero and become a cardcaptor, her power grew stronger. Then we get to know that [[spoiler: her father Fujitaka is a half of Clow's reincarnated soul, making Sakura the closet thing of a daughter to Clow and the magician himself had already prepared all kinds of plans to teach, support and protect the girl even before she was born to ensure her succession]]. By the end of the series, Sakura was stated to be even stronger than Clow with a full control of her power, and we all know how much influence Clow had on across different dimensions. Syaoran didn't stand a chance from the beginning.

* ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' - [[{{Jerkass}} Kongou Agon]] is a once in a century player who is infinitely more skilled than his completely average twin brother. He neglects practice and is still ridiculously good.

* Examined in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD''. The born winner is [[TheRival Vali Lucifer]] - as a direct descendant of his namesake, he's already an incredibly power Devil, plus he was born with [[ManaDrain Divine Dividing]], which make it even easier for him to grossly overpower his enemies. All this is seen through the eyes of series protagonist Issei, a [[{{Foil}} bog-standard human]] [[FirstEpisodeResurrection (read: mediocre Devil)]] who, despite possessing [[AmplifierArtifact Boosted Gear]], has to [[TrainingFromHell work his ass off]] to even keep up with any of his enemies.
* ''Manga/InuYasha'' - If you're not at least part demon or the reincarnation of a priestess, [[TheWorfBarrage resign yourself to uselessness]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Katsuki Bakugo isn't one, but has a deep ingrained belief he is. At the age of 4, he developed a powerful quirk, combat-oriented and got a sort of group of followers at that age from nursery school, so he genuinely started believing himself to be naturally better than everybody else, this adoration from his classmates and teachers following him into middle school. It's not until he joins UA that he is forced to see reality that he is a NormalFishInATinyPond, being beaten by [[TheStrategist his favorite bullying victim, Midoriya]], receiving a long [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech lecture on why he lost]] from [[TeenGenius Yaoyorozu]] and being showed off when TheAce clears an assignment he failed in mere seconds.

** Being the son of [[spoiler:the Pirate King, Gold Roger]], Ace was incredibly strong, even awakening Conqueror's Haki as a child. It was this potential that [[spoiler:lead to his execution]].
** Luffy was very much the same, being the son of [[spoiler:the "Revolutionary" Monkey D. Dragon, the most wanted criminal in the world]], and the grandson of [[spoiler:"Hero" Monkey D. Garp, the marine who cornered the Pirate King several times during their era]]. His potential just took longer to show (though emotionally, Luffy was far more stable than Ace), [[spoiler:and when it did show, it upped the priority of his death above Ace's own execution]].
** Charlotte Linlin, better known as Big Mom, was a freak of nature from the start, and her path towards becoming one of the Yonkou barely involved any training at all; it was simply what happens when someone so freakishly powerful that she can accidentally kill a giant hero at ''five years old'' is nudged into the path of piracy. The downsides are clearly visible, however: [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome How do you take care of someone that freakishly strong, and as terrifyingly ravenous as her?]] No one ever knew how to properly take care of such a monstrous little girl, and as an adult she is ''[[TheCaligula messed]] [[PsychopathicManchild up]]''.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' Ash Ketchum is involved with many prophetic legends. The fourth season song is called "Born To Be a Winner", which is much of a remix of the season 1 theme. Surprisingly, this is averted when it comes to Leagues- [[spoiler:it took him 22 seasons to win one.]]
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Gemstone Espers are espers who were born with their powers, as opposed to having to have to develop one. An example would be Academy City's #7 Level 5 esper, Sogiita Gunha. On the magic side, Saints are similar, allowing them to access a part of God's power due to their bodies being born with properties similar to [[KungFuJesus Jesus]]. A example would be the Sword Saint of the Amakusa Church, Kaori Kanzaki.
** Touma was born with [[AntiMagic Imagine]] [[PowerNullifier Breaker]], but it's hard to call him a born "winner" when one of the side effects of Imagine Breaker is [[BornUnlucky uncontrollably destroying his good luck]], leading to a life filled with "[[CatchPhrase such misfortune]]".
** {{Valkyries}} are people born with bodies and abilities similar to the Norse Mythology beings. Brunhild Eiktobel is both a Valkyrie and a Saint.
** Fiamma of the Right was born with [[HolyHandGrenade The Holy Right]].
** Acqua of the Back was born with not only the powers of a Saint, but with the "Divine Mother's Mercy" from having a body with similar properties to the Virgin Mary as well. This status as a "double Saint" boosts his physical and magical abilities far above normal Saints, and allows him to wield the usually MutuallyExclusiveMagic of normal and angelic magics together with no consequences.
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' - Vash's and Knives' badassness is due to the fact that they're both [[spoiler:biological power plants]]. Yeah.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' - Vampires. And Crusniks even more so.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' - [[{{Obake}} Demons]] are the only ones who can accomplish anything after the TournamentArc. [[spoiler:Even Yusuke is revealed to have [[HalfHumanHybrid demonic heritage]].]] In the last three arcs, Kuwabara was [[OnlyMostlyDead killed]] to send Yusuke into an UnstoppableRage, [[DamselInDistress taken hostage]], and PutOnABus, respectively.
** Also played with with the humans who were born with amazing spiritual power, in that [[spoiler: one of them went insane and did a FaceHeelTurn, one of them is TheHero's mentor before he found out about his SuperpoweredEvilSide, and the third went into hiding to marry and raise a family]].
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD'' - Vampires (and [[HalfHumanHybrid dhampyrs]]) again.
* ''Manga/PsychicSquad'' - Although psychics in general qualify, Level 7 psychics are vastly more powerful than lower level ones, and they alone seem to have enough control over their powers to find new and creative uses for them after sufficient practice. For example, a low level telekinetic might be able to cheat at a crane game in an arcade, but the most skilled Level 7 we've seen is basically a RealityWarper.
* The Gorans from ''[[http://www.itplanning.co.jp/bbimages/body.img/BE1/FBEAT1.HTML Buzzer Beater]]'' by Takehiko Inoue. Humans aren't really destined for greatness in intergalactic basketball. [[spoiler: The main character is a Goran but doesn't know it until later.]]
* Many of the characters from ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' have some reason why their magical powers are miles beyond average, whether [[ArtificialHuman genetic engineering]], [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetics]], or the power of an ArtifactOfDoom, but there are some exceptions. The main character herself is a freak of nature, extremely powerful with only a handwave about how people from Earth tend to be very strong on the very small chance that they have magic. The BigBad of the first season, Precia, also won the SuperpowerLottery in a big way entirely through natural talent. She's one of only two SS rank mages in the entire series, and the other one had to have her head plugged into a sentient magical tome to gain that kind of power. Caro Ru Lushe was also born with immense dragon-summoning power, apparently naturally with no enhancements to her person.

* The Chimera Ant King and his royal guard in ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. While Humans and lower ranked Ants must train or have their Nen awakened, these four are born with access to Nen.
* While Mob may have won ''Manga/MobPsycho100'''s SuperpowerLottery, his younger brother Ritsu won the genetic lottery in basically everything else--so much so that Ritsu's become Salt Middle School's SchoolIdol within his first year and is unanimously considered {{The Gift}}ed Kageyama brother even though Mob literally has psychic powers. However, Ritsu is just as dissatisfied with his natural talents as Mob is with his, as Ritsu's [[BigBrotherWorship world entirely revolves around his brother]]; and not only does the resulting SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome drive a wedge of MutualEnvy between the siblings, it also serves as potential fuel for Mob's [[AngstNuke destructive emotional explosions]] that scare both of them more than anything.

%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Franchise/{{Superman}}, particularly UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} one.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Elsa was born with her [[AnIcePerson extremely powerful ice powers]], and she's the only human character in the movie to have any magic. It's zigzagged; her powers aren't always predictable and can be ''both'' dangerous as well as beautiful. At the end of the first movie, ironically, it is "completely ordinary" Anna who helps Elsa reach her inborn potential and reconcile the complicated nature of her powers. In [[WesternAnimation/FrozenII the sequel]], Pabbie suggests Elsa's powers make her Arendelle's only hope. [[spoiler:They certainly are helpful, although in the end, not enough in themselves. She and Anna - who has no inborn powers - end up ''both'' having to play a role in saving the day, Elsa with her magic and Anna with her determination to keep doing the next right thing even when Elsa is [[DisneyDeath dead]].]]
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity''. While Sullivan may have been born into a long line of successful scarers, he was too lazy to work to live up to the name until he teamed up with Mike.
* This is how Force sensitivity works in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe. Granted, some individuals are stronger than others in the Force. The Skywalkers in particular stand out due to being a family of {{Chosen One}}s. In the [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]] continuity, thanks to an ExecutiveVeto preventing any of the big three (Luke, Han, and Leia) from dying, Luke Skywalker becomes continuously more powerful until he is basically a Force [[PhysicalGod God]]. The Skywalker clan drama becomes more prominent and more central to the universe, because you can't seem to have a story with galaxy-wide repercussions without a Skywalker being involved.
* This is the backstory of ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}.'' He and Metro Man were both baby orphans, but Metro Man was a Born Winner and Megamind was a Born Loser. Subverted, however, in that they both had the ''potential'' to be Born Winners - what made the difference was how they were ''treated'' by their peers and authority figures.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', I'm looking at you. Rand al'Thor is the umpteen millionth reincarnation of the hero who has saved the world (or destroyed it) since the beginning of time.
** There are those who are basically explicitly Born Winners, the ''ta'veren'', who are special in that they specifically do exert an influence on people and events around them.
** Hell, Channelers period. Walking nukes in a medieval world.
* In the ''Merchant Princes'' series by Creator/CharlesStross, the ability to travel between worlds is a recessive genetic trait.

* Cassie from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. While the rest of the team all offer contributions they have to learn and grow into - Jake's leadership, Rachel's fierceness in battle, and Marco's keen mind for strategy - Cassie's qualities are all qualities with which she was born. She's an ''estreen'', a character naturally talented at morphing, and the fourth ''Megamorphs'' book reveals she's a temporal anomaly, quite literally a GameBreaker so potent her very presence undoes the efforts of {{reality warper}}s and collapses an alternate timeline. The Drode accuses the Ellimist of "stacking the deck" in his favor when he chose Cassie as one of his pawns.

* This is what 'trueborn' Clan warriors in the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' universe are supposed to be ''bred'' to be. (They also get TrainingFromHell, but as that's pretty much universal for the warrior caste attention is usually paid more to individual bloodlines and genetic combinations thereof.) In practice, while many of them do have a physical edge over their Inner Sphere counterparts -- notably the giant battle armor infantry troopers known as Elementals, whether they're actually wearing said armor or not --, they're still far from invincible, as quite a number of both Clan and Inner Sphere "freebirths" have demonstrated.

* Too many games to list have you take the role of some sort of super soldier or half-human hybrid that is much more powerful than an ordinary citizen by genetics alone. You might even say that being a player controlled character can make most protagonists born winners - because they're controlled by you, even the BadassNormal variety of hero ends up being unimaginably more successful than other theoretically equal humans.

* [[DeconstructedTrope Torn to shreds]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' with [[DefrostingIceQueen Miranda]] and [[SuperSoldier Grunt]], both products of [[DesignerBabies genetic engineering]], and neither taking it well. Miranda angsts over having all her personal victories cheapened by her father's manipulation while her failures are all her own, and Grunt angsts over being born and bred to fight with the best of them, but never being given something to fight ''for.''
* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. Your Avatar (default name Robin) is a MagicKnight with great stats and experience growth, flexible classing options, and calling you the most powerful unit in your army is not a stretch. Then comes the WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:You are the most perfect result of a SuperBreedingProgram by [[ReligionOfEvil the Grimleal]], to be the vessel of their god, Grima, and [[TheAntiChrist and bring the end of the world.]] Your father is the current leader of the Grimleal, and their current high priest is ''yourself'', from a BadFuture, where your possession and subsequent ending of the world happens according to schedule.]] ''[[TomatoInTheMirror Yeesh.]]''

* Point One Percenters in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' are Cybertronians whose sparks glow green upon igniting and emit immense amounts of deadly radiation. Once put into a body and brought online they have possess incredible strength and durability. They can also survive intense body modification and upgrades to become [[PersonOfMassDestruction planet killing]] SuperSoldiers.

** Charlotte Linlin, better known as Big Mom, was a freak of nature from the start, and her path towards becoming one of the Yonkou barely involved any training at all; it was simply what happens when someone so freakishly powerful that she can accidentally kill a giant hero at ''five years old'' is nudged into the path of piracy. The downsides are clearly visible, however: [[RealityEnsues How do you take care of someone that freakishly strong, and as terrifyingly ravenous as her?]] No one ever knew how to properly take care of such a monstrous little girl, and as an adult she is ''[[TheCaligula messed]] [[PsychopathicManchild up]]''.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':
** Inverted with [[spoiler: Alpha Texas]]. She is an incredibly dangerous soldier, but has been conditioned to fail when it really matters.
** Carolina ''knows'' she's the best, so when a new agent comes along and starts handing her ass to her she doesn't take it well. In fact, she'd do ANYTHING to regain her position at the top.

--> '''Hangetsu''': "[[HotBlooded GENIUS! It's a limitless number of approvals! It's instinct telling you 'It's been decided! I will throw 1000 lucky punches! I am awesome!']] [[TheAce 'That's just plain unbelievable,' or 'That can't happen,' for there to be someone who gets approved 1000 times! For someone, through instinct, to pull off 1000 miracles, 1000 lucky punches, that makes me awesome!]] [[LargeHam That's what a genius is! Techniques are nothing more than extras! Those moments where I'm awesome! It's awesome, this existence of mine!]] [[ChewingTheScenery Approval upon approval upon approval covered in approvals! Don't think! Let instinct guide you! Let the approvals roll in! Let the decisions come to you!]]"

* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' - [[{{Jerkass}} Kongou Agon]] is a once in a century player who is infinitely more skilled than his completely average twin brother. He neglects practice and is still ridiculously good.

* ''Manga/OnePiece''

* Daywalker ''Comicbook/{{Blade}}'': Born right after his mother was bitten by a vampire, he got superhuman strength and senses but isn't affected by sunlight beyond light sensitivity harming his eyes(so sunglasses). He counters his thirst for human blood with a serum, but whenever needed, there's some willing victim or pool of anonymous blood to regain his full potential.

* Capt from ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'' seems to succeed in everything he tries with little effort and has won over the affections of pretty much the entire town long before the game begins. In situations where he's far outclassed and has no hope of winning, he still manages to somehow pull through via guts, bravado and dumb luck. Several characters refer to him as a man loved by God or some kind of hero who will one day unite humanity. The twist is that Capt isn't the main character, and since the games are dating sims he's never anything more than a major supporting character who serves as the AlwaysSomeoneBetter BromanticFoil to actual protagonist Yamato.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series has a lot of this. The stand-out example is [[BarrierMaiden Reimu Hakurei]], who is one of the most powerful characters in the setting despite putting in as little effort as possible by virtue of being born into the Hakurei line. Though Reimu is only notable for this in that she's ''actively opposed'' to hard work; the vast majority of the cast simply uses their natural youkai abilities.

* Examined in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD''. The born winner is [[TheRival Vali Lucifer]] - as a direct descendant of his namesake, he's already an incredibly power Devil, plus he was born with [[ManaDrain Divine Dividing]], which make it even easier for him to grossly overpower his enemies. All this is seen through the eyes of series protagonist Issei, a [[{{Foil}} bog-standard human]] [[FirstEpisodeResurrection (read: mediocre Devil)]] who, despite possessing [[AmplifierArtifact Boosted Gear]], has to [[TrainingFromHell work his ass off]] to even keep up with any of his enemies.

* ''Manga/ZettaiKarenChildren'' - Although psychics in general qualify, Level 7 psychics are vastly more powerful than lower level ones, and they alone seem to have enough control over their powers to find new and creative uses for them after sufficient practice. For example, a low level telekinetic might be able to cheat at a crane game in an arcade, but the most skilled Level 7 we've seen is basically a RealityWarper.

** Noelle's mana pool is enormous even for a royal. According to the author, her latent magic is about the same as her famed mother Acier, and Julius, the Wizard King and strongest mage in the kingdom.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' Ash Ketchum is involved with many prophetic legends. The fourth season song is called "Born To Be a Winner", which is much of a remix of the season 1 theme.

** The sequel series does provide us the origin of the First Avatar: [[spoiler: Wan was originally a peasant who managed to get fire bending temporarily from a lion turtle and after meeting the spirit of Harmony in Raava, learned to take the other elements and after devoting his life to trying to bring world peace, he died on the battlefield lamenting his failures. However, Raava promised to be with him and his spirit left his body, thus beginning the Avatar Cycle.]]