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* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this was the downfall of Class 1-B in the Sports Festival. While 1-A gave it their all and fought to win, 1-B strove to stay in the middle of the pack, and avoid being everyone's target. However, as Aizawa pointed out, 1-A's drive to be the best is what pushes them to go beyond, as they're willing to take the necessary risks, which will in turn make them better heroes. Heroes who ultimately get complacent and satisfied with their current placing won't make it far in the hero world. A great hero has to always be constantly pushing for more.
** Defied by Aizawa in the Quirk Apprehension Test: he makes clear that if a student doesn't gives his absolute all in the test, he will expel them on the spot. The fact that there's Quirks that can be dangerous (or at least extremely painful) to the user if used full-out doesn't matters, he considers this a "logical ruse" worth invoking for the sake of seeing what his students can do. Izuku ends up [[BodyHorror completely demolishing his arm]] fulfilling this request.
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. Sousuke Sagara and Kurz Weber did this during basic training for Mithril, because neither of them trusted the organisation they had joined. However when the other recruits get captured during an apparently routine mission, they're required to show just how good they are.
** Defied by Aizawa in the Quirk Apprehension Test: he makes clear that if a student doesn't gives his absolute all in the test, he will expel them on the spot. The fact that there's Quirks that can be dangerous (or at least extremely painful) to the user if used full-out doesn't matters, he considers this a "logical ruse" worth invoking for the sake of seeing what his students can do. Izuku ends up [[BodyHorror completely demolishing his arm]] fulfilling this request.
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. Sousuke Sagara and Kurz Weber did this during basic training for Mithril, because neither of them trusted the organisation they had joined. However when the other recruits get captured during an apparently routine mission, they're required to show just how good they are.
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* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this was the downfall of Class 1-B in the Sports Festival. While 1-A gave it their all and fought to win, 1-B strove to stay in the middle of the pack, pack and avoid being everyone's target. However, as Aizawa pointed out, 1-A's drive to be the best is what pushes them to go beyond, as they're willing to take the necessary risks, which will in turn make them better heroes. Heroes who ultimately get complacent and satisfied with their current placing won't make it far in the hero world. A great hero has to always be constantly pushing for more.
** Defied by Aizawa in the Quirk Apprehension Test: he makes clear that if a student doesn'tgives give his absolute all in the test, he will expel them on the spot. The fact that there's Quirks that can be dangerous (or at least extremely painful) to the user if used full-out doesn't matters, he considers this a "logical ruse" worth invoking for the sake of seeing what his students can do. Izuku ends up [[BodyHorror completely demolishing his arm]] fulfilling this request.
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. Sousuke Sagara and Kurz Weber did this during basic training forMithril, Mithril because neither of them trusted the organisation they had joined. However However, when the other recruits get captured during an apparently routine mission, they're required to show just how good they are.
** Defied by Aizawa in the Quirk Apprehension Test: he makes clear that if a student doesn't
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. Sousuke Sagara and Kurz Weber did this during basic training for
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* In ''Literature/TheReportCard'', Nora is a ChildProdigy, but hates the attention it brings and so aims for earning average scores on her school assignments. Unfortunately, her usual tactic of "get 70% of the answers right" doesn't maintain her cover when taking an IQ test.
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* In ''Literature/TheReportCard'', Nora is a ChildProdigy, child prodigy but hates the attention it brings and so aims for earning average scores on her school assignments. Unfortunately, her usual tactic of "get 70% of the answers right" doesn't maintain her cover when taking an IQ test.
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* Spud in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' is revealed to a be a ChildProdigy in the second season of the series, but purposefully scores low as he happy being lackadaisical and doesn't want any type of expectation put on him, especially due to an overbearing father. Considering that when Jake and Trixie trick him into actually scoring high, he nearly gets used by Jake's enemy Eli Pandarious, he's got a point.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Summer says in "Lawnmower Dog" that she chooses to gets C's in school out of the belief that smarter people are always meaner.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Summer says in "Lawnmower Dog" that she chooses to gets C's in school out of the belief that smarter people are always meaner.
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* Spud in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' is revealed to a be a ChildProdigy in the second season of the series, but purposefully scores low as he is happy being lackadaisical and doesn't want any type of expectation put on him, especially due to an overbearing father. Considering that when Jake and Trixie trick him into actually scoring high, he nearly gets used by Jake's enemy Eli Pandarious, he's got a point.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Summer says in "Lawnmower Dog" that she chooses togets get C's in school out of the belief that smarter people are always meaner.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Summer says in "Lawnmower Dog" that she chooses to
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** Defied by Aizawa in the Quirk Apprehension Test: he makes clear that if a student doesn't gives his absolute all in the test, he will expel them on the spot. The fact that there's Quirks that can be dangerous (or at least extremely painful) to the user if used full-out doesn't matters, he considers this a "logical ruse" worth invoking for the sake of seeing what his students can do. Izuku ends up [[BodyHorror completely demolishing his arm]] fulfilling this request.
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* Jamil Viper of ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'' [[spoiler:makes sure to always get average scores so as to never outperform Kalim Al-Asad, and goes as far as throwing the slim majority of games he could easily win in order to downplay his abilities and keep his opponents happy. This attitude was fostered in his since childhood, being taught that he should never try to exceed Kalim in anything to fulfill his role as his servant. Jamil grew to resent his position, and eventually plots to overthrow Kalim as the dorm leader so he can stop holding back and prove himself as the better of the two]].
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* Don West of ''Series/LostInSpace2018'', who feels that the Robinsons are all a bunch of overachievers. He tells Penny at one point that his core principles include "never raise your hand," "always sit in the back" and "never, ever be too good at anything."
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* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a Crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want the attention.
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* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
** Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a Crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want theattention.attention.
** Hilda is TheSlacker because she's constantly been compared to her [[TheAce ultra-talented]] brother, so she feels like she shouldn't bother putting effort into anything because she'll never get any recognition anyway. Like Sylvain, [[BrilliantButLazy she's extremely talented in a few areas]] but chooses not to capitalise on them.
** Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a Crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want the
** Hilda is TheSlacker because she's constantly been compared to her [[TheAce ultra-talented]] brother, so she feels like she shouldn't bother putting effort into anything because she'll never get any recognition anyway. Like Sylvain, [[BrilliantButLazy she's extremely talented in a few areas]] but chooses not to capitalise on them.
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* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim intentionally does significantly worse than he easily could in gym, even failing certain exercises, to help maintain his secret identity.
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[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* A common criticism of the rules mechanism in the ''Extinction Curse'' adventure anthology for Pathfinder Second Edition, which allows the players to run a travelling circus. [=PCs=] are meant to generate Anticipation points by promoting the circus, then put on the show to earn a corresponding number of Excitement points, with a critical success generated if the numbers of points exactly match. This presumably was intended to represent that the show delivered expectations but wasn't undersold, but in practice it resulted in players having their [=PCs=] deliberately sabotage their own performances if the show was going well, to avoid generating excess Excitement.
[[/folder]]
* A common criticism of the rules mechanism in the ''Extinction Curse'' adventure anthology for Pathfinder Second Edition, which allows the players to run a travelling circus. [=PCs=] are meant to generate Anticipation points by promoting the circus, then put on the show to earn a corresponding number of Excitement points, with a critical success generated if the numbers of points exactly match. This presumably was intended to represent that the show delivered expectations but wasn't undersold, but in practice it resulted in players having their [=PCs=] deliberately sabotage their own performances if the show was going well, to avoid generating excess Excitement.
[[/folder]]
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** In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
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** In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', ''Literature/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
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* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. Sousuke Sagara and Kurz Weber did this during basic training for Mithril, because neither of them trusted the organisation they had joined. However when the other recruits get captured during an apparently routine mission, they're required to show just how good they are.
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* In the first ‘’Literature/SpySchool’’ novel, CynicalMentor Murray Hill ‘’could’’ be a brilliant student if he wanted to, but as he explains to the narrator, students with high grades are sent into the field and are always at risk of dying horribly, while students with middling grades are instead given (safe, well-paying) desk jobs. As a result, Murray makes sure to deliberately and conspicuously fail every class that he has. The entire school (save the narrator) are completely taken in by his facade, until the end, when [[spoiler: It turns out that Murray is TheMole and was also deliberately failing so he’d need tutoring from the RA and have the access to steal all of her files about the students and the school]].
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** In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.]]
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** In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.BioAugmentation, as well as a form of rebellion against his parents for giving him the augmentation in the first place since he felt they cared less about him than his grades.]]
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Contrast ThePerfectionist, who refuses to under-perform in anything. For the school version, contrast TheBGrade, where a character finds even a B to be too low. Compare SecondPlaceIsForWinners, DecliningPromotion, and DoWellButNotPerfect. May overlap with ObfuscatingStupidity, BrilliantButLazy, LaboriousLaziness and ProfessionalSlacker, ILetYouWin, and ThrowingTheFight. This could be caused by ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest, {{Dismotivation}}, or TallPoppySyndrome.
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Contrast ThePerfectionist, who refuses to under-perform in anything. For the school version, contrast TheBGrade, where a character finds even a B to be too low. Compare SecondPlaceIsForWinners, DecliningPromotion, and DoWellButNotPerfect. May overlap with ObfuscatingStupidity, BrilliantButLazy, LaboriousLaziness and ProfessionalSlacker, ILetYouWin, and ThrowingTheFight. This could be caused by ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest, {{Dismotivation}}, or TallPoppySyndrome.
TallPoppySyndrome, or for the school variation, someone just being an ApatheticStudent.
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** In "The Sea and Little Fishes", Nanny Ogg (who is possibly the most innately powerful witch in the Ramtops, but has decided she'd rather Granny Weatherwax got the recognition while she's just the funny one in the background) carefully chooses a trick for the Witch Trials that shows she's joining in but is unlikely to win, and is worried that with Granny not competing and no other witches having their head in the game, she might do so anyway. She loudly praises the trick before hers, just in case.
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** In "The Sea and Little Fishes", Nanny Ogg (who is possibly the most innately powerful witch in the Ramtops, but has long ago decided she'd rather Granny Weatherwax got the recognition while she's just be the funny one in the background) carefully chooses a trick for the Witch Trials that shows she's joining in but is unlikely to win, and is worried that with Granny not competing and no other witches having their head in the game, she might do so anyway. She loudly praises the trick before hers, just in case.
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* In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
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* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
** In "The Sea and Little Fishes", Nanny Ogg (who is possibly the most innately powerful witch in the Ramtops, but has decided she'd rather Granny Weatherwax got the recognition while she's just the funny one in the background) carefully chooses a trick for the Witch Trials that shows she's joining in but is unlikely to win, and is worried that with Granny not competing and no other witches having their head in the game, she might do so anyway. She loudly praises the trick before hers, just in case.
** In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
** In "The Sea and Little Fishes", Nanny Ogg (who is possibly the most innately powerful witch in the Ramtops, but has decided she'd rather Granny Weatherwax got the recognition while she's just the funny one in the background) carefully chooses a trick for the Witch Trials that shows she's joining in but is unlikely to win, and is worried that with Granny not competing and no other witches having their head in the game, she might do so anyway. She loudly praises the trick before hers, just in case.
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* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this was the downfall of Class 1-B in the Sports Festival. While 1-A gave it their all and fought to win, 1-B strove to stay in the middle of the pack, and avoid being everyone's target. However, as Aizawa pointed out, 1-A's drive to be the best is what pushes them to go beyond, as they're willing to take the necessary risks, which will in turn make them better heroes.
to:
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this was the downfall of Class 1-B in the Sports Festival. While 1-A gave it their all and fought to win, 1-B strove to stay in the middle of the pack, and avoid being everyone's target. However, as Aizawa pointed out, 1-A's drive to be the best is what pushes them to go beyond, as they're willing to take the necessary risks, which will in turn make them better heroes. Heroes who ultimately get complacent and satisfied with their current placing won't make it far in the hero world. A great hero has to always be constantly pushing for more.
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It could be a kid purposefully giving wrong answers on a test, a competitor in a tournament only aiming to not lose immediately, someone panicking when they do ''better'' than average, or a variety of other variations, as long as the intent is that they don't ''want'' to do well, and make an active effort to do worse than they're capable of. Similarly, the motivation for doing poorly can also change, such as being to avoid attention, or to avoid any danger associated with first place, among many other possible reasons.
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It could be a kid purposefully giving wrong answers on a test, a competitor in a tournament only aiming to not lose immediately, someone panicking when they do ''better'' than average, or a variety of other variations, as long as the intent is that they don't ''want'' to do too well, and make an active effort to do worse than they're capable of. Similarly, the motivation for doing poorly can also change, such as being to avoid attention, or to avoid any danger associated with first place, among many other possible reasons.
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* In the ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' universe, Dr. Burbank has been a child prodigy since he was born, but spent much of his early academic career getting average grades because he found that getting perfect grades led to bullies beating him up and teachers accusing him of cheating.[[/folder]]
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* In the ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' universe, Dr. Burbank has been a child prodigy since he was born, but spent much of his early academic career getting average grades because he found that getting perfect grades led to bullies beating him up and teachers accusing him of cheating.cheating.
* During the Silver Age, both ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' would occasionally be shown missing a question or two on a test, deliberately. Neither was [[ObfuscatingStupidity playing dumb]], exactly, as both Clark and Linda were seen as good students. However, the constant perfect scores that their Super-memories would have enabled might have raised questions, and furthermore wouldn't have been exactly fair to their non-super classmates -- the latter being the same reason neither played high school sports.
[[/folder]]
* During the Silver Age, both ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' would occasionally be shown missing a question or two on a test, deliberately. Neither was [[ObfuscatingStupidity playing dumb]], exactly, as both Clark and Linda were seen as good students. However, the constant perfect scores that their Super-memories would have enabled might have raised questions, and furthermore wouldn't have been exactly fair to their non-super classmates -- the latter being the same reason neither played high school sports.
[[/folder]]
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* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' episode "Trading Faces", where Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex switch brains, at one point had Jimmy and Cindy taking advantage of the situation by intentionally doing things that would make life harder for each other. One scene has them deliberately flunk their tests just so the other person would get a failing grade out of spite.
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* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Eddie admits he skips 15-20% of his classes- it's just enough to maintain his reputation, but not to be kicked out of school.
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* It's implied in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' that Hayasaka deliberately keeps herself at exactly 114th place among the test ranking to avoid drawing attention to herself. Given [[LegacyOfService her line of work]], it's not like she'd have to get into a good college to ensure stable employment.
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* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'':
** It's impliedin ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' that Hayasaka deliberately keeps herself at exactly 114th place among the test ranking to avoid drawing attention to herself. Given [[LegacyOfService her line of work]], it's not like she'd have to get into a good college to ensure stable employment.employment.
** Erika studies really hard to specifically get third place during the end of semester exams. Why third instead of first? [[{{Fangirl}} Because Kaguya is always second and she wants her name to be listed right after it on the class ranking]].
** It's implied
** Erika studies really hard to specifically get third place during the end of semester exams. Why third instead of first? [[{{Fangirl}} Because Kaguya is always second and she wants her name to be listed right after it on the class ranking]].
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* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want the attention.
to:
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a crest.Crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want the attention.
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* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.]]
** Bashir also did this when he played racquetball with Chief O'Brien. O'Brien was a casual player, while Bashir was captain of the team back at Starfleet Medical Academy. When he plays down to O'Brien's level it infuriates the Chief to no end.
** Bashir also did this when he played racquetball with Chief O'Brien. O'Brien was a casual player, while Bashir was captain of the team back at Starfleet Medical Academy. When he plays down to O'Brien's level it infuriates the Chief to no end.
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* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.]]
** Bashir alsodid this intentionally underperformed when he played racquetball with Chief O'Brien. O'Brien was a casual player, while Bashir was captain of the team back at Starfleet Medical Academy. When Academy--and when he plays played down to O'Brien's level it infuriates infuriated the Chief to no end.
** In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.]]
** Bashir also
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* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderverse'', Miles Morales deliberately answers all of the questions to a multiple-choice test wrong. His teacher calls him out on it, saying the only way he could have answered them all wrong was if he knew all the answers. The reason Miles does this is because he doesn't feel he belongs at Horizons, a school for gifted students that he was recommended into. Said teacher tells him otherwise and encourages him to not quit.
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* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderverse'', ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'', Miles Morales deliberately answers all of the questions to a multiple-choice test wrong. His Morales' physics teacher calls at his prestigious new school, Brooklyn Visions Academy, shows him out on it, saying that he has completely failed a true-or-false test. However, she sees through it and reasons that the only way he could have answered them all wrong was if he knew all the answers. The reason correct answers and deliberately chose the wrong ones. Sure enough, Miles does this is because he doesn't feel he belongs has been feeling out of his element at Horizons, a school for gifted students that he Visions and was recommended into. Said trying to flunk out so he can [[IJustWantToBeNormal return to his comfort zone]] at his old school, but said teacher tells him otherwise and encourages him to not quit.
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** {{Downplayed}} in the same series when the ship was outfitted with new shields and they were sent into a war games scenario to test them. [[AcePilot Helmsman Malloy]] is so good at evading the other ship's attacks that Captain Mercer has to remind them that they ''want'' to take a hit to test those shields.
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** {{Downplayed}} in the same series when the ship was outfitted with new shields and they were sent into a war games scenario to test them. [[AcePilot Helmsman Malloy]] is so good at evading the other ship's attacks that Captain Mercer has to remind them Malloy that they ''want'' to take a hit to test those shields.
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* In ''Series/TheOrville'', [=LaMarr=] came from a farming colony where everyone was focused on bare survival and no one had the time or inclination to deal with a genius kid like him. So, he deliberately [[ObfuscatingStupidity hid how smart he was]] so he wouldn't get in trouble, a bad habit that followed him until [[NumberOne Kelly Grayson]] looked over his aptitude scores and questioned why he was acting stupid.
** {{Downplayed}} in the same series when the ship was outfitted with new shields and they were sent into a war games scenario to test them. [[AcePilot Helmsman Malloy]] is so good at evading the other ship's attacks that Captain Mercer has to remind them that they ''want'' to take a hit to test those shields.
--->'''Malloy''': ''Aye, sir. Dumbing it down!''
** {{Downplayed}} in the same series when the ship was outfitted with new shields and they were sent into a war games scenario to test them. [[AcePilot Helmsman Malloy]] is so good at evading the other ship's attacks that Captain Mercer has to remind them that they ''want'' to take a hit to test those shields.
--->'''Malloy''': ''Aye, sir. Dumbing it down!''
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** Bashir also did this when he played racquetball with Chief O'Brien. O'Brien was a casual player, while Bashir was captain of the team back at Starfleet Medical Academy. When he plays down to O'Brien's level it infuriates the Chief to no end.
--->'''O'Brien:''' I don't need your charity! Next time, you either play your best game or you don't play.
--->'''O'Brien:''' I don't need your charity! Next time, you either play your best game or you don't play.
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->'''Susie''': I got an A! What did you get?
->'''Calvin''': I'd hate to be you; I got a C+.
->'''Susie''': Why on earth would you rather get a C than an A?!
->'''Calvin''': I find life's easier when everyone's expectations of you are lower.
-->- ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''
->'''Calvin''': I'd hate to be you; I got a C+.
->'''Susie''': Why on earth would you rather get a C than an A?!
->'''Calvin''': I find life's easier when everyone's expectations of you are lower.
-->- ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''
to:
->'''Calvin''':
'''Calvin:''' I'd hate to be you; I got a
->'''Susie''':
'''Susie:''' Why on earth would you rather get a C than an
->'''Calvin''':
'''Calvin:''' I find life's easier when everyone's expectations of you are lower.
Changed line(s) 19 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
to:
[[folder:Anime and & Manga]]
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
to:
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]Animation]]
Deleted line(s) 64 (click to see context) :
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* Spud in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' is revealed to a be a ChildProdigy in the second season of the series, but purposefully scores low as he happy being lackadaisical and doesn't want any type of expectation put on him, especially due to an overbearing father. Considering that when Jake and Trixie trick him into actually scoring high on a test nearly leads him to being used by one of Jake's enemies, Eli Pandarious, he's got a point.
to:
* Spud in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' is revealed to a be a ChildProdigy in the second season of the series, but purposefully scores low as he happy being lackadaisical and doesn't want any type of expectation put on him, especially due to an overbearing father. Considering that when Jake and Trixie trick him into actually scoring high on a test high, he nearly leads him to being gets used by one of Jake's enemies, enemy Eli Pandarious, he's got a point.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 65,66 (click to see context) from:
----
Indexes: SchoolTropes,
Indexes: SchoolTropes,
to:
Indexes: SchoolTropes,
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Created from YKTTW
Added DiffLines:
->'''Susie''': I got an A! What did you get?
->'''Calvin''': I'd hate to be you; I got a C+.
->'''Susie''': Why on earth would you rather get a C than an A?!
->'''Calvin''': I find life's easier when everyone's expectations of you are lower.
-->- ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''
When being graded or ranked on anything, it's typically better to be at the top. You get the satisfaction and validation of being one of the best, the people around you know you worked hard, and it can lead to better opportunities in the future. What's not to like about being in first?
Well, not every character wants the spotlight of being at the top, the pressure of doing well, the expectations of others. They'd rather be average, or even below average. Often, as long as they can scrape by and fly under the radar, they don't care about doing better- and, if doing better would make then get unwanted attention, then doing worse is more beneficial.
It could be a kid purposefully giving wrong answers on a test, a competitor in a tournament only aiming to not lose immediately, someone panicking when they do ''better'' than average, or a variety of other variations, as long as the intent is that they don't ''want'' to do well, and make an active effort to do worse than they're capable of. Similarly, the motivation for doing poorly can also change, such as being to avoid attention, or to avoid any danger associated with first place, among many other possible reasons.
Contrast ThePerfectionist, who refuses to under-perform in anything. For the school version, contrast TheBGrade, where a character finds even a B to be too low. Compare SecondPlaceIsForWinners, DecliningPromotion, and DoWellButNotPerfect. May overlap with ObfuscatingStupidity, BrilliantButLazy, LaboriousLaziness and ProfessionalSlacker, ILetYouWin, and ThrowingTheFight. This could be caused by ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest, {{Dismotivation}}, or TallPoppySyndrome.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The titular character of ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'' knows that he could ace every test with his nigh-infinite PsychicPowers, but doesn't want to draw attention to himself and just wants to live a quiet life -- so he uses his powers to get grades that are just high enough to keep him in the middle of the rankings.
* Yoshikage Kira from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' wants to live a quiet life and stay in the background. Jotaro speculates from the trophies found in his room that he made it a point to rank no higher than 3rd in any given competition to avoid standing out.
* It's implied in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' that Hayasaka deliberately keeps herself at exactly 114th place among the test ranking to avoid drawing attention to herself. Given [[LegacyOfService her line of work]], it's not like she'd have to get into a good college to ensure stable employment.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this was the downfall of Class 1-B in the Sports Festival. While 1-A gave it their all and fought to win, 1-B strove to stay in the middle of the pack, and avoid being everyone's target. However, as Aizawa pointed out, 1-A's drive to be the best is what pushes them to go beyond, as they're willing to take the necessary risks, which will in turn make them better heroes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Adrian Veidt was always brilliant, but deliberately downplayed his intelligence in school to avoid unwanted attention.
* In the ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' universe, Dr. Burbank has been a child prodigy since he was born, but spent much of his early academic career getting average grades because he found that getting perfect grades led to bullies beating him up and teachers accusing him of cheating.[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderverse'', Miles Morales deliberately answers all of the questions to a multiple-choice test wrong. His teacher calls him out on it, saying the only way he could have answered them all wrong was if he knew all the answers. The reason Miles does this is because he doesn't feel he belongs at Horizons, a school for gifted students that he was recommended into. Said teacher tells him otherwise and encourages him to not quit.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Dash's parents encourage him to finish second in a school race, because his ability to easily finish first would give away their secret super-hero identities.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/MyTeacherIsAnAlien'': Played with; Peter informs the kids in school that aliens are going to kidnap 5 students: the best, the worst, and the three most average. This causes immediate chaos, with the top students deliberately trying to get in trouble or flunk tests; the worst students and troublemakers suddenly sucking up to the teachers, and mediocre kids paralyzed by uncertainty not knowing how to avoid being one of the three most average.
* In ''Literature/TheReportCard'', Nora is a ChildProdigy, but hates the attention it brings and so aims for earning average scores on her school assignments. Unfortunately, her usual tactic of "get 70% of the answers right" doesn't maintain her cover when taking an IQ test.
* ''Literature/EndersShadow'': Bean is just a little bit smarter than Ender, the top student at the Battle School, but performs averagely in classwork because his harsh homeless upbringing has conditioned him to view attention as too dangerous. He eventually starts performing better once it becomes clear the teachers are still finding his behavior suspicious and aren't going to be fooled by what would fool a street bully.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/{{Friday}}''. The title character is a genetically engineered woman with supergenius intelligence. She says that in school, she was taught to answer questions on IQ tests to hit a pre-determined score in order to not show off her intelligence.
* In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
* Early in the ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' series, Stile is careful to avoid performing too well in the Game, in order to avoid reaching the top five places on the ladder which would automatically enter him into the citizenship tournament.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/DogWithABlog'': Tyler is revealed to secretly be a math genius, but chooses to get lower grades in school out of fear it will upset his social status.
* ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'': "Teddy's Little Helper" has both Ivy and Teddy receive a B in class. To Teddy, this is TheBGrade, and she desperately tries to do better. For Ivy, it's at first a miracle, as she almost never gets a grade that high...until it happens ''again'', in which case, she starts to panic, realizing her parents will start to expect this from her.
* In ''Series/{{Awkward}}'', after Ming makes good with the Asian Mafia, the leader Becca gives her a cheat-sheet for the next test...but she only gets a B. Becca explains that if they gave her a ''perfect'' cheat-sheet, it'd look a lot more suspicious to everyone, so they're keeping her slightly above-average.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.]]
* ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'': In the AlternateUniverse of "Girl Meets Scary World 3", Maya makes Riley do her homework. She threatens Riley with violence if she gives her any grade better than a C+, as she doesn't want teachers to pay attention to her or think she has potential.
* In ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'', when Terry complains about not being able to score higher than 70% on the practice lieutenant's exam, Gina says it's a good thing:
-->'''Gina''': C-. The perfect grade. You pass, but you're still hot.
* In an episode of ''Series/ModernFamily'', Haley does this when she has to bake cupcakes for school in order to trick her Mother into doing all the work. By the end of the episode, her Mother catches on and makes her bake the cupcakes by herself. The results are quite [[LethalChef lethal]], causing her brother's mouth to go numb, though it was implied she was still trying to pull this off.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want the attention.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Spud in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' is revealed to a be a ChildProdigy in the second season of the series, but purposefully scores low as he happy being lackadaisical and doesn't want any type of expectation put on him, especially due to an overbearing father. Considering that when Jake and Trixie trick him into actually scoring high on a test nearly leads him to being used by one of Jake's enemies, Eli Pandarious, he's got a point.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Summer says in "Lawnmower Dog" that she chooses to gets C's in school out of the belief that smarter people are always meaner.
* In the series ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'', it's revealed that Adam Lyon's friends intentionally bomb any tests they take because if they were to achieve good scores, they would be placed with the spiffies, a group of super-nerds led by a particularly egotistical dolphin.
[[/folder]]
----
Indexes: SchoolTropes,
->'''Calvin''': I'd hate to be you; I got a C+.
->'''Susie''': Why on earth would you rather get a C than an A?!
->'''Calvin''': I find life's easier when everyone's expectations of you are lower.
-->- ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''
When being graded or ranked on anything, it's typically better to be at the top. You get the satisfaction and validation of being one of the best, the people around you know you worked hard, and it can lead to better opportunities in the future. What's not to like about being in first?
Well, not every character wants the spotlight of being at the top, the pressure of doing well, the expectations of others. They'd rather be average, or even below average. Often, as long as they can scrape by and fly under the radar, they don't care about doing better- and, if doing better would make then get unwanted attention, then doing worse is more beneficial.
It could be a kid purposefully giving wrong answers on a test, a competitor in a tournament only aiming to not lose immediately, someone panicking when they do ''better'' than average, or a variety of other variations, as long as the intent is that they don't ''want'' to do well, and make an active effort to do worse than they're capable of. Similarly, the motivation for doing poorly can also change, such as being to avoid attention, or to avoid any danger associated with first place, among many other possible reasons.
Contrast ThePerfectionist, who refuses to under-perform in anything. For the school version, contrast TheBGrade, where a character finds even a B to be too low. Compare SecondPlaceIsForWinners, DecliningPromotion, and DoWellButNotPerfect. May overlap with ObfuscatingStupidity, BrilliantButLazy, LaboriousLaziness and ProfessionalSlacker, ILetYouWin, and ThrowingTheFight. This could be caused by ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest, {{Dismotivation}}, or TallPoppySyndrome.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The titular character of ''Manga/TheDisastrousLifeOfSaikiK'' knows that he could ace every test with his nigh-infinite PsychicPowers, but doesn't want to draw attention to himself and just wants to live a quiet life -- so he uses his powers to get grades that are just high enough to keep him in the middle of the rankings.
* Yoshikage Kira from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'' wants to live a quiet life and stay in the background. Jotaro speculates from the trophies found in his room that he made it a point to rank no higher than 3rd in any given competition to avoid standing out.
* It's implied in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' that Hayasaka deliberately keeps herself at exactly 114th place among the test ranking to avoid drawing attention to herself. Given [[LegacyOfService her line of work]], it's not like she'd have to get into a good college to ensure stable employment.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', this was the downfall of Class 1-B in the Sports Festival. While 1-A gave it their all and fought to win, 1-B strove to stay in the middle of the pack, and avoid being everyone's target. However, as Aizawa pointed out, 1-A's drive to be the best is what pushes them to go beyond, as they're willing to take the necessary risks, which will in turn make them better heroes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Adrian Veidt was always brilliant, but deliberately downplayed his intelligence in school to avoid unwanted attention.
* In the ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' universe, Dr. Burbank has been a child prodigy since he was born, but spent much of his early academic career getting average grades because he found that getting perfect grades led to bullies beating him up and teachers accusing him of cheating.[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderverse'', Miles Morales deliberately answers all of the questions to a multiple-choice test wrong. His teacher calls him out on it, saying the only way he could have answered them all wrong was if he knew all the answers. The reason Miles does this is because he doesn't feel he belongs at Horizons, a school for gifted students that he was recommended into. Said teacher tells him otherwise and encourages him to not quit.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', Dash's parents encourage him to finish second in a school race, because his ability to easily finish first would give away their secret super-hero identities.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/MyTeacherIsAnAlien'': Played with; Peter informs the kids in school that aliens are going to kidnap 5 students: the best, the worst, and the three most average. This causes immediate chaos, with the top students deliberately trying to get in trouble or flunk tests; the worst students and troublemakers suddenly sucking up to the teachers, and mediocre kids paralyzed by uncertainty not knowing how to avoid being one of the three most average.
* In ''Literature/TheReportCard'', Nora is a ChildProdigy, but hates the attention it brings and so aims for earning average scores on her school assignments. Unfortunately, her usual tactic of "get 70% of the answers right" doesn't maintain her cover when taking an IQ test.
* ''Literature/EndersShadow'': Bean is just a little bit smarter than Ender, the top student at the Battle School, but performs averagely in classwork because his harsh homeless upbringing has conditioned him to view attention as too dangerous. He eventually starts performing better once it becomes clear the teachers are still finding his behavior suspicious and aren't going to be fooled by what would fool a street bully.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/{{Friday}}''. The title character is a genetically engineered woman with supergenius intelligence. She says that in school, she was taught to answer questions on IQ tests to hit a pre-determined score in order to not show off her intelligence.
* In ''Discworld/MovingPictures'', student wizard Victor Tugelbend aims to fail his Final Exams every year - but only just. His aim is to fail by the slightest and most narrow of margins - so that he gets to remain a student in perpetuity. But he can't fail so completely that the University can then throw him out. His reason is that he has a trust fund allowing him to live in some comfort - provided he remains a student. The moment he graduates, the money goes. The moment the university throws him out, the money goes. Therefore he has to avoid getting a pass mark of 88% but not to let his mark drop below the threshold of 80% that triggers expulsion. It's a fine line.
* Early in the ''Literature/ApprenticeAdept'' series, Stile is careful to avoid performing too well in the Game, in order to avoid reaching the top five places on the ladder which would automatically enter him into the citizenship tournament.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/DogWithABlog'': Tyler is revealed to secretly be a math genius, but chooses to get lower grades in school out of fear it will upset his social status.
* ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'': "Teddy's Little Helper" has both Ivy and Teddy receive a B in class. To Teddy, this is TheBGrade, and she desperately tries to do better. For Ivy, it's at first a miracle, as she almost never gets a grade that high...until it happens ''again'', in which case, she starts to panic, realizing her parents will start to expect this from her.
* In ''Series/{{Awkward}}'', after Ming makes good with the Asian Mafia, the leader Becca gives her a cheat-sheet for the next test...but she only gets a B. Becca explains that if they gave her a ''perfect'' cheat-sheet, it'd look a lot more suspicious to everyone, so they're keeping her slightly above-average.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In season one, Doctor Bashir admits that he intentionally missed a question on his final exam at the Academy, which dropped him to second in his class. [[spoiler:A season five episode reveals that he underperformed to avoid drawing attention to his superior brainpower, which is the result of illegal BioAugmentation.]]
* ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'': In the AlternateUniverse of "Girl Meets Scary World 3", Maya makes Riley do her homework. She threatens Riley with violence if she gives her any grade better than a C+, as she doesn't want teachers to pay attention to her or think she has potential.
* In ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'', when Terry complains about not being able to score higher than 70% on the practice lieutenant's exam, Gina says it's a good thing:
-->'''Gina''': C-. The perfect grade. You pass, but you're still hot.
* In an episode of ''Series/ModernFamily'', Haley does this when she has to bake cupcakes for school in order to trick her Mother into doing all the work. By the end of the episode, her Mother catches on and makes her bake the cupcakes by herself. The results are quite [[LethalChef lethal]], causing her brother's mouth to go numb, though it was implied she was still trying to pull this off.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Sylvain intentionally shirks his studies and skips training to flirt with girls because he's tired of the expectations placed on him for bearing a crest. As shown by his wide range of proficiencies, he's actually good at nearly anything he puts his mind to, he just doesn't want the attention.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Spud in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong'' is revealed to a be a ChildProdigy in the second season of the series, but purposefully scores low as he happy being lackadaisical and doesn't want any type of expectation put on him, especially due to an overbearing father. Considering that when Jake and Trixie trick him into actually scoring high on a test nearly leads him to being used by one of Jake's enemies, Eli Pandarious, he's got a point.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': Summer says in "Lawnmower Dog" that she chooses to gets C's in school out of the belief that smarter people are always meaner.
* In the series ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'', it's revealed that Adam Lyon's friends intentionally bomb any tests they take because if they were to achieve good scores, they would be placed with the spiffies, a group of super-nerds led by a particularly egotistical dolphin.
[[/folder]]
----
Indexes: SchoolTropes,
