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->''But [[TheHero Red]] never quit.\\

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->''But [[TheHero Red]] Red never quit.\\
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[[folder: Advertising]]
* A 1960s commercial for Burger King uses the Tortoise and the Hare story as its springboard. Knowing that each would stop for lunch during the race, the tortoise goes into a Burger King and comes out virtually immediately with his order. The hare stops at a roadside diner where prompt service was not a priority. It's when the cook offers him a bowl of turtle soup that the hare forgets he's in a race and takes off, but too late--the turtle had won.
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* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died, he's in the top position to claim Japan for his own and with a few strikes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two decades of peace for the nation with his dynasty at helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded manner in the race to claim Japan.

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* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died, died (with their own big problems intact: Nobunaga made an enemy to a majority of Japan with his brutality, Hideyoshi ended up being more attuned to his megalomania and invaded Korea once he's done unifying the land), he's in the top position to claim Japan for his own and with a few strikes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two decades of peace for the nation with his dynasty at helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded manner in the race to claim Japan.
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* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died, he's in the top position to claim Japan for his own and with a few strikes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two decades of peace for the nation with his dynasty at helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded mannerin the race to claim Japan.

to:

* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died, he's in the top position to claim Japan for his own and with a few strikes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two decades of peace for the nation with his dynasty at helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded mannerin manner in the race to claim Japan.
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None

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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* The trope is heavily associated with the Japanese warlord-turned-shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu. He has been around since the era of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga but played the long game, making himself the sidekick or vassal to either Nobunaga or his direct successor UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi, conceding several losses when he could've made big but temporary wins, making a slow but steady progress to amass power that when the two died, he's in the top position to claim Japan for his own and with a few strikes of luck, he eventually did so, creating two decades of peace for the nation with his dynasty at helm because he never really rushed in a bullheaded mannerin the race to claim Japan.
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* In Linkara's ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers'' review of ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', he cites that Flurious, one of the four villain groups of the series, took this approach by not getting too involved in the fighting and letting the others factions duke it out amongst themselves. Indeed in the end the Fearcats and Kamdor were destroyed by the Rangers, Miratrix was sealed away in the jewel Kamdor was originally stuck in (by Kamdor's own hand no less) and Moltor was majorly weakened in his fight with Mack. When he tried to go to to Flurious for help, Flurious destroyed Moltor outright and takes the crown and later got the remaining jewels to go to full powered form, being the last villains standing to be stopped.

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* In Linkara's ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers'' review of ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', he cites that Flurious, one of the four villain groups of the series, took this approach by not getting too involved in the fighting and letting the others factions duke it out amongst themselves. Indeed in the end the Fearcats and Kamdor were destroyed by the Rangers, Miratrix was sealed away in the jewel Kamdor was originally stuck in (by Kamdor's own hand no less) and Moltor was majorly weakened in his fight with Mack. When he tried to go to to Flurious for help, Flurious destroyed Moltor outright and takes the crown and later got before acquiring the remaining jewels jewels, allowing him to go to full powered achieve his full-powered form, being thus making him the last villains standing villain to be stopped.
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* In Linkara's ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers'' review of ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', he cites that Flurious, one of the four villain groups of the series, took this approach by not getting too involved in the fighting and letting the others factions duke it out amongst themselves. Indeed in the end the Fearcats and Kamdor were destroyed by the Rangers, Miratrix was sealed away in the jewel Kamdor was originally stuck in (By Kamdor's own hand no less) and Moltor was majorly weakened in his fight with Mack. When he tried to go to to Flurious for help, Flurious destroyed Moltor outright and takes the crown and later got the remaining jewels to go to full powered form, being the last villains standing to be stopped.

to:

* In Linkara's ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers'' review of ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', he cites that Flurious, one of the four villain groups of the series, took this approach by not getting too involved in the fighting and letting the others factions duke it out amongst themselves. Indeed in the end the Fearcats and Kamdor were destroyed by the Rangers, Miratrix was sealed away in the jewel Kamdor was originally stuck in (By (by Kamdor's own hand no less) and Moltor was majorly weakened in his fight with Mack. When he tried to go to to Flurious for help, Flurious destroyed Moltor outright and takes the crown and later got the remaining jewels to go to full powered form, being the last villains standing to be stopped.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E14EdwardTheGreat Edward the Great]]" has the engines challenge Spencer, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's private engine to a race to the Duke and Duchess' summer house. When Edward is assigned to deliver a set of furniture to the summer house, Gordon and James are worried that Edward will lose the race, since Spencer is a sleek and fast express engine who managed to beat even Gordon's record, but Thomas and Percy believe in Edward, due to Edward's kind personality. Thanks in part to Spencer having to make several stops, such as the Duke and Duchess buying tea and cakes from Wellsworth Station and taking photographs of the countryside (Spencer also falls asleep during the latter), Edward manages to overtake Spencer and win the race.

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* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E14EdwardTheGreat "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS8E14EdwardTheGreat Edward the Great]]" has the engines challenge Spencer, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's private engine to a race to the Duke and Duchess' summer house. When Edward is assigned to deliver a set of furniture to the summer house, Gordon and James are worried that Edward will lose the race, since Spencer is a sleek and fast express engine who managed to beat even Gordon's record, but Thomas and Percy believe in Edward, due to Edward's kind personality. Thanks in part to Spencer having to make several stops, such as the Duke and Duchess buying tea and cakes from Wellsworth Station and taking photographs of the countryside (Spencer also falls asleep during the latter), Edward manages to overtake Spencer and win the race.
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None


* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E14EdwardTheGreat Edward the Great]]" has the engines challenge Spencer, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's private engine to a race to the Duke and Duchess' summer house. When Edward is assigned to deliver a set of furniture to the summer house, Gordon and James are worried that Edward will lose the race, since Spencer is a sleek and fast express engine who managed to beat even Gordon's record, but Thomas and Percy believe in Edward, due to Edward's kind personality. Thanks in part to Spencer having to make several stops, such as the Duke and Duchess buying tea and cakes from Wellsworth Station and taking photographs of the countryside (Spencer also falls asleep during the latter), Edward manages to overtake Spencer and win the race.

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* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E14EdwardTheGreat Edward the Great]]" has the engines challenge Spencer, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's private engine to a race to the Duke and Duchess' summer house. When Edward is assigned to deliver a set of furniture to the summer house, Gordon and James are worried that Edward will lose the race, since Spencer is a sleek and fast express engine who managed to beat even Gordon's record, but Thomas and Percy believe in Edward, due to Edward's kind personality. Thanks in part to Spencer having to make several stops, such as the Duke and Duchess buying tea and cakes from Wellsworth Station and taking photographs of the countryside (Spencer also falls asleep during the latter), Edward manages to overtake Spencer and win the race.
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None


Almost every literate person has read the story, but in case you are one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, or right at the start, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[AnAesop aesop]]? "[[TropeNamers Slow and steady wins the race]]."

to:

Almost every literate person has read the story, but in In case you are you're one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is who've somehow avoided reading or being told this story, it goes as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, or right at the start, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[AnAesop aesop]]? "[[TropeNamers Slow and steady wins the race]]."
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Minor edits.


* Parodied in one ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode about a snail race. While Spongebob and Squidward bring normal snail pets, Patrick brings a rock. It predictably doesn't move while the other snails race forward, but Gary (Spongebob's snail) went berserk and runs out of the race line and injures himself in the end, while Squidward's snail (who's close to winning) runs to Gary instead to help him. While everyone (including the spectators) is distracted with the 2 snails, it then cuts to Patrick's rock somehow crossing the finish line.

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* Parodied in one ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode about a snail race. While Spongebob [=SpongeBob=] and Squidward bring normal snail pets, Patrick brings a rock. It predictably doesn't move while the other snails race forward, but Gary (Spongebob's ([=SpongeBob=]'s snail) went berserk and runs out of the race line and injures himself in the end, while Squidward's snail (who's close to winning) runs to Gary instead to help him. While everyone (including the spectators) is distracted with the 2 snails, it then cuts to Patrick's rock somehow crossing the finish line.
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* ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' had a retelling of ''The Tortise and the Hare'' in the episode "The Big Race" called "Slow and Steady" that was all about this trope.

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* ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' had a musical retelling of ''The Tortise and the Hare'' in the episode "The Big Race" called "Slow and Steady" that was all about this trope.
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* ''Series/TheNoddyShop'' had a retelling of ''The Tortise and the Hare'' in the episode "The Big Race" called "Slow and Steady" that was all about this trope.
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[[quoteright:350:[[http://lamp-and-star.blogspot.com/ https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tortoiseandhare.png]]]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[http://lamp-and-star.[[quoteright:349:[[http://lamp-and-star.blogspot.com/ https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tortoiseandhare.png]]]]
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* The ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' episode "Rush Hour" has the title character learning an important lesson in patience after he enters a Floaty Boats contest, but he builds his boat too quickly and it falls apart.

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* The ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' episode "Rush Hour" has the title character learning an important lesson in patience after when he enters a Floaty Boats contest, but contest where he builds his boat too quickly and it falls apart.
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* The ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' episode "Rush Hour" has the title character learning an important lesson in patience after he enters a Floaty Boats contest, but he builds his boat too quickly and it falls apart.
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* In the "Literature/TalesFromAGalaxyFarFarAway" story "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku" this is humorously subverted by One Eye, who takes his time arriving to the MeleeATrois only to end up swallowed by a sandworm before any of the other combatants even realize he's there.

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* In the "Literature/TalesFromAGalaxyFarFarAway" "Literature/TalesFromAGalaxyFarFarAwayVolumeOneAliens" story "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku" this is humorously subverted by One Eye, who takes his time arriving to the MeleeATrois only to end up swallowed by a sandworm before any of the other combatants even realize he's there.
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* In the "Literature/TalesFromAGalaxyFarFarAway" story "The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku" this is humorously subverted by One Eye, who takes his time arriving to the MeleeATrois only to end up swallowed by a sandworm before any of the other combatants even realize he's there.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


Almost every literate person has read the story, but in case you are one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, or right at the start, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[TropeNamer aesop]]? "[[TropeNamer Slow and steady wins the race]]."

to:

Almost every literate person has read the story, but in case you are one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, or right at the start, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[TropeNamer [[AnAesop aesop]]? "[[TropeNamer "[[TropeNamers Slow and steady wins the race]]."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* As the {{Metagame}} has evolved on ''Series/TheAmazingRace'', this has become a popular strategy with teams. Nowadays most of the teams would rather pace themselves throughout the season and not wrack up the leg wins. The only time people want to win is if the leg prize is specifically something to be used in the game. [[note]] The usual prize is vacations from a sponsor but most teams don’t even end up taking the trips. Why pay 50% of the value in taxes to go to a predetermined place? Most teams would rather win the whole race and go where they want to go minus the gift tax [[/note]] All that matters is staying consistent enough to get in the final three and winning the final leg. Sisters Kisha & Jen and partners Colin & Christie who won returnee seasons both say that this is the lesson they learned. They both were cognizant about not burning themselves out.

to:

* As the {{Metagame}} has evolved on ''Series/TheAmazingRace'', this has become a popular strategy with teams. Nowadays most of the teams would rather pace themselves throughout the season and not wrack up the leg wins. The only time people want to win is if the leg prize is specifically something to be used in the game. [[note]] The usual prize is vacations from a sponsor but most teams don’t even end up taking the trips. Why pay 50% of the value in taxes to go to a predetermined place? Most teams would rather win the whole race and go where they want to go minus the gift tax [[/note]] All that matters is staying consistent enough to get in the final three and winning the final leg. Sisters Kisha & Jen and partners Colin & Christie who won returnee seasons both say that this is the lesson they learned. They both were cognizant about not burning themselves out. Teams who’ve won the show without winning a leg before include dating couple (who weren’t actually a couple) Eric & Danielle (10), the aforementioned sisters Kisha & Jen (18), partners Josh & Brent (21), friends Amy & Maya (25), and dating couple Kelsey & Joey (27).
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None

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* As the {{Metagame}} has evolved on ''Series/TheAmazingRace'', this has become a popular strategy with teams. Nowadays most of the teams would rather pace themselves throughout the season and not wrack up the leg wins. The only time people want to win is if the leg prize is specifically something to be used in the game. [[note]] The usual prize is vacations from a sponsor but most teams don’t even end up taking the trips. Why pay 50% of the value in taxes to go to a predetermined place? Most teams would rather win the whole race and go where they want to go minus the gift tax [[/note]] All that matters is staying consistent enough to get in the final three and winning the final leg. Sisters Kisha & Jen and partners Colin & Christie who won returnee seasons both say that this is the lesson they learned. They both were cognizant about not burning themselves out.
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None

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* "Literature/TheHareAndThePineapple" builds up the expectation that the pineapple will find a way to beat the hare, with the animals even discussing how the hare will likely make a mistake out of arrogance. [[SubvertedTrope The pineapple doesn't even move, and the hare wins.]]
Willbyr MOD

Changed: 40

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tortoiseandhare.png]]

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.[[quoteright:350:[[http://lamp-and-star.blogspot.com/ https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tortoiseandhare.png]]
png]]]]
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%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1558305520096662500
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tortoiseandhare.png]]






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SubTrope of UnderdogsNeverLose. Compare TheBigRace and DarkHorseVictory.

to:

SubTrope of UnderdogsNeverLose. Compare TheBigRace and DarkHorseVictory.
TheBigRace, DarkHorseVictory, DickDastardlyStopsToCheat.
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-> But [[TheHero Red]] never quit.
-> He just kept coming.
-> His putt-putt motor
-> kept right on humming.
-> And while [[{{Jerkass}} Green]] waited
-> for his stuff,
-> Red putted on past.
-> The fast-food store
-> wasn't fast enough.

to:

-> But ->''But [[TheHero Red]] never quit.
->
quit.\\
He just kept coming.
->
coming.\\
His putt-putt motor
->
motor\\
kept right on humming.
->
humming.\\
And while [[{{Jerkass}} Green]] waited
->
waited \\
for his stuff,
->
stuff,\\
Red putted on past.
->
past.\\
The fast-food store
->
store\\
wasn't fast enough.''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
La Fontaine's version has the hare waiting at the start line.


Almost every literate person has read the story, but in case you are one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[TropeNamer aesop]]? "[[TropeNamer Slow and steady wins the race]]."

to:

Almost every literate person has read the story, but in case you are one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, or right at the start, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[TropeNamer aesop]]? "[[TropeNamer Slow and steady wins the race]]."
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

[[folder: Video Games]]
* Magolor says this word-for-word in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
* In Linkara's ''WebVideo/HistoryOfPowerRangers'' review of ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'', he cites that Flurious, one of the four villain groups of the series, took this approach by not getting too involved in the fighting and letting the others factions duke it out amongst themselves. Indeed in the end the Fearcats and Kamdor were destroyed by the Rangers, Miratrix was sealed away in the jewel Kamdor was originally stuck in (By Kamdor's own hand no less) and Moltor was majorly weakened in his fight with Mack. When he tried to go to to Flurious for help, Flurious destroyed Moltor outright and takes the crown and later got the remaining jewels to go to full powered form, being the last villains standing to be stopped.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Created from YKTTW

Added DiffLines:

-> But [[TheHero Red]] never quit.
-> He just kept coming.
-> His putt-putt motor
-> kept right on humming.
-> And while [[{{Jerkass}} Green]] waited
-> for his stuff,
-> Red putted on past.
-> The fast-food store
-> wasn't fast enough.
-->-- ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears and the Big Road Race''

We've all heard of Literature/AesopsFables. Although very little is known about the man himself, hundreds of his stories still survive after millenia. Arguably the best known of these stories is ''The Tortoise and the Hare''.

Almost every literate person has read the story, but in case you are one of the very ''very'' few literate people who haven't, the story is as follows: [[CharacterTitle A tortoise and a hare]] decide to have a race, and for obvious reasons the hare thinks he is certain to win. The hare has such a strong belief in this scenario that when he is halfway finished the race (or almost finished, depending on which version you know), he decides to have a nap, during which the tortoise passes him and wins. The, well, [[TropeNamer aesop]]? "[[TropeNamer Slow and steady wins the race]]."

Because of the story's fame, it's no wonder it is so influential. Many modern-day works (typically for young children) have similar storylines, sometimes with more than one "hare", but almost always with only one "tortoise", usually the protagonist. The hare(s) will beat the tortoise for most of TheBigRace, but then something will happen that causes the tortoise to win. The hare(s) will often be a LastSecondShowoff, and the tortoise will invariably be a {{Determinator}}. The tortoise will likely be the [[RedOniBlueOni blue oni]] to the hare's red.

It's also worth mentioning that the original story has been subject to much AlternateAesopInterpretation, the other aesop being "don't get too cocky".

SubTrope of UnderdogsNeverLose. Compare TheBigRace and DarkHorseVictory.

As the trope name spoils how the race will turn out, all spoilers are unmarked.

----

!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Folk Tales]]
* Other cultures have developed similar stories independently of Creator/{{Aesop}}. For example, the Native Americans told a tale about a crane and a hummingbird.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheBerenstainBears and the Big Road Race'' sees Brother Bear enter a car race in a small, slow, red car. There are four other cars, all of them large and fast: one orange, one yellow, one green, and one blue. The drivers of the large cars make fun of Brother because his car is so slow. At first, the yellow car is in first, and its driver boasts about how he will win and fails to see a pothole, which destroys the car. Then the orange car takes the lead and its driver brags about how he will win, not realizing that he is driving his car off a cliff. The driver of the green car assumes it is now between him and the blue car, so he pours tacks onto the road, puncturing the blue car's tires. When he's almost at the finish line, he sees a fast-food restaurant and decides to have a burger. [[CheatersNeverProsper In waiting for his burger, he unknowingly gives Brother enough time to pass him and win the race.]]
* Subverted in a story within Creator/DanielPinkwater's ''Literature/{{Borgel}}'', which got some unwanted publicity after it was used (and the aesop misinterpreted) in a standardized test. In the story "The Rabbit and the Eggplant", a rabbit and an eggplant decide to race each other. The townspeople all bet on the eggplant, since they figure that slow and steady wins the race, and the eggplant must have some trick up its sleeve. Unsurprisingly, the rabbit wins, and the villagers eat the eggplant after being proven wrong.
* Disney storybook "Goofy's Big Race" had Donald challenge Goofy to a race. While Donald has a spiffy sports car, he wastes his time doing other things as he thinks Goofy's old jalopy won't catch up. However Goofy ends up winning because he kept his focus on the race despite being the slow one.
* Played with in ''Literature/LightningFred'': Digby is not a fast runner, so he loses a race. He has a second race and wins, but he's no longer slow-- he got temporarily [[SuperSpeed powered up]] from [[LightningCanDoAnything touching a lightning-struck tortoise]].
* Parodied in ''Literature/TheStinkyCheeseMan'' with the story "The Tortoise and the Hair". The rabbit bets that he can ''grow one of his hairs'' faster than the tortoise can run. They both go so slow, [[NoEnding the story ends before the race does.]]
-->Tortoise is ''still'' running. Rabbit is ''still'' growing his hair. ''(Not) The End''
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* At least two ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' episodes have this plot:
** "Race Around the World" has Austin, Pablo, Tyrone, and Uniqua in a multisport race that involves hurdles, snowboarding, and rowing. Pablo is great at hurdles, Tyrone at snowboarding, and Uniqua at rowing, but Austin is terrible at each one. At the end of the race, the tape is too strong for Pablo, Tyrone, or Uniqua to break, but [[CrazyPrepared Austin]] cuts it with a pair of scissors, thereby winning the race.
** "Horsing Around" has Uniqua, Pablo, and Tyrone as jockeys in a horse race. Pablo and Uniqua both insist that they have the best horse this side of the Mississippi, but Tyrone's tiny donkey is the definition of TheAllegedSteed. However, Pablo and Uniqua are often so busy arguing about who is better than the other, they forget about the race until Tyrone passes them, resulting in Tyrone winning by a nose.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Averted with Cecil the Turtle, who in the three shorts that he raced WesternAnimation/BugsBunny was slower and more consistent, but the reason he always won was because he was a [[OutGambitted much better trickster]] than '''Bugs'''.
* Zigzagged in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Fall Weather Friends": the ponies are having a race called "The Running of the Leaves" to help the autumn leaves fall. Rainbow Dash and Applejack are mad at each other and are on a vicious cycle of cheating due to thinking the other cheated, so they end up being tied for ''last place''. Twilight starts off slow but then runs to prevent herself getting puffed out, and she wins a prize... but it's not first place either.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': The episode ''"Ninjaball Run"'' is basically this with a prize of $5000 which the ninja need to win to help to pay a friend's rent but since there are no rules in the race where there's bound to cheating in the competition. Metaphorically, the ninja are the "tortoise" since they don't perform so well at the beginning of the race and Lloyd, another ninja who entered separately to improve chances of winning, was disqualified in the middle of the race. Garmadon and his mooks are the "hare" metaphorically, "cheating" to try to win for himself. The ninja and Garmadon cross the finish line at the same exact time, The ninja actually wins due to [[ChekhovsGun a vehicle accessory that was added on]] by Jay on the hood and since there are no rules about that.
* Parodied in one ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode about a snail race. While Spongebob and Squidward bring normal snail pets, Patrick brings a rock. It predictably doesn't move while the other snails race forward, but Gary (Spongebob's snail) went berserk and runs out of the race line and injures himself in the end, while Squidward's snail (who's close to winning) runs to Gary instead to help him. While everyone (including the spectators) is distracted with the 2 snails, it then cuts to Patrick's rock somehow crossing the finish line.
* The ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' episode, "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS8E14EdwardTheGreat Edward the Great]]" has the engines challenge Spencer, the Duke and Duchess of Boxford's private engine to a race to the Duke and Duchess' summer house. When Edward is assigned to deliver a set of furniture to the summer house, Gordon and James are worried that Edward will lose the race, since Spencer is a sleek and fast express engine who managed to beat even Gordon's record, but Thomas and Percy believe in Edward, due to Edward's kind personality. Thanks in part to Spencer having to make several stops, such as the Duke and Duchess buying tea and cakes from Wellsworth Station and taking photographs of the countryside (Spencer also falls asleep during the latter), Edward manages to overtake Spencer and win the race.
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