History Main / WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing

** In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eLmrSOn9vw Don't EVER betray me in Mario Party]]", [[spoiler:Sophist manages to win the whole game thanks to Brent swapping the former's ''2'' Stars with Nick's ''7'' via Chance Time near the end of the game.]] Similarly, in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tbsVTuH9Rw Mario Party just got a whole lot worse]]", [[spoiler:Vernias manages to win the whole game thanks to Sophist swapping the former's ''0'' Stars with Brent's ''6'' via Chance Time on the final turn.]]

** In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eLmrSOn9vw Don't EVER betray me in Mario Party]]", [[spoiler:Sophist manages to win the whole game thanks to Brent swapping the former's ''2'' Stars with Nick's ''7'' via Chance Time near the end of the game.]]
** Similarly, in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tbsVTuH9Rw Mario Party just got a whole lot worse]]", [[spoiler:Vernias manages to win the whole game thanks to Sophist swapping the former's ''0'' Stars with Brent's ''6'' via Chance Time on the final turn.]]

** When the crew gets the Coin Minigame Parasol Plummet "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRLRuubgsw4 I made a Mario Party Game to torture my friends]]"[[note]](if someone rolls a 1, they can control someone's next move, but if they roll a 10, they can't receive any Stars during their turn and must forfeit the next minigame)[[/note]], Vernias is currently the only one who can play the minigame, as the others rolled too high on their turns. Yet despite being the only one who can move, [[EpicFail Vernias still loses to Brent by 1 coin]]:

* LetsPlay/PartyCrashers:

* Can happen in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' against the villain Wager Master. One of the cards in his deck 'losing to the odds' which grants an instant hero victory if all hero targets have an even amount of HP that's less than their maximum HP at the end of the villain turn. Under the right circumstances, it's entirely possible for Wager Master to take himself out on the opening turn before the heroes can even do anything because of that card. The podcast even acknowledges this scenario as something that has canonically occurred in the world of Sentinel Comics where Wager Master shows up and loses one of his infamous wagers in seconds before disappearing again.

** At one point in their ''VideoGame/GangBeasts'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGmN1Cj2XUQ video]], Vernias manages to win a round by simply standing above the grinder while Brent and Sophist accidently fall into the grinder in an attempt to reach him:

** At one point in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRLRuubgsw4 I made a Mario Party Game to torture my friends]]"[[note]](if someone rolls a 1, they can control someone's next move, but if they roll a 10, they can't receive any Stars during their turn and must forfeit the next minigame)[[/note]], the crew gets the Coin Minigame Parasol Plummet, but Vernias is the only one who can play the minigame, as the others rolled too high on their turns. Yet despite being the only one who can move, [[EpicFail Vernias still loses to Brent by 1 coin]]:

** In their ''Stick Fight'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISEHHh6kdrM video]], Sophist wins so many matches by simply standing around and letting the others kill each other that the editor needed to put in a counter for how many times it happened.

** At one point during their ''Gang Beasts'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGmN1Cj2XUQ video]], Vernias manages to win a round by simply standing above the grinder while Brent and Sophist accidently fall into the grinder in an attempt to reach him:

* In ''Film/{{The Matrix Revolutions}}'', Neo could have defeated Smith by doing absolutely nothing. He just had to let Smith replicate in him.

* This is how Creator/JamesRolfe dealt with criticisms and accusations of sexism and racism when, rather than reviewing ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'', he issued his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz8X2A7wHyQ non-review]] where he matter-of-factly explained why he wasn't going to watch the movie. Knowing the non-review spoke for itself, and knowing these accusations were coming from [[{{Troll}} people just trying to start trouble on social media]] who were a loud but small VocalMinority, he didn't respond or react to them in any way and so neither his fans nor the mainstream cared either. The entire "controversy" went quiet in about a week without anyone lifting a finger.

** At one point during their ''Gang Beasts'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGmN1Cj2XUQ video]], Vernias manages to win a round by simply standing above the grinder while Brent and Sophist fail to reach him, [[EpicFail falling into the grinder in the process]]:
--->'''Sophist:''' [[LampshadeHanging Vern, you did literally nothing this game. You did literally nothing.]]

** In "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS3E3TheBullyJustOneBite The Bully]]", Flats, the titular antagonist, finally arrives at Spongebob's house to deliver the promised "butt-kicking" that Spongebob had been dreading for most of the episode. However, it turns out that Spongebob's, well ''spongy'' physiology apparently allows him to absorb Flats' blows without even ''feeling'' them. Upon discovering this, Spongebob continues his day, all the while with Flats desperately trying in vain to pummel him, until Flats finally tires himself out and collapses, making Spongebob the ''de facto'' "winner" of the fight. Unfortunately, Mrs. Puff shows up at just that moment to only see Flats laying in a heap on the ground and Spongebob standing over him, and assumes ''Spongebob'' was the aggressor in the fight, and so, she angrily declares, "[[HereWeGoAgain I'm going to kick your butt!]]"

** In their ''Stick Fight'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISEHHh6kdrM video]], Sophist wins so many matches by just standing around and letting the others kill each other that the editor needed to put in a counter for how many times it happened.

* ''LetsPlay/PartyCrashers'':

** At the end of the "Presumed Dead" path of ''Fleeing the Complex'', the truck you've stolen for your getaway is dangling off the edge of a cliff, and as the complex's warden Dimitri monologues, you get your timer and choices of how to act. Unusually, and hinting at the actual solution, rather than get all your choices at once like normal, they appear one at a time over the course of Dimitri's speech. Wait out the timer, and Dimitri kicks the truck over the cliff, assumes NoOneCouldSurviveThat, and leaves. It is from this that the "Presumed Dead" ending gets its name.

** Throughout their ''Stick Fight'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISEHHh6kdrM video]], Sophist wins so many matches by just standing around and letting the others kill each other that the editor needed to put in a counter for how many times it happened.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', you get the Dependent title for Genis if you control him in a battle and win without doing anything. Note that "doing anything" includes moving and getting hit by enemy attacks.

* This was largely how UsefulNotes/TheresaMay won the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Conservative_Party_leadership_election Conservative Party leadership election]] in 2016. While initially expected to be a highly competitive race among several [=MPs=], frontrunner UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson dropped out after his fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove betrayed him and decided to run himself, while Andrea Leadsom withdrew after several gaffes. May, who had barely even campaigned for the position, won by default as the last candidate standing.

* This cannot be done in TabletopGame/{{chess}}, as the turn player is always forced to move -- you can't "skip your turn". However, there are many situations when doing so would be advantageous, as any move you could make would end up weakening your position. One strategy involves deliberately attempting to maneuver your opponent into such a position. When both sides would end up losing if they were to move, it's known as Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move"). There's also stalemate -- when a player has no legal moves but is not in check, the game is declared a draw. Arranging a position like this is often a good way of saving the game in a losing position.

* "VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures":
** When traveling to Dinosaur Planet, it is impossible not to beat the Arwing minigame.

** In the ChristmasEpisode, they just walk off while refusing Charlie's suggestion for Butt-head to kill himself and afterwards, Charlie slips and falls into the river while trying to protest Butt-head's decision.

* This was largely how UsefulNotes/TheresaMay won the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Conservative_Party_leadership_election Conservative Party leadership election]] in 2016. While initially expected to be a highly competitive race among several [=MPs=], frontrunner UsefulNotes/BorisJohnson dropped out after his fellow Brexiteer Michael Gove betrayed him and decided to run himself, while Andrea Leadsom withdrew after several gaffes. May, who had barely even campaigned for the position, won the by default as the last candidate standing.