After he throws you to the mat, he'll help you to your feet.
There are lots and lots of contests, sports, competitions, and games for people to enjoy and entertain themselves. But with such activities, there must be winners and losers.
And sometimes, the enjoyment of an activity can be sapped by a Sore Loser, who will loudly declare that they were cheated, even though they (usually) weren't, or that the odds against them were unfair, or simply refuse to acknowledge the winner. But almost as bad is a Sore Winner, someone who gloats about their victory, offers insincere platitudes dripping with sarcasm, and is thoroughly unpleasant to be around.
Then there's this competitor. They don't engage in the typical trash talk before a game. They treat their opponents with respect, and it's sincere. They might praise their opponent after they've won, saying that they offered a legitimate challenge, and even offering tips on how to do better the next time (which the Sore Loser will reject, but a Graceful Loser might take to heart). And if the prize for the contest was a cash prize that the losing party desperately needed for something, they may take the accolades, but donate the cash to their foe. In some cases, if their foe takes their defeat well, they may offer them a job, should they have the means to do so.
For them, the love of the competition, the joy of fighting to the finish, is their reward for engaging in such a challenge, and they have a tendency to see their foes as Worthy Opponents, even recognizing their legitimate talents right away. Indeed, if the event they're participating in has a small enough pool, it's likely they've heard of their opponent before, and is looking forward to the contest because of the actual challenge they may present.
In many cases, the Graceful Winner is not the main character, but either a side character or a mentor. If they're female, they're likely to present themselves as a Cool Big Sis.
They're usually the one who puts the "friend" in Friendly Rival.
They will likely both be and appreciate a Spirited Competitor.
Compare A Success, by Comparison, where not losing badly is considered a success against a particular opponent. Contrast Unsportsmanlike Gloating. May overlap with Actually Pretty Impressive, if the victor admires their opponent's efforts.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- BanG Dream!: During the "Steadfast Pride, Piercing Sunset" event, a contest is unofficially set up between the bands Roselia and Afterglow after Ran Mitake of Afterglow took some remarks from Roselia's Yukina Minato as a direct insult to her band. Roselia prides themselves on technical skills and refined playing and craftsmanship, while Afterglow is all about raw emotion and passion for the music itself. At the end of the day, Yukina says she'd like to say it was a victory for Roselia, but says that she can't, declaring it a draw, which Ran accepts, particularly as the lyrics of Roselia's song for the event suggest a desire to see Afterglow in general and Ran in particular show their passion to the world.
- Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight!:
- In the Tournament Arc, Luna Karn's round of sixteen opponent Umezawa Mayu returns as a ring judge, and Luna takes a moment to apologize for the rather humiliating way she won their match (she got into Mayu's blind spot and repeatedly kicked her in the head until Aira threw in the towel for her). Mayu assures her there's no hard feelings.
- Nosaka Nagisa is very gracious to her qualifying round opponent Eve Ogundipe after beating her, remarking after the Nigerian regains consciousness that had this been a dambé match, she would have been disqualified for striking with her left hand. Eve laughs and retorts that she would have been disqualified in a sumo match for striking with a closed fist, so they're even, and embraces her.
- Chihayafuru:
- When Chihaya defeats a young girl named Ririka, who others were earlier comparing to reigning queen Shinobu Wakamiya, Ririka starts crying. Chihaya actually starts to cry with her, a fact that is not lost on Ririka's mother. And when people begin whispering that maybe Ririka isn't the prodigy everyone thought she was, which Chihaya, with her Super-Hearing. heard just as well as Ririka did, Chihaya bursts out of the room shouting out, "Give me chocolate!" This has the effect of people changing their thinking from "Ririka's not a prodigy" to, "Oh, her opponent was a weirdo."
- When Tsutomu and Kanade face off against each other in a serious match for the first time, Kanade manages to defeat Tsutomu after a difficult match. She gives the customary bow at the end of the match, saying, "Thank you very much." But she does not rise immediately, and Tsutomu notices that she's actually shedding tears from a combination of the adrenaline wearing off and feeling bad for having beaten her friend. Tsutomu, however, is not upset at his loss and thanks her with a genuine smile on his face. Chihaya is delighted to inform them later that since they finished in first and second place respectively, they both ranked up from D to C-class.
- When Shinobu Wakamiya, the current queen of karuta defeats former queen Inokuma, she asks the other woman to count the cards, an act typically reserved for the winner, saying, "The cards like you, too. That's why they let you take so many of them."
- Arata hands Shinobu her first loss in the series during the national tournament. However, after he defeats her, he notes that she has the beginning of a cold from being caught in the rain the day before, and notes she was wearing cooling gear, and tells her that despite her illness, she played amazingly (she lost by a mere two cards).
- Arata defeats Nishida during the individual tournament the day after team matches. Nishida is about to break down, and the last time he lost to Arata, years before, he'd walked away from the game. But Arata sincerely asks Nishida if all of his team are as amazing as he is. "You played five matches yesterday, and you're still giving it your all."
- Dragon Ball: Invoked by Jackie Chun when he defeats Son Goku in the Wild Martial Arts Tournament, noting that he'd been driven to the brink by Goku's skill and strength, as well as his monstrous adaptability. He points out the only reason he won was because when both of them were exhausted and so only had one more blow in them, his legs were longer and so he was able to inflict just enough damage that Goku went down before he did. For his part, Goku is far from despondent over his defeat, instead being thrilled that there are fighters equal to his own master Muten Roshi out in the world.
- My Hero Academia:
- Izuku Midoriya, befitting his status as an All-Loving Hero, is always respectful to his opponents, as shown by his match against Hitoshi Shinso where he empathizes with the latter's desire to prove his Quirk can be used to help before rather than being fit for a villain, and encourages him to keep working towards his dream.
- Deconstructed with Fumikage Tokoyami in his Sports Festival match against Momo Yaoyorozu. Not wanting to brutalize his opponent, Tokoyami takes advantage of the fact the tournament rules prevent activating one's Quirk before the match has officially startednote to deliver a Ring Out before she can even start fighting, and then bows to her before leaving the arena. All this does, however, is make Yaoyorozu look completely incompetent to the audience (including the pro heroes scouting for talent) after having been introduced as a Recommendation Studentnote , as well as sending her into a months-long Heroic BSoD due to her swift defeat leading her to see herself as useless.
- My Love Story!!: When Takeo is asked to take part in a judo match against his school's rival, Bianca High, he is faced off against a former acquaintance of his, a wrestler named Kimiyoshi. Kimiyoshi engages in a good deal of smack talk, such as calling Takeo weak for having a girlfriend. Takeo simply quietly muses to himself what it means to be "strong". And when Takeo does defeat Kimiyoshi, he offers his opponent his hand to help him stand, then when he sees Kimiyoshi on the verge of tears, he puts a comforting hand on Kimiyoshi's shoulder.
Comic Books
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): In the "Champions" arc, Sonic is shown to defeat Segata Sanshiro. Segata is shown to be a Graceful Loser, declaring there is no shame in losing to someone like Sonic, and the hedgehog bows to his opponent in respect, telling Segata he fought pretty well.
Fan Works
- Blood Sisters opens with Dyson learning that Bo is his imprint, which swiftly leads to him going after Bo and the two reaffirming their relationship. In the sequel, Blood Feud, when Dyson first meets Lauren after he returns from Forks, he's careful to avoid bringing up Bo until Lauren asks about her and simply suggests that Bo would be willing to talk to the doctor, Dyson not wanting to give the impression that he's gloating about the fact that Bo chose him.
- In I Shall See Again the World, to reinforce that they mean no harm to any mages who can honestly swear the Wolf's required oath of non-monstrousness, Istredd makes a point of admiring Perignon's scrying crystal and suggesting that Yennefer would appreciate a collegial discussion with him about it.
- In Tootsie Turns Two, when Fudge plays Pin the Tail on the Donkey in the fourth chapter, "A Tail of Two Kiddies", Anne reminds him not to boast if he wins. Fudge manages to place his tail on the donkey's rear perfectly, and even though he wants to boast, he remembers what Anne said about being a good sport, so he merely says "Thank you." when everyone cheers for him.
- In A Young Girl's Game of Thrones, Myrcella is careful to return potential hostages whom she could have kept, and offer generous terms of peace in advance of battle, even if she doesn't think that they'll be accepted — because if her armies lose, she hopes that her opponents will be satisfied with the win and not demand her head. On occasions where she does win, she shows that she doesn't hold grudges, such as acknowledging the sincerity and honor of her opponents in the Trial of Seven.
Film — Live-Action
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: In the intro scene, a young Indiana Jones manages to get back home with the Cross of Coronado, only for the group of graverobbers to tell the local sheriff that he stole it from them and make him give it back. Garth, one of the leaders of the group who admired Indy's impressive feats during the chase, sympathizes with Indy's disappointment at this, encourages Indy with what amounts to a dare to do better in the future, and, as a consolation prize, hands over a fedora that Indy would wear for the rest of his life.
Garth: You lost today, kid, but that doesn't mean you have to like it.
- The Seventh Seal: Death is entirely amiable during his chess match with Antonius Block. Even after winning, he grants Block one last extension, allowing him to return home and see his wife for the first time in years.
Death: Was your reprieve of some use?
Block: Yes, it was.
Death: I'm glad. I'll be leaving you now.
Literature
- In Little Lord Fauntleroy, when Cedric wins a race, he takes care to comfort Billy, the boy who lost, and make it seem that Cedric himself only won because his legs are slightly longer and he's three days older. This, as well as Cedric's easygoing nature in general, cheers Billy up.
- Reign of the Seven Spellblades: In keeping with his generally courteous nature, Oliver is always a graceful winner when he can afford to be. In volume 7, after feeling his way through Jasmine Ames's illusion magic and taking her down with a blow to the neck, she congratulates him, and he replies she was a Worthy Opponent and he can feel proud of himself for figuring out and beating her trick.
- Saintess Summons Skeletons: If Ezerid had taken the fourth trial at any other time, he likely would have taken first place in most or all of the events, winning all the gold stars and being able to buy one of the unique Tournament Master items. But because he's head to head against Sofia, he instead takes a lot of second place finishes. When they meet in the final duelling tournament, she's apologetic for spoiling his chances, and encourages him to still try to beat her anyway. Once she beats the grand finale and wins the Ultimate Star Pin, she uses it to give him the Tournament Master item that she knew he particularly wanted.
- Virgin Knight: I Became the Frontier Lord in a World Ruled by Women: In the Backstory, Faust beheaded Lord Reckenbell, Knight Captain of Villendorf, in a battlefield duel, and then returned her head to Villendorf in a show of respect.
"She was a powerful opponent. I shall never forget my duel with her."
Live-Action TV
- Leverage: Invoked and exploited in the "The San Lorenzo Job", when Sophie explains to the presidential candidate Vittori that human psychology makes it very hard not to trust a hand extended by a winner. At the climax of the episode, after Vittori wins the election and his "fiancée" (Sophie) is shot by (ostensibly) the outgoing regime's security service, Vittori makes a passionate plea for national reconciliation and, remembering Sophie's lesson, extends a hand to the anonymous security officer sent to arrest him. Reading the room, the officers return the handshake, thus aligning the security service behind Vittori against the outgoing dictator Ribera.
Video Games
- Final Fantasy XIV:
- The Level 70 Blue Mage quests end with a climactic battle between the Warrior of Light and the Golden Goliath that ends in the latter's defeat and the Fukumen Fighting Festival being absorbed into the Masked Carnivale. But the Warrior does not gloat about their victory and encourages Gogo to wander the world to improve his skills while agreeing to a rematch when he's ready.
- The climax of the Shadowbringers main story is a final battle between the Warrior of Light and Emet-Selch, both of whom stake everything for the sake of the people they love. In the end, Emet-Selch is defeated, with him taking his death and defeat with grace, only asking the Warrior to remember that his people once lived. The Warrior agrees as Emet-Selch's body fades into the aether, and they do their best to keep that promise throughout the rest of the story.
- In Honkai: Star Rail, the Luminary Wardance plotline ends with a final clash between Yanqing and Luka in hand-to-hand combat. Their battle ends with Luka collapsing in the Grand Finals of the competition. But Yanqing refuses to let Luka lie on the ground and helps him to his feet and raises his fist in the air in the air in triumph. Yanqing then says that win or lose, Luka wasn't "defeated" because he made a huge impact on all of the spectators, all of whom are cheering the boxer's name.
- Tekken 5: King becomes this after Marduk concedes that King's beaten him. He helps Marduk to his feet, and this act triggers Marduk's Heel–Face Turn, leading to the two of them becoming friends and wrestling partners.
Western Animation
- Ben 10: Ultimate Alien: In "Hero Time", Ben Tennyson competes against another superhero, Captain Nemesis, in three games for a charity event. After they both win one, Ben wins the final game, a tug-of-war. Ben then tells Nemesis that he put up a great fight and holds out his hand to help Nemesis up, but Nemesis gets up on his own.
- In Jem two-parter "Hollywood Jem", Jem finds herself nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for "Starbright" and competes with—and ultimately loses to—a seasoned actress named Geraldine Pathos. Upon winning, she publicly and earnestly apologizes to Jem for her earlier comments where she accused her of being a fluff actress with no real drive (not knowing that Jem took the role to gain the money to get an eyesight-saving surgery for one of the Starlight girls).