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* ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'': Towards the end of "Stormy Weather", it's revealed that Mirielle only won the weathergirl contest because Alec rigged the vote. Mirielle is ''not'' happy to learn this, and tweets about it to get Aurore's fans calling the station for justice.
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see also Ordered To Cheat
Changed line(s) 11,12 (click to see context) from:
See also UnwantedAssistance, which is what honorable characters are likely to think of this form of help.
to:
See also UnwantedAssistance, which is what honorable characters are likely to think of this form of help.
help; and OrderedToCheat, for a different way in which honorable characters can end up playing dirty.
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None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
When it comes to success, many people would rather lose fairly than resort to cheating to win. Unfortunately, just because someone is unwilling to cheat doesn't mean that others aren't willing to "help" them by secretly cheating on their behalf. Most people who realize that they unknowingly cheated will often become infuriated at their "helper" either out of a sense of honor or because they find it insulting that someone think they need to cheat to win.
to:
When it comes to success, many people would rather lose fairly than resort to cheating to win. Unfortunately, just because someone is unwilling to cheat doesn't mean that others aren't willing to "help" them by secretly cheating on their behalf. Most people who realize that they unknowingly cheated will often become infuriated at their "helper" either out of a sense of honor or because they find it insulting that someone think thinks they need to cheat to win.
Changed line(s) 5,8 (click to see context) from:
Another area this trope can show up with is in schoolwork, with the cheating taking the form of secretly bumping up the student's grades. This might be a result of a student's parents secretly paying or blackmailing the school or a result of teacher's playing favorites with a particular student.
The motivations behind this trope can vary; perhaps the cheater is a friend or family of the person their trying to assist. Other times the cheater has some kind of personal gain from it, such as winning a bet.
The motivations behind this trope can vary; perhaps the cheater is a friend or family of the person their trying to assist. Other times the cheater has some kind of personal gain from it, such as winning a bet.
to:
Another area this trope can show up with is in schoolwork, with the cheating taking the form of secretly bumping up the student's grades. This might be a result of a student's parents secretly paying or blackmailing the school or a result of a teacher's playing favorites with a particular student.
The motivations behind this trope can vary; perhaps the cheater is a friend or family of the persontheir they are trying to assist. Other times the cheater has some kind of personal gain from it, such as winning a bet.
The motivations behind this trope can vary; perhaps the cheater is a friend or family of the person
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': In the final round of the Scare Games, which involves scaring a prop of a human child, Mike appears to made a perfect scare to win the round for Oozma Kappa. However, after the victory, he finds out that Sulley, who performed his scare beforehand, had secretly rigged the prop to be easily scared by anything just before Mike came in. This leads to Mike getting very upset at Sulley for undermining his success, and eventually, them getting caught and expelled for Sulley's cheating.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': In the final round of the Scare Games, which involves scaring a prop of a human child, Mike appears to made be making a perfect scare to win the round for Oozma Kappa. However, after the victory, he finds out that Sulley, who performed his scare beforehand, had secretly rigged the prop to be easily scared by anything just before Mike came in. This leads to Mike getting very upset at Sulley for undermining his success, and eventually, them getting caught and expelled for Sulley's cheating.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeputyDawgShow'': When the county sheriff suspects that Deputy Dawg is unfit for duty, he arranges to have DD undergo police academy trials. Muskrat and Mole fear that if Deputy Dawg gets replaced, they'll have have a much harder time hoodwinking the replacement. The devious pair covertly aid the deputy, including punching "bullet" holes in a stationary target on the firing range (Deputy Dog missed the target completely). The Sheriff is convinced that Deputy Dawg is competent and capable, and leaves him be.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeputyDawgShow'': When the county sheriff suspects that Deputy Dawg is unfit for duty, he arranges to have DD undergo police academy trials. Muskrat and Mole fear that if Deputy Dawg gets replaced, they'll have have a much harder time hoodwinking the replacement. The devious pair covertly aid the deputy, including punching "bullet" holes in a stationary target on the firing range (Deputy Dog missed the target completely). The Sheriff is convinced that Deputy Dawg is competent and capable, and leaves him be.
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* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Wheel and Deal", Lana enters in a go-kart race, but her go-kart is slow, so her brother Lincoln and his friends try to cheat for her -- first, Rusty makes a detour to redirect the opposing go-karts, then Zach and Liam let pigs loose that get mud on the track, and finally, Stella uses drones to push Lana's go-kart. Unfortunately, Lana finds out and gets mad at Lincoln and his friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Top Bolt", Twilight and Rainbow Dash are sent to the Wonderbolt's Academy to fix a friendship problem. This problem turns out to be that one naturally talented flier, Vapor Trail, has been secretly boosting the flight of her best friend, Sky Stinger, since both of them were children. As a result, Sky Stinger has become convinced of his own abilities and arrogantly insists that he'll definitely become a wonderbolt, while Vapor Trail hides in the background and won't admit to her own abilities. When the truth finally comes out, Sky is hurt and prideful, and tries to prove he doesn't need her. By the end, though, both of them are back on good terms and training as equals.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Top Bolt", Twilight and Rainbow Dash are sent to the Wonderbolt's Academy to fix a friendship problem. This problem turns out to be that one naturally talented flier, Vapor Trail, has been secretly boosting the flight of her best friend, Sky Stinger, since both of them were children. As a result, Sky Stinger has become convinced of his own abilities and arrogantly insists that he'll definitely become a wonderbolt, while Vapor Trail hides in the background and won't admit to her own abilities. When the truth finally comes out, Sky is hurt and prideful, and tries to prove he doesn't need her. By the end, though, both of them are back on good terms and training as equals.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Wheel and Deal", Lana enters in a go-kart race, but her go-kart is slow, so her brother Lincoln and his friends try to cheat for her -- first, Rusty makes a detour to redirect the opposing go-karts, then Zach and Liam let pigs loose that get mud on the track, and finally, Stella uses drones to push Lana's go-kart. Unfortunately, Lana finds out and gets mad at Lincoln and his friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Top Bolt", Twilight and Rainbow Dash are sent to the Wonderbolt's Academy to fix a friendship problem. This problem turns out to be that one naturally talented flier, Vapor Trail, has been secretly boosting the flight of her best friend, SkyStinger, Stinger since both of them were children. As a result, Sky Stinger has become convinced of his own abilities and arrogantly insists that he'll definitely become a wonderbolt, while Vapor Trail hides in the background and won't admit to her own abilities. When the truth finally comes out, Sky is hurt and prideful, and tries to prove he doesn't need her. By the end, though, both of them are back on good terms and training as equals.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Top Bolt", Twilight and Rainbow Dash are sent to the Wonderbolt's Academy to fix a friendship problem. This problem turns out to be that one naturally talented flier, Vapor Trail, has been secretly boosting the flight of her best friend, Sky
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* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "Boating School" has Patrick helping [=SpongeBob=] cheat ''by complete accident''; in order to help [[DrivesLikeCrazy SpongeBob]] pass his driving test, he decides to stick a walkie talkie in his brain and secretly give him instructions. When Mrs. Puff [[JokeAndReceive jokes that [=SpongeBob=] probably has a radio in his brain with someone giving him instructions]], Mrs. Puff also adds that it would be cheating. When [=SpongeBob=] realizes this, he's extremely guilt ridden and immediately confesses, with Patrick freaking out, under the realization that he helped his BestFriend cheat.
to:
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "Boating School" has Patrick helping [=SpongeBob=] cheat ''by complete accident''; in order to help [[DrivesLikeCrazy SpongeBob]] pass his driving test, he decides to stick a walkie talkie walkie-talkie in his brain and secretly give him instructions. When Mrs. Puff [[JokeAndReceive jokes that [=SpongeBob=] probably has a radio in his brain with someone giving him instructions]], Mrs. Puff also adds that it would be cheating. When [=SpongeBob=] realizes this, he's extremely guilt ridden guilt-ridden and immediately confesses, with Patrick freaking out, under the realization that he helped his BestFriend cheat.
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'''Indices'''
* ADishonorableIndex
* TheseTropesShouldHelp
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Created from YKTTW
Added DiffLines:
When it comes to success, many people would rather lose fairly than resort to cheating to win. Unfortunately, just because someone is unwilling to cheat doesn't mean that others aren't willing to "help" them by secretly cheating on their behalf. Most people who realize that they unknowingly cheated will often become infuriated at their "helper" either out of a sense of honor or because they find it insulting that someone think they need to cheat to win.
The most common way this trope expresses itself is via competition, with the "helper" trying to give the person they're assisting an unfair advantage either by sabotaging the competition and/or giving the person they're trying to help an unfair advantage. They might try to get the other party [[DisqualificationInducedVictory disqualified in order to get the side their helping a victory by default]]. Another way to cheat is to bribe, {{blackmail}}, or sleep with the judges, referees, and even the competition in order to ensure the side they're trying to help wins.
Another area this trope can show up with is in schoolwork, with the cheating taking the form of secretly bumping up the student's grades. This might be a result of a student's parents secretly paying or blackmailing the school or a result of teacher's playing favorites with a particular student.
The motivations behind this trope can vary; perhaps the cheater is a friend or family of the person their trying to assist. Other times the cheater has some kind of personal gain from it, such as winning a bet.
Most of the time, the person who was "helped" won't take it well to find out that someone helped them cheat. If the unwilling cheater is in a competition, they might either surrender, demand a rematch, or handicap themselves to make it up to their competitor. In school settings it's not uncommon for a student who believes themselves to be a genius, to not take it well when their amazing grades weren't actually deserved.
See also UnwantedAssistance, which is what honorable characters are likely to think of this form of help.
Not to be confused with AccidentalAdultery, which is a different kind of cheating.
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': During Tenshinhan's fight with Goku in the World Martial Arts Tournament, [[EvilMentor Master Shen]] secretly orders Chiaotzu to use his PsychicPowers to paralyze Goku. As soon as Tenshinhan finds out what's going on, he tells Chiaotzu to free Goku, as he has too much pride as a martial artist to cheat. Tenshinhan's honor is so great, he actually gives Goku some free hits as compensation.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': In Season 4, [[FillerVillain Ziegfried von Schroeder]] gives his brother Leon an illegal card before his duel with Yugi, with Leon being unaware that it's illegal. To make matters worse, Ziegfried secretly implanted a [[ComputerVirus virus]] in the card that will delete files from [=KaibaCorp's=] servers. As soon as he finds out, Leon tries to surrender, but unfortunately, Ziegfried programmed the card so that the virus could only be deleted if the card is destroyed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AfterTheJungleSeries'': In ''The Spelling Bee II'', Bob tries to help his grandson Andy win the spelling bee by bribing Kiara into taking a dive, [[HistoryRepeats just like did with Helga years ago at her spelling bee]]. Bob's family alongside Kiara's isn't pleased that he had so little faith in his grandson, and are even more disappointed in him when they learn that he almost did the same thing with his daughter Olga and her children at previous spelling bees, but either changed his mind (with Olga) or didn't have the opportunity (as with Olga's children).
* In the ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' fanfiction ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6077073/1/ The Hero's Brother]]'', Jin is an incompetent ninja who is seen by both himself and by others as a prodigy because of his high test scores; said scores are a result of his father Minato using his power as Hokage to secretly switch Jin's actual scores with Jin's [[TheUnfavorite less favored brother]] Naruto's.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': In the final round of the Scare Games, which involves scaring a prop of a human child, Mike appears to made a perfect scare to win the round for Oozma Kappa. However, after the victory, he finds out that Sulley, who performed his scare beforehand, had secretly rigged the prop to be easily scared by anything just before Mike came in. This leads to Mike getting very upset at Sulley for undermining his success, and eventually, them getting caught and expelled for Sulley's cheating.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/AmericanPie'': In ''Band Camp'', after [[TheProtagonist Matt Stifler]] gets found out to have been filming all his female classmates for a "Bandeez Gone Wild" video and is effectively shunned from the team, he decides to spike top rival school Beachwood's drink barrel with ipecac before their final performance to ensure East Great Falls wins the competition and finally end Beachwood's winning streak. However, two East Great students see Beachwood got the orange drink and swap the lids, meaning [=THEY=] drink the ipecac, and when they go to perform, end up throwing up in front of everyone, which costs them their last chance to finally win and possibly costing Elyse her chance at a scholarship, and meaning they have to go the rest of their lives having never won band camp, which will hang over their heads for all eternity no matter how successful they become.
* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/Daredevil2003''. Matt's dad Jack decides to quit the mob and resume his professional boxing career after Matt's accident. His comeback appears to be going well... until it turns out that his old boss Kingpin has been rigging all his matches in his favor. Kingpin then has Jack killed after he disobeys an order to throw his next match.
* ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'': When Alex Owens gets accepted into the Pittsburgh Repertoire, she phones Nick with the news. They go out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate, and Alex remarks how the staff seemed extra nice to them. But when Nick mentions that he'd phoned ahead that it'd be a celebratory dinner, Alex darkens. How would Nick know they'd be celebrating Alex's acceptance, unless... "Friends on the Conservatory, Nick?" she wails, then throws a complete tantrum. Alex believes she hasn't earned a spot in the dance company, rather her wealthy boyfriend has shoehorned her in.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'': After the third task of the Triwizard tournament, [[spoiler: Mad-Eye Moody reveals in detail how he helped Harry all along, and then it is revealed that he is not Mad-Eye Moody at all, but Barty Crouch junior in disguise, who had very different motives for "helping" Harry to win]]. Throughout the book, Ludo Bagman also keeps trying to help Harry win, and at the end, it is revealed that Ludo had placed a very big bet with the goblins on Harry winning the tournament.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Ron tries out as keeper on the Quidditch team at the same time as Cormac [=McClaggen=], an arrogant JerkJock. In order to ensure Ron gets on the team instead of Cormac, Hermione secretly sabotages Cormac with a Confundus Charm to make him play worse, allowing Ron to get more saves and thus become keeper. This doesn't help Ron much though, as until he's placebo'd into playing well, he struggled a lot as keeper and didn't trust in his own abilities.
* ''Literature/XWingSeries'': Atton Repness is an instructor for pilot trainees on the verge of washing out. Under his tutelage, many of them bring their scores up into an acceptable range. However, as Tyria discovered, that's because he's tampering with their records, inflating the scores of trainees who would otherwise have flunked by now -- in order to give himself {{blackmail}} material to drag them into his criminal ring.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AvataroSentaiDonbrothers'': #20 sees Jiro taking over as TheLeader of the team and Taro stepping down, publicly advertising the team as "The Dragonfires." Despite various mishaps, the team performs numerous good deeds and let the fame go to their heads. When they dismiss their obligations to deal with a Hitotsu-Ki attacking Taro in favor of accepting an award, Kaito has enough and reveals that Taro had secretly been aiding them the entire time. [[JerkassRealization Most of the team realizes that they've been jerks and rush off to assist]]. Jiro (who was already envious of Taro) however has a MentalBreakdown and is overtaken by his hostile SplitPersonality.
* ''Series/BlueBloods'': The NYPD families have an annual soapbox car race with FDNY families as part of their InterserviceRivalry. On the eve of the race, Frank catches Henry rigging Danny's kids' car to roll faster, and orders him to undo what he's done despite [[AppealToTradition Henry's protests that it's traditional]]. The result is that the FDNY kids win the race for the first time in ages.
* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'': Season 4 sees time travel shenanigans result in major changes to the main characters' lives. Among the most prominent is Allison's son Kevin, who is autistic and barely communicative in the prime timeline but an ordinary, if brilliant, teenage boy in the new one. Allison is thrilled that she can now bond with her son, but the last thing any teenager wants is [[MyBelovedSmother his mother butting in on his business]]. This comes to a head in "The Story of O2," when chaos is caused by Kevin apparently cheating in the annual rocket competition by tampering with his fuel, only for Allison to come forward and admit it was her; Kevin's rocket wasn't working and she wanted to help.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** Early in Season 1, Mara tries to help Mick with his grades, but is unable to help him study thanks to Amber's jealousy. So, during a test, she secretly has two sheets and filled out one for Mick, throwing away the one he did and replacing it with her own. This gets Mick an A+ for the first time ever, but Mara gets blackmailed by Jerome over it and when the truth eventually comes out, Mick is outraged. He complains that he could be kicked out for this and goes to admit to cheating, but Mara explains that she was the one who cheated... Something their teacher already knew, and had just been waiting for an admission about.
** Later in Season 1, Mara is running for class representative against Amber, who has a bigger advantage due to Jerome's scheming and her popularity. Mara is stuck with only having two real supporters, Mick and Patricia, and Mick wants to ensure she wins, so he fixes a deal with the nerdy vote counter, Robbie -- if he fills the voting box with Mara slips, Mick will get him a date with Patricia. Mara wins and it seems as though Mick's scheme worked, but after he's caught and Mara goes to try and set things right, Robbie points out that he never actually had a chance to rig the vote, meaning Mara did win legitimately. She's still angry at Mick for it, though.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
** Wide Gulley is horrified to learn that records at the Miners' Guild are being tampered with to inflate his achievements. He starts pushing himself in hopes of BecomingTheBoast, but fails to complete an order for electrum ore on time. He begs you to help him and later confronts [[spoiler:his own father]] over this tampering.
** Late in the ''Stormblood'' Paladin quests, the Warrior of Light's scheduled match against the mysterious "Black Lotus" is interrupted by news of Black Lotus' sudden withdrawal from the tournament. The Warrior and Mylla are dissatisfied with this result and track down the missing gladiator, who turns out to be the ParentalSubstitute of a war orphan he'd taken under his wing before the tournament. Said boy is being held hostage by a group of match-fixers who have everything to gain from having Black Lotus, better known as [[spoiler:Aldis]], lose his match.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** ''VisualNovel/GyakutenKenji2'': [[spoiler:Sebastian Debeste is an incompetent prosecutor who [[SmallNameBigEgo delusionally believes himself to be a genius]] because he got top scores and various awards in law school. His father [[AmoralAttorney Blaise]] reveals to his face that his grades and awards were a result of Blaise [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections using his connections]] rather than Sebastian's own intelligence, which causes [[BreakTheCutie Sebastian to run off in tears]]]].
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'': [[spoiler:Hugh O'Connor is a seemingly brilliant student whose good grades are a result of his parents secretly bribing the teachers; when Hugh discovered this, he [[CallingTheOldManOut chewed them out]]]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder (1998)'': In "Scoop and Travis' Race Day", Scoop challenges Travis to a race to see who's the fastest vehicle in Bobsville. To ensure that Travis wins the race, Spud sets up a cardboard brick wall, a traffic light, and two road barriers to slow Scoop down, with neither Scoop nor Travis being aware of Spud's plan. When Scoop manages to win the race anyway, an outraged Spud drops his bag of things that slowed Scoop down. Travis is disappointed in Spud, saying those things aren't the kind of help he wanted.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': In "The Chips Are Down", Yumi's family considers moving back to Japan after her father loses his job. Desperate not to lose his friend, Ulrich writes down the winning numbers of the lottery, uses the gang's Super Computer to TimeTravel back to the previous day, and gives a winning ticket to Yumi's parents. However, Yumi is able to quickly figure out what he did, so she convinces the other heroes to temporarily kick Ulrich out of the group as punishment for using the Super Computer for selfish purposes.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeputyDawgShow'': When the county sheriff suspects that Deputy Dawg is unfit for duty, he arranges to have DD undergo police academy trials. Muskrat and Mole fear that if Deputy Dawg gets replaced, they'll have have a much harder time hoodwinking the replacement. The devious pair covertly aid the deputy, including punching "bullet" holes in a stationary target on the firing range (Deputy Dog missed the target completely). The Sheriff is convinced that Deputy Dawg is competent and capable, and leaves him be.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Foul Balled", Chester is ostracized because his father is considered the worst baseball player to have ever existed. Sympathizing with his friend, Timmy uses his godparents' magic to greatly improve Chester's playing skills, enabling him to clear his family name. However, Chester grows a massive ego and declares he is no longer Timmy's friend, which cancels out the magic in the middle of a big game, ultimately causing his reputation to sink once again.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "Ready, Willing, and Disabled", Peter secretly spikes Joe's drink with steroids to help him win the paralympic games. However, growing jealous of his friend's newfound success and fortune, Peter reveals they cheated in the middle of a conference, disgracing Joe.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': In "Wrath of the Spider Queen", Grim, Velma and Boogey compete in an election to become the embodiment of death. Boogey stuffs the ballot box with votes for himself, but is caught by Grim, who scares him away and begins to fill the box with his own fake election papers. Unfortunately, Velma walks in and, heartbroken from seeing her friend cheating, runs off crying. Years later, Velma peeps into Grim's memories and finds out he was actually trying to rig the votes to ensure ''her'' victory.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In the episode "Spelling Bee" Bob promised to give every customer one free beeper if his daughter Helga loses at the spelling bee. In order to keep from having to hold up his end of the bargain, he secretly tries to bribe Arnold with five hundred dollars (which is the prize for winning the spelling bee), but he refuses. Unfortunately for Bob, Helga saw him, and decides to throw the match out of spite for not believing in her.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Wheel and Deal", Lana enters in a go-kart race, but her go-kart is slow, so her brother Lincoln and his friends try to cheat for her -- first, Rusty makes a detour to redirect the opposing go-karts, then Zach and Liam let pigs loose that get mud on the track, and finally, Stella uses drones to push Lana's go-kart. Unfortunately, Lana finds out and gets mad at Lincoln and his friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Top Bolt", Twilight and Rainbow Dash are sent to the Wonderbolt's Academy to fix a friendship problem. This problem turns out to be that one naturally talented flier, Vapor Trail, has been secretly boosting the flight of her best friend, Sky Stinger, since both of them were children. As a result, Sky Stinger has become convinced of his own abilities and arrogantly insists that he'll definitely become a wonderbolt, while Vapor Trail hides in the background and won't admit to her own abilities. When the truth finally comes out, Sky is hurt and prideful, and tries to prove he doesn't need her. By the end, though, both of them are back on good terms and training as equals.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E5Covention Covention]]", Lilith helps Amity cheat in a duel by giving her a power boosting charm without her knowledge. When Luz catches sight of this, Amity leaves in shame, questioning how it would impact her future.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' has Vince get into a slump after he loses a game of kickball. Gretchen and the others decide they need to get Vince's confidence back - the plan is Vince will kick a fake lightweight ball in a game of kickball, which will launch into the air much easier than a normal kickball. The trope is subverted - Vince successfully kicks a kickball into the air, only for the others to learn afterwards that Vince kicked a regular kickball after all because the fake ball was confiscated by Miss Finster.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "Boating School" has Patrick helping [=SpongeBob=] cheat ''by complete accident''; in order to help [[DrivesLikeCrazy SpongeBob]] pass his driving test, he decides to stick a walkie talkie in his brain and secretly give him instructions. When Mrs. Puff [[JokeAndReceive jokes that [=SpongeBob=] probably has a radio in his brain with someone giving him instructions]], Mrs. Puff also adds that it would be cheating. When [=SpongeBob=] realizes this, he's extremely guilt ridden and immediately confesses, with Patrick freaking out, under the realization that he helped his BestFriend cheat.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaAction'', Trent becomes jealous when his girlfriend Gwen, who is on the opposing team this season, starts hanging out with Duncan, so he starts throwing challenges to make her team win in order to impress her. When Gwen finds out, she dumps Trent and convinces his teammates to vote him off. Even worse is that said teammates [[MisplacedRetribution think she was in on it, despite having no knowledge of what Trent was doing]], and make her get herself eliminated in the next challenge to make up for it.
[[/folder]]
'''Indices'''
* ADishonorableIndex
* TheseTropesShouldHelp
The most common way this trope expresses itself is via competition, with the "helper" trying to give the person they're assisting an unfair advantage either by sabotaging the competition and/or giving the person they're trying to help an unfair advantage. They might try to get the other party [[DisqualificationInducedVictory disqualified in order to get the side their helping a victory by default]]. Another way to cheat is to bribe, {{blackmail}}, or sleep with the judges, referees, and even the competition in order to ensure the side they're trying to help wins.
Another area this trope can show up with is in schoolwork, with the cheating taking the form of secretly bumping up the student's grades. This might be a result of a student's parents secretly paying or blackmailing the school or a result of teacher's playing favorites with a particular student.
The motivations behind this trope can vary; perhaps the cheater is a friend or family of the person their trying to assist. Other times the cheater has some kind of personal gain from it, such as winning a bet.
Most of the time, the person who was "helped" won't take it well to find out that someone helped them cheat. If the unwilling cheater is in a competition, they might either surrender, demand a rematch, or handicap themselves to make it up to their competitor. In school settings it's not uncommon for a student who believes themselves to be a genius, to not take it well when their amazing grades weren't actually deserved.
See also UnwantedAssistance, which is what honorable characters are likely to think of this form of help.
Not to be confused with AccidentalAdultery, which is a different kind of cheating.
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/DragonBall'': During Tenshinhan's fight with Goku in the World Martial Arts Tournament, [[EvilMentor Master Shen]] secretly orders Chiaotzu to use his PsychicPowers to paralyze Goku. As soon as Tenshinhan finds out what's going on, he tells Chiaotzu to free Goku, as he has too much pride as a martial artist to cheat. Tenshinhan's honor is so great, he actually gives Goku some free hits as compensation.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': In Season 4, [[FillerVillain Ziegfried von Schroeder]] gives his brother Leon an illegal card before his duel with Yugi, with Leon being unaware that it's illegal. To make matters worse, Ziegfried secretly implanted a [[ComputerVirus virus]] in the card that will delete files from [=KaibaCorp's=] servers. As soon as he finds out, Leon tries to surrender, but unfortunately, Ziegfried programmed the card so that the virus could only be deleted if the card is destroyed.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Fanfic/AfterTheJungleSeries'': In ''The Spelling Bee II'', Bob tries to help his grandson Andy win the spelling bee by bribing Kiara into taking a dive, [[HistoryRepeats just like did with Helga years ago at her spelling bee]]. Bob's family alongside Kiara's isn't pleased that he had so little faith in his grandson, and are even more disappointed in him when they learn that he almost did the same thing with his daughter Olga and her children at previous spelling bees, but either changed his mind (with Olga) or didn't have the opportunity (as with Olga's children).
* In the ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'' fanfiction ''[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6077073/1/ The Hero's Brother]]'', Jin is an incompetent ninja who is seen by both himself and by others as a prodigy because of his high test scores; said scores are a result of his father Minato using his power as Hokage to secretly switch Jin's actual scores with Jin's [[TheUnfavorite less favored brother]] Naruto's.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'': In the final round of the Scare Games, which involves scaring a prop of a human child, Mike appears to made a perfect scare to win the round for Oozma Kappa. However, after the victory, he finds out that Sulley, who performed his scare beforehand, had secretly rigged the prop to be easily scared by anything just before Mike came in. This leads to Mike getting very upset at Sulley for undermining his success, and eventually, them getting caught and expelled for Sulley's cheating.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/AmericanPie'': In ''Band Camp'', after [[TheProtagonist Matt Stifler]] gets found out to have been filming all his female classmates for a "Bandeez Gone Wild" video and is effectively shunned from the team, he decides to spike top rival school Beachwood's drink barrel with ipecac before their final performance to ensure East Great Falls wins the competition and finally end Beachwood's winning streak. However, two East Great students see Beachwood got the orange drink and swap the lids, meaning [=THEY=] drink the ipecac, and when they go to perform, end up throwing up in front of everyone, which costs them their last chance to finally win and possibly costing Elyse her chance at a scholarship, and meaning they have to go the rest of their lives having never won band camp, which will hang over their heads for all eternity no matter how successful they become.
* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/Daredevil2003''. Matt's dad Jack decides to quit the mob and resume his professional boxing career after Matt's accident. His comeback appears to be going well... until it turns out that his old boss Kingpin has been rigging all his matches in his favor. Kingpin then has Jack killed after he disobeys an order to throw his next match.
* ''Film/{{Flashdance}}'': When Alex Owens gets accepted into the Pittsburgh Repertoire, she phones Nick with the news. They go out to a fancy restaurant to celebrate, and Alex remarks how the staff seemed extra nice to them. But when Nick mentions that he'd phoned ahead that it'd be a celebratory dinner, Alex darkens. How would Nick know they'd be celebrating Alex's acceptance, unless... "Friends on the Conservatory, Nick?" she wails, then throws a complete tantrum. Alex believes she hasn't earned a spot in the dance company, rather her wealthy boyfriend has shoehorned her in.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'': After the third task of the Triwizard tournament, [[spoiler: Mad-Eye Moody reveals in detail how he helped Harry all along, and then it is revealed that he is not Mad-Eye Moody at all, but Barty Crouch junior in disguise, who had very different motives for "helping" Harry to win]]. Throughout the book, Ludo Bagman also keeps trying to help Harry win, and at the end, it is revealed that Ludo had placed a very big bet with the goblins on Harry winning the tournament.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Ron tries out as keeper on the Quidditch team at the same time as Cormac [=McClaggen=], an arrogant JerkJock. In order to ensure Ron gets on the team instead of Cormac, Hermione secretly sabotages Cormac with a Confundus Charm to make him play worse, allowing Ron to get more saves and thus become keeper. This doesn't help Ron much though, as until he's placebo'd into playing well, he struggled a lot as keeper and didn't trust in his own abilities.
* ''Literature/XWingSeries'': Atton Repness is an instructor for pilot trainees on the verge of washing out. Under his tutelage, many of them bring their scores up into an acceptable range. However, as Tyria discovered, that's because he's tampering with their records, inflating the scores of trainees who would otherwise have flunked by now -- in order to give himself {{blackmail}} material to drag them into his criminal ring.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AvataroSentaiDonbrothers'': #20 sees Jiro taking over as TheLeader of the team and Taro stepping down, publicly advertising the team as "The Dragonfires." Despite various mishaps, the team performs numerous good deeds and let the fame go to their heads. When they dismiss their obligations to deal with a Hitotsu-Ki attacking Taro in favor of accepting an award, Kaito has enough and reveals that Taro had secretly been aiding them the entire time. [[JerkassRealization Most of the team realizes that they've been jerks and rush off to assist]]. Jiro (who was already envious of Taro) however has a MentalBreakdown and is overtaken by his hostile SplitPersonality.
* ''Series/BlueBloods'': The NYPD families have an annual soapbox car race with FDNY families as part of their InterserviceRivalry. On the eve of the race, Frank catches Henry rigging Danny's kids' car to roll faster, and orders him to undo what he's done despite [[AppealToTradition Henry's protests that it's traditional]]. The result is that the FDNY kids win the race for the first time in ages.
* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'': Season 4 sees time travel shenanigans result in major changes to the main characters' lives. Among the most prominent is Allison's son Kevin, who is autistic and barely communicative in the prime timeline but an ordinary, if brilliant, teenage boy in the new one. Allison is thrilled that she can now bond with her son, but the last thing any teenager wants is [[MyBelovedSmother his mother butting in on his business]]. This comes to a head in "The Story of O2," when chaos is caused by Kevin apparently cheating in the annual rocket competition by tampering with his fuel, only for Allison to come forward and admit it was her; Kevin's rocket wasn't working and she wanted to help.
* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'':
** Early in Season 1, Mara tries to help Mick with his grades, but is unable to help him study thanks to Amber's jealousy. So, during a test, she secretly has two sheets and filled out one for Mick, throwing away the one he did and replacing it with her own. This gets Mick an A+ for the first time ever, but Mara gets blackmailed by Jerome over it and when the truth eventually comes out, Mick is outraged. He complains that he could be kicked out for this and goes to admit to cheating, but Mara explains that she was the one who cheated... Something their teacher already knew, and had just been waiting for an admission about.
** Later in Season 1, Mara is running for class representative against Amber, who has a bigger advantage due to Jerome's scheming and her popularity. Mara is stuck with only having two real supporters, Mick and Patricia, and Mick wants to ensure she wins, so he fixes a deal with the nerdy vote counter, Robbie -- if he fills the voting box with Mara slips, Mick will get him a date with Patricia. Mara wins and it seems as though Mick's scheme worked, but after he's caught and Mara goes to try and set things right, Robbie points out that he never actually had a chance to rig the vote, meaning Mara did win legitimately. She's still angry at Mick for it, though.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'':
** Wide Gulley is horrified to learn that records at the Miners' Guild are being tampered with to inflate his achievements. He starts pushing himself in hopes of BecomingTheBoast, but fails to complete an order for electrum ore on time. He begs you to help him and later confronts [[spoiler:his own father]] over this tampering.
** Late in the ''Stormblood'' Paladin quests, the Warrior of Light's scheduled match against the mysterious "Black Lotus" is interrupted by news of Black Lotus' sudden withdrawal from the tournament. The Warrior and Mylla are dissatisfied with this result and track down the missing gladiator, who turns out to be the ParentalSubstitute of a war orphan he'd taken under his wing before the tournament. Said boy is being held hostage by a group of match-fixers who have everything to gain from having Black Lotus, better known as [[spoiler:Aldis]], lose his match.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
** ''VisualNovel/GyakutenKenji2'': [[spoiler:Sebastian Debeste is an incompetent prosecutor who [[SmallNameBigEgo delusionally believes himself to be a genius]] because he got top scores and various awards in law school. His father [[AmoralAttorney Blaise]] reveals to his face that his grades and awards were a result of Blaise [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections using his connections]] rather than Sebastian's own intelligence, which causes [[BreakTheCutie Sebastian to run off in tears]]]].
** ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'': [[spoiler:Hugh O'Connor is a seemingly brilliant student whose good grades are a result of his parents secretly bribing the teachers; when Hugh discovered this, he [[CallingTheOldManOut chewed them out]]]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BobTheBuilder (1998)'': In "Scoop and Travis' Race Day", Scoop challenges Travis to a race to see who's the fastest vehicle in Bobsville. To ensure that Travis wins the race, Spud sets up a cardboard brick wall, a traffic light, and two road barriers to slow Scoop down, with neither Scoop nor Travis being aware of Spud's plan. When Scoop manages to win the race anyway, an outraged Spud drops his bag of things that slowed Scoop down. Travis is disappointed in Spud, saying those things aren't the kind of help he wanted.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': In "The Chips Are Down", Yumi's family considers moving back to Japan after her father loses his job. Desperate not to lose his friend, Ulrich writes down the winning numbers of the lottery, uses the gang's Super Computer to TimeTravel back to the previous day, and gives a winning ticket to Yumi's parents. However, Yumi is able to quickly figure out what he did, so she convinces the other heroes to temporarily kick Ulrich out of the group as punishment for using the Super Computer for selfish purposes.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDeputyDawgShow'': When the county sheriff suspects that Deputy Dawg is unfit for duty, he arranges to have DD undergo police academy trials. Muskrat and Mole fear that if Deputy Dawg gets replaced, they'll have have a much harder time hoodwinking the replacement. The devious pair covertly aid the deputy, including punching "bullet" holes in a stationary target on the firing range (Deputy Dog missed the target completely). The Sheriff is convinced that Deputy Dawg is competent and capable, and leaves him be.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Foul Balled", Chester is ostracized because his father is considered the worst baseball player to have ever existed. Sympathizing with his friend, Timmy uses his godparents' magic to greatly improve Chester's playing skills, enabling him to clear his family name. However, Chester grows a massive ego and declares he is no longer Timmy's friend, which cancels out the magic in the middle of a big game, ultimately causing his reputation to sink once again.
* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "Ready, Willing, and Disabled", Peter secretly spikes Joe's drink with steroids to help him win the paralympic games. However, growing jealous of his friend's newfound success and fortune, Peter reveals they cheated in the middle of a conference, disgracing Joe.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': In "Wrath of the Spider Queen", Grim, Velma and Boogey compete in an election to become the embodiment of death. Boogey stuffs the ballot box with votes for himself, but is caught by Grim, who scares him away and begins to fill the box with his own fake election papers. Unfortunately, Velma walks in and, heartbroken from seeing her friend cheating, runs off crying. Years later, Velma peeps into Grim's memories and finds out he was actually trying to rig the votes to ensure ''her'' victory.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': In the episode "Spelling Bee" Bob promised to give every customer one free beeper if his daughter Helga loses at the spelling bee. In order to keep from having to hold up his end of the bargain, he secretly tries to bribe Arnold with five hundred dollars (which is the prize for winning the spelling bee), but he refuses. Unfortunately for Bob, Helga saw him, and decides to throw the match out of spite for not believing in her.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': In "Wheel and Deal", Lana enters in a go-kart race, but her go-kart is slow, so her brother Lincoln and his friends try to cheat for her -- first, Rusty makes a detour to redirect the opposing go-karts, then Zach and Liam let pigs loose that get mud on the track, and finally, Stella uses drones to push Lana's go-kart. Unfortunately, Lana finds out and gets mad at Lincoln and his friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In "Top Bolt", Twilight and Rainbow Dash are sent to the Wonderbolt's Academy to fix a friendship problem. This problem turns out to be that one naturally talented flier, Vapor Trail, has been secretly boosting the flight of her best friend, Sky Stinger, since both of them were children. As a result, Sky Stinger has become convinced of his own abilities and arrogantly insists that he'll definitely become a wonderbolt, while Vapor Trail hides in the background and won't admit to her own abilities. When the truth finally comes out, Sky is hurt and prideful, and tries to prove he doesn't need her. By the end, though, both of them are back on good terms and training as equals.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E5Covention Covention]]", Lilith helps Amity cheat in a duel by giving her a power boosting charm without her knowledge. When Luz catches sight of this, Amity leaves in shame, questioning how it would impact her future.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' has Vince get into a slump after he loses a game of kickball. Gretchen and the others decide they need to get Vince's confidence back - the plan is Vince will kick a fake lightweight ball in a game of kickball, which will launch into the air much easier than a normal kickball. The trope is subverted - Vince successfully kicks a kickball into the air, only for the others to learn afterwards that Vince kicked a regular kickball after all because the fake ball was confiscated by Miss Finster.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': The episode "Boating School" has Patrick helping [=SpongeBob=] cheat ''by complete accident''; in order to help [[DrivesLikeCrazy SpongeBob]] pass his driving test, he decides to stick a walkie talkie in his brain and secretly give him instructions. When Mrs. Puff [[JokeAndReceive jokes that [=SpongeBob=] probably has a radio in his brain with someone giving him instructions]], Mrs. Puff also adds that it would be cheating. When [=SpongeBob=] realizes this, he's extremely guilt ridden and immediately confesses, with Patrick freaking out, under the realization that he helped his BestFriend cheat.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaAction'', Trent becomes jealous when his girlfriend Gwen, who is on the opposing team this season, starts hanging out with Duncan, so he starts throwing challenges to make her team win in order to impress her. When Gwen finds out, she dumps Trent and convinces his teammates to vote him off. Even worse is that said teammates [[MisplacedRetribution think she was in on it, despite having no knowledge of what Trent was doing]], and make her get herself eliminated in the next challenge to make up for it.
[[/folder]]
'''Indices'''
* ADishonorableIndex
* TheseTropesShouldHelp
