Basic Information
I Coulda Been A Contender is what happens to a character when, just when he is about to embark on a very promising career, he is struck down by some sort of misfortune that makes him unable to continue with his chosen career path.
Memetically, it's also the complaint of those who never were a contender, but would like to think they were - typically the sort of cheap hired muscle that can expound at great detail about the shining career in sports/special forces/whatever that they nearly had, but also "fifth beetles" and similar alleged talent.
See Also
Sources
Game and Story Use
- This provides a good motivation for a player character - he once failed spectacularly at something he was aiming for, and now he is driven to prove that he isn't a loser.
- An NPC suffering from this might become a mentor for the PCs if they try to achieve what he once failed to do.