Human race and it's incessant love affair with the notion of the rise of the underdog is as old as civilization itself. For as long as a semblance of societal hierarchy has existed, the concept of the underdog has been romanticized in the minds of the people in the lower strata of the societal hierarchy. Humans are perhaps the only species that can feel a sense of achievement in the triumphs of others. The sheer thought of witnessing a low ranked team win (or even put up a close match) against a higher ranked team, watching a challenger win the title against the reigning champion, seeing the current government overthrown by a completely new regime...the list is endless.
The order of the society
For as long as the concept of civilization has existed, there has been the concept of a hierarchy that has existed alongside it. Castes, professions, economic sections, player/team rankings - it has been called by many names, but the core concept remains the same - there are those who are at the summit, there are those who are on the incline trying to reach the summit and there are those who are at the base and have either no desire or no hope of reaching the summit. That has been the order, the way of life. From the leader of a tribe, to the kshatriya and the Brahmins of Vedic period, to the kings in mediaeval times, to elected leaders of democratic nations, to the elite 1%, to the champions of a sport - there have always been people who are identified as the zenith of achievement in the society or a specific area; and then there are those who aspire to replace these groups or individuals at the top of the pyramid, and an indifferent mass of people who are too busy with the travails of survival to think of upward movement in the ecosystem.
The Cyclic nature of world order
Throughout history, there is a pattern to the overthrowing of the alpha by the challengers. It always follows the same modus operandi - the middle section, with the help of the lower strata, overthrow the upper class. The middle becomes the top, a new middle is formed while the bottom remains at the bottom more or less, except for some who move to the new middle. And then, after a period, the cycle repeats. This is true for society at large, political parties, democracies, economies, sports, even in office politics. Every Revolution or civil war the world has seen is an example of this; the entire concept of anti-incumbency stems from this fundamental truth of human nature - humans favor the challengers, not the rulers; and the human need to dethrone the rulers is insatiable.
Punching above weight
Think of a sport that you watch often, and imagine two teams or individuals (not your favourite ones, to avoid any bias), one ranked in the top 3 and the other ranked somewhere in the 30s (or an unseeded one), facing each other in a match. As s person with no bias for or against any of the participants, who would you be more likely to support? Exceptions apart, most of us would want in our heart that the team or individual with a lower rank would defeat the one ranked in the top 3. As humans, we romanticize the victories that defy odds; we want that the challenger who has worked his way to this match up via sheer hardwork and willpower should reap the fruits by emerging victorious against the one touted as one of the greats of the game, even though we have no apparent gain from the triumph. The same goes for economic classes - where we want people with regular middle class upbringing to break the glass ceiling and enter the elite 1%, or in politics, where we often vote for some new to oust the people in power. The churn of people is an undeniable favourite of masses, and it has to do with how we view ourselves. We are the middle layer, struggling to get to the top in some aspect or other. That makes it easy for us to relate to the underdog - because we are the underdog in some sense, in some aspect of life. Once that bind of relatability is forged, emotions soon follow and we find ourselves in the corner of Rocky trying to outlast Creed, of Switzerland trying to out-kick France, of Aam Admi trying to overthrow the incumbent - because we see a bit of us in them; we see the struggle and the spirit and the dedication which we ourselves are putting in somewhere else.
Kyunki...master bhi kabhi challenger tha (the master was once a challenger)
In all the emotions and the cheering for the underdog, there is an essential detail we often overlook - the master that we are now asking to be dethroned was once a challenger; it took all their spirit and willpower and dedication and prowess to become a master and they have been consistently putting in their 100% to stay there. Mass memory, of course, is goldfish-y, and the masses would not remember the moment when this master took its place at the top, they had been cheered on by the same masses that are now cheering against them. That is the reality we live in.
But cheer on!
No matter who your heart supports, the underdog or the alpha, the incumbent or the challenger, do cheer them on. The uniqueness of humanity lies in empathy, where one can affect the energy levels of someone else by merely a few acts of encouragement. There will be days when probably you would be an underdog and you just might gave people in your corner, people you have never known even, cheering you on, and that can be the difference between winning and losing!
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