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So, this character is on a noble crusade, talks big, and [[Believing Their Own Lies|believes all his own hype]]. In his mind, he is a [[Knight in Shining Armor|great and noble hero]]. However, to everyone else (maybe except a loyal [[Sidekick]] or newbie) he's a buffoon or idiot who probably [[You Watch Too Much X|Watches Too Much X]].
He's
Possessing extremely poor judgment,
If he does manage to accomplish something good, it's usually through [[The Fool|sheer luck rather than skill]]. If he gets lucky enough times to actually get people to believe in him, he may become a [[Fake Ultimate Hero]]. If he's very lucky, he may have a [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]] watching his back.
If
Usually played for laughs, but there is something disturbing when one thinks about what might happen if such a character had any real influence.
''[[
See [[Failure Knight]]. Compare [[General Failure]], [[Miles Gloriosus]], and [[Modern Major
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* Amelia Wil Tesla Seillune from ''[[The Slayers]]'' is an example of the sympathetic type (although she does have moments of competence). To a lesser extent, so is her father, Prince Phil.
** Lesser Extent? Phil is just as error prone as Amelia. Just with fewer redeeming periods of competence.
*** Phil's way more competent. He talks and looks funny, but ''acts'' more as [[Reluctant Warrior]] or [[Knight in Shining Armor]]. Amelia performed pratfalls until it became [[Running Gag]]. He preaches to the ghosts and they ''heed'' him, she has [[Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?]] speech even [[Idiot Hero|Gourry]] saw as absurd. In charges without checking what force they face they're about equal, but given how much even top spells fall short, it's not ''that'' bad. We just see his better moments rarely because he has much less time on screen. Of course, whenever these two in a line of sight of each other, silliness increases on both sides.
* Tatewaki Kuno from ''[[Ranma
* Shuutaro Mendo (from ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]''), possibly Kuno's literary ancestor, is much the same. He's incredibly wealthy, carries a sword everywhere he goes, and generally acts the cool sophisticate, an act for which the local girls fawn over him in adoration. Scratch the gloss, however, and he's really no better than [[Loveable Sex Maniac]] Ataru Moroboshi himself. In fact, he's debateably worse, given that he's utterly afraid of the dark, claustrophobic, and a [[Dirty Coward]], while Ataru is capable of [[Determinator|insane acts of bravery and determination]].
* Leo from ''[[Scrapped Princess]]''.
* An episode of the ''[[Kirby]]'' [[Kirby:
* America in [[Axis Powers Hetalia]] is always loudly declaring that he's "The Hero" but in reality he's rather clueless and he only annoys the other countries. In fanfiction, this tralslates to him being anything from a hopeless idiot obsessed with superheroes to a genuinely well-intentioned but incompetent idealist.
* ''[[Darker
* ''[[
** Since upgraded to the size of a watermelon, but given he tried to use it on the fourth level version of [[Big Bad|''Aizen'']] this has almost the effect of having shrunk.
** Did actually extend the lifespans of some minor characters recently (in connection with that watermelon) for a couple of minutes. Was the first installment in a couple of layers of increasingly powerful cavalry. Still deeply annoying.
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== Film ==
* Sir Didymus from ''[[
* In ''[[Monty Python and
** ...''"in his way"?'' He takes a detour into the courtyard to slaughter ''the dancers''.
*** And after he understands the real situation and befriends the king, he almost does it a ''second'' time before being stopped.
* The second Buzz Lightyear figure in ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 2''
** The first Buzz was also like this for a good part of the first movie- it's even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the second when an exasperated Buzz, faced with his other self's antics, mutters to himself "Tell me I wasn't this deluded..."
** And in the third movie {{spoiler|original Buzz again, now used as a gulag guard by the evil daycare cabal. Apparently being returned to factory settings causes you to imprint on the first bossy people you talk to, if you're a military type.}} Although his acrobatics are freaking ''awesome''.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[
* Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell from the novel ''[[
* Eyck of Denesle, the paladin/knight errant from one of A. Sapkowski's [[The Witcher]] stories.
** Eyck is an interesting (subversion?). He's quite a competent knight in his own right, he's just happened to be completely [[Wrong Genre Savvy]]. He thinks that he is the [[Knight in Shining Armor]] in a [[Chivalric Romance]], and tries hard to play the part right, but actually he's in the particularly [[Crapsack World]] of a [[Low Fantasy]], and comes out as a funny combination of a [[Wide
* Obvious mention goes to Lord Rust from [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[
** This is nothing new either - in ''[[
** In his defence Rust is at least honourable (as he sees honour). At one point Vimes thinks Rust might have gotten up to something but then discounts it because he may look down on you but he wouldn't stoop to a level below him. Lord Rust may be a stuck up, arrogant elitist, but he wouldn't stab you in the back or cheat.
** As far as anyone who a) lives in Ankh-Morpork, b) has ever had any kind of contact with Vetinari, or c) takes any kind of role in government is concerned, that's only further proof of idiocy.
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** {{spoiler|They [[The Mole|were right]].}}
*** {{spoiler|Sort of right. Fans believed him to be one of the Forsaken (magic users high on the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]]), but it turned out that he was just a [[Mook]] that was doing his damnedest to screw up Rand's plans.}}
** Another example is Abdel Omerna, the "official" spymaster of the [[Knight Templar|Children of the Light]]: he's very good at collecting gossip and rumors and believes everything he hears (the opposite of what a good spy should do, according to the Lord Captain Commander), and he's not even aware of the fact that he's only there to divert attention from the actual spymaster.
* Prince Rhun from [[Lloyd Alexander]]'s ''[[Prydain Chronicles]]'' series is a protagonist example of this. Though not overly proud, he is certainly foolish and bumbling enough for two, and a [[Wide
* The demon-hunter Quigley in Robert Lynn Asprin's ''Another Fine Myth''.
* Sir Michael Sevenson from [[Hilari Bell]]'s [[Knight and Rogue Series]], has moments of this. For example, in the first book he accepts a commission to rescue a [[
* Sooni from ''[[Tales of MU]]'' is one of the more villainous examples.
* Prince Therandil, Cimorene's erstwhile fiance in ''[[Enchanted Forest Chronicles|Dealing With Dragons]]'', definitely qualifies. Most notable, of course, are his bumbling attempts to "rescue" Cimorene from Kazul, but {{spoiler|his accidental release of a djinn that wants to kill them both}} is a contributing factor too.
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* Sir Pellinore from T. H. White's ''[[The Once and Future King]]''. He's basically harmless, though; his entire life is subsumed in (unsuccessfully) pursuing the Questing Beast.
* Sulla from the ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' series isn't actually a ''bad'' soldier - she becomes one of the Imperial Guard's most famous generals later in her career, and her troops have high morale and confidence in her - but Cain sees her as this trope, because her enthusiasm clashes rather badly with his "Stay as far out of the fighting as possible" sensibilities. He never realized it, but she was actually modeling her entire approach after how she perceived ''him''.
** Plus, she's got a preachy, [[Purple Prose]]-laden writing style that seems deliberately crafted to annoy the reader.
* Blend this trope with [[Hypocritical Humor]], and you'll get Brother Verber from Joan Hess's Maggody mysteries: a correspondence-course preacher who periodically becomes convinced he's the one thing standing between his town and Satan, so gets drunk on sacramental wine and heads out [[Hilarity Ensues|to do battle]] ... assuming he doesn't get distracted by the porn he "researches" so he'll know what he's up against.
* [[Hank the Cowdog]] faces imaginary threats almost as often as he faces legitimate ones. There's even a sequence where he and his sidekick, Drover, confuse a thunderstorm with an enemy invasion. Of course the fact that he has gone toe-to-toe with actually dangerous enemies gives him a little more credit than most.
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== Live Action TV ==
* Group Captain Rodney Crittendon from ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'', so incompetent that Hogan feels the best place for him to serve the Allied war effort is in a German prisoner of war camp. Just ''not'' Stalag 13.
* Inspector Sledge Hammer from the cop drama spoof ''[[Sledge Hammer!]]!'', who resorts to [[Crosses the Line Twice|over-the-top brutal methods]] for the smallest of crimes (like tying a speeder to the hood of his car as an ornament), and using lethal force at the drop of a hat while at the same time having the common sense of a slightly moldy fairy cake. There's the time he blew up an entire building with a rocket launcher to get the sniper on the roof (though at least he asked whether it'd been evacuated first), and the incident that provoked this exchange:
{{quote|
'''Reporter:''' Inspector, was what you did in the store absolutely necessary?
'''Sledge Hammer:''' Oh yes, I had almost no groceries at all. }}
* [[Stephen Colbert]] (the character, not the actor) of ''[[The Colbert Report]]''. The only thing more profound than his logical fallacies and delusions of righteousness is his ego. To quote the man himself: "This country 'tis of me, sweet man of liberty."
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Anomen from ''[[
** It's worth noting that if you fail his quests, he changes his alignment to [[Chaotic Neutral]] instead, and becomes [[Jerkass|physically abusive to Aerie]] if she's in the party.
* Steiner from ''[[
** Though it should be noted, his main failings were his misplaced loyalty and the fact that his rival's biggest strength was cunning.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls|Oblivion]]'', Viranus Donton, the son of the Fighters Guild Master, Vilena, is an incredibly enthusiastic fighter, but also incredibly unskilled in combat. In fact, he's probably the worst follower NPC in the entire game. During one quest, the player is asked to "show him the ropes" by escorting him on a fairly pedestrian monster-slaying expedition. However, it is incredibly easy for him to die (or at least be knocked unconscious due to his essential status), as he charges any enemies recklessly, no matter how strong they are, and doesn't run away when he's in danger of dying.
** Farwil Indarys is an even more blatant example - he heads an order of knights that mainly serve to bolster his ego, and tends to give a lot of [[What Do You Mean
*** The easiest method of keeping Farwil alive is to leave him behind. NPCs only fight when they're in the same area as you; leaving one behind a loading screen keeps them safe from everything ever, and unlike other NPCs Farwil can be saved ''without meeting him again'' as he's in the Oblivion Gate, which will throw him out when you close it.
*** Just to note, NPCs actually have a relatively complicated procedure for determining whether to run or fight based on their level, the opponent's level, their health, and their own aggression. So, while Farwil and Viranus are artificially stupid, they were ''designed'' to be that way.
* [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!|Princess]] [[Genki Girl|L'Arachel]] [[White Magician Girl|of Rausten]], from ''[[Fire Emblem]] 8'', combines this with [[Genki Girl]] and [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]]. Unlike others, she ''does'' [[Took a Level
** {{spoiler|Actually, they were legitimately good rulers since they went out saving people from monsters, and other people spoke quite highly of them.}}
* [[Street Fighter|Dan Hibiki.]] He got kicked out of the dojo he was training at for his vengeful motives and thus created his own style, Saikyo (Strongest), which is anything but, yet Dan foolhardily believes himself to be Number 1 no matter how often or hard he gets his ass handed to him by the other, more competent fighters.
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* [[Jak and Daxter|Baron Praxis]] is an example of an error prone lord who's a threat to [[No Kill Like Overkill|everyone]].
* Conrad Verner, Shepard's [[Loony Fan|number one fan]], from ''[[Mass Effect]]''. In the first game, he attempts to convince Shepard to make him a member of the Spectres, an elite space peacekeeping group. ([[Captain Obvious|It doesn't work.]]) If Shepard manages to convince him that it would be a bad idea, he gets it and backs off...[[Ignored Epiphany|until the second game]], where you find him at a bar on Illium, wearing a replica of Shepard's default armor in an attempt to be [[I Just Want to Be Badass|"truly extreme."]] ([[Captain Obvious|It still doesn't work.]]) If Shepard doesn't manage to get him to stop in either game, he ends up getting himself killed. The way in which he fits this trope is perhaps best exemplified in this exchange:
{{quote|
'''Conrad''': I'm out saving the galaxy! I don't have time for ''training''! }}
* King Cailin of ''[[Dragon Age]]'', at least in the view of Lord Logain. While he admits to the king's prowess with a sword, he's utterly dismayed with the man's choice of bravado and "a battle to tell stories about" rather than tactical strategy. While he did have a point to a certain degree (lining the first platoon of your army up *outside* the giant stone fortress walls is usually not suggested) his methods of showing his disapproval were... Questionable, at best.
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== Webcomics ==
* Sir Balin in ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space]]''.
** Sir Balin comes from ''[[Le Morte
* Othar Tryggvassen - '''''[[Gentleman Adventurer]]!''''' from ''[[Girl Genius]]'' is a textbook
** Add insult to injury that he seems to be more or less impervious to harm, having been hit in the head with an oversized wrench that would likely kill most people and thrown out of an airship well over the needed height for terminal velocity on two different occasions.
*** Three.
** To his credit, he ''is'' smarter than he initially seems, although that's not much of a challenge. To quote Agatha, "How can a person so dumb be so ''smart?!''"
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* Happens more often than one would think in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', usually with a character who tries to be a hero and ends up getting either himself, someone he was trying to protect, or both of them killed. Sidney Crosby (yes, the hockey player) is the most famous example so far
** An excellent example in v4 would be Aaron Hughes. He decided right off the bat that he was going to start an escape group. Thing is, though, it's pretty obvious he isn't a good leader, as characters often point out flaws in his plans. Not only that, but he also shows signs of being a [[Manipulative Bastard]], to the point where some handlers call him "the true villain of v4".
* Stalwart, at [[Super
** And off the school grounds, in Boston, you have the
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*** Not to mention his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_fJSsuBIks glorious victory over the killbots!]
**** He ''does'' win every single battle he partakes in. He just does it with massive casualties and expense, and hogs all the glory.
* Lord Pain from ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy
* Every "heroic" character played by [[Looney Tunes|Daffy Duck]]: Robin Hood Daffy; Dripalong Daffy; Stupor Duck; Doorlock Holmes; Duck Twacy; [[The Scarlet Pumpernickel]]; Sgt. Joe Monday; Boston Quackie; and, most famously, [[Duck Dodgers]]. Many of these feature Porky Pig as a [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]].
** Might actually be the source of this trope's name. Duck Dodgers played a character called "Lord Error Prone" in the Cartoon Network series.
** Likewise, the similar characters played by Plucky Duck in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''.
** And, of course, Daffy's descendant Danger Duck in ''[[
* [[Hong Kong Phooey]], the "Number One Super-Guy" who can't even go into his disguise cabinet to change without incident.
* [[Dudley Do
* Subverted slightly by Lord Bravery, of ''[[Freakazoid!]]'' fame, who seems to be aware that he's this sort of character, but [[Stiff Upper Lip|plays it out the best he can anyway.]]
* [[
* [[Inspector Gadget]]. Believes his own hype (and everyone else does, too), but in reality couldn't deduce his way out of a wet paper bag, or figure that the criminals surrounding him wearing the logo of his archenemy might in fact be enemies. (He gets a pass on not recognising his dog in disguise, since no-one else there can.)
* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' is a villainous version of this trope. Thinks he's the most badass Irken warrior there ever was. [[Too Dumb to Live|Couldn't be farther from the truth]].
* Captain Wrongway Peachfuzz from ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]''. He's so consistently wrong that a tribe of island natives use him as a weather
== Real Life ==
* Jack Thompson, whose efforts at banning [[New Media Are Evil|"demoralizing" video games]] earned him worldwide notoriety and resentment, as well as many harassment and professional misconduct lawsuits...
** And
*** Not to mention <s> the ever-increasingly-likely possibility of</s> his permanent disbarment and a slot in Florida law school textbooks as a shining example of how to self-destruct one's career.
** [[Memetic Mutation|Jack Thompson is disbarred! HOW DISBARRED IS HE?!]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121015123500/http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/01/real_life_super.php "Superheroes"]
* The Charge of the Light Brigade. It's in the history books.
* General George Armstrong Custer. Earned a record number of demerits during his time at military academy, won several Civil War engagements at great cost to his men (his only tactic was to charge), was court-martialled for going absent from his command and having deserters shot without trial, accused a close friend of President Grant of corruption without a scrap of evidence, and was regarded, by himself and others, as a great Indian fighter despite evidence to the contrary. He inspired fierce loyalty from some, and equally fierce loathing from others and still causes arguments today. Then there was that other [[Last Stand|thing...]]
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[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Steam]]
[[Category:Lord Error
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