Ragtag Bunch of Misfits/Playing With

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Basic Trope: A ramshackle group of characters has to save the day.

  • Straight: An ill-suited group of characters are sent on the mission.
  • Exaggerated: The king empties out his dungeon and sends them all under his captain of the guard's authority. Plus a few courtiers with useful skills. Or useless skills.
  • Downplayed: The characters aren't entirely ill-suited, about one-third of them have had trainings to deal with the matters at hand.
  • Justified: They're what's available -- either for lack of authority, or because the location is isolated.
    • They're expendable.
    • The Big Bad poisoned the king, his knights and their squires, and his wizards; the princess, the pages, the stable boys, and the apprentice wizards are what's left.
    • The Hero gathers his team in his travels resulting in the group being anyone who would help him over people suited for the job
  • Inverted: Quirky Miniboss Squad
  • Subverted: They're Bunny Ears Lawyers; you shouldn't judge them by looks.
  • Double Subverted: On the other hand, their quirks are -- distinctive, and interfere with the mission on occasion.
  • Parodied: A princess, a pickpocket, a Unicorn, a Nature Hero, and an angel are sent to defeat the Big Bad.
  • Deconstructed: The team collapses from in-fighting, and several members become Turn Coats.
  • Reconstructed: With the traitors purged, the misfits are ashamed of their poor showing and pull themselves together. Plus one Turncoat was their leader, the government official in charge, and they realize he was The Mole.
  • Zig Zagged: The authorities are always trying to send new teams, which range from crack, well-trained teams to characters picked at random.
  • Averted: The team is constructed carefully.
  • Enforced: "The players are going to want to run their own characters; we need a scenario to fit them all in."
  • Lampshaded: "All groups of adventurers with no visible reason to stick together will be shot on sight."
  • Invoked: "Hey, everyone! Let's go take out the Dark Lord! Since none of us know each other or have the least in common, that's the best plan."
  • Defied: "I'll take the best men I can get, and I'll train them until they work together!"
  • Discussed: "But sire, how do you expect a farmboy, his dog, the princess, a 100 year-old wizard, and a cave woman to save our kingdom!?"
  • Conversed: "This anime contains so many strange crazy things as heroes. I bet this team of Ragtag Bunch of Misfits will triumph despite Big Bad despite what the town cryer thinks."

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