Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Difference between revisions

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* The replacement Washington Sentinels in ''[[The Replacements (film)|The Replacements]]'', featuring a notoriously easy-to-neutralize quarterback, a convict, an ex-soccer player, a sumo wrestler, two gargantuan gun-toting brothers, an Evangelical Christian who waves a bible at all his problems, a deaf man, and a former policeman with serious anger management problems. Even the Sentinels' ''cheerleaders'' are a collection of bizarre performers who would never work on any other squad but pull it together for awesomeness.

* Colette from ''[[Ratatouille]]'' describes her fellow chefs as such.

* You'll be hard pressed to find a bunch more rag-tag or misfit than the one being asked to save the Earth in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'': a bug-headed [[Mad Scientist]]; an over-the-hill [[Fish Person]]; a brainless, sentient glob of [[Future Food Is Artificial|Soylent Soy]]; a fuzzy baby [[Kaiju]]; and leading them all, a [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]] (albeit a [[Attack of the 50 Foot Whatever|very tall one]].)

* You'll be hard pressed to find a bunch more rag-tag or misfit than the one being asked to save the Earth in ''[[Monsters vs. Aliens]]'': a bug-headed [[Mad Scientist]]; an over-the-hill [[Fish Person]]; a brainless, sentient glob of [[Future Food Is Artificial|Soylent Soy]]; a fuzzy baby [[Kaiju]]; and leading them all, a [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]] (albeit a [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|very tall one]].)

* The Diggers who join up with Dr. Noah after one of them is killed by Ecoban soldiers in ''[[Sky Blue]]''.

* ''[[Red Dawn]]'' has this with a group of teens fighting the [[Dirty Communists|evil]] [[Reds With Rockets|Soviets]].

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** It's hinted that the Empire actually encourages that sort of thing, believing that allowing individual squads (and soldiers) to find their own idiosyncratic ways of fighting is more efficient than enforcing conformity in the ranks. Seeing as this is more or less accurate in the [[Heroic Fantasy]] world the story takes place in, this might make the Empire an entire ''nation'' that is [[Genre Savvy]].

** And then there's the Mott Irregulars, a bunch of insane country hicks lead by twenty warlock brothers and a sister (the meanest of them all) who are so ragtag and fit so badly that they managed to run circles around the Bridgeburners for more than a year and win at the end.

* The ''[[~~Phules~~ Company]]'' novels have this as their premise; The "Omega Company" is a dumping ground for troops that no commander wanted to deal with, and Phule is given command as a punishment for strafing a ''peace treaty'' signing.

* The ''[[Phule's Company]]'' novels have this as their premise; The "Omega Company" is a dumping ground for troops that no commander wanted to deal with, and Phule is given command as a punishment for strafing a ''peace treaty'' signing.

** Naturally, the Omega Company just need a leader with charisma, patience, flexible ethics, and loads of money, which is what they get in Phule. The rest goes splendidly.

* Justified in Eve Forward's ''[[Villains by Necessity]]'', where ''only'' criminals and evildoers can save the world, and there's only a handful left. Naturally, it takes a while for them to get along.

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* The crew who ends up saving the world from being Porky's oyster in ''[[Mother 3]]'' is a cowardly preteenage boy who can't quite get over his troubled past, his loyal but useless in battle dog, a teen girl raised by freaky cross-dressing fairy things who has been locked away in a castle all her life, and a smelly, ridiculed thief in his 20s with a crippled leg. Yet somehow, we're not doomed.

* In ''[[Super Mario RPG]]: Legend of the Seven Stars'', your party consists of a [[Heroic Mime|mute]] [[The Everyman|everyman]] [[Almighty Janitor|plumber]] with [[In a Single Bound|superhuman jumping ability]], the monster king who is [[Enemy Mine|typically his worst enemy]], the princess he has to [[Distressed Damsel|save just about every other week]], a talking cloud that can control the weather, and a possessed doll.

** The ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' games make that lot look organized. ''[[Paper Mario ~~the~~ Thousand Year Door|Thousand Year Door]]'' in particular has the abovementioned plumber, a [[Valley Girl]] archeology student, a timid breakdancing turtle, a [[White Dwarf Starlet]] wind spirit, an [[Cute Bruiser|aggressive infant]] dinosaur, {{spoiler|a [[Heel Face Turn|redeemed]] living shadow [[She's a Man In Japan|who's a man in Japan]]}}, and an old sailor who blows himself up.

** The ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' games make that lot look organized. ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door|Thousand Year Door]]'' in particular has the abovementioned plumber, a [[Valley Girl]] archeology student, a timid breakdancing turtle, a [[White Dwarf Starlet]] wind spirit, an [[Cute Bruiser|aggressive infant]] dinosaur, {{spoiler|a [[Heel Face Turn|redeemed]] living shadow [[She's a Man In Japan|who's a man in Japan]]}}, and an old sailor who blows himself up.

*** And {{spoiler|a flirty mouse thief in high heels.}}

**** In ''[[Super Paper Mario]]''. Count Bleck plays this straight by calling your crew this in the opening scene.

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** ''[[Valkyria Chronicles II]]''gives you a group of misfits more ragtag than the militia: Class G of the Lanseal Academy, filled with the laziest, worst-performing rejects the crop has to offer, [[And Zoidberg|and]] [[Fantastic Racism|Darcsens]].

** And then ''[[Valkyria Chronicles III]]'' outdoes them both with the Nameless, a literal [[Army of Thieves and Whores]] thrown together and forced to fight as cannon fodder as punishment for past crimes.

* Hiro and the gang from ''[[Lunar Eternal Blue]]'' qualify as they, strangely except for the main character Hiro, have some problems hidden from others. In fact, [[Big Bad]] Zophar explicitly refers to them as [[Lampshade Hanging|"the ragtag party of misfits."]]

* Hiro and the gang from ''[[Lunar: Eternal Blue]]'' qualify as they, strangely except for the main character Hiro, have some problems hidden from others. In fact, [[Big Bad]] Zophar explicitly refers to them as [[Lampshade Hanging|"the ragtag party of misfits."]]

* Boots and his buddies from ''[[Anachronox]]'' certainly qualify: a stripper, a toy robot, TWO scientists, an alcoholic ex-superhero, and {{spoiler|an entire planet, which you at several points were exploring.}}

* The Wasteland crew in ''[[Tony Hawks Pro Skater|Tony Hawk's American Wasteland]]''. Unofficial leader Iggy van Zandt is explicitly called "the king of the misfits" for a reason. And with friends like the player character (a clueless farmboy who just got off the bus), Boone (a violent screw-up who couldn't even cut it as a gang member), Murphy (every slimy agent ever minus the money), Useless Dave (whose endless knowledge of pointless minutae never fails to bore)... yeah, that's ragtag.

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* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by Agatio in ''[[Golden Sun]]: The Lost Age'': "Well, this is an unlikely bunch of ragamuffins."

* Every team in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' (and many other [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPGs]], really) except particularly coordinated ones, given the [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]] nature of the superhero genre, and also the casual-friendly nature of the game where it's not uncommon for the fate of the world to be in the hands of a team that may include one or more of the following: A 13-year-old, a 60-year-old, a drunk, a [[Furry Fandom]], a [[How Do I Shot Web?|hopeless powerlevelled newbie]], and ''maybe'' a [[Munchkin]] if you're lucky.

* While Raze's group in ''[[Mana Khemia 2 Fall of Alchemy]]'' is more-or-less a well-oiled group, Ulrika's group fits this precisely, consisting of a fairy(?) larger than Ulrika and far more timid, a guy in an animal suit/ball which said suit carries who can switch at will, a young boy with a machine obsession (and an abusive sister, but that's on Raze's side), a girl who believes curses are "incantations", and finally, Ulrika herself. In-battle, Ulrika's side is a bit more powerful than Raze's, due to tactical considerations and better overall abilities.

* While Raze's group in ''[[Mana-Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy]]'' is more-or-less a well-oiled group, Ulrika's group fits this precisely, consisting of a fairy(?) larger than Ulrika and far more timid, a guy in an animal suit/ball which said suit carries who can switch at will, a young boy with a machine obsession (and an abusive sister, but that's on Raze's side), a girl who believes curses are "incantations", and finally, Ulrika herself. In-battle, Ulrika's side is a bit more powerful than Raze's, due to tactical considerations and better overall abilities.

* In ''[[Mercenaries]] 2'', a five-person team composed of a revenge-driven merc, a snarky computer geek, a lecherous helicopter pilot, a perpetually drunken jet pilot, and a snarky mechanic, destroys the Venezuelan government, and defeats a ''superpower''-backed army as nothing more than a means to that end.

* ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' fits this trope to a tee. You've got a [[Lovable Rogue]], a [[Fiery Redhead]], and a mysterious [[Woman in White]] as your main party members. You pick up lots more along the way to join your crew. Not to mention all the 3rd party characters that come when [[Gondor Calls for Aid]] near the end.

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* ''[[Airforce Delta]] Strike'': Delta Squadron is where all the EDAF losers are assigned.

* Pretty much describes everyone part of S.E.E.S. in ''[[Persona 3]]'' or the Investigation Team in ''[[Persona 4]]'', but it's what allows them to summon Personas.

* Most parties in ''[[Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'' seem to end up like this. In addition to the hero, a poor schmuck who just happened to survive a blimp crash, you can have a monk who doesn't know the first thing about his religion, an overly proud dwarf with no idea what dwarves are really like, a half-drunk half-ogre, the world's smartest "orc", an elven princess, a necromantic fop, and even {{spoiler|the guy you set out to kill in the first place}}. Oh, and a dog who kicks more ass than the rest of the party combined.

* Most parties in ''[[Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'' seem to end up like this. In addition to the hero, a poor schmuck who just happened to survive a blimp crash, you can have a monk who doesn't know the first thing about his religion, an overly proud dwarf with no idea what dwarves are really like, a half-drunk half-ogre, the world's smartest "orc", an elven princess, a necromantic fop, and even {{spoiler|the guy you set out to kill in the first place}}. Oh, and a dog who kicks more ass than the rest of the party combined.

* ''[[Eien no Filena]]''. The party that saves the world consists of a transvestite, a prostitute, a dog, and a writer.

* The main cast of ''[[Resident Evil Outbreak]]'' consists of eight people at the same diner when the outbreak happened, not highly trained police officers as in the others.