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[[Heel Face Turn|And then he switches sides]], and it all goes to hell. Suddenly, he's [[Promoted to Unlockable|just one of the gang]], not substantially stronger than the others. He's decidedly ''less'' powerful than the leader of the good guys. This phenomenon is related to [[Villain Decay]].
 
Very common in [[RPG|RPGs]]s, since the [[Promoted to Unlockable|"playable" versions of the characters]] tend to have many fewer [[Hit Points]], fewer and less impressive abilities, and generally worse stats than the "boss" versions. In older games, they even got ''physically smaller'', since hero sprites were much smaller than enemy ones. Usually, this is a [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]], since it wouldn't exactly be [[It's Easy, So It Sucks|very fun to just pick "Mind Erasing Maimblaster" over and over again]].
 
'''There are a number of possible, rational justifications for why a villain-turned-ally is suddenly weaker than before:'''
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* Friction with new, untrusting allies as well as feelings of personal guilt and shame can leave [[The Hero]]'s new buddy handicapped by insecurity.
 
However, sometimes no explanation is given at all. It could be worse though; if the [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turner]]er is particularly unlucky, he'll just suffer [[Redemption Equals Death]] and that will be the end of it. From a story telling perspective, it's more dramatic to have the villains stronger than the heroes. But if the reformed villain remains more powerful than the hero, then the villain will outshine the hero and solve problems that the hero is supposed to solve. The depowering of the villain is a sort of [[Deus Exit Machina]] to force the hero to have a difficult struggle.
 
So remember, when you switch from bad to good, odds are good that your fighting will become bad.
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** Also, in the original ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'', Gatomon/Tailmon was capable of taking out the entire group of the Digidestined Champion-level Digimon, but when she joins the group, she has to Digivolve to Angewomon to take part in the battles. This is even worse in Digimon Adventure 02, where Gatomon loses her Tail Ring and is effectively reduced to the level of a Rookie for most of the series. She has to use a DigiEgg to have access to Champion-level power.
* In ''[[Naruto]]'' there is a [[Zig Zagged Trope|zig-zagged example]] Gaara. A psychopathic villain who would kill without a second thought, he severely injured one of the main characters, and it looked like he was about to kill Sasuke. After losing to Naruto, he becomes an ally, and loses the drive/ruthlessness/insanity that let him be so completely over the top in a quest to justify his existence with destruction. Even then he was doing better against Kimimaro than Naruto and Lee in [[Drunken Master]] mode - they could barely even hit him even when his curse mark wasn't active, and Gaara was mostly winning against him even when his curse mark reached Level 2. He lost to Deidara due to sacrificing offence in order to protect his city (leading to him {{spoiler|actually getting ''killed'' having his sealed beast extracted, only to be revived by another character at the cost of her life}}). He also became a ''Kage'' at age ''15'', beating Naruto to the punch, and when his rematch with {{spoiler|Sasuke}} started, he clearly had the upper hand due to {{spoiler|his sand absorbing the Amaterasu}}. Ultimately, {{spoiler|he becomes ''more powerful'' then when he had his sealed beast, and even powerful than the sealed beast itself.}}
* Jun Manjoume begins ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' as a snobby but respected duelist in the Obelisk Blue dorms (the highest-ranked class) and a rival to Judai. As the series plays its course, Manjoume leaves the school, returns (but is [[Break the Haughty|forced into low-class Osiris Red]]), grudgingly becomes pals with the gang, and gains an obnoxious spirit partner in the form of Ojama Yellow. He also becomes something of a joke, especially when it comes to his crush on Asuka. At least Season 4 was about him regaining his old strength -- talkstrength—talk about coming full circle.
** If you consider his track record while still in blue (two losses, the first at distinct advantage, and one near-loss) and compare it with his performance later on, it's more like [[Evil Is Dumb]] than anything else. Of course, Evil became smart when he temporarily joined the light cult.
* Zelgadis from ''[[The Slayers]]'', to a certain extent. While shown to have impressive powers while he still opposes the group and/or is in the plot's spotlight, once he joins the party he becomes close to useless combat-wise. Whenever he attacks, [[The Worf Barrage|the attack usually accomplishes nothing, if only to show how powerful their adversary is]]. Also, his demonic ability to move faster than the eye can track seems to be largely forgotten, as it never allows him to dodge out of the way of incoming cannon blasts or spells while the rest of the party are unable to. The times when he ''does'' accomplish something in battle, it's usually something another character could've done just as well, be it shield or levitation. However, his decreasingly important role in battle is somewhat redeemed by the sheer variety of his skills, the hardiness of his stony skin (which enables him to take a cannonball to the head only to have it ''bounce off'') and the fact that he's pretty much the only mature one in the group and often makes important discoveries and observations that the others had missed.
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* Double subverted in ''[[Suite Precure]]''. When Siren changes sides and becomes Cure Beat, she's quite [[Badass]] and crushes the [[Monster of the Week]] easily two or three times, even finishing them off herself! After a dozen or so episodes later, she's the one getting defeated by a single [[Monster of the Week]] and Cure Rhythm and Melody have to bail ''her'' out.
** Cure Muse is a neutral-to-good example, but otherwise she plays it awfully straight. Se spends half the series being a [[Mysterious Protector]] and a [[Badass]], but the very first battle she's in after joining the main girls, it ''begins'' with her getting punched off by the [[Monster of the Week]]. Then her Special Move is ineffective and is told she has to rely in others. She eventually kills the [[Monster of the Week]] on her ''second'' try, but not before making it clear this trope is in effect. At least Ellen ''was'' awesome for a while!
* While we're on the subject of Pretty Cures, poor Kaoru and Michiru of ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star]]''. They get their [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]]s, save the day with Saki and Mai... then get [[Demoted to Extra]] come the ''[[Pretty Cure All Stars]]'' movies.
 
 
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**** If Pylea is any indication, the demon within Angel only has beast-like intelligence, much like a rampaging werewolf.
*** Angelus is smart ''at being evil''. Angel is Angelus with a soul leashing him. He has all the same demonic urges, but spends his time ''not'' acting on them. It's like an addict spending a lot of energy doing what a non-addict considers easy; not succumbing to addiction. Angelus is an artist, the mindfuck his medium, murder his paintbrush. Angel is, too, but that's not going to help the good guys, now is it?
** Connor, also from ''[[Angel]]'', personified [[Redemption Demotion]]. As a conflicted character, he was constantly switching sides; when fighting at his father's side he was a bit slower than Angel and not as agile, but when he fought ''against'' the good guys he was like [[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]] with a cause, decking multiple foes with each blow and always one step ahead.
** Illyria in ''[[Angel]]'' too. When she was first introduced, and seemed as if she'd be the [[Big Bad]] of the 5th season, she was [[A God Am I|downright godlike]] in her invincibility. Wolfram and Hart, the main villains of the entire series, were ''collectively'' so weak in comparison as to be like insects to her. There were other characters in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' and ''[[Angel]]'' who were ''actual'' gods, and Illyria could've overpowered any of them. Basically, she was [[Eldritch Abomination|Cthulhu]] in a cute human girl's body. But when she ended up [[Anti-Hero|more or less on the heroes' side]], it's quickly revealed that her new, human body can't handle that level of power, and she gets powered down to the point that a minion of Wolfram and Hart is able to beat her into the ground. [[Justified]] because she was zapped with a power draining cannon.
** Spike's fall was so severe this wiki named a trope after it. Eventually Buffy tells him "I want the Spike who's dangerous, the Spike who tried to kill me when we first met." She more-or-less gets him for the remainder of the series, as by then the [[Sorting Algorithm of Evil]] has rendered him no-longer overpowered.
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== Professional Wrestling ==
* This happens a lot in [[Professional Wrestling]] too; after a [[Heel Face Turn]], the new face proceeds to fall for all of the tricks that he perpetrated as a bad guy. See [[Chris Jericho]].
** Subverted by [[Batista]], who turns face and, thanks to being [[Genre Savvy]], anticipates and counters the [[Heel|heelsheel]]s' tricks.
** Also subverted by [[Eddie Guerrero]]'s final face turn, as he continued to use all the dirty tricks he used to... except that now the fans were cheering him for it.
** Of course, the flipside of this is that a wrestler who was able to get clean wins as a face will only be able to win by cheating after a [[Face Heel Turn]].
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* ''[[Tales of Destiny]]'' pits you against Leon Magnus, a genius swordsman who is tasked with kicking the snot out of the hero and his party. Given that this happens within the first few hours of the game, the party isn't even near the level needed to wear down his 9999 health points and survive his attacks. However, once he joins you, his level and stats are barely any higher than those of your other characters. {{spoiler|And of course, when he turns against the party halfway through the game, he suddenly gets a whopping five digit health and access to moves that the party member version didn't.}}
** The Remake gives this more of a realism by reducing the boss version's HP and statistics to around what they should be when he joins the party, and instead just made him literally unbeatable.
* {{spoiler|Flynn}} of ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' is an odd example -- althoughexample—although he's not evil in the slightest. In the one instance when he [[Guest Star Party Member|joins you in combat]], he has somewhere around 5000 HP and a paltry amount of Artes. Approximately ''one day later'' in the game's timeline, he and Yuri [[Duel Boss|duke it out]] -- and—and he's suddenly gained ''six-digit HP'' and a repertoire of deadly Artes, including Holy Lance and a [[Limit Break|Mystic Arte]], Radiant Dragon Fang. He must've done a ''buttload'' of [[Level Grinding]] in that one day.
** Captain Schwann exemplifies both this trope and [[Evil Is Cool]]. As a boss, he's incredibly difficult (although most of the difficulty comes from the fact that both your healers are absent from the party), has six-digit health, and extremely powerful techniques. He's missing most of those techniques and is back down to four-digit health when {{spoiler|he rejoins the party not much later as Raven}}. Justified in that he's using his [[Dangerous Forbidden Technique]] ({{spoiler|his blastia heart}}) during the battle, ''and'' [[I Am Not Left-Handed|wielding his sword in the other hand]].
** In the [[PlayStation 3]] remake the final team arena battle pits you against the party members you don't currently have with you. Not only do they have boss class hp and stats now, but they break the party size limit to attack you with ALL unused members making the match 4 against 5. The party seemingly puts more effort in friendly arena match than against the guys that want to destroy the world.
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* Seen also in ''[[Mega Man Powered Up]]'', if playing as one of the other robots. In the place of The robot master you're playing as, you'll fight against an evil Mega Man wearing a purple scarf. He can charge his buster, Slide, and is quite the pain in the ass.
* Similarly, in fellow Capcom game ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'', the playable version of Vergil (accessible in the Special Edition) lacks moves that the boss version can do. However, playable Vergil does get some moves his boss incarnations don't, and the series also tends to make Dante, the hero, far more [[Badass]] than any evil counterpart.
* Variation: One of the drama CDs of ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' depicts an [[Alternate Universe]] in which the character Dizzy -- aDizzy—a sweet, innocent [[Friend to All Living Things]] in the games -- inheritsgames—inherits the title of [[Big Bad]] from her mother. In the games, she's more or less toe-to-toe with the rest of the characters ([[Gameplay and Story Segregation|sort of]]), partly because she's trying to ''suppress'' her powers so she doesn't hurt anyone -- althoughanyone—although this doesn't seem to change drastically when she goes berserk in the third game. In the [[Alternate Universe]], she ''singlehandedly destroys a fleet of airships using one move''.
* Nitros, from the game ''[[Bomberman]] Hero''. During the game, he's quite a hard guy to defeat, using all kinds of weird powers. But at one point, after you defeat him, he realizes he's been brainwashed and adds his power to yours. But do you get any special board-game based attacks? Nope, you get to lay more bombs. The funny thing here is that you'd have to be more powerful than him to defeat him in the first place. Also, as soon as you next die or turn off the game, you ''lose all that power''. And you don't get any power from beating him another time replaying the level - it only happens when you first trigger the cutscene.
* In ''[[Ultima VII Part Two]]'', Selina the sorceress briefly joins with you early in the quest, is absolutely worthless at doing anything, and teleports out when the going gets tough. Later on, she turns up as an antagonist, and is surprisingly effective at that.
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** Of course, her [[Mana Meter|MP]] seems to take a nosedive upon joining you, meaning that she can't use her frighteningly powerful sword skills as often as she could when she was against you...
** [[So Long and Thanks For All the Gear|At least you can swipe her goods from her before she leaves for good.]] However, her kickass sword can't be removed, and the rest of her equipment is fairly sub-par if you managed to get all the best items to date by the time you get to move her stuff.
* Certainly not averted in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' -- Edea—Edea the Evil Uber-Hot Gothy Witch Queen [[Fetish Fuel]] chick is the [[Big Bad]] of the first act -- andact—and turns into a rather weak playable character thereafter (additionally no longer ruling the world). It's rather a disappointment when you unlock her and think "Oooh, yay!" and then end up with a somewhat wussy sorceress.
** If it's not averted, it's [[Justified Trope|justified]], at least. The reason she becomes good in the first place is that she loses all her sorceress powers which made her powerful (and brainwashed) to Rinoa, thus making her a normal human being. When Squall tries to physically stop the brainwashed Rinoa from leaving the lunar base, he gets launched into the nearest wall. However, when you get Rinoa back, she isn't one bit more powerful than before (except for having a new [[Limit Break]]).
*** In her limit break, however, has five times her magic stat (beyond the normal cap of 255), and slightly enhanced speed. Unfortunately, for most people, this limit break will be useless, because she casts spells semi-randomly. 9/10 she'll cast scan, over and over, as opposed to spells that actually hurt enemies. Due to the Cap on damage, even if you remove all the useless spells, and fill her up with ultima or firaga or tornado, it's [[Awesome but Impractical]], as you'll do 9999 damage instead of 8000 in a game where 100000 is a decent amount of boss health. The [[Health Damage Asymmetry]] hurts you a lot. If, however, you use meltdown, a spell that weakens enemies, and meteor, a spell that does 10 weak hits, and boost her speed up with haste and speed junctions, she can do 99990 damage per round, and that several times a second. You can then defeat the ultimate sorceress' 1st form in 1/3 of a second, second form in 2/3s of a second, and third in one second.
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** The same can be said about Roxas, as when he is fought as an enemy in the [[No Export for You]] version, he's far more powerful than when you played as him.
** Also {{spoiler|Terra and later Lingering Sentiment, in Birth By Sleep are missing most of the attacks that Lingering Sentiment would fight Sora with 12 years later in ''Kingdom Hearts II''. (This goes both ways though as Terra has some nifty darkness based powers LS doesn't have in ''Kingdom Hearts II''.) Admittedly this is years before that but it's unlikely that LS could pick up any new tricks kneeling in an empty graveyard 12 years until someone approached him (it can't leave the graveyard). The only move you do get to use is the Keyblade cannon which is admittedly LS's coolest move. Oddly Terra can still transform his Keyblade into a vehicle mode to travel words but can't use it in battle, however Aqua and Ventus can use their Keyblade transports in battle making it an odd omission.}}
* Lu Bu in ''[[Dynasty Warriors]] 2-6'' -- In—In one map he's a virtually unkillable super-armoured warrior in constant Musou Rage who can kill you in one or two hits. Then you unlock him and get the version balanced like everyone else (however, since he's so cool as the NPC version, most people will mac him out ASAP anyway -- butanyway—but he's STILL not as tough as the NPC version (though if played well with pre-considered access to Musou Rages and the right balance of magic stuff, he can sometimes kill his other self--justself—just barely))
** This is the case with more than just him though. Good luck getting Guan Yu to be as good as his Fan Castle iteration or Zhang Liao and Gan Ning to do the same for their He Fei forms. Generally if a general was famous for their actions at a specific battle they will get a huge power boost over their regular forms. This is even the case with Lu Bu; compare him at Hu Lao Gate to say Guan Du or the Imperial Seal and you'll notice a huge power difference.
* Particularly bad in ''[[Castlevania III]]'' when you must fight two of you possible allies - {{spoiler|Grant and Alucard}} - before they join your party. Not only do they take more hits and do more damage when you fight them, but they're significantly larger in size as well.
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*** And, ya know, his [[Made of Iron|oodles and oodles of hit points]]. Kanon is only useful later because she has a flat damage output that rivals Ashley's.
* Lampshaded and mercilessly parodied in the [[Affectionate Parody]] game ''[[Jay's Journey]]'', where after the player defeats Shade the Ninja, Shade and Jay realize that they're actually on the same side. Upon joining the heroes' team, Shade loses a ton of hit points, can no longer cast the Dark 2 spell, and [[Dual-Wielding|drops one sword]], causing Jay to gripe. Shade can eventually get the spell and second weapon back, but those boss-level HP are gone for good.
* Averted with ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]''. The game features two [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]]s, Marach and Meliadoul. Meliadoul joins your party late in the game, is appropriately-leveled, has most of her base job techniques already learned, and is equipped with some rather powerful items such as the Save the Queen knight sword. Marach on the other hand was just as crappy as a villain as he is as a hero.
** The inverse also happens. Delita, Argath, and Gafgarion get Betrayal Promotions and become more powerful after they [[Face Heel Turn]], Delita especially.
*** Perfectly justified in the case of Argath and Gafgarion, as their increase in power is simply due to level and equipment progression that is somewhat expected over time. Though one has to wonder how much [[Level Grind]] Argath went through in a short amount of time to go from being a near joke to the fairly challenging opponent he was. Delita, on the other hand gains a completely different default job class which could probably be explained by him going through special training or somesuch during the [[Time Skip]], but how much more powerful he becomes on the battlefield is overshadowed by how much more [[The Chessmaster|dangerous he becomes in the political minefield the game is set in.]]
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* Yuffie in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has several unique and powerful attacks when you first encounter her, but upon joining your party she loses those abilities and becomes a normal character.
** However she'll eventually become far more powerful in your party than her random encounter version ever was anyway.
* Subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' with the [[Summon Magic|Aeon Anima]]. When you first see her, she's being summoned by [[Dark Messiah|Seymour]] and she proceeds to utterly annihilate a passel of fiends infesting the city of Luca--fiendsLuca—fiends your party itself had been fighting earlier--inearlier—in an apparent display of [[Cutscene Power to the Max]]. Later, in the first boss fight against {{spoiler|Seymour}}, he'll summon her and, while she's no pushover, she's a far cry from the engine of destruction she was at Luca. Lastly, much, much, much later in the game, you're allowed to obtain Anima as your own summon, and, well...Can you say [[Game Breaker]]? She's obscenely powerful, naturally breaks the damage limit, and has balanced stats and no fiddly mechanics like the other overpowered Aeons have. Taking her back to Luca to fight fiends identical to the ones that invaded so long ago will reveal that, no, that was ''not'' [[Cutscene Power to the Max]], she ''really can'' rip through them like a woodchipper with balsa. It's very surprising, and also supremely confusing when one remembers that Anima is {{spoiler|Seymour's Final Aeon, and as such should be at her most powerful when summoned by him! I mean, he's supposed to be able to kill ''Sin'' with her, for crying out loud!}}
** Inverted in the game with Seymour himself to a degree; a while after you see him shredding all of those fiends with Anima, he'll join your party for a single bossfight. While very powerful, more so than your characters will be at this stage, he can't summon Anima and isn't nearly as powerful as when {{spoiler|you fight him for the first time not too long afterwards. So he loses power when joining the good guys, it just happens he does this before being revealed as a bad guy.}}
* In ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'', a [[Guest Star Party Member]] pulls a [[Face Heel Turn]] on your party at one point and is much more powerful and durable when you face him in an inevitable boss fight than he was when he was on your side. However, other than gaining passive abilities when he [[Turns Red]], he doesn't pull anything you haven't seen before. All of his attacks are the same ones he had when he was helping you, they just do significantly more damage.
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* In ''<nowiki>[[Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]</nowiki>'', this happens in the middle of the game. Bowser, who you had previously been controlling, fights the Mario Bros as a boss. He has increased HP, increased Attack, and the ability to target both brothers with a move which normally targets one opponent. Justified, however, in that you're the Mario Bros, and thus can dodge his attacks (and counter back) while most enemies cannot dodge his attacks.
* While taming in ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' is not exactly a [[Heel Face Turn]], upon becoming a hunter pet, the tamed beast immediately shrinks in size and loses any special abilities it had, reverting to the generic name (e.g. "Cat") and generic abilities of its species. At least it retains its appearance, prompting hunters to search the wilderness for more unique-looking mobs.
** This actually doesn't count--whilecount—while the pet may lose any special skills and their name, their actual ''stats'' go through the roof, not to mention their level if you went back to an old zone for one.
** Another note: In regards to the pet's level-- itlevel—it is possible, with a particular talent, to tame "The Beast" in the instance [[Leeroy Jenkins]] made famous. The Beast's level is...?? (boss). Upon taming it, it will lose most of its HP (In the wild, this beastie has ~86K, the most you'll ever see a Hunter Pet have is 35K-ish with high end [[PvP]] gear.) and a lot of its attack power, but gain the Talent Points for Your Level -5, and acts as any other Core Hound... however, it retains its displayed level (?? (Boss))...RuleOfCool, much?
* ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]'' has this with pretty much every legendary you can recruit.
** By hacking the data it is possible to see that you actually get a copy of the recruitable boss upon defeating it. The boss version has higher stats in all areas, but most notably HP. They have 500 to 900% more HP than the playable copy you get.
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* An interesting variant: in ''[[Kim Possible]]'', any time Kim's [[Sidekick]] [[This Loser Is You|Ron]] is turned evil (through [[Applied Phlebotinum]] each time), he's suddenly just as much a [[Evil Laugh|cackling]] [[Mad Scientist]] as [[Harmless Villain|Drakken]], only to go back to his [[Book Dumb|usual self]] as soon as the process is reversed (which, [[Status Quo Is God|naturally]], always happens by the end of the episode).
** "As much as" is something of an understatement. He turns out to be far more effective than Drakken, to the point of actually ''intimidating Shego into backing down''.
* In the ''[[BattleTech]]'' cartoon, Ciro Ramirez is a passionate, competant, but also arrogant and inexperienced Mech Jockey serving under Adam Steiner in the 1st Somerset Strikers. He experienced a reversed form of the trope after his [[Face Heel Turn]], [[Justified]] in that the Clans have better technology, more experience, and presumably gave him the [[Training From Hell|sort of training]] that the Clans are known for. <ref> It is worth mentioning that for the Clans, [[Face Heel Turn|Face Heel Turns]]s and [[Heel Face Turn|Heel Face Turns]]s are perfectly acceptable under the right circumstances. Basically, you have to be captured after [[Worthy Adversary|fighting honorably]]; in Ciro's case, he was defeated because he made a [[Last Stand]] against a [[Curb Stomp Battle|superior force]] of Clan Mechs to [[You Shall Not Pass|allow the rest of his squad and a group of civilians to escape]].</ref>
* Who could forget Dark Heart from ''[[Care Bears]]''? Before the [[Heel Face Turn]], he was a bad ass shape shifter. Some [[Power of Love]] and [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]] later, he's a weak human with no powers. [[Pinocchio Syndrome|Becoming a real boy]] is overrated.
* Hexadecimal from ''[[Re Boot]]''. As a virus, she is the queen of chaos. As a sprite, she can't even fly. To save the system from the supervirus Daemon, she must power back up-which drives her right back into total insanity.
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