Weak but Skilled: Difference between revisions

** This was also how his first meeting with Mr. Popo went.

** This trope is the bane of the human Z-Senshi's existence. It's entirely possible that Krillin, Yamucha, and Chaozu might be able to keep pace with the Saiyans in terms of actual fighting ''skill'', but the uber-powerful foes the Z-Senshi face mean that the humans typically end up as benchwarmers, or are simply beat up as per [[The Worf Effect]]. Even if it's only anime [[Filler]], Tenshinhan, Yamucha, and even Chaozu did get their own personal [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when they faced the Ginyu Force while being trained by King Kai. North Kai's training methods, which were so good they allowed Goku to utterly thrash [[The Dragon|Nappa]] when he returned to Earth, proved just as effective for the humans in that it allowed them to keep pace with Frieza's elite troops, and come out on top.

* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Red and Green's main Pokémon have levels that range from the 80s to 90s, while only Blue's main powerhouse Pokémon has the level of 80 and everyone else is around 60-70 (her Granbull is only in its 20s). However, she rarely engages in direct combat as her victories are contributed to her skilled use of [[Gambit Index|gambits]].

** Yellow counts too, when she's not using her [[Super Empowering|level-booster powers]]. By base level alone, she is by far the weakest of the Dex Holders. She can think up of a few sound strategies during battle to make up for her lack of strength (since overusing her powers rapidly exhausts her), but the flaws of this trope are pointed out to her when she works out a complicated scheme to get past Lance's primary defense but is unable to actually break through his secondary one due to simply not having enough power.

* ''[[Ookiku Furikabutte]]'' - [[Playing with a Trope|Invoked]] - Momome points out that although Tajima is supernaturally quick, he just doesn't have the build to be a power hitter in baseball.

** Said Girlfriend is the polar opposite of Yukki, but still manages to fit this trope. She is very strong and skilled, but her Diary is the weakest, only being able to predict one persons actions and her own Dead End.

* ''[[Initial D]]'' gives us Takumi and his AE86 Trueno. Although his Trueno pales in comparison to more powerful cars like the RX-7s and Skylines, his skill with the Trueno is what allows him to, to the shock of those who haven't seen him in action yet, hold his own against such more powerful cars.

* [[Infinite Stratos]]: Maya Yamada, the assistant homeroom teacher, goes up against two students in Ace Customs, using a training IS... and effortlessly curbstomps them.

** In the same vein, Charles {{spoiler|aka Charlotte}} Dunois. Having explicitly stated to pilot an outdated 2nd Generation IS Rafale Revive II (the same type that Yamada-sensei uses), albeit customized, she can and has gone toe-to-toe with more modern 3rd generation machines such as Blue Tears and Schwarzer Roegen.

* ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'': While Jin is definitely not physically weak, he's a lot more reliant on technical skill than his rival Mugen. This trope is most evident in the fight against {{spoiler|Kariya}}; Jin's actually very close in skill with him, but outclassed in sheer power and Ki-Attacks.

* Kuroko of ''[[Kuroko no Basuke]]''. He doesn't have the talent or the build for basketball, but because of his highly refined and practiced skill at misdirection, he was able to be considered the "Phantom Sixth Player" of the legendary Generation of Miracles, his middle school team which took the national championship three years in a row.

* [[Squirrel Girl]], who has the powers of [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|talking to squirrels while having squirrel agility]], takes down Marvel powerhouses, including the Cosmic Powered Thanos, by [[Weaksauce Weakness|exploiting their one weakness]], being just that good, or having [[Plot Armor]].

** [[Rule of Funny]] is also a factor.

* Averted in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]''. Calvin once attempted to use this on Moe the school bully -- or at least explain its mechanics -- only to be beaten as easily as usual.

* This is Karate Kid's (''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'') entire schtick: although he technically doesn't possess any super-powers, he can still hold his own against Superman thanks to his knowledge of every martial art in existence.

* This is pretty much the schtick of Reed Richards of the [[Fantastic Four]]. He's physically the weakest member, but his mind makes him the most dangerous by a long shot.

* [[Hellblazer|John Constantine]] is, by his own admission, terrible at fighting. He will more often than not lose out in a straight-up fist fight and doesn't really use any magic outside of rituals, and then only when absolutely necessary. Regardless, anyone who decides to piss him off better watch their backs, because chances are that he will be arranging some spectacularly terrible fate for them somewhere down the line.

** In one instance Captain America lost the strength and agility that was given to him by the Super Solider serum, turning him back into that skinny kid from Brooklyn. While being intimidated by some newly super-powered thugs, Cap tells them that while the serum gave him physical strength, his skills are the result of years of training and discipline. [[Curb Stomp Battle|He then demonstrates.]]

* [[Empowered]] has shown signs of this. While her supersuit really is pretty powerful, it is easily damaged and rendered useless, making her an extreme [[Glass Cannon]]. However, unlike 99% of the other superheroes in her universe, she actually thinks, and this has allowed her to beat villains that others were not able to. She also notes that as cool as throwing a car looks, you'll do much more damage [[Car Fu|by just driving it into them.]]

* In ''Forbidden City Cop'', Ling Ling Fat inherited a position in the imperial bodyguards, but doesn't actually know any martial arts. Instead, he's a clever [[Renaissance Man]] who uses his wits and inventions to outfight his enemies.

* ''[[Zatoichi]]: The Blind Swordsman''. He's old, blind, feeble, and homeless. He practically hobbles up to his opponents, and then cuts them down.

 

 

* One of the 'viewpoint' protagonists in the light novel series ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', Emiya Kiritsugu, is presented as this. While he is an [[Cold Sniper|expert marksman]], most of his successes come from [[Combat Pragmatist|exploiting]] [[Shoot the Hostage|his targets' weaknesses]] and [[Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty|generally fighting very methodically]]. Whenever he is in a direct confrontation, he will ''always'' be the one running away, while waiting for the best time to put his plans into action.

* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', Mat Cauthon outfights two stronger and more practiced opponents at the same time, while recovering from a serious illness. He's ''really'' good with the [[Simple Staff|quarterstaff]].

* Jasmine from ''[[Deltora Quest]]'' is tiny, and basically has this as her fighting style throughout the series, even winning a fighting tournament with it in the fourth book. Lief also uses it to an extent, he's at least average in size and strength, but most opponents are still bigger and stronger.

* David from [[The Bible]] ([[David Versus Goliath|in his fight against Goliath]]) is the [[Trope Codifier|quintessential]] weak but skilled character.

* [[Elric]], until he acquires Stormbringer

* Subverted in the Detective's Story in [[Dan Simmons]]' [[Hyperion]], where the protagonist notes that while [[Weak but Skilled]] is sometimes good enough, it can't stand up to Strong And Skilled.

* In ''[[Dark Rendezvous]]'', Scout is a Jedi Padawan. The Force is weak with her; she makes up for it with determination, quick thinking, and endless training. She's got [[Heroic Resolve]] in spades and bloody-minded determination, and in a book full of concern about almost every other character maybe one day turning to the Dark Side, no one believes Scout will, not even herself, because she fights so hard to be the best Jedi she can be. Just to drive home the point of how good she was: she survived [[The Purge]] that killed most of the full Knights and Masters of the Jedi order. In her non-Dark Rendezvous appearance the author had other Jedi look down on her for having weak powers, but it only takes one line to see that that author was just not doing the research.

{{quote|'''Yoda:''' "Too few Jedi have I already. But even had I a crop of thousands, small one, I would not let you go without a fight. Spirit and determination you have. Between the stars, so much darkness there is. [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Why would I throw away one who burns so bright?]]"}}

** Most salarian soldiers do this. Salarian are not a strong race, so they use their heads to fight.

** Shepard in the original ''[[Mass Effect]]'' was a regular, ordinary human, who ''still'' managed to take down Krogan, Thresher Maws and even Reapers. Technically this makes them ''more'' badass than they are in the sequels, as the Lazarus Project meant they were now [[Made of Iron]].

* You as Gene in ''[[God Hand]]''. Sure, between the [[Super Mode|Unleash]] and the [[Limit Break|Reel/Roulette]] you do have a lot of power, but the other 80% of the time when you're building up to the former, even simple mooks can tear you a new breathing hole very fast. Dodging and knowing when and how to retaliate are very important. It's a [[Nintendo Hard]] game, folks.

* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'''s Spy class is [[Fragile Speedster|one of the weakest classes in a straightfoward fight]], however, if you [[Difficult but Awesome|learn to play him to his stealth genre strengths in this otherwise FPS]] a Spy is the stuff of your opponent's worst nightmares, being [[Magnificent Bastard|a silent killer who's like a lethal version of Batman, instilling fear and terror into the enemy as they breath their last breaths.]]

** It can be argued that the Sniper is shades of this trope as well. While the Spy has [[Cloaking Device|invisibility]] and [[Paper-Thin Disguise|disguises]] to aid him, the Sniper has only his rifle, his wits, and his marksmanship to take down his opponents. And more often than not, he does.

* The Swordmaster Class of the [[Fire Emblem]] series, at least in the games they appear, tend to be this, but the class that epitomizes the trope would be the even rarer class, Assassin. Swordmasters have high speed and skill with a relatively low strength cap, but also gain a boost anywhere from 15% to 30%, depending on game, to their critical chance. Assassins tend to have the lowest strength cap in any given game they're in for final class promotions, but also have the highest skill cap, and are the only class with a one hit kill move that deals death even if they'd normally not even do damage with a normal attack.

* ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' gives us [[Highly-Visible Ninja|Bang]] [[Rated "M" for Manly|Shishigami]]. "Weak" as in being one of the few pure humans in the series, and thus having no genetic or eldritch empowerment, he also lacks an empowered weapon with which to do battle with these beings. {{spoiler|He actually has a powerful Nox Nyctores, but has no idea how to use it and that thing has been in dormant state.}} "Skilled" as in his long years of ninja trainings which includes various ninja skills, including the hidden technique [[Super Mode|"Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan"]] (yes, that can be attained through training) and most importantly creative uses of them... especially the last one, since with that, he could survive against two high-class [[Complete Monster]] on [[Villain Sue]] levels (it does help that everyone else underestimates him). And with all those skills, he can handle himself just fine against various superpowered other characters in the game.

 

 

== Real Life ==

* The Gracie family used this principle to win several of the early UFC and other NHB tournaments despite being generally smaller, lighter and weaker than many of their muscular powerhouse opponents through proper application of techniques with which the other fighters were unfamiliar, and in fact Royce Gracie was chosen to represent the family in the early UFC for this reason (as opposed to a larger relative). When the rest of the world became familiar with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the advantage disappeared.

** Roger Gracie both subverts and plays this trope straight; while he is renowned for his skill and technique, some observers and opponents believe that his physical attributes -- specifically a mix of his long limbs (he's 6-foot-4) and functional strength -- play a substantive role in his ability to implement them. Also, only one of his losses in the 21st century was to a grappler in his own weight class; all of his other known losses were to lighter opponents.