Non-Action Guy: Difference between revisions
m
clean up
m (update links) |
m (clean up) |
||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|Seven years, Dawn. Working with the slayer. Seeing my friends get more and more powerful. A witch. A demon. Hell, I could fit Oz in my shaving kit, but come a full moon, he had a wolfy mojo not to be messed with. Powerful. All of them. And I'm the guy who fixes the windows.
Line 13:
The preponderance of this can vary from fandom to fandom, though the fans might have a point depending on how the character's written. Trying to [[Took a Level In Badass|masculinate him]] can sometimes turn the [[Action Girl]] into a [[Faux Action Girl]] if done improperly. This is especially likely if the writers attempt to combine [[Rescue Romance]] with [[All Up to You]]... again... and again... (haven't these morons ever heard of the [[Battle Couple]]?!) You can even see tropers putting little 'Actually, this is why X character is really a badass' statements below some examples, as if it's impossible to be a badass and a Non Action Guy at the same time.
Expect [[Fix Fic
{{examples}}
Line 19:
== Anime & Manga ==
* Arguably, Reki from ''[[.hack Legend of the Twilight]]'', since he's never seen fighting or indeed as having ''any'' combat skill whatsoever.
* Yuuno Scrya from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' is the only Mage in the cast without a magical weapon (he had given it up to the series's titular [[Action Girl]]
** It's possible that Yuuno remains a Non Action Guy because his one demonstrated offensive ability, forcing someone to teleport off the field against their will, offers so many [[Portal Cut|unpleasant]] [[Tele Frag|possibilities]] that neither he nor the series creators want to go there.
* Negi Springfield of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' isn't lacking in courage or combat ability. He is, however, a [[Improbable Age|ten-years-old mage and teacher]] with 31 gorgeous female students. As such, he still finds himself in situations where one of the more experienced fighters (the [[Ninja]], the vampire, the demon-hunting mercenary) among his students ends up bailing him out. Anime-only trope, in the manga he is [[Badass|anything but that]]...
** The resident Non Action Guy of the manga is probably Chamo, who doesn't really do anything combat related other than occasionally acting as [[The Strategist]]. Although this is probably because [[Talking Animal|he's an ermine]], so his lack of combat ability isn't really his fault.
** Interestingly, [[Meta Guy|Chisame]] also fits this, despite being female, especially when compared to [[Action Girl|most of the other girls in the cast.]] Eventually she [[Magic Contract Romance|forms a Pactio with Negi]], gaining [[Magical Girl]] [[Technopath|hacker powers]], [[The Worf Barrage|which fail to have any effect nine times out of ten]].
* Rock of ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' is one of two Non Action Guys in the Lagoon Company (the other is [[Mission Control|Benny]], the resident techie), but Rock has the distinction of being the Non Action Guy thrown right in the middle of most of the violence that Revy and Dutch get into. However, he also stands as a prime example that "non-action" does not automatically equate to "weak"
* Yuichi Tate from ''[[Mai-HiME]]'' usually gets into situations where he finds himself over his head. It isn't until the final episode that he finds his... er, manliness.
** Less apparent in the manga, where he's still largely useless but at least ''tries'', and his presence is in fact necessary for Mai and Natsuki to access their full powers.
Line 48:
* Kyon in ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' (who is also the [[Unfazed Everyman]]), at least when compared to Koizumi and ''especially'' Yuki. This is justified by his being the only member of the Brigade without any sort of supernatural ability ([[Wild Mass Guessing]] aside). Interestingly, in spite of this, he's still able to get his stuff done, even if it takes him three tries to clear a level.
* Ouri in ''[[Shikabane Hime]]''.
* Roderich/Austria from ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]''. He was "created" by Vash/Switzerland to be a fighter, but it failed spectacularly and he ended up as a pint-sized [[James Bondage]]. He didn't get a lot better as he grew up into one of the two [[Team Dad
** Feliciano/North Italy. His whole character seems to be based on this trope.
* Kabuto from ''[[Psyren]]'', who's the only person who can't boost his physical power using [[Psychic Powers|PSI]], so has to resort to using his ability to sense incoming attacks to run away praying he dodges in time. {{spoiler|[[Took a Level In Badass|That changes]] after he almost dies, discovers his [[Mental World]] and learns boosting his physical power.}}
* Chiba Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' is totally this in the anime. He says [[Rousing Speech|a few words]] to bolster [[Sailor Moon]]'s spirits, throws a rose, and wanders off. He has to be [[James Bondage|saved from]] death/possession (season one), brainwashing/[[What an Idiot!|his own stupidity]] (season two), villain-induced [[Ill Boy|illness]] (season four), and {{spoiler|death}} (season five), not to mention many smaller instances. Except for providing [[The Power of Love]] a few times and a pivotal future cast member, he's kind of useless in battle. Possibly a case of [[Can't Catch Up]], since the Sailors get [[So Last Season|regular upgrades]] while he... uh, doesn't.
** ONLY in the anime, though. In the manga he had an actual attack and awesome mind
* Nijima of ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple|Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple]]'' is the only member of the Shinpaku alliance (well, other than that guy who carries the flag) who has absolutely no fighting skill.
* Futaba Kudo from ''[[There Beyond the Beyond]]''. Justified in that he's a 12-year-old boy [[Trapped in Another World]].
Line 77:
== Fan Works ==
* Ringo in ''[[With Strings Attached]]''. Lacking any defensive or reliable movement magic, he has to be toted around and protected by the others. He's hardly useless, though, even if he does have a moment or two where he feels like [[The Load]].
** Actually, in a sense all four are
* In the fanfiction [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3442555/1/Street_Sharks_Redux ''Street Sharks: Redux''], Bends is painfully aware of how useless he is in combat.
Line 130:
* Lorne, from [[Angel]]. While the rest of the team fights evil, Lorne's major skill is singing.
* Daniel Jackson from ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''. Gradually became more suited for action.
** Also, most of the male scientists on ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' qualify. Of the three main male science-oriented
** While Zelenka doesn't see much action and clearly dislikes it, his age and nationality suggest that he probably has some background in the military. For all that most people probably wouldn't look to him in a fight, he drops a marine in "Tabula Rasa" and manages to avoid many more of them for most of the episode when forced to fall back on instinct.
* In the first season of the new ''[[Doctor Who]]'', Mickey Smith is explicitly set up as The Guy Who Doesn't Have What It Takes, in contrast to [[Action Girl]] Rose Tyler. In the second season, to justify his continued inclusion in events, it turns out that he does Have What It Takes after all.
Line 181:
== Tabletop Games ==
* Danuvian men in ''[[Talislanta]]''. (The women are [[Hot Amazon
Line 197:
** Notable exceptions to this are Travis, a trucker whose [[Dark and Troubled Past]] is fairly obvious even before [[The Reveal]], and Alex, whose combat abilities are explained as having come back from the military ( {{spoiler|though even THAT comes into question, and is somewhat foreshadowed throughout the plot}}).
* [[Weasel Mascot|Daxter]] is one of these at the start of the ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' series, but [[Character Development]] quickly [[Took a Level In Badass|took care of that]].
* Luka from ''[[Bayonetta]]'' isn't very good at the whole "fighting" thing... he ''is'' good at escaping, though. Justified as while Bayonetta is a [[Person of Mass Destruction]] fighting [[Eldritch Abomination
* Knox, from ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines|Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines]]'' is a ghoul, and very, very aware that he cannot reasonably be expected to survive a fight against a vampire. Which is why he cons you into doing it for him.
* Henpecked Hou from ''[[Jade Empire]]'' was once a competent and respected Drunken Master... until he got tricked into marrying a woman who disapproved of drinking and fighting, and could back up her words. If you have him accompany you, he won't fight enemies, but instead throws wine bottles that allows you to use Drunken Fighting style. On the other hand, he has enough courage to follow you into any sort of danger... as long as you're there to protect him.
| |||