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Very often [[The Chick]] or [[The Smart Guy]] is likely to have this in a [[Five-Man Band]]. See also [[White Mage]], [[The Medic]], and [[Combat Medic]]. In Videogames, The [[White Magician Girl]] is often this.
{{examples
== Anime ==
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' revels in this trope:
** The original series had Yuuno supporting Nanoha's firepower with shields, healing, and binding spells. Fate's Arf would be this but she also packed quite a bit of a punch.
** In ''A's'', Shamal (and, to a lesser degree, Zafira) was this to the Wolkenritter, while Yuuno reprised his role for Team Nanoha.
** In ''StrikerS'', this was the official duty of Caro for Lightning Team. Ditto Teana for the StarS team, though she was mainly "shoot anyone who tries to flank the fighters" kind of support. Also, at least one third of the Numbers were supporting types (especially Otto).
* [[Mahou Sensei Negima]], Around half the current group of main heroes fall under this so much so they have a Character Page to themselves [[Mahou Sensei Negima
** Most Notable is Ako who is a [[Status Buff|Buff Bot]] , Nodoka the [[Mind Probe|Mind Reader]] (Before she started [[Min-Maxing]] her powers to the point where even the [[Big Bad]] fears her.) and Natsumi who has an [[Invisibility Cloak]] ability.
* ''[[Darker
* Borderline example: Sailor Mercury in the first season of ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. Her "bubble spray" attack was used to stun and disorient enemies, and her only other power was an [[Everything Sensor]] visor. She finally got some offensive attacks in the later seasons. She has attacks, but they are entirely non lethal, compared to her teammates'.
* Lampshaded in ''[[Puni Puni Poemi]]'': When the Aasu sisters try to defeat the [[Humongous Mecha]] that's destroying the city, they quickly realize that all seven of them are Support Party Members with no offensive powers.
* ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure|Futari wa Pretty Cure MaX Heart]]'' has the [[Sixth Ranger|new heroine]], Shiny Luminous, whose powers revolve entirely around hampering enemies and enhancing Cure Black and Cure White's attacks.
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== Comics ==
* [[The Fantastic Four]], especially before Sue Storm [[Took a Level
* Several members of the ''[[X
** Subverted with Professor Xavier of course, who is a telepath AND in a wheelchair. So you'd expect him to be _spectacularly_ useless in a fight. Except he can mind control you, screw with your brain and perceptions, and do all sorts of things to your mind.
* Several members of the ''[[Justice League of America]]'', Like [[The Atom]] (who can shrink).
* The ''[[Guardian Project]]'' heroes are all based on NHL teams. The Montreal Canadien's power is... magnifying the powers of the other Guardians.
== Film ==
* Violet of ''[[The Incredibles]]'' who has the same powers as the Invisible Woman.
* Most of the future Hero support of ''[[Sky High]]'' fall either in this, or in [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?]].
== [[Live Action Television]] ==
* In ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'', All the 5 core rangers have a special power given by their suits. Red can cause energy bursts, Blue can manipulate time, Yellow can also shoot energy (and read energy patterns), Green can teleport. Black, however, can give himself a few seconds of invulnerability, a purely defensive power. In breaking the mold, he's also [[The Big Guy]].
* Phoebe from the earlier seasons of ''[[
** Leo's main role during a lot of the initial seasons of ''[[
* Micah Sanders of ''[[Heroes]]'' is a technopath.
== Tabletop Games ==
* The Healer base class from [[Dungeons
** The Wizard in [[Dungeons
** Similarly the Bard, who has almost no attack spells, and whose songs are buffs
** Ditto the Artificer, who can make and mod magical items out of combat, but during a fight almost entirely depends on his sub-par combat skills.
* In ''[[Shadowrun]]'' this can be the fate of many Hackers and Facemen, as their skills are best used for the mission outside of combat, where they are amongst the most useful party members. In a fight, they will pale compared to Street Samurais, Adepts and Mages.
* Normally, having a gun that shoots rocket propelled exploding cartridges would send one straight into [[Combat Medic]], but in the [[Crapsack World]] of [[Warhammer
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Because of how the ''[[Guild Wars]]'' skill and attribute system works, party members often specialize into specific roles, including support roles. The most common is probably monks or ritualists taking only healing and protection related skills.
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' makes regular use of this trope: The white mage class in general is this. They only ever get Holy (their only attack spell) at very high level. Same for the bard, when present, who only provides buffs for the party members. As such, characters of these classes are examples of this.
** Minwu of ''[[
** Edward, Porom and Rosa of ''[[
** Garnet (Before she got her summons) of ''[[
** Yuna of ''[[
** Some other classes of ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' count too, like the Chemist and Orator.
** The ''[[Final Fantasy X
* The Cleric classes from ''[[Ogre Battle]]'' act as this, only healing the party. This in turn makes them some of the most valuable troops to have.
* Ninten from [[
* [[
* Accordion Thieves from [[Kingdom of Loathing]] are this, being bards with a slightly different flavor. They have no combat skills, only buffs. And they can only have three of their buffs running at a time. And it's a single player game. Needless to say, they are not a very popular class.
* Support characters are an important part of the ''[[League of Legends]]'' [[Metagame]]. They are typically paired up with your team's [[Magikarp Power|AD Carry]], either protecting them or feeding them kills until they can become the late-game powerhouses they are meant to be.
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[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
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