Unfit for Greatness: Difference between revisions

A fundamentally good and well-meaning character who attains (either by chance or through his own effort) a position of great prestige, power, and responsibility--only to cause more harm than good because he doesn't have enough [[Comes Great Responsibility|willpower, foresight, and general virtue to handle them right]]. Despite trying to make life better for others with his power, he ends up wasting it on petty things or unwittingly pushing them into ruin. The tragedy of this character is that he often ''realizes'' that he screwed it all up but doesn't know how to fix it (and in this, he is different from someone who's simply [[Drunk Withwith Power]]).

Contrast [[Reluctant Ruler]] and [[Cincinnatus]]. See also [[Drunk Withwith Power]] and [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]. [[Reality Warping Is Not a Toy]] is a common fantastic variation.

* In ''[[Labyrinths of Echo (Literature)|Labyrinths of Echo]]'', [[Da Chief|Chief of the police]] General Bubuta Bokh. He earned his rank and more for exploits during the war, remains loyal, not malicious (only [[Large Ham|noisy]]), his abuses of power are limited to petty embezzlement and nepotism. He's also completely unfit for this job, except the part when he scares arrested folk. Note that he doesn't actually screw anything up (yet)--if only thanks to the work of [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|much more competent lieutenants]] working under him.

* Philipp Tagere from the ''[[Arcia Chronicles]]'' is a brave warrior and a charming diplomat but turns out to be a weak king who estranges his best courtiers and officers and surrounds himself with yes men. He is contrasted by his two younger brothers, Edmon ({{spoiler|who dies young}}) and Alexander ({{spoiler|who succeeds Philipp but is overthrown by external enemies soon thereafter}}). On the other hand, he is also contrasted by Pierre Lumen, who {{spoiler|overthrows and succeeds Alexander}} and is simply [[Drunk Withwith Power]] and has an "[[It's All About Me]]" attitude when it comes to state affairs, completely blind to his lack of political skill. Pierre ''does'' approach this trope once or twice when he ponders on his and Alexander's differences but he prefers to suppress these thoughts.

* In ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'', Jacob's disappeared father actually crash-landed with his crew on a planet whose environment began destroying their cognitive functions. At first, he rationed the uncontaminated food for the scientists working to get them all off the planet. Then, however, he gave in to temptation and turned the camp and mindless crewmates into his personal kingdom. By the time Shepard and crew arrive, things have gotten bad.