Unskilled but Strong: Difference between revisions

[[File:Trope - Unskilled But Strong 2 6669.jpg|link=Incredible Hulk|frame|Are you really going to criticize his poor form?]]

 

 

[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|As the name implies]], this is the inverse of [[Weak but Skilled]].

 

 

When seen in a protagonist, their lack of skill is typically only because it's the first episode and they've only just discovered their powers. The initial stages of the series, if not the series as a whole, will then focus on improving the protagonist's innate talents. It also gives the series a justification for why a complete newbie to whatever power they've uncovered is able to fight with or against people who have more experience, or why they can come along in training relatively quickly. One common type of this is the [[Super Prototype]] that the [[Ordinary High School Student]] is [[Falling Into the Cockpit]] of.

In an antagonist, an Unskilled But Strong character is commonly either the very first foe the protagonist faces or one of the last. In the former case, they're a [[Starter Villain]] and may be fond of [[Badass Boast]]s but prove all talk in the face of the much more skilled protagonist. In the latter, they provide a hurdle against which the protagonist must disprove the theory that [[Hard Work Hardly Works]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* Many young heroes in the ''[[Gundam]]'' series are notably less skilled than their more experienced [[Ace Pilot]] adversaries, but manage to survive due to [[Falling Into the Cockpit]] of a [[Super Prototype]]. Generally, though, they survive enough battles through the series to become experienced and an ace in their own right.

** In a specific example, in [[Mobile Suit Gundam|the original series]], Amuro Ray (who's been piloting the Gundam for roughly a month and a half at this point) manages to defeat Ramba Ral, a veteran soldier who's been piloting a mobile suit since they were first introduced to the battlefield four years ago. Ral praises Amuro, but tells him not to get cocky, since it was the Gundam's power and not his own skill that won the day; Amuro just calls him a [[Sore Loser]].

* Similarly, Bunshichi Tawara in ''[[Tenjho Tenge]]'' is reported to be entirely self-taught, but was able to defeat a powered up Shin Natsume in a fight.

** Ichigo, as well. His incredibly high spiritual power is remarked upon from the very beginning, yet he is often completely outclassed by more experienced opponents. However, he relies on being [[Taught By Experience]], something remarked on multiple times in the series.

** Wonderweiss is so fast and strong that he can take on [[Badass Grandpa|Yamamoto]]. The old man complements his power, but quickly reveals that his vastly superior skill and experience is more than enough to turn the tide.

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' villains sometimes fell into this category. Pretty much all of them were highly-trained fighters, but often lacked knowledge of certain techniques. Freeza was one of the few villains who knew how to raise and lower his power level, but lacked knowledge on how to sense ki without a scouter. The over reliance on scouters caused his army to underestimate their enemies. A few like Fat Buu relied on raw power and healing to win.

** To expand, Freeza had spent so much time toying with opponents far weaker that he never learned how to stand up in a protracted battle against someone of equal strength. Once raw power was proven not to be enough, it was only a matter of time before the more highly trained (and now more powerful) Goku defeated him.

* Yoshimori is this way in ''[[Kekkaishi]]'', although he's improving, in contrast to his [[Weak but Skilled]] counterpart, Tokine.

* Due to unusual circumstances ''[[Beet the Vandel Buster]]'' can use five of the powerful magical weapons called Saiga, when most individuals can use only one. However, early parts of the series are spent with Beet learning how to fully utilize his five Saiga and Beet has zero ability in the more basic magical skills which are supposed to be the lead up to obtaining a Saiga in the first place. One character even comments that he learns everything backwards.

* Takeshi Sendo from ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]''. His raw power and fighting instincts are top-notch. His biggest weakness is lack of technical skill.

** Subverted and played straight with Brian Hawk. It is the very lack of skillfull boxing that makes him so incredibly dangerous. He doesn't have the limits of the textbook boxing techniques and, combined with naturally insane power, speed and reflexes, becomed completely unpredictable. His fighting style is even described by his trainer as not being boxing but "simply violence." Takamura spends the first half of their fight trying to prove that boxing skill ''is'' of use. It is eventually played straight when Hawks trainer learns how very superior Takamura is through having learned the proper technique and how much of a backbone Brian Hawk lacks because of his lack of proper training.

* ''[[Kinnikuman]]'s'' Buffaloman was not a great fighter at all until he made a [[Deal with the Devil]] and gained his ten million Choujin Power.

* Luffy's victory over Boa Sandersonia and Boa Marigold in ''[[One Piece]]'' falls into this. The sisters' mastery of [[Ki Attacks|Haki]] allows them to predict Luffy's movements and deflect his attack. Once Luffy goes into his Gear 2nd power-up, however he's able to move so fast that predicting him is useless and his attacks are powerful enough to overwhelm any attempt to block.

** Of the Post-[[Time Skip]] villains, {{spoiler|Hody Jones}} gets accused of this by Jimbei, who effortlessly blocks a powerful attack from him. He's also proven to be absolutely ''no'' match for Luffy whatsoever when they finally begin to throw down.

* Takashi Kawamura from ''[[Prince of Tennis]]''. He considers himself the burden of the Seigaku team, yet can fight [[Genius Bruiser]] Kabaji to a standstill. He then does it again, but against {{spoiler|Gin Ishida from Shitenhouji}}.

* Kouichi in ''[[Kurogane no Linebarrel]]'' is this [[Character Development|at first]]; most of his early victories are entirely due to Linebarrel being a [[Lightning Bruiser]], and he causes extreme amounts of collateral damage from inexperience. [[Weak but Skilled|Reiji]] points all of this out when ''he hands Kouichi his ass'' in the fourth episode of the anime.

* Yoshika from ''[[Strike Witches]]'' starts out as one of these, selected by Mio for her immense raw power. Her inability to focus her power causes problems early on.

** Katou also applies. Despite his lack of real training, he wins through brute strength, [[Combat Pragmatist|fighting dirty]] and drug-taking that makes him [[Feel No Pain]]. {{spoiler|He gets utterly destroyed later on when a MMA exponent decides to get serious.}}

{{quote|'''Touma:''' The strongest esper in Academy City... really has no skills at all, huh? Then grit your teeth, weakling. Because a punch [[Badass Normal|from the weakest]] ''[[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|is gonna hurt]]''.}}

** Touma himself is tough as nails and an experienced street fighter, but he gets his ass handed to him when he faces trained martial artists like Kaori and Motoharu.

* Whenever there is a [[Batman]]/[[Superman]] face off then Bats is the [[Weak but Skilled]], with Supes this trope.

** Superman is often subject to this. Other writers recall just ''how much time'' he has spent fighting other superpowered beings as strong or even stronger than he is, and decide he would probably be long dead if he charged at them all the time. This was spelled out with a fight between Superman and [[Evil Counterpart|Ultraman]], where Superman [[Curb Stomp Battle|squashed]] him because Ultraman's method of killing his enemies as soon as he could (as well as presumably sending out his minions) meant that he got very little practice fighting beings on his level.

* Most of the Gauls in ''[[Asterix]]'' have shades of this, but Obelix is the only ''true'' example. Due to being permanently [[Super Strength|superpowered]], he hasn't even had the benefit of unpowered combat training the others had. This is demonstrated abundantly in the (non-canon) comic ''The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'', where one of the trials pits him and Obelix against a Germanic Judo-master. Obelix's attempts to smash through him with brute force are effortlessly redirected, and he quickly proves entirely unable to hurt the little man. Fortunately, Asterix is there to effectively ''talk'' the man into submission... or, rather, distract him with talk and an interest in the man's fighting style that gets the poor German to give Asterix instructions and allow himself to be used as a training dummy, realising he's helped Asterix subdue him only after having his arms and legs tied into knots.

* Galactus, at least in "Top Trumps". Super high stats in everything but weapon Skill. He doesn't seem to have much technique other than draining the enemy to death, but when you eat planets...

* The Evil Queen / Regina from ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'' is the [[Manipulative Bastard]] version of this. She's not very smart, and completely [[Genre Blind]]. But she has tools to make up for that—in the fairy tale realm her army and her magic, in the real world she can cower everyone with her status as mayor. With her hate driving her, she uses these to plow through any obstacle in her path.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze]]'' protagonist Gentaro Kisaragi starts off like this, having no fighting skills when he [[Jumped At the Call|straps on the belt]] and starts fighting [[Monster of the Week|Zodiarts]]. This puts him at a disadvantage when he comes up against more skilled opponents, like the Unicorn Zodiarts (a member of the school's fencing club) and [[Second Rider|Kamen Rider Meteor]] (a practitioner of [[Bruce Lee|Jeet Kun Do]]). Eventually he [[Took a Level in Badass|takes a level in badass]] thanks to some training from his homeroom teacher Haruka Uesugi, who's a talented kickboxer.

 

 

== Sports ==

* {{spoiler|[[Runaway Brain|Julius]]}} as he appears in ''[[Kingdom Hearts 3D]]'' uses only punches, body slams, and charges for his attacks. However, the fact that he's a [[Bonus Boss]] in a ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' game should give you a good idea about how tough he is.

* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'': The Fighter and Warrior classes are the embodiment of this trope, with loads of raw strength and HP but poor speed and skill. This is further perpetuated in their battle animations, where half of the time they're practically stumbling over themselves. The fighter's axe and warrior's bow criticals, for example, consist of nothing more than the unit flailing his weapon around uselessly before attacking.

 

== Webcomics ==

* Bob the Beholder in ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' isn't terribly bright and lacks finesse. He succeeds at his tasks in spite of this because he's... [[Eye Beams|well, a beholder.]]

* Subverted in ''[[Spinnerette]]'', where the titular hero's [[Super Strength|spider strength]] is no match for a black belt in aikido.

 

== Web Original ==

== Western Animation ==

* Bamm-Bamm in ''[[The Flintstones]]''.

* The ''[[Superfriends]]'' episode "The Evil From Krypton" featured a General Zod [[Captain Ersatz]] called Zy-Kree. He had all of Superman's powers, but no skill. [[Aquaman]] is able to hold his own and outmaneuver him with tactics. When he and Superman clash, Superman demonstrates that he actually knows how to fight, and pwns him before sending him back to the [[Phantom Zone]].

{{quote|'''Aquaman''': You did it! You defeated him!

{{quote|'''Katara:''' She's strong.

'''Other Master:''' She lacks restraint. }}

 

== Real Life ==

* New military technology often came out before the tactics to use it were fully developed but sometimes it remains effective because of its sheer power. One of the most prominent examples is that commanders in [[World War I]] rarely knew how to use tanks effectively, but simply sending them forward to attack was incredibly potent. This is less common with modern technology as modern weapons design has hit a plateau without many entirely new innovations that actually work <ref>The 70 years following the introduction of smokeless powder first in 1847 saw the first modern cartridge appeared in 1869, the box magazine in 1879, the machine gun in 1883, the semi-automatic in 1892, chromed barrels in 1911 and the man portable full automatic in 1916 among many other innovations. By contrast the 70 years proceeding 2016 have largely been refinements of the existing concepts and failed experiments outside of optics and artillery, which don't require substantially different different tactics from their predecessors, and vehicles, which seem to be hitting similar plateaus</ref> and the modern R&D process has learned to include steps to avoid this.

* Computer hardware often falls into a similar problem where drivers and programs aren't yet optimized to the new hardware, but as new hardware it is still substantially more powerful than its predecessors.

 

{{reflist}}