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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''This is the dreaded Damien? He moves like an amateur! Wait... [[Playing with Fire|that fire]] could easily win him most fights, [[Healing Factor|he can regenerate]], and he's supposed to have [[Super Strength]]... he's never ''needed'' skill before! [[Superpower Lottery|His fighting style is totally dependent on his powers!]]''|'''Elliot, on [[Big Bad|Damien]]''', ''[[El Goonish Shive]]''}}
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[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|As the name implies]], this is the inverse of [[Weak but Skilled]].
A character who is
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
Compare [[Skilled but Naive]]. Contrast [[Weak but Skilled]]. Often pursues a [[Bigger Stick]]. Can also overlap with [[Brilliant but Lazy]], or [[Incompletely Trained]] (or both). This character is often the Goliath in [[David Versus Goliath]]. Characters with explicitly superhuman abilities can have this cured with [[Boxing Lessons for Superman]]. If they never get formal training, they may instead be [[Taught By Experience]].
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* The title character of ''[[Naruto]]'' is described as this by Jiraiya. As he explains when he becomes Naruto's mentor, Naruto possesses such a large reserve of chakra (thanks to his being the [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Nine-Tailed Fox's Can]]), that he can more readily rely on raw power ninjutsu instead of learning the more fine control techniques his peers have learned.
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** A shadowy figure in the Yomi base hints that Berserker may be coming back, although without the "unskilled" part.
* 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.
* [[Blood Knight|Kenpachi]] from ''[[Bleach]]'' relies on raw power and bloodlust, and it works out quite well. No [[Super Mode|bankai]], no functional ''shikai'', no kido, no special techniques. He acquired his position simply by [[Klingon Promotion|killing his predecessor]]. His idea of a sword technique is ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|using both hands to hold his sword]]''
** 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.
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** Kintarou Tooyama happens to be both this trope ''and'' [[Skilled but Naive]]. He's got raw talent and physical strength by the wazoo, but is also a [[Wild Child]] and the poster child for [[Idiot Hero]].
** Kaidoh Kaoru fits to a lesser extent. While he is a strong tennis player, most of his techniques merely revolve around variations of his signature technique "Snake" (until the nationals arc, he possessed only two; the rest were developed through Inui's guidance). However, [[Determinator|he is extremely tenacious]], able to hold his own against the much more skilled and violent Kirihara.
* In ''[[Durarara!!]]'', Shizuo Heiwajima's typical fighting style is described as the real-life equivelent of [[Button Mashing]]. Given that he can bench-press a van and deflect or occasionally break a blade on his skin, this is just about all he needs.
* Jin of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' considers Mugen to be this. But [[Samurai|Jin]] does have [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|that kind of relationship]] with Mugen. It does bite him in the ass against [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Hand of God]] [[Big Bad|Kiriya]] though.
* ''[[Ikki Tousen]]'s'' Hakufu Sonsaku is considered to be the worst fighter of Kanto. Despite that, she's also the strongest of the fighters and has rarely ever been defeated. She's even the leader of Nanyo Academy.
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* An unusual example is to be found in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' - Negi's father Nagi Springfield, known as the 'Thousand Master' for supposedly mastering a thousand spells, is revealed to be a heroic, magical version of this. In truth, he only knows something like 5-6 spells by heart, and has to perform anything more complicated than the bare-bone basics from a tome - but he backs those spells up with a LUDICROUS amount of raw magical power (and a bit of mundane trickery).
** Jack Rakan is thought to be this by many people, and at first glance he doesn't appear to do anything more than just hit things really hard. However, he's [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]: he's ''very'' skilled on top of all his raw power, he just doesn't see much need to use his skills unless his opponent is strong enough to warrant it.
* Hanamichi Sakuragi from ''[[Slam Dunk]]'' is incredibly tall for his early age and has huge physical strength as well as almost animalistic reflexes and jump abilities, but his raw power is paired with a complete lack of experience skill. Therefore he gets stuck by the sidelines in the first part of the series, and has to go through [[Training
** Hitoshi Morishige is a similar, yet less extreme case. He has already gone through the training and it shows when we see him play, but is still very rough around the edges. I.e: he's seen performing an excellent slam dunk, but then gets scolded by the referee for knocking two opponents down while at it.
* Lt. Surge's Raichu in the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime falls into this. Surge's belief that only fully evolved Pokémon were worthwhile caused him to turn his Pikachu into a Raichu immediately. This Raichu lacks the techniques he would've learned only as a Pikachu and thus relies on his immense power to win.
* 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.
* ''[[Holyland]]'':
** Yuu
** 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.}}
* Noted by Touma during his first fight with Accelerator in ''[[
{{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.
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* The main character of ''[[Psyren]]'' Yoshina Ageha starts out this way, being less skilled than fellow newbie Hiryu. This is justified by his incredibly powerful yet unstable PSI Melchese Door relying more on emotion. Though he quickly has to overcome it due to the toll it takes on his mind.
* Munakata Kei from ''[[Medaka Box]]'' possesses a [[Hyperspace Arsenal]] of a whole variety of weapons(katana, grenades, guns, hammers). However, he lacks any actual skill at handling his weapons, and tosses aside any that don't finish the job. Zenkichi manages to counter almost all his weapons because of this, though is severely tired by the process.
* Rin, from ''[[Blue Exorcist]]'' episode three onwards, can sling around some pretty impressive pyrotechnics. However, later in the series, he is given a training exercise where he has to light two candles while missing a third and ends up repeatedly torching all three, to his growing frustration.
* At one point lampshaded in ''[[Darker
* In ''[[High School DxD]]'', once Issei becomes a lot stronger than before, he gets hit with this trope seeing as his strength is pretty much him being able to dish out a lot of damage to his opponents. However, he notes that if he can't even hit them then what's the point.
* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Sora no Otoshimono]]''. Astraea is physically the strongest of the Angeloids, but she's a complete [[Baka|idiot]]. While this prevents her from using her strength to its full potential, {{spoiler|Daedalus}} points out that "The reason I didn't give her any processing power...is because she doesn't need any."
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** This was also subverted in the ''[[Planet Hulk]]'' arc where Hulk is marooned on the harsh planet Sakaar and finds himself weaker then he'd normally be on Earth due to unexplained environmental differences. Press ganged into becoming a gladiator, Hulk is forced to develop sufficient skills to survive and claw his way to the top. As a result, by the time the arc ends Hulk has not only gained some combat skills but is even ''stronger'' and smarter then he was before. And also really, ''[[Oh Crap|really]]'' [[World War Hulk|mad at the people who shot him into space in the first place]]. And then [[Jeph Loeb]] decided to turn him back into [[Dumb Muscle]] just because.
** Hulk's skill level fluctuates almost as much as his strength. His strength is dependent on how angry he is, while his skill level is largely dependent on which of his many [[Multiple Personalities]] is active at the moment.
** In addition to his strength, the Hulk is often shown making up for his relative lack of skill with [[Combat Pragmatist|raw pragmatism]]. More particularly, while he's not exactly known for his finesse, the Hulk has gained a tremendous amount of experience in knowing just ''how'' to use his strength for best effect, including against those enemies he can't just smash.
* 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.
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** Marvel handbooks gives most of cosmic beings like Eternity or Death maximal stats at everything except fighting skills.
* Lampshaded in ''[[Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', when Peter complains that he's been just getting by on luck and his natural strength and speed, so Mary Jane suggests he take martial arts. In the first 100 comics of the series, there's a surprising number of times where he actually gets the crap kicked out of him.
** [[Word of God]] indicates that Peter was in fact ''very'' skilled at using his powers and at fighting, especially towards the latter half of his career. It's [[Informed Flaw|specified]] that his successor Miles Morales is drawn much clumsier in order to contrast the two.
* While [[Irredeemable|The Plutonian]] often shows himself to be very intelligent and more then able to outwit his foes, when finally forced into combat with someone on his level of power he gets his ass kicked as he never needed to learn to fight.
* The Juggernaut in ''[[X-Men]]''
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* Psylocke in ''[[X-Men]]'' after she becomes telekinetic; she can level mountains, but literally lacks the finesse to pick up a dime. Later, Hellion of the New X-men is shown to be similarly strong but unskilled in the use of his telekinesis.
* At a party thrown by the Superhomeys in ''[[Empowered]]'', Ninjette redirects Captain Havoc's super-strength punch with martial arts, and throws him to the floor. Offscreen sound effects and dialog indicate she does it several more times, to the amusement of the other heroes.
== Fan Works ==
* All of the four in ''[[With Strings Attached]]''. Because they're [[Actual Pacifist
* Discord in the ''[[Pony POV Series]]'' is stated to be possibly the fifth most powerful being in creation {{spoiler|due to exploiting [[Cannibalism Superpower]] and eating two of his family members for power}}, but because of his [[Reality Warper|near unlimited power]], he never bothered learning hand to hand combat. While he's very creative and skilled with his [[Reality Warper]] powers, his hand to hand combat abilities are lacking.
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** In the 6th season the otherwise physically unremarkable Warren Mears temporarily became this thanks to some [[Applied Phlebotinum]]. In a fight with Buffy the far more skilled Slayer got in several punches and kicks to every blow Warren landed on her - but while he shrugged off her hits almost at once Buffy felt every one of his and was visibly tiring before she was able to destroy the source of his power.
** Caleb from Season 7, as well as the Turok-Han (prior to the finale induced [[Villain Decay]]). Punch-for-Punch, Buffy is noticeably outclassed by both, serving as a potent reminder about the overconfidence the Slayer Strength may bring.
* 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
* ''[[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
* The title character of the South Korean series ''[[Strong Girl Bong-soon]]'' has literally [[Super Strength|superhuman strength]], from a divine gift granted to all the women in her family. She is so worried about losing it by violating the strictures on its use, though, that she does virtually nothing with it, let alone train in its use.
== New Media ==
* Draschine from ''[[Descendant of a Demon Lord]]'' has waved around a 2 handed sword using one hand. She also had a tendency to just swing the blade at opponents without even trying to make the edge concurrent with the swing and properly slice into the foe. Her skill has been improving as the story goes on.
== Sports ==
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== Video Games ==
* A metafictional example of this is present in almost all video games with [[Character Level|level-up systems]]. Endgame will have some [[Smash Mook
* Computer controlled opponents in general are difficult to program, and are often made [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|stronger]] and [[Computers Are Fast|faster]]<ref>In terms of raw speed, rather than finesse</ref> to compensate for their tactical shortcomings.
* In ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' and ''[[Fate/Zero]]'', all Servants are supposed to have superhuman combat skills. Servants of [[The Berserker]] class don't, losing their fighting skills as a part of being [[The Berserker]], but they gain massive power boosts in return. Berserker in ''[[Fate/stay night]]'' is so fast and so strong that actual fighting techniques are near worthless against him, as all the fancy parries and stances in the world won't help against someone who strikes faster than you can react and shatter your weapon with a single blow. In ''[[Fate/Zero]]'' {{spoiler|Servant Berserker averts this trope, as his [[Only the Chosen May Wield|Noble Phantasm]] is specifically that he retains his fighting skills despite being mad. This renders him an utter terror in melee.}}
* ''[[Castlevania]]: [[Castlevania: Chronicles of Sorrow|Dawn of Sorrow]]'' has Julius Belmont. He can't use magic (even though he should be able to, considering some of his ancestors, but whatever), which is necessary to break through sealed and permanently destroy boss enemies (if you don't, they will regenerate). He gets through the castle through equal parts his [[Ancestral Weapon]] and ''pure awesome''. This winds up [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]] though, as one bonus mode places the player in control of Julius, the game is much harder (Normal Soma mode can be beaten mostly through brute force and healing items, but Julius can't pause the game and thus can't open the inventory), and while the seal doesn't need to be drawn, the game shows the sealing animation (though with the expected sequence, Julius is joined by a mage early on).
* Marisa Kirisame of ''[[Touhou]]'' is perplexingly both
** A straighter example is Utsuho. Not really brought up in the text, but very apparent in the fight (while Marisa [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|fights more or less the same way as everyone else]]). ''Subterranean Animism'' consists almost entirely of gimmick patterns. Except for Utsuho. Her patterns are quite straightforward, making up for that by way of having the largest bullets in the series, and spamming them. Furthermore, while most stage 6 bosses are all about variety, Utsuho sticks with what she does best, not even changing up her nonspells.
* [[The Brute|Flak]] and [[
* Compared to the rest of the cast from his game, Q in ''[[Street Fighter III]]'' flails wildly and throws very telegraphed punches... But when he does hit, it ''[[Mighty Glacier|hurts.]]''
* In ''[[Iji]]'', [[The Dragon|Iosa the Invincible]] has [[Deflector Shields]] that are immune to all weapons and [[Lightning Bruiser|fast, powerful attacks]]... that are widely telegraphed, allowing a quick dodge and retaliation.
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* ''[[Tekken]]'' gives us Miguel Caballero Rojo, a Spaniard who enters a world fighting tournament with nothing but the ability to swing his legs around and throw haymaker punches as his only training. No one should dare underestimate him.
* ''[[Mario Golf]]'' has the characters vary between this and [[Weak but Skilled]]. People who fall into this category include Mario (who would usually fall into [[Jack of All Stats]] in other titles), Daisy (GC), [[Donkey Kong]], Bowser, [[Original Generation|Harry]] (N64), [[Super Mario Sunshine|Shadow Mario]] (GC), [[Super Mario 64|Metal Mario]] (N64), and Petey Piranha (GC).
** Bowser is this in the Mario & Luigi [[RPG
* ''[[
* {{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.
* ''[[Ryu ga Gotoku|Yakuza]] 0'' has the [[Four Is Death|Four]] Mr. Shakedowns. Tall as basketballers and built like houses, their attacks are highly telegraphed and theoretically easy to see coming. With damage that will defeat early-game Kiryu or Majima in one hit plus [[Finishing Stomp]] and boss-level health that leaves plenty of opportunities for players to make that one mistake, though, they don't need much finesse at all.
== Webcomics ==
* As the above quote explains, this was the fatal flaw of the ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' [[Big Bad]] Damien.
** Grace herself falls into this, as well, as she defeats Damien solely because of her [[Berserk Button]]. This has since been [[Lampshaded]], and Grace has agreed to start [[Boxing Lessons for Superman|martial arts training.]]
** Susan is determined, [//egscomics.com/comic/2017-10-23 agile], in a good shape, got [[In the Blood|innate affinity]] for magic weapons and grows in magical strength necessary to actually use that. But she's "not a fighter". One-hit kill [//egscomics.com/comic/2017-12-08 a distracted aberration]? Sure. The next moment, {{spoiler|she [[Failed a Spot Check|fails at situational awareness]].}} Then she makes a wild swing and tries to turn halfway through it…
{{quote|'''Susan''': (peeling herself from the floor) [[Lampshade Hanging|I've ''got'' to learn how to use a sword]]. }}
* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'': Xykon doesn't have the refined techniques of a wizard, and quite frankly doesn't ''want'' it. In his own words, the only two things a person needs are "Force in as great a concentration as you can manage, and style. And in a pinch, style can slide." However, you don't get to epic levels without a ton of practice.
** It's also worth noting that Xykon is also ''dangerously'' clever and full of nasty tricks. That
* Fighter in ''[[8-Bit Theater
* 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.
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' with Lucrezia, controlling Agatha's body, and got [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100224 enhanced] for a while, but still [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100308 fought to standstill with Zeetha] who ''was'' trained only because it prevents her from being knocked out.
== Web Original ==
* Captain Hammer of ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-
{{quote|"OH GOD! Is this pain?! I think this is what pain feels like! MOMMY! SOMEONE MATERNAL!"}}
* Gustave and Alfred from ''[[Darwin's Soldiers]]'' are both [[Funny Animal
* Chair from ''[[Nerdy Show]]'''s "Dungeons & Doritos". Justified in that he was a chair [[A Wizard Did It|turned]] into a dwarf a few weeks ago. That and his player tends to [[Critical Hit|roll high]].
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* Bamm-Bamm in ''[[The Flintstones]]''.
* [[Superboy]] in ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', who has all of Superman's strength and speed but lacks the discipline to use them to their full extent.
** It turns out that Megan's psychic powers are the same way, after {{spoiler|she accidentally causes a psychic simulation to go awry, ultimately putting the rest of the team into a coma}}. [[Martian Manhunter|J'onn]] speculates that she could be one of the most powerful Martian psychics ever.
* 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!
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** Played straight with Ozai, Katara and Toph, who are all pretty much helpless without their powers, especially Toph; who is one of the most dangerous people in the world with her Earthbending, and a blind little girl without it
** Subverted with Aang, Zuko, Azula and Iroh, each of whom has recieved or given themselves [[Boxing Lessons for Superman|additional training]], and can at least hold their own without using their bending.
* Korra from ''[[The Legend of Korra]]'' is described in these terms:
{{quote|'''Katara:''' She's strong.
'''Other Master:''' She lacks restraint. }}
* In ''[[The Avengers: Earth's
== 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.
* Despite what [[Never Bring a Knife to A Fist Fight]] might have led you to believe, it doesn't take much technique at all for someone to wildly swing a bat, knife or other melee weapon and still inflict injuries that demand medical attention, while the skill floor to win while unarmed and take minor or no injuries in the process is much higher. Any martial arts or other hand-to-hand training that's honest will tell you to run first thing if your opponent pulls a weapon.
{{reflist}}
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