- Low-Tier Letdown: Most of the game's classes are designed to provide some sort of utility to justify their inclusion in teams throughout the game, and most of them do. However, certain classes simply fail to pull their weight in comparison to others, which coupled with the game's limited unit space, cause them to be left behind by most players. Do note, placement here does not indicate that a class is completely unviable, as the right set-ups can allow these classes to contribute, but it requires significantly more effort to achieve than the majority of other classes. Some of the most prominent examples include:
- The Fighter/Vanguard are defensive-oriented armored infantry classes incredibly good at protecting their units from ranged or flying attackers... but not much else. Their offensive and defensive skills are middling at best, and as Armored units they slow down the movement of any unit they're attached to. They are outclassed by other defensively-oriented classes like the Lord or Hoplite who are less specialized in how they shield allies. As enemies they're more annoying than threatening, not posing much of a threat but bogging down battles with their Draw Aggro ability.
- Gladiators/Berserkers are high-health damage-dealers with a self-heal ability but between their very low accuracy, initiative, and defense, plus lacking a unit type they really excel against, they trade poorly against most of their "sweeping" competitors (Dark Knights, Gryphon Knights, etc.) whose classes give them additional advantages. As enemies get stronger and enemy squads get larger, their health simply can't keep up with enemy damage output while, as enemies, they are frequently less dangerous than other classes, even into the late game.
- Werewolves have great accuracy and a plethora of attacks meant for finishing off weakened foes... and that's it. They have poor defenses, are less evasive that similar Fragile Speedster melee classes, and don't pack much of a punch offensively. They don't really have a gimmick that sets them apart from the other Bestral units that share their nighttime stat boost (Werefoxes in particular outclass them in the "follow-up attack" niche), and their team support (Nightwalk) doesn't stack. Their one niche that still allows for some use is their Valor skill "Hide", which allows for an exploitative Cheese Strategy of hiding units to quickly take maps, but they're still a liability on the unit itself in battle.
A character doesn't bother concealing Classified Information from those below its clearance level.
Examples
- Jack Ryan
- Venture Bros.
An organization founded with a specific purpose drifts away from that purpose, opening up to do other things and possibly even moving away from that purpose entirely.
In a more positive light, this can be used to show a heroic organization's humble origins and/or show how far a specific character has brought them. Conversely, it can show that a now-obstructive or outright villainous organization once had meaningful origins. Expect the latter to be the case in situations where the purpose the organization once had was to neutralize a specific threat which has now returned, such as a Creature-Hunter Organization who is thought to hae eliminated their target creature and then moved onto other goals.
Can overlap with Motive Decay for villainous organizations that once had a more reasonable goal and He Who Fights Monsters for once-heroic organizations turned evil.
Truth in Television in that this happens to organizations in real life constantly, typically referred to as "mission drift" for businesses and "mission creep" for governmental/military groups.
A level or enemy in a game designed to counter the player character's/party's special ability.
Many games offer the protagonist(s) rare (if not outright exclusive), powerful abilities to give them an advantage. However, these games will sometimes include a counter to these abilities in the form of a particular level or enemy.
Exactly how this "counter" works can take many forms:
- Immunity or strong resistance to the ability that other enemies/bosses lack.
- Dealing extra damage to those who are using the ability, such as a Weapon of X-Slaying where "X" are users of the ability.
- Removing the ability for the duration of the level/battle, such as a No-Gear Level if the ability is granted by an item.
- Certain enemies being able to use the ability themselves (when most otherwise cannot).
This is not an exhaustive list nor is it isn't intended to be, but these are common manifestations of the trope and can even be used in tandem (such a boss who steals the item granting the player character their special ability and then uses it against them).
The ability in question is often a Player-Exclusive Mechanic and/or Unique Protagonist Asset, making these counters natural subversions or defiances of those tropes. The counters in question are often Secret A.I. Moves, meaning the player can't use them against an enemy with the same ability.
Compare/contrast Contractual Boss Immunity, where most bosses are immune to this ability rather than a few specific counters. Compare Anti-Metagame Character and Highly Specific Counterplay, which are multi-player game counters (often to a High-Tier Scrappy or specific Game-Breaker), though function similarly.
Examples:
- In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim several enemies are immune to the effects of the Dragonborn's Dragon Shouts. These include several high-level Draugr bosses (who can also use some shouts right themselves, especially the dreaded "Disarm" shout) and the Sovngarde Hall of Valor guardian Tsun, who can outright No-Sell the most common shout, Unrelenting Force.
- In Fire Emblem Engage, the protagonist party acquire Emblem Rings which allow them to temporarily "engage" with heroes from past Fire Emblem titles for bonuses and powerful abilities. Additionally, in a holdover from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the game grants the Time Dragon Crystal, which allows the player the go back in time during battles to re-do disastrous actions (and typically activates automatically if Alear is killed). However, in the "Retreat" chapter, the enemy has captured the party's Emblem Rings and the Time Crystal, with the party's only option being to escape across the battlefield while the enemy uses both against you. Even if you manage to defeat one of the Emblem-carrying enemies, the antagonist will use the Time Crystal to retrieve the ring and hand it out to another enemy.
- In Legend of Dragoon, the protagonist party gain Dragon Souls by which they can activate a powerful Super Mode in battle. However, the primary antagonist wields the Dragon Buster sword, created during the ancient Dragon Wars which deals an instant One-Hit KO to anyone with an activated Dragon Soul. In the boss battles against him, you must avoid using Dragon Souls, which you likely use in every other boss battle and makes for particularly challenging fights.
Balrogs are tall, fiery, winged, shadow-shrouded demonic entities first brought into the popular consciousness by J. R. R. Tolkien in The Lord of the Rings (and possibly loosely based on the Old English "Sigelwara" fire demons). In the decades since, Balrogs have inspired other similar creatures in numerous other fictional universes.
