History Main / NormalFishInATinyPond

** One story in MediaNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} hadJimmy Olsen go to another world, where the low gravity meant he had [[HeavyWorlder the equivalent of Superman-level abilities]].

** Baron Zemo, who has no superpowers, ended up being on both sides of this during the comic's run. Early on, as Citizen V, he was shown being a great fighter, despite having always been more of TheChessmaster and lacking in combat prowess; Creator/KurtBusiek answered inquiring readers that being good enough to last a few minutes against [[SuperSoldier Captain America]] ought to mean you can wipe the floor with most other people. However, later down the line, it became a running theme that Zemo would lose any actual fight he got into, even when fighting with his chosen weapon, the sword. Zemo might be decent in a fight by most standards but he's not the WorldsGreatestWarrior, and anyone who's actually got genuine talent with swords is going to easily school him, never mind anyone with actual superpowers. Zemo's weapon is his intellect and charisma, above everything, so while he can dispatch mooks, even B-listers like Andreas Strucker will best him.

** Loki from ''Film/{{Thor}}'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags]] this trope. He actually is a formidable physical combatant even to the standards of other Asgardians, but since he is a member of the Royal Family he always finds himself overshadowed by Thor, which is a large part of the reason he has an InferioritySuperiorityComplex and focuses on magic and deceit instead. Conversely, while a SquishyWizard compared to Thor, Loki is more than capable of slapping mortal superheroes of Captain America's level around with ease.

* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle'': ''Monstrous Arcanum'': Warpfire dragons are terrifying, monstrous behemoths that are deeply feared and carefully avoided by most other beings. Some scholars, however, theorize that they ones known are actually the juveniles and runts of their species, primarily because few to no specimens have been encountered that seem to match the full-grown, "emperor" stages of the dragon life cycle. Warpfire dragons are thus believed to be native to the Southern Chaos Wastes, a nightmare land ruled by daemons, twisted monsters, and presumably the actually fully-grown warpfire dragons, which forces the weaker members of the species to migrate north to lands home to weaker beings.

** The Rathalos also provides a matching InvertedTrope for its partner appearance in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. While it's definitely dangerous and the complete lack of magical presence makes it hard to predict by local standards ([[GameplayAndStoryIntegration communicated]] by the bossfight lacking attack tells), for a party of experience adventurers the threat it presents is downright mundane.

* ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'': This effect is used to great extent in the series, which typically has normal Gotham cops going against normal Gotham crooks. Even D-List Batman villains are a big deal whenever they appear, and when a true A-lister like [[Characters/BatmanMrFreeze Mr. Freeze]] or [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] appear, they are story-arc villains that the police are as powerless to stop as if they were Cthulhu.

* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': Mister Miracle is generally depicted as a GadgeteerGenius and TechnicalPacifist GuileHero. He's nowhere near as strong as more martially-oriented New Gods like his wife Barda, Kalibak or Orion, all of whom can take Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} and Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}} in a straight fight. Nor does he (usually) have the flashy energy powers some New Gods have, physically he's just an average New God. Which means he could rip the average human apart like damp cardboard if he wanted to.
* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsFrankCastle Frank Castle]] has a huge bodycount for a non-powered hero. However, this is mostly because he deals with street-level criminals, non-powered ones and low-powered ones-- they have just enough guns and muscles to intimidate civilians and run rackets, but are completely out of their depth against a trained soldier who hates them personally. This applies to both the superhumans he kills (e.g. one of the Vultures, who was strong but ''not'' ImmuneToBullets... or knives) and the regular thugs (who are unarmored, usually only carrying handguns, and have no combat training or relevant experience). When higher level superheroes/villains get on his case, his plan almost always involves distracting/hobbling them so he can run away, having no chance against them (though he does try to kill the villainous ones). That said, ''ComicBook/ThePunisherKillsTheMarvelUniverse'' exists...

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': For Marvel world standards, [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]] is not that special, being overshadowed by many superheroes like [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]], [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Hercules]] or [[Characters/MarvelComicsBruceBanner The Incredible Hulk]]. But by street-level standards, Spider-Man is one of the most powerful heroes, being a LightningBruiser capable of lifting tanks and surprising [[Characters/MarvelComicsMattMurdock Daredevil]] with his speed.

** Characters/{{Supergirl|TheCharacter}} comes across as a PhysicalGod as well as a super-genius to Earth people, but back in Argo City, she was a normal, ordinary Kryptonian girl. The only thing remarkable about her were her parents (or, depending on the version, only her father).
** One story in MediaNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} had [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen]] go to another world, where the low gravity meant he had the equivalent of Superman-level abilities.
** [[Characters/SupermanMisterMxyzptlk Mr. Mxyzptlk]], the imp who occasionally pops over from the Fifth Dimension to bug Superman, was said in his first appearance to be a nobody in his home dimension, where his powers are nothing out of the ordinary.
** In the ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' story "Torment", [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] betrays Desaad and sprays him with fear toxin, but [[NoSell it has no effect]]. Desaad angrily points out that just because he's a wimp compared to most superheroes and supervillains doesn't change the fact that he's a ''god''. He proceeds to beat the crap out of Scarecrow and strap him to a table for torment.
** [[Characters/SupermanSuperboyPrime Superboy-Prime]] is an interesting example. Pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths, he was just one among the many versions of Superman across the multiverse (all of them with Silver Age-level power - through, Prime had no weakness to Kryptonite and magic). But, when he emerged into the DC Post-Crisis universe in ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', he effectively became the strongest Superman of them all, since he retained his pre-Crisis power level - whereas the newer versions of Superman could withstand supernovas, Superboy Prime could withstand Big Bangs.

** [[Characters/CaptainAmericaCentralRoguesGallery Baron Zemo]], who has no superpowers, ended up being on both sides of this during the comic's run. Early on, as Citizen V, he was shown being a great fighter, despite having always been more of TheChessmaster and lacking in combat prowess; Creator/KurtBusiek answered inquiring readers that being good enough to last a few minutes against [[Characters/MarvelComicsSteveRogers Captain America]] ought to mean you can wipe the floor with most other people. However, later down the line, it became a running theme Zemo would lose any actual fight he got into, even when fighting with his chosen weapon, the sword. Zemo might be decent in a fight by most standards but he's not the WorldsGreatestWarrior, and anyone who's actually got genuine talent with swords is going to easily school him, nevermind anyone with actual superpowers. Zemo's weapon is his intellect and charisma, above everything, so while he can dispatch mooks, even B-listers like Andreas Strucker will best him.

** The Creator/WarrenEllis run of the comic had [[Characters/DaredevilCentralRoguesGallery Bullseye]] be treated as TheDreaded for a while--[[CurbStompBattle until he went up against American Eagle]]. As Eagle points out, Bullseye may be a very dangerous foe by the standards of a BadassNormal thanks to his ImprobableAimingSkills, but he's ''nothing'' compared to people who have actual offensive superpowers. Eagle isn't an especially dangerous superhero--in fact, prior to that story, he was deep in the CListFodder ranks--but just having any form of SuperStrength and enhanced reflexes leaves him so far above Bullseye that the latter can't even touch him in a fight, and being ImmuneToBullets means that it wouldn't matter anyway.

** As [[Characters/MarvelComicsVenom Venom]], [[Characters/MarvelComicsEddieBrock Eddie Brock]] never fared that well when he branched out and fought other heroes (Characters/{{Darkhawk}}, Daredevil, ComicBook/IronMan, ComicBook/{{Quasar}}, etc.) besides Spider-Man, who he was a nightmare for due to being more powerful, knowing his secret identity, and being immune to his Spider Sense. ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963'' #317 includes a scene where Eddie visits an oblivious Aunt May as a means of intimidating Pete into no longer asking for help from any of his superfriends like the Fantastic Four, making it clear that if Pete won't keep their feud just between the two of them, then he won't either. Averted during his stints as Toxin and Anti-Venom, where he can kick a lot of ass. [[Characters/MarvelComicsMacGargan Mac Gargan]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsFlashThompson Flash Thompson]] also never ran into this problem, presumably because they already were an experienced supervillain and soldier, respectively. In his second stint as Venom, he has so far not really run into this problem, presumably owing to the Symbiote being more powerful and Brock being more experienced.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HulkVsThor'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] is an EvilSorceror and not a warrior like Thor. Physical combat is not his strong suit. Nonetheless, he's still a PhysicalGod. When he kidnaps Bruce Banner and casually swats him around a room to make him transform into the Hulk, Loki casually remarks that he forgot how fragile mortals are.

*** Although Spider-Man has a wide variety of powers, by [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] standards, he is overshadowed by guys like Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and [[Characters/MCUStephenStrange Doctor Strange]]. By street level standards he is a powerful LightningBruiser. As he gets older and more experienced, he grows out of it, and even manages to hold his own quite well in a LetsYouAndHimFight with Doctor Strange in ''No Way Home''.

*** [[Characters/MCUJessicaJones Jessica]] and [[Characters/MCULukeCage Luke Cage]] are good examples. Compared to normal people they're complete powerhouses, being able to lift cars and in Luke's case shrug off bullets. But since they share a universe with the likes of ComicBook/TheAvengers, they're relatively low on the superhuman totem pole. For reference, their powers are basically the same as The Hulk, but they're leagues below the Jade Giant in terms of power. Considering the rest of the Avengers include PoweredArmor users and a PhysicalGod, it's safe to say their powers aren't a big draw. Even SuperSoldier [[Characters/MCUSteveRogers Captain America]] and BadassNormal [[Characters/MCUNatashaRomanoff Black Widow]] and [[Characters/MCUClintBarton Hawkeye]] have fighting skills that make them much more effective than UnskilledButStrong Jess and Luke (although Luke is shown to be a capable fighter in his own series but living in a [[AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength World of Cardboard]] causes him to focus too much on not killing to combine his strength and skill effectively).
*** [[Characters/MCUKevinThompson Kilgrave]] also counts; his powers in this series are borderline StoryBreakerPower, but like his comic counterpart he's not exactly an Avengers level threat. Particularly since many Avengers can NoSell his virus based powers ([[Characters/MCUVision The Vision]] isn't human, [[Characters/MCUThorOdinson Thor]] is immune to earthly viruses, [[Characters/MCUBruceBanner The Incredible Hulk]] has a healing factor, [[Characters/MCUTonyStark Iron Man]]'s suit can filter the virus out, Hawkeye is immune to mind control after the first movie, and Captain America can [at least in the comics] resist him through sheer willpower) and [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer he's something of a one trick pony who doesn't have any additional fighting skills or powers to fall back on]].

** [[Characters/FamilyGuyBrianGriffin Brian Griffin]] is smarter and more cultured than the rest of the Griffin family (except Stewie) and Peter's circle of friends, who are all crass idiots. However, he is shown to be thoroughly mediocre and lacking in talent when it comes to actual intellectual undertakings; any time he encounters a genuinely smart person or attempts to pursue writing at a professional level, he is humiliated.

** The episode "Why Must I Be A Crustacean In Love?" focuses on [[Characters/FuturamaPhilipJFry Philip J. Fry]] trying to mentor Zoidberg to woo his old flame Edna. Fry is a very long way from TheCasanova, and nobody bar Zoidberg is expecting this to work. As it turns out, though, the Decapodians are a race with no real concept of romance (their mating ritual is based on who can do a silly-looking display the best), and so Fry's advice like "tell her she looks thin" and "pretend to listen when she talks about her day" is enough to make Edna go mad with love.

* This seems to be the case for "Da Samurai" from the fourth season of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''. While TheReveal at the end of the episode is that he's actually a scrawny guy with a beer gut wearing a muscle suit to look stronger than he is, he ''is'' still strong enough to take out a pair of robots with relative ease. His problem is that he's completely full of himself; since he's the strongest person in the area he lives in, he let his ego soar to the point he believed he's the strongest in the world. His first inkling that this isn't the case is when he challenges Jack, who is so much stronger that, even simply using a bamboo stick in their duel, he still completely outclasses Da Samurai in, effectively, just [[CurbStompBattle two moves]].

** [[Characters/TheSimpsonsLisaSimpson Lisa Simpson]] is a smart kid, certainly, but she's only brilliant by comparison with Springfield's stupid children and [[SuckySchool horrible school system]]. When she gets the opportunity to study at Waverly Hills, an elementary school with actual ''standards and quality'', Lisa is traumatized to learn that she's really only a B student, as opposed to the straight A's she got at Springfield Elementary. In another episode, she gets to skip to the third grade early but finds it difficult. Further demoralizing her was Bart getting demoted ''back'' to the third grade alongside her as a punishment and proceeding to effortlessly score top marks in everything since he could memorize the answers the teachers were too lazy to change. Lisa eventually decides she prefers being the smartest student in a class that's too easy over being an average student in a class that's at her level.

** {{Invoked|Trope}} and PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS16E21TheFatherTheSonAndTheHolyGuestStar The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star]]": [[Characters/TheSimpsonsBartSimpson Bart Simpson]] is expelled from school. While seeking for another one, Marge proposes the Oakwood Academy. Bart protests that it's a school for blind people, and his mother replies that he would start advantaged.

** On Earth, [[Characters/StevenUniverseCrystalGems The Crystal Gems]] are nigh-immortal alien warriors with [[MagiTek advanced technology and magical artifacts]], all of which is completely standard for their society... at least, it ''was'' standard thousands of years ago. All their technology is now [[TechnologyMarchesOn wildly obsolete]] by the standards of modern Gems. The Crystal Gems are also on the weak side of average when it comes to physical power (as the only remaining members consist of a [[BeautifulSlaveGirl glorified servant]], a defective, runt-sized warrior, and a [[FusionDance fusion]] whose component parts are an average {{Mook|s}} and {{Seer|s}}), compared to proper warriors from the Homeworld.
** [[Characters/StevenUniverseGarnet Garnet]] in particular, despite being more powerful and well-adjusted than the others, is only this precisely ''because'' she's a fusion. Compared to other two-gem fusions, such as Opal or especially Malachite, Garnet comes out as rather unimpressive and is probably one of the weakest fusions in the show. As for being more emotionally well-adjusted, that's also purely because she's the fusion of a romantic relationship; her component parts spend most of the series so co-dependent that it takes until the [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture sequel series]] for them to spend more than five minutes apart without becoming emotional wrecks.
** The source of [[Characters/StevenUniverseRoseQuartz Rose Quartz's]] [[SuperpowerLottery extensive list of powers]] is eventually revealed to be because [[spoiler:she's actually [[Characters/StevenUniversePinkDiamond Pink Diamond]], the weakest member of the most powerful class of Gems]]. [[BigBad White Diamond]] specifically calls her (or rather, Steven) out on this as part of her HannibalLecture, deconstructing Rose/Steven's usual BeYourself moral: