History Main / LethalJokeCharacter

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jiggly_lethaljokecharacter.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:A [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising fallen angel and alter ego of a cavalry captain]] that's equally powerful in strength defeated by... [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} a singing balloon]]?]]

[[quoteright:350: [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lethaljoke.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:350:A [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon mountain of pure muscle]] defeated by... [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue a singing balloon]]?[[note]] [[https://gamebanana.com/mods/174598 Game mod]] by [[https://gamebanana.com/members/1694246 SmashyPlays]].[[/note]]]]-]

Are they CherryTapping? Nope; the last time you won was when you put it on "random." They've discovered how to use the Lethal Joke Character.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** At first glance, [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Jigglypuff]] is a terrible character: Slow ground speed, short reach, two incredibly punishable specials, is sent flying off the stage if its shield gets broken, and is as light as you'd expect from the "Balloon Pokémon" in a game where launching people off the screen is the name of the game. However, Jigglypuff's real strength comes from its amazing air game: It's incredibly nimble in the air and can jump multiple times, which combined with effective aerial attacks with low-angled launch trajectories means getting back on the stage against a good Jigglypuff is a nightmare for many characters. Adding to that, its special "Rest" is the ultimate DeathOrGloryAttack; although it has an incredibly short range and leaves Jigglypuff completely defenseless for a long time, sleeping somehow sends people rocketing upwards[[note]]Snake's codec conversation in ''Brawl'' states Jigglypuff releases high amounts of kinetic energy upon resting[[/note]] even at relatively low damage. [[note]]Around 25% in ''Melee'', 75% in ''Brawl'', and 50% in ''3DS/Wii U''[[/note]] This has been ZigZagged, however, as Jigglypuff is known to vary heavily from BalanceBuff to {{Nerf}}, being all over the place from a legitimate powerhouse (''Melee'') to an ineffectual gimmick (''Brawl'', ''4'') to somewhere in between (''64'', ''Ultimate'').
** ''Smash 4'' has the [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Villager]], who like Jigglypuff, has all the makings of a truly bad character. Not very fast, poor combo ability, and light weight making them combo fodder for other characters really hides just how deceptively powerful the character is. The Villager's first main calling card is their forward smash, which has good reach, hits very hard even at low percentages, and is very effective for edgeguarding. Villager also has the "Pocket" move, which catches objects and stores them for future use, including ''virtually every enemy projectile'' and even makes Villager completely invulnerable to all damage for a few frames. Finally, there's the Villager's trump card: Timber. The Villager grows a huge tree that can either be cut down (which causes incredible damage) or used as an effective shield. Not only that, as long as the tree is on the field, Villager can instead use the Axe as a powerful attack, making the Villager a [[DifficultButAwesome quirky]] but dangerous character overall.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'', [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldandSilver Pichu]] is truly a pretty bad character -- It's extremely light, a large number of its moves do recoil to it, and its attacks don't have much range or do much damage. On top of that, it's a clone of Pikachu, who, while not top tier, does basically everything Pichu can do much better. What else would be expected of a baby Pokémon? ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' is a different story, though. Pichu is still the lightest character in the game, still has bad range, and still damages itself, now with even more moves giving recoil. However, the recoil doesn't do as much damage, Pichu's mobility and recovery have improved, and a lot of its attacks are quite powerful. Combine that with the rage mechanic -- which makes a character stronger the more damage they take -- and Pichu's biggest weakness is at least partially converted into a strength. It was, on the whole, re-worked from a JokeCharacter into a GlassCannon. It helps that Pikachu is a whole lot better in ''Ultimate'' than ''Melee''.
** The [[VideoGame/IceClimber Ice Climbers]] are a pair of small children with hammers who come from [[UnexpectedCharacter an almost completely forgotten game]], and their signature gimmick of being a PuppetFighter puts the second Climber in the hands of ArtificialStupidity whenever they're separated. An inexperienced Ice Climber player will quickly find the duo isolated and eliminated. But once one masters the art of [[GoodBadBugs de-synching]] the Climbers, allowing true control of them both, they become one of the most insanely powerful GlassCannon characters on the roster, with multiple infinite-grabs in both ''Melee'' and ''Brawl.'' Even when chaingrabbing was removed in ''Ultimate'', they still do excellent damage when de-synched.
** From the same series as Villager, [[PreciousPuppy adorable]] fan-favorite [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf Isabelle]] from ''New Leaf'' became PromotedToPlayable in ''Ultimate'' as a semi-clone of her higher-up. While a lot of her traits are the same as Villager's own DifficultButAwesome playstyle, she has a few differences in her moveset which set her apart while still making her a literal bitch[[note]]the correct term for female dogs, by the by[[/note]] to face if you aren't prepared. Her attacks are not especially damaging -- her jab, for example, is a ''squeaky toy hammer'' which only deals [[JokeItem 1% damage per hit]] -- but her true calling card is [[WeakButSkilled versatility]], with answers to all kinds of situations. These include, and are not limited to, her dash attack dropping a projectile straight down which can hit opponents trying to reach a ledge from below, her forward smash and up-smash being able to deal surprising burst damage at point-blank range, and the same slingshot aerials and Pocket ability as Villager. Most important, however, is her side-special, Fishing Rod, which allows her to not only snatch items from a considerable distance but also [[GrappleMove grab opponents]] before hurling them over the horizon if the lure hits them during either casting or reeling in. On paper it seems like a risky strategy because it forces Isabelle to stay still while the hook is out, so failing to hit opponents with it leaves her a sitting duck, but an experienced player can combine this with the impressive recovery offered by her up-special, Balloon Trip, by following an airborne opponent off the stage before aiming and timing the cast so it can catch and fling them straight into the blast line even at moderate KO percentage. This combination of skills makes her noticeably harder to punish than most would suspect, allowing her to go toe-to-toe with the best of them all with as cheery a smile as ever. (The aforementioned Fishing Rod was also responsible for the infamous [[GameBreakingBug "infinite Assist Trophy" glitch]], wherein two Isabelles used Fishing Rods to catch an Assist Trophy at the same time leading to one Isabelle summoning an endless amount of a single Assist Trophy, but this has been patched out as of Version 2.0.0.).
** Exclusive to ''VideoGame/SmashRemix'', a GameMod of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', is Polygon Kirby. Originally just one of the enemies for MultiMookMelee battles, ''Remix'' makes it PromotedToPlayable. None of the Fighting Polygon Team have any special moves, so they have no projectiles and are bad at recovering, and they don't have throws, so they virtually always lose the classic Attack/Block/Throw TacticalRockPaperScissors that fighting games are known for. So you'd think Kirby, despite his being one of the two most competitively powerful characters in ''64'', would also have his EvilKnockoff being pathetic with these handicaps, right? Well... Kirby [[AwesomeButImpractical barely ever uses]] his special moves in tournaments anyway, and most of his recovery is in his multiple jumps -- which Polygon Kirby retains -- rather than his up special. In addition, one of ''64'' Kirby's most major strengths is his effectiveness at [[ShieldsAreUseless easily breaking shields with his standard attacks]]. So, functionally speaking, Polygon Kirby is barely even touched by the polygons' limitations and is almost as strong as ordinary Kirby.

** Quagsire has some of the worst stats for a fully evolved Pokémon, but strangely has some of the best abilities in the game. Unaware allows it to completely ignore enemy stat boosts, rendering setup strategies useless. This only got more potent in [[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Generation VIII]], whose Dynamax mechanic is centered around stat changes, and Quagsire has quickly become a go-to Pokémon to counter Dynamax. Its typing of water and ground is a double edged sword too, giving it access to a diverse movepool and decent coverage, but at the expense of severe weakness to grass types. By all accounts, it just cannot be predicted, and has been played in literally every tier in the metagame, from the pathetic level of "PU" to ''the near literal godlike tier of'' '''''Anything Goes'''''.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has an achievement for making a character who takes one level in each class. For the most part this build is much weaker than sticking to one class, however in dialogue this character suddenly becomes a powerhouse, because certain classes get advantage on dialogue rolls - by level 3, you can have access to a Barbarian's Intimidation, a Bard's Persuasion, and a Rogue's Deception, with expertise in two of those skills. This is particularly useful in Act 2, which has multiple bosses who can be talked into getting themselves killed.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has an achievement for making a character who takes one level in each class. For the most part this build is much weaker than sticking to one class, however in dialogue this character suddenly becomes a powerhouse, because certain classes get advantage on dialogue rolls - by level 3, you can have access to a Barbarian's Intimidation, a Bard's Persuasion, and a Rogue's Deception, with expertise in two of those skills.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has an achievement for making a character who takes one level in each class. For the most part this build is much weaker than sticking to one class, however in dialogue this character suddenly becomes a powerhouse, because certain classes get advantage on dialogue rolls - you suddenly have access to a barbarian's intimidation, a bard's persuasion, or a rogue's deception.

[-[[caption-width-right:350:A [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon mountain of pure muscle]] defeated by... [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue a singing balloon]]?]]-]

** Similarly, there's Mokey Mokey. A 300/100 fairy with no effects. But its flavor text says "Sometimes he gets mad [[AndThatsTerrible and that is dreadful]]," and its support cards show just how dreadful it can be -- three Mokey Mokeys can be fused to create Mokey Mokey King] which despite having the same low stats allows you to summon as many Mokey Mokeys as you have in your graveyard when it leaves the field (destroyed, returned to the deck, etc.), and the spell card Mokey Mokey Smackdown increases Mokey Mokey's attack to ''3000'' for 1 turn if a fairy type monster you control is destroyed. The official ruling is that if a Mokey Mokey is summoned after the effect is activated, it gets the effect too. Chain all three together and you probably get very close to beating your opponent in 1 round.

** Rescue Cat might be the most famous example. When it was created, most players dismissed it as a ComMon with horrendous stats and a third-rate effect, and though it had some good runs in certain Beast decks, it was broadly only considered notable for its absurdly cute looks. Come Synchro Monsters and X-Saber Airbellum in particular, and Rescue Cat jumped from cutesy ComMon to GameBreaker overnight. Its effect? Tribute it to summon two low-level Beasts, which are destroyed at the end of the turn. That's an instant Level 6 Synchro (and later, Rank 3 Xyz), right off the bat, just by itself, on a monster weak enough to be searched by dozens of effects. It's even a series of RidiculouslyCuteCritter monsters with similar effects, one of which Rescue Rabbit) had its own tournament-winning deck and remains a staple in Normal Monster-focused decks.

** The Ojam Brothers are a trio of low-level Normal Monsters with goofy looks and zero attack points, which, naturally, makes them useless. That was, until Konami released a number of support cards for them, starting with a spell card that wipes your opponent's field for free if you have all three out, and also including a pair of fusions that lock down your opponent's ability to summon their own monsters, a couple of "Cousins" that can help search and bring them out, and a number of spells which boost their attack (Including their own Field Spell) as well as search and summon them. Another Ojama support card, in a CallBack to ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', focuses on supporting [[ComboPlatterPowers LIGHT-type Machine Unions, of all things]]. This is gimmicky but surprisingly effective when played with the outdated VWXYZ cards... and downright ridiculous when played with the tournament-winning ABC cards.

As with JokeCharacter, this is a {{Game Trope|s}}. For non-game examples, see ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman, CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass, BewareTheSillyOnes, or HeartIsAnAwesomePower.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Patriot Games", Stewie is taking bets for an upcoming episode of Creator/{{Fox}}'s ''Celebrity Boxing'', in which the matchup will be Carol Jennings versus Creator/MikeTyson. Brian points out the matchup is an obvious CurbStompBattle (actress versus professional boxer) before placing a bet on Tyson. Sure enough, when the match happens, all Carol does is harmlessly [[GrumpyOldMan nag and taunt]] Tyson before he expectedly beats her up. Shockingly, she gets back up and continues nagging as if nothing happened. This process repeats several times until Tyson collapses from exhaustion, making Carol the winner without even throwing a single punch.

** Exclusive to ''Smash Remix'', a GameMod of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', is Polygon Kirby. Originally just one of the enemies for MultiMookMelee battles, ''Remix'' makes it PromotedToPlayable. None of the Fighting Polygon Team have any special moves, so they have no projectiles and are bad at recovering, and they don't have throws, so they virtually always lose the classic Attack/Block/Throw TacticalRockPaperScissors that fighting games are known for. So you'd think Kirby, despite his being one of the two most competitively powerful characters in ''64'', would also have his EvilKnockoff being pathetic with these handicaps, right? Well... Kirby [[AwesomeButImpractical barely ever uses]] his special moves in tournaments anyway, and most of his recovery is in his multiple jumps -- which Polygon Kirby retains -- rather than his up special. In addition, one of ''64'' Kirby's most major strengths is his effectiveness at [[ShieldsAreUseless easily breaking shields with his standard attacks]]. So, functionally speaking, Polygon Kirby is barely even touched by the polygons' limitations and is almost as strong as ordinary Kirby.

** Diotoir was covered in flammable fur that caught fire in every fight, couldn't self-right when [[FlippingHelpless flipped]], wielded an almost useless weapon, and had a big cheesy grin on the face of the robot. Yet somehow, it has won multiple awards, competitions and fights against powerful robots (especially an infamous fight where it went [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeie5cYFeis toe-to-toe]] with a future championship-winning robot ''and won''). All it needed was excellent driving, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass one of the strongest pushing capabilities in the entire competition underneath its joke exterior]] and creative use of its weapon to make a lot of progress.

* Venice in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' was upgraded from a lowly city-state to a full-fledged civilization in the Brave New World expansion, and at a glance they seem severely outclassed - once their capital is placed they cannot settle new cities (ever!) or even annex captured ones, and their unique naval unit (the Great Galleass) is only marginally better than the standard version. But if they manage to get a decent start position and survive the early game, they quickly become overwhelmingly powerful - they get twice as many trade routes as any other civ and earn a unique replacement for Great Merchants that let them quickly curry a lot of favor with city-states or even turn them into puppet states without that nasty warmonger penalty, giving themselves more resources while denying their competition the same. They're also the only civ that can make gold purchases from puppeted cities, and being limited to one city also makes some otherwise difficult wonders (like the National Intelligence Agency) much easier to acquire. Late in the game, you'll be raking in an absurd amount of gold - magnitudes beyond the cost of to purchase whatever upgrades or military units you may need - and between that and being able to buy an army on a moment's notice, securing enough allied/puppeted city-states will make a a diplomatic victory extremely easy to achieve.

* Venice in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' was upgraded from a lowly city-state to a full-fledged civilization in the Brave New World expansion, and at a glance they seem severely outclassed - once their capital is placed they cannot settle new cities (ever!) or even annex captured ones, and their unique naval unit (the Great Galleass) is only marginally better than the standard version. But if they manage to get a decent start position and survive the early game, they quickly become overwhelmingly powerful - they get twice as many trade routes as any other civ and earn a unique replacement for Great Merchants that let them quickly curry a lot of favor with city-states or even turn them into puppet states without that nasty warmonger penalty, giving themselves more resources while denying their competition the same. Being limited to one city also makes some otherwise difficult wonders (like the National Intelligence Agency) much easier to acquire. Late in the game, you'll be raking in an absurd amount of gold - magnitudes beyond the cost of to purchase whatever upgrades or military units you may need, and securing enough allied/puppeted city-states will make a a diplomatic victory nearly unavoidable.

* Venice in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' was upgraded from a lowly city-state to a full-fledged civilization in the Brave New World expansion, and at a glance they seem severely outclassed - once their capital is placed they cannot settle new cities (ever!) or even annex captured ones, and their unique naval unit (the Great Galleass) is only marginally better than the standard version. But if they manage to get a decent start position and survive the early game, they quickly become overwhelmingly powerful - they get twice as many trade routes as any other civ and earn a unique replacement for Great Merchants that let them quickly curry a lot of favor with city-states or even turn them into puppet states without that nasty warmonger penalty, giving themselves more resources while denying their competition the same. Being limited to one city also makes some otherwise difficult wonders (like the National Intelligence Agency) much easier to acquire. If you can hang on past the rough early stages, you'll be raking in an absurd amount of gold to purchase whatever upgrades or military units you may need, and securing enough delegate votes from allied/puppeted city-states will quickly let you work your way to a diplomatic victory.

* Venice in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' was upgraded from a lowly city-state to a full-fledged civilization in the Brave New World expansion, and at a glance they seem severely outclassed - once their capital is placed they cannot settle new cities (ever!) or even annex captured ones, and their unique naval unit (the Great Galleass) is only marginally better than the standard version. But if they manage to get a decent start position and survive the early game, they quickly become overwhelmingly powerful - they get twice as many trade routes as any other civ and earn a unique replacement for Great Merchants that let them quickly curry a lot of favor with city-states or even turn them into puppet states without that nasty warmonger penalty, giving themselves more resources while denying their competition the same. Being limited to one city also makes some otherwise difficult wonders (like the National Intelligence Agency) much easier to acquire. If you can hang on past the rough early stages, you'll be raking in an absurd amount of gold to purchase whatever upgrades or military units you may need, and securing enough delegate votes from friendly/annexed city-states will quickly let you work your way to a diplomatic victory.

* Venice in ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} V'' was upgraded from a lowly city-state to a full-fledged civilization in the Brave New World expansion, and at a glance they seem severely outclassed - once their capital is placed they cannot settle new cities (ever!) or even annex captured ones, and their unique naval unit (the Great Galleass) is only marginally better than the standard version. But with a decent start position and proper planning, they are among the most powerful civs in the game. They get twice as many trade routes as any other civ and earn a unique replacement for Great Merchants that let them quickly curry a lot of favor with city-states or even turn them into puppet states without that nasty warmonger penalty, giving themselves more resources while denying their competition the same. Being limited to one city also makes some otherwise difficult wonders (like the National Intelligence Agency) much easier to acquire. If you can survive the early game you'll be raking in more than enough revenue to purchase whatever upgrades or military units you may need, and securing enough delegate votes from friendly city-states will quickly let you work your way to a diplomatic victory.