History CripplingOverspecialization / NonVideoGameExamples

** Jaune observes that the HumongousMecha Colossus is most likely designed to fight the larger Grimm that live in deeper water in the ocean surrounding Argus. He concludes that it will therefore be unable to deal with multiple human-sized opponents attacking from different directions. The gang therefore use their numbers, maneuverability, and small size to overcome defences that would be much tougher for an enormous Grimm to deal with. The fact that the commander intentionally sent the Colossus into a combat situation she ''knew'' it wasn't designed for, against a group of teenage Huntsmen, is taken as proof of her rising insanity.

* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': "The Nice And Accurate Prophecies Of Agnes Nutter" were indeed both "nice" (which meant "precise" at the time) and accurate, but are either focused on Agnes Nutter's descendants or completely inapplicable for most of the book's existence. For example "Doe Notte Buye [[UsefulNotes/{{VCR}} Betamacks]]" would have been very useful advice for an adult with disposable income between 1976 and 1993 but utterly useless otherwise; her entry for November 22nd, 1963 contains no mention of the assassination of UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy because none of her descendants were in Dallas that day; and her insistance on the importance of a high-fiber diet was a bit of a slap in the face to people of her own time and place, whose primary concerns were that their diet be existent and low-gravel. Her descendants have spent more time trying to determine just what Agnes is even talking about in the prophecies than actually being helped by them.

** [[spoiler:Wonderwiess]] plays with this as part of MinMaxing, as Aizen removed all forms speech, intelligence, memory and reasoning so as to have the ability to seal [[spoiler:Ryujinjakka's flames]], but he also has reiatsu comparable to those of the Espada and [[spoiler:when Yamamoto proves he can kick ass with his bare hands, Wonderweiss also shows he has powerful hand-to-hand skills himself. Not enough to win, of course]].

** Also subverted by [[UnskilledButStrong Naruto himself]] after the TimeSkip; initially his main strategy was to just ZergRush his opponents with [[SelfDuplication Shadow Clones]] which never worked against stronger opponents. However, in ''Shippuden'' he takes the WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer approach and while he never uses anything other than Shadow Clones and the [[SphereOfDestruction Rasengan]] he learns to use them more intelligently, using the Clones to perform AwesomenessByAnalysis on enemy fighting styles and developing unique variations on the Rasengan (plus getting a SuperMode helped). By the time of ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' [[FutureBadass he's overcome this shortcoming entirely]] and adopted other jutsus into his arsenal.

** Doto and his snow ninjas, the villains of the first movie. They have special chakra-armor, small devices that deflect or negate chakra based attacks. This renders many of the team's attacks useless but in the finale Kakashi points out the big hole in the logic of the chakra-armor: it protects against chakra attacks but does to nothing to protect from normal ''physical attacks''. He then exploits this to defeat TheDragon by piledriving the guy off a small cliff headfirst. If his armor was better it might have protected him from the impact but because his armor was so specialized against chakra, he gets killed by the fall.

* Tokyo-3 and NERV HQ from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is a gigantic city with an even more gigantic and extensive bunker underneath it designed specifically for defending against attacks from Angels. However, ''The End Of Evangelion'' shows the one thing that NERV headquarters is utterly defenseless against: [[spoiler:Other humans. More specifically, a JSSDF invasion, who overtake the facility almost effortlessly]].

** Story-wise, this is one reason why Logia-type Devil Fruit users survive less in the New World compared to Paramecia users, Zoan users, and even non-Devil Fruit users. Their over-reliance on their powers, which while they served them well in the weaker seas therefore giving them a false sense of invincibility, becomes useless further down the Grand Line because people have developed ways to bypass Logia Devil Fruit powers and thus are able to damage and kill them.

** After Blackbeard becomes an Emperor, he and his crew began hunting down powerful Devil Fruits to strengthen his officers. However, as Law points out when they clash, that means all of them have SuperDrowningSkills. Blackbeard retorts that the trade-off is more than WorthIt.

* ''Anime/RurouniKenshin'': Kenshin Himura is a master swordsman, but is hopeless at unarmed combat and often gets confused by enemy swordsmen that [[CombatPragmatist throw in punches or kicks between sword strikes]]. Less so in the anime. Averted by Saito Haijime, who fights entirely with varying types of stabbing, but is such an excellent swordsman that he doesn't need anything else. Saito is also an expert boxer and is willing to use other weapons like his ''belt''. In one of the last chapters of the manga Kenshin tells a member of the latest QuirkyMinibossSquad -- one who specialized in countering stabbing techniques but was defeated by Saito anyway -- that if defeating Saito's Gattotsu was enough to defeat Saito himself, Kenshin would have killed him years ago.
** Sanosuke runs into this problem as well. He is first introduced as an opponent wielding a {{BFS}}, but is defeated easily by Kenshin because he can only do two attacks with said weapon and those attacks can be easily dodged because of how unwieldy the weapon is. Sano ditches the weapon when he becomes an ally and fights using good ol' street brawling but, during the Juppon Gatana Arc, is defeated easily by Saito who, as noted above, is an experienced boxer. Sano did learn and perfect a unique technique during that arc, but he could only use said technique with his right hand, which gave him problems when fighting against the guy who taught him said technique. Not to mention it soon became a DangerousForbiddenTechnique that greatly damaged his hand the more he used it. In the final arc however, this is averted, as he came up with a new variant that would allow him to hit just as hard but without the drawbacks.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'': [[TheHero Seiya's]] master, Marin, taught her disciple this "If you meet someone stronger than you, attacks his best weapon. If he punches hard, aim for his arms. If he kicks strong, aim for his legs. After you destroy it, you will be able to win with no trouble." Early on the series, Seiya met Bear Geki, a warrior had focused his training in reinforcing his arms to the point of he could easily throtle ''grizzly bears''. As soon as Seiya managed breaking his arms, Geki was defenseless and the battle was over.

** The battle suit used by [[BigBad Eggman]] in issues 175-177 was designed specifically to outmatch Sonic, which it [[CurbStompBattle proceeded to do marvelously]]. However, this meant that when the ''other'' Freedom Fighters took it on, it went down in a matter of ''panels''.

* In ''Literature/MademoiselleDeScuderi'', Cardillac's method of killing is a single precise stab in the heart. The moment he sets on a target smart enough to use armor...

** Members of most clans seem to suffer from this, as they tend to ''only'' use the clan's signature techniques even when they could learn others. Plus their specialization can be found out just by knowing their last name. Teamwork is greatly stressed and teams typically consist of 4 people from different clans or backgrounds, so the "crippling" part is usually guarded against, though they tend to have a specialised theme (eg. Team Gai are all Taijustu types, but different types of Taijutsu; Team Kurenai/8 specialize in tracking, but different types of tracking, etc.). It is also not uncommon for different teams to work together, or for members to join other teams temporarily.

** Similarly Rock Lee uses taijutsu but that's because he can't do anything else, to top it off he doesn't bring any weapon and so he relies exclusively on hand-to-hand combat. This is a world where some people can kill you by staring or can burn you if you touch them so it's kind of a problem for a ninja.

** [[MusicalAssassin Tayuya's]] powers themselves were fairly versatile: creating illusions and controlling summoned demons with music. But she still suffered from this as she didn't carry a single tool (not even a kunai) besides her flute, which she needs to craft her illusions. So of course the moment her flute is lost or damaged she's pretty much screwed. It doesn't help that she ends up fighting against [[BlowYouAway Temari]], whose fan completely repels the sounds of her flute. Tayuya outright calls Temari her natural enemy for that reason.

** Ripjaws is a form that is incredibly powerful underwater, being able to move incredibly quickly and having good strength, which means he can quickly turn the tide of the battle in his favor. The problem? He's almost completely useless on dry land; while he's still got incredibly powerful jaws, he needs water to ''breathe'', which makes for quite a bit of suffering when he's nowhere near a body of water. And it wouldn’t be good for Ben when the timer runs out and he’s still underwater.
** Fortunately Ripjaws grows out of this as his species becomes amphibious when they get older.

** [[spoiler:Wonderwiess]] plays with this as part of MinMaxing. Giving up speech, intelligence, memory and reasoning so as to have the ability to seal [[spoiler:Ryujinjakka's flames]], but he also has reiastu comparable to an Espada and [[spoiler:when Yamamoto proves he can kick ass with his bare hands, Wonderweiss also shows he has powerful hand-to-hand skills himself. Not enough to win, of course]].

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13259409/6/Once-More-Unto-the-Sky-Dear-Friends Once More Unto the Sky, Dear Friends]]'', when Hiccup and the other Dragon Riders find themselves back in their teenage bodies at the beginning of the first film, Hiccup muses that Berk at this time is so focused on defending themselves against dragons that it’s embarrassingly easy for humans to get to the dragon training arena without being spotted.

** The Assassin servant who guards the Mountain Gate of Ryuudou Temple is a man with literally nothing besides swordplay; he was not given a name or taught to read, and lived his entire life practicing a technique that would allow him to cut down a bird in flight. The end result is a man who can use martial arts to [[BeyondTheImpossible warp reality]] in order to strike from three directions simultaneously. However, imperfections in his weapon can create blind spots in the technique, as shown when Saber manages to damage the blade, and compared to other servants, he is the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of combat ability aside from this OneHitKill attack. To add insult to injury, it's later revealed that Herakles, when in any class other than Berserker, can do the same thing ''better'' (his sword can hit from ''nine'' directions simultaneously, and with bow and arrow he can deliver ''hundreds'' of hits) in addition to [[SuperStrength his enormous strenght]] and ''many'' other skills.

* ''Fanfic/VowOfTheKing'': Zommari admits that he focused so heavily on his speed and Amor that his more basic skills such as Cero and Bala are far weaker than they should be. This comes back to bite him when facing an enemy who can keep up with his speed and has a way to negate his Amor.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Yor is an [[ProfessionalKiller assassin]], and one of the deadliest people on the planet, capable of effortlessly wiping out whole groups of armed combatants. Outside of that, she doesn't really have any skills at anything. As a result, the people she works with as part of her cover think she's TheDitz, and difficulty in being a good wife and mother is a major source of insecurity for her.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', SpongeBob was successfully taught how to drive blindfolded. Unfortunately, he could ''only'' drive while blindfolded, to the point that when forced to drive without it, he reverted to his usual failures.

* Eosinophils in ''Manga/CellsAtWork'' excels at slaying parasites, but is completely incapable of slaying even a single bacterium (which appear in the body much more frequently). This is to the point that she's given AllOfTheOtherReindeer treatment by other body cells. This actually is TruthInTelevision for much of how cells in the body's immune system work. See the Real Life page for more.

** The Assassin servant who guards the Mountain Gate of Ryuudou Temple is a man with literally nothing besides swordplay; he was not given a name or taught to read, and lived his entire life practicing a technique that would allow him to cut down a bird in flight. The end result is a man who can use martial arts to [[BeyondTheImpossible warp reality]] in order to strike from three directions simultaneously. However, imperfections in his weapon can create blind spots in the technique, as shown when Saber manages to damage the blade, and compared to other servants, he is the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of combat ability aside from this OneHitKill attack.

** ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': Zebediah Killgrave, a.k.a. the Purple Man has incredibly powerful CompellingVoice powers, but that's it: he's otherwise a baseline human apart from being purple from head to toe. [[spoiler:In the last issue of ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'', ComicBook/JeanGrey counteracts his powers and ComicBook/JessicaJones lays him out with one punch. Then adds a few more.]]
** ''ComicBook/ShangChi'': Razorfist had both hands removed and replaced with blades to maximize his combat ability. He now needs servants to feed him and attend to his basic personal hygiene. Plus, every time he's arrested, the blades are replaced with prosthetic hands to which he's unable to adjust, as shown in an issue of ''ComicBook/{{Toxin}}''.
*** [[AbledInTheAdaptation Averted]] in [[Characters/MCUTenRings the MCU]], where he only has one hand replaced with a blade, leaving the other for normal use.
** 'ComicBook/SpiderMan'': This is the fatal flaw of Overdrive; he has the power to alter, transform, or improve any vehicle near him. This is incredibly useful... as long as there's some vehicles around for him to actually use. He also can't alter any other machines, just vehicles. This wouldn't be a problem if Overdrive knew anything about hand-to-hand combat, but he's a mechanic by trade and isn't very strong so he's useless without a vehicle around. Spidey and other heroes frequently beat him by either forcing him into an area away from any vehicles or simply waiting to ambush him; after all, he can't spend his whole life inside a car.

** ''ComicBook/XMen'': The Dark Beast- an alternate version of long-time X-Man ComicBook/{{Beast|MarvelComics}} from the ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse- suffers from this; where his 616 counterpart is an OmnidisciplinaryScientist, Dark Beast specialises in genetics. While this gives him a greater knowledge of genetics than the prime Beast, it hindered his attempts to pose as his counterpart on one occasion, as the X-Men expected him to have a broader range of knowledge than he actually did.

** ''ComicBook/Wolverine'' is considered one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel Universe, however, his AttackAttackAttack style is only effective when combined with a HealingFactor that makes him basically invincible. When he loses it ComicBook/BlackPanther, a barely enhanced human with an armoured suit, is able to easily defeat the guy who has gone toe-to-toe with ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk, because he has no defensive moves in his arsenal.

** DoubleSubverted by Tim Tebow. Tebow was a JackOfAllStats who could throw pretty well, but also had a good 40-yard dash and was larger and stronger than the average GlassCannon quarterback. In high school and college, his coaches leaned on his all-rounder qualities by having him run the ball himself rather than throw it, an unorthodox strategy which caught opposing teams by surprise and made him one of the most successful NCAA players of his time. However, in the NFL he quickly found that he couldn't throw as well as the pros, not having trained in it during college, and also his reputation for running the ball was well-established by now so pro teams had come up with strategies to counter it. He couldn't play like a regular quarterback, but he also couldn't use his own peculiar style. He ended up bouncing around teams, usually as a second stringer, before getting dumped; and many commentators believe his outspoken Christianity was the only thing keeping him from being cut earlier, as the NFL feared upsetting the large and important bloc of socially conservative football fans. Ironically, he could have been a good utility player, and many teams were interested in bringing him in, just not as a quarterback, but Tebow's refusal to play any other position as a point of pride meant nobody had a place for him.

** DoubleSubverted by Tim Tebow. Tebow was a JackOfAllStats who could throw pretty well, but also had a good 40-yard dash and was larger and stronger than the average GlassCannon quarterback. In high school and college, his coaches leaned on his all-rounder qualities by having him run the ball himself rather than throw it, an unorthodox strategy which caught opposing teams by surprise and made him one of the most successful NCAA players of his time. However, in the NFL he quickly found that he couldn't throw as well as the pros, not having trained in it during college, and also his reputation for running the ball was well-established by now so pro teams had come up with strategies to counter it. He couldn't play like a regular quarterback, but he also couldn't use his "secret weapon". He ended up bouncing around teams, usually as a second stringer, before getting dumped; and many commentators believe his outspoken Christianity was the only thing keeping him from being cut earlier, as the NFL feared angering the large and important bloc of socially conservative football fans. Ironically, he could have been a good utility player, and many teams were interested in bringing him in, just not as a quarterback, but Tebow's refusal to play any other position as a point of pride meant nobody had a place for him.

** DoubleSubverted by Tim Tebow. Tebow was a JackOfAllStats who could through pretty well, but also had a good 40-yard dash and was larger and stronger than the average GlassCannon quarterback. In high school and college, his coaches leaned on his all-rounder qualities by having him run the ball himself rather than throw it, an unorthodox strategy which caught opposing teams by surprise and made him one of the most successful NCAA players of his time. However, in the NFL he quickly found that he couldn't throw as well as the pros, not having trained in it during college, and also his reputation for running the ball was well-established by now so pro teams had come up with strategies to counter it. He couldn't play like a regular quarterback, but he also couldn't use his "secret weapon". He ended up bouncing around teams, usually as a second stringer, before getting dumped; and many commentators believe his outspoken Christianity was the only thing keeping him from being cut earlier, as the NFL feared angering the large and important bloc of socially conservative football fans. Ironically, he could have been a good utility player, and many teams were interested in bringing him in, just not as a quarterback, but Tebow's refusal to play any other position as a point of pride meant nobody had a place for him.

** Kuvira's weapon in the Season 4 finale. [[spoiler:The Colossus is a 25-story-tall HumongousMecha, which Kuvira uses in her attempted conquest of Republic City. The Spirit Energy Cannon mounted on its right arm is a weapon of mass destruction whose beams of spirit energy tear right through even the most massive defenses, so that no walls or armor can protect against it. Furthermore, the Colossus is so thickly armored that seemingly no attack is able to damage it, and metalbending doesn’t work against it because the armor and joints are made from platinum harvested from the dismantled domes of Zaofu. However, there are flaws in both the design of the mecha and Kuvira's use of it. True, it's an unstoppable juggernaut against any large target with limited mobility, such as city buildings, fortresses, battleships, or massed formations of ground troops. The problem is that the Spirit Energy Cannon is its only ranged weapon, and its beam is focused rather than scattershot. That means it's hard to deal with multiple fast-moving attackers that avoid clumping together, especially flyers. Kuvira also squanders the cannon’s second-greatest advantage -- the fact that it out-ranges any other weapon on the heroes' side -- by walking into the middle of the city to pursue her enemies. The Colossus can try to trample ground enemies with its feet, or to swat enemy flyers with its hands, but these ponderous movements can usually be dodged. The teams of benders defending the city are therefore able to swarm it from multiple directions and avoid its attacks while trying things like slinging paint balloons at the cockpit windows to blind it, or wrapping its legs in steel cables and trying to knock it on its back. While none of these attacks succeed in stopping it, the defenders of Republic City manage to survive and stall for time until Hiroshi Sato identifies its weakness to internal attack and installs his plasma cutter on Asami and Varrick's hummingbird flyer to cut a small hole through the armor. Once this is accomplished the heroic benders are able to cripple and destroy it from the inside just like the Gaang destroyed Azula's giant drill in ''The Last Airbender''. One wonders what would have happened if Kuvira had A) installed a bunch of smaller point defense weapons such as the lightning guns or flamethrowers found on the smaller mecha-suits; B) brought an escort of airships to help shoot down the airbenders; and/or C) retreated to open ground and blasted the heroes into oblivion from a distance instead of wading in among the buildings and letting herself get surrounded.]]