History Main / ConservationOfCompetence

* ''OnePiece'': Monkey D. Luffy is easily one of the dumbest members of the crew. On the other hand he ''is'' smart enough to collect reasonably talented and intelligent {{Nakama}} to offset this.

* Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake of ''[[{{Ptitleg61am70o3b3w}} M*A*S*H]]'' would never have gotten by without people like Hawkeye and [[HypercompetentSidekick Radar]] around.

* ''TheEmperorsNewGroove'': Yzma is smart, Kronk is dumb.

*** A prime example of this was their second ever onscreen interaction: Jessie and James are trapped on an island (and separated from Meowth and their other Pokémon) with only a payphone as communication. Seeing as they have no money, they decide to collect call their boss. After being greeted by a grumpy Giovanni warning them that whoever is calling better have a good reason for making him spend money on the call, Jessie and James are [[TooDumbToLive stupid enough]] to start reciting their motto. Cue Giovanni hanging up wondering who the hell those idiots were.

** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Or is he?]]
*** Yes, he is. He says very explicitly in the Arlong arc that because he knows there are a lot of things he can't do, he makes friends so that they can help him with those things.

* [[OnePiece Monkey D. Luffy]] is easily one of the dumbest members of the crew. On the other hand he ''is'' smart enough to collect reasonably talented and intelligent {{Nakama}} to offset this.

* The Monarch and his minions from ''The Venture Brothers'' on Adult Swim are a classic example. The minions seem much more savvy than The Monarch himself, and so does The Monarch's girlfriend, Dr. Girlfriend.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing'': Scar is smart, the hyenas are dumb.

* Duke Igthorne and his ogres in Disney's GummiBears. His right-hand ogre, Toadstool, is the smartest of the bunch, and is still barely more intelligent than the furniture.
* The Monarch and his minions from "The Venture Brothers" on Adult Swim are a classic example. The minions seem much more savvy than The Monarch himself, and so does The Monarch's girlfriend, Dr. Girlfriend.

* LadyAndTheTramp: Aunt Sarah is dumb, the siamese cats are smart.
* SleepingBeauty: Maleficent is smart, her ogre minions are dumb.
* [[Disney/RobinHood Robin Hood]]: Prince John is dumb, the Sheriff of Nottingham is smart.
* {{Aladdin}}: Jafar is smart, Iago is dumb.

* TheLionKing: Scar is smart, the hyenas are dumb.
* [[Disney/{{Hercules}} Hercules]]: Hades is smart, Pain and Panic are dumb.
* TheEmperorsNewGroove: Yzma is smart, Kronk is dumb.

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* In Pucca, Tobe is a very good ninja and has very good plans sometimes, but he would achieve more alone than with his ninjas.

* In ''Pucca'', Tobe is a very good ninja and has very good plans sometimes, but he would achieve more alone than with his ninjas.

** Also a feature present in every game since the first generation: the fewer mons a trainer has, the more high-leveled they will be.
*** That may simply be reflecting the fact that having just one or two Pokémon makes it easier to level them up faster, while a full team of six will take longer. Also, in a double battle (or anytime two or more Pokémon are used to battle one opponent), the total experience points are divided up amongst the victor's Pokémon, thus, a Pokémon who battles alone gets all the experience points but having two battle means each one only gets half of the points. Which means that ConservationOfCompetence (or battle experience) is part of the innate game mechanics!

*** A prime example of this was their second ever onscreen interaction: Jessie and James trapped on an island (and separated from Meowth and their other Pokémon) with only a payphone as communication. Seeing as they have no money, they decide to collect call their boss. After being greeted by a grumpy Giovanni warning them that whoever is calling better have a good reason for making him spend money on the call, Jessie and James are [[TooDumbToLive stupid enough]] to start reciting their motto. Cue Giovanni hanging up wondering who the hell those idiots were.

* The ''[[{{ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokemon]]'' anime gives us the presumably competent Giovanni, whose subordinates are the one and only TeamRocket.
** In fairness, Jessie, James and Meowth aren't his only operatives. In terms of the trope, this may explain much. Apparently, it's been so long since he actually commanded them, he's completely forgotten about our three idiots.
*** A prime example of this was their first onscreen interaction: Team Rocket is trapped on an island with only a payphone as communication. Seeing as they have no money, they decide to collect call their boss. After being greeted by a grumpy Giovanni warning them that whoever is calling better have a good reason for making him spend money on the call, Jessie and James are [[TooDumbToLive stupid enough]] to start reciting their motto. Cue Giovanni hanging up wondering who the hell those idiots were.

[[AC: VideoGames]]
* The ''[[{{ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokemon Diamond and Pearl]]'' (and especially ''Platinum'') video games give us the rather intimidating Cyrus at the head of Team Galactic. The low-level flunkies don't have the slightest idea what the Big Evil Plan even ''is.''
** Also a feature present in every game since the first gen : the fewer mons a trainer has, the more high-levelled they will be.
*** That may simply be reflecting the fact that having just one or two Pokemon makes it easier to level them up faster, while a full group of 6 will take longer. Also, in a double battle (or anytime two or more Pokemon are used to battle one opponent), the total experience points are divided up amongst the victor's Pokemon, thus, a Pokemon who battles alone gets all the experience points but having two battle means each one only gets half of the points. Which means that ConservationOfCompetence (or battle experience) is part of the innate game mechanics!

* ''[[GilligansIsland Gilligan's Island]]''. Only one person in any given episode could be competent. Not always the same person, either. Of course if ''[[JustEatGilligan they were competent]]'' they'd be off the island. So, yeah.

* ''[[GilligansIsland Gilligan's Island]]''. Only one person in any given episode could be competent. Not always the same person, either. Of course if they were competent they'd be off the island. So, yeah.

*** That may simply be reflecting the fact that having just one or two Pokemon makes it easier to level them up faster, while a full group of 6 will take longer, mainly because if, for example, two Pokemon are used in the duration of a battle, each one will only get half the total experience points given out for defeating the enemy Pokemon, whereas if only one was used, that one Pokemon would receive all the allotted experience points.

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