History Main / HighHopesZeroTalent

* The original Jester, an archenemy of Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} dreamed of being a major Shakespearean actor and trained himself in everything from acrobatics to boxing to swordplay to try and improve his chances. Unfortunately, he forgot to get the one kind of training he actually needed-namely, ''acting lessons''. He was such a bad actor that the only work he could get was as the pie-in-the-face guy for a two-bit comedian, and eventually he became so embittered he decided to take the skills he was actually good at and became a costumed criminal.

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': Brian has ultimately become this in the [[UnCanceled post-cancellation]] episodes (particularly the later ones), wishing desperately to be seen as an intellectual and a talented writer -- but so far, the closest he's ever come to any actual "success" (where he was actually trying to be genuinely artistic) are ''Faster Than the Speed of Love'' (his novel)[[note]]It was universally panned by literary critics and didn't even sell a single copy[[/note]], ''A Passing Fancy'' (his play)[[note]]It was a hit in Quahog but was panned by theater critics and was widely mocked by writers with '''actual''' talent[[/note]], and his run as a staff writer on the InUniverse Creator/DisneyChannel-series ''Parent Boppers''[[note]]It was a very short run and he only got the job because his estranged son Dylan was the lead actor on the show -- Brian was ultimately fired because he kept trying to add subjects that were just too grim and/or "adult" for a kids' show[[/note]]. Most of Brian's work also tends to contain a lot of plagiarism, and even that's typically done ''very'' poorly. Ironically, Brian's characterization in the pre-cancellation episodes (and, to a lesser extent, the early post-cancellation episodes) was pretty much the exact opposite of how he is nowadays -- in those episodes, Brian was a genuinely sophisticated intellectual, an avid reader, ''and'' a talented singer (to name just a few things). But he never had any writing aspirations (at least not to the same extent as he does in the post-cancellation episodes).

* In ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', one of Dale Gribble's dreams is to learn basket weaving and has the opportunity to on a "vocation vacation". He's absolutely horrible at it, which causes him a lot of angst. Things get worse when Hank's handiness and attention to detail put him top of the class, driving Dale into a [[GreenEyedMonster jealous rage.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' - Princess Celestia's fillyhood dream was to be in plays. When Twilight is putting on a play dramatising the first time Celestia raised the sun, she casts the princess to play herself. It turns out that she has approximately zero talent on the stage, despite all the classes she takes to make up for it.

** Homer embraces this trope in one episode where he realizes he's officially passed the halfway point of the average male lifespan and becomes despondent that he hasn't accomplished anything with his life (directly ignoring, and in one case disregarding, all the things he HAS accomplished over the course of the show, such as his tour with The Smashing Pumpkins, his Grammy win, and his journey into space). After Lisa inspires him to idolize UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison, Homer becomes obsessed with creating just as many inventions as he did, but his "career" is a dismal flop, as his best work ends up being a makeup shotgun (which is used to literally blast women in the face with makeup), a loud, obnoxious "Everything Is Okay" alarm, an electric hammer, and a combination recliner/toilet.

* Squidward in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' fashions himself as a great artist and musician. But his art is unremarkable and are merely [[ShrineToSelf images of himself]]. And his music is dreadful and sounds like a dying animal.

* ''Manga/KenganAshura'': Tokumichi Tokuno'o is [[BecauseImGoodAtIt the opposite of this trope]] in regards to his "main" job that we see in the series, which is an underground fighter: he's a natural at martial arts, incredibly fit even without much practice, and has excellent fighting sense and brainpower, such that his sole loss is to the WorldsBestWarrior. However, he detests this job, and only does it to have the spare cash for his true life's ambition, which is to become a great novelist. As a novelist, he is, by all accounts, pretty terrible, to the point that even Gaoh Ryuki, who was ''illiterate'' a matter of months prior, was able to lay down some rather harsh critique. It's said that he has, on multiple occasions, declared he's retiring from fighting to publish a great novel... [[StarvingArtist then when it bombs]], he has to [[TenMinuteRetirement hastily un-retire]] to get his money back.

* ''Manga/KenganOmega'': Tokumichi Tokuno'o is [[BecauseImGoodAtIt the opposite of this trope]] in regards to his "main" job that we see in the series, which is an underground fighter: he's a natural at martial arts, incredibly fit even without much practice, and has excellent fighting sense and brainpower, such that his sole loss is to the WorldsBestWarrior. However, he detests this job, and only does it to have the spare cash for his true life's ambition, which is to become a great novelist. As a novelist, he is, by all accounts, pretty terrible, to the point that even Gaoh Ryuki, who was ''illiterate'' a matter of months prior, was able to lay down some rather harsh critique. It's said that he has, on multiple occasions, declared he's retiring from fighting to publish a great novel... [[StarvingArtist then when it bombs]], he has to [[TenMinuteRetirement hastily un-retire]] to get his money back.

A common trait of the HeroicWannabe. Is the inverse of BrilliantButLazy. Contrast the DeafComposer, who definitely ''does'' have talent. Compare and contrast IJustWantToBeSpecial, where the character desires to be something without necessarily being passionate about it.

* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Saten Ruiko, like many others in Academy City, came to the city with the hopes of becoming an [[PsychicPowers esper]] through the city's power development programme. However, [[HardWorkHardlyWorks even after years of hard work]] she remains a Level 0 (an esper with [[RealityWarper reality warping]] capabilities too insignificant to be of note), and she feels that she is TheLoad, unable to assist her friends in any significant way. Along with many other Level 0's, [[IJustWantToBeSpecial her desire to become an esper]] and to be useful to her friends is what drives her to use the "[[MugglePower Level Upper]]".
--->'''Saten''': I was so tired of not having any power. And finally it didn't matter anymore what lengths I had to go to to get it.
** Skill Out are gangs of [[JapaneseDelinquent delinquent]] Level 0's who were never able to develop [[PsychicPowers esper abilities]] and therefore became [[TheResenter Resenters]] to those who were able to do so. They regularly attack other espers, whom they feel are oppressing them, though espers who are innocent and even other Level 0s regularly fall target as well.
** Index mentions that [[FunctionalMagic magic]] was developed in the distant past by those who wanted to defy this trope and [[IJustWantToBeSpecial have powers like those who naturally had them]], such as Gemstones (espers who've had their abilities from birth) and Saints (those naturally closer in nature to God).

* ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Louise [[OverlyLongName Francoise Le Blanc de La Valiere]] "[[MaliciousMisnaming the Zero]]" and everyone else initially thought she was this. Louise desperately desires to become a powerful mage worthy of [[TheMagocracy the noble Valliere family]] and [[TheAce her mother]], but every spell she casts blows up in her face, and she was only saved from expulsion when she summons an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent as her familiar. Eventually subverted when [[spoiler:she is revealed to be a user of a powerful and lost type of magic]], and her success rate with some of the more mundane spells goes up later on.

* In ''Anime/RuneSoldierLouie'', the eponymous character is a mage in training, who longs for adventure. The problem is, he sucks at spellcasting because [[BookDumb he doesn't keep up with his studies]], preferring to solve his problems [[GoodOldFisticuffs with his fists]] instead. Except he's not very good at that either, since he hasn't had any formal training and usually [[LeeroyJenkins just rushes in without thinking]], which is what creates the friction between him and [[StopHavingFunGuys Jeanie.]]

** Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother, who auditioned to be Krusty's sidekick, but was quickly rejected by Krusty; Cecils performance was very stilted and awkward, he had zero charisma even for a sidekick, and as Krusty points out, the "pie in the face gag" Cecil prepared for is only funny if the victim has dignity, and Cecil was a random dork in clown paint. Bob ends up winning the role specifically because he didn't want it, was dressed in a business suit, and the pie knocked his hat off, exposing his goofy hair.

* Many, many HopelessAuditionees on [[RealityTV reality competition shows]], especially those who are among the first ones eliminated. It's almost universally acknowledged that the only reason they're shown on TV is to be mocked. ''Series/AmericanIdol'' especially built its reputation, and that of Simon Cowell as a [[CausticCritic tough jerk of a judge]], on people like this.
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* Melvin from the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "The March of the Exeggutor Squad". He wanted to create a stage show big enough to make it to Las Vegas ("Broadway" in the original[[note]]Which is an even more impossible dream, 99% of Broadway shows are stage plays and musicals[[/note]]). But his show turned out to be boring with a capital "B." He also appeared to be rather dim (it never occurs to him to use his Exeggcute's hypnotic powers as the basis of a show in itself). At episode's end, it looks like he's simply going to try his show again, rather than try something new.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Louise [[OverlyLongName Francoise Le Blanc de La Valiere]] "[[MaliciousMisnaming the Zero]]" and everyone else initially thought she was this. Louise desperately desires to become a powerful mage worthy of [[TheMagocracy the noble Valliere family]] and [[TheAce her mother]], but every spell she casts blows up in her face, and she was only saved from expulsion when she summons an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent as her familiar. Eventually subverted when [[spoiler:she is revealed to be a user of a powerful and lost type of magic]], and her success rate with some of the more mundane spells goes up later on.

* The ''[[Franchise/{{Nasuverse}} Nasuverse]]'':
** Waver Velvet in ''LightNovel/FateZero'' wants to be a great magus, but lacks the [[SuperpowerfulGenetics necessary heredity]]. You see, magical ability (apart from a few freaks) [[OurMagesAreDifferent tends to be something gained over the generations]] and Waver is a nobody. He enters the Grail War as a sort of revenge against a teacher that snubbed his work and mocked him in front of a class. Unfortunately, his paper stating hard work can make up for talent is both obvious and gibberish: Hard work will make you better at something, but with no aptitude from the start hard work can only get you so far, and it certainly won't grow you magical body parts that you weren't born with. Especially since there's nothing stopping those naturally gifted magi from ''also'' working hard. However, it turns out that while he's rather bad at magic himself, he's quite good at educating others and helping them maximize their own potential. Which is something he has no interest in, even though it gives him a solid career and good social standing.

* Regina Darkblood from ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'': She's an utter failure as [[BlueAndOrangeMorality a traditional rampaging demon]]. (Her aunt, Kria Soulstealer, spells out why [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_2044.php here]]). And she lacks the self-awareness to actually work on her shortcomings. But it turns out she has a knowledge of fashion and architectural history and lore (anything involving styles, really) that she's practically an urban anthropologist. Which she considers useless, no matter how legitimately impressed people are by her knowledge. And she doesn't actually ''want'' to rampage. Much like Rimmer in the Live-Action TV section, she thinks she has to because of familial expectations and fear of being disowned if she doesn't.[[note]]Sadly, from what we've seen of her parents - both [[ItsAllAboutMe narcissistic]] {{jerkass}}es - she's probably right in her fears[[/note]]
* Brisbane Adams in ''Webcomic/YouSayItFirst's'' predecessor comic, ''Unlike Minerva''. Brisbane wanted all his life to be a part of a real-life Vaudeville theater. And he didn't let things like not being able to sing, dance, act, tell jokes or do magic tricks stop him. Over the course of YSIF, Brisbane showed skills as a general MrFixIt and as a problem solver in his role as an executive assistant.

%%* Linguini of ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' wants to be a great chef, even more so when he discovers [[spoiler:he's Auguste Gusteau's son]]. Unfortunately for him, he's a total LethalChef. While discovering he's a bad chef (especially without Remy), he turns out to be an ace maitre d'hôtel.

* In ''Anime/AngelBeats'', Yui is this in all of her pursuits. She hopes to replace Iwasawa as the guitarist for the band Girls Dead Monster, but can't sing or play nearly as well as Iwasawa, especially when she tries to do both at once. When she tries to do a German suplex, she's only able to succeed after a lot of coaching and with the target's cooperation. She only manages to dribble a soccer ball past five people and score a goal by cheating and receiving help from Otonashi and Angel. Even after hours of hitting balls, she's unable to hit a single home run but decides that spending all that time trying was worthwhile.

* In ''ComicBook/UntoldTalesOfSpiderMan'', Peter Parker had to deal with an unwanted fangirl in the form of Sally Avril, who was inspired by Spider-Man to try and become a costumed heroine herself. Unfortunately, not only did she not have the right motivation (she was little more than an adrenaline junkie rather than wanting to fight crime for the good of others), she didn't have any powers, and wasn't even good enough to be a BadassNormal; she was a slightly above-average athletic teenager with a smart friend who wasn't intelligent enough to be a GadgeteerGenius making her gear. As a result, her equipment was almost useless, her combat skills laughable, and Peter let her get her ass kicked by a villain just so she'd understand how outclassed she was. To be fair, this did make her give up the mask... only to die in a car crash while trying to emulate Peter's other job of taking photos of superhero fights, just so she could keep getting the same rush.
* The original Jester, an archenemy of Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} dreamed of being a major Shakespearean actor and trained himself in everything from acrobatics to boxing to swordplay to try and improve his chances. Unfortunately, he forgot to get the one kind of training he actually needed-namely, ''acting lessons''. He was such a bad actor that the only work he could get was as the pie-in-the-face guy for a two-bit comedian, and eventually he became so embittered he decided to take the skills he was actually good at and became a costumed criminal.

* ''{{ComicStrip/Foxtrot}}'': Peter sucks at both baseball and football (the only people worse are Jason and Marcus, who are nerdy and ten years old), but this doesn't stop him from trying out every year (while he usually ends up on the team, it's only to showcase how bad he is, and in one case only made it because half the team got thrown off after getting caught cheating on tests). [[NegativeContinuity Except one year where he didn't try out]] for the football team and comes across the list of rejected players...
-->'''Peter:''' MY NAME IS ''PRE-PRINTED'' ON THESE?!\\

* In the Gilchrist-run of ''ComicStrip/{{Nancy}}'', Sluggo had some aspirations of becoming a professional athlete (usually for baseball, but also sometimes for football). However, Sluggo tended to be more focused on practicing stuff like his "[sports] hero autograph" or "poses for sports trading cards" than he was on practicing any of the actual physical aspects.

* ''FanFic/RainbowDoubleDashsLunaverse:'' Thrash Metail wants to be the greatest musician in Equestria, but his actual initial work was mediocre at best, and rather than try and improve, or work on it, he uses an evil guitar to brainwash ponies into liking his music. Which, even with the evil guitar, is still awful.
* In ''Fanfic/WhereTalentGoesToDie'', protagonist Kaori Miura had once hoped to become an author like her idol, Sae Edogawa, but was told to give up on it and focus on her studies since she didn't have the talent necessary. Edogawa also had a friend who wanted to be an author just like her, but after being told one too many times that she wasn't quite good enough, [[CantTakeCriticism her friend snapped]] and the two parted on bad terms.

* The monk Kirill in Film/AndreiRublev aspires to be a great icon painter but lacks artistic ability. When this is pointed out to him, he flies into a rage, curses his fellow monks, and leaves the monastery in a fit.
* Norther Wislow in Film/BigFish is regarded as the local poet laureate in the town of Spectre, but the best he can come up with after years of writing is "Roses are red, violets are blue, Spectre is great!"

* In ''Film/CitizenKane'', Susan Alexander, second wife of Charles Foster Kane, gets put out on a huge opera debut by her husband. While her voice may be pleasant for something singing in the shower, she is not cut out for opera in any way[[note]]Specifically she has a lower vocal range but [[VocalRangeExceeded is cast out of her depth in a soprano part]][[/note]]. Her vocal teacher loudly proclaims she is unteachable and more or less [[FacePalm facepalms]] every time she sings. [[SmallNameBigEgo Kane]] won't listen to Susan, the instructor, or every newspaper critic in America and insists that she keep going on stage. Creator/OrsonWelles later regretted this part of the film, as people assumed she was based on screen actress and William Randolph Hearst's paramour Creator/MarionDavies, who Welles (and many others) felt was actually a fairly talented actress and a nice person. Marion Davies was well-suited to romantic comedies -- unfortunately, Hearst saw her as the second coming of Mary Pickford and kept putting her in lavish, sentimental dramas that didn't take advantage of her talents.
* In ''Film/TheDisasterArtist'', Creator/TommyWiseau is portrayed as this.

* ''Radio/BleakExpectations:'' Harry Biscuit wishes to become the world's greatest inventor, partly because of jealousy at his father inventing the biscuit, and his best friend inventing the bin. Unfortunately, Harry's inventions are nigh-universally awful, a fact Harry even acknowledges. The only times he ever manages to make anything successful is when he's either deliberately trying to make something awful, or has turned evil.
* ''Radio/OldHarrysGame:'' The one-off character Chantelle is desperate to be a winner on ''Britain's Got Talent'', despite the fact her singing is ear-gougingly awful. She's so determined she fails to notice she died, and is in Hell, and even then she's still convinced she can make it as a star. Satan decides to use her as a torture implement by letting her sing.

* In "Beauty School Dropout" from ''{{Film/Grease}}'', Frenchy's guardian angel appears to tell her that her dream of becoming a beautician will never work out, because of both her lack of ambition and talent, and that she should finish high school and pursue a more modest career. As he puts it, "You've got the dream but not the drive."

-->'''Gina''': I just ''really'' want to be a star!
-->'''Cleveland''': Your dreams won't come true.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Doug is an incredibly incompetent doctor, but ends up causing so many deaths he is able to start a new career as a pathologist in the morgue identifying the cause of death of corpses that have other pathologists stumped... mostly by having inadvertently replicated said death somehow at some point in his medical career.

** Danjuro Tobita was apparently considered this in his youth, as when he enthusiastically tells his guidance counselor about his desire to be a hero, he's bluntly told that since his grades are poor and he got held back at a sub-par school, he'd be better off dropping out. When his attempt at saving a man from falling goes wrong, he ends up getting expelled. Years later, Tobita meets a former yearmate who'd succeeded at becoming a hero, and no longer remembers who Tobita is. Tobita ends up snapping and only finds an outlet by becoming a villain... the GentlemanThief Gentle Criminal. Ironically enough, [[WhosLaughingNow by the time we see him,]] he's actually a surprisingly dangerous and capable individual, being able to defeat ''five'' pros with ease and giving Izuku a hell of a fight, all with a Quirk that lets him make any surface (including air) bouncy.

** Waver Velvet in ''LightNovel/FateZero'' wants to be a great magus, but lacks the [[SuperpowerfulGenetics necessary heredity]]. You see, magical ability (apart from a few freaks) [[OurMagesAreDifferent tends to be something gained over the generations]] and Waver is a nobody. He enters the Grail War as a sort of revenge against a teacher that snubbed his work and mocked him in front of a class. Unfortunately, his paper stating hard work can make up for talent is both obvious and gibberish: Hard work will make you better at something, but with no aptitude from the start hard work can only get you so far, and it certainly won't grow you magical body parts that you weren't born with. However, it turns out that while he's rather bad at magic himself, he's quite good at educating others and helping them maximize their own potential. Which is something he has no interest in, even though it gives him a solid career and good social standing.

* Many, many HopelessAuditionees on [[RealityTV reality competition shows]], especially those who are among the first ones eliminated. It's almost universally acknowledged that the only reason their shown on TV is to be mocked. ''Series/AmericanIdol'' especially built its reputation, and that of Simon Cowell as a [[CausticCritic tough jerk of a judge]], on people like this.

* In ''Anime/RuneSoldierLouie'', the eponymous character is a mage in training, who longs for adventure. The problem is, he sucks at spellcasting because [[BookDumb he doesn't keep up with his studies]], preferring to solve his problems [[GoodOldFisticuffs with his fists]] instead. Except he's not very good at that either, since he hasn't had any formal training and usually [[LeeroyJenkins just rushes in without thinking.]] Which is what creates the friction between him and [[StopHavingFunGuys Jeanie.]]

** Cecil, Sideshow Bob's brother, who auditioned to be Krusty's sidekick, but was quickly rejected by Krusty, who was unimpressed by his poor performance and his lack of dignity in his reaction to being hit with a pie in the face.

* Many, many HopelessAuditionees on [[RealityTV reality competition shows]], especially those who are among the first ones eliminated. It's almost universally acknowledged that the only reason their shown on TV is to be mocked. ''Series/AmericanIdol'' especially built its reputation, and that of [[TheMeanBrit Simon Cowell]] as a [[CausticCritic tough jerk of a judge]], on people like this.