History Main / LethalJokeCharacter

** [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ornithopter Ornithopter]] looks mostly harmless: A flying 0/2 is pretty useless. The 'thopter's real value for combos is that it has zero cost - and you won't be using it for ''attacking''. Hint: [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Enduring%20Renewal Enduring Renewal]]. It has also fueled cards like [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Arcbound%20Ravager Arcbound Ravager]] and other components of the ravager affinity deck, including [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Cranial%20Plating Cranial Plating]], which made it into a lethal evasive attacker.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 3'', we got Gon... which despite being a bit slow and short (or due to being short), cannot be attacked by high attacks, cannot be thrown, and has unblockable ''projectiles''.

* Strelets, the Russian unique skirmishers in ''AgeOfEmpires 3''. Staggeringly weak attacks, low health, and generally regarded as a mere stepping stone to the more effective Musketeers, Halbardiers, and Russian cavalry, but given that Strelets cost 47 resources (compared to 100 for most infantry) and train nearly twice as fast, if you get a couple of the right upgrade cards you can [[ZergRush drown your opponent with Strelets in Age 3]].

** Rotom was an AwesomeButImpractical levitating Electric/Ghost type with an awesome movepool/typing but no stats introduced in Diamond and Pearl... which, in Platinum, gained the ability to transform into a handful of ridiculous yet incredibly badass alternate forms, such as a toaster oven or lawnmower. [[AwesomeYetPractical Now, these frankly ridiculous variants? They have excellent defensive stats, special moves that give them great coverage, and very nice Special Attack. One of the best Pokemon in the game... ...is a toaster oven.]] Of course, anyone who actually looks at the STATS of the Pokemon will notice right away that Rotom-A in no joke, but if you just have this kinda useless Pokemon that suddenly transforms into an appliance...

** Klefki. It's a weird-looking ''sentinent key ring'' Pokémon with lousy stats other than Defense. However, it has the Prankster ability, the highest amount of powerful status moves of ''any'' Prankster user, and also has the best defensive typing in the game (Steel/Fairy). Needless to say, they're a [[GoddamnedBats pain]] to fight.

*** It's not really so much "clever tactics" as a poorly-thought-out racial ability: Kobolds have the racial ability to fire a crossbow halfway through their movement actions, whereas every other creature (and, most notably, the players) have to attack either before or after moving. Thus, if a kobold with a crossbow starts and ends in a place where he's behind cover and you can't get to him (not hard, they're small creatures) they can shoot you once per round by remaining effectively invincible.

[-[[caption-width-right:310:[[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} A woman]] wearing a suit of PoweredArmor, a [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid super-soldier]], and a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros dragon]]-[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot turtle]], defeated by... [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} a sleeping wad of cotton candy]]?]]-]

** Tarmogoyf was originally printed as "pre-print" (a foreshadowing of cards to come, one of the gimmicks of the ''Future Sight'' set) solely so that its reminder text could reference two card types that didn't yet exist in the game (Planeswalker and the rarely used Tribal). However, it wound up being such an efficient win condition that it is currently (as of May 2013) the single most expensive card printed in the last ten years.

** In the same game, we have [[AceAttorney Phoenix Wright]]. His attacks may seem useless and stupid, but when you collect all three pieces of evidence, you can bring him into [[SuperMode turnabout mode]]. He can shoot lasers and juggle his opponent with his FINGER and the evidence, and his damage output is increased exponentially, not to mention you get access to Ace Attorney, one of the most damaging moves in the whole game, which can hit the opponent from anywhere in the screen. Basically, if you're a good player you'll have no problem beating someone with Phoenix Wright.
*** An expert player who can collect the evidence fast enough, still has all three team members, and turns on X-Factor before using [[FanNickname Mr. Wright's]] Level 3 Hyper can OneHitKill most characters.

** The [[FragileSpeedster Sparrowhawk scout plane]] is likewise a useless death trap in most players hands, but it is the destroyer-of-worlds in the hands of a pro pilot, as it is the single most agile unit in the game, capable of flying at ''30 kph'' with no issues, or flying ''inside'' an enemy hangar and shoot at players repairing before safely doing a backflip and flying out. It has a variety designed [[AntiAir specifically for taking out anything flying]], as no other plane is capable of shaking off a Sparrowhawk if one gets on its tail, or, god help the enemy plane, if the Sparrowhawk is actually ''[[PersonalSpaceInvader riding on]]'' the enemy's tail.

* The [[FragileSpeedster Harasser hovercraft]] in ''MechWarrior Living Legends'' has laughable armor, crap weapons, gets outran by some [[HumongousMecha mechs]] that carry 3 times the weapons, and is prone to spontaneously flipping over from touching small rocks. The Harasser Delta "Toast 'n' Go" variant, better know as the [[FanNickname Flamasser]], carries a loadout of 6 [[KillItWithFire flamethrowers]]. Like the other Harassers, it is hilariously top heavy and the addition of the flamethrowers makes the hovercraft melt when you fire. However, when carefully used, those 6 flamethrowers also cause enemy mechs to melt so much their arms fall off, instantly causes the fusion reactors on aerospace fighters to explode, and melts [[PowerArmor battlearmor]] in their suits. A newbie in one of these things is a free kill, while a pro driving one is an unstoppable boiling engine of fire and death spinning across the level at 160kph.

-->- [=toor314=], [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvt14yucMxc FAQ: Scars of Mirrodin]]

* ''CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence'' and ''CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' featured a secret character named Pumpkin. In [=LoI=], Pumpkin becomes playable after beating the game as Joachim: his max HP is lower than Leon's, but he starts with far more MP, hearts, higher defense and the Vampire Killer whip. He also starts with all special attacks and posesses an unique subweapon that he can't replace that also posesses a random assortment of other subweapons' [[EvolvingAttack Item Crashes]]. He's also a much smaller target and thus he has an easier time avoiding some enemy attacks. In [=CoD=], he is a secret Innocent Devil who is almost useless in combat (and very easy to kill by monsters), but provides huge stat bonuses for the player as long as it is alive.

** In the same game, we have Phoenix Wright. His attacks may seem useless and stupid, but when you collect all three pieces of evidence, you can bring him into [[SuperMode turnabout mode]]. He can shoot lasers and juggle his opponent with his FINGER and the evidence, and his damage output is increased exponentially, not to mention you get access to Ace Attorney, one of the most damaging moves in the whole game, which can hit the opponent from anywhere in the screen. Basically, if you're a good player you'll have no problem beating someone with Phoenix Wright.

** In the same game, we have Phoenix Wright. His attacks may seem useless and stupid, but when you collect all three pieces of evidence, you can bring him into turn about mode. He can shoot lasers and his opponent with his FINGER and the evidence, and his damage output is increased exponentially. Basically, if you're a good player you'll have no problem beating someone with Phoenix Wright.

Compare EliteTweak. See also DifficultButAwesome, whose deadly potential is more obvious, but still requires effort to unleash. Unlike a MagikarpPower, the Lethal Joke Character always had this ability to kick ass; it just requires a lot of skill to use him. Take a look at LethalJokeItem for useless inventory and skills that eventually become overpowered. HeartIsAnAwesomePower is the non-gameplay version. Not to be confused with FightingClown which is a silly character whose advantages are obvious while here they aren't.

*** this is made more obvious in Brawl with Luigi's final Smash. Most final smashes are devastatingly powerful hits that can one kit k.o. careless players but Luigi creates a black hole that does a small amount of constant damage to anyone else inside it. The lethal part is that it also stuns, dizzies or slips opponents while making them impossibly easy to launch allowing Luigi to mop up everyone on the stage in a few simple hits.

*** this is made more obvious in Brawl with Luigi's final Smash. Most final smashes are devastatingly powerful hits that can one kit k.o. careless players but Luigi creates a black hole that does a small amount of constant damage to anyone else inside it. The lethal part is that it also stuns, dizzies or slips opponents while making them impossibly easy to launch allowing Luigi to mop up everyone on the stage in a few simple hits

* In VideoGame/FootballManager, there is a team named RGOUR Minsk, who play in the Fourth Division of Belarus, which is a league that the game does not actually allow to be played, requiring a mod to make them playable. They have a perfect 20 out of 20 for their training facilities, youth facilities and junior recruitment. To explain how big that is, Barcelona, one of the greatest teams in the world, with a long established academy that produces talent by the handful, only has 20, 20 and 19.

** Ultimate also gave us [[GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Rocket Raccoon]]. Yes, he's a walking raccoon with a gruff British accent, and his combos are very difficult to pull off, but he has great trapping ability, good keepaway, and is hard to hit due to being the smallest character in the roster.

** The [[SuperRobotWarsCompact Super Robot Wars]] [[SuperRobotWarsCompact2 Compact]] [[SuperRobotWarsCompact3 series]] usually feature Leina Ashta of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Gundam ZZ]]'', AnnoyingYoungerSibling to Judou and OnlySaneMan of the Shangri-La bunch, as a playable character. Lacking the abilities many MS pilots usually have, she's not a good pick for a Mobile Suit, but despite her low SP count and her tendency to draw critical hits (maybe a ShoutOut to her terrible luck in the series?), she is lethal in the right hands, as her stats are definitely not too shabby, and she has a pretty solid set of seishins. Put her in the Elmeth or the Alpha Aziel, and she will surprise you...

* Teemo in ''LeagueOfLegends'' is a cuddly bipedal hamster wearing a scout hat and wielding a blowpipe, fighting for the "scout's code" (this is a game featuring demons, insane mages, brutes with axes and lots of blood and destruction). His ability set includes a "Blinding Dart", passive poison blowdarts, a speed boost that does nothing else, the ability to go invisible when standing still, and exploding mushroom traps. None of this really helps him during teamfights, cementing his position as troll pick among the less savvy community. There is even a stream by the developers, dedicated solely to watching [[http://www.twitch.tv/teemodies Teemo die]]. But then you realise that his entire kit is designed to make him [[FragileSpeedster maddeningly uncatchable]] and capable of running circles around any bulky melee champion, trolling them around until they die to poison. Sending him against the typical top lane bruiser is guaranted to render that bruiser useless while Teemo builds up a gold lead and invests this into items like Liandry's Torment which gives his otherwise laughable mushroom traps a burn DoT. And he will make sure to plant those mushrooms in your jungle so you can't even move around the map without taking damage in a [[RageQuit most irritating fashion]]. Although his viability is tied to the viability of top lane bruisers which has been in decline, he has actually been a top pick for a while.