History Main / LordErrorProne

* [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales Gizmo Duck]] has a rather capable [[PoweredArmor mechanical suit of armor]] and he's a quick thinker. Unfortunately all of his plans are absurd overkill and have drawbacks he never thought of because he went too far.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', Viranus Donton, the son of the Fighters Guild Master, Vilena, is an incredibly enthusiastic fighter, but also incredibly unskilled in combat. In fact, he's probably the worst follower NPC in the entire game. During one quest, the player is asked to "show him the ropes" by escorting him on a fairly pedestrian monster-slaying expedition. However, it is incredibly easy for him to die (or at least be knocked unconscious due to his essential status), as he charges any enemies recklessly, no matter how strong they are, and doesn't run away when he's in danger of dying.

* Mao Zedong. Most of his revolutionary projects tend to create more harm than good to the PRC. His "Great Leap Forward" plan was suppose to increase productivity in farming and manufacturing, but it only caused famine and shortages and the products they made were mere scrap. Then the "Cultural Revolution" was meant to eliminate any bourgeois elements from society, and hunt down traitors in society. All it did was persecute most of China's intellectuals, and damaged many of its cultural heritages.
* Although fiction has built up Zhuge Liang as a quintessential example of TheStrategist, in reality he enjoys only a handful of minor successes against isolated, weak foes while the rest of the army did all the heavy lifting. He led five disastrous campaigns against Wei and each time he was easily repulsed by more more capable generals, such as Sima Yi, Cao Zhen, Guo Huai & Hao Zhao.
** Liang's successor Jiang Wei was even worse, leading nine failed campaigns and failing to defend Shu from the invasion that destroyed the state.
*** Guan Yu was monumentally arrogant despite his utter lack of military accomplishments. Due to tremendous good fortune his campaign against Cao Ren in Jing went well at first, but he failed to capitalise on this and Xu Huang was able to smash his army with a tiny force while Lu Meng was able to obtain the surrender of Guan Yu's power base before Guan was even aware it was in danger.

-->--'''Lebreau''' describes the mentality of '''Snow Villiers''', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''

->''"Heroes don't need plans!"''
-->-- '''Snow Villiers,''' ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''

* In the prologue of ''Literature/ShadowsOfSelf'', Lord Waxillium Ladrian has shades of this. He's still a bit clueless about how life in the Roughs actually works, and how widespread a successful criminal's influence can be. Fortunately, he has his impressive Allomancy and Feruchemy powers to help him out of tight spots, AwesomnessByAnalysis, and a smattering of JustCrazyEnoughToWork going for him. [[spoiler: Not to mention, pretty much literally being looked after by an Angel of God.]] Notably, he grows out of this ''very'' quickly, becoming one of the most competent, respected, and feared lawmen of the day.

* Prince Rhun from Creator/LloydAlexander's Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain series. Though not overly proud, he is certainly foolish and bumbling enough for two, and a WideEyedIdealist to boot. Taran loathes him at first, not least because he is a potential husband for Princess Eilonwy.
** He finally does something right in ''The High King'', when [[spoiler:he helps the heroes win a battle by using trickery to fool the enemy soldiers into thinking he was leading a ''huge'' number of reinforcements (given how chaotic the battle was, along with the presence of a lot of magical smoke, the enemy soldiers panicked and fell out of formation before realizing the bluff). Sadly, the ruse also [[HeroicSacrifice cost him his life]]]].

** Might actually be the source of this trope's name. Duck Dodgers played a character called "Lord Error Prone" in the Cartoon Network series.

* Anomen from ''[[Videogame/BaldursGate Baldur's Gate II]]'' -- a paladin-wannabe who can't even get his class right (he is a warrior/cleric rather than an actual paladin). However, he ''can'' prove to be a capable party member, and if you do his quests right he eventually matures a bit (reflected by an in-game be a boost to his Wisdom stat and a noticeable change in his formerly insufferable personality).
** It's worth noting that if you fail his quests, he changes his alignment to ChaoticNeutral instead, and becomes [[{{Jerkass}} physically abusive to Aerie]] if she's in the party.

* Amelia Wil Tesla Seillune from ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' is an example of the sympathetic type (although she does have moments of competence). To a lesser extent, so is her father, Prince Phil.
** Lesser Extent? Phil is just as error-prone as Amelia. Just with fewer redeeming periods of competence.
*** Phil's way more competent. He talks and looks funny, but ''acts'' more as ReluctantWarrior or KnightInShiningArmor. Amelia performed pratfalls until it became RunningGag. He preaches to the ghosts and they ''heed'' him, she has a "HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster" speech even [[IdiotHero Gourry]] saw as absurd. In charges without checking what force they face they're about equal, but given how much even top spells fall short, it's not ''that'' bad. We just see his better moments rarely because he has much less time on screen. Of course, whenever these two in a line of sight of each other, silliness increases on both sides.

** From the same series, superhero parody The Roach probably counts as well.

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank:

* [[Franchise/RatchetAndClank Captain Qwark.]] Good ''God'', Captain Qwark. Thinks he's such a badass that the universe wouldn't last a second without him. In reality, the most competent thing he's ever done is... wait, who am I kidding? Captain Qwark has ''[[TooDumbToLive never]]'' done anything competent.
** Perhaps rather worryingly, while Qwark does exemplify this trope in later games, [[spoiler:Qwark in the first game is a cunning and psychotic henchman to the real ''BigBad'' who tricks the heroes into multiple death traps before engaging in a full out space battle. And lets not forget, in the second game he overruns an entire galaxy with deadly mutants so he could use their defeat to clear his name. He's still dumb, but seems to be purely using his hero status for fame rather than out of sincerity.]]

* [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank Captain Qwark.]] Good ''God'', Captain Qwark. Thinks he's such a badass that the universe wouldn't last a second without him. In reality, the most competent thing he's ever done is... wait, who am I kidding? Captain Qwark has ''[[TooDumbToLive never]]'' done anything competent.
** Perhaps rather worryingly, while Quark does exemplify this trope in later games, [[spoiler: Quark in the first game is a cunning and psychotic henchman to the real ''BigBad'' who tricks the heroes into multiple death traps before engaging in a full out space battle. And lets not forget, in the second game he overruns an entire galaxy with deadly mutants so he could use their defeat to clear his name. He's still dumb, but seems to be purely using his hero status for fame rather than out of sincerity.]]
** Downplayed in VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016. [[spoiler: While he lacks intelligence, his physical skills are not similarly lacking, as his boss fight against Ratchet is genuinely challenging, and he pulls an, albeit ineffectual, HeelFaceTurn by the end.]]

** Which is TruthInTelevision. The Real Life Yuan Shao was one of the biggest idiots in Chinese history.
*** Biggest idiot is debatable. The man had won some glory in his youth. Biggest senile old man in charge of way more than a senile old man should be is probably not.
*** And even that's open to question. It's worth noting that Yuan never had any major failures until he went up against [[MagnificentBastard Cao Cao]], indisputably one of the greatest generals of his time. Anyone not similarly brilliant is going to come away from that not looking too good.

** It's actually more complicated than that. It is exactly by saving him all the time that [[spoiler: he loses faith in his knighthood and his self esteem plummets, which is why he goes Hollow.]]

* The [[GenderFlip sisters]] Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu from ''KoihimeMusou''.

* Every "heroic" character played by WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck: Robin Hood Daffy; Dripalong Daffy; Stupor Duck; Doorlock Holmes; Duck Twacy; WesternAnimation/TheScarletPumpernickel; Sgt. Joe Monday; Boston Quackie; and, most famously, DuckDodgers. Many of these feature Porky Pig as a HypercompetentSidekick.

* Elrod of Melvinbone from ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark is very much this, being a parody of both [[TheElricSaga Elric]] and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Foghorn Leghorn]]. Despite seeing himself as a heroic crusader, he's a monumentally stupid {{Cloudcuckoolander}} who comes across as somewhat less competent than his avian counterpart.

* Sir Michael Sevenson from HilariBell's Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries, has moments of this. For example, in the first book he accepts a commission to rescue a DamselInDistress who's being kept in a tower against her will... only to discover, after the lady is long gone, that she was being kept in the tower to await trial for killing her husband. Oops...

This character is a KnightInShiningArmor or KnightTemplar whose ineptitude and lack of common sense makes him more of a nuisance rather than a real threat to whatever he is fighting against. Which is probably good, given his [[LawfulStupid fanatical mindset.]]

Possessing extremely poor judgment, Lord Error-Prone can often be seen [[LeeroyJenkins rushing to attack]] opponents [[AttackAttackAttack he has no chance of defeating]] (pretty much all of them), oppressing minorities/static objects (surely servants of evil!) and punishing hardened criminal scum such as jaywalkers and litterers. Often bizarrely GenreSavvy, but this generally [[RealityEnsues backfires]] (because ThisIsReality) -- [[RefugeeFromTVLand extreme cases]] may simply be GenreSavvy for the ''[[WrongGenreSavvy wrong genre]]''.

''Literature/DonQuixote'' is perhaps the TropeMaker, and most characters of this type will end up fighting [[TheyMightBeGiants windmills]] as a ShoutOut.

*** Phil's way more competent. He talks and looks funny, but ''acts'' more as ReluctantWarrior or KnightInShiningArmor. Amelia performed pratfalls until it became RunningGag. He preaches to the ghosts and they ''heed'' him, she has HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster speech even [[IdiotHero Gourry]] saw as absurd. In charges without checking what force they face they're about equal, but given how much even top spells fall short, it's not ''that'' bad. We just see his better moments rarely because he has much less time on screen. Of course, whenever these two in a line of sight of each other, silliness increases on both sides.

* This is a regular trope for [[ComicBook/GrooTheWanderer Groo]], usually when he finds a new cause to "champion".
* Elrod of Melvinbone from [[ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark Cerebus the Aardvark]] is very much this, being a parody of both [[TheElricSaga Elric]] and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Foghorn Leghorn]]. Despite seeing himself as a heroic crusader, he's a monumentally stupid CloudCuckooLander who comes across as somewhat less competant than his avian counterpart.

** The first Buzz was also like this for a good part of ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' -- it's even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in 2 when an exasperated Buzz, faced with his other self's antics, mutters to himself "Tell me I wasn't this deluded..."

** [[spoiler:They [[TheMole were right]]. Sort of right. Fans believed him to be one of the Forsaken (magic users high on the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil), but it turned out that he was just a {{mook}} that was doing his damnedest to screw up Rand's plans.]]

** He finally does something right in ''The High King'', when [[spoiler:he helps the heroes win a battle by using trickery to fool the enemy soldiers into thinking he was leading a ''huge'' number of reinforcements (given how chaotic the battle was, along with the presence of a lot of magical smoke, the enemy soldiers panicked and fell out of formation before realizing the bluff). Sadly, the ruse also [[HeroicSacrifice cost him his life]].]]

* Sir Michael Sevenson from HilariBell's Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries, has moments of this. For example, in the first book he accepts a commission to rescue a DistressedDamsel who's being kept in a tower against her will... only to discover, after the lady is long gone, that she was being kept in the tower to await trial for killing her husband. Oops...

* [[Videogame/JakAndDaxter Baron Praxis]] is an example of an error-prone lord who's a threat to [[NoKillLikeOverkill everyone]].

* [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank Captain Qwark]]. Good ''God'', Captain Qwark. Thinks he's such a badass that the universe wouldn't last a second without him. In reality, the most competent thing he's ever done is... wait, who am I kidding? Captain Qwark has ''[[TooDumbToLive never]]'' done anything competent.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_of_the_light_brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade,]] an [[PoorCommunicationKills accidental]] [[SuicideMission suicide charge.]]
* General George Armstrong Custer. Earned a record number of demerits during his time at military academy, won several Civil War engagements at great cost to his men ([[LeeroyJenkins his only tactic was to charge]]), was court-martialed for going absent from his command and having deserters shot without trial, accused a close friend of President Grant of corruption without a scrap of evidence, and was regarded, by himself and others, as a great Indian fighter despite evidence to the contrary. He inspired fierce loyalty from some, and equally fierce loathing from others and still causes arguments today. Then there was that other [[LastStand thing...]]

Possessing extremely poor judgment, Lord Error-Prone can often be seen rushing to attack opponents he has no chance of defeating (pretty much all of them), oppressing minorities/static objects (surely servants of evil!) and punishing hardened criminal scum such as jaywalkers and litterers. Often bizarrely GenreSavvy, but this generally [[RealityEnsues backfires]] (because ThisIsReality) -- [[RefugeeFromTVLand extreme cases]] may simply be GenreSavvy for the ''[[WrongGenreSavvy wrong genre]]''.

So, this character is on a noble crusade, talks big, and [[BelievingTheirOwnLies believes all his own hype]]. In his mind, he is a [[IdealHero great and noble hero]]. However, to everyone else (maybe except a loyal {{Sidekick}} or newbie) he's a buffoon or idiot who probably [[YouWatchTooMuchX Watches Too Much X]].

He's Lord Error-Prone -- a KnightInShiningArmor or KnightTemplar whose ineptitude and lack of common sense makes him more of a nuisance rather than a real threat to whatever he is fighting against. Which is probably good, given his [[LawfulStupid fanatical mindset.]]

Possessing extremely poor judgment, Lord Error-Prone can often be seen charging against an opponent he has no chance of winning against (which, given his general clumsiness and lack of true combat skills, means almost everyone), oppressing minorities/static objects (surely servants of evil!) and punishing evildoers for such hideous crimes as jaywalking and littering. Often bizarrely GenreSavvy, but this generally [[RealityEnsues backfires]] (because ThisIsReality) -- [[RefugeeFromTVLand extreme cases]] may simply be GenreSavvy for the ''[[WrongGenreSavvy wrong genre]]''.

** Though it should be noted, his main failings were his misplaced loyalty and the fact that his rival's biggest strength was cunning.

** He was eventually permanently disbarred for his increasingly in(s)ane actions. Among other things, it turns out you probably shouldn't include gay porn in a deposition.