History Main / MasterOfNone

* ''Manga/SailorMoon'': In the anime, Mamoru notes that he's studied a lot of different subjects, but hasn't found anything in particular to focus on. Makoto, impressed with his extensive knowledge, states he's a jack of all trades yet a master of none. Mamoru has to point out to her that what she said was ''not'' a compliment.

*** The Leo was built mainly as the mecha equivalent of a tank, its high modularity allows it to equip a jetpack to act as a flying mobile suit (in fact, this is the first Leo variant to appear), high-powered {{Shoulder Cannon}}s to perform artillery support missions, or mount a different jetpack to fight in space (possibly with the shoulder cannons for increased firepower), and can fight in any Earth environment except underwater, in spite of its growing obsolescence (it was the only mobile suit at all for close to twenty years by the start of the series). However, aside for a few high-powered custom models, it's outperformed by specialist designs in every single job - the Aries may have less firepower and armor, but is a better flier (in fact, the flying Leo only appears in the first episode, flown by CharClone [[AcePilot Zechs]] before switching to the Aries and then the [[SuperPrototype Tallgeese]]); the Tragos is a more stable ''and'' mobile artillery platform with more powerful and longer-ranged cannons; the Taurus is a better space-based mobile suit; and the Maganac is a superior fighter in extreme environments like the desert. This is actually acknowledged in-universe, as the specialist designs were developed precisely to take over those roles (the development and first deployment of the Taurus actually happens during the series, and provides the plot of an early episode).

* LetsPlay/PartyCrashers: Brent suffers this in "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg_aFsLz-Xs Mario Party but we can only get Bonus Stars]]", as while he's normally TheAce of the group, with Nick constantly landing on Red Spaces (giving him the Red Space Bonus) and consistently low rolling (giving him the Slowpoke Bonus), Vernias frequently receiving coins (giving him the Coin Bonus) and continuously landing on Bowser Spaces (giving him the Bowser Space Bonus), and Sophist repeatedly purchasing Triple Dice (giving him the Shopping, Item, ''and'' Sightseer Bonuses), Brent couldn't really find a niche for himself:

* The .40 S&W handgun round was designed to the specifications of the FBI, which sought to replace its .38 Special service revolvers after a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1986_FBI_Miami_shootout 1986 shootout in Miami]] in which a pair of crooks [[MadeOfIron shrugged off multiple gunshots]] before finally going down. Notably, the .40 S&W was a downgrade from the original design, the 10mm Auto, which proved to be too powerful to reliably and comfortably control due to its high recoil (remember this for later). In TheNineties, police departments across the US followed the FBI's lead and swapped out their 9mm semi-autos and older revolvers for .40 S&W guns, and it caught traction in the civilian market as a JackOfAllStats self-defense round. By the '00s, however, the .40 S&W's weaknesses grew increasingly apparent. It wasn't ''that'' much of an upgrade from 9mm, as it came with higher recoil, more expensive ammunition, and reduced ammo capacity that many shooters felt weren't justified by the slight increase in stopping power. Worse, it was quickly made apparent that many handgun designers jumped on the bandwagon simply because it was easy for them to stick .40 S&W barrels onto frames designed for the reduced pressure of 9mm, leading to [[ReliablyUnreliableGuns reliability problems]] and [[CriticalFailure "kaBooms"]]. Improvements in ballistics technology that improved the old 9mm made the .40 S&W redundant, leading the FBI to switch back to 9mm in 2018. Intended as a round that would combine a HandCannon with MoreDakka, its compromises meant that it found itself outclassed at both; shooters who want high ammo capacity and low recoil have the 9mm, while those looking for lower-caliber stopping power who aren't worried about higher recoil or lower capacity have the .357 Magnum, the .45 ACP, and, ironically, the 10mm Auto that the .40 S&W was a downgrade from, which has seen a revival since.

%%*** Speaking of the Bard class, it proves
%%that being this trope isn't absolute, but
%%rather it depends on the format of the
%%game: while a Bard doesn't make a good
%%teammate because even if they have a
%%variety of skills they're still outclassed
%%by other specialized classes, they're
%%the best choice for a SoloCharacterRun,
%%since they lack the weaknesses of
%%those specialized classes.

Compare a VanillaUnit, who is limited to doing things that don't require special abilities, and can fall victim to this trope if they have evenly distributed stats that are too weak to make up it. Also compare with CripplingOverspecialization at the other extreme, for the character who's great at one thing, but horrible at everything else. Contrast with the MasterOfAll, who is ''very good'' at everything. Occasionally a Master of None is made intentionally as part of MultiformBalance, as [[MagikarpPower a stepping stone to stronger forms]], including a true Jack-of-All-Stats. See also GiftedlyBad.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series from [[VideoGame/UltimaIV part four]] onwards, the Shepherd class is the EmbodimentOfVirtue of [[HumbleHero Humility]] and therefore has low stats across the board (compare/contrast the Ranger class, which has [[JackOfAllTrades medium stats in everything]]). As a consequence, Katrina, the series' Shepherd NonPlayerCompanion, usually plays TheLoad to the PlayerParty in games that require recruiting her.

*** There's not much point in using a triple-multiclass (Fighter/Mage/Thief or Fighter/Mage/Cleric) either. Sure you get the abilities of all three classes, but you'll fall behind almost immediately since you're splitting your 1/6 party share of XP three ways among your classes. Pair that with an experience cap of 2.95 million and every one of your classes will cap off in the low double digits; that means a very mediocre base [=THAC0=] (10 at BEST), you'll trail behind in thief skills in a series where traps are devastating, and you'll never get to memory-cast any spells above level six. Even with Throne of Bhaal installed (which raises the XP cap to 8 million) you'll still be far behind, with only a triple-class Thief ever breaking level 20 while the rest of your team is likely in the early to mid thirties. It's much better to find one niche role to be really good in rather than being consistently mediocre at everything. Or if you really want a versatile character who doesn't excel at any one thing, choose a Bard instead - they get some lovely support items and songs, plus a solid selection of weapons and spells and they level up at a respectable rate.

*** There's not much point in using a triple-multiclass (Fighter/Mage/Thief or Fighter/Mage/Cleric) either. Sure you get the abilities of all three classes, but you'll fall behind almost immediately since you're splitting your 1/6 party share of XP three ways among your classes. Pair that with an experience cap of 2.95 million and every one of your classes will cap off in the low double digits; that means a very mediocre base [=THAC0=] (10 at BEST), you'll trail behind in thief skills (in a series where traps are devastating) and you'll never get to memory-cast any spells above level six. Even with Throne of Bhaal installed (which raises the XP cap to 8 million) you'll still be far behind, with only a triple-class Thief ever breaking level 20 while the rest of your team is likely in the early to mid thirties. Much better to find one niche role to be really good in rather than being consistently mediocre at everything. Or if you really want a versatile character who doesn't excel at any one thing, choose a Bard instead - they get some lovely support items and songs, plus a solid selection of weapons and spells and they level up at a respectable rate.

*** There's not much point in using a triple-multiclass (Fighter/Mage/Thief or Fighter/Mage/Cleric) either. Sure you get the abilities of all three classes, but you'll fall behind almost immediately since you're splitting your 1/6 party share of XP three ways among your classes. Pair that with an experience cap of 2.95 million and every one of your classes will cap off in the low double digits; that means a very mediocre base [=THAC0=] (10 at BEST), you'll trail behind in thief skills (in a series where traps are devastating) and you'll never get to memory-cast any spells above level six. Even in Throne of Bhaal (which raises the XP cap to 8 million) you'll still be far behind, with only a triple-class Thief ever breaking level 20 while the rest of your team is likely in the early to mid thirties. Much better to find one niche role to be really good in rather than being mediocre at everything. Or if you really want a versatile character who doesn't excel at any one thing, choose a Bard instead - they get some lovely support items and songs, plus a solid selection of weapons and spells and they level up at a respectable rate.