History Main / NonActionGuy

* Mr. Ping of ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda''. He has no kung fu skills whatsoever and devotes almost all his time to manning his noodle store. [[spoiler:At least until ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'' where he takes an active role in fighting off the Jombie army.]]

** Lelouch Lamperouge is an odd case: He's a MagnificentBastard and genius ChessMaster, but so [[SquishyWizard horribly unfit]] he has been easily outrun by girls wearing mascot costumes, fancy dresses with petticoats and high heels. He's routinely [[CurbstompBattle curbstombed]] in mecha battle. It's even lampshaded symbolically with the show's chess theme, where Lelouch plays the part of the king, simultaneously the most important piece and the slowest moving. Yet despite all this, he's ''anything'' but cowardly or harmless: On his own, he has managed to easily infiltrate and take control of several aerial battleships, and from the very first episode he killed large groups of hostile soldiers with ease. Even without his Geass he is shown to be very competent with a gun and can score [[BoomHeadshot headshots]] if his targets aren't endowed with CharlesAtlasSuperpower, and in the second episode he doesn't even flinch when Villetta is firing her ''[[MiniMecha knightmare]]-mounted'' machine gun at him. Essentially, half-Non Action Guy, half-badass.

* Light Yagami from ''Manga/DeathNote'' only writes people's names in the titular ArtifactOfDoom. It's not that he's ''incapable'' of holding his own in a fight, it's just that [[TheChessmaster he considers getting his own hands dirty to be beneath him]].

* ''Literature/EncyclopediaBrown'': a brainy adolescent detective whose tomboy [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend not]]-[[ToyShip girlfriend]] acts as his bodyguard.

* Yoki from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is an ex-pencil pusher surrounded by numerous [[FullContactMagic Master Alchemists]], {{BeastM|an}}en, and [[HumanoidAbomination Homunculi]]. Having no useful skills of any kind quickly pushes him into the position of TheLoad, though he does get one badass moment ([[spoiler:running over [[EldritchAbomination Pride]] with a car]].)

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': in the original trilogy there were six recurring heroes. Of them, [[TheHero Luke]] was a [[MagicKnight Jedi Knight]] and AcePilot; [[TheLancer Han]] was an AcePilot and TheGunslinger toting a HandCannon; Leia was an ActionGirl with ImprobableAimingSkills, as well as a diplomat and leader; and [[TheBigGuy Chewbacca]] had superhuman strength and a [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter railgun-bowcaster]] that he was adept with, on top of being Han's co-pilot and gunner. The last two, [[TheSmartGuy C3P0 and R2D2]], had no combat capabilities whatsoever, but had non-combat skills that kept them useful. The former was a CunningLinguist who spoke thousands of languages (including [[TheUnintelligible whatever R2 was speaking]]), and the latter was a [[HollywoodHacking master hacker]] that could interact with and manipulate just about any technology the plot demanded. In the sequel trilogy, their role is filled by BB-8 (basically an {{expy}} of R2).

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': While he does have his moments, Spike almost never fights, is rarely actively involved in fixing problems the protagonists have and usually contributes to the group through managing small-scale tasks for them and doing their menial work, fitting this trope quite readily. Though let it be known that when he has his moments, he ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E19ADogAndPonyShow really]]'' [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E21DragonQuest has]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E2TheCrystalEmpirePart2 his]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService moments]].

* In a series where soccer is treated as SeriousBusiness and matches are often really dangerous, Megane Kakeru from ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'' is the only member of Raimon who is perpetually on the bench.[[note]]though he ''does'' step up in episode 9, figures out the opponents' cheating methods and even scores a goal.[[/note]] His main contributions are to name techniques and act as a CombatCommentator and always gets upset when somebody else does his job.

* Donnie [=DuPre=] from ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' was subject to a fair amount of homophobic WhatMeasureIsANonBadass because he knew full well that he wasn't experienced enough to survive in woods (after being kidnapped no less) without having a breakdown.

* ''Film/TheRock/ Downplayed with Stanley. He is a fully trained FBI agent, and shows skill with both pistols and hand-to-hand as the film progresses, but he is primarily a chemical weapons expert, and well aware than the Force Recon Marines, Navy [=SEALs=] and SAS operatives with military-grade weapons that make up the rest of the cast have him severely outmatched and outgunned.

** [=McGee=] is this in the early seasons, although it's more due to inexperience and lack of confidence than any lack of ability. He gets better after CharacterDevelopment kicks in and he [[TookALevelInBadass takes his first levels in badass]]. It's even discussed in one episode: McGee is in a deep funk after unknowingly killing a cop -- the first time he ever killed anyone -- and admits to Tony that he's always felt seriously out of his depth compared to the others on the team.

** [=McGee=], who is this only in comparison to his more experienced, more physical teammates.
** Ducky and his autopsy gremlin, Palmer, (of-the-series) are closer to this trope. [=McGee=], while more cerebral than [=DiNozzo=] or Ziva or Kate, could still pull the trigger or fight when necessary.

* Mikiya Kokuto from ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' could be considered [[BadassNormal pretty badass by normal standards]] but there is only so much that a normal can do. He does have his moments at times when he felt it is necessary but for the most part, he sticks to investigation and information gathering, which he is very good at, and leaves all the fighting to his ActionGirl LoveInterest, who is also very good at what she does. Considering how dangerous investigations can be in his line of work, he gets a decent amount of action trying to get away from danger.

* Kyon in ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' (who is also the UnfazedEveryman), at least when compared to Koizumi and ''especially'' Yuki. This is justified by his being the only member of the Brigade without any sort of supernatural ability (WildMassGuessing aside). Interestingly, in spite of this, he's still able to get his stuff done, even if it takes him three tries to clear a level.

* Ichika Orimura from ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'' is the only male who can pilot the titular PoweredArmor. [[DownplayedTrope He is not entirely defenseless]] but the girls are ''way'' more capable than him in a fight.

* Subaru from ''LightNovel/ReZero'' is one of the weakest protagonists in the plot. WordOfGod says he would lose in a duel with almost every other protagonist. Subaru can't even resort to magic to fight effectively. In the end, it's just not completely useless because [[MasterOfNone he's so versatile]].

* Sakai Yuji during the first season of ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', who still managed to find use as a sort of on-site MissionControl and by being an intentional source of HeroicResolve for the titular {{Tsundere}} heroine.
** He gets increasingly [[TookALevelInBadass more action-oriented]] during the second season, culminating in [[spoiler:episode 19, when he single-handedly destroys a (albeit somewhat pathetic) Guze no Tomogarra with five bodies by flambéing three of them, snapping one's neck, and impaling the last on his {{BFS}}]], and becoming a nice asset to the team until he [[spoiler: falls to TheDarkSide and ''becomes the BigBad'']] in season three.

A Non-Action Guy is a male who is ''not'' heavily endowed with a certain quality that's expected of males in shows; usually courage or combat ability. He's usually a {{sidekick}}; often to the ActionGirl (or ActionGirlfriend), or sometimes to an entire FiveManBand. Expect him to need [[DistressedDude occasional rescuing]]. This combo has the added danger of de-masculinizing him or [[TheScrappy just making him annoying]] in the eyes of viewers.

The Non-Action Guy seems much more likely [[DoubleStandard to be played for comedy]] than the traditional female version of TheChick. While women are not expected to kick ass (and thus [[ActionGirl those]] that ''do'' are exceptional), men often are--so a Non-Action Guy's lack of ability is written as something to laugh at.

* Tanda and Chagum in ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'', the former being pretty much the male version of TheChick to ActionGirl Balsa, and the latter being a prince with no combat training (though Balsa does give him a little training while he's in her care) and serving as the series' LivingMacGuffin.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': in the original trilogy there were six recurring heroes. Of them, [[TheHero Luke]] was a [[MagicKnight Jedi Knight]] and AcePilot; [[TheLancer Han]] was an AcePilot and TheGunslinger toting a HandCannon; [[TheChick Leia]] was an ActionGirl with ImprobableAimingSkills, as well as a diplomat and leader; and [[TheBigGuy Chewbacca]] had superhuman strength and a [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter railgun-bowcaster]] that he was adept with, on top of being Han's co-pilot and gunner. The last two, [[TheSmartGuy C3P0 and R2D2]], had no combat capabilities whatsoever, but had non-combat skills that kept them useful. The former was a CunningLinguist who spoke thousands of languages (including [[TheUnintelligible whatever R2 was speaking]]), and the latter was a [[HollywoodHacking master hacker]] that could interact with and manipulate just about any technology the plot demanded. In the sequel trilogy, their role is filled by BB-8 (basically an {{expy}} of R2).

* ''Series/DarkAngel'': ActionGirl Max had Logan Cale (Creator/MichaelWeatherly) as her Non-Action Guy; in a wheelchair, partly [[WordOfGod because]] it would help prevent him from being seen as TheChick in comparison to Max's superhuman strength.

* Ringo Starr, as Lennon once famously quipped, "isn't even the best drummer in Music/TheBeatles." [[TheChick But he kept everyone together]].

A Non-Action Guy is a male who is ''not'' heavily endowed with a certain quality that's expected of males in shows; usually courage or combat ability. He's usually a {{sidekick}}; often to the ActionGirl (or ActionGirlfriend), or sometimes to an entire FiveManBand. Expect him to need [[DistressedDude occasional rescuing]]. This combo has the added danger of the audience seeing him as TheChick, a role that can de-masculinize him or [[TheScrappy just make him annoying]] in the eyes of viewers.

* In ''Manga/FutureDiary'', Yukiteru spends the vast majority of his time running crying and screaming from the people determined to kill him. He occasionally fights back when cornered, but more often than not he's saved by the wrath of his [[PoisonousFriend psychotic stalker]]-[[{{Yandere}} girlfriend]].