History Main / TheMeddlingKidsAreUseless

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', who were based on ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' and ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' both, really do nothing in the show during the first season, but are the main characters nonetheless. This changes in later seasons.

* In ''Film/The13thWarrior'', main character Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan is a useful extra swordsman but doesn't actually do anything to resolve the plot, with the single exception of figuring out how the group can escape from the Wendol cave. Of course, since the story is really about Bulliwye/Beowulf, this is understandable. Ahmed also figured-out that the Wendol liked to act, and maybe even think of themselves as bears, and this allowed the group to find the Wendol cave to begin with. However, he is mostly an audience identification character and eventual chronicler of Bulliwye/Beowulf, so he still fits the trope well.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': A downplayed and subverted example occurs after [[spoiler:Katsuki Bakugo]] is kidnapped by the League of Villains during an attack on U.A.'s summer camp. While All Might, the rest of the pro heroes, and the police are capable of handling the bulk of the confrontation with the League (enough that Bakugo's student rescue team, which consists of [[spoiler:[[TheLeader Midoriya]], [[OddFriendship Todoroki]], [[TheLancer Iida]], [[TheHeart Kirishima]], and [[TeamMom Yaoyorozu]]]]) don't need to face them in combat, their split-up in Kamino Ward and reveal of [[spoiler:[[BigBad All For One]]]] ultimately turns the tide of the rescue mission back in the League's favor. Luckily, [[spoiler:despite their terror at the situation, Midoriya is able to come up with a successful plan to swoop in and grab Bakugo, allowing All Might to go all out in fighting All For One.]]

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel
** ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan: The Rhino is on a rampage in the city. Peter tries to leave the school to go and stop him, but several things conspire to keep him there: May shows up, Gwen is crying in the dumpster, Flash attacks him, etc. By the time he finally gets to the crime scene, Rhino has been defeated by [[ComicBook/TheUltimates Iron Man]].

* In the SelfInsert Manga/{{Naruto}} fanfiction ''Fanfic/SugarPlums'' for a long period of time, the main character and her companions can actually do very little to improve their situation or the situation of Kirigakure. This is actually noted several times in character as a major frustration for the main character because of the lack of [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome control and influence she has in the situation as the lowest rank of shinobi]]. It's also noted she lacks information because the events in Kirigakure are not very well documented at all in the Naruto universe and most of the underlying problems were started decades ago and have been perpetuated since then. This changes however once they catch up the the beginning of the series (the first eighty chapters or so take place starting five years before the start of the main series).

* In the ''Literature/LeftBehind'' books, the main characters, calling themselves the Tribulation Force, basically sit around and try to survive the tribulation, but do nothing that actually affects the events of the story in any way. Their main contributions are actually the minor tasks they do for the villain (writing press releases and flying his plane mostly). The books could basically be described as a travelog for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* Despite having the most screen-time in ''Literature/GoodOmens'', NobleDemon Crowley and the pragmatic angel Aziraphale have no effect on the main events of the story, though not for a lack of trying. Arguably though, having [[spoiler: Armageddon be averted by humans only, without angelic or diabolical help]] was the whole point. Really, most of the rather large cast is like this--the final battle pretty much comes down to the Them vs. the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Horsepeople]]. [[OccultDetective Shadwell]], [[NotSoPhonyPsychic Madame Tracy]], [[PsychicPowers Anathema]], [[UnluckyEverydude Newton]], and [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Ligur]] all turn out to be pretty pointless, not even counting other characters who had died/disappeared from the plot by this point. (Admittedly Newt's presence might have contributed, it's kind of unclear if the Horsepeople's defeat stopped the nukes or just made it possible for him to.)
* Generally averted in the ''Literature/AToZMysteries'' series, but played straight in the book ''The Canary Caper''. This story revolves around a series of pet kidnappings ultimately solved by the police. Even when the three main kids discover a pattern in the kidnappings, Officer Fallon says they already made the connection. The kids hide outside the thief's next victim, but the police show up before they can even catch the petnapper.

* Invoked in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Amy spoils ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' for Sheldon and the other guys by pointing out that Indiana Jones has nothing to do with the outcome of the movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', who were based on ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' and ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' both, really do nothing in the show during the first season, but are the main characters nonetheless. This changes in later seasons.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' is sort of like this. The Planeteers are the real main characters, with Captain Planet himself usually only getting about two minutes of screen time per episode. He ''is,'' however, the DeusExMachina that solves all the major problems, while the heroes are mostly there to just [[AllYourPowersCombined summon him]] and learn the {{Aesop}} ([[GreenAesop green]] or otherwise) ''du jour,'' after getting into a lot of danger and adventurous situations, of course. Although FridgeLogic often comes in since the Captain's solutions are usually things they could have done just as easily without him; he's usually only useful at all because they have terrible teamwork and don't realize they can use their powers in combination.
* The children in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingChanAndTheChanClan'' try their hardest, and are usually the ones who get the ball rolling, but it's always their dad who ends up solving the mystery in the end.
* Rufus and Amberley of ''WesternAnimation/TheDreamstone'' were usually ineffective against even [[HarmlessVillain the Urpneys]], though usually come out fine anyway due to the assistance of [[InvincibleHero the Wuts]], [[NiceJobFixingItVillain the Urpneys screwing up the plan]] or [[TheFool just pure dumb luck]]. [[TookALevelInBadass They became much more effective at it]] during later parts of the series however, sometimes disassembling their plans single handed.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Over A Barrel" goes one better, as the main characters actually make the problem worse, repeatedly. The issue is finally solved ''despite'' them, rather than by any action on their part.

** ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan: The Rhino is having a rampage in the city. Peter tries to leave the school to go there and stop him, but several things conspire to keep him there: May shows up, Gwen is crying in the dumpster, Flash attacks him, etc. By the time he finally gets to the crime scene, Rhino has been defeated by [[ComicBook/TheUltimates Iron Man]].
** ''ComicBook/UltimateMarvelTeamUp'': When Spider-Man visits the Fantastic Four, he accidentally releases a Skrull invasion. He puts on a fight, but the Skrulls are finally defeated by Reed Richards.

** In "[[Recap/TheNewScoobyDooMoviesTheSecretOfSharkIsland The Secret of Shark Island,]]" judging by how he shows up in the villain's base during the climax, Agent Hidalgo would have solved the case even without the gang's contribution.

* Invoked in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Amy spoils ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' for Sheldon and the other guys by pointing out that Indiana Jones has nothing to with the outcome of the movie.

[[folder:Fanworks]]

* In ''Film/TheDesperateHours'' a family is taken hostage. They have two or three perfect escapes foiled by the same kid. In one they get outside, find the kid missing and see he's still in the house at gunpoint. This kid also mouthed off to the bandits with something like "Oh, yeah? Well, when my father gets to his gun which is in the drawer right there ..."

* The documentary ''The Pharmacist'' explores this trope as regards its titular focal character turned AmateurSleuth when he suspects a local doctor is operating a prescription mill for oxycontin. He frequently passes his suspicions to various authorities, is told they're looking into it, [[PoliceAreUseless believes they're blowing him off]] and continues investigating on his own. Eventually we hear the feds' side of the story; the DEA have, in fact, been surveilling the suspect and gradually building a case against them, and while they appreciated the information Dan was able to pass on as a witness, his attempts to investigate independently (and his constant haranguing phone calls to the authorities) were at times more of a hindrance than a help, and he risked alerting the target. Despite all this, the documentary is structured around the ostensibly "useless" amateur sleuth because [[EnforcedTrope it makes for a more compelling story]]; he's a [[CrusadingWidower Crusading Father]] whose son was killed by a (street-level) drug dealer and who is DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife, and his investigation is grounded in worry about his own customers and community, wracked by the opioid crisis.

* Despite having the most screen-time in ''Literature/GoodOmens'', NobleDemon Crowley and the pragmatic angel Aziraphale have no effect on the main events of the story, though not for a lack of trying. Arguably though, having [[spoiler: Armageddon be averted by humans only, without angelic or diabolical help]] was the whole point. Really, most of the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters rather large cast]] is like this--the final battle pretty much comes down to the Them vs. the [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse Horsepeople]]. [[OccultDetective Shadwell]], [[NotSoPhonyPsychic Madame Tracy]], [[PsychicPowers Anathema]], [[UnluckyEverydude Newton]], and [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Ligur]] all turn out to be pretty pointless, not even counting other characters who had died/disappeared from the plot by this point. (Admittedly Newt's presence might have contributed, it's kind of unclear if the Horsepeople's defeat stopped the nukes or just made it possible for him to.)

** This also happened in "Warriors' Gate" (where it was intended to be AnAesop about "doing nothing" sometimes being wiser than pointless action), and in certain stories during Eric Saward's tenure as script editor (where it was probably because of Saward's belief that the Doctor just wasn't as cool as his own badass military characters).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'': In "A Good Medium Is Rare," two cops responding to a call about prowlers (although said prowlers were the gang rather than the bad guys) arrest the jewel thieves with absolutely no help from the gang.

* While ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' is all-but ''married'' to AdultsAreUseless and PoliceAreUseless most of the time, it played this trope completely straight on at least one occasion: [[spoiler:the Ayumi kidnapping case]]. The police catch the actual criminal off-screen, while Conan and friends wind up "busting" [[spoiler:two guys putting on a play]].

* In the SelfInsert Manga/{{Naruto}} fanfiction ''Fanfic/SugarPlums'' for a long period of time, the main character and her companions can actually do very little to improve their situation or the situation of Kirigakure. This is actually noted several times in character as a major frustration for the main character because of the lack of [[RealityEnsues control and influence she has in the situation as the lowest rank of shinobi]]. It's also noted she lacks information because the events in Kirigakure are not very well documented at all in the Naruto universe and most of the underlying problems were started decades ago and have been perpetuated since then. This changes however once they catch up the the beginning of the series (the first eighty chapters or so take place starting five years before the start of the main series).

* In ''Literature/TheHobbit,'' Bilbo and the dwarves have a lot of cool adventures, though when Gandalf is around ''he's'' the one who gets them out of trouble. Bilbo saves the day after that, but he's not the one to kill Smaug--that honor goes to Bard, a character who is suddenly introduced, complete with backstory, just before Smaug attacks Lake-town, more than 80% of the way through the story.

* The MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic episode "Over A Barrel" goes one better, as the main characters actually make the problem worse, repeatedly. The issue is finally solved ''despite'' them, rather than by any action on their part.

* Ishmael, in ''Literature/MobyDick''. The only thing that really distinguishes him as a character is that he's [[the SoleSurvivor of the ''Pequod'']].

* Ishmael, in ''Literature/MobyDick''. The only thing that really distinguishes him as a character is that he's the only member of the ''Pequod'''s crew not to die.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' has the Watch figure out who the Supreme Grand Master is, but it is implied that [[TheChessmaster Vetinari]] was already aware of what was going on, and the Watch are ultimately useless in getting rid of the Dragon - [[spoiler: Errol ends up defeating it by creating a sonic boom, which was part of his mating dance to the female dragon]]. Their investigation for the first half of the story is already invalidated: firstly, by the audience knowing about the Brotherhood's antics; and second, by the Brotherhood getting killed shortly before the Watch learn that they were behind it. Of course, [[spoiler:Errol]] was in a position to do so because [[spoiler: the Watch had adopted him and let him eat assorted random stuff for a good chunk of the book.]] In other words, the Meddling Kids weren't ''useless''... it just turned out the useful thing they did was [[SubvertedTrope something else other than the snooping and the getting into exciting situations]].

[[folder:Comic books]]

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' has the Watch figure out who the Supreme Grand Master is, but it is implied that [[TheChessmaster Vetinari]] was already aware of what was going on, and the Watch are ultimately useless in getting rid of the Dragon - [[spoiler: Errol ends up defeating it by creating a sonic boom, which was part of his mating dance to the female dragon]]. Their investigation for the first half of the story is already invalidated: firstly, by the audience knowing about the Brotherhood's antics; and second, by the Brotherhood getting killed shortly before the Watch learn that they were behind it. Of course, [[spoiler:Errol]] was in a position to do so because [[spoiler: the Watch had adopted him and let him eat assorted random stuff for a good chunk of the book.]] In other words, the Meddling Kids weren't ''useless''... it just turned out the useful thing they did was [[SubvertedTrope something else than the snooping and the getting into exciting situations]].

* ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan: The Rhino is having a rampage in the city. Peter tries to leave the school to go there and stop him, but several things conspire to keep him there: May shows up, Gwen is crying in the dumpster, Flash attacks him, etc. By the time he finally gets to the crime scene, Rhino has been defeated by [[ComicBook/TheUltimates Iron Man]].