History TheWorfEffect / VideoGames

* In ''[[CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow]]'', Dario proves easily able to defeat Julius as a way of showing how much more powerful he's become since the last time (Julius also got Worfed by [[spoiler:Soma himself]] in the previous game). Later on, [[spoiler:Dmitri]] defeats Arikado/[[spoiler:Alucard]], albeit by using [[spoiler:Celia's sacrifice]] to cause him to lose control of his dark powers.
* In another dinosaur example, the one-eyed ''T. rex'' in ''DinoCrisis2'' (Who was [[MadeOfIron nigh invulnerable to your weapons, as well as taking on a tank and surviving]] gets ripped apart in seconds by a ''Giganotosaurus''. This one is [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology even more egregious]] than the ''Spinosaurus'' example above, as the Giganotosaur is depicted as so huge it can pick up the Tyrannosaur in its mouth and toss it around like a rag doll. A real-life matchup would be much more evenly weighted, as the real Giganotosaurus is only marginally bigger than T. rex, possesses a more gracile build, and lacks the Tyrant Reptile's bone-crushing bite strength.

* [[SuperMarioBros Mario]] and [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]] seem to get this in trailers revealing new characters to ''SuperSmashBros''. A price to pay, being two of Nintendo's biggest mascots.

* In ''DawnOfWar II - Retribution'', during the Exterminatus of Typhon Prime, a Carnifex tries to flee from the planet. This completely pisses off a Chaos Champion who's offended that all these escapees aren't accepting the "honor of such a glorious death" and so he single-handedly kills the Carni with a synch-kill. While the Chaos Champion is a minor-boss, he's certainly no match for a Carnifex in-game or table-top. Your heroes will only take seconds to finish the guy off and hopefully collect a shiny from him too.

* Many examples in the HopelessBossFight trope count as this - until you hit this, your characters have been reliably able to defeat everything that comes their way. But then comes the HopelessBossFight and they don't even have a chance...

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', Yukiko laughs at nearly [[TheHyena anything even slightly funny]], the fact that she fails to laugh at Teddie's jokes shows off just how [[IncrediblyLamePun bad]] they are.

** Averted and Retconned in ''{{Saints Row IV}}''. "[-'''The Gat came back.'''-]"

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', Hakumen was [[FiveManBand The Leader]] who destroyed the [[EldritchAbomination Black Beast]], which itself almost destroyed the world. Further, almost every character states how powerful he is, and it is often noted that he isn't even at full strength. Naturally, he loses every plot-critical battle, and is even bested by some of the weaker characters (even if they don't seriously threaten him), with most of his victories being cutscene based.
** Kagura's first on-screen battle in ''Chronophantasma'' has him effortlessly demolishing ''Ragna'', of all people.

* Similar to Ryu above, Ragna the Bloodedge may be the main character of VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}, but that doesn't stop him from being used as the measuring stick from whatever powerhouse drops in. [[AnimatedArmor Hakumen]] makes his debut by kicking his ass, at 20% of his power no less(When Ragna is sent to the past and meets Hakumen at his prime, he's absolutely terrified of him). [[AxCrazy Terumi]] shuts down his power source and pretty much takes glee in using him as a punching bag. [[HandsomeLech Kagura]] makes a fool of him while expressing ''boredom'', and finally [[BloodKnight Azrael]] just considers him a waste of time when Ragna refuses to use his full power against him. Rather annoyingly, he is ''supposed'' to be considered one of the most dangerous men in the series but the above scenarios combined with his constant ButtMonkey status just make those claims hard to take seriously.

* ''FireEmblem'' is guilty of using this. In ''FireEmblemElibe: The Sword of Seals''. General Cecilia who was established as Roy's teacher and one of the best generals in Etruria, promptly gets [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9njM_tq_WoA&feature=related taken out in one hit by Zephiel]]. It gives you a sneak peek at how powerful he is and he even stays on screen for a couple turns afterwords to show off his stats.

* Similar to Ryu above, Ragna the Bloodedge may be the main character of VideoGame/{{Blazblue}}, but that doesn't stop him from being used as the measuring stick from whatever powerhouse drops in. [[AnimatedArmor Hakumen]] makes his debut by kicking his ass, at 20% of his power no less(When Ragna is sent to the past and meets Hakumen at his prime, he's absolutely terrified of him). [[AxCrazy Terumi]] shuts down his power source and pretty much takes glee in using him as a punching bag. [[HandsomLech Kagura]] makes a fool of him while expressing ''boredom'', and finally [[BloodKnight Azrael]] just considers him a waste of time when Ragna refuses to use his full power against him. Rather annoyingly, he is ''supposed'' to be considered one of the most dangerous men in the series but the above scenarios combined with his constant ButtMonkey status just those claims hard to take seriously.

* Like Mario, while Ryu is the main character of ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' and certainly one of the stronger fighters in the series, he seems to have horrible luck outside of ''Street Fighter''. The first trailer of ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' begins with him floored after a battle with Wolverine (though he does eventually return the favor with a Shoryuken to Wolverine's jaw) and in the fourth trailer, ends up floored again, this time by Doctor Doom, Magneto, Super Skrull, and Dormammu. The first ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'' trailer once again begins with Ryu floored, this time with Kazuya crushing Ryu's face with his foot, and he spends much of the trailer outmatched by him. Finally, while Ryu (after succumbing to the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Satsui no Hadou]]) is able to keep up with Asura in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', he's immediately kicked back into his own universe when Akuma intervenes.

* Like Mario, while Ryu is the main character of ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' and certainly one of the stronger fighters in the series, he seems to have horrible luck outside of ''Street Fighter''. The first trailer of ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' begins with him floored after a battle with Wolverine (though he does eventually return the favor with a Shoryuken to Wolverine's jaw) and in the fourth trailer, ends up floored again, this time by Doctor Doom, Magneto, Super Skrull, and Dormammu. The first ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'' trailer once again begins with Ryu floored, this time with Kazuya crushing Ryu's face with his foot, and he spends much of the trailer outmatched by him (Ken puts up a somewhat better fight). Finally, while Ryu (after succumbing to the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Satsui no Hadou]]) is able to keep up with Asura in ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', he's immediately kicked back into his own universe when Akuma intervenes.

* The first ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight Maximum Tune'', of all things, had this. In stage 5, the Devil Z (a legendary supercar which most of the source manga revolves around) shows up partway through. Not only is it way, ''way'' more powerful than your car at this point, it runs at a constant speed (the only non-traffic vehicle in the game that does this), meaning that you don't have the slightest chance of catching it. However, when you face it for real on stage 20, where it's affected by the same rubberband AI and power decrease in the final stretch as all your other opponents, and your car is near or at full tune, it's a complete pushover. Seriously, you almost have to crash on purpose to lose to it. And it's just as easy the second time you play stage 20, which is the ''only other time'' you race it.

* In ''KidIcarusUprising'', Thanatos, the boss of Chapter 7, is brought BackFromTheDead in Chapter 14 only to be curb-stomped by ''THAT'' chapter's boss, [[ShockAndAwe Phosphora.]]

* The first ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight'' Maximum Tune, of all things, had this. In stage 5, the Devil Z (a legendary supercar which most of the source manga revolves around) shows up partway through. Not only is it way, ''way'' more powerful than your car at this point, it runs at a constant speed (the only non-traffic vehicle in the game that does this), meaning that you don't have the slightest chance of catching it. However, when you face it for real on stage 20, where it's affected by the same rubberband AI and power decrease in the final stretch as all your other opponents, and your car is near or at full tune, it's a complete pushover. Seriously, you almost have to crash on purpose to lose to it. And it's just as easy the second time you play stage 20, which is the ''only other time'' you race it.

* The Devil Z in the original ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight'' Maximum Tune, of all things, had this. The first time you play stage 5, it shows up partway through. Not only is it way, ''way'' more powerful than your car at this point, it runs at a constant speed (the only non-traffic vehicle in the game that does this), meaning that you don't have the slightest chance of catching it. However, when you face it for real on stage 20, where it's affected by the same rubberband AI and power decrease in the final stretch as all your other opponents, and your car is near or at full tune, it's a complete pushover. Seriously, you almost have to crash on purpose to lose to it. And it's just as easy the second time you play stage 20, which is the ''only other time'' you race it.

* The Devil Z in the original VideoGame/WanganMidnight Maximum Tune, of all things, had this. The first time you play stage 5, it shows up partway through. Not only is it way, ''way'' more powerful than your car at this point, it runs at a constant speed (the only non-traffic vehicle in the game that does this), meaning that you don't have the slightest chance of catching it. However, when you face it for real on stage 20, where it's affected by the same rubberband AI and power decrease in the final stretch as all your other opponents, and your car is near or at full tune, it's a complete pushover. Seriously, you almost have to crash on purpose to lose to it. And it's just as easy the second time you play stage 20, which is the ''only other time'' you race it.

* The Devil Z in the original ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight'' Maximum Tune, of all things, had this. The first time you play stage 5, it shows up partway through. Not only is it way, ''way'' more powerful than your car at this point, it runs at a constant speed (the only non-traffic vehicle in the game that does this), meaning that you don't have the slightest chance of catching it. However, when you face it for real on stage 20, where it's affected by the same rubberband AI and power decrease in the final stretch as all your other opponents, and your car is near or at full tune, it's a complete pushover. Seriously, you almost have to crash on purpose to lose to it. And it's just as easy the second time you play stage 20, which is the ''only other time'' you race it.

* The Devil Z in the original ''VideoGame/WanganMidnight' Maximum Tune, of all things, had this. The first time you play stage 5, it shows up partway through. Not only is it way, ''way'' more powerful than your car at this point, it runs at a constant speed (the only non-traffic vehicle in the game that does this), meaning that you don't have the slightest chance of catching it. However, when you face it for real on stage 20, where it's affected by the same rubberband AI and power decrease in the final stretch as all your other opponents, and your car is near or at full tune, it's a complete pushover. Seriously, you almost have to crash on purpose to lose to it. And it's just as easy the second time you play stage 20, which is the ''only other time'' you race it.

* ''VideoGame/{{RefleX}}'' features the Virgo, a high-speed fighter piloted by Spica Astrea, a top-ranking pilot in the Global Unified Army. Except she's only the Area 1 boss, though she does flee intact after sustaining enough damage from the [[PlayerCharacter Phoenix]]. To add insult to injury, [[spoiler:her ship is destroyed for good by ZODIAC Virgo]] at the beginning of Area 7, [[spoiler:forcing her to retreat]].

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', Hakumen was [[FiveManBand The Leader]] who destroyed the [[EldritchAbomination Black Beast]], which itself almost destroyed the world. Further, almost every character states how powerful he is, and it is often noted that he isn't even at full strength. Naturally, he loses every plot-critical battle, and is even bested by some of the weaker characters (even if they don't seriously threaten him), with most of his victories being cutscene based.

* In another dinosaur example, the one-eyed ''T. rex'' in ''DinoCrisis2'' (Who was [[MadeOfIron nigh invulnerable to your weapons, as well as taking on a tank and surviving]] gets ripped apart in seconds by a ''Giganotosaurus''. This one is [[SomewhereAPalaeontologistIsCrying even more egregious]] than the ''Spinosaurus'' example above, as the Giganotosaur is depicted as so huge it can pick up the Tyrannosaur in its mouth and toss it around like a rag doll. A real-life matchup would be much more evenly weighted, as the real Giganotosaurus is only marginally bigger than T. rex, possesses a more gracile build, and lacks the Tyrant Reptile's bone-crushing bite strength.

* Inverted in ''{{Persona 4}}'', Yukiko laughs at nearly [[TheHyena anything even slightly funny]], the fact that she fails to laugh at Teddie's jokes shows off just how [[IncrediblyLamePun bad]] they are.