Basic Trope: A character in an adaptation is far less competent or impressive than they were in the source material.
- Straight: In the comic book Combat Troper Alice, Alice is a badass Superheroine. In the live action film adaptation she's a bumbling Faux Action Girl.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice isn't even a superhero anymore. She's still the main character, but she only ever wins through sheer luck and the help of her vastly more competent friends.
- In the comic book, Alice is a Physical God capable of destroying enemies with a thought and possesses the largest arsenal of weaponry in the world. In the movie, she's a 90-pound weakling who surrenders at the first opportunity.
- Downplayed:
- Alice is missing a few of her powers, but it's never brought up and only a truly hardcore fan of the comics would even notice.
- Superpowers are more common in this adaptation, so while Alice is the same, she seems weaker in comparison.
- In the comic book, Alice is powerful enough to wipe out Dr. Evulz in a total Curb-Stomp Battle once she finally reaches her. In the live action film, Alice only beats her in a close fight.
- Alice has super powers in the comics, the movie turns her into a Badass Normal.
- Justified:
- Alice is way less powerful in the film then she was in the comics, but it's because the film is a prequel to the comics and she hasn't developed all of her abilities yet.
- Alice is made way less powerful because if she shared the prowess of her comic book counterpart, everything she comes across could be easily overcome, completely eliminating all tension.
- Alice is older in the film, and while she did have her powers in the past, she is past her prime in the present day.
- Alice is depicted as younger in the film, and is shown to be more inexperienced due to her young age.
- Inverted: Adaptational Badass - Alice was a weak Damsel in Distress in the comic. In the film, she's pretty much kicking ass alongside Bob.
- Subverted: When the film opens Alice seems to be very much weaker than she should be, but it turns out to be a flashback to when she was just starting out as a hero.
- Double Subverted: ...after the flashback ends we see that, while she has all the power she should have, she's become a bumbling idiot who barely understands how to use her power.
- Parodied: Alice stumbles across the comics during the movie, and wishes she was as competent as they make her look.
- Zig Zagged:
- Alice spends much of the film with her powers merely downplayed, but a few key moments make her look like a useless Faux Action Girl. But then the climax of the movie gives her a sudden Ass Pull superpower that makes her even more powerful than she was in the comics.
- The movie gives Alice a wide variety of useful Combo Platter Powers that she never had in the comics, but also makes way less skilled at using them than her comics self.
- Averted: When the film adaptation was being made there were rumors that Alice was going to undergo Chickification for the movie, but it turns out she's still exactly as strong as she's supposed to be.
- Enforced:
- The movie is being adapted for a culture where women are expected to always be subservient to men. If Alice retained her power and tough demeanor it would be offensive to the audience.
- The adaptation is a Fighting Game, and while Alice was made playable, Competitive Balance means she has to be brought down to the level of other characters she'd easily steamroll in the work the game is based on.
- Her powers translate poorly into the medium her work is being adapted into, forcing her to use Coconut Superpowers.
- Lampshaded: "Hey, Alice, didn't you used to be a lot stronger than this?"
- Invoked: Bob is constantly following Alice around, trying to keep her out of danger. When asked why, he explains that in the movie adaptations he's seen the Action Girl always ends up losing most of her power.
- Exploited: "Normally, I wouldn't stand a chance against you, Alice, but you forget one thing. This movie has a different writer than the comic did... and he's a misogynist!"
- Defied: When the Combat Troper Alice comic is adapted into an animated series, the writer for the first episode accidentally makes Alice look like a Faux Action Girl. Realizing what he's done, he quickly rewrites the script to restore her to her true Action Girl self.
- Discussed: "I hear Alice got beat up again. What's going on with that girl?"
- Conversed: "Wasn't Alice a lot tougher in the comics?" "You know how it is. The movie always messes up the characters."
Back to Adaptational Wimp. You know, the YKTTW was way more awesome than the actual trope.
