Basic Trope: A powerful-looking, but very weak monster or enemy unit.
- Straight: Within Tales of Troperia, the Shadow Dragon is a Creepy Awesome monster that towers over the player's party... but it's relatively weak offensively and dies from a couple of basic attacks.
- Exaggerated:
- The Shadow Dragon gets an introduction fit for a final boss, and is the largest, most nightmarish and imposing monster in the game... and it dies in one hit.
- The Shadow Dragon is introduced as a formidable enemy, but it turns out to be the Goomba of the game.
- Downplayed:
- The Shadow Dragon is a level-appropriate monster that looks more like a Mini-Boss in appearance.
- The Shadow Dragon is genuinely powerful, but at this point the hero is so powerful, he barely considers him a little stronger than a normal Mook.
- Justified:
- The Shadow Dragon was an illusion created to scare off adventurers that didn't know how weak it really was.
- The Shadow Dragon is so large that is slower than a normal Mook, which makes its attacks easy to dodge despite how powerful it is.
- You'd need to be a dragon wrangler to understand the signs, but Shadow Dragon has aged beyond the prime of his life.
- Inverted:
- The Fluffy Bunny is a cute, harmless-looking creature... that puts up a massive fight, and is in fact stronger than the level's boss.
- A variety of Mooks are introduced that are smaller than the normal ones, but turn out to be much more powerful and dangerous than the normal size Mooks.
- Subverted: When the Shadow Dragon dies, it releases a Shadow Dragon Soul, which is far tougher.
- Double Subverted: The Shadow Dragon Soul still isn't that hard to beat, especially considering how tough it looks.
- Parodied: Before entering combat, the Shadow Dragon boasts about how powerful it is and how no adventurer has ever defeated it. As soon as it takes a single hit, it's revealed to be a Boisterous Weakling that cowers in fear from the player.
- Zig-Zagged: Once it dies, the Shadow Dragon Soul releases an Essence of Shadow Dragon that keeps the fight going. It's still not that hard to beat, but having to fight off three monsters in a row may take a toll on the player's party.
- Averted: All monsters are about as threatening as they look.
- Enforced: Tales of Troperia was made easier for its international release, so some monsters that were as powerful as they looked in the original became much weaker than expected in the new version.
- Lampshaded:Shadow Dragon: "I'm not cut out for this job! Adventurers keep beating me up because I look scary, and I can't handle them! I quit."
- Invoked: An ally of the heroes attacks the Shadow Dragons before they arrive, weakening them to the point where they're easily defeated.
- Exploited: Anyone that knows how weak the Shadow Dragons really are can take the treasure they guard.
- Defied: Under the Big Bad's rule, Shadow Dragons are mandated to take self-defence lessons to become as threatening as they look.
- Discussed: "I was really afraid back there, but it seems like it was for nothing. That big dragon thing looked scary, but it was no match for us!"
- Conversed: "I was expecting a cool fight against that dragon, and it just died in a few seconds! This game sucks."
This link back to Fake Ultimate Mook looks big, tough, and hard to click, right? But...
