Basic Trope: A character in a game who is hilariously weak or ineffective, often to the point of being nigh (or completely) useless.
- Straight: In the videogame Big Fights, Jake is slow like molasses, punches with the strength of a gentle breeze, and goes down in only one or two good strikes.
- Exaggerated: Jake is a One-Hit-Point Wonder and a Master of None who doesn't have any offensive power whatsoever. Hell, he can't even stall the fights and hope for a draw, because he dies automatically seconds before the timer runs out, invariably granting the victory to his opponent.
- Downplayed: Jake is a viable fighter, but his stats are subpar when compared to the other characters. He might make up for this by relying on an unorthodox fight style, or having an unique mechanic that makes up for his flaws.
- Justified:
- Jake is an ordinary Lazy Bum going up against highly trained martial artists, it only stands to reason he's gonna be weaker than any of them.
- Jake works as a Jobber; being defeated in combat is actually his job.
- Inverted:
- Subverted: Lethal Joke Character: Jake is actually Difficult, but Awesome; when someone works out how to use him, he becomes an instant pick for tournaments.
- Double Subverted: Every character has a special counter skill that makes the Lethal Joke Character become Master of None.
- Parodied: Playing as Jake results an instant game over.
- Zig Zagged: ...that is if turned on properly, mess up and Jake will absolutely be powerful.
- Averted: Jake looks like a joke, but he's actually a mid-tier character.
- Enforced: In-Joke
- Lampshaded: There's a little information tidbit about Jake on the character selection screen that states:"Don't choose this worthless bum if you intend to win! He's meant to be a joke!"
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: The game's characters are either all well-balanced and viable for use or the game mechanics simply don't allow a Joke Character.
- Discussed: Every character in the game pokes fun at Jake's ineptitude; Probably even Jake himself.
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Jake has a very sloppy technique and stance.
- Deconstructed: Jake gets himself seriously hurt as a result of his lack of training in combat. Assuming he's still alive and conscious, the others scold him for endangering himself like this.
- Reconstructed: His brush of death prompts Jake to start training so that he could safely partake in these tournaments. He's still nowhere near as talented or experienced as the other fighters, but at least he's not nearly as likely to get seriously injured as before.
- Played For Drama:
- Jake begins the game with a horrible set of stats or abilities, loses every encounter and/or possesses handicaps that render him utterly impotent. Then after a relevant event...
- Jake is an ordinary chump who is in way over his head and he knows it. The crux of his storyline is whether or not he can save his own skin.
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