Basic Trope: Something meant to play multiple roles, but which ends up incompetent overall next to the specialists.
- Straight: Bob is a Magic Knight, but he's nowhere near as good at magic as Alice the Squishy Wizard, and his combat skills are pretty mediocre next to Charlie the Super-Soldier.
- Exaggerated: Bob can use literally any ability from any character's skill tree... but with his mediocre stats and inability to access character-specific enhancements to those abilities, he's a complete Joke Character.
- Downplayed: Bob is fairly good at both casting and physical combat, but he's something of a Glass Cannon and he lacks the higher levels of specialization, making him less desirable.
- Justified:
- The magic system of the world demands a level of devotion that someone with a split career can't manage.
- If Bob were as good at casting as Alice and as strong as Charlie, there'd be no reason to bring along the other two.
- Bob is actually Alice and Charlie's student, so of course his abilities are well behind theirs and he hasn't learned to make them work together.
- Inverted:
- Subverted: Bob may look pretty weak at first, but once he starts using his abilities together (using his buff spells on himself, learning Full-Contact Magic), he becomes a Lethal Joke Character.
- Double Subverted: Unfortunately, by that time, his companions have unlocked their own 11th-Hour Superpower abilities, and Bob falls behind again.
- Parodied:
- Bob proudly advertises himself as the guy who's got it all. Then in his first combat situation, he throws out a fireball with the power of a fart and breaks his sword while drawing it.
- Bob is a Joke Character.
- Bob has literally every ability to ever exist, but is pathetic at all of them (for instance, he can create fire on the level of a cigarette lighter, grow or shrink by one inch, or change the shape of one of his fingers).
- Zig Zagged: In most situations, Bob is mostly just redundant, but when he's on his own, his balance of different skills comes in very handy.
- Averted: Jack of All Stats.
- Enforced: "The generalists have to be worse than the specialists, or there'd be no point specializing."
- Lampshaded: "You know, you're feeling kind of like dead weight. We've got a mage and a warrior, we don't need half of both."
- Invoked: Bob is often called out for lacking the uses of his fellows.
- Exploited: Bob's opponents learn to treat him as a weak link.
- Defied: Bob recognizes the weaknesses of splitting his style and works extra hard to make sure he can keep up with his teammates.
- Discussed:Alice: You know, Bob, you really need to pick a style and stick with it.
- Conversed: Other characters remark on the weaknesses of combining multiple styles and skillsets.
- Implied: Bob seems to have trouble with foes that Alice and Charlie can defeat easily, due to his individual skills not being as impressive.
- Deconstructed: Bob's spreading himself thin is evidence of an inferiority complex, and his constant striving to be the best at everything is causing not just his abilities to suffer, but also his life.
- Reconstructed: However, Bob ultimately manages to find satisfaction in what he does, because even if it's not great, it's something he can do that few others can.
- Played for Laughs: Bob keeps trying new hobbies, insisting he'll master them, then abandons them when he finds out he isn't very good.
- Played for Drama: Bob realizes that he's not as strong as the specialists, and goes to find a master that can teach him how to make his unusual skills work together.
