Discussion Main / CrutchCharacter

A couple potential additional examples for XCOM: Enemy Unknown, but would like someone to confirm they belong on this page, as I rarely edit:

• ME Cs in the XCOM: Enemy Within expansion. Higher hp than available in the early game, generally better weaponry in the early game, but is potentially crippled in needing twice as much xp to level up and has poor stat growth compared to normal soldier classes.

More questionable:

• Soldiers who gain a couple levels early in general. They're great for dealing with early threats, but are only slightly more durable than anyone else, meaning that neglecting the rest of the squad for your early higher rank soldiers can cause problems if those high rank characters die or take enough damage to require a long medbay stay. Potentially leaving you with a squad of low level characters to deal with threats beyond their ability.

Does Laharl really count as a crutch character? Re-run a few of the first levels and either carry a few heal items or use the master/pupil system to snag a heal spell or two, and you can finish the game and extra content using just Laharl (and a few 'throw' characters) without much difficulty. Sure, he doesn't match up to a Majin, but the Majin is so ridiculous to begin with. Laharl himself is pretty much a game breaker, Majin's are just more game breaking game breakers. Otherwise, any usable character in a game with game breaking characters ends up being a crutch character, and that just seems to completely miss the point. At that point, you may as well redefine crutch character to "Not the most blatantly broken and overpowered build possible".

Fire Emblem

It should be noted that the fandom no longer thinks of Jagen and his ilk as bad characters. In fact, they're often cited as some of the best units in the game.

Also, the term Oifeys/Oifayes is discouraged because the distinction doesn't really exist anymore. In fact, Jagen in the original Fire Emblem is a better character than Oifey ever was and it was only misconceptions within the community that led them to make that distinction.

I'll let someone more versed in TV Tropes do the editing instead.

Can someone please fix the folder system for this page, I'm not an expert, so I don't know how to do that.

How do EITHER of the examples for Guild Wars make any sense for this trope? I'm not going to just remove it immediately but I don't see how Rurik or heroes fit in this category at all.

Removing the Survivalist thing about Etrian Odyssey. There's just too many factual errors in it and Survivalists don't seem to fit the trope at all: they're great throughout the game in EO 1 due to having both the #1 and #2 most destructive attack skills in the entire game, and pretty bad throughout the game in EO 2 because of a lack of, well, everything except their signature move, which lets another character act first in a turn. In neither game are they really good at the beginning and really bad later.

For the errors: "boasting skills that can fool around with an enemy's status" -> They get one skill that lowers enemy accuracy (equally useful throughout the game) and a (terrible) leg bind skill, which isn't more than any other attack class. "or manipulate a F.O.E.'s movement pattern" -> These skills don't exist in EO 1. "and Item Synthesis becomes less a form of making money and more of a form of just getting some spare items for new weapons at the shop" -> ...Item Synthesis? Farming is the only sane way to get enough money for the END-GAME weapons and equipment. (of course, in practice you won't be using a character in your main team for farming, so this is kind of a moot point) "This is made even worse in Etrian Odyssey II [...] and Hexers, who are even better at inflicting status ailments." -> Hexers are available in EO 1. Dark Hunters, which are even available from the start, are always better at inflicting status ailments as well.

Discussion prior rename.

Kimiko Muffin: So where exactly did this trope get its name? It's not mentioned in the introduction, which treats it as if it was Exactly What It Says On The Tin ...

Tanto: It's from the first Fire Emblem, as explained in the first example.

Gloating Swine: Cut

• Drachma in Skies Of Arcadia is overleveled when he first joins the party, and is capable of defeating most minor foes in a single hit. He leaves, however, for the latter part of the Escape From Valua arc and the entire Temple of Pyrynn, allowing the other characters to catch up. He's an unremarkable character once his level advantage is gone.

Drachma is still a competent match damage-wise for Vyse at equivalent levels right to the end of the game and has high HP and Defence, and only Enrique's Justice Shield keeps him out of the endgame lineup. He's certainly a better choice than Gilder, no matter how cool the latter may look.

• Although not quite as early in the game as most examples, Talos from Dragon Quest VIII may qualify. He starts out with absurdly high stats and 800 HP, plus he's an extremely reliable attacker, but unlike most recruitable monsters his stats don't improve as you gain levels.

(NOTE: I'm reasonably sure this is a good example since Talos starts really strong and doesn't improve at all, aside from how you aren't able to recruit him until a little while into the game.)

Can this trope just be renamed to Jeigan? Or at least The Jeigan?

Jeigan Character is a tad redundant.

Ogre Prodigy: I'd suggest removing Thursday, because in my experience, he's actually Magikarp Power - Thursday has the highest potential attack of any character in the game (Including the Game Breaker Divine Majins and the Bonus Boss Priere), but due to a low starting level, low move and counterattacks, and the aforesaid Monster type, he's practically useless when you get him compared to Laharl, Ninjas, or Samurai.

Also, you don't get him until more than halfway through the game.