History ButtMonkey / TableTopGames

** Homunculi processed by the Afriel Strain process are blessed by inheriting the genes of the Imperium's greatest "heroes", possessing many skills related to the bloodline...they also have the absolute WORST luck...EVER. An example of this is Lorii, an OppositeSexClone of [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Macharius]] who ended up in the Last Chancers for neglecting orders to save her brother, and got into her CO's bad side and was literally butchered alive.

* Creator/GamesWorkshop, in the first of many entries, gives us ''TabletopGame/BloodBowl''. Halflings compete with Ogres as [[TierInducedScrappy the worst team in the game]] and they're certainly treated this way in the game fluff. Every halfling game mentioned in the rulebook usually results in the halfling team getting downright slaughtered (not as in they lose the game but as in most of their players are dead or horrifically wounded by the end of the game), and in one instance they lost to a team that ''didn't show up''. They're halflings, though, so it's hilarious.

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* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' has the Wood Elves. For the longest time, all you had was a PDF and some models that were difficult to find and harder to win with. Then they get an update and while they weren't too bad, they certainly were playable and a proper army. So why do they belong here you wonder? 8th edition. With a terrible magic lore (and only 1 Lord Choice that can access to others), overpriced and underpowered units and the vast majority of their units being skirmishers (which got hit hard under the 8th edition rules) Wood Elves are probably the weakest army in Warhammer Fantasy right now.

* An example of this trope played seriously is in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The Imperial Guard tends to be Games Workshop's favorite punching bag as the guard tends to get picked on the most in other faction's battles in their respective codex. For a while, this extended to Imperial Guard players as well as they have had to play with an underpowered codex for 14 years spanning across 3 editions with half of their units being useless, and during 5th edition actually had a game type that was literately unwinnable because Annihilate was obviously not play tested with Imperial Guard. Forge World however sees the guard as The favorite. IG players eventually got [[ThrowTheDogABone the bone tossed in a big way during the last few years]] as they got the mother load of Apocalypse releases and the new guard codex not only resolves the Annihilate problem but also allows guard players to use their Forge World goodies in normal games. Everyone else is scared that guard players are going to enter WhosLaughingNow mode.

*** Examples of an old, painful joke regarding the IG - "Due to budget cuts, we've decided to replace your flak armour with cardboard and your lasguns with flashlights - the latter options being much cheaper and just about as effective. Remember! Faith is your shield, faith is your sword, just like it is for the Space Marines. What? No, no, the Power Armour and automatic 100cal gyrojet AP grenade launcher are just ceremonial...". And let's not get started on the Commissar jokes...
** And for the Greenskins, there's the Grots, aka Goblins [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]! Practically bullied around and used as slaves by the Orks, with very few actually serving on the battlefield as soldiers, and for a very good reason, since grots are extremely weak. Those that ''do'' make it to the battlefield, when not manning a Mek Gun carrying stuff for an Ork, are used as [[SuicideAttack missile guidance systems]], minesweepers (disarming mines in the same way that sticks disarm bear traps), duck boards, footstools, throwing weapons, squig bait, [[CannonFodder bullet shields]] and emergency rations. Almost invariably played for laughs.
*** Ork ''Players'' on the tabletop mostly just use them as cheap cannon fodder to sit on objectives while everyone else does the actual fighting.

** From a purely developmental standpoint, the Dark Eldar have been Games Workshop's ButtMonkey for the better part of their existence. Although repeatedly promised a new codex (their current one is a slightly modified version of their original 3rd Edition release) and new models, which haven't been updated since their original release (and are widely considered the worst in the 40k lineup), they are still waiting for a long-overdue update. In the meantinme, pretty much every other race has received an update; with several Space Marine chapters receiving ''multiple''. GW has claimed this is due to the small number of Dark Eldar players and poor sales of the line, [[FridgeLogic which is most likely the result]] of the oudated and almost unplayable rules, and unappealing models.
*** Rectified as they have a new codex. They new models look amazing and while the Dark Eldar still aren't the easiest to play (do the words GlassCannon mean anything to you?) they are definitely a workable and competitive army, especially in the right hands. Continued into 8th edition, where their Codex, while fiddly, actually came out before several Space Marine chapters or even the Orks.

*** Rectified as they have a new codex. They new models look amazing and while the Dark Eldar still aren't the easiest to play (do the words Glass Hammer mean anything to you?) they are definitely a workable and competitive army, especially in the right hands. Continued into 8th edition, where their Codex, while fiddly, actually came out before several Space Marine chapters or even the Orks.

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* In the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' game, [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Goblin_Attack_Force Goblin Attack Force]] appear to be the "designated stooge" of the game when a Spell or Trap Card needs on, as they are the butt of jokes on about 17 or so Spell and Trap Cards, being attacked or receiving a detrimental effect on most of them. This is likely a reference to the [[GlassCannon card's vulnerability after attacking.]]
** This happens to the Ojamas a lot too; they are the butt of jokes on cards like [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Man-Thro%27_Tro%27 Man-Thro' Tro']], [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Power_Filter Power Filter]], and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Eliminating_the_League Eliminating the League]].

** And the Space Marines' DistaffCounterpart the Sisters of Battle, especially when Matt Ward is involved. [[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Sisters_of_Battle#Sisters_Snuff 1d4chan.org made a list.]] (Warning: NSFW.)

* ''TabletopGame/{{Talislanta}}'': Marukans]], ''as a culture''.

* [[{{Talislanta}} Marukans]], ''as a culture''.

* An example of this trope played seriously is in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. The Imperial Guard tends to be Games Workshop's favorite punching bag as the guard tends to get picked on the most in other faction's battles in their respective codex. For a while, this extended to Imperial Guard players as well as they have had to play with an underpowered codex for 14 years spanning across 3 editions with half of their units being useless, and during 5th edition actually had a game type that was literately unwinnable because Annihilate was obviously not play tested with Imperial Guard. Forge World however sees the guard as TheFavorite. IG players eventually got [[ThrowTheDogABone the bone tossed in a big way during the last few years]] as they got the mother load of Apocalypse releases and the new guard codex not only resolves the Annihilate problem but also allows guard players to use their Forge World goodies in normal games. Everyone else is scared that guard players are going to enter WhosLaughingNow mode.

** From a purely developmental standpoint, the DarkEldar have been Games Workshop's ButtMonkey for the better part of their existence. Although repeatedly promised a new codex (their current one is a slightly modified version of their original 3rd Edition release) and new models, which haven't been updated since their original release (and are widely considered the worst in the 40k lineup), they are still waiting for a long-overdue update. In the meantinme, pretty much every other race has received an update; with several Space Marine chapters receiving ''multiple''. GW has claimed this is due to the small number of Dark Eldar players and poor sales of the line, [[FridgeLogic which is most likely the result]] of the oudated and almost unplayable rules, and unappealing models.

*** Rectified as they have a new codex. They new models look amazing and while the Dark Eldar still aren't the easiest to play (do the words Glass Hammer mean anything to you?) they are definitely a workable and competitive army, especially in the right hands.
** From an InUniverse example, the Iron Warriors during the Great Crusade. They were stereotyped into being the Crusade's go-to guys for seigebreaking and fortifications, and eventually that was all they were allowed to do, the Legion being stretched thinner and thinner as ever smaller bands of them were expected to conquer and control more worlds. Even their rival seigebreakers, the Imperial Fists, were given more honor and respect than the Iron Warriors. It eventually resulted in them becoming the most bitter of all the traitor legions.
*** Making things worse is that, according to the novels detailing the Literature/HorusHeresy, their Primarch, Perturabo, was actually a very sensitive and artistic soul who had never wanted anything more than to make beautiful buildings -- all of his skills at designing fortifications and cracking defenses were side-effects of his love of crafting buildings. Even Fulgrim, by then fully corrupted to the worship of Slaanesh and eagerly pursuing daemonhood, seems [[CryForTheDevil genuinely to pity Pertaurbo when he finds out]].

** From a purely developmental standpoint, the DarkEldar have been Games Workshop's ButtMonkey for the better part of their existence. Although repeatedly promised a new codex (their current one is a slightly modified version of their original 3rd Edition release) and new models, which haven't been updated since their original release (and are widely considered the worst in the 40k lineup), they are still waiting for a long-overdue update. In the meantinme, pretty much every other race has received an update; with several Space Marine chapters receiving ''multiple''. GW has claimed this is due to the small number of Dark Eldar players and poor sales of the line, [[FridgeLogic which is most likely the result]] of the [[ItJustBugsMe oudated and almost unplayable rules, and unappealing models]].

* WarhammerFantasy has the Wood Elves. For the longest time, all you had was a PDF and some models that were difficult to find and harder to win with. Then they get an update and while they weren't too bad, they certainly were playable and a proper army. So why do they belong here you wonder? 8th edition. With a terrible magic lore (and only 1 Lord Choice that can access to others), overpriced and underpowered units and the vast majority of their units being skirmishers (which got hit hard under the 8th edition rules) Wood Elves are probably the weakest army in Warhammer Fantasy right now.