History CreatorsPet / TabletopGames

* TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression: The former TropeNamer, [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Wesley Crusher]], is referenced as the slang for "kid geniuses."
** ''"Kid geniuses" aren't as common as many people think. (Though they are often as annoying as people think.) Minors make up 14% of the Inspired population, with one genius in 50 being under the age of 13. These characters show a slight proclivity for computer science, with dimensional research also being popular.''

* Wargaming: 'Pet Armies'are a ongoing debate. In any period there are armies that people argue are over-powerful in many sets of rules;

** Napoleonics the French or the British.

** ''VideoGame/TormentTidesOfNumenera'''s {{Kickstarter}} actually made one of it's stretch goal rewards [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wwDWx1cAqP4 a videotaped apology]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoi1tvqzMaI from the book's author]].

** Just for comparison, the TierList for the game has six classes at the top: the wizard, the cleric, the druid, the archivist (who is basically just a cleric with a wizard's way of selecting spells), the artificer (whose main trick is abusing magic items to basically use spells), and the Spell to Power erudite (which can learn spells ''and'' PsychicPowers). Of the six, five of them are casters, and the sixth is functionally a caster anyway. The next-highest level is mainly comprised of the sorcerer and the favored soul, who are ''horribly'' gimped in comparison to their counterparts (the wizard and cleric) but still considered far more powerful than other classes. Even the adept, an ''NPC class'', [[LethalJokeCharacter is placed in the middle-tier]]. Meanwhile, the bottom two tiers contain, out of sixteen classes (including the oh-so-overpowered fighter), ''one'' casting-focused class - and it's [[CripplingOverspecialization the healer!]]

** Elemental Hero Mudballman is the king of this trope, being the only fusion with no actual effect, but still can't be summoned outside of fusion summon. At least Master of Dragon Soldier and Five God Dragon has reasonable effects to make up for it.

** AmericanCivilWar - that is a whole can of worms, because players sometimes take the politics into the game.

*** Don't forget the predecessor of Synchros, Fusions. It's like the purpose of ''GX'' was to try and make them relevant. Never mind that you have to go through so many hoops to play them that Synchros were made to make them usable, every duelist in ''GX'' used them. Judai's E-Heroes, as stated, most prominent.
*** The last statement is untrue. Only a couple of duelists actually used Fusions in ''GX'', and some of them didn't even focus on Fusions at all. This is reflected in the game, when only specific archetypes, like the Elemental Heroes, the Roids, the Cyber Dragons or Cyberdarks get their Fusion Monsters, while the rest don't, but were still powerful.

** Synchros and Tuners are (albeit less commonly) hated by fans for similar reasons - they utterly dominate the plot and duels of 5Ds, Konami dedicates an average of three-quarters of a set to them, but unlike the E-Heroes, the majority of Synchros * cough* Dark Strike Fighter * cough* are on par with ''[[GameBreaker effin' Chaos]]'', which either [[StopHavingFunGuy totally redeems them]] or [[{{Scrub}} makes them glaringly worse]], depending on which side of the BrokenBase you are on. in addition, Xyz monsters also seem to have taken this place as well, dominating the plot of the newest series Zexal, as well as getting put into every pack with effects that often make them more valuable than synchros, since you no longer need to use tuners or any other special cards or types in the limited deck space available.
*** Don't forget the predecessor of Synchros, Fusions. It's like the purpose of GX was to try and make them relevant. Never mind that you have to go through so many hoops to play them that Synchros were made to make them usable, every duelist in GX used them. Jaden's E-Heroes, as stated, most prominent.

** Synchros and Tuners are (albeit less commonly) hated by fans for similar reasons - they utterly dominate the plot and duels of 5Ds, Konami dedicates an average of three-quarters of a set to them, but unlike the E-Heroes, the majority of Synchros * cough* Dark Strike Fighter * cough* are on par with ''[[GameBreaker effin' Chaos]]'', which either [[StopHavingFunGuy totally redeems them]] or [[{{Scrub}} makes them glaringly worse]], depending on which side of the BrokenBase you are on. in addition, XYZ monsters also seem to have taken this place as well, dominating the plot of the newest series Zexal, as well as getting put into every pack with effects that often make them more valuable than synchros, since you no longer need to use tuners or any other special cards or types in the limited deck space available.

* The Classic ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' supplement ''Black Circle'' introduced "a major new force in the Weird West: the Cackler". Not only was he a creator's pet, but all that was ever revealed about him was that he was supposedly the most evil BigBad ever to walk the world. Heck the authors even told you ''not'' to use him in the game because they had a huge plans for him. Actual quote: "What you should not do is bring the Cackler into your game yet. He’s coming, and you’ll know it when he does. We’re not ready to say exactly when, but his presence will change the Weird West forever."

** To a lesser extent, the Four Servitors were Creator's pets as well given how much was written about them and how far the authors went to make sure they were overly powerful and unkillable. Heck, a few scenarios involved the heroes unwittingly making those characters even more powerful (sometimes without them even knowing it)! By the time that ''Deadlands Reloaded'' came around, the authors generally relegated them to the background and commissioned a comic series where each of their backstories (which again, had little to do with a posse) could be properly explored.

*** The pinnacle of Neos's Pet-ness would have to have been Gladiator's Assault's cover card. Now, Gladiator's Assault introduced three new archetypes: the titular Gladiator Beasts, which were impressively strong, and the Evil Heroes and Cloudians, which weren't nearly as good but had enjoyed some prominence in the anime. It also gave some support for Roids, Gemini, and Six Samurai. So, with so many great cards, what was the cover card for the set? Elemental Hero Chaos Neos - one of only two Neos-related cards in the set, that had appeared in the anime in all of ''one episode''. It wasn't even a good card; it took three monsters to bring out and its effect was a Luck-BasedMisson, but it got the nod over Heraklinos, Dark Gaia, Stealth Union, and Eye of the Typhoon!

*** The pinnacle of Neos's Pet-ness would have to have been Gladiator's Assault's cover card. Now, Gladiator's Assault introduced three new archetypes: the titular Gladiator Beasts, which were impressively strong, and the Evil Heroes and Cloudians, which weren't nearly as good but had enjoyed some prominence in the anime. It also gave some support for Roids, Gemini, and Six Samurai. So, with so many great cards, what was the cover card for the set? Elemental Hero Chaos Neos - one of only two Neos-related cards in the set, that had appeared in the anime in all of ''one episode''. It wasn't even a good card; it took three monsters to bring out and its effect was a LuckBasedMisson, but it got the nod over Heraklinos, Dark Gaia, Stealth Union, and Eye of the Typhoon!

* [[DungeonsAndDragons AD&D 2nd Edition]]'s ''Complete Book of Elves''. This book caused some fan backlash over the text praising elves extensively, giving them superior knowledge of pretty much everything, moral sanction for everything (even for the arguably fascist grey elves, who kept slaves of other "lesser" elven races who were always inexplicably happy in slavery), the text outright insulting other races, and ignoring elven hypocrisy - this last one most evident in the sea elves, who went on great hunts that could depopulate a region of sharks but were given a pass on disrupting the ecosystem pretty much Because They Were Elves, so it was okay. Somehow. For some reason. Even the author eventually apologized for the [[PrestigeClass Blade Dancer]], a fighter/mage kit that gave lots of mechanical bonuses, with drawbacks that amounted to "things a PlayerCharacter was going to do anyway" (such as a tendency to being [[IWorkAlone a badass loner]] who has spent years of TrainingFromHell before the campaign began, a tendency to rush off into an adventure if it seems that another elf is threatened, and focusing their skill in a single type of weapon), with apparent permission to derail the story by getting to determine for themselves whether a situation was even covered by their code of conduct.

* A long-standing complaint of ''LegendOfTheFiveRings'' fans, though the Creator's Pet in question changes depending on the creator. Notable pets included:

* In ''WarhammerFantasy'' the Blackorc Warboss Grimgor Ironhide is hated by a large part of the fandom for replacing a black orc considered to be better thought through; the writers likes him enough to let him defeat Archaon, another badass character, and thus save the world by being badass.

** The [[SkeleBot9000 Necrons]] of have proven problematic for some fans. When the army got its proper launch during 3rd Edition, with a codex positing that the Necrons' [[EldritchAbomination undying C'tan masters]] were essentially the prime source of all evil in the universe, secretly worshiped by a pivotal faction of the Imperium, ''and'' responsible for the rise of [[UltimateEvil Chaos]], many fans complained that these {{Terminator}} knock-offs had usurped Chaos as the setting's BigBad. The 5th Edition codex has attempted to rectify this by drastically reducing the C'tan's presence in the background, specifically with a {{retcon}} describing how they were [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters betrayed]] and [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned]] [[TakeThatScrappy by the Necrons]]. The book also assures readers that many Necron Lords have gone insane over the eons and enjoy delusions of godhood, and points out that what little the Imperium knows about the Necrons [[ArmedWithCanon are mostly half-truths, lies, or flat-out wrong]]. Naturally, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks some fans are now complaining about the changes]].

* Spellcasters in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3rd Edition and 3.5 (essentially, 3rd Edition Revised). One of the core rules' main designers was not subtle in his love for wizards, and hearsay claims he thought fighters needed to be nerfed (despite being one of the least optimal classes to take). More generally, spellcasting in 3.x is a versatile pool of abilities for almost any niche, and new spells in every book expanded caster options faster than anyone else. Wizards, clerics, and druids especially benefited - wizards just had to find or research a spell and spend a pittance to add it to their spellbooks, while clerics and druids automatically have access to all spells on their classes' spell lists. In the latter case this lead to the infamous "[[FanNickname CoDzilla]]" ('''C'''leric '''o'''r '''D'''ruid + God'''zilla''') whose abilities and versatile spell selection made them very easy to [[{{Munchkin}} twink out]] - though wizards still tended to get more spells written for them in absolute terms.

* TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression: Referenced.

** The manga's Attribute Hero fusions, meanwhile, [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap did a lot to tip the scales in their favor]]; they had an actual usable strategy, they were easy to fuse, and they even comboed perfectly with Super Fusion, a card that had previously seemed useless. This has led to Elemental Hero Decks finally having some time in the sun (to the point that some now complain about them being OVERpowered).

** Similarly, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and especially Elemental Hero Neos, as Judai couldn't seem to go one duel without using them almost exclusively. At least Flame Wingman remained silent, though; Neos also had the distinction of being TheObiWan since his introduction, and in seasons 2 and 4, he became a virtual DeusExMachina, becoming "real" to take care of non duel-related threats. As you might have guessed, fans are ''sick'' of their overuse.

* In the ''Living Death'' campaign the character of Jason Lindaman was supposed to be a super-intelligent, CrazyPrepared investigator who was taken out by the enemy before the [=PCs=] arrived. Because the [=PCs=]' only real interaction with him was after something heinous that took all four to six of them to handle had physically or emotionally crippled him, many players considered him a joke and/or incompetent to the point that they wished for his death.

* From ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':
** The [[SkeleBot9000 Necrons]] of have proven problematic for some fans. When the army got its proper launch during 3rd Edition, with a codex positing that the Necrons' [[EldritchAbomination undying C'tan masters]] were essentially the prime source of all evil in the universe, secretly worshiped by a pivotal faction of the Imperium, ''and'' responsible for the rise of [[UltimateEvil Chaos]], many fans complained that these {{Terminator}} knock-offs had usurped Chaos as the setting's BigBad. The 5th Edition codex has attempted to rectify this by drastically reducing the C'tan's presence in the background, specifically with a {{retcon}} describing how they were [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters betrayed]] and [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned]] [[TakeThatScrappy by the Necrons]]. The book also assures readers that many Necron Lords have gone insane over the eons and enjoy delusions of godhood, and points out that what little the Imperium knows about the Necrons [[ArmedWithCanon are mostly half-truths, lies, or flat-out wrong]]. Naturally, [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks some fans are now complaining about the changes]].
** ''40k''s oldest Creators' Pets have always been the Space Marines themselves. As ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''[='s=] mascot characters, the Space Marines get the most exposure and the most updates, while [[PowerCreepPowerSeep Codex Creep]] ensures that they remain a potent force on the tabletop. In the setting's narrative, Space Marines are so awesome that they've been awarded the "moral victory" even when they ''failed'' a campaign's objectives[[note]]this was probably because the Space Marines and Imperial Guard were lumped together (being on the same side and all), and the IG definitely succeeded in their primary objective. For their part, the Space Marines at least achieved their secondary objectives[[/note]]. Roughly half of ''40k'''s armies are some variant of guys in PowerArmor, and Space Marine merchandise sells more than all the other factions ''combined''.
*** And then there are the Ultramarines, the Space Marines to the Space Marines. [[RunningTheAsylum Thanks to letting an enormous Ultramarines fanboy do the writing]], the Ultramarines have dominated the current Space Marine codex. Twenty-nine other Space Marine chapters are mentioned in the rulebook's background, and get a picture of their uniform and a paragraph or two of description - the rest of the book is all about the wonderful Ultramarines. The "Histories" and "Battles" sections of the book are devoted to the Ultramarines' exploits, while any other chapters get lumped into a comparatively brief seven-page section. Of the twenty-one pages of miniatures galleries, only two of them do ''not'' feature any Ultramarines. Of the special characters listed, half are from the Ultramarines, and half of those had not appeared in any previous edition. The Codex insists that even other First Founding legions, with their own traditions and proud histories, all aspire to emulate the example set by the Ultramarines. It even divides Space Marines into three categories: the Ultramarines and their successors, Space Marines from other gene-stock that ''try'' to be Ultramarines but can't due to their defective blood, and "aberrant" chapters who will eventually diminish in importance. Interestingly, before this the Ultramarines were considered kinda bland by many players, a generic by-the-book sort of chapter; now they have a massive {{hatedom}} and even long-term Ultramarines fans are annoyed by how much their army's being overhyped.
*** On the other hand, overrepresentation of Ultramarines in the codex makes sense because, being bland and generic, they are the most suitable baseline to compare the more interesting Space Marine chapters with; they are "normal" and "average". And their blue livery looks good as a default paint job for miniatures.
*** This was apparently a result of a last minute change, originally the book was going to be call "Codex: Ultramarines" much like the 2nd edition.
** The newest Grey Knights codex - which was incidentally written by the same author as the latest Space Marine codex - introduced [[CanonSue Lord Kaldor Draigo]], who managed to one-up the Ultramarines through the sheer, over-the-top Sueishness of his accomplishments, which includes but it not limited to: surviving an endless walk through Hell, banishing a Daemon Prince in his first combat action, defeating a Daemon Primarch and vandalizing its still-beating heart, killing a Bloodthirster all but bare-handedly before stealing its unholy axe and reforging it into a sword with the power of his mind, and rampaging through the Chaos Gods' private demesnes without consequence.
* In ''WarhammerFantasy'' the Blackorc Warboss Grimgor Ironhide is hated by a large part of the fandom for replacing a black orc considered to be better thought through; the writers likes him enough to let him defeat Archaon, another badass character, and thus save the world by being badass.
* The Elemental Heroes (and their {{spiritual successor}}s, the Neospacians) from ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'' are certainly qualified here; already having a strike against them as the signature cards of the anime's unabashed BoringInvincibleHero Judai, they are absolutely reviled by most duelists due to their weak stats, underwhelming effects, their Fusions being unable to be summoned by fan favorites Cyber-Stein or Metamorphosis, and half of the Elemental Heroes being normal monsters. What pushes them over the edge, though is how throughout the show's run, Konami could hardly go through a set without dedicating at least a fourth of it to the E-Heroes/Neospacians and support cards.
** Elemental Hero Mudballman is the king of this trope, being the only fusion with no actual effect, but still can't be summoned outside of fusion summon. At least Master of Dragon Soldier and Five God Dragon has reasonable effects to make up for it.
** Similarly, Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and especially Elemental Hero Neos, as Judai couldn't seem to go one duel without using them almost exclusively. At least Flame Wingman remained silent, though; Neos also had the distinction of being TheObiWan since his introduction, and in seasons 2 and 4, he became a virtual DeusExMachina, becoming "real" to take care of non duel-related threats. As you might have guessed, fans are ''sick'' of their overuse.
** Synchros and Tuners are (albeit less commonly) hated by fans for similar reasons - they utterly dominate the plot and duels of 5Ds, Konami dedicates an average of three-quarters of a set to them, but unlike the E-Heroes, the majority of Synchros * cough* Dark Strike Fighter * cough* are on par with ''[[GameBreaker effin' Chaos]]'', which either [[StopHavingFunGuy totally redeems them]] or [[{{Scrub}} makes them glaringly worse]], depending on which side of the BrokenBase you are on. in addition, XYZ monsters also seem to have taken this place as well, dominating the plot of the newest series Zexal, as well as getting put into every pack with effects that often make them more valuable than synchros, since you no longer need to use tuners or any other special cards or types in the limited deck space available.
*** Don't forget the predecessor of Synchros, Fusions. It's like the purpose of GX was to try and make them relevant. Never mind that you have to go through so many hoops to play them that Synchros were made to make them usable, every duelist in GX used them. Jaden's E-Heroes, as stated, most prominent.
* [[DungeonsAndDragons AD&D 2nd Edition]]'s ''Complete Book of Elves''. This book caused some fan backlash over the text praising elves extensively, giving them superior knowledge of pretty much everything, moral sanction for everything (even for the arguably fascist grey elves, who kept slaves of other "lesser" elven races who were always inexplicably happy in slavery), the text outright insulting other races, and ignoring elven hypocrisy - this last one most evident in the sea elves, who went on great hunts that could depopulate a region of sharks but were given a pass on disrupting the ecosystem pretty much Because They Were Elves, so it was okay. Somehow. For some reason. Even the author eventually apologized for the [[PrestigeClass Blade Dancer]], a fighter/mage kit that gave lots of mechanical bonuses, with drawbacks that amounted to "things a PlayerCharacter was going to do anyway" (such as a tendency to being [[IWorkAlone a badass loner]] who has spent years of TrainingFromHell before the campaign began, a tendency to rush off into an adventure if it seems that another elf is threatened, and focusing their skill in a single type of weapon), with apparent permission to derail the story by getting to determine for themselves whether a situation was even covered by their code of conduct.
** ''VideoGame/TormentTidesOfNumenera'''s {{Kickstarter}} actually made one of it's stretch goal rewards [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wwDWx1cAqP4 a videotaped apology]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoi1tvqzMaI from the book's author]].

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', there is a bet every new set: "Which new strategy will be so imbalanced that players will [[{{scrub}} complain about how unfair it is]] and blame Mark Rosewater?" In the case of infect, Rosewater took blame because he loved poison counters so much.
** A single character who demonstrates shades of this is [[PsychicPowers Jace]] [[MindManipulation Beleren]]. In each story expansion, he's given more weight and his importance is emphasised. He's gone from being just one of the several new planeswalkers in the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block to being so important as to be prominently featured in Return To Ravnica's promotional artwork.
*** Many fans feel Blue in general sometimes gets preferential treatment from the game designers; when Snapcaster Mage was printed, he was all the daily articles would talk about for several days in a row, and later articles would regularly bring up how great he was. Later, Snapcaster Mage's impact on the game was so profound that every expansion since has required several graveyard-hosers to counteract his power while he remains a creature that is seen in every format of play. Also, the card's ability was originally printed on a Red card, Recoup, gaining some resentment from Red fans.
* Spellcasters in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3rd Edition and 3.5 (essentially, 3rd Edition Revised). One of the core rules' main designers was not subtle in his love for wizards, and hearsay claims he thought fighters needed to be nerfed (despite being one of the least optimal classes to take). More generally, spellcasting in 3.x is a versatile pool of abilities for almost any niche, and new spells in every book expanded caster options faster than anyone else. Wizards, clerics, and druids especially benefited - wizards just had to find or research a spell and spend a pittance to add it to their spellbooks, while clerics and druids automatically have access to all spells on their classes' spell lists. In the latter case this lead to the infamous "[[FanNickname CoDzilla]]" ('''C'''leric '''o'''r '''D'''ruid + God'''zilla''') whose abilities and versatile spell selection made them very easy to [[{{Munchkin}} twink out]] - though wizards still tended to get more spells written for them in absolute terms.
* A long-standing complaint of ''LegendOfTheFiveRings'' fans, though the Creator's Pet in question changes depending on the creator. Notable pets included:
** Toturi. His faction got the story prize for the first arc despite another faction winning the tournament.
** The Crane Clan, who got to avoid TheCorruption running rampant during the second arc, to the point that a [[BloodMagic Bloodspeaker]] from a Crane family was printed as unaligned when every other faction got one.
** The Phoenix Clan, who after becoming thoroughly corrupted and nearly destroyed, were given such a massive power boost that they completely dominated the tournament circuit for over a year. A number of powerhouse cards even received additional effects just before going to printing. The fact that the lead developer at the time was a longtime Phoenix fan had nothing to do with this, of course.
** Akodo Kaneka. Dear Fortunes, Akodo Kaneka.
* In ''TabletopGame/CartoonActionHour'', a game meant to mimic the feel of an 80's Saturday morning cartoon, there's an optional set of rules where characters can earn "cool" points and trade them in toward perks that happen as a result of things on the production side of the show. One such thing is [[InvokedTrope a writer taking this kind of interest in the player's character]], although the actual bonus it confers is minor.

** Toturi. His faction got the story prize for the first arc despite another faction winning the tournament)

* In ''WarhammerFantasy'' the Blackorc Warboss Grimgor Ironhide is hated by a large part of the fandom for replacing a black orc considered to be better thought through, the writers likes him enough to let him defeat Archaon, another badass character, and thus save the world by being badass.