History Main / BoisterousWeakling

* The Team Rocket in ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' is a trio of this, although Jessie and James use their Pokemon instead of doing the actual fighting themselves.

-->'''The Punisher:''' Most wiseguys are one part street-smarts to two parts muscle. Enough to terrify the mooks that owe them money, but not much more.

* Ash Williams plays this part throughout much of ''EvilDead 2'' and some of ''ArmyOfDarkness'', but by the end of each film, he's become the catchphrase-tossing, boomstick-toting badass we all know and love.

* Small dogs fit this troop.

* Sir Andrew Aguecheek from {{Shakespeare}}'s ''TwelfthNight''. According to Maria, he loves arguing so much that the only thing saving him from an early grave is the fact that he's a coward. Sir Toby gets a kick out of urging him to write a highly insulting challenge for a duel, then feeding him false information to the effect that his opponent is a skilled and ruthless swordsman. (In reality, his opponent is the local SweetPollyOliver, and Toby is intentionally setting up a WimpFight [[ItAmusedMe for his own amusement]].)

* Sir Prancelott of Scufflewick in ''{{Drakensang}}'' always talks about his wondrous deeds.... except that he's the greatest TedBaxter of Aventuria, his sword skills are useless, he can barely hold his own against a wolf and runs away from some goblins (later claiming that he was taking their attention away from you) and the only time he tries to take on a Linnworm (huge multi-legged reptile), he's knocked unconscious by the beast's breath.

* In ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', Captain Hammer is perfectly happy to beat up nonpowered folks, he's not actually that talented a fighter, continually lets his enemies escape, and once he's actually injured he [[MinorInjuryOverreaction becomes a blubbering mess.]]

* Sir Andrew Aguecheek from {{Shakespeare}}'s ''TwelfthNight''. According to Maria, he loves arguing so much that the only thing saving him from an early grave is the fact that he's a coward. Sir Toby gets a kick out of urging him to write a highly insulting challenge for a duel, then feeding him false information to the effect that his opponent is a skilled and ruthless swordsman. (In reality, his opponent is the local SweetPollyOliver, and Toby is intentionally setting up a WimpFight [[ItAmusedMe for his own amusement]].

Often PlayedForLaughs. If the author likes the character enough, he may pull out a NotSoHarmless[=/=]LetsGetDangerous moment or even [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]].

* In professional wrestling, this is thrown around a lot with heel characters. While how pathetic they actually are varies, almost all heels are cowards to some extent and tend to suffer some mild BadassDecay when they make a FaceHeelTurn. A very common running concept is for a heel to mouth off and boast at a face about how he is going to kick the latter's ass, only to be quickly knocked down or sent running when the face decides they've heard enough. ChrisJericho and TheMiz are key modern examples ([[NotSoHarmless even if they prove to be more than all talk on occasion]]).

* In ''[[WebOriginal/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog]]'', Captain Hammer is perfectly happy to beat up nonpowered folks, he's not actually that talented a fighter, continually lets his enemies escape, and once he's actually injured he [[MinorInjuryOverreaction becomes a blubbering mess.]]

* WebOriginal/TheNostalgiaCritic likes fights and always gets clobbered, but the losing part nearly always makes him just a bit too [[SexIsViolence happy]].

* DaffyDuck, despite being a self proclaimed "craven little coward" has a tendancy for flapping his big beak about his bravado and smarts and trying to place himself in the role of TheAce, usually literally getting in the face of someone way out of his league.

* ''VinlandSaga'' has Ormar, a rebelious punk who only dreams of the battlefield, gets in arguments for nothing and is always takling about the "honour of Nordic warriors". But whenever he has to actually use a sword it's painfully obvious he has no skills whatsoever. When we first see him, he can't even ''unsheathe his sword'' properly.

* Mr. Satan in ''DragonBall'' is actually [[BadassNormal rather strong for a normal human]] but inevitably fails to notice that the monsters he taunts and challenges can disintegrate him effortlessly or destroy planets on a whim. He gets better near the end of the series, though.
* Black☆Star is essentially this at the beginning of ''SoulEater'', constantly boasting ([[NoIndoorVoice very]] [[ChewingTheScenery loudly]]) about his strength and anouncing his strategies out loud, which then leads to his ass getting kicked.
* The Team Rocket in ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' is a trio of this, although Jessie and James use their Pokemons instead of fighting themselves.

* In TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks, this was the role of many a teen sidekick...and, sadly, many [[ValuesDissonance a racist caricature]].

* 'Ol' Cigaret' in ''EmperorOfTheNorth'' is always boasting about how he's the toughest hobo riding the rails, but the real veteran 'A-No. 1' has his number right from the start. At the end of the movie he's so fed up with Cigaret's bragging that he just picks him up bodily and throws him off the train into a lake.

* During the sequence when "Happy" Hogan and [[spoiler: the Black Widow]] infiltrate the villain's hideout in ''[[Film/IronMan Iron Man 2]]'', Happy turns into this due to a severe case of OvershadowedByAwesome.
* Ash Williams plays this part throughout much of ''EvilDead 2'' and some of ''ArmyOfDarkness'', but by the end of each film he's become the catchphrase-tossing, boomstick-toting BadAss we all know and love.

** An even better ''Buffy'' example might be Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, at least before he TookALevelInBadass over on the SpinOff ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Even there, it took some time for him to become as formidable as he initially thought he was.
* In ''LieToMe'', Cal Lightman is thwarted at any bit of assault toward him. He is occasionally battered. He certainly is loud and boisterous, and antagonizes everyone.

* In professional wrestling this is thrown around a lot with heel character, while how pathetic they actually are varies, almost all heels are [[MilesGloriosus "chickenshit"]] to some extent and tend to suffer some mild BadassDecay when they make a FaceHeelTurn. A very common running concept is for a heel to mouth off and boast at a face how he is going to kick the latter's ass, only to be quickly knocked down or sent running when the face decides they've heard enough. Chris Jericho and The Miz are key modern examples ([[NotSoHarmless even if they prove to be more than all talk on occasion]]).
* Small dogs fit this troop. In fact you are more likely to get bitten by a small dog than by a larger one.

* Dan Hibiki from ''StreetFighter'' likes to boast about how strong he is and invite people to learn martial arts from him, but he's actually hilariously incompetent.
* Sir Prancelott of Scufflewick in ''{{Drakensang}}'' looks pretty though and always talks about his wondrous deeds.... except that he's the greatest TedBaxter of Aventuria, his sword skills are useless, he can barely hold his own against a wolf and runs away from some goblins (later claiming that he was taking their attention away from you) and the only time he tries to take on a Linnworm (huge multi-legged reptile) he's knocked unconscious by the beast's breath. In short, he could be easily considered TheScrappy of the game.

* Haruka in the ''MaiHime'' anime, despite being a totally normal, powerless human and totally overwhelmed by the situation, will not let you forget that ''she'' is in command. She doesn't hesitate to face ''tanks and soldiers'' and even provoke a [=HiME=] [[spoiler:[[DyingMomentOfAwesome while her own body is fading away]].]] In her case, these guts are actually what makes a good part of the fandom like her.

Can overlap with FearlessFool, MilesGloriosus,SmallNameBigEgo or SuperLoser. Compare FakeUltimateHero and FeetOfClay, when the character is ''alledged'' to be strong by other people. Contrast GentleGiant. Also contrast the SmugSuper, who will usually have very good reasons to be smug.

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This character is just as loud and doesn't like to be ordered around. But contrary to the BoisterousBruiser… he doesn't really have much to back it up. He is physically (and maybe emotionally) weak but that doesn't stop him from constantly calling out those who glower at him (or so he thinks). Sure he may pick on people weaker than him, but if he happens to realize his opponent can effectively kick his ass, either he will find a lame excuse, or insist and ''get'' his ass kicked. Or both. Don't expect that to make him think twice the next time, though: the BoisterousWeakling shows an astounding inability to acknowledge his own impotence. Even if he tries to bite, he has no fangs. "He" because this character is almost AlwaysMale.

* In ''[[DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog]]'', Captain Hammer is perfectly happy to beat up nonpowered folks, he's not actually that talented a fighter, continually lets his enemies escape, and once he's actually injured he [[MinorInjuryOverreaction becomes a blubbering mess.]]

Can overlap with FearlessFool, MilesGloriosus, or SmallNameBigEgo. Compare FakeUltimateHero and FeetOfClay, when the character is ''alledged'' to be strong by other people. Contrast GentleGiant. Also contrast the SmugSuper, who will usually have very good reasons to be smug.

Often PlayedForLaughs. If the author likes the character enough, he may pull out a NotSoHarmless[=/=] LetsGetDangerous moment or even [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]].

Often PlayedForLaughs. If the author likes the character enough, he may pull out a NotSoHarmless / LestGetDangerous moment or even [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]].

Often PlayedForLaughs. If the author likes the character enough, he may pull out a NotSoHarmless moment or even [[TookALevelInBadass Take A Level In Badass]].

Often PlayedForLaughs. Can overlap with FearlessFool, MilesGloriosus, or SmallNameBigEgo. Compare FakeUltimateHero and FeetOfClay, when the character is ''alledged'' to be strong by other people. Contrast GentleGiant. Also contrast the SmugSuper, who will usually have very good reasons to be smug.

* For a while in ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', this was Xander's role, thanks largely to his becoming OvershadowedByAwesome but still insisting on joining in the battles.
** An even better ''Buffy'' example might be Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, at least before he TookALevelInBadass over on the SpinOff ''{{Angel}}''. Even there, it took some time for him to become as formidable as he initially thought he was.

* In ''{{Mother 3}}'', the Mole Crickets are [[GangOfHats an entire species]] of this, at least until their champion is defeated with ease by the protagonist.

* The Team Rocket in ''{{Pokemon}}'' is a trio of this, although Jessie and James use their Pokemons instead of fighting themselves.

* Black☆Star is essentially this at the beginning of SoulEater, constantly boasting ([[NoIndoorVoice very]] [[ChewingTheScenery loudly]]) about his strength and anouncing his strategies out loud, which then leads to his ass getting kicked.

* ''VinlandSaga'' has Ormar, a rebelious punk who only dreams of the battlefield, gets in arguments for nothing and is always takling about the "honour of Nordic warriors". But whenever he has to actually use a sword it's painfully obvious he has no skills whatsoever. When we first see him, he can't even ''unsheathe his sword'' properly.

Usually PlayedForLaughs. Can overlap with FearlessFool, MilesGloriosus, or SmallNameBigEgo. Compare FakeUltimateHero and FeetOfClay, when the character is ''alledged'' to be strong by other people. Contrast GentleGiant. Also contrast the SmugSuper, who will usually have very good reasons to be smug.