History Main / ComMons

* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': Lamball, Chikipi and Cattiva are the Pals who greet you in the game's opening cutscene, and they're fittingly among the first and most common Pals who can be encountered in the wild. The [[MonsterCompendium Paldex]] entries for the former two Pals {{Lampshade}} the trope by mentioning how they're at the bottom of the food chain.

** In caves, chances are, you'll be running into [[GoddamnedBats Zubat]] and Geodude, which can be caught early on in almost all generations (excluding ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'') and ''continue'' to show up in every single cave you enter throughout the game. At least they have fairly strong evolved forms in Crobat and Golem to look forward to. In ''Black and White'', their equivalents are Woobat and Roggenrola.

* Franchise/GundamExpandedUniverse games such as ''VideoGame/GundamBreaker'' or ''VideoGame/MobileSuitGundamBattleOperation2'' with a gacha/rank system will often put MookMobile units (usually called "grunt suits") in the common or one-star drop pool. This makes them very easy for new players to get early and train on, but also means they're often fairly weak as well and CantCatchUp to more powerful units, even when modified. Common sufferers include the GM and the Zaku, though occasionally variants in their family tree can become worthy contenders (and are always moved out of the common tier and into a rarer tier to compensate for this). ''Battle Operation 2'' allows them to remain relevant by permitting users to launch custom matches featuring low cost units.

** Slimes do have a few things going for them -- First, in every ''Dragon Quest Monsters'' game, you can breed a King slime using basic slimes and a ''lot'' of patience; King slimes tend to be pretty powerful (they are basically given skills similar to the main series' heroes -- lightning, healing, revive, etc). Slimes themselves make good mates for other monsters -- in the original two games, Slime + anything meant a special kind of Slime, like Wingslime, Rockslime, Drakslime, all of which tended to be somewhat useful. But the thing slimes ''really'' had going for them is that, if you leveled them up enough, they learn [[EarthShatteringKaboom Ma]][[EnergyBall n]][[GameBreaker da]][[KamehameHadoken n]][[KiManipulation te]] -- Megamagic in the US version, a spell that uses up all your {{Mana}} at once to hit the enemy with a ''huge'' blast.
*** Two slimes plus total + level (That's deliberate.) of 5 or more = King Slime. Damn, DQM took HSOWA to bizarre levels.
*** In Joker 2, this is actually lampshaded. Breeding 2 slimes of a certain level will result in a Stronger slime, while breeding together 2 stronger slimes of a certain level will result in a Strongest slime.

** In caves, chances are, you'll be running into [[GoddamnedBats Zubat]] and Geodude, which can be caught early on in almost all generations (excluding ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'') and ''continue'' to show up in every single cave you enter throughout the game. In ''Black and White'', their equivalents are Woobat and Roggenrola.
** In the early game forests, you're likely going to run into the various Bug types throughout the series, Pokémon like Caterpie, Weedle, and the various Pokémon based on them as well, like Wurmple, Grubbin, and Blipbug. They usually evolve very quickly, but like the various early game Normal, Flying, and Dark types, [[CrutchCharacter they'll fall off just as quickly as well]]. There are some exceptions though, such as Beedrill acquiring a Mega Evolution in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'', or Vikavolt, which evolves from Charjabug pretty late but has formidable Special Attack.
** Tentacool and Goldeen run rampant in the water when you Surf around, but they have tough evolved forms to look forward to- if given the right moves.

** Wiglet is found on just about every beach in Paldea in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet''. It evolves into Wugtrio, which has a high speed stat, an above average attack stat, and an absolutely pitiful ''everything else''. Its move pool isn't much better, its primary STAB until the mid-50s being Triple Dive[[note]]30 Power, hits exactly 3 times, and has a 5% chance to ''miss''[[/note]].

%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: [crowner link] [=%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13350380440A15238800&page=558#comment-13929=]

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* For some paleontologists, some types of fossils become this; one example is the Gobi Desert, which is rich with dinosaur bones but fossil enthusiasts who expect to find rare dinosaurs will be disappointed by the ubiquitous amount of ''Protoceratops'' bones that litter the area.
* City-dwelling birds such as pigeons, gulls, and crows are treated as this by birdwatchers both because of how ubiquitous they are and because they have [[WhatMeasureIsANonCute duller appearances and less pleasant cries]] than the more popular and sought after birds.
* In Eastern American fishing, bluegills are aggressive predators that lack a preference for bait, making them one of the most common species to be caught in these waters. This can be an annoyance to fishermen seeking out a different fish such as trout or bass, as bluegills steal the bait intended for these species.
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* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'': Any ''shikigami'' whose rarity is R or N. Ns can only be summoned using low-quality talismans specifically meant for them, but Rs can be summoned by all types of talismans, so expect Rs to pop up very frequently, disappointing a lot of fans who pay real money to buy high-quality talismans. That said, many of the Rs become very popular due to their useful skills despite their low rarity.

** Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow are so common that a lot of Pokémon in future generations are [[{{Expy}} based on them]]. This includes the likes of Hoothoot, Sentret, Poochyena, Taillow, Zigzagoon, Starly, Bidoof, Patrat, Purrloin, Lillipup, Pidove, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Pikipek, Yungoos, Skwovet, Rookidee, Lechonk, Squawkabilly and Wattrel. As the generations went on, some of these Pokémon have appeared at the same time as others, like (Alolan) Rattata and Yungoos both being the Com Mons of Alola, (Galarian) Zigzagoon and Skwovet both being the Com Mons of Galar or having regular Rattata appear in ''Black 2 and White 2'' alongside the Unova region's native ComMon, Patrat. In general, most of these Com Mons end up being [[CrutchCharacter useful for a bit]] but fall off quickly, and some of them can be helpful for using [=HMs=] in games that have them. Some of them are capable of being helpful throughout the entire game though like Staraptor, Stoutland, Talonflame, Corviknight, Obstagoon and Kilowattrel.

** Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow are so common that a lot of Pokémon in future generations are [[{{Expy}} based on them]]. This includes the likes of Hoothoot, Sentret, Poochyena, Taillow, Zigzagoon, Starly, Bidoof, Patrat, Purrloin, Lillipup, Pidove, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Pikipek, Yungoos, Skwovet, Rookidee, Lechonk, Squawkabilly and Wattrel. As the generations went on, some of these Pokémon have appeared at the same time as others, like (Alolan) Rattata and Yungoos both being the ComMons of Alola, (Galarian) Zigzagoon and Skwovet both being the ComMons of Galar or having regular Rattata appear in ''Black 2 and White 2'' alongside the Unova region's native ComMon, Patrat. In general, most of these ComMons end up being [[CrutchCharacter useful for a bit]] but fall off quickly, and some of them can be helpful for using [=HMs=] in games that have them. Some of them are capable of being helpful throughout the entire game though like Staraptor, Stoutland, Talonflame, Corviknight, Obstagoon and Kilowattrel.

** This is brought back in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', where players begin with a one-star and two-star set of cards, and have to build their way up from there. This usually involves acquiring a host of 3* or higher cards, from [=NPCs=] who are [[RandomlyDrops all too happy]] to simply drop 1* and 2* variants... and a player cannot put more than one 3* or higher card into a deck before they have enough total cards. This is now a DownplayedTrope, however, as acquisition of most of those cards has been made much easier than it used to be. On the other and gripping hands, the number of players with a [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud Strife]] or [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Lightning]] card is pretty low, and unlike in ''FFVIII'', players can't ''lose'' cards, so ComMons are frequently accumulated and immediately sold for dosh.

** Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow are so common that a lot of Pokémon in future generations are [[{{Expy}} based on them]]. This includes the likes of Hoothoot, Sentret, Poochyena, Taillow, Zigzagoon, Starly, Bidoof, Patrat, Purrloin, Lillipup, Pidove, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Pikipek, Yungoos, Skwovet, Rookidee, Lechonk, Squawkabilly and Wattrel. As the generations went on, some of these Pokémon have appeared at the same time as others, like (Alolan) Rattata and Yungoos both being the ComMons of Alola, or having regular Rattata appear in ''Black 2 and White 2'' alongside stuff like Patrat. In general, most of these ComMons end up being [[CrutchCharacter useful for a bit]] but fall off quickly, and some of them can be helpful for using [=HMs=] in games that have them. Some of them are capable of being helpful throughout the entire game though like Staraptor, Stoutland, Talonflame, Corviknight, and Kilowattrel.

** Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow are so common that a lot of Pokémon in future generations are [[{{Expy}} based on them]]. This includes the likes of Hoothoot, Sentret, Poochyena, Taillow, Zigzagoon, Starly, Bidoof, Patrat, Purrloin, Lillipup, Pidove, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Pikipek, Yungoos, Skwovet and Rookidee. As the generations went on, some of these Pokémon have appeared at the same time as others, like (Alolan) Rattata and Yungoos both being the ComMons of Alola, or having regular Rattata appear in ''Black 2 and White 2'' alongside stuff like Patrat. In general, most of these ComMons end up being [[CrutchCharacter useful for a bit]] but fall off quickly, and some of them can be helpful for using [=HMs=] in games that have them. Some of them are capable of being helpful throughout the entire game though like Staraptor, Stoutland, Talonflame, and Corviknight.

Contrast OlympusMons, which are very rare and very powerful.

** Casual players often forget/don't realize that much of a set is designed to have fair and fun "limited" tournaments (the varieties of play in which you open new packs and build decks out of those cards only). Tournament players, in turn, often forget that much of a set is designed for casual play. Thus, a lot of cards get accused of being "useless" that really aren't, they're just for a different audience. Of course, there is still the occasional complete trash - but usually it's no more than 1 or 2 cards in a 200-card set, and like good and evil, good cards cannot exist without bad cards to compare them against. Of course, I speak of MODERN Magic. Go back to the mid-90's and there's all kinds of terrible ComMons, such as the aforementioned Squire.

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' provides reams of monsters which even type specialists won't go near. One wonders why they bother wasting the paper. In particular, Normal Monsters are generally ignored unless they have notable stats (which keep creeping upward), and tribute monsters usually require some kind of great effect to be worth it.

The {{Mon}}/card for beginners. Common, that is. In VideoGames, they show up early in large quantities, but quickly grow useless - unless some MagikarpPower is applied. Then with time and care, you can make some pretty powerful fighters out of them. In trading cards, the cards that are only good for tinder.

* Early on, the Creator/{{Fox}} Broadcasting Company was frequently forced onto these types of TV stations-- second-rate independent stations that often had hilariously high channel numbers in the UHF band, making reception difficult (hence the "Fox network viewing positions" joke in ''Series/MarriedWithChildren''); often times, they'd had to go with the stations they had because longer-established, better known stations had turned Fox's affiliation offers down (since at the time Fox was tiny and was largely seen as going down the drain like the numerous other attempts at a fourth television network; in some cases, the stations they went after first were regional superstations and having network programming might've meant cable systems would drop them from their lineups). When Fox nabbed the rights to the NFL from Creator/{{CBS}} they knew football fans wouldn't be pleased with this situation, and thus they struck a deal with New World Communications for their stations (which were mostly CBS affils in NFC markets) to switch to Fox, which in turn spawned a massive DisasterDominoes situation across the entire industry (see that page for more).
** In turn, Creator/TheWB and Creator/{{UPN}} would ''also'' be forced onto these types of stations, and in the WB's case, via cable-exclusive stations (an approach also taken by Creator/TheCW, though they've largely moved from cable to OTA subchannels). Creator/IonTelevision still has this problem, as the majority of its' stations were mostly home shopping and infomercials before Ion's predecessor Pax TV began in 1998.

[[caption-width-right:339:You can only see the GoddamnedBats so many times.]]

* Early in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', you're given an assortment of weak pins describing a wide swath of the game's gestures and damage types. If you try to sell one, you're told it's "more valuable than all the yen in the world". (The real reason, of course, is that having no pins [[{{UnwinnableByInsanity}} makes it almost impossible to win battles to get more]].)

** Rattata, Pidgey and Spearow, as well as [[{{Expy}} all the others based on them.]] (Yes, Hoothoot, Sentret, Poochyena, Taillow, Zigzagoon, Starly, Bidoof, Patrat, Purrloin, Lillipup, Pidove, Bunnelby, Fletchling, Pikipek, Yungoos, Skwovet and Rookidee, we mean ''you.'') Also [[GoddamnedBats Zubat]] and Geodude, which can be caught early on in all generations (excluding ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'') and ''continue'' to show up in every single cave you enter throughout the game.
** Tentacool and Goldeen run rampant in the water when you Surf around, but they have tough evolved forms to look forward to- if given the right moves.
** Yungoos becomes this in ''Videogame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' during the daytime. Rattata appears at night in its place.
** Pidgey will eventually evolve into a Pidgeot, i.e. the most mediocre bird Pokémon alive. Though it is a MemeticBadass thanks to ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemon''. Pidgeot also gained a [[SuperMode mega evolution]] in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'', gaining a substantial Sp. Atk boost along with the Ability No Guard to abuse STAB Hurricane and Heat Wave.
** On the subject of ''Black'' and ''White'', Roggenrola (and its evolution, Boldore) and Woobat are pretty much Unova's equivalent of Geodude (or Graveler in Boldore's case) and Zubat, respectively. Woobat is really not as common but the fact that its name rhymes with Zubat makes the counterpart status obvious.
** ''Black and White'' have Audino. It fills the same slot as Chansey/Blissey did in previous generations, being a tank and healer with simply ''absurd'' defense - and it appears in rustling grass on almost every route. However, it has a limited number of offensive moves, its Attack and Sp. Attack are horrible, and it gives out a ton of EXP, making it very good for grinding.
** Bibarel, the evolved form of Bidoof, is extremely versatile with its field moves. Smashing or pushing rocks, slicing trees, even surfing around and climbing up waterfalls. You can cover all your field needs with two of them plus a Staraptor, and all field (except one) moves have STAB on either Bibarel or Staraptor, making them decent hitters too.
** Staraptor, the fully evolved Starly, is a DiscOneNuke that just keeps nuking. It can learn two flying type field moves with STAB, a fighting type move that covers its feathered ass, and is generally very versatile.
** Unlike all the Normal/Flying types that came before it, Fletchling evolves into the Fire/Flying type Talonflame, which learns powerful flying- and fire-type attacks in Brave Bird and Flare Blitz.
** Rookidee is a pure-Flying type, unlike the rest of the early-game bird which were Normal/Flying. It eventually evolves into the Flying/Steel Corviknight, a StoneWall with decent attack with a ton of useful resistances and only two weaknesses.
** However, almost all of these Pokémon will stay as useful party members for a long time if you train them up. On the other hand, many Bug-types like Caterpie, Weedle, and their various [[{{Expy}} Expies]] can also be caught very early on and evolve quickly (they reach their final evolution at level 10. Your starter generally won't get there until level '''36'''). But they are just as quickly out-paced in terms of stat growth and movesets by other Pokémon, so many players will just pass them up entirely. However, they do have their benefits in Pokémon contests.
*** Except Weedle, anyway, whose final form Beedrill received a [[SuperMode Mega Evolution]] in ''Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire'' which turns it into a GlassCannon, emphasis on both the 'glass' and the 'cannon'.
** And definitely [[MagikarpPower Magikarp]], at least until it evolves. And if you try to have a day care raise it, by level 43, it learns only ''two'' new moves (meaning ''Splash'' is ''still'' in the moveset)- Tackle and Flail- which pale in comparison to Gyarados's Waterfall or Giga Impact.
*** As some sort of RunningGag, most games include an [[SuicidalOverconfidence overconfident fisherman]] with an [[CripplingOverspecialization all-Magikarp team]]. It's referenced in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', where a fisherman in a later water route has a team of one Magikarp— [[OhCrap and five Gyarados.]]
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', the regional Dex is so frigging huge that there are almost no Pokémon that can truly be considered ComMons (or too many of them). Bunnelby is the closest thing to this, but its line is only found on ''four'' routes out of twenty-two, all early in the game. Basically, if a single species appears in more than two locations, it's still relatively common.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' continues the tradition with Yungoos and Pikipek. However Yungoos' evolution Gumshoos appears as a Totem Pokemon in Sun version and Toucannon, Pikipek's final form is a useful team member.
*** Their Dex entries hang a bit of a lampshade on the whole thing: in Alola, Rattata are legitimately considered an invasive species, and Yungoos was imported from another country to try to stop their spread. End result: Alolan Rattata are now nocturnal, and the islands have ''two'' bunches of ComMons being a pain. [[ShownTheirWork This is a reference to actual Pacific fauna history]]: small Asian mongooses were introduced into Hawaii and Indonesia to get rid of rats in sugarcane plantations, but became an invasive species themselves.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'', the [[TheGoomba Mettaurs]] appear in every game, and in every single one they drop a Guard/Reflect chip. While they serve a purpose as an early defensive chip, they get obsoleted very quickly as the shockwave they release is too slow to deal consistent damage. Since Mettaurs appear nearly everywhere, you're bound to have an abundance of Guard chips. Lampshaded at least twice - in the second game, when in a foreign country, a kid asks you to get him a Guard * , because they're super rare there. However, all your spare chips have been stolen; if you don't have one in your folder, you can talk to a tourist from your country, who gives you 30 Guard * chips! If you talk to her again, she says: "No need to thank me, I still have over 1000 'Guard *' chips".