History Main / FakeUltimateMook

** For example, [[http://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Zushin_the_Sleeping_Giant Zushin the Sleeping Giant.]] could NoSell anything you try and throw at it, and stronger than anything you try and fight it with... and a summoning requirement that is all but impossible to achieve. You have to wait ten turns for each side, while protecting one of the weakest monsters in the game. It's rare for a modern competitive game to even last 5-10, much less 20, turns. Multiple copies can speed it along, but it still takes a small miracle for a mediocre effect. Furthermore, protecting that level one monster is incredibly difficult, and even if you manage to protect it? A single Kaiju can remove Zushin from the field.

* Raditz from ''Manga/{{Dragon Ball}}'' is a retroactive example. Despite claiming that he is an elite warrior, the reality is that he is only slightly stronger than a Saibaman, and some random warriors laughed at a power of 1,000.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' has the Mega Scarecrow. It is very large, has great health, and is second only to [[BossInMookClothing Fausts]] in potential damage output but attacks slowly and is very susceptible to flinching when attacked.

* The giant monsters in world 4 of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' definitely qualify. Though they tower over the pint-sized Mario, Giant [[TheGoomba Goombas]] still die after jumping on them just once.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' features Kamikaze Koopas, which are created when a yellow Beach Koopa jumps into a shell. They look like they should be very dangerous, flashing in many colours and moving across the ground at high speed towards Mario, but a single spin jump will do them in. They go from "mostly harmless" to "HelpfulMook" if you have Yoshi, who can swallow them and gain the powers of all three special Koopa colours at once.
* ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has the Mega Koopa, a UniqueEnemy which shows up in the first level of world 3. It's a giant [[{{Retraux}} 8-bit Koopa Troopa]] formed from a regular Koopa picking up a [[InvincibilityPowerUp Mega Star]] It's by far the biggest regular enemy in the game, but not only it is not invincible, but it's actually ''weaker'' than a normal Koopa in terms of stats, and there's a Mega Star of your own a short distance away to give the Koopa a taste of its own medicine.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' featered Slaking as the Gym Leader Norman's strongest Pokémon. While this seem reasonable due to its high stats and good move pool, its ability Truant prevents it from being a threat because it forces Slaking to do nothing every other turn.

* In certain ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games (''[[VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad Squeak Squad]]'' and ''''[[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazing Mirror Amazing Mirror]]'', to be specific), there are giant versions of the Waddle Dees. The only way they're more powerful than their smaller kin? You need to hold the inhale button for a second or two to build up enough power to eat one. Oh, and they take slightly more damage to kill any other way--including simply running into them and taking the hit.

* In certain ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games (''Squeak Squad'' and ''Amazing Mirror'', to be specific), there are giant versions of the Waddle Dees. The only way they're more powerful than their smaller kin? You need to hold the inhale button for a second or two to build up enough power to eat one. Oh, and they take slightly more damage to kill any other way--including simply running into them and taking the hit.

** The fake Kraid in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''. Kraid was the hardest boss in the first Metroid, in Super there is an enemy that looks just like him but isn't challenging at all and goes down in a single Super Missile. Even the proper boss in that game is a warm up boss.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'':
** One of the first levels of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' has a [[GiantMook Giant Goomba]] that goes down with one SpinAttack.
** The giant monsters in world 4 of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' definitely qualify. Though they tower over the pint-sized Mario, Giant [[TheGoomba Goombas]] still die after jumping on them just once.
** A certain Koopa in stage 3-1 of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', upon seeing you, will hit a block and grab the [[InvincibilityPowerUp Mega Star]] it produces to become a screen-filling 8-bit version of itself. Not only it is not invincible, but it's actually ''weaker'' then a normal Koopa statistically.

* ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has the Mega Koopa, a UniqueEnemy which shows up in the first level of world 3. It's a giant [[{{Retraux}} 8-bit Koopa Troopa]] formed from a regular Koopa picking up a Mega Star, It's by far the biggest regular enemy in the game, but it's deceptively weak in terms of stats, and there's a Mega Star of your own a short distance away to give the Koopa a taste of its own medicine.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has a kind of early-game enemy called Slavens, which are described as being "beasts of burden gone feral" that are twice as tall as your characters, but that are barely any more dangerous than the wolves or bats from the areas they show up in.
** The [[SandWorm Sandworms]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' are a perfect example, having more HP then all of the bosses fought previously, completely dwarfing almost every enemy in size, and possessing rather high attack power. However, they have a crippling weakness to sleep and [[PercentDamageAttack gravity]], which makes them easy to deal with.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' has its share of examples.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', it's become possible to, on rare occasions, encounter the fully evolved forms of the "pseudo-legendary" Pokemon lines (Called such for having strength comparable to the weaker legendary Pokemon) in areas where their pre-evolutions can be found (Dragonite, Tyranitar, and Metagross in Black/White, Hydreigon in X/Y, and Kommo-o in the Gen VII games). While they're normally frightful opponents when in the possession of trainers, in the wild, they're anything but, due to their relatively lacking movesets, and--in case of each one other than Metagross--a capture rate that's actually ''higher'' than that of some significantly more common Pokemon, which makes snagging them on the first turn with a Quick Ball a fairly likely occurrence.

* The first midboss of any ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' game, the Shrine Tank of ''Story of the Eastern Wonderland'' is one of the physically largest bosses in the series, but also one of the ''[[TanksForNothing weakest]]''. Its only attack is a simple to dodge bullet spray and it has no more health than a sunflower fairy from the later games.

* Anbu from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. When they actually get into a fight, they're degraded to mook status, those formerly badass masks now cementing their status as CannonFodder.

** Creatures also have the built-in disadvantage of being killable. Most creatures, whether they cost 1 mana or 9, can be killed with a removal spell that only costs 2 or 3 mana. This is why the most successful creatures in "Magic" are either relatively cheap, resistant to removal, or have an impact on the board even if they're killed right away.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' featered Slaking as the Gym Leader Norman strongest Pokémon. While this seem reasonable due to its high stats and good move pool, its ability Truant prevents it from being a threat because it forces Slaking to do nothing every other turn.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' has the Combine Elite, the [[InformedAbility supposedly]] EliteMooks of The Combine Overwatch. While initially built up and looking to be far tougher than the regular Overwatch soldiers, in actual combat, they go down in nearly same number of hits as their regular counterparts do,[[note]]Overwatch soldiers have 50 hit points, Elites have 70; this is a difference of two Pulse Rifle rounds.[[/note]] with their major difference being that they carry better guns.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and onwards, we have, of all things, an [[OlympusMons Olympus Mon]] fall victim to this trope. Specifically, Regigigas. It has an imposing appearance, tower over even its own three creations, Regirock, Regice and Registeel, which are OlympusMons in their own right, and its stats are excellent all around, with only Special Attack (which it doesn't use anyway) being below base 100. There's just one little catch, that being Regigigas' ability, [[BlessedWithSuck Slow Start]]. This [[SarcasmMode handy]] ability halves Regigigas' Attack and Speed for 5 turns after it enters the field (And yes, it does restart if Regigigas is switched out, which is also extremely problematic). This on its own wouldn't be an unmanageable problem, but Regigigas also didn't get Protect or Rest, two moves which almost every Pokemon get which would GREATLY help Regigigas by allowing it to stall out the timer on Slow Start while keeping itself healthy, until Sword and Shield. Before then, it had to rely on Confusing and Paralyzing the enemy with Confuse Ray and Thunder Wave respectively. Needless to say, Slow Start nerfed Regigigas by far too much, and instead of the DifficultButAwesome fighter that the Devs had intended for it to be, it instead became AwesomeButImpractical: Slow Start just cripples it way too much.

** The [[BossInMookClothing Omnicrone]] you face in the dungeon is a strange case of this. While he ''is'' a genuine threat, being an enemy from much later in the game who should be able to mop the floor with the comparably low-level Crono, it turns out he's just too damned cowardly and lazy to fight and [[VillainExitStageLeft takes off]] after taking a good two or three hits:
--> "They don't pay me enough for this."

** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' has a player-induced version of this in Slaking. Due to its massive stats, it has one of the highest CP ratings in the game, and is thus commonly placed in Gyms to inflate their height and attempt to scare off players who aren't aware of its crippling drawback: its fast move deals zero damage and it is entirely reliant on charge moves. In practice, its damage per second is much lower than other Pokemon, and thus it can be taken out fairly easily. This is an adaptation of its ability in the main games, where Truant prevents it from attacking every other turn.

** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight Symphony of the Night]]'' opens up with the castle entrance, with the first enemies being giant wolves (the Wargs) that are twice the size of Alucard. However, because this is ATasteOfPower segment, you kill them all in one hit. Stronger varieties appear much later on, but they're not much of a threat. ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Dawn Of Sorrow]]'' also features them, and they are no stronger than the common axe armours they appear with.

[[caption-width-right:350: And this is why it pays to have a Metal Coat.]]

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and onwards, we have, of all things, an [[OlympusMons Olympus Mon]] fall victim to this trope. Specifically, Regigigas. It has an imposing appearance, tower over even its own three creations, Regirock, Regice and Registeel, which are OlympusMons in their own right, and its stats are excellent all around, with only Special Attack (which it doesn't use anyway) being below base 100. There's just one [[{{Understatement}} little]] catch, that being Regigigas' ability, [[BlessedWithSuck Slow Start]]. This [[SarcasmMode handy]] ability halves Regigigas' Attack and Speed for 5 turns after it enters the field (And yes, it does restart if Regigigas is switched out, which is also extremely problematic). This on its own wouldn't be an unmanageable problem, but Regigigas also didn't get Protect or Rest, two moves which almost every Pokemon get which would GREATLY help Regigigas by allowing it to stall out the timer on Slow Start while keeping itself healthy, until Sword and Shield. Before then, it had to rely on Confusing and Paralyzing the enemy with Confuse Ray and Thunder Wave respectively. Needless to say, Slow Start nerfed Regigigas by far too much, and instead of the DifficultButAwesome fighter that the Devs had intended for it to be, it instead became AwesomeButImpractical: Slow Start just cripples it way too much.

* The Hunters in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' look like they're all that, but thanks to an infamous programming mistakes, they go down in one hit to any orange area with a [[BoomHeadshot headshot weapon]], which they are oh so eager to expose[[note]]Notably, Hunters' status as this is ''canon''; in ''Halo: The Flood'', a novelization of the first game, Chief ''still'' kills them with just one pistol shot each.[[/note]]. However, this mistake was removed in every subsequent ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' game, and they are now [[BossInMookClothing considerably harder]] to kill. That said, if your reflexes are good enough, it was still possible to [[AchillesHeel get close and just keep punching its back]] (though you'll also have keep on dodging its retaliatory melee attacks); however, they always travel in pairs, and often play fire support to other Covenant forces - precluding slow methods of killing them [[CherryTapping until you've almost won anyway]]. Additionally, even the "whack the back" tactic is almost impossible in ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians''; the Hunters now have ''much'' faster melee attacks and can turn on a dime, meaning that even if you can somehow get directly behind one, it'll turn around and put the hurt on you before you can even react.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', the Cyclops really are huge, but do quite a bit less damage than you'd expect, owing to their strong stats being [[PinataEnemy HP and Defense,]] with Strength being an afterthought. Factor in their low resistance, vulnerability to a [[InfinityPlusOneSword Sacred Twin]] weapon, and being locked to the already-mediocre axe weapon type, and they go down like a bag of rocks.
* In most ''Franchise/StarWars'' games, the Star Destroyer is a classic one, but ''VideoGame/StarWarsRebellion'' is by far the most glaring example. An Alliance Escort Carrier armed with five squadrons of X-wings and one of Y-wings can take out nearly any Star Destroyer TheEmpire throws at you until he gets the [=TIE=] Defenders and ''Executor''-class Super Saxton Star Dreadbringers.
%%** Was actually quite a balance issue: The Imperials get far more powerful ships to start with, but they're vulnerable to much cheaper hardware that the rebels can mass produce in a hurry. Two Nebulon-B Frigates or a few squads of Y-Wings can trash a Star Destroyer, and the unshielded TIE fighters and Interceptors aren't a huge help. This was one of two things that heavily disadvantaged the Empire in a HQ victory game: if the rebels got lucky and started with a strong enough fleet, they could take Coruscant ''almost immediately'' and there was very little the Imperial player could do about it.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', the Cyclopi are really huge, but do quite a bit less damage than you'd expect... and to add insult to injury, their attacks are easily evaded. Add their low resistance or vulnerability to a [[InfinityPlusOneSword Sacred Twin]] weapon, and they go down like rocks. The fact that they can only use axes also means that they're easy prey for a sword user, especially a Swordmaster with over 30% crit. (Oh, and if you thought they had trouble hitting most of your units, just wait until you send a sword-user at them.) The fact that they use axes also contributes to that whole "easily evaded attacks" thing, as axes are the strongest, but heaviest and least accurate (physical) weapons in the game. [[note]]The hierarchy of power/accuracy for the physical weapons goes in order from axes to lances to bows to swords, with swords being the weakest but lightest and most accurate.[[/note]] Too bad for the Cyclopi that the power of axes is insufficient to compensate for their surprisingly low Strength... though they do have high Constitution, so it's not like even the bigger axes slow them down much. (But they're already plenty slow and inaccurate without being weighed down by their weapons.) Cyclopi do tend to have huge amounts of HP to compensate for their somewhat low defenses, meaning it's possible for them to survive most hits, even from the Sacred Twins on occasion... Though it still won't take more than two rounds, tops, for them to go down, and they still won't be doing much damage to your units in the meantime.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' had the Mega Scarecrow. It was very large and had great health, but was also to slow to ever land an attack unless you were careless.

* [[http://www.shmups.com/reviews/dogyuun/images/dogy0005.png This big dude]] is the first MiniBoss of ''VideoGame/{{Dogyuun}}'' who appears right after the very first wave of enemies. It fires spreads of shots, spawns smaller Mooks, fires huge rockets ...and drops very quickly. The MiniBoss after that two smaller red things that circle the area and fire spreads) is considerably tougher.

** Most hero units and bosses are crippingly weak to [[ZergRush being rushed with large amounts of weak units]]. In the expansion, this is countered somewhat with the ability to do splash damage or attack multiple enemies.

** The boss monsters in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' partially qualify. While they are definitely powerful, their size (3x3 squares) and the fact they can't move makes them drop pretty fast. Especially if a good number of clanmembers have Counter and get an extra hit in everytime the boss uses a bigger attack.

** The Ace Trainers in the Petalburg City gym in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' each used a fully evolved pokemon along and use a battle item to power them up. But because they waste their first turn boosting their pokemon, players get a free turn to boost their own or simply attack, either of which puts the player at a significant advantage.

* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' has Wasters, the Necromorphs of the polar explorers that have been frozen long ago and [[DualWielding dual-wield]] ice picks. Not only is their ice-pick attack little more dangerous than attacks of regular Slashers, but they can be pulled from their hands with Stasis, then sent straight back destroying their upper body. Doing this does turn them in a more mobile monster, whose intestines form three CombatTentacles. However, the transformation time is long enough to allow dismemberment before this form ever gets to attack.

* The Los Angeles Clippers ever since leaving their DorkAge fit this trope to a tee: Every year, they are hyped to be contenders for the Western Conference Finals. In 2006 and 2015, they were one game away from making their first appearance in the Conference finals and lost both times.

* In NCAA football, Clemson was the shining example of this. They regularly pull out Top 25 recruiting classes, but their ACC Championship in 2011 is only their first since 1991.
* Basketball wise, Northwestern. As of the end of the 2014-15 season, they are still the only Power 5 [[note]] These conferences include the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, and the Southeastern Conference.[[/note]] conference team to not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Even when accounting for prominent non-P5 conferences such as the American Athletic, Atlantic 10, Big East, Conference USA, Mid-American [[note]]Buffalo left the non-tournament club in 2015.[[/note]] Missouri Valley, and the West Coast, the Wildcats are still the only ones without a Tournament appearance.

* Arguably, the Tallboys from {{VideoGame/Dishonored}}. Extremely imposing, incredibly powerful, and able to be taken down in one shot from a stealth kill, or shot from behind.