History Main / FakeUltimateMook

** Onix, the former TropeNamer, can usually be fought and captured early on in the games. Though they're towering snakes made out of stone, they have low stats in everything but its Defense[[note]]and, to a lesser extent, Speed, which is only relevant to the extent that one Pokémon is faster than another - the actual difference doesn't matter[[/note]]. Even worse, its special defense is absolutely ''horrible'' and being a Rock/Ground-type, granting poor Onix [[ElementalRockPaperScissors crippling weaknesses to two common elements]]; a Grass- or Water-Type attack will usually take it down in one hit unless Onix has Sturdy (which didn't even protect Onix from being knocked out in one hit by regular moves until Gen V). Brock's Onix, in particular, was a particularly glaring example in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the first generation]]. Level 14, stats just high enough to make it a challenging fight... but a Pidgey spamming Sand Attack can make all that negligible due to the fact that its only offensive moves are Tackle and Bide.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' introduces an {{Olympus Mon|s}} called Regigigas, which has an imposing appearance and excellent stats all around, with only Special Attack (which it doesn't use anyway) being below base 100. Unfortunately, it's crippled by [[BlessedWithSuck Slow Start]], an ability that halves its Attack and Speed for 5 turns whenever it enters the field. Even worse, Regigigas is unable to learn near-universal defensive attacks like Protect or Rest in every game before ''Sword and Shield''. As such, what is presented as a powerful legendary Pokémon is in fact one of the most useless ones ever programmed.

[[folder:Card Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'':
** Anything really big has AwesomeButImpractical written all over it, though this just makes for players to find ways to cheat it into play. (AnimateDead is popular.)
** Mana cost aside, there are a lot of ways of having a creature turn into this. Many potentially powerful creatures are ruined by drawbacks like echo (pay their casting cost again on the turn after you play them or sacrifice them), cumulative upkeep (pay an increasing cost every turn or sacrifice them), and many, many more.
** 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.
** There are also creatures that have intimidating-looking ''art'' but are subpar in terms of stats. [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129591 Hill Giant]] is a good example.
* In ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'', many cards that appear to be decent mooks require either too many resources to be practical or have major weaknesses that any competitive deck can exploit.
** 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 [[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Kaiju Kaiju]] can remove Zushin from the field.
[[/folder]]

* ''Webcomic/DuelingAnalogs'' has [[http://www.duelinganalogs.com/comic/2010/03/04/suck-my-brock/ this strip]] showing the truth behind Brock's weak Onix.

* The Antlion in ''[[VideoGame/MagicalVacation Magical Starsign]]''. It takes up both DS screens, but it's weak to one of your first party members' magic and goes down quickly. It's only level 2, according to the game's Bestiary.

* ''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]] and use the same weapons and AI, with their major difference being that they can use their rifles' secondary fire (essentially a dark energy grenade launcher) while regular troops can't.

** ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' had rebalanced Badass Psychos and made them enemies to be feared. However, it fell into the same trap with the Crystalisks. While they had very large health, they were also slow, easy to hit, and their projectiles both had both low speed and were widely telegraphed.

** ''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/AdventureQuest'': In "Zorbak's Evil Mistake!", some Ebil Scythes bring the player character's HPTo1. As the player is in [[DontGoInTheWoods Darkovia]], finding any place to heal would be unlikely. Then the player encounters a level 130 Soul Banisher... that he or she beats in one hit.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': the sleeping [[BearsAreBadNews bear]] found near the end of the escape from Helgen, the tutorial level. Your companion will hype up the beast as a powerful enemy and suggest you either sneak by or attempt to snipe it from afar with a bow. However, you can easily take the bear head-on, and tear it apart just as easily as any other Mook in this level. This is a particularly treacherous example, as all Skyrim bears '''but''' this tutorial one are indeed DemonicSpiders, with a lot of health and hard-hitting attacks that will do a number on an inexperienced adventurer. So if you mess around with a bear in the wilds expecting it to fold like a house of cards, you will get horrifically mauled.

** With the development of circle-strafing and mouse-aiming, even the mighty Cyberdemon has become this, at least in the original ''Doom''. Later games based on the engine (i.e. Plutonia Experiment, Doom 64) usually used level design (i.e. small rooms, tight corridor mazes) to prevent you from simply circle-strafing him to death.
** The Spider Mastermind (Episode 3 endboss) was far easier to defeat than the Cyberdemon (Episode 2 endboss) not least because Episode 3 allowed the player to use the original {{BFG}}. In addition, the Cyberdemon has more hitpoints (4000 vs. the Spider Mastermind's 3000). 3000 hit points, incidentally, is ''less'' than the maximum possible damage done on a close-range BFG shot, so unlike the Cyberdemon, the Spider Mastermind can be a OneHitKill for a lucky space marine.

* 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, 2015, and 2020, they were one game away from making their first appearance in the Conference finals and lost both times.

** 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.

** Max Raid Shedinja in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' qualify as this by default. The ''instant'' the fight starts, it raises an eight-segment barrier which would make any player sweat without any functional support. The problem? Barriers only heavily mitigate damage instead of negating it, and Shedinja only has 1 HP in every circumstance, so anything that cuts through Wonder Guard will instantly bring it down. Fighting a Max Raid Shedinja is good for a laugh, but challenging it ain't.

** ''[[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.

** The ''Arbiter'' is a 'mech designed to be this trope InUniverse. It's a dirt-cheap 35-tonne light mech made out of the 'mech equivalent of sticks, tissue paper and an old diesel engine, and totes a weapon that physically cannot harm other battlemechs, but it has a very imposing design that makes it ''look'' bigger, heavier and fiercer than it actually is. Anyone actually trying to engage it will quickly find it's less dangerous to fight than an ''[[JokeCharacter Urbanmech]]''.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', the first Titan mutant you face is all huge, ugly, super-strong and invincible. [[spoiler: He dies of a heart attack after a minute due to imperfections in his mutation process.]]

* ''VideoGame/DarkAdventure'' have those {{Golem}}s that towers absolutely over your characters, who looks all kind of menacing... until you landed a couple of hits on them. Turns out they're pathetically slow, lacks ranged attacks, are easy targets anyway due to their size and [[AnArmAndALeg lose an arm]] after getting hit two or three times. Keep spamming attacks and they crumble lifelessly in no time. [[https://youtu.be/SePpZGxq9lw?t=34 Witness the hilarity here]]. The game have gargoyle enemies showing up later, who despite being the same size as the players, are considerably stronger and a bigger threat.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'': The Mega Scarecrows are huge and have a ton of health, but that's about it. They are close to the [[BossInMookClothing Fausts and Blitzes]] in terms of raw damage output, but they are even slower than regular Scarecrows, take a long while to attack, flinch at the slightest hit, are very susceptible to knockback, and rarely retaliate. Their only gimmicks are their rolling attack, and their back blade which falls back two seconds after they die.

* The giant Goombas in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl's'' Adventure mode. Like the small ones, they are vulnerable to the classic GoombaStomp...but their size makes them even easier to hit. They do have to be stomped more than once, and their attack hits you very hard, but since they're stunned a bit after being stomped, it's child play to just stay on top of them until they're damaged enough.

** King Yedes. Bigger, much tougher and much deadlier versions of the Yede enemy, they are essentially a PaletteSwap of the game's first ''boss'', Rockbear, and share some of its moves. The catch is that their only ranged attack is very easy to see coming and dodge, and they have pitiful range beyond that, making any in-game class that's not a Hunter or Fighter have a very easy time against them. And, despite being most likely double to triple the size of your character, they're still vulnerable to grab attacks, and guess what type of attack the Hunter's Wired Lance weapons specialize in?[[note]]There's even a Photon Art, "Heavenly Fall", that's a ''guaranteed'' back hit. The only drawback, pitiful range, is moot since King Yedes are so damn big.[[/note]] Even the Fighter, an exclusively [[CloseRangeCombatant close-ranged combatant]], [[LightningBruiser has so much mobility]] - and the [[MightyGlacier King Yedes are so slow]] - that this isn't a problem.
** Averted with Minotaurus, who, like the aforementioned King Yede, appear to be the typical slow moving large mook when idle due to their slow lumbering around but as soon as they spot a player they quickly establish themselves as a LightningBruiser with a large reach in their attacks and can run across a room to get you quick enough to pull off sneak attacks against the unaware.

** ''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.

** In The Dungeons of Dalaran quest. Kael mentions that they must prevent the foot soldiers from activating the alarms, because if they manage to activate it the humans will send elite troops to stop them. These "elite" troops are barely stronger than an average foot soldier and are much weaker than a knight.

* The captains of the formidable Alonne knights in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' are taller and much more resilient than their subordinates, while packing enormous lightning-enchanted katanas with a deadly quickdraw technique. However, the [[HonorBeforeReason procedure]] says that every one of their deliberate, elegant attacks must end with a flourished sheathing display, which locks them in place for seconds without defense. Even the electric aura, which lights up the blade as it's drawn, works an extremely visible dodging/parrying cue. An Alonne Captain only presents a real danger when you're already fighting other Captains or Knights, where they have time to draw their slowly, deliberately fired bows or get in just the right position for a long-range FlashStep lunge. For comparison, the common knights just bumrush you with simple chops, thrusts and quickdraw slashes and are much more dangerous for it.

** Demon Troopers and Demon Raiders in Act III of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''. Compared to the grunt demons, flying demons and demon hounds, these look fairly imposing, large, and armored, while holding an EpicFlail. They're actually pretty weak in terms of durability, and their attack is ''very'' slow and not even that painful at all.
** Also from Act III of the third game, the [[MightyGlacier Golgor]]. The first one you encounter is given a mini-cutscene of it being summoned by a trio of Fallen shamans, and will draw a comment from your character along the line of "what manner of demon is this?", possibly leading players to believe it will be an above-average threat. While it does hit pretty hard, its attacks are slow and fairly easy to dodge once you've learned its attack patterns, and its slow movement speed means ranged attacks can bring it down before it poses a threat.

** Enclave Troopers in ''Fallout 3'' are late-game Fake Ultimate Mooks: they only have from 90 to 180 hit points and on average 30% DR along with 45-80 ratings in their energy weapons stats; along with the fact that they only carry laser and plasma rifles, they're basically just Talon Company mercs with ''slightly'' better armor (and due to the damage threshold mechanic being removed, this doesn't mean much). Compare this to ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', where Enclave Troopers can cut though even the toughest of the end-game groups. Later games seem to suggest this to be a mix of ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy and PowerEqualsRarity (they're standard enemies in ''3'' and extremely rare endgame enemies in ''2''). In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', gear from both of the above games show up, and the weapons and armor they used in ''2'' (e.g. plasma caster, plasma defender, gatling laser, Remnants power armor) are all significantly better than the gear they used in ''3'' (e.g. laser rifle, plasma rifle, plasma pistol, and a suit functionally identical to the T-45d). In fact, their standard power armor in ''3'' is only ''slightly'' better than the high-end non power-armored suits in ''New Vegas'', like the reinforced combat armor mark II, the NCR Veteran Ranger combat armor, or the advanced riot armor. The very few Enclave troopers you encounter in ''New Vegas'' also have ''much'' better stats than any of the troopers in ''3'' (350-400 hit points and 100 ratings in every combat stat), which combined with their equipment being much better and the damage threshold mechanic being reintroduced makes them easily as formidable as they were in ''2''. This is despite [[spoiler:them all being 60+ years old!]] In fact, just one ([[spoiler:Orion Moreno]]) is considered a quest-ending MiniBoss fight.
** Deathclaws in general lose their threat if player has the right stats. While most pronounced in ''Fallout 3'', having powered armor also neutered the threat in original games. You could be armed with a meager pistol and just trade shots for awhile and wait for a good critical to kill one or the other in one hit. Alternatively, you can just craft a Dart Gun, which can cripple all of a Deathclaws limbs in one shot. ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', finally remedies this, especially with {{level scaling}} Deathclaws in ''Lonesome Road'', which can kill most any character in one or two(at the most) hits regardless of armor.

** The boss of ''Old World Blues'', the Giant Robo-Scorpion, has up to 3500 HP depending on the player's level, but can be taken out with a single {{critical hit}} from the Tarantula-calibrated Sonic Emitter due to a glitch with the gun itself. Averted otherwise; this thing can tank a lot of damage and atomize you in a couple shots.

** 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.
** Zig-zagged in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''. The game mostly uses enemies from the previous game, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', but apparently just scrambled them and used them completely randomly. As such, you'll often encounter menacing enemies early on that not only clash with their surroundings, but take an extra hit to kill at most. However, you can also run into some powerful monsters early on. The Macalania woods are a deathtrap at low level, and you can run into a ''[[KillerRabbit Tonberry]]'' amidst Fake Ultimate Mooks in Mushroom Rock Road even at level 2.

** ''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 despite having stats on par with Legendaries.

* ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'': In "Zorbak's Evil Mistake!", some Ebil Scythes brings the player character's HPTo1. As the player is in [[DontGoInTheWoods Darkovia]], finding any place to heal would be unlikely. Then the player encounters a level 130 Soul Banisher... that he or she beats in one hit.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': the sleeping [[BearsAreBadNews bear]] found near the end of the escape from Helgen, the tutorial level. Your companion will hype up the beast as a powerful enemy, and suggest you either sneak by or attempt to snipe it from afar with a bow. However, you can easily take the bear head-on, and tear it apart just as easily as any other Mook in this level. This is a particularly treacherous example, as all Skyrim bears '''but''' this tutorial one are indeed DemonicSpiders, with a lot of health and hard-hitting attacks that will do a number on an unexperienced adventurer. So if you mess around with a bear in the wilds expecting it to fold like a house of cards, you will get horrifically mauled.

* Hydras in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' are by far the easiest Megabeast to defeat because, unlike the creature from Myth/GreekMythology, they have no regenerative abilities. Blood loss from one head being damaged effects the whole body, thus their extra heads and necks give them a bunch of weak points. The grappling from all the mouths hurts like hell, but ranged weapons can hit it a a couple times and almost guarantee striking an artery.

* The first midboss of any ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' game, the Shrine Tank of ''VideoGame/TouhouFuumarokuTheStoryOfEasternWonderland'', 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.

* ''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 icepick 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.

** A well known monster is the Tarrasque, a unique creature that originally was intended as kind of the ultimate boss creature for very high level groups which was so deliberately packed full of NighInvulnerability that simply theorizing about how to kill it is a kind of invoked LordBritishPostulate. In the 3rd Edition, people soon realized its terrible flaw: lacking any kind of ranged attack. At level 20 there are countless very easy ways to get your whole party the ability to fly and shoot spells from above. Later editions have tried to fix this chink in its armor, with 4E opting to make flying impossible around it while ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' opts towards making it a [[LightningBruiser very, very good jumper]] and gives it the ability to shoot spikes.

** Many games enjoy throwing enemies at you carrying powerful heavy weapons, most commonly steel. Unfortunately, these enemies tend to lack the Speed or Constitution to actually use these weapons without sending their attack speed crashing into the dirt, and as a result, they get doubled very easily. In some games, this means that endgame enemies can actually have comparable speed to midgame ones, because their "upgraded" weapons are tanking their Speed that badly.

** Anything really big has AwesomeButImpractical written all over it, though this just makes for players finding ways to cheat it into play. (AnimateDead is popular.)

** 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 [[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Kaiju Kaiju]] can remove Zushin from the field.

* In ''Film/JesusChristVampireHunter'', Jesus fights a bo staff wielding monk, the last atheist besides the two [[TheMenInBlack leaders]] themselves. Despite his flashy entrance, all he did was show off and get downed in one kick by an unimpressed Jesus.

* A rather bizarre example is found in ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. Volume 3 involved the company building having a breakout from Level 5 and were said to be all big and strong and "worse than Sylar." None of them survived the volume. Heck, in the last episode, Mr. Bennet releases all the surviving Level 5 Supervillains so they can help distract Sylar. They all last less than two minutes, tops.
* Z Putty Patrollers from ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. They were considered EliteMooks, but after the Rangers discovering their weak point, being a large emblem on their chest, they ended up even less effective than the Rita's mooks, who at least occasionally required a protracted fight. The Rangers even managed to defeat the Z-putties when they were temporarily turned into children.

* In Myth/NorseMythology, before Thor's duel with Hrungnir, the mightiest giant to ever live, the giants made a massive giant out of clay to act as Hrungnir's second. It was over 30 miles (50 km) tall and 10 miles across. But the giants could not find a stone large enough to serve as its heart, so they substituted a mare's heart. This brought it to life, but was not enough to give it a warrior's valor or strength. When it saw Thor, it immediately wet itself, and was killed shortly after Hrungnir died by Thor's charioteer Thialfi.

* Generally, this applies to teams who struggle despite sky-high payrolls; the biggest example of this at work is the New York Rangers. From the end of the 90's until the lockout of 2004, the Blueshirts loaded up on superstars such as Wayne Gretzky, Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, Theoren Fleury, and Mark Messier (after a disastrous run in Vancouver). Adding onto that, they also added many solid second-tier players (Bobby Holik, Mathieu Schneider, John [=MacLean=], Kevin Hatcher) and signed them to expensive contracts. They never made the playoffs during that span. Ironically, the Rangers made the post-season with the new CBA intact, which included a salary cap.

* With Dan Snyder as the owner since 1999, the Washington Redskins have signed Deion Sanders, Brad Johnson, Albert Haynesworth, Shawn Springs, Clinton Portis, [=DeAngelo=] Hall, Adam Archuleta, [=LaVar=] Arrington, Donovan [=McNabb=], Antwaan Randle El, Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins and Alex Smith. They even brought in Super Bowl winning coaches Joe Gibbs and Mike Shanahan as well. However, the 'Skins only have five playoff appearances, two playoff wins, and only ''three'' NFC East titles to show for it.
* 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, 2015 and 2020, they were one game away from making their first appearance in the Conference finals and lost both times.

* The [=MiG=]-25 Foxbat and its relationship with NATO mirrors this. Here was a high-speed interceptor which kept the West up at night until a [[DefectorFromCommieLand Russian fighter pilot brought one to NATO by way of Japan]], revealing the Foxbat to be a FragileSpeedster with the turning circle of an ocean liner that [[HeroicRROD needed its engines rebuilt after it reached its Mach 2.8 top speed]]. Anything with air-air missiles that could get behind it first could kill it. [[UsefulNotes/GulfWar Just ask the Iraqis.]] Said defector also informed the West that a superior aircraft was being developed based on the [=MiG=]-25. The resulting [=MiG=]-31 Foxhound sacrificed some of the [=MiG=]-25's speed in favor of better (but still unspectacular) agility, and more importantly the ability to carry more and better long-range missiles, vastly better radar, and the ability to throttle up to full speed without being physically damaged.

* In the first half of the Second World War, the British [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_II Matilda II tank]] was the best armoured one by far. It had 75 mm armour plating on all sides (by contrast, German Pz. III and Pz.IV had 50 mm frontal and 30 mm side armour, while legendary T-34 only had all-around 45 mm plating). This advantage was more than offset by its weak 40 mm ''2-pounder'' cannon, roughly equivalent to 37 mm one on early Pz. III or Russian T-26, and deeply inferior to 76 mm weapons on T-34 and Pz. IV and pathetic mobility. The top speed was ''25 km/h'', at the time when all other tanks could do + 40 km/h, and distance traveled before refueling was even more pitiful. Attempts to up-gun the Matilda proved fruitless because the same turret that made it so resilient was too small to fit anything larger than the 2-pounder. Moreover, the tank was intended for infantry support, yet for unknown reasons no high explosive rounds of any kind were ever issued and thus the only anti-infantry weapon they had was a single machine gun. Yet despite all these shortcomings, the Matilda II was ''still'' the best early-war British tank, because most other British tanks of the era weren't merely flawed but downright awful.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' featured 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.

* The first boss of any ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' sequel will typically be the largest or second largest boss in the game. And by far the easiest.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' had a giant mechanical snake in the forest as its first boss. Complete with cutscene where it looks even ''more'' imposing.

[[folder:Fighting Game]]

* The Emperor's Coven scouts in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''. They're supposedly TheEmperor's crack troops and masters of all forms of magic, but they're regularly defeated by a lone rogue witch or literal schoolchildren.

** Onix, the former TropeNamer, can usually be fought and captured early on in the games. Though they're towering snakes made out of stone, they have low stats in everything but its Defense[[note]]and, to a lesser extent, Speed, which is only relevant to the extent that one Pokémon is faster than another - the actual difference doesn't matter[[/note]]. Even worse, its special defense is absolutely ''horrible'' and being a Rock/Ground-type, granting poor Onix [[ElementalRockPaperScissors crippling weaknesses to two common elements]]; a Grass- or Water-Type attack will usually take it down in one hit unless Onix has Sturdy (which didn't even protect Onix from regular moves until Gen V). Brock's Onix, in particular, was a particularly glaring example in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the first generation]]. Level 14, stats just high enough to make it a challenging fight... but a Pidgey spamming Sand Attack can make all that negligible due to the fact that its only offensive moves are Tackle and Bide.

** Onix, the former TropeNamer, can usually be fought and captured early on in the games. Though they're towering snakes made out of stone, they have low stats in everything but its Defense[[note]]and, to a lesser extent, Speed, which is only relevant to the extent that one Pokémon is faster than another - the actual difference doesn't matter[[/note]]. Even worse, its special defense is absolutely ''horrible'' and being a Rock/Ground-type, granting poor Onix [[ElementalRockPaperScissors crippling weaknesses to two common elements]]; a Grass- or Water-Type attack will usually take it down in one hit unless Onix has Sturdy. Brock's Onix, in particular, was a particularly glaring example in [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the first generation]]. Level 14, stats just high enough to make it a challenging fight... but a Pidgey spamming Sand Attack can make all that negligible due to the fact that its only offensive moves are Tackle and Bide.

* ''VideoGame/DarkAdventure'' have those {{Golem}}s that towers absolutely over your characters, who looks all kind of menacing... until you landed a couple of hits on them. Turns out they're pathetically slow, lacks ranged attacks, are easy targets anyway due to their size and [[AnArmAndALeg lose an arm]] after getting hit two or three times. Keep spamming attacks and they crumble lifelessly in no time. The game have gargoyle enemies showing up later, who despite being the same size as the players, are considerably stronger and a bigger threat.

* The Tortuilding from ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' is an enormous snapping turtle who lives in a stone building instead of a shell. It's a UniqueEnemy found at the end of the second stage of the game, Downtown Grassland, and it attacks Kirby by [[PivotalBoss pivoting around the area]] and biting him at [[SpeedySnail surprising speed]]. On paper, it looks like a BossInMookClothing with its giant size... but the minute Kirby reaches higher ground, he can drop down and [[OneHitKill kill it in one hit]].

* The Emperor's Coven scouts in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse''. They're supposedly TheEmperor's crack troops and masters of all forms of magic, but they're regularly defeated by a long rogue witch or literal schoolchildren.

* The giant Goombas in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl's'' Adventure mode. Like the small ones, they are vulnerable to the classic GoombaStomp...but their size makes them even easier to hit. They do have to be stomped more than once, and their attack hits you very hard, but since they're stunned a bit after being stomped, it's child play to just stay on top of them until they're damaged enough.

** ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' had rebalanced Badass Psychos and made them enemies to be feared. However, it fell into the same trap with the Crystalisks. While they had very large health, they were also slow, easy to hit, and their projectiles both had both low speed and were widely telegraphed.

** The Wendigos in ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'' are hulking, monstrous beasts over twice the size of a human. They are regularly beaten to death by level 1 characters using the weapons they start the game with.
** Demon Troopers and Demon Raiders in Act III of ''VideoGame/{{Diablo III}}''. Compared to the grunt demons, flying demons and demon hounds, these look fairly imposing, large, and armored, while holding an EpicFlail. They're actually pretty weak in terms of durability, and their attack is ''very'' slow and not even that painful at all.

** The standard Super Mutants are surprisingly weak; they're armed with either slow-firing, inaccurate bolt-action hunting rifles or various melee weapons that they must charge at you across open space to use. Their weapon skill stats are below-average (meaning they're very poor shots), their health is only 100 (about half of the player's at level 1 and only moderately higher than a [[TheGoomba Raider's]]), and they wear ''absolutely no armor'' meaning their DR is 0. All of this together means they can barely hurt a non-starter PC and can be brought down with a handful of headshots from the standard 10mm pistol (the first weapon you get in the game). This is in contrast to the original VideoGame/{{Fallout}} series, where even the lowest-level Super Mutants were tough bruisers armed with miniguns (who, despite not wearing much armor, had such thick skin that their innate DT was on par with combat armor), and Super Mutants as a whole were the 2nd most difficult enemy faction in the game (second only to the U.S. Government's PoweredArmor stormtroopers). The Super Mutant Masters and Overlords you fight later in ''Fallout 3'' are still pretty tough, though.
** Enclave Troopers in ''Fallout 3'' are late-game Fake Ultimate Mooks: they only have from 90 to 180 hit points and on average 30% DR along with 45-80 ratings in their energy weapons stats; along with the fact that they only carry laser and plasma rifles, they're basically just Talon Company mercs with ''slightly'' better armor (and due to the damage threshold mechanic being removed, this doesn't mean much). Compare this to VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}, where Enclave Troopers can cut though even the toughest of the end-game groups. Later games seem to suggest this to be a mix of ImprobablePowerDiscrepancy and PowerEqualsRarity (they're standard enemies in ''3'' and extremely rare endgame enemies in ''2''). In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', gear from both of the above games show up, and the weapons and armor they used in ''2'' (e.g. plasma caster, plasma defender, gatling laser, Remnants power armor) are all significantly better than the gear they used in ''3'' (e.g. laser rifle, plasma rifle, plasma pistol, and a suit functionally identical to the T-45d). In fact, their standard power armor in ''3'' is only ''slightly'' better than the high-end non power-armored suits in ''New Vegas'', like the reinforced combat armor mark II, the NCR Veteran Ranger combat armor, or the advanced riot armor. The very few Enclave troopers you encounter in ''New Vegas'' also have ''much'' better stats than any of the troopers in ''3'' (350-400 hit points and 100 ratings in every combat stat), which combined with their equipment being much better and the damage threshold mechanic being reintroduced makes them easily as formidable as they were in ''2''. This is despite [[spoiler:them all being 60+ years old!]] In fact, just one ([[spoiler:Orion Moreno]]) is considered a quest-ending MiniBoss fight.
** Deathclaws in general lose their threat if player has the right stats. While most pronounced in Fallout 3, having powered armor also neutered the threat in original games. You could be armed with a meager pistol and just trade shots for awhile and wait for a good critical to kill one or the other in one hit. Alternatively, you can just craft a Dart Gun, which can cripple all of a Deathclaws limbs in one shot. VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas, finally remedies this, especially with {{level scaling}} Deathclaws in ''Lonesome Road'', which can kill most any character in one or two(at the most) hits regardless of armor.
** In Fallout 3, there is a RandomEncounter with a Deathclaw in it, regardless of level. Luckily, this Deathclaw had a leg crippled beforehand, making it very, very slow, and lacking a ranged attack, easy prey. Though it's important to double-check the leg's condition before engaging in combat; there is a random encounter that involves a perfectly healthy deathclaw, and getting too close to one of those will get you mauled to death.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' introduces an [[OlympusMons Olympus Mon]] called Regigigas, which has an imposing appearance and excellent stats all around, with only Special Attack (which it doesn't use anyway) being below base 100. Unfortunately, it's crippled by [[BlessedWithSuck Slow Start]], an ability that halves its Attack and Speed for 5 turns whenever it enters the field. Even worse, Regigigas is unable to learn near-universal defensive attacks like Protect or Rest in every game before ''Sword and Shield''. As such, what is presented as a powerful legendary Pokémon is in fact one of the most useless ones ever programmed.

* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] for comedy in ''[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Embodiment of Scarlet Devil]]'' where the first stage's boss is the {{Youkai}} of darkness, deliberately chosen for sounding tough. Emphasis on "sounding" tough, since Rumia is a little girl who fails to be intimidating and presents an easy fight. According to [[AllThereInTheManual extra material]], she isn't even immune to her own power, and when she surrounds herself in darkness she spends most of her time crashing into trees.
* 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.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', there exists a tactic named "Distraction Carnifex" (after the Tyranid's Carnifex, a somewhat big monster) which relies on this trope in a psychological way: the idea is to put something big and imposing on the table to distract the enemy fire. The mook in question doesn't have to do much otherwise because the real damage will come from the rest of the army which won't be shot at for a turn or so. In fact, it doesn't have to be big too: tarpit units such as Nurglings or Ork boyz with a Weirdboy can bog down your opponent while your real army flanks.

* Raditz from ''Manga/{{Dragon Ball}}'' is a retroactive example. Despite claiming that he is an elite warrior, and fully capable of easily handling Goku and Piccolo at once at the time he showed up on Earth, the reality is that he is only slightly stronger than a Saibaman, and some random warriors in Frieza's army laughed at a PowerLevel of 1,000 held by three Namekians each ([[IAmNotLeftHanded not knowing they were hiding their]] PowerLevels and were really about ''3000'' each) later on.

* ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'': In "Zorbak's Evil Mistake!", some Ebil Scythes brings the player character's HPToOne. As the player is in [[DontGoInTheWoods Darkovia]], finding any place to heal would be unlikely. Then the player encounters a level 130 Soul Banisher... that he or she beats in one hit.