History Main / FauxActionGirl

* ''Anime/QueenEmeraldas'': Emeraldas receives this treatment in ''[[Anime/CaptainHarlock Arcadia of My Youth]]'': while Harlock (the ultimate badass of the Anime/{{Leijiverse}}) clearly treats her as his equal, she never actually does anything to back up that cred in this movie, even spending some time in the DamselInDistress role. This is possibly justified by the movie being Harlock's OriginsEpisode, so Emeraldas merely accompanies him on his first pirate venture without infringing on his spotlight. In all other Leijiverse media, she is consistently depicted as a proactive and danger-defying individual.

* ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar'':

** As a rule, ComicBook/BlackCanary is always a Faux Action Girl under the pens of Creator/JuddWinick and Andrew Kreisberg. The ComicBook/GreenArrow comic is particularly bad about having her lose to villains she really ought to be able to beat. She tends to fare '''much''' better under Creator/GailSimone and Creator/ChuckDixon.
** Thorn became this in the ''Harley Quinn'' solo series, where she was essentially served as a tough-talking superheroine who would be easily dispatched by [[ComicBook/GothamCitySirens Harley and Ivy]]. There was even a multi-issue subplot where the girls got sick of her meddling and just kept her bound and gagged in their apartment so they could torture her for fun. Years later, she was made into a more competent vigilante when she reappeared in her own mini-series and a tie-in storyline in ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey''.

* The Baroness is depicted as this in IDW's ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeIDW G.I. Joe]]'' comics, crossing over with BigBadWannabe. She's an egotist who's deluded herself into thinking that she's a brilliant manipulator and combatant. In reality, she tends to fold like wet paper in straight fights if she doesn't sneak up on her enemy or bring back-up. Notably her first appearance ends with her getting knocked out by a single hit from Destro, who at that point had zero prior combat experience. It's strongly implied throughout the comics that her whole motivation is a desperate desire to be taken seriously by others.
* Liz Sherman, of ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}'' is a pyrokinetic who has been with BPRD on and off for decades since she became a ward of the bureau. Still, despite her power set, years of experience, and one would assume extensive training as an agent, she keeps being kidnapped, possessed, and used as a power source by various beings. She is always rescued by other BPRD agents when this happens. In her early appearances, she was basically a DamselInDistress.
* In the early days of Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}}, Creator/StanLee and Creator/JackKirby did a lot towards fleshing out comic book characters so they were more than just guys in tights punching things. In order to keep an option for romance and appeal for female audiences, they often included a [[TheSmurfettePrinciple token girl]] on the team. Unfortunately, while they ''tried'', they could never think of interesting powers or personalities for female heroes, so most of Stan and Jack's work tended to include these types. Fortunately, these improved significantly over the years. Examples:
** ''The Comicbook/FantasticFour'': [[Characters/FantasticFourTheFantasticFour Susan Richards]] had been a DamselInDistress in most of the early stories until rewritten as a far more powerful and effective heroine by Creator/JohnByrne; however, under later writers, she didn't always live up to this standard, and occasionally degenerated into this trope, mostly by giving her powers some kind of time or concentration limit despite no such obstacle for the others.
** ''ComicBook/XMen'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]], in many of the early books. While later writers greatly expanded her personality, abilities, and role on the team, here she is mostly a damsel in distress whose identity is based on her longing for [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Scott Summers]] more than anything else. Men often have to direct her in the most basic use of her powers. When the team trains in the Danger Room, the males are shown battling or facing danger, while Jean threads a string though a board with holes in it. Things improved in the later books.
** On the other side of things, X-Men villain team The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had Characters/ScarletWitch, who had the ability to give people bad luck. Unfortunately, the potential for this power wasn't truly realized until she was expanded upon after doing a HeelFaceTurn and joining the Avengers.
** ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': [[Characters/AntManHeroes Janet Van Dyne/The Wasp]], in many of the early comics. In one issue, after she has been absent for the entire fight, she reappears on the last page. When asked where she was, she responds that she had to go powder her nose. Like the above, she improved later down the line.
** Characters/{{Captain America|TitleCharacter}}'s long time love interest [[Characters/SHIELDDirectors Sharon Carter]] was a high-ranking agent who led large squads of fighters into the battlefield. She was, as a rule, the first to be knocked down, in order to give Cap a reason to protect her. She's now a ''[[ActionGirl much]]'' [[BadassNormal better]] [[CombatPragmatist fighter.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' Kayley aspires to knighthood and heroism, but when things get dangerous it quickly becomes clear that a background of farm chores and haphazard self-training hasn't left her very well equipped to defend herself, and she spends most of the film running away or relying on Garrett (who's blind!). This was apparently brought on by differing creative ideas in the development - where she was first going to be more heroic and tomboyish, and then changing their minds to make her more girlish. She does have several moments of competency throughout the film but it's unclear if we're supposed to take her as an ActionGirl or ActionSurvivor.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Usagi Tsukino in the first season. Despite her status as one of anime's most iconic characters, Usagi's combat performance in season 1 is flat out abysmal. She needs to be rescued by Tuxedo Mask or her fellow sailor guardians in nearly every fight she gets into, sometimes on multiple occasions in the same episode. And it's not just due to her inexperience either, as this continues well over 20 episodes into the show.

* ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'': Pheles is a rare antagonist version of this trope. The way Wilhelmina talks about her before she shows up, you would think she was a PhysicalGod. When she does show up, she descends from the heavens (surrounded by a tornado) to OminousLatinChanting, and the main character's expression is a very clear OhCrap. [[CurbStompBattle Cue the heroes taking her down in about 5 minutes]]. And about an episode later, she subverts DefeatMeansFriendship by revealing that [[spoiler: she was actually a significantly less powerful doll created by the ''real'' Pheles, who is not at all interested in the talk the heroes have just been having with the doll. Of course, this would completely explain why she was taken down so easily by the heroes before. The real Pheles shows up in person very shortly, once again with OminousLatinChanting]]. Cue the BigBad [[TheWorfEffect taking her down in about 5 minutes]].

* Asuka Kazama from ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}''. Despite being said to be a good fighter who mediates fights in Osaka and also can stand up to her physically stronger and demon powered relatives, in a Pachinko FMV she was shown to be scared of and no match in a fight to Devil Kazuya, who preceded to easily NeckLift her and drop her off a high building. If it wasn't for Jin, she would presumably have died.

*** Aoi Zaizen/Blue Angel is introduced as a highly skilled player and part of the show's initial PowerTrio. However, though she does manage a win here or there, particularly a personal victory against Baira in the series, she also has a consistent habit of facing off against major characters, falling victim to TheWorfEffect in a crushing defeat, and then falling out of the story for the duration of the arc. This becomes particularly painful when she goes through a lengthy arc to improve her skills, revamp her look and deck twice as Blue Girl and then as Blue Maiden, and finally gets in another victory after waiting half the series...and then [[YankTheDogsChain gets handily defeated]] by the current ArcVillain a few episodes later.
*** Emma Bessho/Ghost Girl is presented as a skillful hacker and bounty hunter hired by Akira Zaizen to gather information about Yusaku/Playmaker. During her debut duel against him, she manages to keep him on the ropes, even locking him out from using his Skill until the final turn, but in her later duels she never displays that same sort of competence again, only winning once against Naoki/Brave Max due to his incompetence. Her duel against Kengo/Blood Shepard stands out in particular as that’s her only duel where the outcome could’ve gone either way and she still loses.

*** Emma Bessho/Ghost Girl is presented as a skillful hacker and bounty hunter hired by Akira Zaizen to gather information about Yusaku/Playmaker. During her debut duel against him, she manages to keep him on the ropes, even locking him out from using his Skill until the final turn, but in her later duels she never displays that same sort of competence again, even with her one win against Naoki/Brave Max. Her duel against Kengo/Blood Shepard stands out in particular as that’s her only duel where the outcome could’ve gone either way and she still loses.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': [[Characters/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrailGraceMonroe Grace Monroe]], leader of the Apex, didn't get to where she was running away like a coward. It's implied that she's gone through a ''lot'' of baddies during her eight years on the Train -- one of them stated that she has the skin ''of a sparkling vampire'' in her room... but when you compare her to the Red Lotus Quarto when she and her group, along with them, are stuck in the Fog Car (which is modeled after ''Silent Hill''), then all her experiences do next to ''nothing''. She only gets two major victories with her celestial bronze knife (good against anything non-human which is basically '''everything''' on the Train) when she nicks Henry's tentacles and [[spoiler:jams it into the skull of Watler as he's killing Chloe]], but when you put her next to Chloe Cerise, the ten-year-old pipe wielding BadassAdorable firecracker, she's ''nothing'' as Chloe had to face off the likes of Destruction[[labelnote:Explanation]]Hop with black CombatTentacles[[/labelnote]], Desire[[labelnote:Explanation]]Alex Shepherd who can turn into ''Pyramid Head''[[/labelnote]] and by the time the FinalBattle beigns, Chloe is still kicking after she died by the claws of destruction[[labelnote:Explanation]]Simon Laurent who turns into a ''dragon''[[/labelnote]] while Grace stands there and watches how ''everything'' she created with the Apex crumbles. With this, you can only assume that she's the baddest bitch on the Train more from word than mouth.
** In the prequel, ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily'', when she and Simon catch up to White Gestalt, the two try to fight against the six-member group. She fails ''spectacularly'': [[MindOverMatter London]] levitates her and Simon into the air, Tokio uses his [[BattleBoomerang weapon]] to drop glass shards and bottles under their feet for London to drop them on and even [[NonActionGuy Specter]] gets to strike her across the nose with his shield. And she's supposed to be the leader of a feared cult, folks.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries''
** ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'': Serena like the rest of Ash's companions (aside from [[TagAlongKid Max and Bonnie]]) is played up in promotional material as somebody who's battle capable and a fierce opponent, while that's true in Pokémon Showcases, actual battling is a different story. The amount of sanctioned matches Serena took part in can be counted on one hand, with only one of those matches ending with her as a victor, the rest she either lost or the battle was interrupted before a victor could be declared.
** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'': as a result of being so OutOfFocus Chloe suffers from this even more than Serena. While Serena at least got instances of being a group participant in the battles against [[ArcVillain Team Flare]], Chole doesn't even get that luxury. Her first battle that wasn't against [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain the Team Rocket Trio]] didn't occur until the '''75th''' episode, with none of Chloe's battles being 1 versus 1, instead always accompanied by a more experienced trainer.

** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'': as a result of being so OutOfFocus Chloe suffers from this even more than Serena. While Serena at least got instances of being a group participant in the battles against [[ArcVillain Team Flare]] Chole doesn't even get that luxury. Her first battle that wasn't against [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain the Team Rocket Trio]] didn't occur until the '''75th''' episode, with none of Chloe's battles being 1 versus 1, instead always accompanied by a more experienced trainer.

** ''Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries'': as a result of being so OutOfFocus Chloe suffers from this even more than Serena. While Serena at least got instances of being a group participant in the battles against [[ArcVillain Team Flare]] Chole doesn't even get that luxary. Her first battle that wasn't against [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Team Rocket]] didn't occur until the '''75th''' episode with none of Chloe's battles being 1 versus 1, instead always accompanied by a more experienced trainer.

* ''Blog/MiraculousRewrite'': In "Animaestro", Ladybug is depicted this way in ''[[BoxOfficeBomb Ladybug: The Movie]]''. It presents its take on Paris' superheroine as a walking NotLikeOtherGirls cliché who's completely dependent upon Chat Noir, with the movie's plot revolving completely around him. [[BitchInSheepsClothing Lila]], who provided her voice, insists that this is [[BlatantLies true to real life]].
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': [[Characters/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrailGraceMonroe Grace Monroe]], leader of the Apex, didn't get to where she was running away like a coward. It's implied that she's gone through a ''lot'' of baddies during her eight years on the Train -- one of them stated that she has the skin ''of a sparkling vampire'' in her room...but when you compare her to the Red Lotus Quarto when she and her group, along with them, are stuck in the Fog Car (which is modeled after ''Silent Hill''), then all her experiences do next to ''nothing''. She only gets two major victories with her celestial bronze knife (good against anything non-human which is basically '''everything''' on the Train) when she nicks Henry's tentacles and [[spoiler:jams it into the skull of Watler as he's killing Chloe]], but when you put her next to Chloe Cerise, the ten-year-old pipe wielding BadassAdorable firecracker, she's ''nothing'' as Chloe had to face off the likes of Destruction[[labelnote:Explanation]]Hop with black CombatTentacles[[/labelnote]], Desire[[labelnote:Explanation]]Alex Shepherd who can turn into ''Pyramid Head''[[/labelnote]] and by the time the FinalBattle beigns, Chloe is still kicking after she died by the claws of destruction[[labelnote:Explanation]]Simon Laurent who turns into a ''dragon''[[/labelnote]] while Grace stands there and watches how ''everything'' she created with the Apex crumbles. With this, you can only assume that she's the baddest bitch on the Train more from word than mouth.
** In the prequel, ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily'', when she and Simon catch up to White Gestalt, the two try to fight against the six-member group. She fails ''spectacularly'': [[MindOverMatter London]] levitates her and Simon into the air, Tokio uses his [[BattleBoomerang weapon]] to drop glass shards and bottles under their feet for London to drop them on and even [[NonActionGuy Specter]] gets to strike her across the nose with his shield. And she's supposed to be the leader of a feared cult, folks.

* Despite most of the girls in the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' series unfortunately obtaining a serious case of {{Chickification}} whenever they become mothers, they still manage to avoid this trope when they are in their action-oriented years. However, one character who plays this trope completely straight is Pan in the anime-only ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', where there are multiple claims that she has similar latent power to Gohan, [[InformedAttribute but it's never shown,]] as she only wins a few fights with help and ''one'' by herself. Notably, she's one of the only good-aligned Saiyans in the franchise to ''never'' canonically achieve Super Saiyan, despite the fact that characters with far less Saiyan blood could manage the form. It's pretty telling when ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' gives Pan more genuine ActionGirl moments as an ''[[GooGooGodlike infant]]''.

* Spoofed in various ways in Adam Warren's graphic novel ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'':
** The eponymous heroine is considerably more insecure than most of the other examples here, halfway between a Faux Action Girl and a pure DamselInDistress. However, at one point her boyfriend reassures her by saying he admires her guts in continuing to try and fight despite '''knowing''' that she'll probably end up getting her butt kicked and captured, as opposed to all the other heroes who have it relatively easy. It's also eventually revealed that when she does maintain her confidence, her powers actually ''work'', such as when she effortlessly rescues said boyfriend early in the story. Also a bit of a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction of this trope]], as her poor track record is a major source of misery for her; her self-esteem's pretty much nonexistent and her reputation as a crime-fighter is the exact opposite of what this trope usually calls for. She routinely gets called things like "Useless Lass" and "Captain Kidnapped". As the story progresses she gets much [[TookALevelInBadass better at using her powers and more generally competent]], but most of the other characters [[DudeWheresMyRespect don't notice]] (then again, most of them are jerks).
** In-universe, Sistah Spooky is considered this, with her A-lister status being regarded as inflated due to her being a TwoferTokenMinority. This is mostly averted in the story proper, where she's shown to be an exceptionally powerful BlackMage and a very competent (if seriously unlucky) hero, so it's very probably just prejudice from the people who see her as an AffirmativeActionGirl.
** Another in-universe one is Ocelotina, who has a fairly profitable franchise releasing footage of her career as a spunky AnimalThemedSuperbeing. However, in all that footage, she [[InformedAbility never actually demonstrates her "feline superpowers"]] and is always quickly incapacitated by her WeaksauceWeakness before being tied up by thugs and stripped, gagged, or spanked. This is because, in reality, she has no superpowers whatsoever, and the "footage" is basically thinly-veiled softcore bondage porn. She considers Empowered to be her inspiration, as Emp showed her just how well "hapless superheroine gets tied up a lot" could work out for someone looking to get famous for their sexuality. [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame Emp doesn't consider this much of a compliment.]]

* One ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' comic book set in modern times had the all-British hero declaring there's a [[StayInTheKitchen place for skirts]]. In the end, he recants this sexist statement as his female sidekick has proved her worth. By pushing a single button. Admittedly it was the BigRedButton to activate the SelfDestructMechanism of the SupervillainLair, but still...
* The old ''Magazine/NintendoPower'' comics of the early '90s gave us a comic based on ''VideoGame/StarFox1'' for the SNES; there the team gained a fifth member, the female fennec Fara Phoenix. She is the leading test pilot in the Cornerian Army and can fly an Arwing well; however, when we first meet her, [[DamselInDistress she's hopelessly taken hostage]] and runs off after being rescued. Later on, she and Fox playfully show off their flying skills, only for her to be instantly shot down by an enemy cruiser [[LeeroyJenkins (which she charged head-on)]], and doesn't fully participate in battle or much else when officially on the team.
* The Baroness is depicted as this in IDW's ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeIDW G.I. Joe]]'' comics, crossing over with BigBadWannabe. She's an egotist who's deluded herself into thinking that she's a brilliant manipulator and combatant. In reality, she tends to fold like wet paper in straight fights if she doesn't sneak up on her enemy or bring back-up. Notably her first appearance ends with her getting knocked out by a single hit from Destro, who at that point had zero prior combat experience. It's strongly implied throughout the comics that her whole motivation is a desperate desire to be taken seriously by others.
* Liz Sherman, of ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' and ''ComicBook/{{BPRD}}'' is a pyrokinetic who has been with BPRD on and off for decades since she became a ward of the bureau. Still, despite her power set, years of experience, and one would assume extensive training as an agent, she keeps being kidnapped, possessed, and used as a power source by various beings. She is always rescued by other BPRD agents when this happens. In her early appearances, she was basically a DamselInDistress.

* Despite most of the girls in the ''Franchise/DragonBall'' series unfortunately obtaining a serious case of {{Chickification}} whenever they become mothers, they still manage to avoid this trope when they are in their action-oriented years. However, one character who plays this trope completely straight is Pan in the anime-only ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', where there are multiple claims that she has similar latent power to Gohan, [[InformedAttribute but it's never shown,]] as she only wins a few fights with help and ''one'' by herself. It doesn't help that she is a BrattyHalfPint who is extremely rude to Goku and Trunks for next to no reason and constantly getting everyone into dangerous situations that are entirely her fault while [[AesopAmnesia never seeming to remember the lessons learned between episodes]], giving her a [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] status on top of all this. It's pretty telling when ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' gives Pan more genuine ActionGirl moments as an ''[[GooGooGodlike infant]]''.

* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': Yua Yaiba/Kamen Rider Valkyire degrades into this trope relatively quickly. [[AffirmativeActionGirl Despite being promoted as the first main female Rider to appear at the start of her series]], she gets DemotedToExtra and wasted by the writers. While she is a decent fighter, she doesn't win any fights against opponents that are stronger than {{Mooks}} without help. Even in ''Vulcan and Valkyrie'', in which she's the co-protagonist, when she gains her new form Justice Serval, she spends most of her fight with Kamen Rider Metsuboujinrai getting beaten down, only landing one blow that fails to inflict any permanent damage. She then spends the entire second half having lost her ability to transform, effectively doing nothing. [[spoiler:That being said, she survives the special which is more than all the other Riders in can say, making her the only main Zero One Rider other than Zero One himself and rival Thouser to survive the series]] Even in Girls Remix, a special that's specifically designed to give Female Riders the limelight and a chance to shine Yua's only contribution is appearing in suit in the prologue, getting blasted away by the villain in about 5 seconds and not showing up again for the rest of the special with Zero One's female representive slot being taken by Is instead. That being said this was actually because Yua's actress couldn't make the shoot so her only appearance was a voiced suit only cameo. Had she been available she would have had a major role and probably kicked some ass, but alas.

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the Dreamcast version of ''Roleplay/RecordOfLodossWar''. The hero finds Deedlit captured by some wimpy goblins and just had to ask, "How can a High Elf be captured by ''mere'' goblins"?

** Deviant 1 from the same game.
* A variation, or possibly an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion. Amy from ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' was [[InformedAbility supposed to be]] an ActionGirl pre-Adventure. You wouldn't know this though due to her being kidnapped the only times you see her in ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Sonic CD]]'' and her only real action appearance was in ''VideoGame/SonicTheFighters''. But once ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' came, she began to fulfill her ActionGirl status, and even more so in games like ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance'', ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', and ''VideoGame/SonicChronicles''.

** The second lady of the franchise, Cammy, shows signs of this in the story mode ''A Shadow Falls'' of ''V'', at one point having to be saved by a true ActionGirl Juri Han.

* Rosechu in ''Webcomic/{{Sonichu}}'' is a blatant example--while the author constantly insists that she's a true ActionGirl and she's allegedly as powerful as the main character, most of the time she doesn't do anything and gets captured as a DamselInDistress.

* Lt. Madonna Philips in ''Literature/TheCaliforniaVoodooGame'' is introduced as an Olympic-caliber fencer who dons a ChainmailBikini in front of the opposition, then switches to practical garb for the actual adventure. However, her inexperience leads to a novice's mistake that gets her "killed out" very early in the Game.

* In the {{Hentai}} ''Maranosuke,'' Momoi, a ninja, realizes she's this despite/because being the BigBad's favorite/a member of the EliteMooks when facing fellow member, Zegenshi. Her [[WeaponOfChoice Endaban]] is stated/proven to be AwesomeButImpractical (a mechanical ambush/assassination weapon that she ''never'' [[WorfBarrage effectively uses]] and can't even hunt game with), a flashback shows that her promotion invoked the trope just because she was her clan's idol (as in supermodel) and spared her from [[OutWithABang the fate of the other girls]] that were being harvested for [[HumanResources the immortality potion.]] However, she proves to at least be WeakButSkilled in her knowledge of ninjutsu and the "training" with her master proved to be a ChekhovsSkill in making her [[MadeOfIron capable of withstanding the title character's libido without passing out like]] legit ActionGirl Mina.

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Grace Monroe, leader of the Apex, didn't get to where she was running away like a coward. It's implied that she's gone through a ''lot'' of baddies during her eight years on the Train -- one of them stated that she has the skin ''of a sparkling vampire'' in her room...but when you compare her to the Red Lotus Quarto when she and her group, along with them, are stuck in the Fog Car (which is modeled after ''Silent Hill''), then all her experiences do next to ''nothing''. She only gets two major victories with her celestial bronze knife (good against anything non-human which is basically '''everything''' on the Train) when she nicks Henry's tentacles and [[spoiler:jams it into the skull of Watler as he's killing Chloe]], but when you put her next to Chloe Cerise, the ten-year-old pipe wielding BadassAdorable firecracker, she's ''nothing'' as Chloe had to face off the likes of Destruction[[labelnote:Explanation]]Hop with black CombatTentacles[[/labelnote]], Desire[[labelnote:Explanation]]Alex Shepherd who can turn into ''Pyramid Head''[[/labelnote]] and by the time the FinalBattle beigns, Chloe is still kicking after she died by the claws of destruction[[labelnote:Explanation]]Simon Laurent who turns into a ''dragon''[[/labelnote]] while Grace stands there and watches how ''everything'' she created with the Apex crumbles. With this, you can only assume that she's the baddest bitch on the Train more from word than mouth.

* ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'': Yua Yaiba/Kamen Rider Valkyire degrades into this trope relatively quickly. [[AffirmativeActionGirl Despite being promoted as the first main female Rider to appear at the start of her series]], she gets DemotedToExtra and wasted by the writers. While she is a decent fighter, she doesn't win any fights against opponents that are stronger than {{Mooks}} without help. Even in ''Vulcan and Valkyrie'', in which she's the co-protagonist, when she gains her new form Justice Serval, she spends most of her fight with Kamen Rider Metsuboujinrai getting beaten down, only landing one blow that fails to inflict any permanent damage. She then spends the entire second half having lost her ability to transform, effectively doing nothing.

* A lot of the humanesque VillainOfTheWeek types from the ''Manga/SailorMoon'' animated series can be described as such. They are picked by the current BigBad and are depicted as having some deadly ability to their repertoire when confronting the senshi, which leads to them getting the upper hand early on due to ignorance about these abilities but for the most part are only one episode "threats" because they simply can't fight well. Major villainess group, Witches 5, are especially noticeable because they ''were'' [[DarkActionGirl serious threats]] in the manga but were reduced to SelfDisposingVillain status [[AdaptationalWimp in the show]].

** Zigzagged with Mai Kujaku from ''Anime/YuGiOh'' between the manga and anime. In the manga, she is setup as a powerful duelist that manages to defeat Ryuzaki (the Japanese Championship runner-up) offscreen, after which she’s never shown to win any of her onscreen duels. While those losses are kept in the anime, she also has a couple of wins in the anime as well, defeating Jean-Claude Magnum in a filler episode during the Battle City Arc, then much later on is shown defeating Pegasus in the Doma Arc, then Jonouchi in a rematch, albeit by a technically.
** Downplayed with Rio Kamishiro from ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL''. She’s introduced as TheAce, winning her first onscreen duel against one of Girag's Barian-possessed duelists, defeating her [=CXyz without a Numbers Monster, and helps Yuma out when he’s surrounded by an army of them alongside Shark. But in her next three focused duels, she loses to Shark, even after pulling out a new Xyz Monster, has her body possessed by Abyss when he uses her to duel Shark again, but is then tossed aside near the duel's climax so Abyss could finish it himself, and then is toyed with by Vector throughout her and Durbe's duel against him, before he easily finishes her off, despite reawakening to her memories as Merag.=]

*** Aoi Zaizen is introduced as a highly skilled player and part of the show's initial PowerTrio. However, though she does manage a win here or there, particularly a personal victory against Baira in the series, she also has a consistent habit of facing off against major characters and then falling victim to TheWorfEffect and falling out of the story for long periods. This becomes particularly painful when she goes through a lengthy arc to improve her skills, revamp her look and deck, and finally get in another victory after waiting half the series...and then [[YankTheDogsChain gets handily defeated]] by the current ArcVillain a few episodes later.
*** Emma Bessho is presented as a skillful hacker and bounty hunter hired by Akira Zaizen to gather information about Playmaker. During her debut duel against him, she manages to keep him on the ropes thanks to locking him out from using his Skill until the final turn, but she never displays that same sort of competence again in her later duels, even with her one win against Naoki.

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': Karina Lyle aka Blue Rose is an in-series case, and [[DeconstructedTrope treated rather realistically]] — she's a conflicted teen trying to live up to her public image as a domineering badass despite poor combat abilities that put a serious damper on powers [[AnIcePerson that are actually rather decent]], a ridiculously impractical costume for the sake of the sponsors (and one she did NOT choose), and ''serious'' misgivings about her job. She still gets stuff done because she genuinely wants to save people, but it's telling that one of her named publicized special moves, the 'Cutie Escape', involves ducking and running from whatever criminal menace is trying to reduce her to a smear on the pavement this week. She gets better by the end of the series, [[CharacterDevelopment gaining more confidence]] [[TookALevelInBadass and skills to match.]]

** ''Anime/YuGiOh'': Mai Kujaku/Valentine is setup as a powerful duelist that manages to defeat Rex Raptor (the Japanese Championship runner-up) off-screen. However, she never manages to back-up said reputation, losing all of her major on-screen duels with the exception of one against Jean-Claude Magnum (a one-off mook) and one against Joey (who was thoroughly exhausted by his duel with Valon in the same episode) in the Doma arc.

*** Aoi Zaizen from ''YuGiOhVrains'' is introduced as a highly skilled player and part of the show's initial PowerTrio. However, though she does manage a win here or there, particularly early in the series, she also has a consistent habit of facing off against major characters and then falling victim to TheWorfEffect in humiliating fashion and falling out of the story for long periods. This becomes particularly painful when she goes through a lengthy arc to improve her skills, revamp her look and deck, and finally get in another victory after waiting half the series... and then [[YankTheDogsChain gets handily defeated]] by the current ArcVillain a few episodes later.
*** Emma Besho/Ghost Girl is presented as a skillful hacker and bounty hunter hired by Akira Zaizen to gather information about Playmaker. She's actually quite competent at collecting data, spying on others and making her way through Link Vrains; it's the "bounty hunter" part of her description that she always fails at, with her only win in the entirety of ''VRAINS'' being against [[JokeCharacter Brave Max]]. This is particularly ironic, given that her Altergeist deck was one of the most competitive decks ever featured in the anime.

* ''Film/{{Sheena}}''. Creator/RogerEbert noted the incongruity of "a jungle woman who has ruled the savage beasts since infancy [being] pulled along by a television anchorman fresh off the plane." This is [[CharacterDerailment out of Sheena's character,]] considering that in [[ComicBook/SheenaQueenOfTheJungle the comics]] she's a badass who takes down many savage animals and corrupt poachers.

** ''Anime/YuGiOh5DS'':
*** Aki is an interesting example of this. She has a fearsome reputation as the "Black Rose Witch", a ferocious and powerful psychic duelist that enjoys inflicting pain on others. This is eventually revealed to be a facade created by Aki as a response to being treated as a monster. As such, she goes from easily stomping her opponents and nearly defeating Yusei in the Fortune Cup, to losing in less than two turns to Andore in the WRGP. She also loses her psychic powers without much of a reason.
*** Ruka is stated in early appearances to be a ChildProdigy who was dueling professionally at a very young age. However, not only does she have by far the least CharacterFocus of any Signer (only dueling three times with her personal deck in the entire run of the series and only dueling solo ''once''), but even in her few victories, her duels tend to be dominated by her tag partners and her Deck and strategies are rather unimpressive. Additionally, like Aki, her Signer ability of being able to communicate with spirits and travel to their world is almost completely forgotten as she falls OutOfFocus.

** ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'': Rio Kamishiro is presented as TheAce that is both academically and sports-gifted, with many characters expressing awe at how competent and scary she is. However, she never quite manages to leave the shadow of her brother Shark, mostly serving as a source for ''his'' character drama and getting [[TargetedToHurtTheHero hospitalized, kidnapped, possessed, thrown-off a cliff, hospitalized (again) and finally killed]] by characters that just wanted to [[CollateralAngst hurt and/or attract Shark's attention]], with Rio never able to fight back once.

*** Blue Angel/Aoi Zaizen is one of the most prominent Charisma Duelists in Link VRAINS, presented with a bubbly and energetic idol persona, but willing to prove herself as a duelist to her brother and Yusaku, and also getting multiple avatar makeovers related to her development, as if setting up a big character moment. Unfortunately, she always loses her duels against plot-prominent villains (and the protagonists), with her loss to Specter being presented as particularly humiliating. This is possibly lampshaded by the characters in the final episode, as Kusanagi thanks Aoi and the others for saving his brother and Link VRAINS, with Aoi admitting that she actually didn't do anything.

** ''Anime/YuGiOhVrains'':
** Emma Besho/Ghost Girl is presented as a skillful hacker and bounty hunter hired by Akira Zaizen to gather information about Playmaker. She's actually quite competent at collecting data, spying on others and making her way through Link Vrains; it's the "bounty hunter" part of her description that she always fails at, with her only win in the entirety of ''VRAINS'' being against [[JokeCharacter Brave Max]]. This is particularly ironic, given that her Altergeist deck was one of the most competitive decks ever featured in the anime.