History Main / FeetofClay

* The characters in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' make a big fuss about how incredibly tough Meryl is - an eighteen-year-old female soldier with a [[HandCannon Desert Eagle]]. However, she trembles when told to shoot, forgets to take the safety off her gun, gets {{Mind Control}}led by a [[PsychicPowers psychic]] into shooting Snake and attempting a suicide, takes point in the most useless way possible for the gamer and for Snake, gets shot by a sniper, and spends the rest of the game getting tortured and arguably raped off-camera, to make a return, unconscious, at the end. Depending on the [[MultipleEndings ending]], she may or may not live to crash her car and pin her and Snake under it. But unlike, say, the FauxActionGirl, we learn that it wasn't that she wasn't inherently useless so much as very young and inexperienced - she becomes aware of this over the course of the game and her façade of arrogance is dropped.

* "Bowling Paul" from ''FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends.'' Mac gets some very Jedi-like bowling training from him after seeing all the pictures of him with his bowling trophies. Turns out that he can't bowl at all. He was only ''in'' the pictures because the ''guy next to him'' in every single one of them won all the trophies, and he was the guy's imaginary friend.

This is when a character who is generally held to be incredibly talented is revealed in the end to be a total incompetent. If the incompetent character is on the side of the heroes, this forces the heroes to save the "savior", who is usually an obnoxious exfample of The Rival, or a [[FakeUltimateHero phony example]] of AlwaysSomeoneBetter. Straight-laced heroes usually have to swallow their {{pride}} to help this jerk. The NaiveNewcomer may be shocked to find he's [[WartsAndAll not the nice guy everyone thinks he is]]. [[GreenEyedMonster Other heroes]] will squeeze every benefit they can out of it. If the character is an idol in the eyes of the protagonist(s), BrokenPedestal often follows. If the character with the FeetOfClay is a villain, [[TheWorfEffect at first]] he will appear to be all-powerful and frightening, but will turn out to be [[VillainExitStageLeft a coward]], a weakling [[TheManBehindTheCurtain hiding behind]] illusions, a HarmlessVillain, or TooDumbToLive.

* Captain Hammer in ''DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', who has SuperStrength and [[JerkJock all the]] [[SmugSuper arrogance]] to accompany it, but [[MilesGloriosus turns tail and runs]] when Dr. Horrible's DeathRay explodes and makes him feel pain for the first time in his life. Unlike the typical use of the trope, Hammer is a HeroAntagonist and the DownerEnding makes it clear that there's nobody waiting in the wings to back him up.

* In the 2004 version of ''The Alamo'', Davey Crockett expresses the sentiment that he, himself, is an example of this trope, being propped up by public opinion and overblown stories about his so-called exploits. He's not, but it makes for a poignant moment.

* In the Creator/JasperFforde's ''The Big Over Easy'', Inspector Spratt often has to contend with gloryhound Detective Inspector Chimes who is incompetent, but gets great write-ups in the newspapers and magazines.

* In ''{{Spider-Man}} 2'': The Game, the boss battle with Mysterio begins with his 4 life bars filling up and dramatic music. He goes down with a [[ZeroEffortBoss single punch]].

* Practically every ''ScoobyDoo'' villain ever.

This is when a character who is generally held to be incredibly talented is revealed in the end to be a total incompetent. If the incompetent character is on the side of the heroes, this forces the heroes to save the "savior", who is usually an obnoxious example of The Rival, or a [[FakeUltimateHero phony example]] of AlwaysSomeoneBetter. Straight-laced heroes usually have to swallow their {{pride}} to help this jerk. The NaiveNewcomer may be shocked to find he's [[WartsAndAll not the nice guy everyone thinks he is]]. [[GreenEyedMonster Other heroes]] will squeeze every benefit they can out of it. If the character is an idol in the eyes of the protagonist(s), BrokenPedestal often follows. If the character with the FeetOfClay is a villain, [[TheWorfEffect at first]] he will appear to be all-powerful and frightening, but will turn out to be [[VillainExitStageLeft a coward]], a weakling [[TheManBehindTheCurtain hiding behind]] illusions, a HarmlessVillain, or TooDumbToLive.

* The characters in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' make a big fuss about how incredibly tough Meryl is - an eighteen-year-old female soldier with a [[HandCannon Desert Eagle]]. However, she trembles when told to shoot, forgets to take the safety off her gun, gets {{Mind Control}}led by a [[PsychicPowers psychic]] into shooting Snake and attempting a suicide, 'takes point' in the most useless way possible for the gamer and for Snake, gets shot by a sniper, and spends the rest of the game getting tortured and arguably raped off-camera, to make a return, unconscious, at the end. Depending on the [[MultipleEndings ending]], she may or may not live to crash her car and pin her and Snake under it. But unlike, say, the FauxActionGirl, we learn that it wasn't that she was inherently useless so much as very young and inexperienced - she becomes aware of this over the course of the game and her façade of arrogance is dropped.
** And when she returns in [=MGS4,=] she has Balls of Steel.

* Will Du from ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' the "number one Global Justice agent".

* Captain Qwark in ''RatchetAndClank''.

* Mr Satan/[[DubNameChange Hercule]] from DragonBall. A strong martial artist in his own right, but he's a ButtMonkey and [[OvershadowedByAwesome comparably weaker than the main heroes and villains]].

** Fascinatingly, the ''book'' of ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'' is the only iteration of the story in which he has actual power. He appears to be some kind of magical criminal fleeing his home dimension, and Dorothy, who comes from the same place, is his inadvertent nemesis. ([[spoiler: Elphaba is his daughter.]])

* Captain Amazing in ''MysteryMen''. The titular heroes aren't too good with the helping, though.

* Several examples throughout ''Franchise/MassEffect'', but the best example would have to be Conrad Verner. Somewhat subverted by the third game, which can reveal that Conrad actually ''is'' fairly badass when he sticks to what he's ''good'' at: [[spoiler: He is has a doctorate in Xenoscience and wrote his dissertation on Dark Matter.]]

* Partial example in PhoenixWright. Oldbag has vital information that she's not willing to give up and when you approach her the second largest Psyche-lock so far appears, looking like you'll need four pieces of evidence to get her to break. However, giving her an autograph makes her break 3 out of 4 of the locks instantly, and the 4th one is broken (with no further effort) solely because she's a gossiper and ''wants'' to tell you.

The name comes from the concept of a statue being created entirely of precious metals, but if the feet were made out of clay, the entire statue would quickly fall.

* Hawkeye to Radar in ''Series/{{Mash}}'', right until Hawkeye sent him to Seoul on a "date", during which Radar was injured. After Hawkeye was drunk in the E.R because of guilt, Radar eventually saw him as an ordinary man, not the hero he looked up to.

Not to be confused with ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', a Literature/{{Discworld}} novel about golems with literal clay feet. The villainous option should also not be confused with the BigBadWannabe, a villain who looks powerful only because he delivered a luck-based kill on the hero or the hero's TrueCompanions, but proved to be a weakling when compared with the other bigger villains.[[hottip:*:Also not to be confused with the accepted meaning of the phrase "feet of clay" in normal English usage: someone who is idolized, but has a hidden ''ethical'' flaw - the Discworld novel's title is ironic, since the golem ''has'' no ethical flaws.]]

* Mr Satan/[[DubNameChange Hercule]] from DragonBall.

* Several examples throughout ''MassEffect'', but the best example would have to be Conrad Verner. Somewhat subverted by the third game, which can reveal that Conrad actually ''is'' fairly badass when he sticks to what he's ''good'' at: [[spoiler: He is has a doctorate in Xenoscience and wrote his dissertation on Dark Matter.]]

* Mr Satan from DragonBall.

-->--'''Daniel''' to King Nebuchadnezzar, ''Literature/TheBible'', The Book of Daniel, 2:31-35

* In ''TheQuickAndTheDead'', Ace looks like he's a front-runner for champ of the quick-draw contest, aided by the fact that he's played by Lance Henriksen. It turns out that he mostly just hot air.

See also TheSoCalledCoward, InformedAbility, MilesGloriosus. Contrast ShroudedInMyth. When the character turns out to be just as competent as he is supposed to be, but is also a complete and total {{Jerkass}} and not all that heroic at all, its WartsAndAll. The inversion of this trope usually falls under ObfuscatingStupidity, as a character believed to be an utter incompetent is really hiding his competency.

* In Stephen King's ''TheDarkTower'' novels, the character of [[spoiler: The Crimson King]] is revealed in the end to be a (non-)towering example of this trope. Whether this is a clever subversion or a lame anticlimax has been a matter of heated debate.