History Main / GoldfIshPoopGang

* [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Box Ghost]] of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. But with a name like that, would you really expect otherwise? However, we see a possible alternate future in which he's taken [[TookALevelInBadass enough levels of badass to be considered epic]]. He also happens to have control over ''Pandora's Box''. Good thing he's relatively nice.

* The Amoeba Boys from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls.'' Their attempts at villainy are truly pathetic, although they manage to do something by accident that requires the girls' assistance to rectify.
** There's also the Gangreen Gang, who, while sometimes being a legitimate threat, mostly commit petty crimes and are generally seen as more of a nuisance.

* The [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Team Rocket]] [[CanonImmigrant trio]] (see above) actually apply to this trope in the video game sense in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Yellow'', despite being ''somewhat'' more competent in said game (like they were in the show before VillainDecay set in).

* ''Series/TheInvisibleMan'' Arnaud [=DeFöhn=] to the world at large, a rather frightening [[PsychoForHire terrorist-for-hire]]. To [[ItsPersonal Darien Fawkes]], a mincing little prick who'd be dead or in jail if not for his infuriating penchant for [[NotSoDifferent smug speeches]] and [[SoLongSuckers improbable escapes]].

* Zonge and his followers in ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'' are a non-villainous version, though they are technically rivals to Toriko et al simply by virtue of being other Bishokuya, they show up in many arcs and are almost always ineffective (or if so, he is not deliberately effective).

* Adecor and Boccos AKA Tweedle-A and Tweedle-B, fulfil this role in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' with their persistent bumbling attempts at arresting the protagonist. Though they are mostly dealt with in cutscenes, player involvement is only required when the game needs a punching bag for a ForcedTutorial. That said, the final Tutorial fight with them, the Burst Arte tutorial, is annoyingly hard because it's two on one and they keep interrupting your attacks. Outside the storyline, you can also fight them in the arena (where they suck) and in the BonusDungeon (where they don't).

--> '''Giacomo:''' Say what you will. [[BadAssBoast But you're my ticket back to the Empire, Sagi.]] [[HamAndCheese And every good ticket has to get punched!]]

* The Mane Six in ''Fanfic/TheDarkSideOfTheMirrorverse'', who are a bunch of annoying nuisances who can barely even be qualified as evil at all; the worst thing any of them manage to accomplish is Rarity's vandalism, which even then is motivated by her being a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} rather than any real malice. [[spoiler:Twilight accidentally manages to become a real threat when one of her inventions backfires and transforms her into [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Spotlight]].]]

* Rex Raptor, Weevil Underwood, Mako Tsunami, and (to a lesser extent) Mai Valentine from the ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime are basically this for the main characters or the bad guys. Although presented as credible threats, they pretty much exist for two purposes: another duel (against a [[InformedAbility supposedly strong opponent]]) to be won by Yugi/Joey, or to showcase how skilled a duelist a new character (sometimes the BigBad) via TheWorfEffect. Less so in the manga, where Rex Raptor is never seen again after losing to Esper Roba, and Weevil is never seen again after losing to Joey. Mai also does pretty well for herself against BigBad Yami Marik, even managing to acquire [[InfinityPlusOneSword one of the God cards]] from him, [[NewRulesAsThePlotDemands only to find she couldn't use it]]. Marik really only won on a technicality--if Mai ''had'' been able to use the card, she would probably have won.

* The Hell Hounds in the first ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' game, ''until''...

** Pilaf, Shu and Mai in ''Manga/DragonBall''. However, they eventually disappeared as the series underwent CerebusSyndrome. Their final appearance in the manga was shortly after Demon King Piccolo was released, while in the anime they had one more {{filler}} appearance just before the start of ''Anime/DragonBallZ''. They were eventually brought back in ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' to help kick off the plot by accidentally [[FountainOfYouth turning Goku into a child]].
** And they're back on the newest movie, ''Anime/DragonBallZBattleOfGods''. [[spoiler:As children, after asking Shen Long for youth, on an ironic reversal of what they did on ''Anime/DragonBallGT''.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The Really Rottens from ''WesternAnimation/LaffALympics'' area crew of malcontents who try to cheat their way into winning against the Yogi Yahooeys and the Scooby Doobies. Most of the time they are caught cheating and disqualified but once in a blue moon they will [[TeamRocketWins bumble their way to victory.]]

* Kayla, Wally, and Ink from ''VideoGame/{{Landstalker}}'', full stop. Every time they show up, it's only so that they can be subjected to [[HumiliationConga increasingly cruel and hilarious punishments]]. It's so bad that [[TheUnfought you never actually fight them]]; their rotten luck always does them in before you ever get the chance.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]

* E.G.G. from ''ComicBook/{{Chew}}'' is a terrorist group that believes the government is covering up the real truth behind the bird flu epedimic and tries to correct said injustice by holding people hostage in order to force them to do something. Usually they show up only to be easily defeated, whenever there is a need to show, how badass certain character is (sometimes in-universe and sometimes to the audience).

* EXALT from ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'''s expansion Enemy Within. Exalt is a paramilitary organization opposing your team and committing acts of sabotage around the globe. When you first meet them, they are using ballistic weapons and no gene mods, while wearing business suits, while your team probably fields [[FrickinLaserBeam laser]] weapons, if not plasma. A while later, elite EXALT agents appear, fielding one gene mod each, and a pretty low powered one at that, laser weapons, and wearing body armor show up. XCOM soldiers definitely have access to plasma weapons, PowerArmor, and possibly PsychicPowers by then. EXALT doesn't progress further than that.[[note]]On Classic and Impossible difficulty, they become a much more serious threat due to their numbers, persistence, and effect on the strategic situation.[[/note]]

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa''; The Minions of the BigBad are actually highly competent, and are the ones that are actually causing the Havoc in the world rather than the BigBad since he is also the SealedEvilInACan.

* The ninja team from the Yama Dojo, in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. Team Kimba thrash them before the team is really a team. They come back on Parents' Day (it's a SuperheroSchool) and get pummeled so easily that Chaka has time to steal ninja weapons for some of the little brothers along with the visiting parents.

** The friendly rivals in some of the more recent games fill this role as well. Between the incresingly tutorialized nature of the games giving them an increased presence, their friendliness providing little motivation to want to beat them, and the trend towards starting them off at a [[ElementalRockPaperScissors type disadvantage]], their battles have shifted from a genuine challenge to an annoying chore.

* Hack and Slash from ReBoot, who consistently fail to execute Megabyte's plans.

* After Allison in ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' gets publicly exposed as carrying the MacGuffin, and everyone puts a price on her head to get it, she's followed around by a horde of various weird mercenaries who keep crashing into whatever DimensionLord's stronghold she's currently getting in over her head in. They're not incompetent as fighters, but in practice, they just keep fighting the local guards and each other, and a bunch of them die every time, while Allison escapes in the total chaos.

* After Allison in ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' gets publicly exposed as carrying the MacGuffin, and everyone puts a price on her head to get it, she's followed around by a horde of various weird mercenaries who keep crashing into whatever DimensionLord's stronghold she's currently getting in over her head in. They're not incompetent as fighters, but in practice, they just keep fighting the local guards and each other. This is usually at the point of total chaos when Allison escapes, anyway.

* After Allison in ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'' gets publicly exposed as carrying the MacGuffin, and everyone puts a price on her head to get it, she's followed around by a horde of various weird mercenaries who keep crashing into whatever DimensionLord's stronghold she's currently getting in over her head in. They're not incompetent, but in practice, they just keep fighting the local guards and each other. This is usually at the point of total chaos when Allison escapes, anyway.

** Scratch and Grounder, the Sonic Super Special Search and Smash Squad. They don't even have half a brain between them. More like a quarter.