History Main / IneffectualLoner

** Blaze in the ''VideoGame/SonicRushSeries'' also started as one. She rejects the help of Sonic and his friends in believing that she must find all of the Sol Emeralds by herself. By the end of the game, she begins to learn ThePowerOfFriendship and accepts the heroes as her friends.

** Captain, Zero, and Bakunetsumaru start out this way in ''Anime/SDGundamForce''. Captain shrugs off Shute's companionship at first because he has to maintain TheMasquerade, but rethinks this when he realizes that the Soul Drive runs on the PowerOfFriendship. Similarly, both Zero and Bakunetsumaru when they first appear are disdainful of the Gundam Force, but come to recognize them as warriors of worth, and decide to help them protect Neotopia as they would their own nations. [[DrillSergeantNasty Gunbike]] actually lampshades this trope;

** Natsuki Kuga from the same series is a by-the-numbers case of this. Pretty much every solo action we see her undertake onscreen doesn't work or blows up in her face. Her attempt to dissuade any Hime from showing up to Fuuka in the first episode really sets the stage for this. From there, there's her plan to deal with the [[spoiler:panty thief orphan]], her discovering and attacking [[spoiler:Alyssa Searrs]], and her attempts to deal with [[spoiler:the seemingly traitorous Nao]]. Ironically, this all leads up to her final confrontation with [[spoiler:Shizuru]], which she only wins because she acknowledges that she's not alone in the world, and thus [[spoiler:super-powers up Duran to the same level as Shizuru's Kiyohime]], allowing her to carry out her plan: [[spoiler:eliminate Shizuru (and by extension, herself) in order to give Mai a clear shot at ending the entire Festival, thus sacrificing herself for the good of others.]] Quite the full circle of CharacterDevelopment. Her special in the 25th episode even has her acknowledging the power of [[PowerOfFriendship friendship]] and [[PowerOfLove love]].

* ''Webanimation/BungChronicles'': At one point in 'Her(bivore)', Aphrodite makes fun of Bung not having any friends, thus no love interests either.

* This is a recurring element of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The PowerOfTeamwork is a theme of the series, so those that push others out are often less likely to succeed in whatever they are doing;

-->'''Aphrodite:''' Website/YouTube [[TakeThat subscribers don't count as friends, Bung.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Aseir's solitary nature often leaves him LockedOutOfTheLoop about things going on around him.
* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Killer is honestly pretty cool, but doesn't get along with others because of his BrilliantButLazy and snappy attitude.
* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': Agent Tex is great at winning individual fights and battles, but when it comes to an overarching objective, she always falls short.
** Agent Carolina is a highly skilled fighter but in solo fights, she will push herself beyond her limits in order to prove herself (with disastrous results). When fighting with a team (either the other agents of Project Freelancer or the Blood Gulch Crew), she performs much better.
** Inverted with Agent Maine; as part of Project Freelancer he was TheBigGuy, but on his own as the Meta, he became [[KnightOfCerebus one of the]] [[TheBrute most terrifying things]] [[HeroKiller in the entire series]]
* This is a recurring element of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The PowerOfTeamwork is a theme of the series, so those that push others out are often less likely to succeed in whatever they are doing;
** Discussed between Blake and Yang. When Yang asks Blake to stop running herself ragged in order to find Roman Torchwick, Blake cries "I'm the only one that can do this!", prompting Yang to shove Blake to prove that she was [[HeroicRROD in no condition]] to take Torchwick on by herself and that she'd have to trust her team to help her fight Torchwick.
** James Ironwood's competence and success are proportionately linked to how well he works with others; When he chooses to trust only in his own judgement and blocks others, his methods fail. Even his "inner circle" consist of subordinates who cannot understand his burden, nor call him out for his worst acts. The biggest HopeSpot of Volume 7 is when he is convinced to work with Robyn Hill and with her help manages to capture Watts and Tyrian. However, once he gets wind that Cinder has gotten into Atlas and Salem is on her way to attack the kingdom, he falls back and redoubles his usual measures; He declares martial law, orders the arrests of the heroes, and the ensuing chaos more or less undoes everything he tried to accomplish.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': This is the ultimate FatalFlaw of the heroes, and is also the biggest reason for the villains being incredibly likely to succeed (on top of PoorCommunicationKills). Most of the heroes constantly bicker and in-fight with each other and would rather mind their own businesses than realize the common threat and work with each other, which ends up leaving them surprisingly useless when dealing with people like [[{{Troll}} Terumi]] and [[MadScientist Relius]] because they tend to fight them alone. It's only after they start working with each other beginning with ''Chronophantasma'' that any meaningful progress is made.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Depth Charge from ''{{Transformers}}: WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' is this trope, but with enough firepower to back up most of his attitude.

* ''Anime/MyHeroAcademia'': [[spoiler: After the Paranormal Liberation War, [[TheHero Deku]] leaves U.A. and his friends behind out of fear that [[BigBad All For One]] will attack them due to him possessing One For All. He teams up with Endeavor and the rest of the remaining Pro Heroes to find AFO and Shigaraki in order to stop them while also dealing with the backlash of angry mobs due to the collapse of Hero Society. With the stress of how he's the only capable of putting a stop to AFO, the villain's constant taunts, and with hero society in ruins; Deku runs himself ragged. While he was able to take down a few villains on his own, he had made no progress in finding AFO's location; leaving him exhausted with no time taken for rest. It only took an intervention from [[TrueCompanions Class 1-A]], an apology form [[ReformedBully Bakugo]], and [[LoveInterest Ochaco]]'s speech calming down the angry mob keeping him from resting in U.A.; that convinces Deku that he can't do everything on his own and that he needs to rely on his friends in order to save the world.]]

* ''Anime/MyHeroAcademia'': [[spoiler: After the Paranormal Liberation War, [[TheHero Deku]] leaves U.A. and his friends behind out of fear that [[BigBad All For One]] will attack them due to him possessing One For All. He teams up with Endeavor and the rest of the remaining Pro Heroes to find AFO and Shigaraki in order to stop them while also dealing with the backlash of angry mobs due to the collapse of Hero Society. With the stress of how he's the only capable of putting a stop to AFO, the villain's constant taunts, and with hero society in ruins; Deku runs himself ragged. While he was able to take down a few villains on his own, he had made no progress in finding AFO's location; leaving him exhausted with no time taken for rest. It only took an intervention from [[TrueCompanions Class 1-A, an apology form [[ReformedBully Bakugo]], and [[LoveInterest Ochaco]]'s speech calming down the angry mob keeping him from resting in U.A.; that convinces Deku that he can't do everything on his own and that he needs to rely on his friends in order to save the world.]]

* Like in canon, [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura]] in ''Fanfic/KwamiMagiHomuraMagica'' tries to do everything alone, and as noted in story there is a lot she can do alone. She can defeat pretty much any wish not named Walpurgisnacht, she could, in theory, decapitate the [[VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory Magius]] if it ever was required, she even can kill [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Monarch and defeat Felix and Cat Noir on her own]], but her ultimate goal of saving Madoka, either by stopping Walpurgisnacht or by defeating Ladybug to take the Ladybug Miraculous to use the Ultimate Miraculous power, is beyond her alone. The former is only able to be defeated with help, and the latter has the help of her various friends and allies to defeat Homura even with Homura having stolen all the Miraculouses belonging to Monarch, Felix, and Cat ahead of time to use against Ladybug. [[spoiler: The only way that Homura is able to get a happy ending for herself and her friends is to work with Ladybug and find a solution that solves their shared and intertwined problems in a way both can accept, getting a happy ending as a result.]]

* Like in canon, [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Homura]] in ''Fanfic/KwamiMagiHomuraMagica'' tries to do everything alone, and as noted in astory there is a lot she can do alone. She can defeat pretty much any wish not named Walpurgisnacht, she could, in theory, decapitate the [[VideoGame/MagiaRecordPuellaMagiMadokaMagicaSideStory Magius]] if it ever was required, she even can kill [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Monarch and defeat Felix and Cat Noir on her own]], but her ultimate goal of saving Madoka, either by stopping Walpurgisnacht or by defeating Ladybug to take the Ladybug Miraculous to use the Ultimate Miraculous power, is beyond her alone. The former is only able to be defeated with help, and the latter has the help of her various friends and allies to defeat Homura even with Homura having stolen all the Miraculouses belonging to Monarch, Felix, and Cat ahead of time to use against Ladybug. [[spoiler: The only way that Homura is able to get a happy ending for herself and her friends is to work with Ladybug and find a solution that solves their shared and intertwined problems in a way both can accept, getting a happy ending as a result.]]

'''Spyro:’'' About what? \\

-->-- '''Batman''', ''[[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man's Land]]''

* [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Mr. Incredible]] mostly insisted on working alone. This partially lead to Syndrome StartOfDarkness (he was a HeroWorshipper for Mr. Incredible until Mr. Incredible snapped at him for trying to help apprehend a criminal- though to be fair, the guy ''was'' being TheLoad at the time). Interestingly enough, this seems to partially be a product of an InferioritySuperiorityComplex- the reason he gives for fighting [[spoiler:the Omnidroid]] alone in the FinalBattle is that he's "not strong enough" to protect his family (His wife's answer? "If we work together, you won't have to be").

* ''LightNovel/MyTeenRomanticComedySNAFU'': Hikigaya Hachiman prefers to be left alone, but after his teacher forced him to join a club that helps other students with their problems he has situations where helps people alone [[spoiler:(even if almost the entire school hates him for it later on)]].

* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': Heavily deconstructed ([[DeconstructorFleet like almost everything]]) by Ren Amaki. From the start, Naofumi compares him to MMORPG players who like to play solo and thus have difficulty working with others, and he acts accordingly, preferring to train solo while leaving his party to their own devices. This translates in that he's not able to fight effectively with his own teammates or the other heroes because he acts on his own and expects others to know what he's doing, [[spoiler:which results in his party [[TotalPartyKill being completely wiped out]] when he and the Bow and Spear Heroes decide to unseal the Spirit Tortoise, thinking they can defeat it.]]

* ''Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade'': Kai Hiwatari is this massively all the way through season 1 ("There's no Kai in team!", anyone?), is less obnoxiously so in ''V-Force'' (re. goes off to fight Jack's Scissorswing alone), reverts back to his season 1 persona in ''G-Revolution'', and never beats Takao throughout. Bless. Downplayed at the end of ''G-Revolution'', when he scares to death, defeats and drives into madness the apparently invincible [[PersonOfMassDestruction Brooklyn]] through [[TheDeterminator determination alone]].
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' generally has at least one of these per season, or at least an otherwise main character who decides for no apparent reason that they need to be a Loner. In the first season, Matt/Yamato can't be bothered by anyone but his younger brother, so he gets the Crest of Friendship to ''force'' him to be more powerful by working with others. Rika/Ruki in ''Anime/DigimonTamers'': in the beginning of the season she sees Digimon as soulless fighting machines, treats ''her own Digimon partner'' as such, and ''actively tries to destroy'' the Digimon belonging to the main character. She lightens up later, thanks to her mother and digimon partner. A lot of the loners are this way because of their BrokenBird origins.

** [[WorldsStrongestMan Jiren]] of Universe 11 from ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is this due to his DarkAndTroubledPast [[spoiler:where his family, mentor and many friends were killed by a villain and the rest abandoned him, causing him to view friendship and trust as fleeting [[MightMakesRight and strength as the only true absolute in the universe]]]]. As a result, he's cold and aloof even to his fellow Pride Troopers [[spoiler:and in fact only views them as tools to help him achieve his goals]], and seeing ThePowerOfFriendship at work is one of his {{Berserk Button}}s, since it denies everything he's ever been or believed in. [[spoiler:He goes absolutely ''ballistic'' on Goku during their final battle when Goku states the reason he can still stand against him is because of the HeroicWillpower he gains from fighting for the sake of his friends and family, causing him to try and kill them to prove his ideals are right.]]

* ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'': Jung Freud is introduced early on as TheRival hot "foreign" mecha pilot. She hangs around the edges of the main two characters, never quite getting to be the big heroine, or to save the day. To her credit, she gives up her seat in ''Buster Machine'', to allow the classic pair to team for the final mission. She is left behind near the climax, not even allowed to make the HeroicSacrifice made by the two leads.

** Despite ''being'' TheHero, Garrod Ran has this problem at the start of ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX''. Having lived most of his life as a lone salvager / thief with an inherent distrust of adults, there's a lot of friction when he joins the ''Freeden'', leading to his TenMinuteRetirement and even ''more'' problems when his inherent mistrust causes him to draw a gun on Ennil El.

** Nao Yuuki is mostly this, but not because she's ineffective. Rather, she's utterly disinterested in the battles the other [=HiME=] are involved in, preferring her own path of preying on creeps she lures to her via the internet. And when she works with the others to stop the [[spoiler:Sears Foundation's invasion of Fuka Academy]], she's just as effective there. However, almost immediately afterwards, she's [[spoiler:framed for attacking another [=HiME=] and loses her eye in the ensuing battle]], causing her naturally distrustful personality to blow into full on paranoia, leading her to take out her feelings of revenge on everyone she almost trusted until the events of the GrandFinale.
** Natsuki Kuga from the same series is a by the numbers case of this. Pretty much every solo action we see her undertake onscreen doesn't work, or blows up in her face. Her attempt to dissuade any Hime from showing up to Fuuka in the first episode really sets the stage for this. From there, there's her plan to deal with the [[spoiler:panty thief orphan]], her discovering and attacking [[spoiler:Alyssa Searrs]], and her attempts to deal with [[spoiler:the seemingly traitorous Nao]]. Ironically, this all leads up to her final confrontation with [[spoiler:Shizuru]], which she only wins because she acknowledges that she's not alone in the world, and thus [[spoiler:super-powers up Duran to the same level as Shizuru's Kiyohime]], allowing her to carry out her plan: [[spoiler:eliminate Shizuru (and by extension, herself) in order to give Mai a clear shot at ending the entire Festival, thus sacrificing herself for the good of others.]] Quite the full circle of CharacterDevelopment. Her special in the 25th episode even has her acknowledging the power of [[PowerOfFriendship friendship]] and [[PowerOfLove love]].

** Shinji's also one despite being the main character. He beats more Angels than Rei or Asuka, but just gets more traumatized each time.

** [[TheRival Paul]] from the Sinnoh saga is an extremely harsh trainer with no comprehension of ThePowerOfFriendship, fails to treat his Pokemon with love and respect, and doesn't take well to battling alongside others. This comes to bite him in the end when his former Pokemon Chimchar, now an Infernape, destroys his team at the end of the arc.

* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'': Fakir starts off this way. As soon as the main heroine figures out he's [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold not really that bad of a guy]] she tries to convince him to team up with her, but it takes until near the end of the season until he finally does, and even then it's reluctantly. In the second season he doesn't mind quite as much, but he still maintains a bad habit of trying to do things on his own.
* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Homura Akemi has been going through a GroundhogPeggySue loop in order to save Madoka and prevent her from forming a contract. After being subjected to a CynicismCatalyst, she stops trying to save the other Magical Girls in the series and, in every single loop, either Madoka dies or she makes a contract.
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'' has Kyoya Hibari, the ostentatious head of the Disciplinary Committee (Although he is only ever seen with one of its members at any given time), doesn't like groups. He hates groups, and people who group, to the point of beating them senseless with the only warning being a derogatory "I'll Bite You to Death." He's considered invincible by his peers in the manga (most of whom are afraid of getting on his bad side), and has only lost one battle total due to a cheap trick pulled by the resident ManipulativeBastard Mukuro Rokudo. Despite this completely ridiculous winning streak, when it comes to the appearance of the BigBad, he doesn't even try to pull a stunt, leaving it to the hero. (He is also the reference image for this page.)
* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': Heavily deconstructed ([[DeconstructorFleet like almost everything]]) by Ren Amaki. From the start, Naofumi compares him to MMORPG players who like to play solo and thus have difficulty to work with others, and he acts accordingly, preferring to train solo while leaving his party to their own devices. This translates in that he's not able to fight effectively with his own teammates or the other heroes because he acts on his own and expects others to know what he's doing, [[spoiler:which results in his party [[TotalPartyKill being completely wiped out]] when he and the Bow and Spear Heroes decide to unseal the Spirit Tortoise, thinking they can defeat it.]]

* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': The X-Laws are an entire team of ineffectual loners. [[spoiler:They are {{determinator}}s to the point that they refuse to work with ''anyone'' outside of their team and have a consistently condescending view on such people. [[InsaneTrollLogic They even go as far as to kill indiscriminately to try and stop Hao]]. Needless to say, [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom all of this ends up making Hao obtain the Shaman King title far easier than otherwise]].]]
* Barnaby Brooks Jr. from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' begins the series as one of these. While he has a public front as being very friendly and charming, in reality he's entirely too wrapped up in seeking revenge to form any sort of relationship with other people. It takes [[AllLovingHero Kotetsu]] thirteen episodes [[spoiler:[[TakingTheBullet and a flamebolt to the chest]]]] to drag him out of it.

* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': Asuka had never been good at getting used to new people or working with other people. However, when she tried to work alone she often fumbled and screwed missions. When she tried to collaborate with her teammates she unleashed her potential.
* The ''Franchise/KamenRider''/''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' crossover fic, ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11772125/1/Metroid-Kamen-Rider-Generations-Full-Series Metroid: Kamen Rider Generations]]'' has Samus verge into this when she [[TimeTravelEscape settles in the present time]]. Her encounters with different Kamen Riders made her to earn their respect, as well as learning the value of teamwork; ends up with the company of [[Series/KamenRiderGaim Mitsuzane Kureshima (Kamen Rider Ryugen)]], who would later on became her LoveInterest, and [[Series/KamenRiderDrive Gou Shijima (Kamen Rider Mach)]], who is more of a [[TagalongKid Tagalong]] CameraFiend.
** DependingOnTheWriter, Micchy himself in that same fic is a zig-zagged example. Due to him having PTSD, SurvivorGuilt and occasional depression, he could no longer reconnect to anyone he used to worked alongside with (save for Kouta and Zack) before he betrayed his friends. He got better since he has Gou and Samus behind him.

* Arnie, in ''Literature/DrFranklinsIsland'', is more independent and contrary than his two companions, and insists on his own plans. But he usually has to go with what Miranda says anyway, since she's usually right and he needs that. His plans do not actually work out so well, anyway.

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Grant Ward is a hyper-competent field agent who initially fights hard against being recruited onto Team Coulson, since he's both more comfortable and more effective working alone. It's actually taken to extremes in places, since he's apparently cut himself out of the loop so badly that he didn't realise S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top scientist and his new teammate Fitz-Simmons was [[TheDividual two people]] until he was introduced to them, despite the implication that ''everyone'' within the organisation knew them through their work by that point. He generally spends the first few episodes behaving as though having skilled back-up from the science and communications departments is hindering him as an operations agent, before DefrostingIceQueen kicks in. [[spoiler:Though midway through Season 1 it's [[TheReveal revealed]] that Ward was EvilAllAlong, and that his tough I-can-do-this-alone act was for show, to make himself into someone Coulson would want to take under his wing in order to "fix" his distrust of other people. Safe to say, ''everyone'' was fooled. In fact he's been a very effective team player the whole time, just for a different team.]]

** Dr. House himself, at least in recent seasons where the focus has been shifting from him getting away with crazy stunts to stick it to the man to him getting away with crazy stunts to distract from his crippling emotional issues, while failing in any actual attempt to resolve them.
* ''Series/MotherlandFortSalem'': Played straight at first, but then subverted. Raelle starts out only wanting to die, depressed over her mother dying, intent on failing training since then she'll be used as cannon fodder. Then despite herself she falls for another woman and gets some close friends among her fellow cadets. Because of this, Raelle shapes up and gets to be quite skilled with her magic.

* ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'': Stinger/Sasori Oranger prefers to act on his own and mostly avoids his team unless necessary. This bites him on the [[ScaryScorpions tail]] ''hard'' at quite a few turns, the best example being when he fights his [[CainAndAbel brother]] and nearly dies. He becomes more of team player afterwards, but still is probably the most aloof Kyuranger. Well, for [[NotSoAboveItAll most]] of the time.

* Wrestling/MercedesMartinez declaring open war on Wrestling/{{Daffney|Unger}}'s [[PowerStable All-Star Squad]] didn't workout so well for her. She could consistently beat most Squad members in one on one matches but any provocation beyond that lead to her facing them 2 on 1 or even ''4'' on 1. Them being a baby {{face}} stable was probably why they didn't gang up on her from the get go, [[{{Heel}} as Valkyrie did]] to solve their Martinez problem much quicker. After returning from that particular failure, Martinez picked a fight with four members of [=VALkyrie=], who backed off, [[ISurrenderSuckers then jumped Martinez from behind]]. After ''that'' Martinez joined with Wrestling/TheaTrinidad to fill in for the indisposed Wrestling/{{La Rosa|Negra}} in Wrestling/{{Ivelisse|Velez}}'s SHINE Sicarias, then for good measure, brought in Shayna Baszler, who she had already swept up with Nicole Savoy for her own Wrestling/{{SHIMMER}} Trifecta, to act as a bodyguard when the other Sicarias weren't around.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Red dragons frequently clash with silvers, as the two breeds prefer the same environments to lair in, have thoroughly incompatible worldviews, and generally detest one another as a matter of course. Reds are larger and stronger than silvers, but tend to lose in their clashes anyway because their pride prevents them from accepting or seeking out aid, while silvers facing a red will willingly work together or seek out non-draconic help.

* ''VideoGame/AtelierIrisEternalMana'': Arlin, the loner swordsman, leaves the party midgame to go hunting down his EvilCounterpart and BigBad Mull on his own because the party doesn't make a quick progress in finding him. It doesn't go well. [[spoiler:He's turned in a stone by his nemesis, and he can't be cured until you beat the game once.]]

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'': This is the ultimate FatalFlaw of the heroes, and is also the biggest reason for the villains being incredibly likely to succeed (on top of PoorCommunicationKills). Most of heroes constantly bicker and in-fight with each other and would rather mind their own businesses than realize the common threat and work with each other, which ends up leaving them surprisingly useless when dealing with people like [[{{Troll}} Terumi]] and [[MadScientist Relius]] because they tend to fight them alone. It's only after they start working with each other beginning with ''Chronophantasma'' than any meaningful progress is made.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': The trope is borne out normally where Amarant is the Ineffectual Loner, and Zidane tries to teach him ThePowerOfFriendship, or at least of discretion.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': [[spoiler:Garrus Vakarian]] starts out this way, causing trouble to the gangs of Omega. [[spoiler:He worked with a team of 11 other people up until the gangs joined forces. The only reason Garrus is alone when you first meet him is because the rest of his team was killed. He's quite happy to join Shepard and, outside of a burning hatred for the man who sold out his team, is not bitter about the concept of teamwork.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', being a franchise centered on ThePowerOfFriendship, has a few. [[TheRival Silver]] from the [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver second generation]] and its remakes is an abrasive, abusive, rather violent ArrogantKungFuGuy of a boy with a massive InferioritySuperiorityComplex. Another rival, Blue from the [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue first generation]], isn't a loner per se, but he also still doesn't understand the Power of Friendship and can't learn to love and respect his Pokémon. A sound butt kicking from the player, who does understand the value of teamwork and friendship, is these rivals' typical fate.

** Knuckles starts out as one due being constrained in a solitary duty to guard the Master Emerald in Angel Island. After forging a friendship with Sonic and Tails, he has somewhat grown out of his shell, though he still sometimes has gruff and anti-social tendencies.

** Shadow plays this straighter than the two above. He doesn't put a lot of value on teamwork and of the like when getting things done. It also doesn't help that he doesn't seem very fond of anyone's presence that much. However, he's also often seen in the company of Team Dark, made up of him, Rouge the Bat, and Omega, and actually works fairly well with them, even not minding their presence as much as he does anyone elses'.

* Antimony from ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' used to be self-sufficient. She's apt to become good pals with any beings from {{psychopomp}}s to the Minotaur to a {{trickster god}}, but didn't interact with living humans on her own initiative. Even Kat is her best friend only because she approached Annie first. From the Chapter 19 or so she occasionally noticed the problem and tried to communicate. By 28 and 30, her failure to cooperate even with the teacher whose help she'd request when things gone wrong or fellow Mediums-in-training was an obvious crippling flaw.

* The title character in ''Webcomic/ScoutCrossing'' is a post HeroicBSOD loner who was a former "Legend about town" along with his deceased brother.

* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'': Agent Tex from is great at winning individual fights and battles, but when it comes to an overarching objective, she always falls short.
** Agent Carolina is a highly skilled fighter, but in solo fights she will push herself beyond her limits in order to prove herself (with disastrous results). When fighting with a team (either the other agents of Project Freelancer or the Blood Gulch Crew), she performs much better.
** Inverted with Agent Maine; as part of Project Freelancer he was TheBigGuy, but on his own as the Meta he became [[KnightOfCerebus one of the]] [[TheBrute most terrifying things]] [[HeroKiller in the entire series]]

** Discussed between Blake and Yang. When Yang asks Blake to stop running herself ragged in order to find Roman Torchwick, Blake cries "I'm the only one that can do this!", prompting Yang to shove Blake to prove that she was [[HeroicRROD in no condition]] to take Torchwick on by herself, and that she'd have to trust her team to help her fight Torchwick.
** James Ironwood's competence and success is proportionately linked to how well he works with others; When he chooses to trust only in his own judgement and blocks others, his methods fail. Even his "inner circle" consist of subordinates who cannot understand his burden, nor call him out for his worst acts. The biggest HopeSpot of Volume 7 is when he is convinced to work with Robyn Hill and with her help manages to capture Watts and Tyrian. However, once he gets wind that Cinder has gotten into Atlas and Salem is on her way to attack the kingdom, he falls back and redoubles his usual measures; He declares martial law, orders the arrests of the heroes, and the ensuing chaos more or less undoes everything he tried to accomplish.

* This, as it turns out, is the Author's problem in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', best described in the {{Defictionalization}} of ''[[Literature/GravityFallsJournal3 Journal 3]]''; While he was ProperlyParanoid in regards to his dream-demon arch nemesis possessing people, his solution to keep ''everyone'' away created more problems than they solved. Not giving his assistant all the details on his research caused that assistant to leave him, and his attempt to use his estranged friend hide said research backfired with him [[spoiler:being trapped in another dimension for 30 years.]] As he admits in Journal 3, if he had opened his circle just a little bit more and gathered TheChosenMany, the BigBad would have been defeated, but instead he focused on launching a one-man assault that failed and led to his capture.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Mr. Incredible]] mostly insisted on working alone. This partially lead to Syndrome StartOfDarkness (he was a HeroWorshipper for Mr. Incredible until Mr. Incredible snapped at him for trying to help apprehend a criminal- though to be fair, the guy ''was'' being TheLoad at the time). Interestingly enough, this seems to partially be a product of an InferioritySuperiorityComplex- the reason he gives for fighting [[spoiler:the Omnidroid]] alone in the FinalBattle is because he's "not strong enough" to protect his family (His wife's answer? "If we work together, you won't have to be").

* Peppermint Fizz from the 2002 ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' series. She generally only shows up when the [[AnAesop lesson of the day]] is something the nicer characters don't need to learn (like "don't be a xenophobe"), and is usually depicted as looking down on the others.

** And Prowl from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. He's skilled enough, but often screws up due to a tendency to try to take on things that would require the entire team.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': In Part 1, Sasuke Uchiha starts out as TheRival, but quickly descends to IneffectualLoner. He is introduced as a grim and solitary prodigy at the Ninja Academy with a special inherited power that should make him all but invincible. Other characters admire and are intimidated by his skill, while women [[{{Fangirl}} swoon]] over his [[{{Bishonen}} good looks]]. He then goes on to get bailed out of every major fight by Naruto. With the start of [[{{Timeskip}} Part 2]], however, he has become something of a subversion -- now that he really has split himself off from the protagonist he has become one of the most powerful ninja in the series, not through the power of friendship but through [[ConservationOfNinjutsu fighting alone]] (though [[SanitySlippage his sanity has taken a nosedive]]).

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': Agent Tex from is great at winning individual fights and battles, but when it comes to an overarching objective, she always falls short.

In short, an isolationist GrumpyBear. If the story is on the idealistic side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, this character will generally only appear in any setting where ThePowerOfFriendship has significance. If they're lucky, they'll be [[LonerTurnedFriend upgraded]] to [[TheRival Rival]] or SixthRanger. If not, they get served as a testimonial to going against the series [[AnAesop Aesop]]. Some writers take the middle ground to be more fair, but that usually results in them conveniently being PutOnABus until the writers need them again. In a more cynical story, they might be the [[AntiHero main character]].

** Asuka Langley Soryuu is introduced in a manner very similar to Jung Freud (same director, same company). However, instead of fading into the background after her first (slight) comeuppance, she is promoted to [[LoveInterest love interest]] (a ''much'' more dangerous position in a [[Creator/StudioGainax Gainax]] giant robot story) and then to central cast member. She still suffers like most ineffectual loners -- it's just longer in coming and much nastier when it happens.
** Shinji's also an ineffectual loner despite being the main character. He beats more Angels than Rei or Asuka, but just gets more traumatized each time.