History Main / OverratedAndUnderleveled

** Halsin likewise joins the group at the average level of your party members (since you will recruit him at the beginnig of act 2, he will be somwhere around level 9). For an ''arch''druid, this will be exceedingly low when you can recruit him (for reference, the druids in the grove outside Trademeet in BGII won't even let you try to become an archdruid before you hit level 14, and you may need another level or two to actually succeed). In particular, while he is a {{Hunk}} and many people comment on his physical strength, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation his actual strength score will be the perfectly average 10 when he joins you]], due to the game adjusting his stats for a Druid, where Strength is something of a DumpStat. When he fights alongside you as a NPC earlier, his character profile has the much more adequate 16 Strength.

-->-- From a [[https://reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_Kingmaker/comments/zyxdkl/anybody_else_just_dislike_greybor/j28craf/ Reddit thread]] about ''VideoGame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous''

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}: the 3rd Phantom'', character levels are determined by when in the storyline they first appear. Since the four senior captains are encountered first (but don't join you until later), these legendary warriors have starting levels lower than captains hundreds of years their junior (though their high statistics make them more powerful, even at low level, than many other characters).
** The game's dialog will also assume that the main character is weaker than pretty much everybody else, when in fact the opposite is true. The lieutenants in particular are bad about this; pretty much all of them talk down to the main character, when in fact they can't hold a candle compared to him/her, even when they first appear.
* In ''VideoGame/ChaosRingsIII''. Al is introduced as a high ranking explorer. When he's brought into the party he's not much stronger than the rest of the team. One of the other members in the party actually calls him out on this, and he responds that he's high ranking because of his experience, not raw power.
* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' uses different stats and AI for allies compared to enemies. This can be clearly seen in Gaussian's story arc, where the previously incompetent Longbow allies that you've fought with for a few missions now are suddenly much, much tougher when you have to fight them instead.
** Vanguard also demonstrate this. The player will usually fare better against the Rikti than Vanguard does, but when the player has to fight Vanguard during a civil war they are suddenly so much more deadlier that you wonder why they couldn't do anything without your help before.

* Rather disappointingly enforced by paladin Artix of ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' In his own movie (Artix VS The Undead), Artix was shown to slay hundreds of Undead with a swipe of his sword. In game however [[spoiler: he is a level 3 Paladin who seems weaker than your main character, bar his four-hit Light combo]]. Justified when you find out while talking to Artix [[spoiler: that after fighting a deadly creature summoned by a Master Necromancer, he sealed the monster inside his battleaxe and as a result of the battle lost 30 levels. Implying that before the battle, he was still very much a badass at level 33]]. Even at level 3, his four-hit combo is extremely powerful, and turns most fights at lower levels into cakewalks. Add the fact that the increase in damage from level 3 to 33 is generally at least 1000% and you realize that he was originally probably capable of taking out the player's full-grown dragon.

* The prequel novel to ''VideoGame/GuildWars 2'' is about the FiveManBand [[spoiler: (well, it's five by the end of the book)]] who took down several [[TheDragon Champions]] of the [[EldritchAbomination Elder Dragons]], and nearly succeeded in taking out one Elder Dragon himself. In the game proper, the tutorial mission and lvl 1-20 story missions of each race feature the player fighting alongside one of the group's members, where they are marginally stronger or equally strong as the low level player.
** Interestingly, this may be due to the same (unexplained) game mechanic that effectively de-levels high level players while they're in low level areas. So while your level 80 player character will still have more skills and traits, he too will be OverratedAndUnderleveled if you want to help your friend with his new character. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality But at least you can still have fun in the low level areas this way.]]

** The "Apex Predators" update of December 2022 introduced rank VIII with the F-16 Falcon, the MiG-29... and the Tornado IDS. Presented as a comparable counter to the other two right from the cinematic trailer, the Tornado was by no means an "apex predator" during his service. It was in reality a strike aircraft. In-game, countries that operated it, such as the UK, Germany and Italy, don't have a counter to the F-16 spam until other aircraft are introduced. Even if the developes instead added first its interceptor variant, the Tornado ADV, it would have been in the same situation of the aforementioned Lightning as its role was different from what happens in game (and the Tornado ADV was even underwhelming as a platform).

** Jaheira returns in ''III'', at the same level as Tav. For someone who, at the end of ''Baldur's Gate II'', may very well have been at level ''26'', and has spent a century adventuring with the Harpers, this is... very low. Some justification is made, as Jaheira is now approaching the end of her life and feeling her age.

The problem arises after this character joins your party, and a dedicated player notices aside from perhaps being a [[LeakedExperience few levels]] higher at first, this character is inevitably weaker than the main character.

** Halsin likewise joins the group at the average level of your party members. For an ''arch''druid, this will be exceedingly low when you can recruit him (for reference, the druids in the grove outside Trademeet in BGII won't even let you try to become an archdruid before you hit level 14, and you may need another level or two to actually succeed). In particular, while he is a {{Hunk}} and many people comment on his physical strength, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation his actual strength score will be the perfectly average 10 when he joins you]], due to the game adjusting his stats for a Druid, where Strength is something of a DumpStat. When he fights alongside you as a NPC earlier, his character profile has the much more adequate 16 Strength.

** Halsin likewise joins the group at the average level of your party members. For an ''arch''druid, this will be exceedingly low when you can recruit him. In particular, while he is a {{Hunk}} and many people comment on his physical strength, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation his actual strength score will be the perfectly average 10 when he joins you]], due to the game adjusting his stats for a Druid, where Strength is something of a DumpStat. When he fights alongside you as a NPC earlier, his character profile has the much more adequate 16 Strength.

** Wyll was a vigilante whose exploits were told through all of Faerun, and who considered diving into [[{{Hell}} Avernus]] to kill one of [[DemonLordsandArchdevils Zariel']]'s top lieutenant a task he had good odds of coming back alive from, but he explicitly notes that the tadpole he's been infected with has made him weaker (and that excuse probably apply to the entire party as well, but none besides him raise it as a possibility).

** The Dark Urge is eventually revealed to have been [[spoiler:the Chosen of Bhaal in the same way Ketheric Thorm, the ClimaxBoss of Act 2, is of Mrykul and Gortash, one of the other two BigBad, is of Bane]]. which should make them as powerful as them, but they still start at level 1. Their case is justified, however: [[spoiler:Orin backstabbed them, wrecking their body and severely damaging their brain in her attempt to be rid of them]].

** Wyll was a vigilante whose exploits were told through all of Faerun, but he explicitly notes that the tadpole he's been infected with has made him weaker (and that excuse probably apply to the entire party as well, but none besides him raise it as a possibility).
** Karlach is a soldier who proved herself a great asset in [[EvilVsEvil the Blood War]], but the infernal engine powering her is explicitly weaker in the Material Plane (where your adventure takes place) than in Avernus, which was where she fought.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', your party members have reputations and histories quite at odds with the fact they all start at level 1. Some are given an attempt at justification, even if they sometimes aren't eenough:

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', your party members have reputations and histories quite at odds with the fact they all start at level 1. Some are given an attempt at justification, even if they aren't quit eenough:

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', your party members have reputations and histories quite at odds with the fact they all start at level 1. Some are justified, however:
** Gale was a human wizard powerful enough to draw the attention of the goddess of magic herself, who took him as a lover for a short time, but now he has a FantasticNuke stuck inside him, which he is deathly afraid to set off and took most of his magic to implant inside him.

** Astarion is a vampire spawn and has served his master for the past two centuries. But the tadpole is explicitly messing with his vampiric nature (which is how he can [[DaywalkingVampire walk outside on a sunny day]], among other things).

** Wyll was a vigilante whose exploits were told through all of Faerun, but he explicitly notes that the tadpole he's been infected with has made him weaker (and that excuse probably apply to the entire party as well, but none besides him comment on it).

** Minsc returns as well, and he joins the group at the average level of your party. Which by the time you can recruit him, will be a respectable 10 to 12, but still nowhere near what someone with his experience should be.

** Halsin likewise joins the group at the average level of your party members. For an ''arch''druid, this will be exceedingly low when you can recruit him. In particular, while he is a {{Hunk}} and many people comment on his physical strength, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation his actual strength score will be the perfectly average 10 when he joins you]], due to the game adjusting his stats for a Druid, where Strength is something of a DumpStat. When he fights alongside you as a NPC earlier, his character profile as the much more adequate 16 Strength.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', several of your party members have reputations and history quite at odds with the fact they all start at level 1. Some are justified, however:
** Gale was a human wizard powerful enough to draw the attention of the goddess of magic herself, who took him as a lover for a short time, but now he has a FantasticNuke stuck inside him, which he is deathly afraid to let detonate and took most of his magic to implant inside him.
** Wyll was a vigilante whose exploits were told abour through all of Faerun, but he explicitly notes that the tadpole he's been infected with has made him weaker (and that excuse probably apply to the entire party as well, but none besides him comment on it).
** Karlach is a soldier who proved herself a great asset in [[EvilVsEvil the Blood War]], but the infernal engine powering her is explicitly weaker in the Material Plane (where your adventure takes place) than in avernus, which was where she fought.

* Zero, the "Legendary Hero" from ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'', was violently awoken from his 100 year rest and has forgotten most of his fighting techniques. True to his series heritage, he recalls most of his techniques [[PowerCopying after beating a boss and mimicking its attacks.]]