History Main / UtilityPartyMember

See also SupportPartyMember, MechanicallyUnusualClass (which Utility Party Members may be), UtilityWeapon and AbilityRequiredToProceed (which Utility Party Members may have).

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', if the player chooses the Golden Deer, they get immediate access to Ignatz. While Ignatz's offensive stats are somewhat lacking, he learns [[StatusBuff Rally Speed]] and [[StatusAilment Break Shot]] early, allowing him to help his allies. Additionally, his budding talent in Reason gives him Seal Strength to stack on top of Break Shot's Defense debuff, and allows him easy access to Dark Mage for Poison Strike if so inclined. He can even maintain utility into the endgame, as his strengths in swords and bows gives him easy access to the Assassin class, which can pick locks for free and cannot be targeted by enemies so along as an ally is also in range, in addition to Rally Dexterity and Rally Strength.

* ''TabletopGame/BladesInTheDark'' puts an unusual spin on this trope: rather than physical combat, the bulk of its gameplay is dedicated to criminal excursions or "scores", with downtime activities played out in-between. While most playbooks focus on abilities relevant in the course of the scores (e.g. the Cutter's brawling skills, the Lurk's lockpicking, and the Slide's fast talking), the Spider is a DiabolicalMastermind whose abilities almost exclusively come into play during downtime. Thus, while a crew with a Spider in it is somewhat handicapped during scores, they have it a ''lot'' easier in the long run.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' titles prior to [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation VII]] had certain moves double as [[AbilityRequiredToProceed field moves]] called "Hidden Machines" or "[=HMs=]", and you were required to teach them to a party Pokémon in order to traverse the overworld. Some of them are good moves in their own right, such as Surf, which is the most powerful 100% accuracy Water-type move in the game. Most, however, were only useful as navigation tools and had minimal utility in battle; the most infamous being [[NuclearCandle Flash]], an accuracy-reducing move... that itself had poor accuracy prior to Gen IV. As a result, many players capture a Mon that can learn most of them, [[FanNickname generally referred to as a]] "[[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/HM_slave HM slave]]", letting their other five monsters keep their movesets completely geared for battle.

** Thieves and dancers/bards tend to be this; their combat skills are lacking (in the latter's case, they sometimes can't fight at all), and the main reason to have them is to steal items/pick locks and give your other party members extra turns, respectively.
** In some games, units initially locked to staves could be seen as this (and when they promote, [[BlackMagic attacking]] [[JackOfAllTrades is just one more utility]]). Tina from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' fits this the most, as she has two staves locked solely to her which basically let her serve as a thief from long distance: The first, Thief, allows her to steal from any unit in range with a lower magic stat (and "in range" is pretty damn far), while the other is called the Unlock staff and opens locked doors. The GBA games also had an Unlock Staff, as well as a Torch Staff which would create a circle of visibility centered around any point in the user's long-distance staff range in FogOfWar chapters.

* Riki from ''{{VideoGame/Xenoblade}}'' is a capable fighter in his own right, but his talent art and various unlockable skills focus more on easing the grind of sidequests, levelling up, and exploring.

* Ornn in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' is notable for his utility effect: he can upgrade the equipment of the other players to increase its health bonuses, armour and magical defence ratings, damage output and so on. While he isn't ''devoid'' of combat power, what he does offer is more oriented around disruption and buffing your team's crowd control rather than pure damage.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' titles prior to [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation VII]] certain moves doubled as [[AbilityRequiredToProceed field moves]] called "Hidden Machines" or "[=HMs=]", and you were required to teach them to a party Pokémon in order to traverse the overworld. Some of them are good moves in their own right, such as Surf, which is the most powerful 100% accuracy Water-type move in the game. Most, however, were only useful as navigation tools and had minimal utility in battle; the most infamous being [[NuclearCandle Flash]], an accuracy-reducing move... that itself had poor accuracy prior to Gen IV. As a result, many players capture a Mon that can learn most of them, [[FanNickname generally referred to as a]] "[[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/HM_slave HM slave]]", letting their other five monsters keep their movesets completely geared for battle.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pokemon}}'' titles prior to [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation VII]] required certain field moves called "Hidden Machines" or "[=HMs=]" to be taught to a party Pokemon in order to traverse the overworld. Most of these moves were only useful as navigation tools, with minimal utility in battle ([[NuclearCandle Flash]] being the most infamous example in the series). As a result, many players capture a Mon that can learn most of them, [[FanNickname generally referred to as a]] "[[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/HM_slave HM slave]]", letting their other five monsters keep their movesets completely geared for battle.

* Tobias from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. On one of his first missions, he is [[ShapeshifterModeLock permanently caught in the shape of a red-tailed hawk]]. For this reason, he can no longer [[Animorphism morph]] or participate in the missions, except for the espionage of well-known Yeerks. In the thirteenth volume, however, he regains his powers and can morph again.

* Tobias from ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. On one of his first missions, he is [[ShapeshifterModeLock permanently caught in the shape of a buzzard]]. For this reason, he can no longer [[Animorphism morph]] or participate in the missions, except for the espionage of well-known Yeerks. In the thirteenth volume, however, he regains his powers and can morph again.

* ''VideoGame/FellSealArbitersMark'': Peddlers have passive skills which double the power of consumable items and let them perform situational commands, like opening chests, without wasting their action. They can also buff their allies, lay traps for enemies, and make single-target consumables affect an area.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'', thieves and dancers/bards tend to be this; their combat skills are lacking (in the latter's case, they sometimes can't fight at all), and the main reason to have them is to steal items/pick locks and give your other party members extra turns, respectively.
** The [[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe sixth and seventh]] games included a character named Merlinus, a merchant who handled your spare items. He couldn't fight (and, in the seventh game, couldn't even ''move'' until late in the game), but you could send him items when a character's inventory got too full, and take items out again if you stood next to him. He was pretty much useless in the sixth game, though, since he took up a deployment slot, had no convenient means of leveling up, and you could send items to him regardless of whether he was on the field or not. The seventh game changed this by allowing him to level up each time he survived a chapter, giving him his own unique deployment slot rather than using one that could go to someone else, and making it so he ''must'' be on the field in order for you to send items to him, making his survival far more important.

** In some games, units initially locked to staves could be seen as this (and when they promote, [[BlackMagic attacking]] [[JackOfAllTrades is just one more utility]].) Tina from ''Thracia 776'' fits this the most, as she has two staves locked solely to her which basically let her serve as a thief from long distance: The first, Thief, allows her to steal from any unit in range with a lower magic stat (and "in range" is pretty damn far), while the other is called the Unlock staff and opens locked doors. The GBA games also had an Unlock Staff, as well as a Torch Staff which would create a circle of visibility centered around any point in the user's long-distance staff range in FogOfWar chapters.

This is a gender-neutral subtrope of NonActionGuy and, in many video games, of NonPlayerCompanion. The most common subtype found in DungeonCrawling games is a MasterOfUnlocking; in rarer cases, their primary role may be a HumanPackMule or SensorCharacter. May overlap with the QuirkyBard, TheSmartGuy, or TheFace (when they focus on diplomacy and/or haggling). Compare TheMedic, whose main function is to heal, not to fight (though a CombatMedic tries to strike a balance).

* ''VideoGame/StarCrawlers'': Much like Deckers in Shadowrun (a game that StarCrawlers takes a lot of its inspiration from), Hackers are the exploration utility character of the game. Though most characters offer additional event options outside of combat depending on what skill trees they invest in, Hackers have by far the most numerous and useful of out-of-combat event options. They're not essential to have, but Hackers can interact with so many things outside of combat that they're extremely helpful in missions (and they're no slouches in combat either).

* ''VideoGame/{{{StarCrawlers}}'': Much like Deckers in Shadowrun (a game that StarCrawlers takes a lot of its inspiration from), Hackers are the exploration utility character of the game. Though most characters offer additional event options outside of combat depending on what skill trees they invest in, Hackers have by far the most numerous and useful of out-of-combat event options. They're not essential to have, but Hackers can interact with so many things outside of combat that they're extremely helpful in missions (and they're no slouches in combat either).

* ''Video Game/{{Wizardry}}'': Many games in the series have a major emphasis on disarming trapped chests you find from defeating enemies in order to obtain new equipment. Some of the traps are extremely dangerous, and while thieves are never particularly good combatants, when you're exploring the dungeon to get stronger and obtain new items they are nearly essential. Even among the upgraded classes you can get, thieves generally are the best at identifying and disarming traps.

* ''VideoGame/Starcrawlers'': Much like Deckers in Shadowrun (a game that Starcrawlers takes a lot of its inspiration from), Hackers are the exploration utility character of the game. Though most characters offer additional event options outside of combat depending on what skill trees they invest in, Hackers have by far the most numerous and useful of out-of-combat event options. They're not essential to have, but Hackers can interact with so many things outside of combat that they're extremely helpful in missions (and they're no slouches in combat either).

* ''Video Game/Wizardry'': Many games in the series have a major emphasis on disarming trapped chests you find from defeating enemies in order to obtain new equipment. Some of the traps are extremely dangerous, and while thieves are never particularly good combatants, when you're exploring the dungeon to get stronger and obtain new items they are nearly essential. Even among the upgraded classes you can get, thieves generally are the best at identifying and disarming traps.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland 2}}'', party members with high Intelligence tend to become this, thanks to getting more skill points per level. The HotScientist Rose stands out in particular among recruitable [=NPCs=] thanks to being the only one with Int 10, thus getting 5 skill points per level and inevitably ending up as the party's skill monkey ([[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers if you find her in time, that is]]).

* ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'': The Merchant class tree was this. Although they had skills geared towards fighting meelee combat and the use of axes, they are not any more exceptional at fighting that other classes, however, they offer a multitude of bonuses where the market system is concerned, this includes discounts when buying and higher selling cost when in NPCs' stores and carrying much more items than other classes, which is great for long dungeon crawling, since carrying over 50% of your weight limit will stop your auto heal, and identify unknown items without using a magnifying glass.

* Sentinels like Kaidan and Engineers like Tali in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' are the resident utility party members. Both posses the Decryption talent for unlocking item crates and the Electronics talent for hacking terminals. Shepard can naturally become this themselves if you play as Sentinel or Engineer.

* In ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'', Kazuma is this to compensate his teamamtes's CripplingOverspecialization. Unique as he is the protagonist in the franchise.

This is a gender-neutral subtrope of NonActionGuy and, in many video games, of NonPlayerCompanion. The most common subtype found in DungeonCrawling games is a MasterOfUnlocking; in rarer cases, their primary role may be a HumanPackMule. May overlap with the QuirkyBard, TheSmartGuy, or TheFace (when they focus on diplomacy and/or haggling). Compare TheMedic, whose main function is to heal, not to fight (though a CombatMedic tries to strike a balance).