History RagtagBunchOfMisfits / AnimeAndManga

* ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}'': The heroes are a bunch of quirky kids who lost their parents in the Zaal invasion, with Kento being the TeamDad and Sanae being the TeamMom[[note]]Kento, Danji, Hata and Sanae are teenagers, Manabu is 12, Ochame is 6 and Jiro is 9[[/note]].
-->'''Hata, to Kaori:''' ''"We're like a family. We take care of each other."''

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' sees a four-man group form later on in the manga, in order to counteract the plans of the Homunculi to destroy their country. Said group consists of TheHero Edward Elric (a teenage prodigy State Alchemist with a [[TheNapoleon height complex]] who's turned against the military thanks to their corruption); chimeras Darius and Heinkel (who were betrayed by their State Alchemist boss and don't really have anywhere else to go); and Greed (a Homunculus himself, who went rogue and wants to bring down his creator, and is also possessing the body of Ed's good friend Ling). The four of them share an OddFriendship, but eventually become TrueCompanions, especially Greed/Ling and Ed.

* The Sasuke Retrieval Team of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' can be considered this, especially since 4 of the 5 members were considered dead-lasts in the Ninja Academy. Naruto, an immature prankster, failed the graduation exam three times, passed after proving himself to the teacher and had the overall worst grades in the class. Shikamaru, the leader of the team, is a BrilliantButLazy strategist who excels at shogi and go but did nearly as badly as Naruto. Kiba often prefers sleeping and playing with his dog to studying or training. Choji is a BigEater who isn't terribly bright, and had the worst performance on the Chunin Exam out of the students in his class. Neji is the only exception, as the top student in his class. They were only chosen for the mission because the village was shorthanded due to casualties suffered in Orochimaru's invasion, forcing the higher-ranked ninja to go out on other missions.

** To be more specific: the protagonist crew consists of members who are noted as being the best at their respective roles, but who otherwise don't really mesh in a uniform way like most other crews in the series. The crew currently consists of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} extraordinaire who dreams of being King of the Pirates, a booze-loving swordsman whose sense of direction is so poor that he once got lost in a straight hallway, a FieryRedhead with a MoneyFetish, a FriendlySniper prone to telling tale tales, a perverted, chain-smoking ChefOfIron [[spoiler: who's secretly a runaway [[MafiaPrincess Mafia Prince]]]], a reindeer TeenGenius, an AdventurerArchaeologist who became a wanted criminal at the age of '''EIGHT''' due to being the SoleSurvivor of a genocide carried out by the World Government, a cola-powered {{Cyborg}}, a SkeletalMusician prone to cracking jokes about his own undeath, and [[spoiler: the former TokenGoodTeammate of the [[BoxedCrook Seven Warlords of the Sea]]]].

** To be more specific: the protagonist crew consists of members who are noted as being the best at their respective roles, but who otherwise don't really mesh in a uniform way like most other crews in the series. The crew currently consists of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} RubberMan, a BloodKnight, a ClassyCatBurglar, a {{blatant li|es}}ar, a [[GoodSmokingEvilSmoking chain-smoking]] ChivalrousPervert, a [[VoluntaryShapeshifting form-changing]] [[TalkingAnimal talking reindeer]], a [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer global pariah]], an eccentric {{Cyborg}}, [[DemBones an undead skeleton]] and [[spoiler:a [[FishPeople Fish-man]] that knows [[FantasticFightingStyle Fish-man Karate]]]].

* Division 2, the main cast of ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}'', is made up mostly of police officers who were either KickedUpstairs by their superiors or deemed too wimpy or too wild for the rest of the force.

* Justified by the Survey Corps in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' because only the most brave, determined or ''insane'' join this branch that suffers the most and heaviest losses against the Titans. Nearly every elite officer has at least one quirk but because they are so good at their job, those quirks are mostly tolerated. Levi, the in-universe WorldsStrongestMan, is a SuperOCD clean freak. Mike Zacharius has a habit of smelling people as a greeting, which can be used to detect Titans and he is the second strongest after Levi. Hange Zoe has an unhealthy interest in Titans, but there is a good reason she is a squad leader.

* Justified in ''LightNovel/DanjonNoMaouWaSaijaku'' because the protagonist is summoned by "god" to be the barricade between the human and demon armies to stop the ForeverWar and needs all the help he can get. So he gets stuck with a female one-horned ogre who cries at the drop of a hat, an undine who likes to live in his bathtub, a human princess who is seemingly addicted to squeeing and glomping him like a plushie, and remember, he's a demon lord, a member of a race she's been at war with for so long, neither side can remember who started it, or why, and he himself is an amnesiac perverted preteen who loves to ogle the rest in the bath, and while highly intelligent, is also unbelievably ditzy! And this just keeps getting wackier with each new haremette who joins in!

%%* The Dollars gang in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' is surprisingly this, in spite of their sinister reputation.

* In ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'', the members of the Occult Research Club include: Rias Gremory, [[TheLeader the club leader who's also the younger sister of one of the four lords of hell]] [[spoiler: and apparently loves anything Japanese related]]; Akeno Himejima, [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot the sadomasochistic vice-club leader who's a half-human half-fallen angel shrine priestess turned devil]], three very [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} ditzy]] believers of God (the first, Asia Argento, the ditziest of the three and a former nun; the second, Xenovia Quarta, a former exorcist turned Devil with NoSocialSkills; and the third, Irina Shidou, being a reborn angel who has her priorities mixed up; Koneko Toujou, a quiet CatGirl turned devil and the resident LittleMissSnarker; Gasper Vladi, a [[WholesomeCrossdresser cross dressing]] [[ShrinkingViolet shut-in]] [[{{Dhampyr}} half vampire-half human]]; Yuto Kiba, [[{{Bishonen}} the most handsome guy on the school campus]] and TheAce of the group, with a past as a lab rat for a group of religious fundamentalists; Rossweisse, a cheapskate former {{Valkyrie|s}} turned devil; Azazel, the MadScientist leader of the Fallen Angel faction; Ravel Phenex, an immortal, aristocratic phoenix girl with a knack for making cakes; [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and last]], Issei Hyodo, the ChivalrousPervert LovableSexManiac protagonist with the soul of the Welsh Dragon (as in the actual dragon seen in the flag of Wales) residing in his arm and the object of affection of all the girls in the group. Not exactly the group who can keep the peace between the three factions, but they're the most elite group of the three factions.

* ''Manga/NingenFushinNoBoukenshatachiGaSekaiOSukuuYoudesu'': We have an experienced adventurer who was kicked out of his party for being too good at his job, a disgraced noble girl with a [[TheGamblingAddict gambling addiction]] kicked out of school and abandoned by her fiancee and family, a defrocked priest that now indulges at hostess bars after being falsely accused of sexual misconduct, and, finally, a member of the Dragon Race who was betrayed and had her naivete destroyed by the first human friend she made. They team up based on their mutual distrust of all the rest of humanity.

* The Mekakushi Dan in ''Franchise/KagerouProject'' is built of of 9 members: A moody invisible girl, a nature and animal loving empath, a chronic liar shapeshifter, a 1/4 gorgon fujoshi , a ditzy idol, a mischevious computer virus, a [[{{Hikikomori}} NEET]], a 12-year-old stalker and an Android with amnesia. The only thing keeping them together being their shared societal abandonment and goal to save their loved ones from the Kagerou Daze.

** Ditto to [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam The 08th MS Team.]]

* The Mekakushi Dan in ''Franchise/KagerouProject'' is built of of 9 members: A moody invisible girl, a nature and animal loving empath, a chronic liar shapeshifter, a 1/4 gorgon fujoshi , a ditzy idol, a mischevious computer virus, a HikiNEET, a 12-year-old stalker and an Android with amnesia. The only thing keeping them together being their shared societal abandonment and goal to save their loved ones from the Kagerou Daze.

* In ''LightNovel/CaveKing'', the protagonist Heal is stuck with a population composed entirely of natives for the barrier reef he's dumped on and shipwreck survivors, so he winds up ruling over slimes, cave-spiders, goblins, kobolds, and orcs, the last three having a centuries-long feud among them. If not for the fact that he [Tamed] them all, they might well be murdering each other off!

* The main character of ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'' used to be a shut-in with no useful skills, talents or prospects in the real world. When he turned into an MMO world style adventurer, he retained most of his general uselessness -- not only does he start at level 1, but his stats are below-average and his class is basic and underpowered. Out of the party that forms around him, however (to his chagrin), he is easily the most competent. The [[WhiteMage arch priest]] goddess that was dragged with him to the MMO world is a [[DumpStat certified]] idiot who retains none of her divine powers, but [[ItsAllAboutMe all of her bluster]]. The [[BlackMage arch wizard]] is a little girl who knows a [[KillItWithFire vastly powerful form of explosion magic]], [[AwesomeButImpractical a single use of which leaves her incapacitated for several minutes]], and [[CripplingOverspecialization nothing else]]. And the sword-wielding [[LadyOfWar female crusader]] wears heavy armor and has enormous strength and stamina, allowing her [[StoneWall to take inhuman amounts of punishment in battle]] (which she [[TooKinkyToTorture enjoys very much]]), but [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy cannot actually hit a target herself]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' has a team of regulars that involves an [[WellIntentionedExtremist overzealous justice freak]] who often does ''Franchise/SailorMoon''-style poses and failed acrobatics, an [[TheNapoleon overly short]] UsefulNotes/{{Pettanko}} motivated primarily by greed/gluttony/revenge, a BigEater DumbBlonde BadassNormal, and a CursedWithAwesome [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot golem-demon-human hybrid]]. The extra characters in the party include an ex-princess who worships a monster she made up, a demon with a penchant for secret-keeping (who is also willing to sell out the entire party), and a shrine maiden with an absurd lack of skill in black magic (to the point where she casts carrot-sized fire spells that tickle people) who somehow learned the ''strongest black magic spell.''

** Among the many heroic groups in the Franchise/{{Digimon}} franchise, ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' stands out for prominently featuring a cast that starts off decidedly less than heroic, with most of them having JumpedAtTheCall because they were interested in the "game to decide your future" moreso than they were saving the world. The starting group involves a kid who only went along with the whole thing because he was bored (Takuya), three kids who [[SourOutsideSadInside have difficulty making friends but hide their loneliness under prickly attitudes]] (Kouji, Izumi, and Junpei), and a TagalongKid used to being bullied and prone to crying easily when distressed (Tomoki). [[spoiler:Their SixthRanger (Kouichi) starts off as a brainwashed villain who had some, let's say, [[MoreThanMindControl mixed feelings]] about his relationship regarding his twin brother Kouji, and even after his HeelFaceTurn is not entirely sure how to approach the others, let alone his brother.]] CharacterDevelopment helps them appreciate the stakes they're dealing with and work through their own personal problems, making them closer to proper heroes by the end of the series, but the VitriolicBestBuds nature of their group dynamic still remains conspicuously thicker than that of most other Digimon groups.

** Among the many heroic groups in the {{Franchise/Digimon}} franchise, ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' stands out for prominently featuring a cast that starts off decidedly less than heroic, with most of them having JumpedAtTheCall because they were interested in the "game to decide your future" moreso than they were saving the world. The starting group involves a kid who only went along with the whole thing because he was bored (Takuya), three kids who [[SourOutsideSadInside have difficulty making friends but hide their loneliness under prickly attitudes]] (Kouji, Izumi, and Junpei), and a TagalongKid used to being bullied and prone to crying easily when distressed (Tomoki). [[spoiler:Their SixthRanger (Kouichi) starts off as a brainwashed villain who had some, let's say, [[MoreThanMindControl mixed feelings]] about his relationship regarding his twin brother Kouji, and even after his HeelFaceTurn is not entirely sure how to approach the others, let alone his brother.]] CharacterDevelopment helps them appreciate the stakes they're dealing with and work through their own personal problems, making them closer to proper heroes by the end of the series, but the VitriolicBestBuds nature of their group dynamic still remains conspicuously thicker than that of most other Digimon groups.

* The Yang Fleet from ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' certainly gave this impression. It was first formed as the 13th Alliance Fleet, composed of new recruits and the remnant survivors of another fleet. Their first mission was occupying an invincible space fortress, which they succeeded at with ease. Ultimately, the Yang Fleet gathers up a colorful array of characters: an elite combat division of expatriate Imperials, [[spoiler: a venerable, old Imperial officer in exile]], a womanizing fighter jock, a bureaucratic family man, an ingenious orphan, rogue merchants from Phezzan -- all of them led by a BunnyEarsLawyer who would much rather read history books than wage war, but who just happens to be one of the most brilliant tacticians in centuries. Dusty Attenborough and Poplan coin the phrase "foppery and whim" to describe the Yang Fleet's motivations in the face of incredible odds stacked against them.

* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' has Doremi (a BornUnlucky CuteClumsyGirl), Hazuki (a [[TheSmartGuy brainy]] yet [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] {{Meganekko}}), Aiko (a {{Tomboy}}, Pop (A WiseBeyondTheirYears TagalongKid), Onpu (an ex-DarkMagicalGirl IdolSinger), Momoko (a FunnyForeigner who is a bake chef in training), and Hana (the heir-apparent to the throne of [[EldritchLocation Majo Kai]]). If this doesn't fit, then what does?

* The Sasuke Retrieval Team of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' can be considered this, especially since 4 of the 5 members were considered dead-lasts in the Ninja Academy.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' has the Forger family, a group of three brought together by bizarre circumstances, all of whom are involved in underground work in one way or another. Loid Forger, alias "Twilight", is a spy and MasterOfDisguise who brought the family together as part of a deep-cover operation to oust a political extremist. As an expert spy, he is stoic, detached, and sees his wife and daughter as mere tools to an end...[[CharacterDevelopment at first]]. His wife, Yor, alias "Briar Rose", is a professional hitwoman with keen reflexes and a general inclination towards violence that she tries to hide from others, and she readily accepted a marriage proposition from Loid, unaware of his intentions, to pass off as a normal woman among her peers. Their adopted daughter, Anya, was given telepathic powers in a secret dark project, after which she was shuffled through various orphanages before coming under Loid's care. Neither Loid nor Yor are aware of their spouse's real occupation, nor their daughter's psychic powers. Anya, however, knows Loid and Yor's true natures...and thankfully, she is ecstatic about having such awesome parents, thus making her their SecretSecretKeeper.

* The crew of ''White Base'' in the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' was comprised mostly of civilian refugees and a handful of junior officers who survived the attack on Side 7 in the first episode. They still manage to score a number of improbable victories against the elite forces of the Principality of Zeon, thanks to the SuperPrototype principle and some of the cast developing into [[PsychicPowers Newtypes]]. And more importantly to Federation command, they made ''really'' good decoys.
** Ditto to [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam The 08th MS Team.]]
** The Gundam Team of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' is even ''worse''. Having lost virtually all of their ace pilots to the end of the Gryps Conflict at the end of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', Bright Noa is forced to [[RecruitTeenagersWithAttitude recruit a group of teenagers after one of them, Judau Ashta, attempts to steal the Zeta Gundam.]]
** ''Anime/GundamBuildDiversReRise'' [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] this trope. Hiroto, Kazami, May and Parviz are brought into a strange new story mission within GBN and, after a few missions, it becomes clear that the four have absolutely not cohesion at all -- Hiroto is a stoic BrokenAce, May is also TheAce but tends to do things herself, Kazami thinks he's TheHero instead of TheLoad and Parviz is TheNewGuy. It takes Kazami's former team calling them out to get them to straighten up and act like a normal team, but even that isn't enough to stop the BigBad from pulling off a despicable act. [[spoiler:That act smacks the four with the grim reality that this wasn't a mission within a game, but a real event on a distant planet. Even worse, we find out that the one who brought them there, Freddie, only pulled them in because of Kazami's impulsiveness -- he was looking for [[Anime/GundamBuildDivers the heroes from the previous series]]!]]
** The characters of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' don't seem to fit together at first, either. We have a genetically-altered SuperSoldier who wears Spandex bike shorts, a LongHairedPrettyBoy who dresses like a priest but isn't a priest, an EmoTeen with a side gig as a clown, a musically-inclined rich boy, and an ArrogantKungFuGuy. It doesn't help that the scientists they work for ''conveniently'' forgot to tell them that they're supposed to work together. And while it takes nearly to the end of the series to ''get'' to that point, they do eventually form a formidable team.