History TheLoad / VideoGames

* Wondefully subverted in ''VideoGame/APlagueTaleInnocence''. While Hugo cannot be left alone for too long, which sometimes makes it hard to move around, he's a [[CheerfulChild really nice kid]], never complains, and is as helpful as a sheltered and sickly five year-old boy in a waking nightmare can be expected to be. [[spoiler:And that is before [[EleventhHourSuperpower he gains his ability to control the rats]].]]
* Tiffany from ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'' manages to be this throughout Season 2 due to her [[InsufferableGenius raging ego]], lack of respect for privacy and authority, and genuine (if misguided) attempts to help out. Odds are Bruce would have canned her within the day if she [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections wasn't Fox's daughter]], as every single time she shows up she either inadvertently, directly, or ''intentionally'' [[TheMillstone makes things difficult for him]]. [[spoiler:It ultimately is revealed she is the one who assassinated The Riddler, an act which irrevocably damaged the investigation, made things harder for Batman, Waller, and Gordon, and was instrumental in [[DrivenToVillainy driving]] [[ComicBook/TheJoker John Doe]] to villainy as he's inadvertently blamed for it, though all things considered it's hard to judge her for all of it though, considering [[YouKilledMyFather what happened to her father]] and all]].
* Owyn from ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'' starts out as this, as the nineteen-year-old kid who's not quite as experienced in dealing with life-or-death situations as his companions, which include a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy dark elf]], a former-thief-turned-royal-special-agent, and a knight and soldier of the realm. He only joins the party because he's a security risk otherwise, and his limited magic skills don't do much to offset the trouble of needing to protect him from getting killed all the time. As soon as he starts picking up some new spells, however, this changes dramatically, and you'll be glad to have him. The "blind" spell that he knows from the beginning is quite useful, though. By blinding some enemies in an attacking group you can momentarily keep them out of the fight and let your fighter characters deal with the remainders one at a time.
* Similarly to Carrie, an unlicensed NES and Sega Genesis game titled ''Bible Adventures'' (which was 3 games in 1) had a game called "Baby Moses" in which you played as Jochebed (Moses' mom) and had to carry the baby to the end of each stage. Needless to say, Moses doesn't help Jochebed at all.
* Snipers dueling each other or sniping enemies strictly to rack up kills is a common problem in a ''lot'' of team-based multiplayer games, including ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'', to the point where some players are of the opinion that snipers are completely useless. Of course, there's also a practical point to sniper duels: you have to keep killing the other guy, or at least making yourself a target for him, so that he doesn't start ''shooting at the rest of your team''.
** However, whatever the game's objective may be, it's difficult for the other team to accomplish it when they're dead.

* In ''VideoGame/Wasteland2'' you have the opportunity to release a monster called the Night Terror, which was a BonusBoss in the [[VideoGame/{{Wasteland}} first game]]. It then joins your party, but unfortunately never contributes in any way. It has 8000 health but never participates in combat aside from occasionally taking bullets by standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. It frequently asks for "candy" (by which it means human body parts), and once you give it 20 "candies" it falls asleep forever. Its only redeeming quality is the fact that once you kill it while it's asleep and weakened it gives the party 3200 XP.

** ''VideoGame/{{Fatal Frame II|Crimson Butterfly}}'' has Mayu Amakura. She has more spiritual power than her sister, but it's more of an inconvenience and she is much less active than Mio. As such, she'll spend the game following closely behind Mio and not do anything or curl up in fear when an attacking ghost is near. The advantage to this is, the player can [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential abuse this to have her be ghost bait and get multiple Fatal Shots out of it]].
** ''VideoGame/{{Fatal Frame V|Maiden of Black Water}}'' has Rui Kagamiya. She follows Ren along on several of his trips, but unlike Mayu's example above, she has no spiritual powers herself and her only excuse for coming along is that she is his assistant. And most of Ren's chapters result in his having to rescue her, because [[DamselInDistress Rui repeatedly falls under the influence of Mt Hikami's spirits and can't get out on her own]].

** In the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'' [[DownloadableContent Fell Xenologue]], Nil has terrible combat stats and will almost certainly be one-rounded by any enemy on the map. The right Emblem (particularly [[WhiteMage Micaiah]] or [[ExtraTurn Byleth]]) might be able to make a decent support unit out of him, but for the most part he's just an easy target to cause a game over.

* In ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye 64]]'', Natalya could feel this way at times (like refusing to help you if you kill Boris, who is a BAD guy, thereby guaranteeing the enemies win), but she generally had good health, scripted importance and in some levels was even given a magnum and super aiming skills. The scientists you weren't allowed to kill (unless you wanted to fail the mission) were a much more straight example, however, since many seemed to almost prefer death to life.

* ''VideoGame/AliceInWonderland,'' based on the 2010 [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 film]] of the same name, gives this role to its title character (who is not the PlayerCharacter). Alice does virtually nothing useful for a large part of the game, and provides annoying commentary while you're trying to get on with things. Meanwhile, you have to constantly keep an eye on her to make sure the bad guys don't capture her.

* Yasuhiro Hagakure from ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc''. Due to his idiocy, he contributes very little to the investigations, is the prime suspect for two class trials in a row, and a good chunk of one of the class trials has to be spent convincing him that a very present and obviously alive classmate is not the murder victim. Even Byakuya comments on what a waste of time the last one was.

* Emma Emmerich in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. [[spoiler: She dies at the end of the mission.]]

** Subverted with Haru in ''VideoGame/Persona5''. When the group infiltrates Okumura's Palace, Morgana warns the group that since Haru's Persona is "weak"[[note]]He means that it hasn't fully materialized. Haru has her thief outfit, as proof of her "will of rebellion"[[/note]], she will likely only slow the group down. However, when the group is confronted by the cognitive version of Haru's fiancé, Haru awakens to her Persona and manages to hold her own against him. While Haru may not have Baton Pass or other party member benefits unlocked yet, her Psy and Gun skills are quite useful against many of the enemies.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem:''

* Pokey Minch in ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}''. Before becoming a part of the BigBadDuumvirate with Giygas, he's a GuestStarPartyMember in the starting section of the game. He's also completely useless.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Deconstructed with Joran, the childhood friend of Noah, Eunie, and Lanz. Although it’s never shown in-game, there are cutscenes that show that he was not as good at fighting as his friends, which ended up hindering them in practice battles. Unlike other examples though, Joran actually knew this, and was worried that he would eventually become a burden to his friends when they enter a real battle, even after [[TrueCompanions they]] try to convince him that he’s useful in his own way, and that they’ll stick by him no matter what. [[spoiler: Eventually, he dies during an disaster in which their home was burnt down. Once he died, he found out that he wasn’t just a weak fighter for Noah, Eunie, and Lanz; he was always a weak link in every single friend chain that he’s ever had in his many lifetimes. Realizing that there’s no point in fighting alongside people anymore, since he’d always slow them down no matter what he did, he ended up becoming a Moebius, since he believed it was the only way for him to actually accomplish something in life.]]

* [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3 Xenoblade Chronicles 3]]: Invoked with Joran, the childhood friend of Noah, Eunie, and Lanz. Although it’s never shown in-game, there are cutscenes that show that he was not as good at fighting as his friends, which ended up hindering them in practice battles. Unlike other examples though, Joran actually knew this, and was worried that he would eventually become a burden to his friends when they enter a real battle, even after [[TrueCompanions they]] try to convince him that he’s useful in his own way, and that they’ll stick by him no matter what. [[spoiler: Eventually, he dies during an disaster in which their home was burnt down. Once he died, he found out that he wasn’t just a weak fighter for Noah, Eunie, and Lanz; he was always a weak link in every single friend chain that he’s ever had in his many lifetimes. Realizing that there’s no point in fighting alongside people anymore, since he’d always slow them down no matter what he did, he ended up becoming a Moebius, since he believed it was the only way for him to actually accomplish something in life.]]

*** Unusually for the main character, Cecil briefly becomes this on the way up Mt. Ordeals -- his Dark Knight swords and abilities heal undead, which account for the majority of the area's enemies [[spoiler: including the boss]]. He often ends up focusing on defense or healing while Palom, Porom, and Tellah use their spells to win fights.
** While exploring the Shinra Mansion in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', you find notes on two [[PlayingWithSyringes lab specimens]] that broke out of containment and escaped. One of them was a [[TheAce highly trained soldier]] before the experiments, and was more than able to deal with any pursuit teams, but his friend was in pretty bad shape; suffering from an extreme form of Mako poisoning and barely conscious. The smarter decision would have been go on alone, but the stronger one wasn't about to throw his buddy to the wolves, so he went on the run while dragging his friend's half-dead carcass with him. In spite of the burden, he managed to evade Shinra forces for months, but was eventually cornered outside of Midgar and killed while trying to protect his friend. However, the troops spared the other one since he was barely lucid and deemed no threat. [[spoiler: Fans of the series will recognize this as the story of Zack Fair and Cloud Strife, seen in Cloud's real backstory and the events of ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'']].

* [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3 Xenoblade Chronicles 3]]: Invoked with Joran, the childhood friend of Noah, Eunie, and Lanz. Although it’s never shown in-game, there are cutscenes that show that he was not as good at fighting as his friends, which ended up hindering them in practice battles. Unlike other examples though, Joran actually knew this, and was worried that he would eventually become a burden to his friends when they enter a real battle, even after [[TrueCompanions his friends]] try to convince him that he’s useful in his own way, and that they’ll stick by him no matter what. [[spoiler: Eventually, he dies during an disaster in which their home was burnt down. Once he died, he found out that he wasn’t just a weak fighter for Noah, Eunie, and Lanz; he was always a weak link in every single friend chain that he’s ever had in his many lifetimes. Realizing that there’s no point in fighting alongside people anymore, since he’d always slow them down no matter what he did, he ended up becoming a Moebius, since he believed it was the only way for him to actually accomplish something in life.]]

* [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3 Xenoblade Chronicles 3]]: Invoked with Joran, the childhood friend of Noah, Eunie, and Lanz. Although it’s never shown in-game, there are cutscenes that show that he was not as good at fighting as his friends, which ended up hindering them in practice battles. Unlike other examples though, he actually knows this, and is worried that he’ll eventually become a burden to his friends when they enter a real battle, even after [[TrueCompanions Joran’s friends]] try to convince him that he’s useful in his own way, and that they’ll stick by him no matter what. [[spoiler: Eventually, he dies during an disaster in which their home was burnt down. Once he died, he found out that he wasn’t just a weak friend for Noah, Eunie, and Lanz; he was always a weak link in every single friend chain that he ever had in his many lifetimes. Realizing that there’s no point in fighting alongside people anymore, since he’d always slow them down no matter what he did, he ended up becoming a Moebius, since he believed it was the only way for him to actually accomplish something in life.]]

* [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3 Xenoblade Chronicles 3]]: Invoked with Joran, the childhood friend of Noah, Eunie, and Lanz. Although it’s never shown in-game, there are cutscenes that show that he was not as good at fighting as his friends, which ended up hindering them in practice battles. Unlike other examples though, he actually knows this, and is worried that he’ll eventually become a burden to his friends when they enter a real battle. Even after [[TrueCompanions Joran’s friends]] try to convince him that he’s still their friend, and that they’ll stick by him no matter what. [[spoiler: Eventually, he dies during an disaster in which their home was burnt down. Once he died, he found out that he wasn’t just a weak friend for Noah, Eunie, and Lanz; he was always a weak link in every single friend chain that he ever had in his many lifetimes. Realizing that there’s no point in fighting alongside people anymore, since he’d always slow them down no matter what he did, he ended up becoming a Moebius, since he believed it was the only way for him to actually accomplish something in life.]]

** Junpei for much of ''VideoGame/Persona3''. With pathetic elemental magic and only mediocre Physical skills up until level 55, he is basically useless. ''Much'' later he gets [[HealingFactor Spring of Life]] and ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 FES]]'' upped his usefulness by giving him some support skills, and adding unique two-handed swords that synergize well with Junpei's stats; but he's still easily the worst party member.

** Naoto Shirogane. Naoto has a brutal movepool of high-power Physical skills, unblockable Almighty magic and instant-kill attacks, making for a perfect GlassCannon. However, her health isn't great and her defence stat is also very low, so she has a habit of dying a lot. Also, instant-kills don't work on bosses and are luck-based, Almighty spells are very expensive, and her Strength isn't very good so her physical attacks don't actually do too much damage. The UpdatedRerelease gave her more elemental magic and access to Invigorate for SP regeneration, making her far more balanced.
** Junpei for much of ''Persona 3''. With pathetic elemental magic and only mediocre Physical skills up until level 55, he is basically useless. ''Much'' later he gets [[HealingFactor Spring of Life]] and [[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 FES]] upped his usefulness by giving him some support skills, and adding unique two-handed swords that synergize well with Junpei's stats; but he's still easily the worst party member.

** Subverted with Haru in ''Persona 5''. When the group infiltrates Okumura's Palace, Morgana warns the group that since Haru's Persona is "weak"[[note]]He means that it hasn't fully materialized. Haru has her thief outfit, as proof of her "will of rebellion"[[/note]], she will likely only slow the group down. However, when the group is confronted by the cognitive version of Haru's fiancé, Haru awakens to her Persona and manages to hold her own against him. While Haru may not have Baton Pass or other party member benefits unlocked yet, her Psy and Gun skills are quite useful against many of the enemies.

** Bizarrely, ''you''. This is partly due to Atlus' unbelievably sadistic move of 'If the Protagonist falls, it's game over'. As a result, it becomes an absolute imperative to keep the Protagonist alive, at the expense of all others in the party. This often results in the situation where the boss is about to die, but is doing enough damage that you spend all your effort keeping your hero alive rather than doing damage and getting the fight over with. However, you invariably have the most flexible skillset and access to the best skills in the game, which lightens the burden somewhat. The downside comes when you also have to bear in mind your highly variable ''weaknesses'', too.

* ''Videogame/Yakuza2'': Slightly averted with Kaoru Sayama in that she is generally beloved by the fanbase (disqualifying her for being a DamselScrappy) and the she does sometimes help out in (optional) fights on the street. Otherwise, she is a forced love-interest for Kiryu (completely throwing out the conventions and precedent set by the previous game, in terms of Kiryu's love life), which in turn causes him to be constantly distracted, not act like himself and have to deal with Kaoru's (at the end) crying and blubbering when he should be focused on the task at hand. Furthermore, her involvement in the plot, when you get down to it, has absolutely no bearing on the plot itself; Yakuza 2 (and Kiwami 2, by the way) would be the exact same game, if Kaoru Sayama didn't exist... but that's not necessary on this page. Oh and Kiryu has to carry her around when she is shot in a chapter, making her a literal load.

* In the sixth ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' game, you're in Beijing fending off an alien invasion, and you're accompanied by Chinese soldiers... who does jack squat, save for chatting with each other, wander around aimlessly, and in one occasion trying to kill a chicken while you're battling various aliens.

** Chico is also deserving of special mention in ''Peacewalker'' and ''Ground Zeroes''. An annoying little kid obsessed with monsters and [=UFOs=] in an otherwise fairly-serious game about cold war tensions and coping with identity crises, Chico constantly whines about how he wants to be treated like a man rather than a child while not doing anything to distinguish himself as one. He has to be rescued from enemy soldiers ''multiple'' times and contributes absolutely nothing. And the plot decides to focus on him specifically several times, despite how unimportant and unlikable he is. While he does get some sympathy value for the [[spoiler: horrific torture he receives]] in ''Ground Zeroes'', it doesn't make him any less of a burden -- literally a burden, as saving him is both mission-critical and requires the player to carry him to the extraction point.

* Sam in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''. His older brother Henry's over protectiveness has left him a regular kid who is unable to fend for himself in a world filled with {{Crazy Survivalist}}s and zombies. He does nothing useful during his time in the party! tagging along and being protected by everyone else, and [[spoiler:his inability to defend himself ends up biting him somewhat literally]]. Ellie starts as this as well, but unlike Sam, [[LittleMissBadass she definitely grows out of it]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 GoldenEye 64]]'', Natalya could feel this way at times (like refusing to help you if you kill Boris, who is a BAD guy, thereby guaranteeing the enemies win), but she generally had good health, scripted importance and in some levels was even given a magnum and super aiming skills. The scientists you weren't allowed to kill (unless you wanted to fail the mission) were a much more a straight example, however, since many seemed to almost prefer death to life.

* Tiffany from ''VideoGame/BatmanTheTelltaleSeries'' manages to be this throughout Season 2 due to her [[InsufferableGenius raging ego]], lack of respect for privacy and authority, and genuine (if misguided) attempts to help out. Odds are Bruce would have canned her within the day if she [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections wasn't Fox's daughter]], as every single time she shows up she either inadvertently, directly, or ''intentionally'' makes things difficult for him. [[spoiler:It ultimately is revealed she is the one who assassinated The Riddler, an act which irrevocably damaged the investigation, made things harder for Batman, Waller, and Gordon, and was instrumental in [[DrivenToVillainy driving John Doe to villainy]] as he's inadvertently blamed for it, though all things considered it's hard to judge her for all of it though, considering [[YouKilledMyFather what happened to her father]] and all]].

** "Unusually Ruthless" Reuban is slow, a poor shot, has no special skills, will steal any money in his inventory at the end of the day, is hated by several other mercs, and will kill Ivan (one of the best mercs in the game) if you have them both on your team. To add insult to injury, he will also quit if he doesn't kill enough people, which is more than likely given his atrocious stats.

** Raffito "Raffi" Leevon can also be considered this. He has terrible stats apart from his agility, is hated by several mercs, and has the third lowest Wisdom in the entire series so his stats will improve very slowly indeed.

* Ashley Graham, from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. In the game, you [[EscortMission return her safely to the White House]], which turns out to be as easy as it sounds, for the chirpy First Daughter's heavily prone to danger. Whether she's cowering in fear in the line of fire, being kidnapped by spinning walls, eating up your health items, or shrieking '''HAAALP!''' and '''LEON!''' when snatched up, it barely justifies [[PantyShot the bonus of her company]] in what can be a '''very long trek''' through Ganado-infested territory.\\\

** "Unusually Ruthless" Reuban is slow, a poor shot, has no special skills, cannot improve his stats, will steal any money in his inventory at the end of the day, is hated by several other mercs, and will kill Ivan (one of the best mercs in the game) if you have them both on your team. To add insult to injury, he will also quit if he doesn't kill enough people, which is more than likely given his atrocious stats.

** Willy "Weasel" Augustin is very slow, a poor shot, and has terrible physical stats. While he has passable mechanical skill, this is mostly rendered moot by his very poor Dexterity. He is very loyal and willing to snitch on his teammates, but there are several other mercs who are this ''and'' have other useful skills.