Line #38 Main/AwesomeButImpractical


1	%%
2	%% Image selected per Image Pickin thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=17080942120.78288400
3	%% Don't change or remove without starting a new thread.
4	%%
5	[[quoteright:330:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knife_5.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:330:A giant knife's drawbacks [[{{Pun}} outweigh]] its benefits.]]
7	%%
8	%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion in the Caption Repair thread:
9	%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900
10	%%
11
12	->''"Well, this gun only holds '''100 stakes''' at a time and takes '''two days to reload'''. So I guess it'll have to be the old-fashioned way."''
13	-->-- '''Riff''', ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''
14
15	It's awesome, powerful, unstoppable... but not as useful as it might seem (if it's useful at all).
16
17	Yes, it seems that the designers put so much time into maxing out the "ultimate" factor of the ultimate attack that they forgot to actually make it usable. Maybe it [[YouRequireMoreVespeneGas requires too many resources]] to use, causing its allure of "awesome" to be lost as fast as your party's money. Maybe it requires some sort of bizarre set-up to enact, making your normal attacks and spells much easier to apply inside of battle. Maybe it has a considerable chance of [[CriticalFailure failing]] or [[SelfDamagingAttackBackfire backfiring]] that makes it unreliable from the start. Maybe by the time you get it, there's nothing worth using it on. Or maybe in mathematical terms it doesn't deliver as much bang for the buck as "inferior" alternatives.
18
19	Whatever the reason, it will get used once, as a test drive, and then never again. Yeah, it's amazing, but you've got a game to win here. It's [[TitleDrop Awesome, But Impractical.]]
20
21	Keep in mind, Awesome, But Impractical is not CoolButInefficient, which is where something appears to be awesome, but has no real benefit to using. Awesome, But Impractical ''is'' genuinely useful in the right circumstances — it just requires such a cost and/or is so ridiculously conditional that you're probably not going to use it very often. Sometimes, Awesome, But Impractical moves carry a situational advantage, or are so DifficultButAwesome that even highly skilled players have trouble using them — but there '''is''' an advantage over normal moves if you can afford to pay the penalties and/or work around the drawbacks. Sure, maybe that mini-nuke will [[TotalPartyKill irradiate and possibly kill your party]], but [[GodzillaThreshold if you're in a big enough pinch, possibility of death beats guaranteed death, so you may as well try it.]]
22
23	The very act of using a million tons of firepower on a few weaklings (a.k.a. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill overkill]]) is also Awesome, But Impractical.
24
25	Mind you, if you care about doing cool stuff over winning, [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools they can be quite fun]]. A [[StopHavingFunGuys competitive player]] will never look at them twice; this can be one of the good things about being a {{Noob}}.
26
27	Related to the BraggingRightsReward and InventionalWisdom on occasion. See also UselessUsefulSpell, BlessedWithSuck. Contrast TooAwesomeToUse, BoringButPractical, GameBreaker, SimpleYetAwesome. Compare ''and'' contrast DifficultButAwesome; there, the focus usually is on Impractical turning out to be Awesome. Crosses with DeathOrGloryAttack when a miss will result in nasty consequences, and PowerfulButInaccurate when lack of accuracy is the reason for the impracticality. ScaryImpracticalArmor is a SubTrope, as well as ImpracticallyFancyOutfit. In RealLife, this trope is often the reason behind IWantMyJetPack.
28
29	''Please add only examples whose impracticality is shown within the work. If it works fine in-universe but later thought renders it clearly impractical, that's FridgeLogic.''
30	----
31	!!Example subpages:
32	[[index]]
33	* AwesomeButImpractical/AnimeAndManga
34	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/DragonBall''
35	* AwesomeButImpractical/ComicBooks
36	* AwesomeButImpractical/FanWorks
37	* AwesomeButImpractical/{{Film}}
38	* AwesomeButImpractical/{{Literature}}
39	* AwesomeButImpractical/LiveActionTV
40	* AwesomeButImpractical/NewMedia
41	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/BingingWithBabish''
42	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/TierZoo''
43	* AwesomeButImpractical/TabletopGames
44	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/MagicTheGathering''
45	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/YuGiOhCardGame''
46	* AwesomeButImpractical/VideoGames
47	** AwesomeButImpractical/EasternRPG
48	** AwesomeButImpractical/WesternRPG
49	** AwesomeButImpractical/FightingGames
50	** AwesomeButImpractical/FirstPersonShooter
51	** AwesomeButImpractical/RealTimeStrategy
52	** AwesomeButImpractical/TurnBasedStrategyGames
53	** AwesomeButImpractical/SystemsAndAccessories
54	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/{{Minecraft}}''
55	** ''AwesomeButImpractical/DeadAheadZombieWarfare''
56	* AwesomeButImpractical/WesternAnimation
57	* AwesomeButImpractical/RealLife
58	** AwesomeButImpractical/{{Military}}
59	** AwesomeButImpractical/{{Vehicles}}
60	[[/index]]
61
62	!!Other examples:
63
64	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
65	* In ''Animation/MotuPatlu'', a lot of Dr. Jhatka's inventions sound cool or even awesome on paper, but in practice they get people in trouble more often than not.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Music]]
69	* AvantGardeMetal in general can be this to more purist metalheads. Yes, there is a lot of experimentation and innovation, but more 'traditional' metalheads see the genre as unnecessary complexity.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Mythology]]
73	* The Gáe Bulg (alternatively spelled Gáe Bolg or Gáe Bulga) of Celtic Myth. While the specifics differ depending on the telling, it's typically described as a weapon that never misses when thrown, and kills the target in an impressively bloody manner. Problem is, it only works under very specific circumstances (i.e. you have to throw it with your foot), tends to get stuck in the person you throw it into, and you have to tear off all of the LudicrousGibs and wash it in a stream before you can use it again.
74	* In Christian beliefs, Jesus was omnipotent, but using all his power would defeat the purpose of trying to convert the people through words and minor miracles. Yes, he could have just smacked Pontius Pilate (the governor who let the crowds Crucify him out of fear of a riot) aside with his mind or cursed those who crucified him, but that would make the sacrifice he was for Mankind's freedom null and void.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Roleplay]]
78	* Almost three centuries into the ''Roleplay/EmbersInTheDusk'' quest, you gain the blueprints for a Deus class superdreadnaught, an experimental capital ship of the Dark Age, along with a defence station built with the same technology. Problem is, even with all the Trust's infrastructure, a forty kilometer ship and an even bigger fort aren't easy to build in less than a century and without being bankrupted. Also, separate infrastructure needs to be designed and set for fueling, since both vessels run on antimatter instead of promethium.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Web Animation]]
82	* The CreatureHunterOrganization D.H.O.R.K.S. from ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'' seems to fight exclusively with weapons from Edo period Japan. When the group ends up getting slaughtered in a CurbStompBattle against I.M.P (who, besides being physically stronger than any D.H.O.R.K.S. member due to being demons, have guns and far more practical melee weapons), Agent One questions why they only use these weapons instead of something actually more useful. Agent Two's answer? Because the Edo period was badass.
83	* Marckus' Stake-jacket from ''WebAnimation/HunterTheParenting''. It can be used to stake any vampire that attacks him from the front, but it's useless at any other angle, requires him to put himself in danger, and runs the risk of him staking himself with one wrong move.
84	* ''WebAnimation/MurderDrones'': The protagonist Uzi creates a railgun design to fight the titular Murder Drones. When she is actually able to use it, the blast is powerful enough to blow one's head off in a single shot. However, this one shot is likely all one would get as it requires about 30 minutes to recharge and the Murder Drones also possess a potent regeneration ability and can simply repair the damage done to them, meaning that the shot will only be a temporary setback unless both the head and torso are destroyed.
85	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': While [[GreenRocks Dust]] is mostly used in bullets, it can also be fused with the body. The problem with this is that it will leave anyone who does so in immense pain, too much to actually use the ElementalPowers Dust grants. However, [[NobleDemon Hazel Rainart]]'s [[OnePersonOnePower Semblance]] enables him to FeelNoPain, and as such he is unaffected by the adverse effects of Dust fusion and can utilize massive amounts of it in battle. As each Semblance is unique, he's really the only one who can pull this off.
86	** Velvet Scarlatina's entire skill set is this. Velvet's Semblance is PhotographicMemory -- she is able to perfectly copy any fighting style of any Huntsman or Huntress after watching them in action once, and her weapon Anesidora is actually the camera she carries everywhere, it can create HardLight copies of other weapons she has photographed. This combination means Velvet is an astonishing DittoFighter: during the Battle of Beacon, she [[OneManArmy singlehandedly]] defeated two Paladins, the same kind of Atlesian war mech Team RWBY plus Sun and Neptune fought in Volume 2 (and they had a bit of trouble with ''one'' Paladin). However her camera requires photographs that are expended after use, the projections only last briefly, about half a minute at most and according to ''VideoGame/RWBYAmityArena'', Anesidora needs a special kind of very rare Dust to create those projections. [[TooAwesomeToUse This means she has to be very sparing and strategic about when to break it out]], relegating her to a KickChick in most fights. Even during the Battle of Beacon, she only used her weapon when Coco gave her permission.
87	** Neon Katt is a firm believer of RollerbladeGood, combined with nunchucks and HitAndRunTactics using [[AnIcePerson Ice dust]] to restrict her opponents' movement. It's an incredibly effective way to fight... provided the ground is nice and even. She dominates [[MightyGlacier Yang]] for most of their bout in Volume 3's Vytal tournament arc, until Yang gets pissed and starts wrecking the floor with blasts from Ember Celica. When Neon trips up on a crack in the floor, she rolls into an arena geyser trap and practically eliminates herself.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Webcomics]]
91	* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'': "Sword-Chucks, yo!"
92	** Sword-Chucks were only recognized as unusable by every idiot in the cast. White Mage pointed out they could be useful with a longer chain.
93	** Staff-Chucks: Like sword-chucks, except that they shoot magic in every direction. Black Mage ''loved'' them, since destroying everything in sight is his favorite thing to do.
94	** Black Mage's Hadoken could count since, while it's incredibly powerful, he can only use it once a day. The Blackjack Hadoken makes this go even further.
95	* ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'' has ''Chainsaw Nunchucks''. Badass, but no human being could possibly wield them. That's why they have the Uberninja though.
96	** Also [[spoiler: Frans Rayner's]] laser eye. Highly destructive...but burns calories to fire, tiring the user out in one shot.
97	* Emel's 3D-printed gun in ''Webcomic/BrokenTelephone.'' It's made entirely out of plastic, so it can be smuggled through airport security, but [[spoiler:it can only be fired once.]]
98	* ''Webcomic/CityOfBlank'': One of the top Blank Hunters wields a combination axe/flamethrower/club. Fully developed blanks are just normal people, [[spoiler: but a select few hybrids can change their shapes to make their limbs act as weapons,]] and the only thing developing Blanks have that make them out of the ordinary are dark patches of skin that don't get injured or experience pain if you stab them. A net would probably be more effective for subduing developing Blanks, albeit there wouldn't be as much of an intimidation factor.
99	* ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse'': While Super Saiyan 3 suffered this in the original, ''Multiverse'' takes this aspect of it further by having it drain the user's ki and stamina faster the stronger they are. Meaning that someone like Vegito can't even use the form for a minute before he reverts back into his base form. [[spoiler: The failure to take this drawback into account is what leads to U13 Vegeta's death against Raichi]]
100	* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Pandora notes, that due to MugglesDoItBetter being in full effect in modern times, [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2016-08-15 "exotic and scary" magic is no match for a muggle with a gun]].
101	* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Invariably, most Sparks use this as their modus operandi in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', with many being disposed of by their own faulty/crazy creations.
102	** Genetically engineering a super intelligent cat so that he can persuade other cats to act as spies, messengers, saboteurs, etc. Unfortunately cats have an attention span that measures in microseconds they’ll do what you want until they fall asleep or see something move.
103	** Later averted, because ''some'' animals actually do listen...
104	* When Jade enters the medium in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', [[spoiler: Bec]] prototypes her kernelsprite with [[spoiler: himself. The upside? Jade's Sprite is a NighInvulnerable RealityWarper! The downside? So are all the mooks...]]
105	** The upside is that [[spoiler:after the White Queen's plan succeeds and PM puts on her ring, Jack Noir is effectively neutralized since he is no longer a hundred times more powerful than everyone else. Jade also gets First Guardian powers by merging with Jadesprite while ascending to god tier.]]
106	*** Except it goes right back to being a problem when [[spoiler:Jade is mind-controlled by the Condescencion upon entering the Alpha session, allowing her to take control of Jane through the tiaratop and zapping Dirk, the person most likely to beat her, to outside the universe.]]
107	** The Unreal Air gives you unlimited vertical flight. Stable, blandly slow, unsteerable flight. Dave finds a good enough use for it to ascend to his Gates, but it has no other practical use.
108	** [[spoiler:Caliborn]] enters Sburb by himself, rather than with [[spoiler:his sister Calliope]] as originally intended; since it is intrinsically a multi-player game, the game is forced to adapt by generating an almost unique variant: a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast dead session]]. This session has much higher stakes, depending on whether you are a passive or aggressive player. For an aggressive player, you get the chance to gain [[spoiler:completely unconditional immortality, transcending the typical limited immortality of God Tiers]]; however, not only are the rules of the game completely different in a dead session, but the game becomes nearly unwinnable. [[spoiler:First, the game doesn't naturally generate a planet for you, so you're forced to transport your own entire planet with you into the game first. Then, you can't even unlock your quest until you've already done a bunch of messing around on your newly altered homeworld. Then, Skaia produces fifteen planets (resembling billiard balls) before collapsing into a black hole, which you have to shoot all the planets into in the correct order (saving the eighth planet for last) before each one is destroyed by a bomb at its core; if at any point you're too slow, you lose. Forever. And even if you manage all that, you're still up against a boss fight with Yaldabaoth, the single most powerful Denizen in all of Paradox Space.]] It's heavily implied that [[spoiler:Caliborn was only able to beat his session on account of being [[{{Determinator}} so damn stubborn]]]].
109	* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' has a [[http://irregularwebcomic.net/88.html laser-nunchaku]] and the [[http://irregularwebcomic.net/82.html quadruple, quintuple, and septuple laser swords.]]
110	* ''Webcomic/ALoonaticsTale'': Lynch Cruor fights using a Punjab lasso; in layman's terms, a weaponized hangman's noose. Unfortunately, he's a vampire who's just shy of 1000 years old, so he's had plenty of time to practice.
111	* ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'': In the last strip on [[http://narbonic.com/comic/june-2-7-2003/ this page]], Mell comments on how Madblood's laser pistol fits this trope.
112	* ''Webcomic/{{Nedroid}}'': Reginald has two of the world's deadliest weapons: [[http://nedroid.com/2012/01/deadly-weapons/ invisible swords.]]
113	* Taken to hilarious extremes in ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' with the enormous weapon the dwarves make in "The Obituator".
114	** If you don't want to look for the comic the blade, according to the dwarves: is [[{{BFG}} the size of a plow,]][[note]][[RuleOfCool "which is awesome"]][[/note]] has three blades (one of which flies off and slices their enemies faces off and the other has belts to strap a live viper [[note]]"To bite while you smite."[[/note]]), and a [[GagPenis large penis]] that comes alive at night to have sex with your wife. It has to be said that the dwarves are [[spoiler: fukken]] stupid...
115	*** Almost everything. They get it just right in 'The Lonely Mountain', where they build a very literal dragon dildo. That spews fire. The Smaug expy was very pleased.
116	* ''Webcomic/OneOverZero'': Mock's horizonite(TM) claws.
117	* Vaarsuvius of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has chosen to specialise in evocation magic at the expense of conjuration and necromancy. In layman's terms, this means [[AmbiguousGender they]] have access to a lot of flashy destruction spells at the expense of losing access to many 'utility-effect' spells (teleport, summoning minions, level drain, etc). Many experienced D&D players are of the opinion that damage-dealing evocations are one of the least optimal ways of utilising a wizard's power. [[spoiler: The method Vaarsuvius eventually found to counteract this temporarily -- the Soul Splice -- wasn't much better, seeing as it involved '''renting''' Vaarsuvius' '''soul''' (trust me, ItMakesSenseInContext) and only lasted so long, as well as making them feel sufficiently omnipotent to take on Xykon and the rest of Team Evil... single-handedly. In short, once is enough.]]
118	* In [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=3465#comic this]] ''[[Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal SMBC]]'', the wife creates a super powerful exoskeleton, capable of, among other things, lifting two thousand kilograms. She built it for the purpose of having sex.
119	** ''"It sounds like you just selected easily measured metrics, and increased them, rather than trying to actually make the sex better." "That's called progress John."''
120	* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
121	** The flying uniforms are useful for transport and getting into good positions, but the Toughs still do a lot of foot-slogging because being in the air makes you fairly obvious, and being obvious on the battlefield makes you a target.
122	--->'''Legs:''' Do you know what we call flying soldiers on the battlefield?\
123	'''Tino:''' Air support?\
124	'''Legs:''' ''Skeet.''
125	** ''Dragon''-class cruisers like the ''Kitesfear'' (the first ship Tagon owned) were originally designed to have a main gun, but budget cuts scrapped it. When Tagon gets a new custom ''Dragon''-class cruiser, the company pays extra to add back the main gun. Tagon speaks with the shipwright, and is told that it's a short-range but powerful weapon. Tagon is not impressed.
126	--->'''Tagon:''' So... it's a gun you bring to a knife fight.\
127	'''Shipwright:''' You sound just like the bean counters who killed the project.
128	* In a similar vein, Second Empire Dalek instructors in ''WebComic/SecondEmpire'' make sure to drill into the green soldiers that the flight mechanism is really useful, but situational at best in battle and conditional on possessing absolute air superiority. Pturdd, a particularly idiotic GeneralFailure, activates the feature to escape an explosion. It works, and he even has time to scream vengeance for the damage to his casing's paint job... for all of five seconds before every enemy Special Weapons Dalek locks on his position and blows his sorry carcass to kingdom come.
129	* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
130	** Riff uses one of these in [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=981004 this]] strip. At first a [[GatlingGood gatling gun]] that fires 100 stakes per second sounds like a great anti-vampire weapon. But when you realize that it can only hold one hundred stakes at a time and takes two days to load... well, you can stake one vampire really, ''really'' good. The other dozen or so will tear you to pieces. Reloading the weapon apparently takes longer than it took to build it.
131	*** He eventually makes it better by adding a beltloader, similar to a mini-gun.
132	*** Most of Riff's inventions (at least in the earlier days of the strip) seem to fall into this problem. Look at some of the later (and alternate universe), stuff, however...
133	** As revealed at the end of "Oceans Unmoving", at some point in the future, people discover Timeless Space and get excited about it as a potential "extradimensional" shortcut through space, investing a lot in exploring it. Eventually they abandon the attempt when they realise it's not so much a shortcut as a slog through mushy porridge of doom. This is because everything brought there risks running out of time and freezing up, and it takes a lot of effort and planning to prevent this.
134	* [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] in [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page463.html this Subnormality strip]]
135	* ''Webcomic/TerrorIsland'': The Green Grocer's spaceship, which only goes to the Moon. Not to the Moon and back, just to the Moon.
136	* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' has several in his "What If" column. To name just one: You really can build a jet pack from machine guns firing downward. The physics work out. (It's still not in wide use.)
137	* ''Webcomic/YehudaMoonAndTheKickstandCyclery'' has Arboritum, an extremely light alloy that would be excellent for bikes if it wasn't also extremely fragile, ensuring the rider serious injury from frame cracking.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Web Videos]]
141	* Discussed in the video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsgA8dJjCe4 5 Most Insanely Massive Projects Never Completed]]'' by [=Dark5=]:
142	** Project Atlantropa: A plan to dam the Strait of Gibraltar in order to provide power for the entirety of Europe and much of North Africa and the Middle East. In the process, it would've caused the sea levels in the Mediterranean to drop by 200 meters, creating a land bridge between Spain and North Africa. While the power output of the resulting structure would have been more than enough to meet the area's energy needs, the amount of money and manpower needed to construct it would have been unfeasibly high, and the resulting environmental damage to the Mediterranean Sea would have been downright catastrophic.
143	** Project Plowshare: An attempt to use nuclear explosives for peaceful, non-military purposes such as oil fracking and natural gas extraction. Not only was it soon done in by public opposition and international treaties banning the underground detonation of nuclear weapons, but the oil and gas extracted was of very poor quality in addition to being contaminated by radiation from the explosives.
144	** Project Mohole: An attempt to drill into the Mohorovičić discontinuity -- the boundary layer the between Earth's crust and mantle -- via multiple super-deep boreholes on the ocean floor and bring up core samples. Not only was the project criticized as a waste of funds that could have been better used for other scientific endeavors, but very little useful information on the planet's internal composition was obtained anyway.
145	** Welthauptstadt Germania: UsefulNotes/NaziGermany's plan to rebuild UsefulNotes/{{Berlin}} in their image and serve as the capital of their proposed Greater German Reich. Their proposal would have seen the construction of such megastructures as a Triumphal Arch six times the size of the Arc de Triomphe and a domed People's Hall the size of several city blocks. The end results would not only have been too heavy for the city's soft soil to handle, but would have created an utterly inhospitable living environment for the city's ordinary citizens. On top of all that, [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust thousands of Jews, Romani, homosexuals, and political prisoners were worked to death]] in order to facilitate its construction. Only a handful of the proposed structures were built, and most were demolished after the collapse of the Nazi regime.
146	** Project Pluto: A proposal for a cruise missile utilizing a nuclear-powered ramjet engine. While its range would have been far greater than any other cruise missile at the time, it would irradiate everything in its path, making it impossible to fly over friendly territory or even launch from American soil, and was quickly rendered obsolete by the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
147	* ''WebVideo/AlienBiospheres'': The synischians have a fused limb girdle that allows them to grow to massive sizes, but unfortunately limits their movement. The megalobrachids and the isopterygians have their size as their main defense mechanism, so they don't need much agility, but this becomes critical for the eudeinognathans, which are unable to adapt to some environments in which they are unable to employ their ambush hunting tactics (like in the steppe). In fact, this fused limb girdle and massive size ultimately leads to the synischians' demise during the extinction event, with the exception of the hybognathans.
148	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'''s ''[[WhatCouldHaveBeen Buu Bits]]'' when Vegeta lampshades how ineffective Goku's [[CombinedEnergyAttack Spirit Bomb]] had been up until that point.
149	-->'''Vegeta:''' You used it on [[DefeatMeansFriendship me]], didn't work. You used it on [[ArchEnemy Frieza]], DIDN'T WORK! AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN ''BOTHER'' USING IT ON [[UltimateLifeForm CELL]]!\
150	'''Goku:''' Well yeah, 'cause I knew it wouldn't work. [{{beat}}] But it will this time though!
151	* ''WebVideo/FalseSwipeGaming'': Reshiram boasts the unresisted STAB combo of Dragon/Fire,[[note]]until the Fairy-type was introduced in Gen 6[[/note]] and can 2-hit KO just about anything in Gen 5. However, its inability to switch in safely, vulnerability to entry hazards, and low speed rendered impractical to use. And when Kyurem-White was released and did everything Reshiram did but better, Reshiram was rendered unviable.
152	* ''WebVideo/JetLagTheGame'': In the European tag game, the rules technically allowed for a player to board an airplane, which would likely make them impossible to catch. However, affording it would have required so many challenges that the player would almost certainly be caught.
153	* ''WebVideo/OddSquadGadgetTesters'': The gadgets that go in the "scrap it" pile look sturdy and decent enough, but what they do turns out to either be detrimental to the user and/or the target or turns out to be completely worthless. Of note is the Make-Another-Gadget-inator Gadget, which can only be used to make a copy of the same gadget.
154	* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': From an in-game perspective, Scott's kangaroo army peaks at around 25 members and are a [[BadassCrew force to be reckoned with]], but when he brings them all out for a run in the finale, their presence causes some severe technical issues and a {{Blooper}} where the server crashes halfway through [[spoiler:a large battle]].
155	* ''WebVideo/SMPEarth'': Planes -- they can achieve high-speed flight, but require fuel and cost a lot. Wilbur Soot tried to capitalize on this by building a paywall bridge across the Atlantic ocean, but that became awesome but impractical in itself, because Wilbur was killed ''seven times'' while building that bridge.
156	* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': Stampy admits that the You Again Cloning Contraption is this in Episode 707, "Collecting History"; having a cloning machine in what's essentially the equivalent to his basement is amazing, and it is legitimately useful for duplicating building materials or food, but the fact that [[spoiler:the BigBad's used it for his own evil schemes ''twice'']] by that point means that it's really done more harm than good.
157	* ''WebVideo/TulokTheBarbrarian'' discusses it with some of his builds, which are more focused on character consistency than MinMaxing. Builds that [[DumpStat dump]] [[GlassCannon Constitution]] (i.e. All Might and sans) are never really good ideas because of how vulnerable it makes you, multiclassing Monk/Barbarian isn't optimal by any means, focusing on a specific element will hobble you if the monster happens to be immune to that element, and characters who focus on [[SupportPartyMember support]] or trickery often have very little methods of actually dealing damage.
158	* Discussed beautifully in ''WebVideo/VisionOfEscaflowneAbridged''.
159	-->'''[[NaiveNewcomer Hitomi]]:''' "Energists"?\
160	'''[[CatGirl Merle]]:''' Fossilized dragon hearts, stupid. They use them to power [[AMechaByAnyOtherName Guymelefs]].\
161	'''[[WarriorPrince Van]]:''' That's why I had to kill a dragon before I could claim [[HumongousMecha Escaflowne]] and [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething become king]]. In a war, the side with the most energists usually wins.\
162	'''Hitomi:''' ...Huh. And Zaibach [[BoringButPractical mines them in mass quantities]]?\
163	'''Van:''' Yup!\
164	'''Hitomi:''' And [[DoomedHometown your people]] get them by killing live dragons in single combat?\
165	'''Van:''' Yup! ...When you put it that way, it sounds pretty stupid, huh?\
166	'''Hitomi:''' A little bit, yeah.
167	[[/folder]]

Context Main / AwesomeButImpractical