[[quoteright:298:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeBoulet.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:298:Very straight example.]]

->"On their own, the giant infant scientists survived another minute, and then crashed."\\
-- ''{{MST3K}}'', episode #816: ''{{Prince of Space}}''

->"I tend to see Elan more as an obstacle that this team overcomes on a regular basis. Traveling with Elan is kind of like, say, adventuring with syphilis. It ''can'' be done, for a while, but it's not easy and it's not pretty."\\
-- '''Roy Greenhilt''', ''{{The Order of the Stick}}''

Probably one of the most hated characters in a movie or series fandom, TheLoad is a liability to the heroes. They are ''not'' always [[TheMillstone the proximate cause]] of the heroes' failures, but they're weak, they're often TooDumbToLive, and for some reason they've just ''got'' to hang around with the cool heroes and be a part of the action all the time. It doesn't occur to TheLoad that, being an [[NonActionGuy unathletic]] [[{{Muggles}} Muggle]], it really might not be such a good idea for her to rush headlong onto the battlefield along with the heavily armored and super-powered heroes. Said heroes will usually have to spend at least half the battle keeping The Load from coming down with a case of Dead. It's not hard to see why the fans hate them so much.

The Load can sometimes become TheScrappy if they're obnoxious enough -- although sometimes they will not be actively annoying, just [[TheGenericGuy some weaker character]] whom the heroes must bring along and protect for some reason.

TheLoad is the TV/movie equivalent of a powerless {{NPC}} in a video game EscortMission -- only, unlike a video game, you don't have the power to press the "B" button and toss TheLoad to the zombies if you start getting irritated by them.

What makes this trope especially grating is that TheLoad often actually ''does'' have powers or an ability that will come in handy for the heroes, which is, of course, why they must keep dragging The Load around with them. The one instance where TheLoad uses this power to save the heroes, however, does little to make up for the 99 percent of the time that they have spent being a screeching boat anchor.

Closely related to the DamselScrappy, NonActionGuy, TheTeamNormal (if this character is the load because of a lack of powers). Can lead to a LiveActionEscortMission, BadlyBatteredBabysitter, or similar.

If a TimeSkip occurs in the series, expect TheLoad to have [[TookALevelInBadass Taken a Level in Badass]]. Compare TheMillstone, who is much more proactive in making [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption failure the only option]].
----
[[foldercontrol]]

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Mia Koji and Yulie from ''RoninWarriors'' are probably the definitive examples of this trope. The fact that Yulie's reckless interference often saved the heroes (instead of leading to his slashing, bloody death) arguably qualifies as a FamilyUnfriendlyAesop.
** While Yulie was a load because he had the bad luck of being only eight years old back then (and by ''Message'' he was seen starting to [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in badass]]), Mia was NOT a load. If not for her, the Ronins would've been scattered all around the world, since she risked life and limb PuttingTheBandBackTogether after their first big fight. She also made research, let them use her BigFancyHouse as their HQ, etc. Not being an ActionGirl does NOT TheLoad make; overlooking Mia's contributions as a whole because of her lack of fighting skills is damn unfair to her.
*** Well, Mia does have some [[TheScrappy Scrappy-esque]] qualities (to some fans at least), which may make her seem more like a Load than she really is. Which just goes to show how subjective this trope can be.
* A major theme in ''OnePiece'' lately has been the more human characters of the crew (mostly Usopp) concerned about becoming TheLoad, in a LampshadeHanging of CantCatchUp.
** Fortunately, Oda lets them keep their dignity by having them [[TookALevelInBadass take some badass levels]]. Usopp relies on tools and props to deceive and/or gain an edge, and Nami uses her superior wits to overcome a more powerful opponent. That, and she's got a staff that can control weather... don't forget, also, that they've all gotten a lot tougher in minor ways, through their adventures; at one point, a house collapses on the group, and they knock the rubble away without having sustained any injury at all!
* Sakura Haruno from ''{{Naruto}}'' often worries that she might be becoming TheLoad as Naruto and Sasuke both outdistance her (and as she becomes an increasing liability in battle against more powerful enemies). To rectify this, Sakura becomes Tsunade's apprentice, learning an entirely ''different'' field of ninja magic which better suits her skills. During the TimeSkip, she even TookALevelInBadass and became a full-fledged ActionGirl.
** In practice, though, she still sucks. She got knocked out by ''a poweup sequence!''
* Kyousuke Kawachi spends much of his time in ''YakitateJapan'', playing the role of TheLoad, since he has less baking talent than the other characters. By the end of the series, Kawachi has realized his "Load-ness" and has largely excused himself from the final tournament arc.
* Christmas from ''KurauPhantomMemory'' forms quite a burden for Kurau, despite being her long-awaited pair -- that is, until she finally [[spoiler:appears to be able to use Rynax-powers herself]].
* Some people think [[NonActionGuy Raki]] from ''{{Claymore}}'' is a courageous lad who wishes to [[MoralityPet accompany and aid]] the demi-human monster hunter called Clare as best he can, looking on her as the only family he has left. Others consider him a [[TheScrappy clingy, whiny, brat]] whose very existence is an affront and wants him staked out for Yoma bait. '''Everyone''' admits the best thing he can do when he and Claire stumble across a Yoma or psychotic high-end Claymore is run away '''''[=QUICKLY=]'''''. [[spoiler:He eventually TookALevelInBadass after the timeskip, though]].
** And he did have a CrowningMomentOfAwesome when running away from Ophelia wasn't an option.
* Rose from the anime ''RedGarden'' is usually seen cowering in a corner during a fight, screeching her head off. Occasionally she'll try to join in the group's efforts, but only when the opponent is busy grappling with one of the others. Even the slightly precious fashionista, Rachel, [[PluckyGirl gets better results]], and she has no qualms about telling Rose how useless she is in a later episode.
* Azmaria in the anime version of ''ChronoCrusade'' starts out as TheChick, but devolves into TheLoad. She was never a real combatant to begin with, but [[spoiler:her Apostle wings and healing powers stop working near the end of the story, and she does absolutely nothing in the final battle against Aion. This is made infinitely worse by the fact that she is the only one of the four main characters who lives.]]
* Shippo from ''InuYasha'' is the most useless member of Inu-Yasha and Kagome's group as he has virtually no fighting skills, often has to be rescued, and whines a lot. Occasionally he will try to fight, but the best he has ever done in a battle is using his illusion powers to momentarily distract an enemy.
** Although he did singlehandedly fight a lizard demon to a standstill, twice.
* ''InitialD'' has Iketani and Itsuki as "TheLoad" in the sense they will never beat almost anyone in a race. Ever. Takumi came around to help them out for a bit but after he left, they were back to being a weak team.
* Rui from ''TelepathyShoujoRan'' arguably qualifies. Sure, he is supposed to have the ability to reduce and amplify psychic powers, but that hardly ever comes into play. Most of the time he acts as a male {{damsel in distress}} and has to get saved by Ran and Midori numerous times. Worse, he even gets in the way of the {{romantic two girl friendship}} dynamic between the two female leads -- and his personality is pretty bland to boot. He redeems himself somewhat in later episodes, but not by much.
* In ''MahouSenseiNegima'', when a small handful of non-magically trained, [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent ordinary]] students enter the [[MagicalLand Magic World]] without main lead and teacher Negi knowing at first -- against his will --, he spends most of the TrappedInAnotherWorld arc distressed about their safety, seeing as the rest of his students, the [[{{Nakama}} Ala Alba]] were given TrainingFromHell specifically for the dangers said Magical World offered. Fortunately for the students they -- unlike the Ala Alba -- weren't [[ClearMyName on the lam]] and to their credit, have managed to handle themselves well. [[GoGoEnslavement Sort of.]]
** This was subverted in the early Library Island arc, when some of Negi's students dragged him to [[TheLibraryOfBabel Library Island]] to find a magic book to help them pass their finals. Unfortunately, Negi had [[ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime sealed his magic]] to avoid the temptation to fix their grades, making him almost totally useless.
* In ''DragonBallZ'', [[OvershadowedByAwesome Kuririn/Krillin]] became a horrendous [[TheLoad Load]], since he, while [[EarthShatteringKaboom apocalyptically]] powerful in his own right, couldn't possibly hope to keep up with the villains and the Saiyans, who kept [[TookALevelInBadass leveling up]] to comical extremes every time a new BigBad showed up. Eventually, it got to the point where Krillin's only purpose was to carry the [[HealThyself Senzu beans]].
* Ruby Crescent in ''[[SixSixSixSatan 666 Satan]]'' apparently was one of these, until [[spoiler:that was revealed that she was a Recipe, too.]] This Troper still believes she only was The Load because she never... ''tried''.
* ''KiddyGrade'': Mrs. Padushka. The first time she appears, Éclair and Mrs. Padushka are supposed to escort some classified materials. Mrs. Padushka is probably both clumsy and anxious, and probably has little or no bluffing ability. Éclair even outright states "oh no..." when Mrs. Padushka says something really stupid.
* Yaya Yuiki of ''ShugoChara'' is often this. It could even be argued that it's somewhat intentional on Yaya's part, since her "would-be self" is a baby, who isn't ''expected'' to be able to do anything.
* Kyoko from ''DennouCoil'' manages to raise her [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling already very annoying presence]] by getting herself into danger throughout the series, usually by following her older sister Yasako around.
* [[DGrayMan Lenalee Lee]] is this trope for almost 40 straight episodes (out of 103 total at this time) in the second half of the series, barely able to walk under her own power and unable to help in battle.
** She [[CrowningMomentofAwesome got]] [[CurbstompBattle better]].
* Pacifica of ''ScrappedPrincess'' is frequently afraid of being the load, constantly having to be protected by her adoptive sibling bodyguards, Shannon and Raquel. [[spoiler:Fortunately, she does turn out to have special powers.]]
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Comics]]
* A number of sidekicks from the comics of the [[GoldenAge Golden]] and [[SilverAge Silver Ages]] are TheLoad, such as {{Superman}}'s pal Jimmy Olsen, the [[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]]'s Snapper Carr, and the [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]]'s Johnny Thunder. [[PostCrisis Modern]] comics have managed to avert this to an extent, such as by making Jimmy a closer friend of Clark Kent's than Superman's, or by making Johnny a hero in his own right.
** Bucky of ''CaptainAmerica'' seems to be the ultimate (comicbook) example of TheLoad that TookALevelInBadass. He went from being saved from Hitler twice a month to [[spoiler: a BadassNormal LegacyCharacter.]]
*** And now, they have him as Captain America, after Steve Rogers got [[PutOnABus killed]]--Hang on. He's made a badass, kills his second successor, has conflict after conflict with his former mentor... then becomes the next Cap? Don't even get me started on how far into [[DisContinuity Discontinuity]] Stark's behavior in this is..
* Aunt May is such a load in sixties Spiderman comics, it's frankly bizarre.
** This isn't helped by her tendency of referring to "that awful Spider-Man," and her belief that Otto Octavius is a polite and charming man - while he's holding her hostage and Peter is trying to rescue her.
* Rick Jones from ''TheIncredibleHulk''. What could be more useful to some of the most skilled and powerful super heroes in the Marvel Universe than some kid with a motorcycle following them around? Not to mention that he's apparently responsible for Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk. The only reason he's around is because he's one of the only people capable of calming the Hulk down as his friend.
** Peter David eventually subverted this in his ''Incredible Hulk'' and ''Captain Marvel'' series by showing that Rick had spent [[GenreSavvy so much time hanging around superheroes]], he'd actually picked up enough general knowledge, including extensive combat training during the time he insisted on being CaptainAmerica's sidekick, Bucky, to be able to handle himself in almost any situation (like, say, [[CrazyPrepared carrying around a parachute in case he's suddenly stuck on an exploding spaceship]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* In the movie ''Conan: The Destroyer'', the heroes have to spend most of their time babysitting a spoiled virgin princess who's the ''one key'' to finding a powerful artifact. She's pretty much useless in battle, gets kidnapped a lot, and the whole job winds up being a lot more trouble than it's worth. (At the end, once she was queen, she ''did'' take all those annoying {{sidekick}}s off of Conan's hands, so at least she was good for ''something''...)
* Kazan in ''Cube'' starts out this way. He's an autistic who is somehow able to survive in the Cube long enough to meet the other characters, especially given his knack for springing traps. Near the end it's discovered that he has a ''very'' useful skill.
* Honey Rider in ''[[DrNo Dr. No]]''. Oddly enough, she isn't widely hated among ''JamesBond'' fans, partly because she was the first main BondGirl, but she really is the single most superfluous Bond girl in the entire film series. The film makers were usually pretty good in making the Bond girls in the series of at least some nominal importance to the plot of each film (even if, in the case of [[TheManWithTheGoldenGun Mary Goodnight]], their only importance is as TheMillstone), but Honey is of no importance whatsoever. She shows up late in the film, tags along, and does nothing of any consequence. The film takes the time to give her the same backstory from the novel (Dr. No killed her father, she received all her education by reading the whole encyclopedia, she murdered her rapist, etc.) but again, none of that has any impact on the rest of the film. Of course, the fact she's The Load is also an accurate adaptation of the novel, another reason she isn't widely hated. She exists solely to be the DistressedDamsel (and even that comes across as an afterthought) and for {{Fanservice}}. The latter, Ursula Andress does very, very well, which is the third reason she isn't widely hated.
** Bibi Dahl from ''ForYourEyesOnly'' also qualifies. She's the only Bond Girl who offers herself to Bond, and he refuses it (since sometimes even 007 thinks "[[{{Lolicon}} that's just wrong]]").
* The [[BrattyHalfPint annoying kids]] in the ''Gamera''. Yeah, he's the friend to all children, but even Gamera should be sick of saving these dim-witted kids constantly.
* In ''IndianaJones and the Temple of Doom'', Willie Scott had almost no purpose except to be distressed, to yell at Indy a lot, and to be sexy. [[YourMilageMayVary That last one is also dubious.]]
* Stephen from the original 1978 ''{{Dawn of the Dead}}''. He appears all the more useless in contrast to Peter and Roger, the two BadAss SWAT operatives who constantly pull his ass out of the fire. Stephen does get a little better by the end of the film.
* How would you translate "The Load" in French? French movie ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283957/ Le Boulet]]'' (pictured above) gives you a hint.
* Russell in the Pixar film ''{{Up}}'' at first seems to fit this category: he loses his Wilderness Explorer GPS, literally acts as a deadweight while Carl is towing the house, cannot put up his tent, and reveals to Muntz that he and Carl have met "the Monster of Paradise Falls" (i.e. Kevin the Bird). However, he eventually [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]].
* In ''{{Fargo}}'', the killers are a team of two guys working together. One guy is a cold-blooded psychopath who really knows his stuff, and the other guy is a talkative, sex-obsessed person with a really nasty temper. Pretty much every single lead the cops get comes from the second guy, and he really doesn't contribute anything useful to their plan.
* Both children, Lex and Tim, in the film adaption of ''Jurassic Park'' fit into this trope. Throughout the movie TheHero Alan Grant continuously has to save them from danger. Lex agitates a T-Rex by flashing a flashlight in it's eye, and then proceeds to choke Grant when he tries to save her from the dinosaur. Tim has to be guided out of a tree he fell in and later gets electrocuted on an electric fence after failing to climb it in time. Each of them have a shining moment though, with Tim locking a Velociraptor in a freezer and Lex using her 'hacking skills' to bring power back to the park.
** The most noticeable moment of this in the film is when Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler are trying to keep a Velociraptor out of the control room by pushing against the door and the gun is out of reach of them. Ellie tries to reach it with her leg while Lex attempts to get the door locks back on using the computer. And Tim? He's jumping up and down behind Lex, punching the back of the chair and telling her 'hurry, hurry hurry!'.
*** Since they are kids though this is probably a more realistic assessment of how they would handle such an unrealistic situation.
* In ''CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'', it seems like Brent will be this when he [[TagalongKid invites himself along]] to help save the world, but he turns out to be a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Eragon, despite being the main character of ''TheInheritanceTrilogy'', seems to suck in all important ways even after training from reputed masters of fighting. Even having a dragon and [[InformedAbility allegedly]] being an InstantExpert doesn't rescue him from his liability status.
** Somewhat (key word) rectified in ''Brisingr''. Granted, many of those times, he either had Ayra or his cousin around, but at least his M.O. wasn't always "do something stupid so someone can come save my ass."
** Murtagh actually tells him how useless he is in the first book, and Eragon admits to himself (though not out loud) that this may be somewhat true.
* ''{{Journey to the West}}'' has TheLoad as the protagonist! Xuánzàng is a holy buddhist monk, who is protected by four warriors. Not only he is technically unable to defend himself... he is a holy man, and therefore eating his flesh grants immortality. This makes this trope OlderThanSteam.
** One can argue that the book is actually not about him, but about Sun Wukung, because it's ''him'' who gets most of the spoils from their trip, and it's his antics that make the bulk of the book. Xuánzàng even didn't get to appear until [[strike:the second volume!]] approximately the tenth chapter.
* Ernie from the ''GreyGriffins'' book series. He's also kind of TheScrappy as well, with his nerdiness and whininess. But his dumbest move by far was when he just happened to randomly sneeze and blow out the match the heroes were using to light a dark room. Natalia was sufficiently pissed at him for it. Later on, he becomes more of a liability when he happens to end up in a coma caused by an enemy attack. [[spoiler:Later, he is revived from the coma with magic powers, making him surprisingly powerful and no longer TheLoad.]]
* Glew in book 5 of ''[[PrydainChronicles The Chronicles of Prydain]]'', when he isn't TheMillstone. The other characters are very aware of it, but keep him around because they feel sorry for him, have no way of sending him elsewhere, or want to keep an eye on him. To cap off his annoyance factor, he's constantly complaining that he's treated badly and the companions are being selfish in not thinking of his loss.
* The ''CiaphasCain'' novel ''Caves of Ice'' gave us a marvelous example in the form of the tech-priest Logash, whose sole contribution is to tell them a little bit about ambulls before just hanging around.
* Eustace in ''[[TheChroniclesOfNarnia Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'' until the point mid-story when he has his very own {{Anvilicious}} adventure in character development. He starts the voyage as a complaining selfish prig. The "Eustace's journal" portion of the book is a scarily effective portrait of self-delusion and self-righteousness.
* Lex in the novel of JurassicPark. Mostly justified as she is quite young and no matter how annoying she is and how many times she accidentally alerts their position to the T-Rex, there is no way they are going to give up a little girl to vicious dinosaurs.
* Amusingly subverted in John Maddox Roberts' ''Hannibal's Children'' and ''The Seven Hills'', an AlternateHistory in which the Romans circa 100 BCE [[TookALevelInBadass are even more]] {{Badass}} than in reality. Aulus Flaccus is lazy, hedonistic, and a poor fighter by Roman standards, definitely TheLoad -- to '''them'''. By anyone else's standards, he's a terrifying killing machine. Attacked by assassins, he kills all four with six quick swordstrokes ... which his friend Scipio calls two too many.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Doctor Goodfellow, the resident "scientist" aboard ''Searcher'' in the second season of ''BuckRogers'', whose occasional contributions as MrExposition were vastly outweighed by his bumbling mannerisms, inability to control his curiosity, and an utter lack of basic self-preservation instincts. ''Searcher'' and its complement could have avoided at least half of their problems if he had been ThrownOutTheAirlock and Buck, Wilma, or Hawk had asked for a scientist with a ''brain'', instead of trying to protect someone so self-evidently TooDumbToLive.
* Plenty of ''DoctorWho'' companions qualify for this trope, ''especially'' [[TheChick the female ones]], with the most well known examples being Tegan, Susan and Peri. The new series has thankfully avoided this, making the companions useful while still being outshone by the Doctor.
** With the possible exception of Adam Mitchell, who borders on TheMillstone, especially in ''The Long Game''. Note, however, that for once the Doctor dumps him as soon as his status becomes clear.
* River Tam's "wanted" status on ''{{Firefly}}'' generates conflict between the crewmembers by forcing them to avoid lucrative jobs that would involve too much oversight and poses a risk of arrest whenever they come into contact with government agents. That is, until she TookALevelInBadass for the movie. Of course, her brother and protector, Simon, acts as The Counterwieght by being a ''very'' useful doctor and occasional heist planner for the crew, of a talent the crew would not otherwise have access to, if not for the fact that he and River are on the run.
* Luke, [[BigBad Sylar's]] KidSidekick on ''{{Series/Heroes}}''. "You almost got us both killed!" "[[TooDumbToLive That was]] ''[[TooDumbToLive so]]'' [[TooDumbToLive awesome!!]]"
* ''KrodMandoon'' has an intentional example in [[TheSmartGuy Zezelryk]]. He's a SquishyWizard, with the caveat that he is so inept that we never have seen him actually ''performing'' FunctionalMagic, despite repeatedly trying. Because of this, he is far from one of the annoying examples of the trope, especially since he actually does come in useful once in a blue moon.
** Loquasto and Bruce are pretty useless too, though Loquasto has some usefulness as the DumbMuscle. But all three make up for it by having at least one of them be the OnlySaneMan when the rest of the group touches the IdiotBall.
** Loquasto's sense of smell and Zezelryk's potion making also occasionally come in handy [[spoiler: Plus Zezelryk now has a nifty magic item.]] Also in the season finale Bruce shows that he's a pretty competent fighter.
* Charlie on ''{{Lost}}'' was TheLoad for for first two seasons, but came through in a big way at the end of season 3. A few ''characters'' have occasionally treated Hurley like TheLoad, but he's likable enough (and ''also'' comes through at the end of season 3) that the characterization doesn't stick. Daniel spent some time as TheLoad when he was first introduced in season 4 before he gained confidence and moved more towards a leadership role amoung the Frieghties, until midway through season 5 where he suffered a HeroicBSOD after [[spoiler:Charlotte died.]]
* The page quote above comes from the end of the ''{{MST3K}}'' episode, ''[[PrinceOfSpaceSir Prince of Space]]''. Most of the movie's action involves a group of hapless, middle-aged scientists having to be constantly rescued from Evil Alien Chicken people by the title character.
** Furthermore, the movie demonstrated a particular peculiarity Japanese children seem to constantly exhibit in movies like this; namely, the need to be within close proximity of the hero at all times, even or especially when he's busy fighting the Monster of the Week, and even or especially when this would put both them and the hero in incredible danger. Maybe it's the Japanese's way of trying to weed out the weak and stupid and keep the population down.
* In ''{{MST3K}}'' episode 803, ''The Mole People'', the heroes have to drag a middle-aged French scientist with them everywhere they go. He's such a liability, that [[TropeNamer Mike and the bots quickly nickname him "The Load".]] He mercifully keels over early in the film, but still manages to cause problems for the heroes later on when his body is discovered by the titular Mole People. (Up to that point, [[CargoCult they believed the visiting heroes were immortal gods]].)
** "He died as he lived: A total load."
* Much, the TagalongKid from the series ''{{Robin of Sherwood}}'', never accomplishes anything, fails as a lookout, and occasionally lets prisoners go. Any fight scene he's in always involves someone rescuing him, even when he gets a MagicSword. He's quite a liability for a tiny group of constantly hunted outlaws. Of course, he's also the hero's brother...
* The new BBC series of ''Series/RobinHood'' also has one. [[TheSmurfettePrinciple For mysterious reasons]], the outlaws let village girl Kate join the gang instead of shipping her off to Kirkless Abbey like they do to all the other people they rescue. They pay dearly for their foolishness, considering they spend the greater part of the rest of the series rescuing her when she gets kidnapped, caring for her when she gets injured, and having to put up with her endless moaning, nagging, and criticism (all done in a delightful high-pitched screech). She's useless as a fighter, has no helpful skills, lacks the most basic degree of common sense, and isn't even a particularly nice person.
** Once she got captured ''twice'' in a single episode, and both times got stroppy when the outlaws saved her, insisting that she was perfectly capable of handling the situation. (She wasn't).
* The scientists of ''StargateAtlantis'' can't fire a gun to save their lives (literally). While certainly not worthless, [=McKay=] pretty much just hides out and shoots blindly around corners in a firefight.
** He redeems himself (sometimes) when something technical has to be done.
* A new Crime Scene Unit guy on the 08-09 season of ''LawAndOrderSVU'' was a load to the detectives, ''shouting'' inappropriate things at crime scenes and generally annoying the hell out of the other lab tech and Stabler. All this changed in the season finale when he [[spoiler: was revealed to be a complete psychopath who planted evidence and ''killed a man'' to "help" the detectives catch a serial killer and when that failed to impress his colleagues he killed his lab partner and almost killed Stabler. Fortunately Olivia was there to put down the deranged Scrappy.]]
* Gwen from ''{{Torchwood}}'' starts out this way, not even knowing how to use her sidearm. By the second season she's almost constantly acting as DamselInDistress. In season three she's alright, but that may be because the main cast [[ReTool got so little screen time]].
* From ''{{Chuck}}'', there's Chuck.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Video Games]]
*In ''{{The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time}} Ruto ''literally'' acts as a load, forcing Link to carry her around and getting caught by enemies.

*In [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PerfectDark Perfect Dark]] ''{{Perfect Dark}}'' there's Doctor Carroll who you must escort; he gets stuck on walls and odd places when following you, and can die easily.





[[/folder]]


[[folder:Web Comics]]
*Justin of ElGoonishShive feels like this, specifically during the Sister Arc, because he's not strong enough to go and save Elliot from Damien and thus must remain in safety. In fact, his dream that night has him cast as a helpless hobbit who's forced to stay home while the guys who did save Elliot are the Fellowship.
* In ''SluggyFreelance'', Kiki is by far the most useless character in a fight, and her tendency to play with anything shiny has often put the characters in danger from explosions, dimensional portals, and radiation poisoning. However, because she is TheDitz, the GenkiGirl, and the TeamPet, most readers love her anyway.
** Be fair, it's not Kiki's fault that only Bun-Bun has figured out how to utilize (read: weaponize, using a pixie stick and a cardboard tube) her.
* Elan the bard from ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'', as noted in the page quote above. Somewhat predictably, once he's separated from the party (and stuck in a prison cell, no less), he ''literally'' [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]].
** In social encounters, Belkar typically takes over the role of The Load from Elan, being much inclined to provoke (or just plain start) fights in mid-negotiation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''{{Survival of the Fittest}}'', Cara Scholte becomes this for Maxie Dasai. The latter has to literally pull Cara around for a good half a day and was prevented from fleeing from a dangerous encounter with [[CompleteMonster Adam Reeves]] in concern for her companion's well-being. Sure, Cara was catatonic at the time, [[NearRapeExperience but given the outcome of the fight...]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Ma-Ti from ''{{Captain Planet and the Planeteers}}'' often feels this way. After all, WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway? And being just 12 years old when the other Planeteers are over the age of 15 doesn't help, either.
* Cheetor in ''BeastWars'', but on an intermittent basis. Cheetor's ''relatively'' small size/firepower, impetuousness, immaturity, and lack of specialized skills can even verge on TheMillstone. On the other hand, his speed and enthusiasm commonly enable him to fill a solid supporting role.
** Equally, he starts out as the load (and the resident trouble magnet), but throughout the series get powered up and matures into the Cheetor we see in Beast Machines. He's still fast, he's still impetuous but hell, he's scary good at what he does.
** Almost the exact same thing could be said of ''[[TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' Bumblebee. While he is OK at fighting human supervillains he is utterly ''useless'' when fighting Decepticons on his own as his one weapon (nodes that shoot out beams of electricity) are to weak to even make any of them flinch.
** In ''Beast Machines'', Rattrap takes over this position at the beginning because he has trouble transforming and, even when he does, doesn't have any actual weapons in robot form. The other characters, who previously viewed Rattrap as mildly annoying but a good guy to have on your side, start treating him increasingly as The Load. When Optimus is temporarily put out of commission and can't head off the other characters, they get downright hostile. Then they're [[WallBanger surprised]] when Rattrap takes drastic measures to get some firepower.
** The better ''Transformers'' series tend to avert this with their [[RobotBuddy Human Buddies]] -- the [[TransformersFilmSeries location of the Allspark]] is imprinted on Sam Witwicky's glasses, [[TransformersCybertron Coby, Bud and Lori fix things]] and Sari is somewhat of a liaison between humans and the Autobots. ([[TransformersEnergon Kicker has premonition]], but that didn't stop him from becoming TheScrappy.)
* ''Ben10AlienForce'': Alien X is a reality-bending SuperMode alien, the most powerful being in the universe. The problem is that Ben has to get a majority agreement on the tasks at hand with two other personalities within the alien. But seeing as they can't agree on anything, and are only ''slighly'' more likely to agree with Ben, the form is literally dead weight.
** Kind of like Marvel's Living Tribunal.
* Korporal Kretinus/Fugg in ''Insektors''. How he manages to keep his job when he happens to be fairly thick is anyone's guess.
* Nearly everyone in ''DragonBooster'', thanks in part to how [[GodModeSue overpowered]] Artha and Moordryd happen to be.
* Mostly averted with the sidekick Ron Stoppable in ''KimPossible''. Despite the fact that he sometimes does screw up the missions or needs to be saved, history has shown that he does save the mission more times than he screws them up, has Rufus in his pocket who saves the team every time the writers are too lazy to figure out a more clever way, and the first movie showed that Kim was practically a loser without Ron as her sidekick.
** Aside from the few times late in the series when Ron's intermitten monkey-theme superpowers kick in, his contributions are less than obvious, because they're almost entirely passive, but are actually quite important. Most notably, he does two things: transport rufus (who's nearly as useful as Kim) to where he's needed, and keeps Kim [[ThePowerOfLove inspired by his presence, and motivated by his being usually in some danger]]. The latter is usually only very weakly implied, but the aforementioned movie, and similar scenes in a couple serial episodes, made it very explicitly clear: in Ron's significant absence, Kim rapidly becomes MadeOfSuck.
* Aelita from ''CodeLyoko'' might count in the first two seasons, where her only form of defense, "Creativity", costs half of her life points, and she will ''die'' if she runs out of Life Points. She's only useful to stop XANA from attacking by deactivating towers he is using. In the 3rd season, she no longer dies when she loses all her Life Points, and she has an attack that is actually more powerful than those of the rest of the group.
** In the real world, [[DungeonmastersGirlfriend Sissi]] can become The Load if she gets involved in the action (as well as [[TagalongKid Hiroki]] in one episode).
* Played with a lot in ''{{Futurama}}''. Examples: The second episode, where they get stuck in a crater's quicksand on the Moon. Fry says "It's no use! Every man for himself!" Jumps out of the cart, gets stuck, then cries "Help me, Leela!"
* Almost all of [[KingOfTheHill Hank Hill's]] friends and family are Loads on one level or another (and sometimes he himself is a Load to them!), but [[TedBaxter his wife Peggy]] really takes the cake with her raging ego and uselessness.
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