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The Lancer
alt title(s): Lancer

Azazel: I see you are the surly, temperamental one who instigates, Wolverine. You cannot be the leader, then.
— The Uncanny X-Men, Issue #432

The right-hand man and go-to guy for The Hero. He has the same well-rounded skill set as his counterpart, but lacks his pure leadership ability and team spirit. If the hero is The Captain, the Lancer is his Number Two.

The Lancer serves as a foil to the hero, either as a former enemy or as a life long friend. For example:

This is the member of the Five Man Band who is most likely to not be a team player. He's the one who sneaks off on his own to advance the team's goals independently. He might be jealous of the leader, and think he'd be better for the job. If The Complainer Is Always Wrong and there's a chronic complainer to act as the show's Butt Monkey, it's this guy. He's also the one most likely on the team to go turncoat, and the last one the hero will suspect. Nevertheless, there's a strong chance that his rivalry with the hero may develop into a deep, powerful friendship. This is a frequent source of Ho Yay. The Hero and The Lancer may also be rivals for a love interest.

In the event that the hero of the team is unable to lead, or the team temporarily has no Hero, The Lancer steps in. Sometimes, he's forced to take the position against his will. Either way, this plot is used to contrast the hero's leadership style against what the lancer's would be. A frequent ending for this plot is for The Lancer to gladly give up the reins of power.

Powers and skills common to the lancer include:

When worst comes to worst, The Lancer is the one person on the team who is likely to die for the cause. He's also the most likely member of the team to pull a Face Heel Turn and get turned to The Dark Side (though this usually doesn't last), or end up Brainwashed And Crazy by the Big Bad or the Evil Genius (and if this happens, either The Chick or The Hero will talk him out of it. The Lancer is an extremely common Ensemble Darkhorse or Draco In Leather Pants, especially if The Hero is of the clean-cut type.

It's becoming more and more common for this character to be female, either merged with, or contrasted with, The Chick. Having the character who is both most like and most unlike The Hero also being the strongest woman can create UST. If not multi-classed with The Chick, she may be in a Love Triangle, acting as the Veronica to The Chick's Betty in pursuit of the object of her secret desire, The Hero. A female Lancer and The Chick may develop into an Odd Couple, and even begin to work as a sub-team. A former Dark Magical Girl almost always becomes The Lancer after her Heel Face Turn.

Named for The Middle Ages tradition of yeomen, just a step below knights, to use lances.

Examples

Anime and Manga
  • "Condor" Joe Asakura, a.k.a. G-2 from the Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. In the beginning, he's a Heroic Sociopath constantly undermining Ken's authority because he wouldn't let Joe go on the attack. But by the second half of the first series, Joe's the only one who's able to talk Ken down when he MAJORLY Freaks Out after Red Impulse, Ken's long-absent father, is killed. Joe somewhat subverts the stereotype because he actually would have led the Science Ninja Team if not for a terminal brain injury that ultimately kills him.
  • In the Sailor Moon anime, Rei/Sailor Mars is the Lancer of the team. The English dub exaggerated this into a running subplot of her trying to subvert Usagi's leadership. In the manga, however, the Lancer is Minako/Sailor Venus, the leader of the Senshi in the Silver Millenium and the most seasoned warrior of the group.
  • Kei Kurono from Gantz was undoubtably The Lancer to The Hero Masaru Katou, his old friend. Then Katou died and Kurono became The Hero instead.
  • Rina/Green Pearl Voice from Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, and until Character Derailment gets her, Caren.
  • Minto Aizawa/Mew Mint from Tokyo Mew Mew is The Lancer to Ichigo Momomiya/Mew Ichigo.
  • Fate Testarossa, indeed an ex-Dark Magical Girl, in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. In StrikerS, Vita and Signum become Lancers to Nanoha and Fate, respectively.
  • Haruna Kisaragi/Corrector Haruna from Corrector Yui, who was also a Dark Magical Girl for a time. In the second season anime, Control and Synchro/War Wolf are Yui's Lancers when they form a Five Man Band IR and Rescue. Also, Ai Shinozaki/Corrector Ai is often Lancer-like towards Yui.
  • In Soukou No Strain, Lottie considers Sara her Lancer up until she realizes Sara's identity. She finally admits that maybe it's the other way around.
  • Natsumi/Shiro Loli in Saint October.
  • Every team on Digimon had one member who didn't get along with The Hero, escalating every season. To date: Yamato, Takeru, Ken, Ruki, Kouji, Touma.
  • Kai of Beyblade switched between The Lancer and The Rival. Rei/Ray also had his moments.
  • Vegeta from Dragonball Z played both The Lancer and The Rival to Goku after joining forces with the heroes against Frieza on Namek. He's not the only Z Warrior who fits, either: Piccolo can make a good case.
    • Previous to that, Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien (and Chi-Chi for about five seconds) all had a run as the Lancer.
  • Ishida and Chad in Bleach. Ishida fits the rivalry mould, hating The Hero based on his race (Shinigami) but finding him a decent person other than that. Chad acts as a good parallel with Ichigo's powers, since both have powers that stem from dark sources that they use to protect people. Chad's power is akin to that of a Hollow, which is why - like Hollows - all his abilities have Spanish names. And Ichigo's is half hollow. The difference between them is when Chad discovers this he embraces the power.
  • Sanosuke in Rurouni Kenshin. He starts out as Kenshin's rival before quickly becoming his best friend, spent the gap between the revolution and the start of the series as a glory-seeking street fighter rather than an atoning wanderer, and prefers hand-to-hand combat over disciplined sword fighting (although he was skilled with his BFS, which he lamentably only used twice).
  • Brock plays Lancer to Ash in the Pokemon anime, though not the games (which are a different universe entirely).
  • The lion version of Voltron has a Lancer appropriately named Lance.
  • Natsuki Kuga is Mai's Lancer in Mai-HiME, being both her Foil (Mai is very strait-laced, while Natsuki's willing to break a few rules to meet her personal objective) and opposite number in the Elemental Powers department (Mai uses fire, and Natsuki uses ice).
  • Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto fits this in almost every possible sense until his Face Heel Turn. Replaced later by Emotionless Guy Sai.
  • Suzumiya Haruhi plays with this, in that the Lancer, Kyon, is in fact both the narrator and the main character... with a little dash of The Hero, something that the flighty and childish Haruhi is definitely not.
  • Jet Link aka 002 is Joe Shimamura aka 009's Lancer in Cyborg 009. Albert Heinrich aka 004 and Francoise Arnoul aka 003 sometimes fits in, too.
  • Guts filled this role for Griffith in Berserk when he was still part of the Band of the Hawk.
  • Snagglebit in the obscure 1990s anime The Littl' Bits fit this trope to a T.
  • Eiji Shigure in Gravion may be the main character of the series, but is arguably the Lancer of the Gravion team, and often fills in the role with main pilot Toga.
  • Roronoa Zoro in One Piece. Not only is he the straight man to all of Luffy's antics, he is literally the Number Two as Luffy's first mate. Given the relative specialties of the two (namely Zoro being a swordsman and Luffy with a weakness to being cut) and the outcomes of the times they fight in the series, Zoro could probably beat Luffy in a fight even though Luffy's the more powerful overall.
  • There are several (and very different, personality-wise) Lancers in the Mobile Suit Gundam meta series:
    • Mobile Suit Gundam, the original: Kai Shiden and Bright Noa, to Amuro Ray.
    • Zeta Gundam: Quattro Bejina aka Char Aznable is the Lancer and the Big Brother Mentor to Kamille Vidan. Emma Sheen also is Lancer-ish sometimes.
    • Gundam ZZ: Beecha Oleg, to Judeau Ashita.
    • Victory Gundam: Odelo Henrik, to Usso Evin.
    • Gundam The 8th Platoon: Karen Joshua, to Shiro Amada
    • Gundam 0083: Chuck Keith, to Kou Uraki.
    • G Gundam: Chibodee Crockett, to Domon Kasshu.
    • Gundam Wing: Duo Maxwell, to Heero Yuy.
    • Gundam X: Roybea Roy, to Garrod Ran.
    • Turn A Gundam: Sochie Heim, to Loran Cehak.
    • Gundam SEED: Mwu La Flaga and Athrun Zala, to Kira Yamato.
    • Gundam SEED Destiny: Rey Za Burrell, to Shinn Asuka.
    • Gundam 00: first Setsuna F. Seiei to Neil "Lockon Stratos" Dylandy, then either Tieria Erde or Lyle "Lockon" Dylandy to Setsuna.
  • In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, depending on your point of view either Simon is Kamina's Lancer, or Kamina is Simon's. Upon Kamina's death Kittan gradually qualifes for the role, showing a strong grasp of Kamina's ideals, but lacking the gift with words he and Simon have to express it.
  • Natsu Tanimoto, a.k.a. Hermit, combines this with a bit of Sixth Ranger to Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple. One of the last to defect from Ragnarok to Shinpaku Alliance, and even then unwillingly, Natsu and Kenichi have the same basic decency but are otherwise polar opposites.
  • In sports manga/anime, the sub-captain of the team is likely to be The Lancer to the captain. Either that, or The Rival within the team plays this role for The Hero (who isn not necessarily the captain). Examples:
    • The Prince Of Tennis:
      • Seigaku: Oishi and/or Fuji, to Tezuka. Momoshiro, to Echizen and later, to Kaidoh
      • Fudomine: Kamio, to Tachibana.
      • Saint Rudolph: Kaneda, to Akazawa. Mizuki, to Yuuta (as a good example of a sneaky Lancer who uses less-than-ethic methods).
      • Hyoutei: Shishido, to Atobe; he actually took one for the team during the yakiniku battle (sacrificing himself by drinking Inui juice so his team could go on). Ohtori, on the other hand, is Shishido's own Lancer (which makes them also a very popular Ho Yay subject, even lampshaded once or twice in the Dating Sims).
      • Yamabuki: Sengoku and/or Dan, to Anti Hero Akutsu.
      • Rokkaku: Saeki, to Aoi.
      • Jyousei: Wakato, to Kajimoto.
      • Rikkaidai: Sanada, to Yukimura.
      • Higa: Rin, to Kite.
      • Shitenhouji: Chitose (also Sixth Ranger), to Shiraishi. Koishikawa was supposed to be The Lancer, but Chitose's appearance shot that to Hell.
      • If we count the Tagalong Kids, Tomoka is The Lancer to chicky heroine Sakuno.
    • Captain Tsubasa:
      • Depending on the team he's playing, Tsubasa can hace several Lancers. Up to date: Ishizaki, Misaki, Wakabayashi, Hyuga, Pepe and/or Rivaul.
      • Wakashimazu and Takeshi, to Hyuga.
      • Oda, to Matsuyama.
      • Müller, to Schneider. Sometimes Schester too, though he's more of The Smart Guy A small subplot in Road to 2002 had Schneider trying to personally recruit Wakabayashi as his Lancer, too.
      • Napoleon, to Pierre.
      • Pascal, to Juan Díaz
      • Kaltz, to Wakabayashi (in the Hamburg team).
      • Leo (and briefly, Natourezza), to Santana
  • Kuwabara from Yu Yu Hakusho. He's Yusuke's school rival-turned-best friend, frequently teams up with him for tag-team battles, and leads the Team Urameshi almost as often as Yusuke does in the Dark Tournament saga.
  • Daisy from Dragon Quest: Abel Yuusha (a.k.a. the Dragon Warrior anime broadcast in The Nineties) is a good example of a female lancer: a mercenary adventurer who started out more skilled than The Hero, and who seemed to have a crush on him (which got sublimated into her helping rescue the Distressed Damsel).
  • If you view the Allied Forces from Axis Powers Hetalia as a Five Man Band, then The Lancer to Idiot Hero Love Freak Alfred/America is the local Team Dad and his ex-tutor and steward, Arthur/England.
    • Fandom tends to see the East Asian nations as a Five Man Band as well, and in such an environment Kiku/Japan plays Lancer to The Hero Yao/China.
  • Mahou Sensei Negima has either Asuna or Setsuna acting as Negi's lancer for the earlier arcs. More recently Kotaro has taken the position.
  • Riza Hawkeye is the stern, cool-headed, and female Lancer serving under Roy Mustang. Maes Hughes could be considered an even lazier one.
  • Thanks to Yes! Pretty Cure 5's insistence on dual-classing everyone, Nozomi has both Big Lancer Rin and Smart Lancer Karen to contend with. They manage to simultaneously act as foils for both Nozomi and each other.
  • In Fushigi Yuugi, Tamahome and Tasuki end up as a Blue Oni Red Oni patterned Hero and Lancer, respectively. Interestingly, they both have a Brainwashed And Crazy incident where one nearly murders the other.

Comic Books
  • Batman fills this role in most incarnations of the Justice League. The darker interpretations fall into the Rival/Anti-Heroic version of this trope, with Superman as The Hero.
    • Nightwing is an example of how the Lancer's traits depend on who The Hero is: when he fills this role for Batman, his empathy, idealism, and approachability are played up as a contrast to Bruce.
  • Hawkeye of The Avengers. He tends to chafe under Captain America's leadership, but it's clear how much like Cap he is — he led both his own Avengers franchise and the Thunderbolts for several years.
  • As indicated by the page quote, Wolverine of the X-Men.
    • He was also the Lancer for Luke Cage when the latter lead the New Avengers.
    • Iceman was the Lancer of the original five, with an attitude bigger than Connecticutt and a constant bone to pick with The Hero, Cyclops.
    • A solid case could be made for Angel as the Lancer of the original five, actually, right down to being a rival for the affections of The Chick. Not to mention that unlike Iceman, Angel has actually done the leadership thing on occasion.
    • It should be noted that Wolverine (and Rogue, under similar circumstances years later) panicked and tried to refuse when ordered into a leadership position (despite proving rather competent in same). Nobody has had the nerve to try that stunt on Iceman.
      • In fact, he was even slated to lead Alpha Flight when he ran away to join the X-Men instead (of course, he was also in love with the team's eventual leader's red-headed wife.)
      • Therefore, it of course makes perfect sense that Wolverine becomes the new leader in Wolverine and the X Men.
      • They did give a plausible justification for this: Cyclops was so emotionally devastated over Jean's disappearance that he wasn't really capable of leading the team. How they will explain this in the second season, now that Jean has returned, remains to be seen.
      • Isn't Cyclops actually Wolverine's Lancer in that series?
  • Moonstone of the Thunderbolts is somewhere between this trope and The Starscream.
    • Same thing in Dark Avengers, though Ares also fills this role sometimes.
  • Speedy I/Arsenal/Red Arrow has often played this role against Robin/Nightwing in the Teen Titans (and later the Outsiders).
  • Namor is perhaps the MU's resident Lancer, having filled the role on every team he has ever been in, and simply filling that role for the MU heroes in general.
  • The Huntress was the Lancer to Black Canary's Hero in Birds of Prey, at least until the Canary left.
  • Deadpool would probably be horrified if he realised, but he ends up being this when he teams up with Cable. Sure, he wouldn't be anyone's first choice for a voice of reason, but no-one else can actually stand up to Cable when he's getting way too into the future mutant messiah thing.
  • Skywise from Elfquest to Cutter. Skywise is at the same time more lively and easygoing with his drinking and womanizing compared to Cutters keen sense of responsibility for their tribe and more faraway with his stargazing compared to Cutter's tendency to be happy to live in the woods, here and now.
  • For the current New Avengers line-up Hawkeye/Ronin seems to be The lancer for Captain America(Bucky).

Film

Literature
  • Ron from the Harry Potter books fits the definition perfectly.
  • Commander Vimes from Discworld spins this trope widdershins. He's the protagonist of Watch books, and is the cynical commanding officer of idealistic Hero Carrot. Plus, now that Vimes is Duke of Ankh, he would be Number Two to the king, if Carrot ever decided to actually take the job.
    • Also as Commander of the Watch and the richest man in the city, Vimes is effectively the second most influential and powerful man in the city, and often plays the Lancer role to the Patrician, though Havelock Vetinari is hardly the traditional hero.
  • No one has yet agreed on a Five Man Band configuration for the Animorphs, with Tobias, Rachel, and Marco all suggested for the role:
    • Tobias is the silent loner compared to Jake, the leader and center of the team.
    • Rachel would be a perfect Lancer if she wasn't already The Big Guy. Jake says flat-out he'd rather have her at his back than anyone else and he trusts her both to protect his father and kill his brother. She does the team's dirty work, and has the "challenger/thinks she'd be a better leader" aspects, and still can't quite shake that thought even after being smacked in the head with a Vetinari Paradox. And she was the "someone" in Tonight Someone Dies via Heroic Sacrifice.
    • Marco is Jake's best friend. He shares a distinctly different and darker view; in his more serious moments, he presents alternative — even borderline ruthless — options. He thinks very differently than Jake, which can be useful for filling in blanks, and helps in formulating strategies when Jake has trouble doing so.
  • Panther from the Genesis of Shannara books "Armageddon's Children" and "The Elves of Cintra".

Live Action TV
  • Commander Spock is all over this trope. Indeed, he is by all counts equally as competent as Kirk. But where Kirk will go with guts and daring, Spock will always be cool, calculating, and logical. And yes, when the chips are down, Spock is ready at a moments notice to die for the cause. In fact, I think he did once....
  • Several Angel characters have Lancer qualities. For most of the series, Wesley fulfilled this role as well as The Smart Guy. Gunn also filled this role for a time late season 3 and early season 4, but was usually The Big Guy. Connor fit for much of season 4. Easily the best fit that doesn't overlap with any other roles is Spike in Season 5.
    • Cordelia was Interim Lancer between Doyle's death and Wesley's integration into the main cast, and was always Angel's real foil, despite being The Chick throughout.
  • Owen from Torchwood falls under this fairly well.
    • Captain Jack filled this role during his short tenure on Doctor Who.
  • Zoe plays the cool-headed Lancer to the often impulsive Mal in Firefly
    • Jayne can also act in a Jerk Ass Lancer role.
  • Willow and Faith can act Lancer-y on Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
  • Patrick Harper in Sharpe.
  • Tuvok fulfils this role for Captain Janeway in Star Trek Voyager, and Seven of Nine in later years.
  • Dr. Wilson plays the Only Sane Man variety of lancer on House MD, alongside the show's epynonomous Anti Hero.
    • In fact, when Hugh Laurie first read for for the part of House, he was under the impression that Wilson was The Hero, and that House was The Lancer. This was not the case.
  • Riker from Star Trek The Next Generation was intended to perform the action roles that Picard (as The Captain) really should not be doing. Especially the first season he was pretty much a Kirk Clone. After Growing The Beard, his role on the bridge was to anticipate Picard's orders and issue them so that the captain wouldn't have to.
  • Sam Axe in Burn Notice.
  • Stephen Hart later Abby Maitland in Primeval
  • Col. Saul Tigh in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica.
  • Avon from Blake's 7, even when Blake vanishes/dies/whatever the hell Blake does and Avon slowly goes batshit crazy.

Video Games
  • Protoman (Blues) often fills in this role in the original Mega Man games. Zero in the X series takes it a little bit further, as his antisocial nature has led to more than one physical fight with X. Dex nails the Lancer role in the Battle Network games.
    • Dex tries, but he comes off as being the would-be hero that manages to do something right... almost never. Protoman and Chaud claim the role of Lancer all over again, being a far more serious threat to both the enemy and the hero.
    • Dex might actually be an inversion. He has nothing but leadership abilities. He's a fantastic leader and motivator, but lacks the competence to back it up, which is all Lan's. This would probably be why he ended up mayor of ACDC Town in the series ending.
    • Dex really functions more as a Big Guy of the charismatic Boisterous Bruiser mold. He started out as The Rival, but by the end of the first game Chaud had moved from Sixth Ranger into the Lancer position.
  • Knuckles in Sonic The Hedgehog started out as a Lancer, but lately his role has been handed off to Shadow and Knuckles has been relegated to the role of The Big Guy.
    • Don't worry, by Sonic Chronicles he's back with a true Lancer attitude! Shadow acts as a backup Lancer as well.
  • Kain from Final Fantasy IV: The Hero's best friend, member of the Five Man Band, multiple-time Turn Coat, and in love with (and formerly romantically involved with) The Chick. Plus, wields a lance.
    • The fact that Kain's class Dragoon, is renamed Lancer in Final Fantasy Tactics caused this troper to think this trope was actually named for Kain.
  • Shadow from Final Fantasy VI: Advances the plot independantly by joining the enemy, is very fast (able to trap Kefka behind his statues), self-sacrificing (can die if you don't wait for him), has item-based Throw ability like Edgar, a martial arts character like Sabin, with a mysterious identity like Gogo.
    • Possibly also Sabin, since he is a counterpart to Edgar who leaves him and eventually rejoins after having trained separately. Both have a variety of elemental ranged attacks, use of shields.
    • Celes can be the Lancer to Terra as a main character. Linked to the villain historically, she has complimenting powers (Terra's ability amplifies offensive magic, Celes' has her defend against magic).
  • An early CRPG example: Nazim in The Magic Candle.
  • Though they're technically on opposite sides, the prosecutors from the Ace Attorney series often become closer to The Lancer after a few cases against the main character.
  • Kimahri Ronso from Final Fantasy X displays many of these characteristics, and rather appropriately wielded a lance.
  • Falco from Star Fox fits this trope like a glove.
  • Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy VII is a unique mix of Big Guy and Lancer, with bonus Token Minority points thrown in. He even founded leads the Well Intentioned Extremist organization you start off as part of, and sometimes seems a little too ready to think of himself as The Hero early on.
  • Dio from Ogre Battle 64 as well as Vice from the original Tactics Ogre.
  • In Tales Of Symphonia's initial Five Man Band, Raine plays the role of smart and cynical Lancer to Lloyd's idealistic Idiot Hero. As the plot progresses and more characters are added, though, Zelos takes on this role as a much more traditional Lancer, leaving Raine to replace her younger brother Genis as The Smart Guy.
    • It could be argued that Genis plays Lancer the entire time and Raine is The Smart Guy.
      • Genis is DEFINITELY Lloyd's Lancer, not only because they fit into the Red Oni Blue Oni mold quite well (Lloyd is hot-headed and all-melee, Genis is much more deliberate and all-magic), but because they're also portrayed as the two best friends who are always getting into trouble, partially because the one is always willing to dive-head first into the trouble to help the other. This makes Genis' scene in the Tower of Salvation all the more emotional when you realize that polar opposites might look like the perfect team on paper, but have just as much trouble dealing with each other in real life as you would expect.
  • Though The Lancer and not The Hero of his Three Amigos, Riku of Kingdom Hearts was the leader by virtue of being one year older and because of his natural drive. He had very clear and strong ideas about what he wanted, and Sora and Kairi followed his lead. Sadly, he was Too Cool To Live, and so fell to The Dark Side. He gets better only after Sora has become clearly much cooler than him.
  • In Fire Emblem 7, Hector and Lyn *both* fit as Lancers for Eliwood. Just like in FE 6, Straight Arrow Wolt and Magical Girl Lilina are sort-of Lancers for The Hero Roy.
    • Hector also has his own Lancer in the figure of General Oswin, and it can be said that Marcus was Eliwood's Lancer before Hector and Lyn stepped in.
    • If we're talking about Hector's Route in the game, Matthew the Thief has a short run as Hector's Lancer at the beginning, until Oswin and Serra come in.
    • In "Lyndis's Tale", Lyn had Kent as her Lancer since Sain was a bit more of The Big Guy of her Troupe.
  • In Fire Emblem 8... The Paladin Seth is The Lancer to either Eirika or Ephraim, depending on the route you take. Innes fits more as Ephraim's Rival than Lancer.
    • About Gerik and his mercenaries... Marisa the Crimson Flash fits as his Lancer since she's more of an Action Girl than Tethys, the Team Mom.
    • In the case of Joshua, either Gerik, Marisa or Natasha (in a more serious, Staff Chick-y way) cane become his Lancers through supports as he rebuilds Jehanna )
    • Rennac is The Lancer in L'Arachel's Power Trio.
  • Duke Cuan is both the best friend and The Lancer for Lord Sigurd in the first part of Fire Emblem 4 aka Seisen no Keifu. He also has his Lancer in the form of his protegé Finn.
  • In Halo 3, the Arbiter plays the role of Lancer to the Master Chief.
  • In Gears Of War, Dominic Santiago serves as Marcus Fenix's Lancer.
  • Junpei Iori, of Persona3. Eager to prove himself, bitter about the Protagonist (and Aigis) being chosen to lead the team over him, brash, loud, poor grades, and a girlchaser.
  • Yosuke is the lancer in Persona4.
  • Felius is Clarissa's lancer in Wild ARMs XF.
  • Etna, vassal of negotiable loyalty to demon prince Laharl in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, probably qualifies as a Lancer, being his go to girl, and the one who cheerfully tells him she will kill him and take over if he doesn't prove himself worthy of being the overlord. Her starting weapon also happens to be a lance. Rozalin (with elements of The Chick later) and Almaz also qualify.
  • Lin from Advance Wars: Dark Conflict/Days of Ruin. Possibly combination Smart Guy/Lancer, but definitely a lancer.
  • Alicia, from Valkyria Chronicles, is this, with a touch of Team Mom. Possibly also Largo, who is also The Big Guy.
  • Manticore, a signature character in City Of Heroes, is basically their version of Batman, especially among the Freedom Phalanx.
  • Luigi from the Super Mario Bros series has been increasingly this.
  • Almost every main character from the numerous chapters of Live A Live has a Lancer to go along with him or her. The most clear example, however, is Straybow, who is both a rival to the chapter's main character Orsted and eventually that chapter's final boss after his Face Heel Turn.
  • Grandia II: Millenia is the Lancer and also the Veronica to Ryudo.
  • Shara from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is the Lancer to Ritz.

Webcomics
  • Humorously enough, the author of Cwen's Quest was unaware of this particular trope when he named his character Riddly Lancer. Pretty much fits the bill too, well actually only up to the third sentence of the description that is... but Cwen is definitely the leader between the two characters.
  • Vaarsuvius in Order Of The Stick fits this trope. He/She is the person the leader(Roy) consults in many matters(such as talking to his father's ghost). They complete each other. Roy is physically tough and good with people. V is a powerful magician and "book smart". V also feels the party isn't always deserving of him/her.(And is actually jealous of Roy when he's attacked by a mind flayer).
  • In Sluggy Freelance, while Torg usually takes center stage and, in his "unique" way, come up with a solution to the big problems, Riff is usually there as well, ready to solve things his own way. Which usually involves laser weapons, giant robots, and blowing stuff up.

Web Original

Western Animation

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