Basic Trope: A character's stats do not convey how they should actually be played in-game.
- Straight: In Tales of Troperia XXIV, Francis is the fastest party member but also has the lowest health, intended to be used as a Hit and Run attacker from the back lines. However, his "Dodge" personal ability causes physical attacks to miss if he is faster than the attacker. Thus, he is even more effective as a dodging Stone Wall against slower physical attackers as they can never hit him.
- Exaggerated: He can dodge any attack if he is faster than the attacker, and he is the fastest character in the game.
- Downplayed: "Dodge" gives him a +50% chance to avoid physical attacks and, despite his low HP, can still survive a couple of hits from most enemies. As such, it is still worthwhile to use him to wall those attackers.
- Justified: While his stats do not convey how he should be played, Francis comes from an order of similarly skilled individuals who are used as physical walls in-story and the game expects the player to pick up on it.
- Inverted: Technically impossible, since it would just be Stats Dissonance in the opposite direction. (Francis is a high health, low speed Stone Wall but has an ability that makes him better used as a Fragile Speedster.)
- Subverted: Francis can dodge slower physical attackers, but every enemy is capable of using magic as well and will use that instead if he is placed on the front lines.
- Double Subverted: ...but Francis can undertake a Companion-Specific Sidequest which rewards him with an accessory that applies his Dodge ablility to magic attacks as well.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged: Francis is the fastest party member, but has the lowest health. However, his "Dodge" personal ability causes physical attacks to miss if he is faster than the attacker. Thus, he can be used as a dodging Stone Wall against slower physical attackers as they can never hit him. But, every enemy is capable of using magic as well and will use that instead if he is placed on the front lines. However, magic has an inherently lower hit rate than physical attacks meaning Francis still has a good chance of dodging, turning his use in this role into a form of Rocket-Tag Gameplay - he will dodge most attacks, but a single unlucky magic strike will take him down quickly.
- Averted: All party members play exactly as their stats would suggest.
- Enforced: The game is based on a book in which Francis uses his dodging ability during a Hold the Line sequence where enemies are held up because they can't hit him, so the producers require that he can be used this way in-game.
- Lampshaded: Upon seeing Francis used in this way, party member Quirby quips: "I never would have thought to use you like that!"
- Exploited: Before each battle, the AI scans your party members and creates a group of enemies to counter their strengths. Since Francis is expected to be a Fragile Speedster, the AI will spawn big, bulky units to tank his hits. However, the player can then use him as a dodging Stone Wall and the AI will never catch on.
- Defied: The game has very strong AI and can make adjustments to counter you using a character outside of their statistical archetype.
- Discussed:
- Conversed:
- Deconstructed: All party members can be used creatively in ways their stats do not suggest, however, doing so locks them out of their Prestige Classes at the end which are required for the Bonus Level of Hell and other late game content.
- Reconstructed: However, beating those levels without the prestige classes gets you a unique, ultra platinum achievement so players seeking it will intentionally use characters in ways their stats do not suggest.
- Played for Laughs: The Electron Gun is stated to be the weakest weapon in the game, doing only one damage per hit. It fires fast enough to be the fastest way to take down any boss.
- Played for Drama:
- Played for Horror:
You can have the Fragile Speedster take you back to the main page HERE, but it's actually faster to use the Mighty Glacier!
