History Main / FiveManBand

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'':
** TheLeader: The PlayerCharacter who is the stable ReliableOne.

** TheChick: Rita, a CuteButPsycho girl who loves tea parties and playing with her doll princess.

** TheLancer: Rei, an {{Adorkable}} thief as a child who becomes a vengeful killer as an adult and [[KnifeNut uses knives as his primary weapon]].

** TheChick: Feminine, magical, and seductive, pulled a HeelFaceTurn after falling for Darkwing and eventually became his girlfriend.

** TheChick: "Love Freak" and self-appointed guardian angel of Laharl.

The five-man rock band phenomenon, four guys and a girl singer, is no longer as current as it once was. It was very hard to escape in the 60's and 70's. However, the group structure, as you will see in the examples, turns up in ''a lot'' of storytelling. Like a ''whole'' lot of storytelling.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': The main heroes on a quest to save the world. They are later joined by Fang, TheSixthRanger whose allegiances were ambiguous for part of the story.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': The main heroes on a quest to save the world. They are later joined by Fang, TheSixthRagner whose allegiances were ambiguous for part of the story.

[[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/OverlySarcasticProductions https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5_man_band_2.jpg]]]]

* ''ComicBook/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': Much like the [[Film/StarWars films]] that inspired it, this comic also features a FiveManBand off on a heroic quest. The FiveManBand is later joined by SixthRanger Rohlan, a rebellious Mandalorian Crusader gone AWOL.

!!Examples

!!Examples:
[[index]]
* FiveManBand/{{Advertising}}
* FiveManBand/{{Anime}}
* FiveManBand/ComicBooks
* FiveManBand/{{Fanfic}}
* FiveManBand/{{Film}}
* FiveManBand/{{Literature}}
* FiveManBand/LiveActionTV
* FiveManBand/ProfessionalWrestling
* FiveManBand/{{Roleplay}}
* FiveManBand/TabletopGames
* FiveManBand/{{Toys}}
* FiveManBand/VideoGames
* FiveManBand/{{Webcomics}}
* FiveManBand/WebOriginal
* FiveManBand/WesternAnimation
[[/index]]

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A sandbox to collate valid examples and remove the bloated/locked subpages. See discussion here: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13401353520A80460100&page=66#comment-1633

* TheSmartGuy -- ''(keyboardist)'' The physically weak, but intelligent or clever member. Often nerdy and awkwardly played for comic relief. Sometimes unconventionally young (early- to mid-teens). Sometimes a {{Trickster|s}} and a buddy of the Big Guy.

* FiveManBand/{{Music}}

* FiveManBand/{{Theatre}}

* FiveManBand/NewspaperComics

See also ThreeAmigos, PowerTrio, and CastCalculus. Fighting ability is usually determined by FixedRelativeStrength. Compare the CommandRoster, for military-esque teams. Contrast with the FiveBadBand. ThePsychoRangers are the collective EvilCounterpart of a given Five-Man Band. See also FourTemperamentEnsemble.

[[quoteright:350:[[WebOriginal/OverlySarcasticProductions https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5_man_band_2.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5_man_band_2.jpg]]

The Five-Man Band is a group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another. They are a very specific team with skills that contribute to the group in a way oddly analogous to the members of a rock band. It can sometimes literally be a musical group, but much more often is not.

The group traditionally includes:

%% Don't even think about removing the band instrument analogy.
%% It's an important point.
%% And it's funny.

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The Five-Man Band is a group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another. They are a very specific team with skills that contribute to the group in a way oddly analogous to the members of a rock band. It can sometimes literally be a musical group, but more often is not.

The Five-Man Band is a group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another. They are a very specific team with skills that contribute to the group in a unique way.

* TheLancer -- ''(lead guitar)'' The second-in-command, usually a [[{{Foil}} contrast]] to The Leader. If the Leader is clean-cut and/or uptight, the Lancer is a grizzled AntiHero or DeadpanSnarker; if the Leader is driven and [[AntiHero somewhat amoral]], the Lancer is more relaxed and level-headed.
* TheSmartGuy -- ''(keyboardist)'' The physically weak, but intelligent or clever member. Often nerdy and awkward played for comic relief. Sometimes unconventionally young (early- to mid-teens). Sometimes a {{Trickster|s}} and a buddy of the Big Guy. May be the one with all the "street" connections.

!!Associated Character Tropes

* BigBrotherMentor / TeamMom / TeamDad / CoolBigSis
* TheMedic -- Generally either TheChick or TheSmartGuy, or a combination of the two; more likely to be TheSmartGuy the further up the MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness you go.
* {{Mentors}} -- The wise advisory type who comes and goes. Potentially organizes the team, trains them to be an effective group, and/or has a personal connection with the BigBad. They [[MentorOccupationalHazard might be killed]] to give the group someone to rally around.
* SixthRanger -- A johnny-come-lately addition to the team, often an outrider type who has been lurking on the edges of the action from the beginning. Their addition to the Five-Man Band usually shakes up the status quo. Has a tendency to be a [[HeelFaceTurn defector]] from the bad guys. Sometimes the EnsembleDarkhorse.
* TheSneakyGuy -- A function of TheLancer or TheSmartGuy.
* TagalongKid -- Usually the Leader's or the Chick's younger sibling. Gets to save the day about once per season, thus generating about a 1:63 ratio of "being useful" to [[TheLoad "getting kidnapped"]].
* TheTeamBenefactor -- This person or group keeps the adventure(s) going by supplying some resource that only they have access to, such as money, transport, knowledge, etc.
* The TeamPet -- The dog, cute alien, or RobotBuddy. Might occasionally enable plots, but not really a character in the conventional sense.

See also ThreeAmigos, PowerTrio, and CastCalculus. Fighting ability is usually determined by FixedRelativeStrength.

Compare the CommandRoster, for military-esque teams. Contrast with the FiveBadBand. ThePsychoRangers are the collective EvilCounterpart of a given Five-Man Band.

!!Associated Tropes:

* ColorCodedCharacters -- If they have uniforms or similar outfits, members will have different colors to help tell them apart. Usually TheLeader wears red and TheChick wears pink, other members are more variable.
* FiveTokenBand -- When everyone is a different ethnicity.
* TransformationSequence (or LockAndLoadMontage, if they don't have actual powers that allow for transformations)
* {{Transformation Trinket}}s (morphers, bracelets, senshi wands...)
* TokenEvilTeammate
* TokenMinority''[=/=]''TokenWhite

This can sometimes literally be a musical group. Characters can also be divided by personality instead of function: See FourTemperamentEnsemble.

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!!Notable five person bands

As a rule of thumb, if your band example has to justify more than two types, or a single trope with more than two sentences of qualifiers, you're trying to pull a fast one. If it isn't a Five-Man Band, it isn't a Five-Man Band.

The FiveManBand is a group of characters whose members fall into archetypes which all complement one another. They are a very specific team with skills that contribute to the group in a unique way.

* TheChick -- ''(vocal effects, tambourine)'' A peacekeeping role to balance out the other members' aggression, bringing them to a nice or at least manageable medium. The Chick is often considered {{the heart}} of the group. This role is played by a woman or girl. Someone female. Otherwise, it is not a FiveManBand.

* SixthRanger -- A johnny-come-lately addition to the team, often an outrider type who has been lurking on the edges of the action from the beginning. Their addition to the FiveManBand usually shakes up the status quo. Has a tendency to be a [[HeelFaceTurn defector]] from the bad guys. Sometimes the EnsembleDarkhorse.

Compare the CommandRoster, for military-esque teams. Contrast with the FiveBadBand. ThePsychoRangers are the collective EvilCounterpart of a given FiveManBand.

These are examples of teams that fit '''all five''' of the character tropes. Remember that they form a team dynamic; it's always tempting to match two of the characters in a show, then try to convince yourself and others that the other characters can be squeezed/wedged/stuffed into the description of the other character types, but that's not the point of the FiveManBand trope. The individual character types exist outside of the band. '''The FiveManBand only occurs when the team as a whole fits, not just a few characters.'''

As a rule of thumb, if your band example has to justify more than two types, or a single trope with more than two sentences of qualifiers, you're trying to pull a fast one. If it isn't a FiveManBand, it isn't a FiveManBand.

* FiveTokenBand -- When everyone is a different enthnicity.

See also ThreeAmigos, PowerTrio, and CastCalculus. Fighting ability is usually determined by DistributionOfNinjutsu.

Contrast with the FiveBadBand. ThePsychoRangers are the collective EvilCounterpart of a given FiveManBand.

Compare the CommandRoster, for military-esque teams.