History Main / Munchkin

* ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'': Kumoko starts off as a weak spider-monster and spends most of her time EXP-farming to level up and grinding her abilities in to level them up. She picks abilities that appeal to her "edgelord" sensibilities and evolutions that minimize her size and maximize her speed, [[spoiler:which eventually results in her becoming one of the most-powerful entities in the world she was reincarnated into]].

* An amusing anecdotal etymology: In the beginning of the '80s, a Parisian player nicknamed "Gros Bill" became infamous for this style of playing, to the point of becoming legendary among French roleplayers. As a result, the French term for "munchkin" is "grosbill".

** There is a roleplaying version of the game, basically a variant of Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition, and another for ''Star Munchkin''. Feats are openly called "Cheats" instead, and many of them involve breaking the fourth wall; for example, one feat is "[[DungeonMastersGirlfriend Be the Gamemaster's significant other]]," and has actual in-game benefits for this. Another is "Feed the Gamemaster," and grants the player rerolls in exchange for offering the gamemaster pizza.

*** Twinking in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' was eventually trumped in a patch which made battlegrounds give experience, so plays would eventually level out of their preferred bracket. That same patch also added the option to turn off experience gain, but doing so results in being placed in an entirely separate bracket from other players of a similar level. So it's munchkins only vs. other munchkins and casual players vs. casual players.

* All of the "Big Five" characters (Lina, Naga, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis) in ''Anime/TheSlayers'' qualify as min-maxed munchkins in any RPG system.

* In the ''ComicBook/ChickTracts'' fanfic ''Fanfic/WhateverHappenedToElfstar'', Mike calls Marcie one for trying to argue against Black Star's death... even though the GM, Gina, [[KillerGameMaster blatantly rigged the game so Black Star would die]].

A more pleasant brand of munchkin may try to share his rule-bending benefits with the rest of the group, or may help other players build their character knowing how the game functions well enough to make it easier on new players who have an idea in mind. Some will even [[WhiteHatHacker purposefully break new games in test runs]] so [=GMs=] can know what to look for when playing it with other munchkins. Some who are also TheRoleplayer will act out the quirks they take for those extra points, even if this means their character is a complete BunnyEarsLawyer, which can be quite fun for all. A more audacious one (a cross with TheLoonie) takes advantage of his knowledge and power to do incredibly crazy things that their fellow players will be telling their children about in years to come.

* In Fanfic/TheVinylAndOctaviaSeries, Octavia turns out to be one, caring only about acquiring loot.

* The [[VideoGame/WWEVideoGames WWE]] games are ''notorious'' for this online where it's not uncommon to find player blatantly using glitched cheat move sets that cannot be reversed. CAWs with perfect stats that constantly use GameBreaker moves are the norm.

The Munchkin's motivation for adopting this attitude often stems from a mistaken belief that tabletop [=RPGs=] are like [=TCGs=] and e-sport videogames, where beating your enemies is the top priority and learning to exploit the most subtle nuances of the game's mechanics for competitive advantage is considered skillful. While this might be true for games that are all about winning, this attitude is fundamentally opposed to the spirit of most tabletop [=RPGs=], where "winning" is usually secondary to just enjoying the experience of playing (assuming there's a victory condition to begin with) and there is ample freedom to enjoy this pastime in many different ways, such as [[TheRealMan imagining yourself punching everything and breaking stuff]], [[TheLoonie imagining yourself doing silly things]] or [[TheRoleplayer immersing yourself in your character and the campaign]]. This clash of values -- the pro e-sports player focused on the end goal of destroying everything and winning, versus the rest of the roleplayers whose focus is the journey and the end goal is not entirely relevant to them -- is what makes the Munchkin so widely reviled by roleplayers.

The Munchkin sees fighting monsters and solving puzzles only as a means toward more power, more gold, more stuff, more ''pluses''. A Munchkin is not satisfied until he can kill a god with his +25 Dancing Holy Vorpal Sword of Flame. [[UpToEleven On a]] CriticalFailure. Of course, the combat mechanics is only the most obvious avenue. Munchkins try to hunt for "XP for roleplaying" by being overly dramatic, and heaven help you if the game uses RitualMagic -- everything will stop until the WordSalad cooked up by the Munchkin is resolved. Anything that gives more pluses will be used and abused to the nth degree.

* {{Ninja Loot|ing}}er: Don't expect a Munchkin to share the spoils of an adventure equally -- if he can't take the lion's share, he'll try to take the ''best'' stuff first (even if his SquishyWizard obviously has no use for a holy sword compared to ThePaladin). TheRealMan hates this kind of Munchkin for depriving them of payoff.

* Enryu from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' has been described as such ''[[WordOfGod by the author]]''. When the goal of the story is to advance through each Floor of the Tower by passing the tests made by the Guardians of said Floors, Enryu decided to kill the Guardian of the 43rd Floor. You're not supposed to do that. Now, with no Guardian, Regulars do not take a test there.

* The series naming ''Anime/GoblinSlayer''. He's not above dirty tactics or using spells for unintended purposes to kill more goblins. In fact, his usual modus operandi is to rig things so far in his favor that the dice simply have nothing to do but let his quarry be slaughtered, hence "he does not let anyone roll the dice". The gods of the setting are of two minds about this; some can appreciate it, others just get pissed off whenever he enters the equation, and smite him with bad rolls when chance can play a part.

He sees fighting monsters and solving puzzles only as a means toward more power, more gold, more stuff, more ''pluses''. A Munchkin is not satisfied until he can kill a god with his +25 Dancing Holy Vorpal Sword of Flame. [[UpToEleven On a]] CriticalFailure. Of course, the combat mechanics is only the most obvious avenue. Munchkins try to hunt for "XP for roleplaying" by being overly dramatic, and heaven help you if the game uses RitualMagic -- everything will stop until the WordSalad cooked up by the Munchkin is resolved. Anything that gives more pluses will be used and abused to the nth degree.

The Munchkin's motivation for adopting this attitude often stems from a mistaken belief that tabletop [=RPGs=] are like [=TCGs=], online videogames and e-sports, where beating your enemies is the top priority and learning to exploit the most subtle nuances of the game's mechanics for competitive advantage is considered skillful. While this might be true for games that are all about winning, this doesn't really hold in tabletop roleplaying, where "winning" is usually secondary to just enjoying the experience of playing (assuming there's a victory condition to begin with) and there is ample freedom to enjoy this pastime in many different ways, such as [[TheRealMan imagining yourself punching everything and breaking stuff]], [[TheLoonie imagining yourself doing silly things]] or [[TheRoleplayer immersing yourself in your character and the campaign]].

The Munchkin is the TabletopRPG player who plays the game to win at any cost, even if that isn't the point of the game. Perhaps the most ridiculed {{Player Archetype|s}} of all time, this player is rarely interested in the ''story'' behind the game. More often than not, the Munchkin believes tabletop [=RPGs=] are like competitive videogames and e-sports, where beating your enemies is the top priority and learning to exploit the most subtle nuances of the game's mechanics for competitive advantage is considered skillful, when "winning" in tabletop roleplaying is secondary to just enjoying the experience of playing (and that's assuming there's a victory condition to begin with). The Munchkin's characters are usually either [[AuthorAvatar little more than extensions of his own personality]], [[FeaturelessProtagonist a completely blank ball of sentient death]] (known among roleplayers as "murderhobo"), or [[MinMaxing whatever personality would give him the most bonuses]].

The Munchkin is the TabletopRPG player who plays the game to win at any cost, even if that isn't the point of the game. Perhaps the most ridiculed {{Player Archetype|s}} of all time, this player is rarely interested in the ''story'' behind the game. More often than not, the Munchkin believes tabletop [=RPGs=] are like competitive videogames and e-sports, where beating your enemies is the top priority and learning to exploit the most subtle nuances of the game's mechanics for competitive advantage is considered skillful, when "winning" (if there even exists a winning condition) in tabletop roleplaying is secondary to just enjoying the experience of playing. The Munchkin's characters are usually either [[AuthorAvatar little more than extensions of his own personality]], [[FeaturelessProtagonist a completely blank ball of sentient death]] (known among roleplayers as "murderhobo"), or [[MinMaxing whatever personality would give him the most bonuses]].

The Munchkin is the TabletopRPG player who plays the game to win at any cost, even if that isn't the point of the game. Perhaps the most ridiculed {{Player Archetype|s}} of all time, this player is rarely interested in the ''story'' behind the game. More often than not, the Munchkin believes tabletop [=RPGs=] are like competitive videogames and e-sports, where beating your enemies is the top priority and learning to exploit the most subtle nuances of the game's mechanics for competitive advantage is considered skillful, when "winning" in tabletop roleplaying is secondary (if there even exists a winning condition) and the main goal is more aligned towards enjoying the experience of playing. The Munchkin's characters are usually either [[AuthorAvatar little more than extensions of his own personality]], [[FeaturelessProtagonist a completely blank ball of sentient death]] (known among roleplayers as "murderhobo"), or [[MinMaxing whatever personality would give him the most bonuses]].

The Munchkin is the TabletopRPG player who plays the game to win at any cost, even if that isn't the point of the game. Perhaps the most ridiculed {{Player Archetype|s}} of all time, this player is rarely interested in the ''story'' behind the game. More often than not, the Munchkin believes tabletop [=RPGs=] are like competitive videogames and e-sports, where beating your enemies is the top priority and learning to exploit the most subtle nuances of the game's mechanics for competitive advantage is considered skillful, when tabletop roleplaying is much more about enjoying the experience of playing and "winning" is secondary (if there even exists a winning condition). His characters are [[AuthorAvatar little more than extensions of his own personality]] or [[MinMaxing whatever personality would give him the most bonuses]].

The Munchkin is the TabletopRPG player who plays the game to win at any cost, even if that isn't the point of the game. Perhaps the most ridiculed {{Player Archetype|s}} of all time, this player is rarely interested in the ''story'' behind the game. Indeed, his characters are [[AuthorAvatar little more than extensions of his own personality]] or [[MinMaxing whatever personality would give him the most bonuses]].

** Not everybody knows about him nowadays, but the original ''World of Darkness'' does have its very own [[VillainSue metaplot munchkin character]]: [[TheScrappy Samuel]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Haight]]. (And he broke the rules to get that way, make no mistake.) But considering he ended up as an [[AndIMustScream ASH TRAY IN HELL]] ([[TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion Wraith]] shadowlands, actually), most players are kind of disinclined to follow his route. ([=WoD=]'s way of saying Munchkin = BAD?)
* There is the famous story of Fanfic/OldManHenderson, the only character to ever win ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Call]] [[KillerGameMaster of]] [[TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu Cthulhu]]''. For starters, [[AllThereInTheManual his backstory]] was ''[[DoorStopper 320 pages long]]'' and justified all of Henderson's very diverse set of skills. The reason it was so long was explicitly so that nobody (particularly the KillerGameMaster whom Henderson was specifically created to piss off) would ever bother to read the entire thing, allowing Henderson's player to edit it as much as he wanted and give Henderson [[SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat whatever skills he needed at the time]], justifying it by pointing to it in his backstory, without the GM being any the wiser. Eventually, he didn't even need to edit it anymore, since everyone else at the table had [[TheTysonZone stopped bothering to question Henderson's skills and just assumed that he knew how to do whatever he was trying to do, and that it was in his backstory somewhere]].

* ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' has an extremely large portion of the higher-leveled community who are pretty much like this. The MMORPG itself has a plot, but virtually [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory no one cares about that aspect of the game even though it is quite decent]]. The community originally wasn't like this, until [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts the economy started going crazy]] and the game owners added tons of [[BribingYourWayToVictory overpowered]] [[GameBreaker special equipment]] for the [[StopHavingFunGuys majority of the]] [[GlassCannon higher-leveled players]] who have [[SpoiledBrat extreme amounts of cash]] (which essentially neglects [[HardWorkHardlyWorks every]][[TheRoleplayer one]] [[TheLoonie el]][[ElementalPowers se]]); as opposed to [[CompetitiveBalance the originally rather fair gameplay]].

* There is the famous story of Fanfic/OldManHenderson, the only character to ever win ''[[FailureIsTheOnlyOption Call]] [[KillerGameMaster of]] [[TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu Cthulhu]]''. For starters, [[AllThereInTheManual his backstory]] was ''[[DoorStopper 320 pages long]]'' and justified all of Henderson's very diverse set of skills. The reason it was so long was explicitly so that nobody (particularly the KillerGameMaster Henderson was specifically created to piss off) would ever bother to read the entire thing, allowing Henderson's player to edit it as much as he wanted and give Henderson [[SuddenlyAlwaysKnewThat whatever skills he needed at the time]], justifying it by pointing to it in his backstory, without the GM being any the wiser. Eventually, he didn't even need to edit it anymore, since everyone else at the table had [[TheTysonZone stopped bothering to question Henderson's skills and just assumed that he knew how to do whatever he was trying to do, and that it was in his backstory somewhere]].

* In the original ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'' short film, both Akko and Diana go through the "typical RPG" assignment, in which they must penetrate a dungeon to retrieve treasure, as Munchkins of different categories. Diana is Min-Maxed - she declares herself 'invincible' and mows through legions of terrifying monsters, determined to bring back the best loot possible even though the rest of her party urges her to turn back. Akko is an inept Psychopath who gets derailed trying to murder every little blob monster that happens to move her way, even though her party members remind her that killing monsters isn't even part of the assignment.

In layman's terms, the Munchkin is that one kid in your childhood who can't spend a single imaginary game of "[[Franchise/StarWars Jedi vs. Sith]]" or something similar without repeating "Nuh-uh, I dodged it!" every time you land a single lightsaber hit on him, and makes up unfair OneHitKill attacks he insists are undodgeable at every chance he gets.

In layman's terms, the Munchkin is that one kid in your childhood who can't spend a single imaginary game of "[[Film/StarWars Jedi vs. Sith]]" or something similar without repeating "Nuh-uh, I dodged it!" every time you land a single lightsaber hit on him, and makes up unfair OneHitKill attacks he insists are undodgeable at every chance he gets.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "[=D&DD=]," Dexter is a Munchkin, [[KillerGameMaster and unfortunately, the Game Master]]. When his sister Dee Dee takes over, turning it into a LighterAndSofter MontyHaul and demoting her brother to a regular player, he chooses a complicated MinMaxing build that calls "Gygax" the name of the creator of Dungeons and Dragons. [[LaserGuidedKarma So Dee Dee gives him a weak and worthless halfling character, much to the amusement of the other players.]] Dexter expresses distaste, but the others [[IronicEcho remind him that "she is the Game Master, he is her pawn, and that she controls his fate."]] Even at the end where Dexter gets the item of the quest, it turns out to just be a cup that doesn't spill when you drink from it.