History Main / SkillGateCharacters

Characters that are easy to use effectively for an amateur, but also easy to counter for an expert. Some circles call them pub stompers or scrub stompers. They often are [[MightyGlacier extremely slow]], so that a faster character can bash them around without ever getting hit, or [[GlassCannon extremely frail]] (and possibly [[FragileSpeedster fast]]), with sturdier characters demonstrating that the most important HitPoint is the [[CriticalExistenceFailure last]]. CripplingOverspecialization may also be at play. However, these characters may sometimes stay solid past the end of their "glory days" if used well enough and not have their once powerful weapon expected to be a GameBreaker. And in some instances, [[TakeAThirdOption none of the following applies]]: the character is [[JackOfAllStats simply ''good'' without necessarily excelling in any area]] and typically has a fairly straightforward gameplan and playstyle that's designed to make them easy to use for new players; however, they are outshined by the rest of the cast in various areas (whether it's offence or defence).

** The "FEAR"[[note]]'''F'''ocus Sash, '''E'''ndeavor, Quick '''A'''ttack, '''R'''attata[[/note]] strategy and its many variants are based on using a very low-level Pokémon with something to [[LastChanceHitPoint let it survive an attack with 1 HP]], a move like Endeavor or Pain Split that [[HPToOne knocks the opponent down to the same level]], then using a priority move or residual damage to finish them off through ScratchDamage. A clueless newbie will probably just spam attacking moves all day and get blindsided, but an actual good player will instantly recognize the gimmick for what it is and will likely have many different countermeasures, such as using hazards, weather, or multi-hit moves to break the Focus Sash or Sturdy, switching in a Ghost-type or using Substitute or one of Protect's variants to block Endeavor, or answering a priority move with one of their own.

** Other pubstompers are [[OurLichesAreDifferent Karthus]] (ultimate that [[KillSat hits everyone]] on the map; stays alive for a short time after death, often getting free kills in a chaotic teamfight; solution - magic resist or a Zhonya's Hourglass and [[TooDumbToLive don't stand in his damage radius]] after he dies) and [[KnifeNut Katarina]] ([[FlashStep offensive teleport]] and an immensely damaging [[DanceBattler channelled ultimate]] that can [[MacrossMissileMassacre kill nearby champions]] in about two seconds; solution - almost all of her damage comes from said ultimate and any stun/bump/knockup/silence/fear/taunt ability [[UselessUsefulSpell interrupts]] it). Neither is viable against good players, but both will single-handedly win the game at low skill levels.

*** [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Lucina]], a MovesetClone of [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Marth]], has attacks that deal consistent damage, as she lacks a sweetspot. She deals more damage than Marth's non-sweetspot attacks, but less damage than his sweet-spot attacks. Therefore, Lucina is used to learn the gist of Marth, and players can then learn Marth's mechanics. She performs better with lower-level players due to her consistency, but at higher skill-levels, Marth is favored because with proper spacing he gets greater rewards from the same playstyle.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''

** ''Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection'' has Lili Rochefort, a relatively straightforward character that players can mash with to the same degree as Christie and Eddy for similar results, only with twice the damage output. However, her moveset is more limited than most other characters, and players who actually know how to play as her make frequent use of her amazing movement and the crushing capabilities in her moves. As of ''Tag 2'', her damage output and properties have been weakened (her db+4 sweep, for example, now only launches on Counter Hit, much like it used to do in her debut), making winning with her more of an uphill battle.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' spin-off fighting game ''VideoGame/TouhouHisoutensokuChoudokyuuGinyoruNoNazoOOe'', Utsuho Reiuji will tear newbies apart due to her high-priority normal projectiles, full-screen lasers that do big damage, her MightyGlacier traits being partially negated by her long dashes and a basic dial-A combo which takes out 1/4 of your health. Pros will be able to interrupt the long startup of every single move she attempts with any other character, stop her easily predictable approaches, spot all the holes in her blockstrings (none of them are airtight, relying on mixups to succeed) and take her offense apart with well timed attacks. Similarly, Yuyuko Saigyouji can utterly overwhelm newbies with her spam of butterflies and ghosts, but tactically, she has GlassCannon characteristics similar to Utsuho, having rather slow movement and punishable abilities. And Aya Shameimaru's very fast movement, specials and and bullets can seem terrifying, but her bullets have terribly low density, and with some concentration it's possible to predict and counterhit her moves.

** Axton in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' has an easy to use Action Skill in the same vein as Mordecai's, with his turret providing easy damage at range, and his specialty in increasing grenade damage pairs wonderfully with Torgue guns. After Normal difficulty, however, the turret drops off in power and becomes much easier for enemies to destroy, and the importance of elemental damage on higher difficulties makes most Torgue guns useless, while Axton's over-emphasis on the turret and lack of bonuses to his own damage output causes him to fall behind all of the other characters.

* In TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons and {{Tabletopgame/Pathfinder}}, spontaneous spellcasters such as the sorcerer tend to be this. Though they have more raw power than their [[VancianMagic prepared spellcaster]] counterparts such as the wizard and they don't have to prepare their spells beforehand, so can't be caught off-guard as easily, they are severely limited in the number of spells that they can know (arcane prepared spellcasters typically need to store their spells in a spellbook with limited capacity, but the capacity is far less limited often overlooked), they can only learn new spells when they gain levels, and casting spells with metamagic takes longer since they have to apply the metamagic on the spot instead of having applied it when they prepared the spell.

* The ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' series has the [[ShortRangeShotgun Gnasher Shotgun]] - and ''Gears of War 3'' adds the [[UpToEleven Sawed-off]] variety. With the [[FragileSpeedster kinds of movement skill that are vital]] in ''Gears'' multiplayer, the only thing mitigating the point-and-shoot ease of shotguns is the fact that [[MirrorMatch everyone else has them, too]]. But when you move up to tournament levels of play, teamwork and co-ordination with [[BoringButPractical assault rifle fire]] and power weapon procurement will utterly [[CurbStompBattle destroy any teams]] that rely on wallbouncing into shotgun range to score kills.

** The "4 of every Circle of Protection" deck. It can beat any deck that can only win by damage, has no enchantment removal or bounce, kills slowly enough that you can somehow win even while sinking mana into Circle activations every turn... in other words, only terrible decks. In fitting with the trope, Circle of Protection can be very useful depending on the opponent's deck. Stopping that giant creature with trample and lifelink from ever doing damage is worth one mana a turn.

In ''VideoGame/WarThunder'', new players roughly approach air combat by turning and trying to get on the enemy tail. Therefore, nimble aircraft that favour turnfighting, such as the Japanese A6M or the Italian Re.2001, are considered noob-friendly. However, veteran players know that you should never enter a turnfight with dedicated turnfighters, and they will prefer airplanes that are less agile but faster, in order to control engagements with boom&zoom tactics.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' had an entire Skill Gate ''Team''--appropriately [[FanNickname nicknamed]] "Team {{Scrub}}," the team consists of [[ComicBook/XMen Cable, Sentinel]] (two of the best characters in the game), and VideoGame/CaptainCommando (for his Captain Corridor assist). It revolves mainly around abusing Cable's zoning game in conjunction with Sentinel's Sentinel Force assist to keep them away and Captain Corridor to cover anyone who gets too close, as well as abusing safe [=DHCs=] with Sentinel whenever the team gets enough meter. It's a great team to use to understand the fundamentals of the game (proper assist calling, safe [=DHCs=], proper meter usage) but ultimately pales in comparison to some of the other top-tier teams in the game (like the infamous Magneto/Sentinel-or-Storm/Psylocke team).

*** Especially noticeably, Protoss has the lowest Tournament Wins of the three factions by a fair margin, in contrast to the supposed 50/50 win average. There are notoriously few professional Protoss Players in relation to both Terran and Zerg. The Protoss are a good example of [[DifficultButAwesome "easy to learn, difficult to master".]] They have a grand total of '''four''' spell casters that each have their own research costs, and a potent Reaver artillery that is often used with air-transport for surgical strikes. Using the right combination of supporting casters & robotic artillery is key to covering for the basic troops' damage-rate deficiency, due to their focus on durability first and foremost. Mastering the Protoss arsenal of spells goes a long way, and don't forget to upgrade weapons, armor, or even shields. One of their signature compositions is called [[FanNickname Skytoss]] and consists of some variation of Carriers supported by Corsairs and Shuttles loaded with spell casters (depending on if you're playing ''SCI'' or ''SCII''). It takes considerable time to build up and dexterity to micromanage, but can wreak havok against beginners and even professional players if played well.

* The [[FanNickname "Giantdad"]] of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' is a notable example from [[RolePlayingGame a genre]] where "characters" have to be built level-by-level and piece-by-piece. The Giantdad is a notoriously [[MinMax Min-Maxed]] build that foregoes weapon scaling to stuff more points into Endurance and Vitality, and wearing gear that [[LightningBruiser allows them to fast-roll despite wearing ridiculously heavy armor]]. Scary on paper, but their attacks are rather predictable and easy to parry or avoid for those who get the timing down, and the dreaded [[CycleOfHurting stunlock]] from their trademark [[{{BFS}} zweihander]] can be [[LagCancel toggle-canceled]] out of. MemeticMutation has since dubbed the Giantdad the Slayer of [[strike:new players]] [[InsistentTerminology Casuls]], [[MemeticBadass constantly challenging his victims to "git gud."]]

* Full-Moon Riesbyfe Stridberg in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'' Actress Again Current Code can be seen as this. With short but powerful chains that can easily do high damage, especially to more frail characters, she's held back by her absolute inability to deal with zoning in any capacity. As such, types such as Chaos can systematically take her apart.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' spin-off fighting game ''Touhou Hisoutensoku'', Utsuho Reiuji will tear newbies apart due to her high-priority normal projectiles, full-screen lasers that do big damage, her MightyGlacier traits being partially negated by her long dashes and a basic dial-A combo which takes out 1/4 of your health. Pros will be able to interrupt the long startup of every single move she attempts with any other character, stop her easily predictable approaches, spot all the holes in her blockstrings (none of them are airtight, relying on mixups to succeed) and take her offense apart with well timed attacks. Similarly, Yuyuko Saigyouji can utterly overwhelm newbies with her spam of butterflies and ghosts, but tactically, she has GlassCannon characteristics similar to Utsuho, having rather slow movement and punishable abilities. And Aya Shameimaru's very fast movement, specials and and bullets can seem terrifying, but her bullets have terribly low density, and with some concentration it's possible to predict and counterhit her moves.

* ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars]]'':

*** Note the other reason why Tryndamere is a skillgate character: amateur team gameplay usually consist of fighting to the death, trying to mash QWER as fast as possible, and caring more about their [[BodyCountCompetition personal kills]] over the wellbeing of their teammates. This is fatal when the entire team's [[StandardStatusEffects Crowd Control]] gets blown 5 seconds into the team fight attacking that [[SchmuckBait "low health"]] [[MightyGlacier bait]] thus leaving everyone vulnerable, especially the [[GlassCannon carries]], to get chomped to pieces one by one simply because they can't stop Tryndamere from approaching and attacking them, they can't kill Tryndamere once his ultimate is used, they can't take Tryndamere's high damage output and when they panic and run they most certainly can't outrun Tryndamere after getting taunted. But once a team gets their act together and learn how to act in an engagement it is a whole different story.

* ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars 2 and Dual Strike]]'' have Max. His firepower bonus to direct combat units, which includes strong units like Neotanks and Bombers, allow him to easily sweep aside inexperienced players, especially while his CO Powers are in effect. But in high-level play, Indirect units like Artillery are extremely important (Grit, who specializes in Indirects, is considered a GameBreaker), and Max's indirect are not only weak, but have 1 less range. This essentially renders Artillery useless for him, which makes him very easy to out-manoeuvre. Note that this is not the case in the first game, where his 50% firepower bonus to direct units made him a GameBreaker.
* ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin'' has Tabitha, who ties with the final boss for highest attack and defense bonus to allied units, but also has the smallest area of effect (initially just one unit.) She can annihilate lone units, but she has no good response to concentrated fire, especially from artillery and other indirect-attack units.

* Zigzagged in the ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' franchise with the Royal Paladin clan. In the 2011 anime Royal Paladin clan seems to be extremely popular among beginners, but rarely used by more experienced players. Several characters are shown to have used it in flashbacks to years ago instead of the clans they would primarily become known for. [[TheHero Aichi Sendou]] who has his first game of Vanguard ever in the first episode uses Royal Paladin for most of the first season. In Season 2, circumstances force him to switch to the new Gold Paladin clan for the duration of the season but he ultimately decides to make it his primary clan in Season 3. In the first half of Season 4, the normally hyper-skilled Toshiki Kai, who is one of the aforementioned characters to have used Royal Paladin when he was younger, decides to start using the clan again and proceeds to get his ass handed to him by literally everyone before switching back to his signature Kagero in the second half and starts going to town on everyone like he usually does. In the direct sequel ''G'' however the aspect of Royal Paladin as being this trope seems to have been forgotten. New character Shion Kiba uses the clan throughout the show to great effect. Also, even though Aichi was a Gold Paladin main for almost ''exactly'' half of the original show and was only really a Royal Paladin main in Season 1, Royal Paladin has become his signature clan by the time of ''G''.

* Zigzagged in the ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' franchise with the Royal Paladin clan. In the 2011 anime Royal Paladin clan seems to be extremely popular among beginners, but rarely used by more experienced players. Several characters are shown to have used it in flashbacks to years ago instead of the clans they would primarily become known for. [[TheHero Aichi Sendou]] who has his first game of Vanguard ever in the first episode uses Royal Paladin for most of the first season. In Season 2, circumstances force him to switch to the new Gold Paladin clan for the duration of the season but he ultimately decides to make it his primary clan in Season 3. In the first half of Season 4, the normally hyper-skilled Toshiki Kai, who is one of the aforementioned characters to have used Royal Paladin when he was younger, decides to start using the clan again and proceeds to get his ass handed to him by literally everyone before switching back to his signature Kagero in the second half and starts going to town on everyone like he usually does. In the direct sequel 'G' however the aspect of Royal Paladin as being this trope seems to have been forgotten. New character Shion Kiba uses the clan throughout the show to great effect. Also, even though Aichi was a Gold Paladin main for almost ''exactly'' half of the original show and was only really a Royal Paladin main in Season 1, Royal Paladin has become his signature clan by the time of 'G'.

* Zigzagged in the ''Anime/CardfightVanguard'' franchise with the Royal Paladin clan. In the 2011 anime Royal Paladin clan seems to be extremely popular among beginners, but rarely used by more experienced players. Several characters are shown to have used it in flashbacks to years ago instead of the clans they would primarily become known for. [[TheHero Aichi Sendou]] who has his first game of Vanguard ever in the first episode uses Royal Paladin for most of the first season. In Season 2, circumstances force him to switch to the new Gold Paladin clan for the duration of the season but he ultimately decides to make it his primary clan in Season 3. In the first half of Season 4, the normally hyper-skilled Toshiki Kai, who is one of the aforementioned characters to have used Royal Paladin when he was younger, decides to start using the clan again and proceeds to get his ass handed to him by literally everyone before switching back to his signature Kagero in the second half and starts going to town on everyone like he usually does. In the direct sequel 'G' however the aspect of Royal Paladin as being this trope seems to have been forgotten. New character Shion Kiba uses the clan throughout the show to great effect. Also, even though Aichi was a Gold Paladin main for almost ''exactly'' half of the original show and was only really a Royal Paladin main in Season 1, Royal Paladin main has become his signature clan by the time of 'G'.

*** King K. Rool fits into the general mold of many MightyGlacier characters of this trope. He's powerful, has access to some nasty projectiles and a burying move, his recovery is pretty good, he has some nasty edgeguarding tricks (courtesy of the [[MemeticMutation "Succ 'n Cucc"]]), and he has a special mechanic that makes him mostly ImmuneToFlinching. However, like Bowser in ''4'', he tends to struggle against anyone who can exploit his weaknesses - his armor can be broken with some effort, he's a big combo magnet, and his attacks are laggy to the point that a missed hit will leave him wide open for a punish. If an opponent can turn the tables on him, he crumbles fast, making him a powerhouse in casual play but fairly clunky in tournaments.
*** [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Simon and Richter Belmont]] have fantastic range and disjointed hitboxes on most of their normals, a versatile array of zoning tools that can clutter up a screen like nothing and destroy any hope of recovery, and monstrously powerful and long-ranged Smashes that can reliably KO at well below 100%. However, they are sluggish and have poor recovery frames on most of their attacks, are highly vulnerable to close-range pressure, have projectiles that are all very easy to reflect if timed poorly, are easy to combo thanks to their size, poor aerial mobility, and slow falling speed, rely heavily on sweetspots for their famed early-percentage [=KOs=], and have ''garbage'' recoveries that are extremely easy to gimp. While their strengths are meaningful enough to allow them to generally be effective in spite of their numerous weaknesses, most lower-level players have difficulty getting in their faces and staying there (which is where they typically crumble), and, like K. Rool, they have earned something of a rep as the scourge of casual online players.

** [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Pikachu]] has slowly diminished into this as the games progressed. He was widely considered a GameBreaker in ''64'', in part because there was no way to avoid his aerial and anti-air attacks like [[ThatOneAttack Thunder]], which covers a huge column of space above Pikachu's head and does plenty of damage and knockback. This was toned down when air dodging was introduced in ''Melee'', and even more so when air dodging was improved in ''Brawl'', but against opponents who haven't quite mastered that mechanic yet, even a slightly-skilled Pikachu can be ''brutal''.

** Roadhog has 600 HP, can self heal, takes half damage while healing, and can instantly eliminate most of the cast while highly damaging those that survive his hook chain combo. What makes him rather nasty is that most heroes that bypass the need for accuracy such as Winston and Moira do low DPS and can't get headshot bonuses. Then players learn that all of Roadhog's actions can be interrupted, how weak he is to stunning, and how to aim for his head with hitscan characters.

[[folder: Roguelike]]
* In ''Videogame/FTLFasterThanLight'', the three stealth fighters fit the bill. All three start with no [[DeflectorShield shield system]], meaning that any and all attack hits them by default. They however all have more unusual ways to defend themselves:
** [[FragileSpeedster The Nesasio]] starts with an unparalleled level 4 engine, along with a cloaking system, allowing it to become invulnerable to attacks for a short time. Its weapons, while not flashy, are both strong for their power consumption, allowing it to ensure a second strike doesn't come.
** The [[GlassCannon DA-SR 12]] has only 2 levels of engines and a level 2 cloak. It is armed with the [[WaveMotionGun Glaive Beam]], a very powerful weapon that typically one-hit-kills most early game opponents, but charges very slowly. Utter care must be taken so that it can keep charging uninterrupted.
** The [[MechanicallyUnusualClass Simo-H]] doesn't even have a cloaking system, but it does have a special shield drone that slowly creates a supershield around it. It can also stun the drones that are otherwise a deadly threat to the two other stealth ships.
[[/folder]]

* ''[[{{VideoGame/Civilization}} Civilization 5]]'' has Venice, who in single player games is a godly civilization thanks to its double trade route, allowing players to quickly earn lots of gold to either pay money for city state alliances, quickly purchase desired buildings in puppeted cities, or convince a leader to declare war on someone, thus allowing Venetian players to quickly score an easy diplomatic victory even at deity level difficulty. Plus, at low levels of play, the large amounts of money, mostly passive victory condition, and lack of need to manage more than one city can be very appealing to new players. However, in multiplayer, such tactics are easily and completely countered as most good players know better than to let Venice snowball to death, thus not only can they simply declare war on them and plunder all of their hard earned trade routes but also embargo Venice as well as the city states to prevent trade routes, completely shutting down their entire ability. Another downside is that neighbouring players will be able to get twice the land they can get due to Venice's inability to expand, allowing opposing players to just wipe Venice out of the game. Because of all the downsides, whenever a player has randomed Venice, they are allowed to reshuffle their leader of choice for free.

** The "FEAR"[[note]]/'''F'''ocus Sash, '''E'''ndeavor, Quick '''A'''ttack, '''R'''attata[[/note]] strategy and its many variants are based on using a very low-level Pokémon with something to [[LastChanceHitPoint let it survive an attack with 1 HP]], a move like Endeavor or Pain Split that [[HPToOne knocks the opponent down to the same level]], then using a priority move or residual damage to finish them off through ScratchDamage. A clueless newbie will probably just spam attacking moves all day and get blindsided, but an actual good player will instantly recognize the gimmick for what it is and will likely have many different countermeasures, such as using hazards, weather, or multi-hit moves to break the Focus Sash or Sturdy, switching in a Ghost-type or using Substitute or one of Protect's variants to block Endeavor, or answering a priority move with one of their own.

** In competitive play, [[ShockAndAwe Electivire]] is considered one such example. It's got a good movepool, awesome offensive stats, decent speed, and alright defensive typing, which makes it dominate in the in-game and casual departments... But in the advanced {{metagame}} it starts to really fall apart. In a metagame where something with that kind of power is essentially required to be quick enough to be a LightningBruiser (no pun intended) or ''very'' strong defenses, its "decent" base speed of 95 is questionable in competitive play. Combined with the ubiquity of Earthquake, its GlassCannon nature, and the fact that "super-effective" does not equal "OneHitKill" as is often sought for in the metagame, it doesn't fare well competitively.

* The earlier ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]'' games have Max. His firepower bonus to direct combat units, which includes strong units like Neotanks and Bombers, allow him to easily sweep aside inexperienced players, especially while his CO Powers are in effect. But in high-level play, Indirect units like Artillery are extremely important (Grit, who specializes in Indirects, is considered a GameBreaker), and Max's indirect are not only weak, but have 1 less range. This essentially renders Artillery useless for him, which makes him very easy to out-manoeuvre.

* Summoners in ''VideoGame/BladeAndSoul'': for [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]]. In PvE, it's one of the easier classes to control with slow but hard-hitting attacks, healing skills, and a cat that can tank for them if necessary. But in PvP, more experienced players can easily counter their attacks, their healing skill deliberately only heals a fraction of their health, and the cat's limited AI is easily exploitable by classes who rely on counters. It's telling that in official tournaments, it's extremely rare for a summoner to be in the finals.