History Main / SuperLoser

* [[{{Adorkable}} Rory]] from ''Series/MyBabysittersAVampire''. Being a vampire only got rid of the glasses and the asthma.

** Katsuki Bakugo is this to a lesser extent. Unlike Izuku, he's an extremely competent fighter with an amazing power from the outset, but he's rarely considered a cool guy to hang out with thanks to his incredibly aggressive and confrontational personality (he got completely cut from an one-hour interview because he couldn't give a sensible answer through the entire of it). As such, he has very few friends and rarely gets taken seriously outside of combat situations.

* In the graphic novel ''ComicBook/LifeSucks'', our hero Dave is a vampire who refuses to kill people for a blood fix. He gets his blood from the blood bank instead, and his vampire powers are consequently weak.

* The start of the second episode of [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited "The Once And Future Thing"]] seems to make the case that villain Kronos TookALevelInBadass to escape this trope. After all, using his time suit he was able to conquer the future, pillage the past for historic artifacts and even landmarks to add to his collection, punish anyone who tried to cross him (as Chuckles found out), and had even managed to gain the respect (or at least fear) of his domineering wife. But, as said wife points out, a loser can have all the power in the world, he remains a loser. Sure enough the League find Kronos, not sleeping in one of the luxurious temples he's managed to steal as he claims, but in the same western jail cell he'd been kept in for months during the previous episode, lying in the fetal position with his thumb in his mouth for bonus points. He's still not a pushover to take down, but it becomes harder to take his whole EvilOverlord schtick as seriously anymore.

* The title character of Disney's ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'', while being the strongest boy in the world, can't stop himself from accidentally destroying everything in his path and is mocked as a "freak" by the other townspeople. It's not until Phil takes him on as his student that Hercules becomes truly heroic.

** He talks a lot of tough talk and is actually a skilled wizard, but he's also a cowardly, narcissistic brat. By the time he joins the Death Eaters, it's hard not to feel sorry for him due to how obviously out of his league he is.

* Draco Malfoy in ''Literature/HarryPotter''. He talks a lot of tough talk and is actually a skilled wizard, but he's also a cowardly, narcissistic brat. By the time he joins the Death Eaters, it's hard not to feel sorry for him due to how obviously out of his league he is.

** Being one of these was ultimately the AntiVillain Gentle's StartOfDarkness. He does so poorly academically in hero school that he was frequently held back, despite being in a school that wasn't even especially prestigious, he never obtained a provisional hero licence, despite taking the test four times, and the one rescue he attempted he botched so badly that he even injured a different hero who had arrived on the scene to make the same rescue in the process. Faced with toiling in obscurity when his dream was to be a hero worthy of being discussed in history books, he ends up deciding try his hand at achieving that level of fame with villainy instead. When Izuku fights him, he states that Gentle was the villian that the hardest for him to face, and it was implied that that was less due to his power and more due to how much of himself Izuku saw in him.

** Katsuki Bakugou is this to a lesser extent. Unlike Izuku, he's an extremely competent fighter with an amazing power from the outset, but he's rarely considered a cool guy to hang out with thanks to his incredibly aggressive and confrontational personality (he got completely cut from an one-hour interview because he couldn't give a sensible answer through the entire of it). As such, he has very few friends and rarely gets taken seriously outside of combat situations.

* One of the superheroes active in the Boston area of the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' is The Patriot, the AnthropomorphicPersonification of the New England Patriots football team. Gifted with heightened strength and toughness, he was nevertheless a pretty ineffective crimefighter due to basic incompetence. The character was generally considered to be a cheap TakeThat on the part of creator Jack Butler, who had long held that his two favorite football teams were "the Miami Dolphins and '''''any team''''' playing the New England Patriots."

** Arthur Winkings from ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', AKA Count Notfaroutoe, is an excellent example of the vampire type. He was a pudgy, middle-aged, average Ankh-Morporkian whose life in the wholesale-fruit industry was interrupted when he inherited a crumbling old castle in Uberwald... and with it, the curse of undeath. His wife Doreen wholeheartedly embraced the upper-crust image of vampirism, despite [[VampireVannabe not being an actual vampire]] (jokes are made about Arthur being too old to be interested in biting his wife's neck) and [[FatGirl not having the figure for the typical revealing vampiress outfit]]. Arthur, meanwhile, complains a lot about having to wear evening dress all the time, Doreen not letting him bite the necks of young women, and the difficulty of trying to build a dungeon and vault when you live in a row house, not to mention even his bat-form is too fat to fly properly.
** The vampires in ''Discworld/CarpeJugulum'' are a subtler example. For all their considerable powers and cunning, they sometimes find that their state has its drawbacks, despite all their efforts to deny it.

''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':

* What protagonist Izuku Midoriya from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' needs to [[CharacterDevelopment grow out of]] early in the story - being new to his incredible powers, as opposed to his peers having had them their entire lives, he can barely use them in any context without ''[[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu breaking his own bones]].'' Outside of that, he's also a helpless superhero fanboy and socially anxious wreck with [[FriendlessBackground zero friends to his name]], but his ''staggering'' {{Determinator}} attitude manages to pull him through.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/FrightNight1985 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CrossBurns.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Aww, vampy wanna cry?]]

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' gives us Saitama, who somehow managed to break all the limits of human abilities through casual exercise and determination and became an InvincibleHero (the title refers to his ability to destroy monsters that ''the Justice League'' would find problematic with a single (half-assed) punch, he is just '''that''' strong). The comedy (and some of the drama) of the story then is that Saitama just doesn't look or act like a proper hero would, being bald, plain-looking and perpetually bored while having very little recognition, many haters and no money. It doesn't help that he seems to have more problem dealing with everyday annoyances than actual supervillains.

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' gives us Saitama, who somehow managed to break all the limits of human abilities through casual exercise and determination and became an InvincibleHero (the title refers to his ability to destroy monsters that ''the Justice League'' would find problematic with a single (half-assed) punch, he is just '''that''' strong). The comedy (and some of the drama) of the story then is that Saitama just doesn't look or act like a proper hero would, being bald, plain-looking and perpetually bored while having very little recognition, many haters and no money.

* This is how ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' starts; the title character is an IdiotHero [[HeroWithBadPublicity With Bad Publicity]] who lives in a shack in the playground. His early adventures had him either getting shown up by better heroes, looking like an idiot only getting by through luck, or having his legitimate successes either ignored or rendered meaningless. He's also a coward and a pervert. It's only after he wins the [[TournamentArc Choujin Olympics]] that both his reputation and skills rise...
* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' gives us Saitama, who somehow managed to break all the limits of human abilities through casual exercise and determination and became an InvincibleHero (the title refers to his ability to destroy monsters that ''the Justice League'' would find problematic with a single (half-assed) punch, he is just '''that''' strong). The comedy (and some of the drama) of the story then is that Saitama is utterly incompetent as a hero (not as a fighter though, since he more or less one-shots every opponent he stumbles upon), with very little recognition, many haters, no money and who has become extremely apathetic because he's become an equally extreme example of "NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction", being more worried about his mundane life problems than enemy attacks.

** It gets worse [[spoiler:for Homura]] in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion'': while the main villain seems defeated and the world kind of saved, [[spoiler:it turns out Ultimate Madoka has become the new subject of interest for the Incubators, so they lock Homura inside her own mind for experiments, and as a lure. Homura eventually becomes a witch after all and then usurps Madoka's powers to essentially become a MagicalGirl devil... but TheDevilIsALoser is in full effect as seen through-out the movie (even her own witch familiars ''hate'' her) and in the finale, everyone is happy ''except'' Homura herself, who [[SelfInflictedHell forces herself into a torturous existence as a form of repenting]], unable to have the one thing she ever wanted.]]

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' gives us Saitama, who somehow managed to break all the limits of human abilities through casual exercise and determination and became an InvincibleHero (the title refers to his ability to destroy monsters that ''the Justice League'' would find problematic with a single (half-assed) punch, he is just '''that''' strong). The comedy (and some of the drama) of the story then is that Saitama is utterly incompetent as a hero (not as a fighter though, since he more or less one-shots every opponent in his way), with very little recognition, many haters, no money and who has become extremely apathetic because he's become an equally extreme example of "NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction", being more worried about his mundane life problems than enemy attacks.

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' gives us Saitama, who somehow managed to break all the limits of human abilities through casual exercise and determination and became an InvincibleHero (the title refers to his ability to destroy monsters that ''the Justice League'' would find problematic with a single (half-assed) punch, he is just '''that''' strong). The comedy (and some of the drama) of the story then is that Saitama is utterly incompetent as a hero (not as a fighter though, since he more or less one-shots every opponent in his way), with very little recognition, many haters, no money and who has become extremely apathetic because he's become an equally extreme example of "NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction".

* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' gives us Saitama, who somehow managed to break all the limits of human abilities through casual exercise and determination and became an InvincibleHero (the title refers to his ability to destroy monsters that ''the Justice League'' would find problematic with a single (half-assed) punch, he is just '''that''' strong). The comedy (and some of the drama) of the story then is that Saitama is utterly incompetent as a hero, with very little recognition, many haters, no money and who has become extremely apathetic because he's become an equally extreme example of "NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction".

* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' produces three losers, Ren Amagi, Motoyasu Kitamura & Itsuki Kawasumi. Despite having many advantages the protagonist Naofumi Iwatani lacks, such as powerful magical weapons with actual offensive power [[note]]Naofumi's "weapon" turns him into a StoneWall, so he relies on his teammates for offensive power[[/note]], parties of various specialized fighters, and the backing of the king, they all show themselves to be hilariously incompetent heroes. Their only noticeable accomplishment is defeating the boss of the first wave outside of the audience's view, leaving nothing else but a ''downright abysmal'' track record. Not helping their case is Naofumi frequently has to fix the messes they unwittingly make in their solo adventures, how they proved to be highly ineffective against the boss of the second wave, got curbstomped by Glass ''in a single move'' (Naofumi also loses against her, but his defeat [[CurbStompCushion is far more dignified]]), [[RunningGag proved to be highly ineffective against the boss of the third wave]] (and to add insult to the injury, they expected to loot the boss' drops) and got curbstomped by [[spoiler:L'Arc]] ''in a single move, again''. It's no wonder that Glass and [[spoiler:L'Arc]] both see Naofumi as the only one of the four heroes worthy of any respect.

This trope can apply to characters of any kind, from hero to villainous minion (though not usually villains themselves, unless they're a HarmlessVillain or IneffectualSympatheticVillain). A hero who starts off as a Super Loser may eventually [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in badass]] or become competent in the use of their powers while being, personality wise, the same loser they were pre-change. Interestingly, this kind of Super Loser can be very endearing. Minor villains and their minions are usually {{Smug Super}}s with an [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk overinflated ego]], frequently due to a bad case of TranshumanTreachery. Expect the PluckyComicRelief to take them down most satisfyingly, and force them to help talk about the BigBad's plan. Naturally, they are often {{Boisterous Weakling}}s, when they can't use their powers properly at least.

This trope can apply to characters of any kind, from hero to villainous minion (though not usually villains themselves, unless they're a HarmlessVillain or IneffectualSympatheticVillain). A hero who starts off as a Super Loser does may manage to get the hang of it eventuallyeventually, either [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] or becoming competent in the use of their powers while being, personality wise, the same loser they were pre-change. Interestingly, this kind of Super Loser can be very endearing. Minor villains and their minions are usually {{Smug Super}}s with an [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk overinflated ego]], frequently due to a bad case of TranshumanTreachery. Expect the PluckyComicRelief to take them down most satisfyingly, and force them to help talk about the BigBad's plan. Naturally, they are often {{Boisterous Weakling}}s, when they can't use their powers properly at least.

This trope can apply to characters of any kind, from hero to villainous minion (though not usually villains themselves, unless they're a HarmlessVillain or IneffectualSympatheticVillain). A Hero who starts off as a Super Loser does usually [[FromZeroToHero manage to get the hang of it]] eventually, either [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] or becoming competent in the use of their powers while being, personality wise, the same loser they were pre-change. Interestingly, this kind of Super Loser can be very endearing. Minor villains and their minions are usually {{Smug Super}}s with an [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk overinflated ego]], frequently due to a bad case of TranshumanTreachery. Expect the PluckyComicRelief to take them down most satisfyingly, and force them to help talk about the BigBad's plan. Naturally, they are often {{Boisterous Weakling}}s, when they can't use their powers properly at least.

This trope can apply to characters of any kind, from hero to villainous minion (though not usually villains themselves, unless they're a HarmlessVillain or IneffectualSympatheticVillain). A Hero who starts off as a Super Loser does usually [[ActionSurvivor manage to get the hang of it]] eventually, either [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] or becoming competent in the use of their powers while being, personality wise, the same loser they were pre-change. Interestingly, this kind of Super Loser can be very endearing. Minor villains and their minions are usually {{Smug Super}}s with an [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk overinflated ego]], frequently due to a bad case of TranshumanTreachery. Expect the PluckyComicRelief to take them down most satisfyingly, and force them to help talk about the BigBad's plan. Naturally, they are often {{Boisterous Weakling}}s, when they can't use their powers properly at least.

Since this happens often with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], see also/compare YourVampiresSuck. Also compare NerdActionHero and SuperZeroes.

Since this happens often with [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]], see also/compare YourVampiresSuck. Also compare NerdActionHero.