History Main / UselessBoyfriend

* The wielders of the Forest Stones from ''WesternAnimation/PrincessGwenevereAndTheJewelRiders'', despite riding badass wolves and having their own [[GreenLanternRing magic stones]], were unfortunately made all too aware of this trope. They have been kidnapped, transformed, and in short are pretty much useless.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', this is zigzagged and {{Discussed}} with Kim's best friend, Ron Stoppable, who was originally the {{Sidekick}} before his RelationshipUpgrade with Kim in the second movie. As the PluckyComicRelief, he routinely embarrassed himself and had very few serious accomplishments to boast[[note]]Not counting an infusion of Mystical Monkey Power, which he rarely tapped into[[/note]], which in the PostScriptSeason become a subject of some {{Angst}} for him in several episodes. Kim insists, contrary to his worries, that she loves him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', [[{{Sidekick}} Ron Stoppable]] is this for Kim. Despite the act that he has "mystical king Fu powers" he is unable to beat Shego nor any villain of the week. Most of the time Kim does all the work. He becomes aware of this trope at the last episode and feels outclassed compared to Kim. Even in the last episode when he was allowed to [[spoiler: awaken his powers and beat the {{Big Bad}}s by himself, he was unable to use his powers until the last moment and when Kim was knocked out.]]
** Ron really is more of a subversion, however. He is, in fact, an attempt at lampshading this trope. The main difference is that Ron hasn't made any claims to be badass, he knows he isn't badass.
** The other thing is that it's Kim's show, so she's usually the hero with Ron as loyal support, though he has a number of AllUpToYou moments. [[note]]Some fans thought there were too many of these, but that's a debate we don't want to re-open.[[/note]]

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman:'' ComicBook/SteveTrevor, Wonder Woman's official LoveInterest for decades, was a US Air Force pilot and agent and the second TropeCodifier. But he ended up rescued by Wonder Woman as often as ComicBook/LoisLane was by {{Franchise/Superman}}. Eventually they wrote him out of the series, even [[PairTheSpares marrying him to Wonder Woman's female sidekick]], Etta Candy in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987''.

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'', Kazama, Gakuto, and Gen are all shown to be extremely talented fighters who can take down large swarms of thugs on their own. However, whenever the VillainOfTheWeek shows up, they all get sidelined in favor of one of the girls taking them on. This even applies to their rivals as well, as while Hideo may be able to toss around the average {{Mook}} with ease, he's completely overshadowed by his female companions and never participates in any ''major'' fights. This is regularly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], as the guys mention how humiliating it is to constantly get shown up by girls.

* Austria from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' was shown to be this, back when he and [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Hungary]] were still together. Prussia's comments at his loss hint that he used to be able to hold his own, but got complacent and has gone soft, or at least weaker than Prussia and his allies.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* Shows up quite often in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fan fiction, due in part to the fact that many such fanfics involve {{Muggle}} humans accidentally finding themselves in [[MagicalLand Gensokyo]], a land whose chief population seems to be magic bullet-shooting {{Action Girl}}s.

It is very common that when women are the main characters, they will have a boyfriend that is depicted as a complete badass or a BadassNormal. They singlehandedly fight the MonsterOfTheWeek and even rescue their [[ActionGirl action]]/[[MagicalGirl magical girl]] friends [[HowDoIShotWeb when they are still learning how to use their powers/skills]]. They are more than capable of facing the BigBad and his/her goons without powers.

In short, they are completely badass...Except whenever their [[ActionGirl action]]/[[MagicalGirl magical girl]] friends are around. Then they somehow become [[ConservationOfNinjutsu very ineffective]] fighting against the MonsterOfTheWeek and are completely useless against the BigBad. Sometimes, they even get demoted to DistressedDude. Many times, they are not allowed to win a fight unless their girlfriends are somehow incapacitated. Most of the time they are somehow unable to get the same powers/abilities as their [[ActionGirl action]]/[[MagicalGirl magical girl]] friends.

Compare to the WorfEffect, where a badass character is taken out easily to show how tough the new villain is. The difference between a Useless Boyfriend and the Worf Effect is the setting and how frequently the badass in question is beaten down. The Worf Effect will overlap with Useless Boyfriend, but the Boyfriend is characterized by his uselessness. Though he may also serve a similar purpose, the "Worf" will be actually effective against a wide variety of enemies, and will gain victories for their side, whereas the Boyfriend serves as a punching bag until his girlfriend shows up.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Austria from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' was shown to be this, back when he and [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Hungary]] were still together. Prussia's comments at his loss hints that he used to be able to hold his own, but got complacent and has gone soft, or at least weaker than Prussia and his allies.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

** In the [[Series/WonderWoman1975 TV series]], this is averted. While he's not bulletproof so the heavy hitting still has to be done by the heroine, he's still a badass soldier. They don't let useless wusses be USAF fighter pilots, after all. Of course, gender roles mean that when it comes to audience perception, any given instance of needing rescue adds ''far'' more TheLoad points to the character than it would for a female character.

[[folder: Fan Fiction ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* ''Literature/TheServant'' series, by LoriFoster, has Gaby as the supernatural protagonist and Luther as her {{Muggle}} love interest. If it were a straight up detective series, Luther would be pretty badass. Unfortunately, since he's not supernaturally empowered, he can't hold a candle to Gaby.

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'', Kazama, Gakuto and Gen are all shown to be extremely talented fighters who can take down large swarms of thugs on their own. However, whenever the VillainOfTheWeek shows up, they all get sidelined in favor of one of the girls taking them on. This even applies to their rivals as well, as while Hideo may be able to toss around the average {{Mook}} with ease, he's completely overshadowed by his female companions and never participates in any ''major'' fights. This is regularly [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], as the guys mention how humiliating it is to constantly get shown up by girls.

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'', the specialists from Red Fountain are depicted as completely badass warriors, due to the fact that they are training all the time to be [[BadassNormal Badass Normals.]] For this reason one would logically expect them to be able to fight competently against the forces of evil. Despite this, they are usually ineffective against the [[BigBad Big Bads,]] and are very weak compared to the Winx against magical threats. However, they do manage to hold their own against {{mooks}} and can sometimes take on bigger threats like the Trix and the Wizards of the Black Circle.

*** The comic was also good at subverting it. When Matt learns about TheMasquerade, he helps the girls hiding it from their parents. Next story arc, he is a DistressedDude, but at then end he manages to save the day. [[spoiler: Then we learn he was a ReallySevenHundredYearsOld secret protector.]]

** Ron really is more of a subversion however. He is, in fact an attempt at lampshading this trope. The main difference is that Ron hasn't made any claims to be badass, he knows he isn't badass.

* Lampshaded and... Parodied?... with Steve Trevor, love interest of Franchise/WonderWoman in his appearance at ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In all other incarnations (animation, live action TV) he is a fairly proactive guy, (except comics, as you can see above) in the ColdOpening of "Scorn of Star Sapphire!" he is a secret agent so confident that Wonder Woman will come to his rescue that he doesn't move a muscle to get out of a DeathTrap, let her do all the work, and gushes in her presence. And this immortal line:

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', practically ''every'' central female character is a tough cookie and the usual expectations are reversed with a vengeance. Even a highly-functioning character like Moist von Lipwig discovers - periodically - he has to depend on a ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend to get him out of a potential fight he has no hope of winning. Other such pairings include barbarian hairdresser Conina and her hopeless dreamer boyfriend Nijel; the Wizzard Rincewind discovers he is dependent on a sucession of tough women to get him out of trouble; Queen Magrat fights not one but ''two'' wars to rescue the kingdom for her well-meaning but inept husband King Verence; Susan Sto Helit takes charge of Lobsang when Time runs out; and Discworld women, in general, realise they're going to have to do the thinking, acting, and fighting on behalf of men they get involved with. In the main, they roll their sleeves up, clench their fists 9and sometimes, their teeth), and get on with it.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', practically ''every'' central female character is a tough cookie and the usual expectations are reversed with a vengeance. Even a highly-functioning character like Moist von Lipwig discovers - periodically - he has to depend on a ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfirend to get him out of a potential fight he has no hope of winning. Other such parings include barbarian hairdresser Conina and her hopeless dreamer boyfriend Nijel; the Wizzard Rincewind discovers he is dependent on a sucession of tough women to get him out of trouble; Queen Magrat fights not one but ''two'' wars to rescue the kingdom for her well-meaning but inept husband King Verence; Susan Sto Helit takes charge of Lobsang when Time runs out; and Discworld women, in general, realise they're going to have to do the thinking, acting, and fighting on behalf of men they get involved with. In the main, they roll their sleeves up, clench their fists 9and sometimes, their teeth), and get on with it.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman:'' ComicBook/SteveTrevor, Wonder Woman's official LoveInterest for decades, was a US Air Force pilot and agent and the second TropeCodifier. But he ended up rescued by Wonder Woman as often as ComicBook/LoisLane was by {{Franchise/Superman}}. Eventually they wrote him out of the series, even [[PairTheSpares marrying him to Wonder Woman's female sidekick]], Etta Candy.

* In ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', Cole turned into this after his HeelFaceTurn, but then turned into a {{Muggle}}. His frustration with this led to him using a forbidden power source, becoming strong again, but eventually being corrupted. [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Then he gets better, then he gets worse again, then...]]

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman:'' Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's official LoveInterest for decades, was a US Air Force pilot and agent and the second TropeCodifier. But he ended up rescued by Wonder Woman as often as ComicBook/LoisLane was by {{Franchise/Superman}}. Eventually they wrote him out of the series, even [[PairTheSpares marrying him to Wonder Woman's female sidekick]], Etta Candy.
** In the TV series, this is averted. While he's not bulletproof so the heavy hitting still has to be done by the heroine, he's still a badass soldier. They don't let useless wusses be USAF fighter pilots, after all. Of course, gender roles mean that when it comes to audience perception, any given instance of needing rescue adds ''far'' more TheLoad points to the character than it would for a female character.

In short, they are completely badass... Except whenever their [[ActionGirl action]]/[[MagicalGirl magical girl]] friends are around. Then they somehow become [[ConservationOfNinjutsu very ineffective]] fighting against the MonsterOfTheWeek and are completely useless against the BigBad. Sometimes, they even get demoted to DistressedDude. Many times, they are not allowed to win a fight unless their girlfriends are somehow incapacitated. Most of the time they are somehow unable to get the same powers/abilities as their [[ActionGirl action]]/[[MagicalGirl magical girl]] friends.