History Main / UselessBoyfriend

** The ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' film averts this as well. Set in WW1, Steve is introduced as a daring spy on an important mission and that mission drives much of the plot. While Wonder Woman obviously dominates every fight scene she's in, Steve remains useful in combat. [[spoiler: He even gets a HeroicSacrifice to complete his mission that saved thousands which convinces Diana to not give up on mankind.]]

* According to the celebrated ''SailorMoon'' fanfic ''[[http://www.sailormoonfiction.com/revolution/viewstory.php?sid=867 Tuxedo Mask, the Token Male]]'' Tuxedo Mask's apparent uselessness is a tactic intended to keep Sailor Moon fantasizing about him while simultaneously forcing her to do all of the real work.

** The ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' film averts this as well. Set in WW1, Steve is introduced as a daring spy on an important mission and that mission drives much of the plot. While Wonder Woman obviously dominates every fight scene she's in, Steve remains useful in combat. [[spoiler: He even he gets a HeroicSacrifice to complete his mission that saved thousands which convinces Diana to not give up on mankind.]]

* 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 {{BigBad}}s by himself, he was unable to use his powers until the last moment and when Kim was knocked out.]]

* Fey of the ''WhateleyUniverse'' has immense magical powers and has beaten The Necromancer in one-on-one duels. Her boyfriend Stalwart is an inventor, and not all of his inventions work.

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'', Kazama, Gakuto and Gen are all shown to be extremely talented fighters who can take down entire armies 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 the enemies as well, as Hideo may be captain of the boxing team, but is completely overshadowed by his female companions.

See [[YouGoGirl Girl Power]], ActionGirl, InformedAbility, MagicalGirl, or DistressedDude. Also look at BadassDecay. Contrast FauxActionGirl, which is a part of the DistaffCounterpart. The man's fear of becoming this trope is part of the driving force behind NoGuyWantsAnAmazon.

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[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:FanFiction]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]
* Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer's boyfriend in seasons 4-5, Riley, was a BadassNormal who was completely and utterly outclassed by [[SuperStrength Buffy.]] The show even [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs the trope,]] with all the UnfortunateImplications that come along with it. Riley eventually feels useless (in combat and even emotionally because Buffy refuses to really open up to or rely on him when she needs help) and weak compared to Buffy and leaves her. Later it turns out that he marries a different, and less [[SuperEmpowering empowered]] [[ActionGirl Action Girl]] with whom he can form a more equal BattleCouple.

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[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Shining Armor is a captain of the guard. However, he has a weak record of being badass or doing anything on camera when the mane 6 get involved. In his defense, though, he does have some outstanding moments such as [[spoiler:performing a spell fueled by ThePowerOfLove alongside Cadance that kicked the changelings out of Canterlot]], briefly taking on King Sombra (even though it ended up putting black crystals in his horn that temporarily prevented him from doing magic), and [[spoiler:[[FastBallSpecial throwing Cadance like a javelin to catch Spike and the Crystal Heart]], enabling Sombra's defeat.]]

* 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:

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.

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.

* 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.

* Hailing from ''Anime/SailorMoon'', Tuxedo Mask is one of two {{Trope Codifier}}s. He was the mysterious protector of the main characters while Usagi and her team got stronger. He becomes completely useless against the first and last [[BigBad Big Bads,]] often leaving Usagi alone for the bigger battles. (In his defense, it's not like he wants to: in the first series [[spoiler: he's gravely injured and then dies in between the fight with Beryl and the one with Metallia!Beryl]], in ''S'' [[spoiler: he's keeping Chibi-Usa alive via constantly transferring some of his own LifeEnergy to her comatose body after her Heart Crystal is stolen]], in ''Super S'' [[spoiler: the influence of Black Moon leave him greatly debilitated]], and in ''Stars'' [[spoiler: he was [[BusCrash dead]] again]].)

* According to the celebrated (and funny) ''SailorMoon'' fanfic ''[[http://www.sailormoonfiction.com/revolution/viewstory.php?sid=867 Tuxedo Mask, the Token Male]]'' Tuxedo Mask's apparent uselessness is a tactic intended to keep Sailor Moor fantasizing about him while simultaneously forcing her to do all of the real work.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman:'' Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's official LoveInterest for decades, was a USA 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 ''MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai'', Kazama, Gakuto and Gen are all shown to be extremely talented fighters who can take down entire armies 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 the enemies as well, as Hideo may be captain of the boxing team, but is completely overshadowed by his female companions.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman:'' Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman's official LoveInterest for decades, was a USA Air Force pilot and agent and the second TropeCodifier. But he ended up rescued by Wonder Woman as often as 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.

One potential (in-universe) explanation for this is that the boyfriend in question is a BadassNormal, while the "girlfriend" has actual magical powers, special abilities, or is a [[KimPossible much better]] BadassNormal. And while the boy is no doubt skilled, he can't really compare to [[EldritchAbomination soul-eating monsters]] or the ability to [[KamehameHadouken shoot fire from one's hands]].

* The wielders of the Forest Stones from ''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.

[[AC: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.

* In MajiDeWatashiNiKoiShinasai, Kazama, Gakuto and Gen are all shown to be extremely talented fighters who can take down entire armies 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 the enemies as well, as Hideo may be captain of the boxing team, but is completely overshadowed by his female companions.

* In WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic, Shining Armor is a captain of the guard. However, he has a weak record of being badass or doing anything on camera when the mane 6 get involved. In his defense, though, he does have some outstanding moments such as [[spoiler:performing a spell fueled by ThePowerOfLove alongside Cadance that kicked the changelings out of Canterlot]], briefly taking on King Sombra (even though it ended up putting black crystals in his horn that temporarily prevented him from doing magic), and [[spoiler:[[FastBallSpecial throwing Cadance like a javelin to catch Spike and the Crystal Heart]], enabling Sombra's defeat.]]

* 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 Shappire” 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:

* Hailing from ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Tuxedo Mask is one of two {{Trope Codifier}}s. He was the mysterious protector of the main characters while Usagi and her team got stronger. He becomes completely useless against the first and last [[BigBad Big Bads,]] often leaving Usagi alone for the bigger battles. (In his defense, it's not like he wants to: in the first series [[spoiler: he's gravely injured and then dies in between the fight with Beryl and the one with Metallia!Beryl]], in ''S'' [[spoiler: he's keeping Chibi-Usa alive via constantly transferring some of his own LifeEnergy to her comatose body after her Heart Crystal is stolen]], in ''Super S'' [[spoiler: the influence of Black Moon leave him greatly debilitated]], and in ''Stars'' [[spoiler: he was [[BusCrash dead]] again]].)

[[caption-width-right:350:"*sigh* My hero!"]]

* Austria from 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.

See [[YouGoGirl Girl Power]], ActionGirl, InformedAbility, MagicalGirl, or DistressedDude. Also look at BadassDecay. Contrast FauxActionGirl, which is a part of the DistaffCounterpart.

* In WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic, Shining Armor is a captain of the guard. However, he has a weak record of being badass or doing anything on camera when the mane 6 get involved. In his defense, though, he does have some outstanding moments such as [[spoiler:performing a spell fueled by ThePowerOfLove alongside Cadance that kicked the changelings out of Canterlot]], briefly taking on King Sombra (even though it ended up putting black crystals in his horn that temporarily prevented him from doing magic), and [[spoiler:[[FastBallSpecial throwing Cadance like a javelin to catch Spike and the Crystal Heart, enabling Sombra's defeat.]]

* In WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic, Shining Armor is a captain of the guard. However, he has a weak record of being badass or doing anything on camera when the mane 6 get involved. In his defense, though, he does have some outstanding moments such as [[spoiler:performing a spell fueled by ThePowerOfLove alongside Cadance that kicked the changelings out of Canterlot]] and briefly taking on King Sombra (even though it ended up putting black crystals in his horn that temporarily prevented him from doing magic).

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/WonderWoman http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Diana_and_Steve_6431.jpg]]]]

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%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[caption-width-right:350:Is that her {{Badass}} boyfriend?]]

->''Never did like that sumbitch. About as useless as a pecker on the pope.''
-->-- Sheriff [=McGraw=], ''PlanetTerror''

When this trope is played straight, it is used to denote [[YouGoGirl Girl Power]]. This trope is a necessity due to the fact that the girls are the ones that are supposed to have the spotlight and be the heroines, as most of this shows are primarily intended for girls.

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