History Main / WeakBossStrongUnderlings

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Due to NERV's military-like hierarchy, this trope comes in layers and could be seen as an {{inver|ted}}sion of RankScalesWithAsskicking. First, we have the Children: teenagers with no military training who synchronize with and pilot {{Humongous Mecha}}s known as Evas -- the Evas are kind of sentient and contain the souls of the Children's [[MamaBear mothers]] and that's why only the kids can control them. Then we have Major Misato, the children's [[TheStrategist tactical commander]] in battle and the tutor of two of them as well as an accomplished ActionGirl. So, she is only stronger than the kids when they aren't piloting the Evas. Above them are NERV Commander [[Characters/NeonGenesisEvangelionGendoIkari Gendō]] and his Deputy Fuyutsuki; neither of them is an action guy and their strength lies on respectively being TheProfessor and TheChessmaster. Finally, there's SEELE, the shady global organization funding and overseeing NERV. SEELE's CosmopolitanCouncil comprises regular politicians with a penchant for theatrics.

** Buggy the Clown is one of the first {{arc villain}}s in the series, whom Luffy defeats somewhat easily early on. Buggy continues to serve as a recurring minor antagonist despite how weak he is, but after breaking out of Impel Down with Luffy's help, he manages to gain the loyalty of some of the other escapees by virtue of having once served on Pirate King Gol D. Roger's crew. Because of his underlings' strength, Buggy becomes a Warlord of the Sea over the course of the TimeSkip, [[spoiler:and later, one of the new Four Emperors after the dissolution of the Warlord system and the defeat of Big Mom and Kaido who has also managed to recruit former Warlords Mihawk and Crocodile into the Cross Guild]].

** Spandam, leader of the secret government agency [[Characters/OnePieceCipherPol Cipher Pol 9.]] While his subordinates are all trained assassins and spies with superpowers, he himself is weaker than even a common low-rank Marine troop; Spandam's power level is 9, whereas Kalifa (the weakest [=CP9=] agent) has a power level of 630, and Lucci (the strongest agent) has a power level of 4,000. He does have the "elephant sword" Funkfreed, but what should be a potentially powerful weapon is little more than trash in his hands, which Franky demonstrates. [[spoiler:This is inverted after the TimeSkip, as Lucci is now the boss of [=CP0=] and Spandam a subordinate]].

** While Admirals are the [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership opposite of this trope]], they still have someone above them, the Celestial Dragons. If a Dragon is attacked, an Admiral ''has'' to intervene. The Admirals are the real threat, the Celestial Dragons themselves are even weaker than Spandam.

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'': {{Downplayed}}. [[Characters/DanganronpaJunkoEnoshima Junko]], the series' BigBad, is mainly an intellectual mastermind, but her execution in the first game shows that she's surprisingly durable. However, she can't defeat more skilled opponents like Mukuro or Izuru in direct combat. Luckily, she has quite a few strong underlings at her disposal, like an army of Monokuma robots or the Warriors of Hope (who have giant mechs with which to kill adults).

** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02:'' Arukenimon is no total weakling, but never lasts long in direct combat against an opponent of the same level as her. Her true power is her Spirit Needle ability, which lets her create false Digimon that can hold their own against the entire team if need be. She's also backed up by her [[TheDragon Dragon]], Mummymon, whose powers are much more combat-oriented.

** ''Anime/DragonBallZBioBroly'': FatBastard Baron Jaguar Badda is a normal human that controls, or attempts to, a group of very strong Bio-Warriors, including Broly. It should cue you that he is SmallNameBigEgo Mr. Satan's rival, another utter fluke of a warrior.

** Despite his Mythical Zoan fruit, Kurozumi Orochi is this. On paper, he is the Shogun of Wano and an equal to [[WorldsStrongestMan Kaido]]. In practice, despite his impressive durability, he has no skills whatsoever, and his personal guard, as well as the Beast Pirates, are stronger than him, and [[spoiler:Kaido attempts to get rid of him easily once he has no more use for him.]]

* ''Anime/{{Symphogear}} G'': The elite fighters of the "Finé" terrorist organization are this compared to their leaders. Professor Nastassja and Dr. Ver only have for themselves ample scientific knowledge about the Symphogears, relics, and Noise. Neither is what you call athletic and Nastassja, despite knowing how to fire a gun, is terminally ill. By contrast, their elite fighters are Maria, Kirika, and Shirabe -- a trio of young, physically-trained women capable of wearing a Symphogear, i.e., a music-fueled PoweredArmor (three of these things' {{Finishing Move}}s can destroy a big chunk of the moon).

* By the time of ''Mermaid Confidential'' (by Creator/TimDorsey), long-time drug cartel leader Raffy Benzappa is a senile old man who is preoccupied with watching 1960s sitcoms, has his sons (who he rarely recognizes anymore) handle the family business, and, during his lucid moments, displays occasional disappointment at how violent the escalating cartel wars are. His younger son Mercado is GoodWithNumbers but a NonActionGuy who rarely even talks about the cartel's killings. On the other hand, the family's scores of fiercely loyal enforcers are skilled gunfighters and strategic assassins who are merciless to their enemies.

** The Emperor looks so fragile, ill, and old compared to the imposing looks of his {{Dragon}}, Darth Vader. Moreover, Vader himself is the one to defeat him in TheClimax, even if just by virtue of exploiting the weakness of the Emperor's Force Lightning technique. However, this is also a subversion. In terms of Force powers, Palpatine is way superior.

** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02:'' Arukenimon is no total weakling, but never lasts long in direct combat against an opponent of the same level as her. Her true power is her Spirit Needle ability, which lets her create false Digimon that can hold their own against the entire team if need be. She's also backed up by her {{Dragon}}, Mummymon, whose powers are much more combat-oriented.

** Spandam, leader of the secret government agency [[Characters/OnePieceCipherPol Cipher Pol 9.]] While his subordinates are all trained assassins and spies with superpowers, he himself is weaker than even a common low-rank Marine troop; Spandam's power level is 9, whereas Kalifa (the weakest [=CP9=] agent) has a power level of 630, and Lucci (the strongest agent) has a power level of 4,000. He does have the "elephant sword" Funkfreed, but what should be a potentially powerful weapon is little more than trash in his hands, which Franky demonstrates. [[spoiler:This is inverted after the TimeSkip, Lucci is now the boss of [=CP0=] and Spandam a subordinate-]].

* ''Fanfic/StarWarsVsWarhammer40K'':
** While not entirely helpless as evidenced by the fact that he survived close-range encounters with the Orks in the past, Yorran is still a {{Muggle}} in a fancy uniform fighting against the Jedi, an order of psychic warrior monks with laser swords. It goes without saying that his chances of defeating a Jedi in combat are next to none. Fortunately for Yorran, he has a Space Marine Librarian and thousands of naval armsmen who are much stronger and more capable than him to keep the Jedi boarding his ship busy.
** When she first appears in Episode 27, Ishtara is an extremely elderly woman who can barely stand and needs to be carried around everywhere on her CoolChair. She is commanding the Sisters of Battle, an AmazonBrigade of elite warrior nuns wearing power armor who are shown giving even the Jedi a challenge. This gets subverted at the end of Episode 34, where Ishtara [[VillainNoLongerIdle stops being idle]], dons a Paragon Warsuit, and then spends the next two episodes tearing through the 327[[superscript:th]] and fighting Jedi Council members to a standstill.
** Doven is your typical [[ArmchairMilitary armchair general]] and is a normal human who has displayed zero fighting skills. He is commanding the army occupying Axum, which has some of the most elite regiments in the entire Imperial Guard including the Cadians, Kriegers, Colambians, and Karkosans as well as BadassNormal commissars like Terrandor and Leerose.

* Music/{{Rosendale}}: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRAURG07M_4 "The King"]], the titular character is in possession of magnificent riches that allow him to neglect his own people without an ounce of care. They beg outside of the castle but are impotent to do nothing because of the castle guards. As the king ages, his health declines, to the point that when his son is of age, he's swiftly deposed. The newly crowned king may be young and physically stronger but, given that the story repeats with him, he's more dangerous because of his charism and wealth than whatever combat prowess he might have.

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