History Main / WellTrainedButInexperienced

** One exception to the above: [[GeneralFailure Lloyd Fredendall]]. His conduct before and during the Battle of Kassarine Pass could be considered an [[UpToEleven unrealistic caricature]] of this trope, except it actually happened.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': The candidate knights for the Kingsguard are well-connected noblemen with access to the finest martial training in Westeros, but because of the long peace, none have any combat experience outside of aprehending bandits and poachers. Ser Criston Cole immediately appeals to Rhaenyra because he, alone among them, is battle-tested, having earned his knighthood for his valor against the Dornishmen.

* The Daughters of Aku in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' were trained since birth by the cult that raised them to act as the ultimate assassins to kill Samurai Jack. While at first they were successfully able to overpower him, finding him where he hides and mortally wounding him, by the time they locate him after he had fled his wounds have already healed sufficiently enough for him to regain his strength and ambush them. Jack trained by touring the world, allowing him to learn different cultures and lifestyles as well as learn different fighting styles. By contrast, the Daughters were kept isolated and cut off from the rest of the world, thus they know nothing of the outside world or anything that isn't related to killing Jack. Also, being raised to be [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] and being discouraged from aiding one another ultimately becomes their undoing as Jack is able to easily whittle their numbers down by using the environment against them. This make the Daughters in actuality IncompletelyTrained.

* The Daughters of Aku in ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' were trained since birth by the cult that raised them to act as the ultimate assassins to kill Samurai Jack. While at first they were successfully able to overpower him, finding him where he hides and mortally wounding him, by the time they locate him after he had fled his wounds have already healed sufficiently enough for him to regain his strength and ambush them. Jack trained by touring the world, allowing him to learn different cultures and lifestyles as well as learn different fighting styles. By contrast, the Daughters were kept isolated and cut off from the rest of the world, thus they know nothing of the outside world or anything that isn't related to killing Jack. Also, being raised to be [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] and being discouraged from aiding one another ultimately becomes their undoing as Jack is able to easily whittle their numbers down by using the environment against them.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}: Talented and experienced at fighting Grimm, the Ace Ops have earned their title as Atlas' best. Volume 7 establishes that they're soldiers rather than Huntsmen and have no experience fighting Salem. Used to stacking things in their favour and military grunts cleaning out lesser Grimm before moving in, they rely heavily on following orders, controlled environments, and Clover's [[GoodLuckCharm leadership and Semblance]]. However, Salem's forces specialise in targeting weaknesses, dividing allies, and using unusual or unpredictable Grimm. As the Ace Ops' competence and discipline deteriorate, the younger heroes increasingly prove their greater experience with Salem makes them more resilient, competent, and flexible at handling her machinations.

* In ''Film/BatmanBegins'' Bruce is one of the finest recruits for the League of Shadows, quickly learning and adapting all the training he was given by Ducard. When he decides to engage the criminal element in Gotham, his entire strategy has to change because he is unwilling to use [[ThouShaltNotKill the Leagues' extreme methods]] and had to develop the Batman persona through trial and error while adapting rejected R&D equipment for his own use.

* Lea and Kairi spend most of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' being trained to use their Keyblades under Yen Sid's supervision in preparation for the upcoming battle against [[Characters/KingdomHeartsXehanortsIncarnations the Thirteen Seekers of Darkness]]. When the battle occurs, Lea and Kairi are proven to be the weakest of the Seven Guardians of Light. While Lea does have experience wielding his chakrams and [[PlayingWithFire fire magic]] as Axel, he has only recently acquired his Keyblade, and Kairi has ''no'' combat experience. Worse still, Merlin is the one to supervise them, and while he is very intelligent, he has no Keyblade or combat experience of his own and thus lacks certain qualities that would make a proper teacher for them. When they are brought into the final battle, Lea is quickly overpowered by Xemnas and Kairi is also kidnapped.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': Gohan qualifies during the Saiyan Saga. He trains with Piccolo for a year in preparation for the Saiyan invasion, but when push comes to shove, he breaks down under the pressure and cowers behind a rock during a team attack, which leads to Tien's death at Nappa's hands moments later. Piccolo furiously rips into him for it, but Krillin quickly tells him off, reminding him that Gohan is a five-year-old boy who's never been in a real battle before and shouldn't even ''be'' fighting in the first place.

* ''LightNovel/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'': Yurika claims to be [[MagicalGirlWarrior "Magical Girl Rainbow Yurika"]], sent from [[MagicalLand an otherworldly kingdom]] to defend Room 106 from evildoers... but she never displays any magic, and is timid, lazy and generally incompetent enough to become the group ButtMonkey. However, when she's not restricted by her land's PrimeDirective she proves herself to be a StrongAndSkilled CowardlyLion with a knack for elaborate {{Wizard Duel}}s. In volume 19 it's revealed why Folsaria would send an agent who seems so ill-prepared for their duties -- [[spoiler:reaching the rank of "Rainbow" would normally take about five years of training, but Yurika was so [[StrongAndSkilled gifted]] and [[PassingTheTorch driven to follow in Rainbow Nana's footsteps]] that she went from {{Muggle}} to {{Archmage}} in only ''one year''. Nana claims that the only place left for Yurika to grow is her [[{{Determinator}} strength of heart]], and on the day she achieves that she'll go down as the greatest wizard in history.]]

->''"All that breeding, all those years of training... it doesn't really prepare you for the all the screaming or the blood, does it?"''

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the mission to Grissom Academy features a unit of [[PsychicChildren biotic students]] being trained for the war against [[MechanicalAbomination the Reapers]]; the kids have received the best training possible... but none of them have seen any actual combat experience, resulting in confusion and panic when [[LesCollaborateurs Cerberus]] attacks the academy. How well they do depends on whether or not [[DarkActionGirl Jack]] survived the previous game: if yes, Jack is working at Grissom as a teacher and is [[BadassTeacher able to keep the kids focused enough to survive the battle]], eventually deciding that her students are ready to serve on the front lines. However, if Jack isn't there, the students' CO is killed by Cerberus before you arrive, [[YouAreInCommandNow forcing Ensign Jason Prangley to take command]]; lack of overall experience results in Prangley getting killed while rescuing a fellow student, and Kahlee Sanders doubts that the survivors are remotely ready for front-line combat.

* ''Manga/{{Pokemon}}'':

** Aeryn is normally SkilledAndStrong, having both the Peacekeeper training and the experience to serve as a deadly martial artist, an expert sharpshooter, and an AcePilot. However, "[[Recap/FarscapeS02E22DieMeDichotomy Die Me Dichotomy]]" uncovers a critical gap in her experience: her dogfighting's been limited to the vacuum of space. By contrast, Crichton has only his IASA-standard training and what he's learned from Aeryn, but ''does'' have experience with flying in an atmosphere back on Earth -- resulting in problems when [[EnemyWithin Harvey]] takes over his mind and leads Aeryn on a chase across an ice planet. [[spoiler: Harvey is able to use her limitations to perform a surprise attack from above, critically damaging Aeryn's prowler and ultimately sending her on a fatal plunge into a frozen lake.]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': When teenaged knight Mule Wolflame engages the pirate captain Bonebeard in a sword fight, Bonebeard remarks that Mule is clearly well-trained in the orthodox fencing style of the nobility. However, the old pirate gains they upper hand by exploiting Mule's lack of experience fighting on an unstable platform such as a small boat, and his vulnerability to CombatPragmatist tricks.

Compare EnsignNewbie, EveryYearTheyFizzleOut, PaperTiger, TaughtByExperience and WeakButSkilled. Contrast IncompletelyTrained, StrongAndSkilled and UnskilledButStrong. See also SkilledButNaive, where the NaiveNewcomer can come across as rather ditzy or green-horned, but are still able to do what they do best when given the opportunity. May result in a ([[SubvertedTrope subverted]]) case of WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer.

* In ''Manga/FoodWars'', during Stagiaire Week, Hisako Arato gets paired up with Soma at the restaurant they're both interning at. Hisako, at this point, is a haughty but pretty cook, and doesn't think much of Soma despite him having proven that he's likewise a formidable cook. However, the restaurant they work in deals in lunch rushes and Soma questions Hisako if she's ready for it, which she responds to by saying she has experience in staged situations at Totsuki. But come time to face the real deal, she is ''completely'' overwhelmed as it's nothing like she expected. Soma, on the other hand, breezes through it as working in a special-of-the-day diner has long given him the skills necessary to keep up with the demands of the incoming patrons. Hisako has to swallow her pride and follow his lead in order to keep up, and by the end, she's humbled by the experience.

* Lampshaded in ''Fanfic/BastardHarryPotter''. Gil reflects on the countless brilliant duelists who lost their lives in wizarding wars: since wizard duels are practically a sport and have a very strict set of rules, most of the duelists weren't prepared for the real battlefields at all.

* The newly-minted Liutenant John Foley first realises that a full year of intensive training at Sandhurst sums up to knowing which set of cutlery to use for each course, and a schooling in the protocols and politenesses of a pre-war officers' mess. Within a day he's binned his course notes from officer school and learns how it's really done in wartime, from the bottom up. Later in ''Literature/MailedFist'', after escaping from a brewed-up tank, he discovers that being a marksman on the pistol ranges means nothing when he is trying to shoot at real-life German soldiers carrying machine-guns. He misses with every shot from close range.[[note]] fortunately they panic and run away[[/note]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': When Giles is fired as Buffy's Watcher, he's less than impressed when his replacement, Wesley Wyndam-Price, boasts about being up on all the latest techniques]], but he's obviously in over his head in the field.