History TheLoad / Literature

* In ''Literature/TheCallOfTheWild'', three idiots with no experience in Alaska (Hal, Charles, and Mercedes) buy Buck and the other sled dogs. While all of them burden the team with their mismanagement, Mercedes insists on riding the dogsled, being this trope in the literal sense. Their incompetence ultimately gets everyone but Buck killed -- themselves included.

* Mr. Poe in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' is pretty much the personification of AdultsAreUseless, for his continued habit of trucking the children to the closest thing that will take them regardless of quality and his complete inability to notice Count Olaf in a PaperThinDisguise until it gets pulled off him. At one point, the book compares his usefulness unfavorably [[InsultToRocks to a jar of mustard.]]

** ''Sharpe's Eagle'' sees what should have been a simple escort mission escalate into a battle with hundreds of casualties because the man in charge of the Spanish is an UpperClassTwit and so the is the English commander.

** ''Sharpe's Eagle'' sees what should have been a simple escort mission escalate into a battle with hundreds of casualties because the man in charge of the Spanish is a RichUpperClassTwit and so the is the English commander.

* Invoking this trope is a recurring theme in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Although all four of the Fellowship's hobbits involved themselves in the plot willingly, even forcefully, they often worry that they are a burden on their larger, better-prepared comrades. At times, they are indeed, but in the end they are of course all heroes, and each plays a crucial part in the War of the Ring.

** He gets an undeserved bad rep for being this in ''Catching Fire'' as well. He displays these traits the first day of [[spoiler:the Quarter Quell - at the Cornucopia (because he can't swim) and when they're fleeing from the poisonous gas (because he's weak after getting severely electrocuted mere hours before).]] However the rest of the time he's either [[spoiler:fighting monkey mutts with Katniss and Finnick, carrying Beetee around the arena, creating a map of the clock, doing all he can to ensure that Katniss survives at the cost of his own life, killing Brutus who is one of their toughest competitors, or generally contributing as much as anyone else in the party.]] He was also the one who made sure himself, Katniss and Haymitch were prepared for [[spoiler:the Quell by forcing the other two to train with him, both physically and survival skills-wise, and meticulously studying their competition to find out what the other victors' strength and weaknesses were.]]

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* The Boy from ''Literature/TheRoad'', being the Man's very young son and justifiably helpless, he never falls into the Scrappy category, but he's pretty useless in a post-apocalypse world. He's realistically frightened of the violence surrounding him and squeamish (such as the scene where his father orders him to pull the arrowhead out of him with a pair of pliers, but the Boy can't). The Boy also wants to help others and while it's commendable that he feels this way, this hinders the chances of survival for the pair.
* Defied in the ''Literature/PrinceRoger''-series. As two civilians, Eleonora and Kostas (The titular prince's chief of staff and valet, respectively) initially feel as they are a hindrance to the Prince's badass bodyguards, and voice their concern only to be shot down. Neither Eleonora nor Kostas caused the group to be stuck on a DeathWorld, nor did they ask to come, and none of the suck they are in is their fault. In fact, the bodyguards are impressed that Eleonora and Kostas have kept up as well as they have. They further state that Eleonora's talent for languages has helped them in countless encounters with the locals, and that Kostas' ability to knock together tasty meals from local wildlife has been essential for maintaining morale.

* The reoccurring character Button-Bright in L. Frank Baum's ''Literature/LandOfOz'' novels. His whole schtick is that he is constantly getting lost, which regularly causes problems for the various characters who get saddled with his (lack of) presence. His general indifference and lack of remorse doesn't help matters.

* An interesting variant in the ''Literature/CodexAlera''. Gaius Sextus is the First Lord of Alera, and probably the single most powerful furycrafter in the world. However, during the course of one of the books he has to get to the city of Kalare, held by the rebel High Lord Kalarus, in order to disarm Kalarus's DoomsdayDevice. The problem is, Kalarus has set up a network of sentinel furies such that if Gaius uses his powers anywhere within ''three hundred miles'' of Kalare, Kalarus will know and come down on him with a small army of furycrafters. So, Gaius and the two protagonists have to hike three hundred miles without Gaius ever using his crafting. Also, Gaius is over eighty years old, though the effects of age are partially mitigated by his watercrafting.

** After Pippin is captured by Orcs:

* Glew in book 5 of the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfPrydain'', when he isn't TheMillstone. The other characters are very aware of it, but keep him around because they feel sorry for him, have no way of sending him elsewhere, or want to keep an eye on him. To cap off his annoyance factor, he's constantly complaining that he's treated badly and the companions are being selfish in not thinking of his loss. He's so bad that this is actually his ''only'' saving grace in that book, when his greed leads to [[spoiler:him inadvertently collapsing the mine tunnels that the group was traveling through, forcing them to take another route and leading them to accidentally find the missing sword and win the battle.]] Of course, he does redeem himself somewhat, in that he's able to confess to his mistakes at the end.

** Ce'Nedra. She becomes a liability to the heroes in ''Queen of Sorcery'' because after she runs away, everyone is looking for her because one, she's an Imperial Princess, and two, in the current political crisis, she's a very valuable potential hostage. She kicks up a stink about everything, treats Garion like a slave, makes it very clear to him that she thinks of him as a total inferior, and then gets pissed off that he won't totally devote himself to her. They have to leave her behind in Prolgu because she's the only one who can't defend herself at all, she treats everything as a personal insult, and despite her CrowningMomentOfAwesome in bringing in the Tolnedrans and the Arends to join the army, it's balanced when she almost gets [[spoiler:Adara]] killed by her own stupidity. In the sequel series this eventually becomes stated (by the Prophecies) as her ''official'' status: she's been messed with emotionally to the point where she can't be stashed anywhere out of the party's sight, and is there almost entirely to slow them down and prevent conclusion of the main plot until a variety of side tasks have been attended to.

* Sorn in ''Literature/TheOutcasts''. A widow with very little experience outside of her village, she contributes very little to the party, and constantly criticizes anything that they do, and seems more oriented on seducing Hasset so as to have a new husband than to actually do anything to survive. [[spoiler:Then she cuts down tha villain with an axe and calmly finishes him off before going off to clean the blade]].