Line #52 Main/CharacterRosterGlobalWarming


1	When a video game first in the series is released, it will often have a slow, powerful fighter (known here as a MightyGlacier) or two. However, as the series increases and more characters are added, the number of these characters often stays the same, resulting in a gigantic roster with only one or two big heavy glacier guys. Hence, Global Warming.
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3	Compare TheSmurfettePrinciple, which gives this treatment to female characters.
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5	!!Examples:
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7	[[AC: {{Beat Em Up}}s]]
8	* Melted Glacier example: The ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' series has had only two slow guys, Adam, who was replaced with the even more stronger and slower Max, who was promptly replaced with LightningBruiser Dr. Zan and LethalJokeCharacter Roo in the third game. In the FanRemake, which includes the running and rolling mechanics from ''3'' (that Adam and Max didn't star in), they become loads more useful.
9	** ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage4'' reintroduces Adam and has Max back as DLC while adding the composite of Max and Zan, Floyd and the boss character Estel.
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11	[[AC: {{Fighting Game}}s]]
12	* ''VideoGame/BattleFantasia'' has only one glacier fighter in Donvalve. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in regards to Deathbringer since while he is just as large as Donvalve, he's also somewhat more nimble than him.
13	* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' has Iron Tager. Hakumen is also something of a MightyGlacier, just the rare example of a character in that category being smaller than usual. The third game adds Azrael.
14	** The crossover game ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCrossTagBattle'' brings back Tager, Hakumen (as DLC) and Azrael as well as adding in (the admittedly comparatively-small) Kanji Tatsumi (also as DLC), Waldstein and Blitztank (again, as DLC) from ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'' and ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf'' respectively for a total of six out of fifty-three.
15	* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' started out with 3 'big' characters who relied mainly on power and grapples: Bayman, Bass, and Leon. Bass's daughter Tina is a wrestler just like him, [[MaleMightFemaleFinesse but is much faster while having less powerful throws]]. ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive5'' brought in Rachel from sister series ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' and gave her a limited yet devastating moveset focusing on powerful hits and throws.
16	* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear XX'': Around two dozen characters and exactly one big guy (Potemkin). Eventually averted in ''Accent Core + R'', but only because the developers rebalanced former SNKBoss Justice into this so she would be tournament viable. ''Xrd'' would drop Justice but add newcomers Bedman (in ''-SIGN-'') and Kum Haehuyn (in ''-REVELATOR-'') as heavyweight fighters, and ''Strive'' drops both but adds newcomers Nagoriyuki and Goldlewis.
17	* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' started with Goro Daimon, [[VideoGame/IkariWarriors Ralf Jones, Clark Still]], and Chang Koehan. It took them about six years to add Maxima, a year to add Seth, three more to add Tizoc, and about another six to add [[VideoGame/FatalFury Raiden]]. Although there have been other grapplers in the series, they have generally always been {{Fragile Speedster}}s.
18	* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' in general suffers from this.
19	** ''VideoGame/XMenChildrenOfTheAtom'' only has Colossus and Sentinel in the ten character roster, although Juggernaut is another one relegated to a boss character.
20	** ''VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'' made Juggernaut playable and added Hulk, but removed Colossus and Sentinel, and none of the secret characters really fit into this.
21	** The [[VideoGame/XMenVsStreetFighter next]] [[VideoGame/MarvelSuperHeroesVsStreetFighter three]] [[VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomClashOfSuperHeroes games]] with mid-high teens rosters generally only having Zangief and either Juggernaut or Hulk. Captain America was briefly hit with this trope in ''Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter'' and a secret version of Zangief was available that was even ''more'' of a glacier than regular Zangief. Captain America was rebalanced back into a JackOfAllStats in ''Marvel vs. Capcom'' and a special version of War Machine, whose normal version is not this trope, was added. This means you got 3-4 Mighty Glacier characters a game.
22	** ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom2'' has 56 playable characters and only six are of the slow-and-strong type: Zangief, Anakaris, Colossus, Sentinel, Hulk, and Juggernaut.
23	** ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'' has a roster of over twenty characters (give or take a few between the original Japanese game and the international ''Ultimate All-Stars'' release), of which only four characters are slow-but-strong types: Alex, Hakusho Daimao (who was removed in ''Ultimate All-Stars''), Gold Lightan, and PTX-[=40A=] (the latter two of which cannot be partnered with any character and must be played solo).
24	** ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' is a teeny bit better about this with Haggar, Dormammu, Thor, and to some extent Spencer joining Hulk and Sentinel for six slow but strong characters out of 38 total. With the release of ''{{U\|pdatedRerelease}}ltimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' and its 12 new characters, the only new additions who seem to fit this mold are [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis Nemesis]] and Comicbook/GhostRider, making the final ratio 8:'''50'''.
25	** ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' is probably the best with this trope yet in the Marvel series. Sentinel is the only Mighty Glacier from ''3'' that was removed, Thanos was rebalanced into this trope, and Sigma was added through downloadable content. That's 9 Mighty Glacier characters in a roster of 36.
26	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' handles this very oddly: every MightyGlacier in the series is a boss and is only playable in [[DreamMatchGame the]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombat3 full]] [[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon cast]] games -- the only exceptions are Shao Kahn and Goro in the Gamecube version of ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]]'' and ''Unchained''. ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' and onward did start adding some new (non-boss) heavy fighters to the series, however.
27	* ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur]]'' has four "big" characters (Astaroth, Nightmare, Siegfried, Rock) compared to more than twenty others, though in this case it's because there's only so many big weapons in the world. If one is generous, Ashlotte and Kamikirimusi (two of the five bonus characters in ''IV'') count too, due to being palette swaps for Astaroth and Nightmare respectively, albiet considerably smaller.
28	* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'':
29	** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' started with just Alex, added Hugo and Urien in ''Second Impact'' and finally Q in ''Third Strike'' for four out of twenty characters, which isn't too horrible.
30	** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'''s arcade release started with three out of seventeen (Zangief, E. Honda, and Balrog). The console version made that three out of 25. ''Super'' added T. Hawk and Hakan for five out of 35. ''Arcade Edition'' takes it to ridiculous levels with five out of 39. With the addition of Hugo in ''Ultra Street Fighter IV'', the ratio increased very slightly, but 6 to 44 isn't much of an increase.
31	** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' has Birdie, T. Hawk and Zangief, and every other character with this playstyle is fast. Sodom and E. Honda aren't ''much'' faster, though.
32	** ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' seldom brings in characters of this type. The game launched with Zangief and Birdie, Season 1 added Alex although Urien was brought back with his already-light case of this trope just about completely gone, Season 2 added Abigail, and Season 3 added Cody and G, and Season 4 added none. That's six out of 38 characters.
33	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
34	** Averted initially, where [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64 the original Nintendo 64 game]] had two Mighty Glaciers (Franchise/DonkeyKong and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]) and one StoneWall ([[{{Franchise/Metroid}} Samus]]) out of 12 characters, ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' added two more ([[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bowser]] and [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]]) in a 26-character roster, and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' added [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wa]][[VideoGame/WarioWare rio]] (though he's more {{acrofatic}}), [[VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy R.O.B.]], [[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Charizard]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblem Ike]] (even though he's a LightningBruiser in his [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance first]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn second]] games), and [[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake]], for a total of eleven characters out of 39 total. Quite impressive.
35	** [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU The 3DS and Wii U versions]] add [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin]], [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Villager]], [[VideoGame/KidIcarus Palutena]], and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Rosalina]] but removed Snake. They also split the transforming characters, meaning [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]] is no longer stance based and now fits this trope. Additionally, both VideoGame/DrMario and [[VideoGame/Mother3 Lucas]] were rebalanced to more closely resemble the archetype. Ignoring [[UsefulNotes/{{Mii}} the Miis]] because of their customizability, this allows for a total of 16 out of 52 characters.
36	** ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' adds [[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry King K. Rool]], [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Ridley]], [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Incineroar]], and [[Franchise/{{Castlevania}} Simon and Richter]] as new heavyweights, plus [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Piranha Plant]], [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo]], plus [[VideoGame/FatalFury Terry Bogard]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]], and [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 Pyra]] as [=DLC=], as well as bringing back Snake. But with all the veterans returning, this makes 27 out of 89 playable characters heavyweights, slightly lowering the ratio.
37	** ''Super Smash Bros.'' tends to have characters that blur the line of MightyGlacier such as Donkey Kong (who is very fast for his size) and Wario (who is heavy but very agile in the air), and many MightyGlacier characters tend to become gradually faster in later entries. Bowser is a stand-out example, to the point of almost being a LightningBruiser since ''For Nintendo 3DS/Wii U'', making the series arguably fall into the global warming trend as the Glaciers get sped up.
38	* ''Franchise/{{Tekken}}'' usually features four heavy characters: Ganryu, Jack, King, and Kuma. Marduk is also in since ''4''. Now contrast this with the character roster of ''Tekken Tag Tournament 2'' which numbers 59 in the console releases. With Armor King, Prototype Jack, and Panda, that's eight slots filling the MightyGlacier role.
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40	[[AC:FirstPersonShooter]]
41	* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' ended up experiencing a lot of this with its Tank heroes ([[DamagerHealerTank a role classification]] whose purpose is [[StoneWall shielding damage]], [[DrawAggro drawing aggro]], [[MightyGlacier up-close brawling]], or some combination of the above), with only 3 of the 11 initial post-release heroes being Tanks. At some point, Blizzard realized that Tanks were very difficult to design for and properly balance since in a fast-paced HeroShooter setting, their entire purpose is to slow things down, creating a lot of "noise" that either leaves them overly dominant, really unfun and boring to play compared to Damage or Support heroes, or worst of all: ''[[ComplacentGamingSyndrome all of the above]]''[[note]]Many of the game's [[AudienceAlienatingEra more infamously stagnant meta states]] were when Tanks synergized in a way [[GameBreaker that actual straightforward Damage heroes were redundant]], and the only practical option was pitting tanks against each other in [[PaddedSumoGameplay a sloggy 6v6 sumo match of shields, healing, and close-up brawling]][[/note]]. Blizzard has since increasingly compacted the role as being a bit of a niche requirement, and in ''VideoGame/Overwatch2'', it was announced they were limiting teams to just ''one'' Tank per team to loosen things up[[note]]This itself was an extension of Blizzard's implementation of a hard "role lock" limiting the amount of an archetype per team to 2, seen as effectively the nuclear option following many failed attempts to reduce Tanks' synergistic dominance without making them completely unusable[[/note]], allowing their HeroShooter to be more of a ''shooter'' while still tweaking around Tanks to be fun and useful without getting totally out of hand.
42	* ''VideoGame/UnrealChampionship2TheLiandriConflict'': Out of a grand total of 32 characters, counting bots and DLC characters, only 7 of them are classified as Heavyweights: Arclite, Gorge, Raptor, Szalor (main roster), Jackhammer, Syzygy (DLC) and Corrosion (bot).
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44	[[AC:HackAndSlash]]
45	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'': The crossover ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' is the only Fire Emblem game not to have the Armored General class obtainable to the player and one of the only Dynasty Warriors games to not have a playable MightyGlacier.
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47	[[AC: [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPGs]]]]
48	* ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'':
49	** In 2016, Bakura is the last R character to be released (and he is still the portrait for the R Trial Character – a placeholder for any upcoming / character). The R character roster then remained stagnant for 2 years until Spinnah was released in 2018.
50	** Played Straight with Elmott's case: He has 3 versions of himself. The problem is, all three are of the Fire Element and all three are SR-rarity characters. In short, he never changed elements nor rarity.
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52	[[AC: [[MultiplayerOnlineBattleArena MOBAs]]]]
53	* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has experienced a {{Downplayed\|Trope}}, but noticeable case of this over the course of its 10+ year development. While tanky champions are still being made and the {{metagame}} periodically dips in favor of tank-heavy play, Riot Games' attitude towards balance and overall game design has increasingly shifted away from passive defense and more towards dealing and undoing damage. The primary focus has to do with how tanks inherently slow down games, and metas where they're the most viable tend to reward passive play and thus become far more of a drag, and further complications come in the form of "bruiser" champions; [[LightningBruiser bulky, but mobile and painful initiators]] that often make the point of [[StoneWall a more defensive-oriented tank]] redundant (at least for when they're functioning as intended). Riot determined that these two distinct forms of {{Mighty Glacier}} can't functionally coexist, and thus more and more, modern tanks lean more into dealing damage or effective crowd control as a means of expressing value. It's quite telling that since 2018, there's at least one damage-dealing [[TheJuggernaut "juggernaut"]] champion being developed for the game each year, but the defense-oriented [[StoneWall "warden"]] champion category took a long gap between 2017 and 2022, and the Warden that did come out -- K'Sante -- is built on a StanceSystem where he's most effective as [[LightningBruiser a lightning-fast duelist]].
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55	[[AC: RealTimeStrategy]]
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57	* The co-op mode of ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' started out with two commanders for each of the three main factions, Terran, Protoss, and Zerg, with an additional Protoss commander being released shortly after the debut of the game mode and ''Legacy of the Void'' with it. This was followed up with the release of a Zerg commander and ''another'' Protoss commander, making the two Terran commanders this trope for some time until the release of a Terran commander to coincide with the release of ''Nova: Covert Ops''.
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59	[[AC: TurnBasedStrategy]]
60	* Non-{{fighting game}} example: There's three MightyGlacier classes in ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' (out of a dozen or so): The Generals (standard glaciers that appear in every main game), Wyvern/Dragon Riders (flying glaciers), and Fighters/Pirates/Brigands (more of HP sponges than anything else, and the last two veer towards GlassCannon). Generally, you only get one or two characters of each of those classes, though if the roster is really big (like in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Binding Blade]]'' or ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') you might get three (or four for Generals), and some early games don't even feature playable Brigands. Every other physical class tends to have more characters in it, and aside from [[JackOfAllStats Paladins]], they all are of the FragileSpeedster type to a degree. Also, Dragon Riders generally come from mid-game onwards, generally the last class that will join you aside from [[DarkIsNotEvil Dark Magic users]] (justified in that [[HeelFaceTurn they're used by the enemy army]]). Considering how in ''Fire Emblem'' [[OneStatToRuleThemAll speed really matters]], limiting their numbers isn't exactly for CompetitiveBalance, so...
61	** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon'' featured 5 armored units and 4 axe fighters. The ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'' sequel on SNES featured only 2 armored units and no obtainable axe units outside of the Shadow Dragon remake portion. Speaking of the Shadow Dragon remake portion, the SNES version had to cut some characters for space, including 1 armored unit and one Axe unit.
62	** The [[BeastMan Laguz]] from the Tellius games avert this, to a extent: In ''Radiant Dawn'' you get a handful of new Laguz besides all the old ones in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', and most of the new ones are Tigers, Lions, or Dragons, which are of the tanky type. Regular classes play this straight, however; in fact, the one Berserker on the first Tellius game is the only playable character not coming back for the sequel, and while you get 5 [[FragileSpeedster Trueblades]], you only get a measly two Reavers, with Sentinels and Marksmen at three each. And yes, they're all "sister" classes, each specializing in a specific weapon type.
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64	[[AC: {{Wrestling Game}}s]]
65	* ''VideoGame/WWEAllStars'' features only three "Big Man" class characters: Wrestling/AndreTheGiant, Wrestling/BigShow, and {{Wrestling/Kane}}. DLC adds Wrestling/MarkHenry. If one is willing to be generous, one might count Wrestling/TheUndertaker and DLC's Wrestling/DustyRhodes.
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Context Main / CharacterRosterGlobalWarming