Who is the canonically weakest party member in an RPG?

SolVanderlyn · May 15, 2019

It has to be Edward, right?

A bard from Final Fantasy IV, Edward is infamous for being largely useless both in and out of battle. Everyone rejoices when he leaves to free up a spot for a more useful member.

But beyond that, he's weak according to the story, as well. He has no combat experience, very little life skills, and his songs never do much for anyone, either.

Is there a character weaker than Edward?

batfax · May 15, 2019

Magikarp

Dest · May 15, 2019

batfax said:
Magikarp

one and done

arglebargle · May 15, 2019

It has to be jogurt from shining force.

Cyclonesweep · May 15, 2019

Pokey.

Hours Left · May 15, 2019

Edward becomes much stronger in the late/post game content of FFIV. (The remakes.) His story arc in TAY is also about becoming stronger and more dependable.

The correct answer is Yogurt from Shining Force.

Fat4all · May 15, 2019

candy corn

Sulik2 · May 15, 2019

batfax said:
Magikarp

Ditto on this. If you haven't seen Detective Pikachu it has an incredible Magikarp joke too.

Calamari41 · May 15, 2019

Cyclonesweep said:
Pokey.

Pokey is the one to beat as far as I'm concerned. There would have to be a party member who actively harms you for that person to beat Pokey here.

Fat4all · May 15, 2019

Kayfabe Bebop · May 15, 2019

Fat4all · May 15, 2019

GreenMamba · May 15, 2019

Jogurt from Shining Force is never capable of dealing more than 1 damage.

Laevateinn · May 15, 2019

arglebargle said:
It has to be jogurt from shining force.

GreenMamba said:
Jogurt from Shining Force is never capable of dealing more than 1 damage.

No way, Jogurt is a mighty warrior.

Strings · May 15, 2019

arglebargle said:
It has to be jogurt from shining force.

Aha, great shout. I love everything to do with Jogurt, especially how he's recruited:

Wilsongt · May 15, 2019

I'd agree with Yogurt, but since be is more of a debug character left in by the creators...

I'd go with Rafa.

Goddo Hando · May 15, 2019

yeah it's jogurt. and not even close

Cactuar · May 15, 2019

Saint Anima said:

This is the right answer but you provided no context, so I'll explain.

The answer is Ramus from the Sega CD game Lunar, the Silver Star. Ramus was basically just your fat friend from town who decided to go on your adventure with you. Except he only made it a fraction of the way before he was like fuck this shit Im going home. He had no powers, no magic, no nothing. He was your homeboy who figured out very quickly he was in over his head.

Kaivan · May 16, 2019

A recruitable mercenary at level 1 and you don't level him/her up.

Morrigan · May 16, 2019

arglebargle said:
It has to be jogurt from shining force.

GreenMamba said:
Jogurt from Shining Force is never capable of dealing more than 1 damage.

Yup

All his stats are at 1
He cannot level up
His only "power" is to acquire the Jogurt ring if he somehow kills an enemy, and equipping this on another character... gives them the appearance of Jogurt

He definitely wins the thread, lol. But he's adorable~

1upsuper · May 16, 2019

GreenMamba said:
Jogurt from Shining Force is never capable of dealing more than 1 damage.

And thus the thread has reached its thrilling conclusion. Pack it up, we're done here.

Coincidentally, Jogurt is also the answer to the question of "who is the canonically best party member in an RPG."

JosephL64 · May 16, 2019

Probably Gou from "Daibanchou Big Bang Age" throughout most of the game his attacks do pretty much 0 damage as a joke, despite you learning that there's an actual reason for this.

He's more of a liability than anything, but the dude had it rough.

Syril · May 16, 2019

Hours Left said:
Edward becomes much stronger in the late/post game content of FFIV. (The remakes.) His story arc in TAY is also about becoming stronger and more dependable.

The correct answer is Yogurt from Shining Force.

In the PSP version he was actually very useful because his attacks caused statuses reliably.

Sacul64 · May 16, 2019

Cactuar said:
This is the right answer but you provided no context, so I'll explain.

The answer is Ramus from the Sega CD game Lunar, the Silver Star. Ramus was basically just your fat friend from town who decided to go on your adventure with you. Except he only made it a fraction of the way before he was like fuck this shit Im going home. He had no powers, no magic, no nothing. He was your homeboy who figured out very quickly he was in over his head.

And he could still beat Yogurt. Yogurt wins this topic.

Hella · May 16, 2019

No way he beats Jogurt, but IIRC the Mabari Warhound from Dragon Age: Origins is a weaker version of a warrior, with less skills and less potential than any other party member in the series.

And I used him every single time I played.

Learning about Jogurt makes me want to play Shining Force.
Edit: omg I can't believe it

Deleted member 43084 · May 16, 2019

Hella said:
IIRC the Mabari Warhound from Dragon Age: Origins is a weaker version of a warrior, with less skills and less potential than any other party member in the series.

Because he gets a very very long stun, which is a game breaker. (granted, every other party member in DA:O has game breakers)

Hella · May 16, 2019

minimaxir said:
Because he gets a very very long stun, which is a game breaker. (granted, every other party member in DA:O has game breakers)

Ahhh, I see. It seems I have forgotten too much about DAO.

sir_crocodile · May 16, 2019

For what you have to go through to get him, it's penn from shining force 3s1.

Sargerus · May 16, 2019

batfax said:
Magikarp

EXCUSE ME

Implying+magikarp+isnt+best+pokemon+_36993d7591b807cb2f427a43934bf784.jpg

dark494 · May 16, 2019

People forget that Magikarp learns tackle and flail, it's not useless, it has offense.

Edit: And people have beaten the elite four and rivals in various games with a lone magikarp even lol

Deleted member 11370 · May 16, 2019

batfax said:
Magikarp

Dest said:
one and done

One and not. Magikarp is not the weakest pokémon. Going by overall stats, there are several pokémon who are weaker:

Wishiwashi (solo form) (175)
Sunkern (180)
Azurrill (190)
Kricketot (194)
Caterpie (195)
Weedle (195)
Wurmple (195)
Ralts (198)

Now, taking into account movesets, we can rule out a few of those pokémon. Wishiwashi has a full moveset, plus it can turn into its School Form starting at level 20, which is a beast. Sunkern and Ralts also have a full moveset, and they can learn TMs. That leaves us with the three worm-based pokémon and Kricketot.

Wurmple and Weedle have one advantage over Caterpie: dual typing. They are part poison and can learn Poison Sting. Although not as powerful in raw terms as Caterpie's Tackle, it has the chance of inflicting Poison status. Moreover, Wurmple learns Bug Bite at level 16, so it has three moves, compared with Caterpies two. So Weedle and, especially, Wurmple are (potentially) more useful than Caterpie. Kricketot learns Struggle Bug and Bug Bite early on, and those two moves have STAB. Finally, Magikarp learns Tackle at 15 and Flail at 30. So Magikarp > Caterpie. Caterpie is the worst.

This is, of course, based on the idea that you don't evolve these pokémon. Otherwise, saying that Magikarp is the worst doesn't hold water (heh) either way, since you would be evolving it to Gyarados in the long run.

TL;DR: Caterpie fucking sucks.

Aexact · May 16, 2019

SolVanderlyn said:
It has to be Edward, right?

A bard from Final Fantasy IV, Edward is infamous for being largely useless both in and out of battle. Everyone rejoices when he leaves to free up a spot for a more useful member.

But beyond that, he's weak according to the story, as well. He has no combat experience, very little life skills, and his songs never do much for anyone, either.

Is there a character weaker than Edward?

I mean, I was introduced to this character in the DS version and he seemed to do alright. Bard skills are useful and since early game he can't take damage, it's better for him just to Hide but once he has a few levels, he's a perfectly functional party member. He had a story arc about growing too. Can't hate.

Wilsongt said:
I'd agree with Yogurt, but since be is more of a debug character left in by the creators...

I'd go with Rafa.

In the War of the Lions, when I climbed up to the boss that's supposed to give everyone hell, knowing what I knew of the original, I was expecting the worst so I tried teleporting up to the roof to try to save her asap. That unit got murdered. But in the PSP version they buffed Rapha's Sky Mantra to hit more times. On her turn, she one shot the boss. It was one of the most shocking things I've ever witnessed.

... Anyway, if we're including temporary party members, Porky takes the cake right?

Porky's "skills" as a temporary party member in EarthBound are as follows:

Complains to Ness.
Uses Ness as a shield.
Pretends to cry.
Smiles insincerely.
Plays dead.
Thinks to himself.
Apologizes profusely.
Tries to edge closer to the enemy.
Acts all innocent.

Yeah, all of those do nothing.
To beat Porky, you'd need a party member who was actively detrimental.

TheYanger · May 16, 2019

Aexact said:
I mean, I was introduced to this character in the DS version and he seemed to do alright. Bard skills are useful and since early game he can't take damage, it's better for him just to Hide but once he has a few levels, he's a perfectly functional party member. He had a story arc about growing too. Can't hate.

In the War of the Lions, when I climbed up to the boss that's supposed to give everyone hell, knowing what I knew of the original, I was expecting the worst so I tried teleporting up to the roof to try to save her asap. That unit got murdered. But in the PSP version they buffed Rapha's Sky Mantra to hit more times. On her turn, she one shot the boss. It was one of the most shocking things I've ever witnessed.

... Anyway, if we're including temporary party members, Porky takes the cake right?

Porky's "skills" as a temporary party member in EarthBound are as follows:

Complains to Ness.

Uses Ness as a shield.

Pretends to cry.

Smiles insincerely.

Plays dead.

Thinks to himself.

Apologizes profusely.

Tries to edge closer to the enemy.

Acts all innocent.

Yeah, all of those do nothing.
To beat Porky, you'd need a party member who was actively detrimental.

It's still Jogurt. Game isn't balanced around you having him, unlike Porky. To use Jogurt you have to replace someone that is actually capable of doing ANYTHING. A joke character is one thing, but a joke character that effectively cannot do anything but get hit once so someone else doesn't, while ALSO taking the place of someone that could legitimately be a valuable cahracter, is still worse than a forced escort character.

mclem · May 16, 2019

It's like you guys haven't met my WoW guild.

(Kidding, I love 'em really!)

Fat4all said:

This was going to be my answer!

He does actually have a very useful ability against the final boss, so maybe this shouldn't quite count. I've a nagging feeling there's a character in RPGs who is completely useless - yes, more than Jogurt - but I'm struggling to remember who

Fat4all · May 16, 2019

mclem said:
This was going to be my answer!

He does actually have a very useful ability against the final boss, so maybe this shouldn't quite count. I've a nagging feeling there's a character in RPGs who is completely useless, but I'm struggling to remember who

I feel like Candy Corn being secretly OP after it's upgrade is almost a right of passage.

that Candy Corn takes hits like a fuckin' champ.

EarthPainting · May 16, 2019

It's clear from these reactions that Jogurt is awful, but I'm not sure if I could deny that face a spot in my crew.

BassForever · May 16, 2019

Yogurt is the correct answer even if it seems unfair because he's practically a joke character in the party.

For a more unconventional answer I'll pick Mogu from Breath of Fire 1. Joins extremely late, has a field skill only applicable in one area, and isn't part of Karn's fusions so he isn't even useful there.

FallenGrace · May 16, 2019

arglebargle said:
It has to be jogurt from shining force.

GreenMamba said:
Jogurt from Shining Force is never capable of dealing more than 1 damage.

And we're done here. Jogurt the ultimate (weak) warrior!

Hella said:
Learning about Jogurt makes me want to play Shining Force.
Edit: omg I can't believe it

It's a fantastic game frankly with or without Jogurt. Shining Force 2 and 3 are also amazing. My favorite SRPG series still.

Deleted member 8861 · May 16, 2019

Hella said:
No way he beats Jogurt, but IIRC the Mabari Warhound from Dragon Age: Origins is a weaker version of a warrior, with less skills and less potential than any other party member in the series.

And I used him every single time I played.

Learning about Jogurt makes me want to play Shining Force.
Edit: omg I can't believe it

the regional pricing on that is like 50 cents lmfao

edit: are the stories of these games any good? if the stories are good I'll get these

WestEgg · May 16, 2019

Cyclonesweep said:
Pokey.

Probably this, but I'll also throw in Salsa from Mother 3.

DimitriLH · May 16, 2019

SolVanderlyn said:
It has to be Edward, right?

A bard from Final Fantasy IV, Edward is infamous for being largely useless both in and out of battle. Everyone rejoices when he leaves to free up a spot for a more useful member.

But beyond that, he's weak according to the story, as well. He has no combat experience, very little life skills, and his songs never do much for anyone, either.

Is there a character weaker than Edward?

Funny, he is my favorite to play with, so glad the PSP port made him actually good. The After Years actually make his character better and more experienced as well.

Character that comes to mind is Pearl from Legend of Mana, but thats only in battle, story wise I think she gets stronger. Its been awhile so cant remember much.

FallenGrace · May 16, 2019

Funyarinpa said:
the regional pricing on that is like 50 cents lmfao

edit: are the stories of these games any good? if the stories are good I'll get these

Shining Force? They aren't really super story heavy though I wouldn't say they are bad either for the time. There are lots of characters in towns to talk to and recruit but the story is mostly a case of Light vs Darkness with stuff sprinkled in. Honestly I love them and for 50 cents you've got nothing to lose. Here is the intro that might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7yx27SjSLw

Deleted member 8861 · May 16, 2019

FallenGrace said:
Shining Force? They aren't really super story heavy though I wouldn't say they are bad either for the time. There are lots of characters in towns to talk to and recruit but the story is mostly a case of Light vs Darkness with stuff sprinkled in. Honestly I love them and for 50 cents you've got nothing to lose. Here is the intro that might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7yx27SjSLw

Thanks!

That seemed very generic to me, I think I'll pass on it for now

Dancrane212 · May 16, 2019

Fat4all said:
candy corn

Yup.

FallenGrace · May 16, 2019

Funyarinpa said:
Thanks!

That seemed very generic to me, I think I'll pass on it for now

Fair, it's very much a product of it's time.

Irikan · May 16, 2019

batfax said:
Magikarp

My dude, Magikarp can one shot any pokemon, he's the strongest of them all

Fat4all · May 16, 2019

Dancrane212 said:
Yup.

Dancrane212 · May 16, 2019

Fat4all said:

Costume Quest 2 is a treasure.

Fat4all · May 16, 2019

Dancrane212 said:
Costume Quest 2 is a treasure.

it's simple and clean

sometimes that's all you want in an rpg

Legacy · May 16, 2019

GreenMamba said:
Jogurt from Shining Force is never capable of dealing more than 1 damage.

Yup agreed.

Who is the canonically weakest party member in an RPG?

I love pineapple on pizza!

One Winged Slayer

Has seen more 10s than EA ever will

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot

Spear of the Metal Church

One Winged Slayer

▲ Legend ▲

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot

One Winged Slayer

User requested account closure

One Winged Slayer

One Winged Slayer

User requested account closure

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot

Woke up, got a money tag, swears a lot

One Winged Slayer