Who is the canonically weakest party member in an RPG?

[Count of Monte Sawed-Off]

Freed Y in Suikoden 2. He's weak as fuck and he's a short range fighter. So you either have to waste a front line spot with him or tuck him in the back where he can't do anything except use items. The game forces him on you way too often. Other times you have the option to put story required characters in your convoy so they don't affect your battle party, but that doesn't happen with fucking Freed.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Magikarp

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Wasn't Sunkern the weakest Pokémon?

 

[Camwi]

It has to be jogurt from shining force.

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First name to come to mind.

 

[Deleted member 34949]

Yeah, the answer is undeniably Jogurt but

YFor 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.

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...holy fuck, I completely forgot Mogu even existed. I remember Karn, Deis, and the fish dude, but I had to actually google Mogu before remembering.

 

[jay]

It has to be jogurt from shining force.

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I think you are actually objectively correct.

 

[Falchion]

Magikarp is completely dead weight until you can evolve him so yeah.

 

[Lunatic]

More of a joke post but damn the power difference you feel here was insane lol.

 

[Shelbyville Milhouse]

Rhin from Torment is an actual child and about as strong as one. She is also the best member in the game cause her story is really good

 

[TwinBahamut]

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.

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Mogu is a door key in party member form. Supposedy he can deal a lot of damage if you level grind with him, but it is so much easier to use Karn and Bleu.

My half-serious answer is Leonard from White Knight Chronicles, particularly in the second half of WKC2. Yes, I'm talking about the game's main character and nominal protagonist, but anyone who has played through WKC2 and seen his awful attempt as a heroic mid-battle entrance knows how bad he is. He actively makes one of the big boss battles harder, and there is very little point in trying to make him useful after that point.

Spoiler: WKC2 Ending

In addition to spending most of the game too sick to actually fight, ending up under-levelled, forcing his way into a boss fight while under-levelled, and having his death be a game over condition, it gets worse. He's not even useful in the game's difficulty spike of a final battle... as a predictable side effect of having his body hijacked by the true villain and turning into the final boss himself. This is a game that would honestly be easier if the incompetent main hero just fell off a cliff and died halfway through the story.

 

[batfax]

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.

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Wasn't Sunkern the weakest Pokémon?

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

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Key word is "canonically." Even if other pokemon are worse party members, none of them have the reputation of being absolutely worthless in every way like Magikarp does. Poor thing is the constant butt of jokes in every form of Pokemon media and even has a song about how pathetic it is.

 

[Monado]

Thomas from Genso Suikoden III.

He is also the Tenkai Star, meaning that he is the weakest protagonist ever.

 

[Aexact]

Thomas from Genso Suikoden III.

He is also the Tenkai Star, meaning that he is the weakest protagonist ever.

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I had a jolly good time when I got him and Cecile. The rest of the game you have fledgling but respectable Grasslander Hugo, white knight Chris, and gritty mercenary leader Geddoe advancing through the core large scale schemes of the game and then you try Thomas's chapter where you walk out of the castle and almost immediately get destroyed by the low level rabbits and bees. Okay game, I understand what you're trying to say about Thomas.

 

[Kain]

There was a fucking dog in Chrono Cross and a weird alien thing that couldn't even beat their own farts. I swear half of the characters in that game were stinkers.

 

[Stellar]

The cat girl from Breath of Fire V. She was a waste of a party slot cause her attacks hit enemies with the force of a mosquito bite. Cool character design but her peashooter wasn't very effective.

 

[SsjCouri]

Magikarp

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GG. Lets pack it up folks, mission complete.

 

[Graefellsom]

For people saying Magikarp, about 2 minutes in.

 

[MaverickHunterAsh]

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

I'd go with Rafa.

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Ooh, good one. I think I'd have to go with Rafa too. Not only is she almost worthless as a unit, her AI actively goes out of its way to get her killed, forcing a Game Over in many of the battles she's a required part of.

And now I'm having flashbacks to suffering through those battles at 13 or 14. SO damn frustrating...

At least Magikarp, useless as it is, doesn't actively sabotage you!

 

[Deleted member 2340]

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.

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Why wouldn't you judge them up until their evolutions?

It evolves at level 7 and learns Harden once it evolves and then evolves into its final evolution at level 10 where it becomes vastly more useful.

Since these are gen 1 Pokémon let's look back at their gen 1 the situation. Once you catch a Caterpie you're still in a area where Tackle can do something to a opponent or wild Pokémon. Before you reach the first gym you will have it's final evo with a bunch of Status moves that would devastate Brock. I've solo'd Brock's gym with a Butterfrie many times up until I found the glory of Nidorino.

Now when you get Magikarp in gen one. Mother fuck that Pokémon. If you want it to gain levels you have to put it in the first slot and switch it out to a different Pokémon that will take the hit meant for it leading you to use you limited resources to keep your main battling Pokémon healthy throughout Mount Moon. Yes Magikarp learns Tackle at level 15 but it's at a point in the game where Tackle really doesn't do shit to your opponent and you will use your limited potions to keep your Magikarp alive so it can struggle to win against whoever you're battling. It's very difficult and annoying to get Magikarp to level 20. I've never gotten that Magikarp to level 20 before Misty's gym.


Now of course when you get Magikarp to level 20 and it evolves the last thing you would associate with its evo is useless.

 

[SofNascimento]

 

[Deleted member 11370]

Why wouldn't you judge them up until their evolutions?

...

Now of course when you get Magikarp to level 20 and it evolves the last thing you would associate with its evo is useless.

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I think you answered your own question.

 

[Deleted member 18021]

The Prince of Cannock in DQ2 was pretty high up there.
Here he is in his natural habitat.

 

[jchap]

Fran

 

[BassForever]

Ooh, good one. I think I'd have to go with Rafa too. Not only is she almost worthless as a unit, her AI actively goes out of its way to get her killed, forcing a Game Over in many of the battles she's a required part of.

And now I'm having flashbacks to suffering through those battles at 13 or 14. SO damn frustrating...

At least Magikarp, useless as it is, doesn't actively sabotage you!

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Rapha and her brother Marach get a bad rep but both are actually really good, just not in their default classes. Rapha's has the lowest natural brave in the game (31) which makes her the best character in the game for finding hidden items with move-item, her faith is also crazy high which makes her a really powerful mage. Marach has the inverse stats (high brave and low faith) which makes him an amazing mage killer when put into a melee focused class. His only weakness is that low faith means he also gets low healing from magic so you'll need a chemist to keep him healthy, and low and behold move-item is a skill learned from the chemist class.

Their default class skills are pretty bad, so people usually label them as bad since they don't instantly cheese the game the way tg cid, agrias, meliadoul, and beowulf do, but they are far from the worst party members that join you in FFT.

 

[Manmademan]

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

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The "Goof Off" from Dragon Quest/Warrior 3 is a VERY close second:

Brutal stats in almost every category, the Goof-Off can not protect itself
adequately.

You can not control the Goof-Off. The Goof-Off will just do whatever it
pleases, which usually means it will waste it's turn. Sometimes it will
attack, but just as often it will hurt itself instead or attempt to do
something that is far beyond any abilities the fool has! Even worse is that
they beocome less and less entertaining as you journey, since you will have
seen all of their screw-ups many times.

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completely uncontrollable. frequently wastes a turn, or hurts itself attempting to execute a move it doesn't have.

The only saving grace of the goof off is that you can eventually advance it to a Sage- which is a completely different class so the Goof Off is still worthless. It's less useful than having "no" party member in the slot by far.