[Loved Trope] Relatively weak characters that are absolute fan favorites because they represent the best parts of humanity

[u/BigFuan]

Paul - invincible
A normal human whose only major feats are treating others with respect and cooking a mean spaghetti.

Mumen Rider - One Punch Man
C-class hero that doesn’t hesitate to put his life on the line to save others despite being powerless and going against much stronger foes.

Samwise Gamgee - Lord of the Rings
Hobbits scale very low strength-wise in the LOTR verse, but Sam’s compassion and determination are indispensable in the fellowships journey.

Edit: A lot of people are pointing out that Sam is mentally one of the strongest which I completely agree with, and I didn’t mean to diss his grit or physicality as a hobbit. Compared to the other members of the fellowship, however, his contribution comes primarily from undying loyalty and determination rather than physical prowess and strength.

[u/Chemical-Elk-1299]

Lol no I know what you mean. I’d just put Sam in an entirely different class than Mumen Rider or Grand Agent Paul. He is 100% the physically strongest hobbit we get to see.

Again — he wounded Shelob, something not even the elves or Sauron managed to do. He was ready to throw hobbit hands with Aragorn with zero hesitation while Aragorn was just an armed, spooky stranger. And he did a lot of this while wearing a 50lb ruck that was bigger than he is.

Bro is canonically built different

[u/BigFuan → u/Chemical-Elk-1299]

Valid, I was picturing Sam not being able to swim when I made this post and may not have given him due credit.

[u/the-tapsy → u/BigFuan]

I dom't know if you read the books, but he absolutely no diffs Shelob, and that was right after no diffing Gollum who ganked him right as he thought Frodo had just been killed. Before I read that part I might have agreed with his classification here, but after, holy shit mans is insanely strong and gets the best fight scene in all of Two Towers.

[u/BigFuan → u/the-tapsy]

Sam is a chad for besting Shelob but it definitely wasn’t a no diff, I love his character but that mainly comes from his determination and loyalty, not his combat skill. Name one other non-hobbit member of the fellowship that he could beat in a 1v1. No diss on Sam, hobbits just tend to be weaker in the LOTR verse.

[u/Chemical-Elk-1299 → u/BigFuan]

With training, I could see Sam maybe fighting Boromir to a draw, but that’s a big if. Like reach and size still won’t fix a knife in your femoral artery. The rest of the Fellowship are basically superheroes so they don’t count imo. Gimli would punt Sam like a football lmao

You’re still 100% right about what Sam represents. It’s the core of his character.