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Master of None (view source)

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Compare with [[Crippling Overspecialization]] at the other extreme, for the character who's great at one thing, but horrible at everything else. Contrast with the [[Lightning Bruiser]], who is ''very good'' at everything. Occasionally a Master Of None is made intentionally as part of [[Multiform Balance]], as a stepping stone to stronger forms including a true [[Jack of All Stats]].
 
'''''For the novel, [[Master of None (Literaturenovel)|see here]].'''''
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=== Gaming Examples: ===
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*** Although for some, their drawbacks of low Movement range (which can be overcome), and a paltry throw range of ONE SQUARE (which cannot) can be daunting.
*** In the first Disgaea game, Majins are the best class in the game at practically everything. Their only "drawback" being that they take an awful lot of [[Level Grinding]] to unlock, making them the character class equivalent of the [[Infinity+1 Sword]]. The sequels [[Nerf|nerfed]] them somewhat, giving the player a reason to use other character classes alongside them.
* Medium armor in ''[[The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (Video Game)|The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind]]'' doesn't get any of the goodies that light and heavy get and without the expansions (where it is still weak) doesn't get a set comparable to last tiers of light/heavy armor. Not to mention that ''without'' the expansions, wearing the best set of medium armor in the game will make every guard in the largest city in the game attack you on sight.
* Kratos/Zelos in ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]'' remain somewhat competent melee combatants throughout the game thanks to having the stats for it and ability to pull off a full combo, but they quickly lose in spell casting because they stop at level 2 spells (opposed to the exponentially more powerful level 3 spells Genis has) and casting does not synergize well with melee due to the rather lengthy start up times. They have decent supplemental healing though, thanks to it being based on percentage instead of fixed numbers.
** They both have a special ability that lets them insta-cast Level 1 spells while they're doing an aerial combo though. And then there's [[Game Breaker|spell canceling]].
* Ken in ''[[Persona 3]]'' suffers from this as he doesn't excel at anything and has horrible AI that focuses on using [[Useless Useful Spell]] and can't be commanded to stop it without stopping half his options at the same time. His attack element is also zio and the (in Ken's own observation) superior zio user is often considered the best party member in the game (so he is redundant).
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* ''[[Diablo II]]'': The Druid is sometimes accused of being a [[Master of None]]. He uses elemental magic, nature summons, and has shapeshifting for melee. However, his magic is weaker than the sorceress', often with huge timers placed on them. His summons are limited to 1, 3, or 5 damaging minions, while the Necromancer can have somewhere around 40 skeletons total. His melee skills are up to the task, but since his were-forms have limited durations, he has to worry about turning back into a [[Squishy Wizard|human]] mid-battle.
* While every magic-user in [[Might and Magic]] VI could upgrade those magical skills they could learn to the highest rank, and so were only kept from mastery of magic or combat through what skills they could learn and how many hit points and spell points were received per level, VII to IX added the ability to restrict what rank the skill could be upgraded to. This made hybrids less powerful, as upgrading magic schools allowed the learning of new spells and enhanced old spells... though it also allowed some of them to become Masters of ''Something'': yes, the archer might not be all that good a spellcaster, but being able to directly add to the damage done when attacking with a bow has its uses, the druid might only be second best in elemental or clerical magic, but can have more spell points than anyone, etc.
* The War Magi in [[Etrian Odyssey (Video Game)|Etrian Odyssey]] suffer from this: they can cast healing-magic and buffs, but lack the more effective versions for those spells. They can equip swords, but they don't have many attack skills, and the few they have are woefully situational (stunning an enemy afflicted with Sleep?) Their stats aren't very helpful, either. Your best bet with a War Magus is to just choose a job and have them specialize in it, ironically, but even then, they'll be a sub-par healer/buffer/attacker. Their Cursecut/Transfer combo, on the other hand, redeems them, if only because it'll save you trips to the inn after your Medics/Bards/Landsknechts run out of TP.
** Likewise, the Beast class. They can be used for a combination of offensive and defensive strategies...but, they don't really excel in either role, thanks to the combination of poor skills and lack of decent armor.
* ''[[Shining Force]]'': Arthur starts out as a Master of None, at least until his Magikarp Power kicks in. He's a fighter with some spells, but for the first several levels after getting him, he dies in two hits, barely does more than [[Scratch Damage]], and has only level 1 spells.
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* Jedi Sentinels in the first ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' have the combat abilities of a consular (pure caster), and only slightly better force powers than a Guardian in exchange for skill points... completely worthless in the first game and immunities to various force powers (that many items can negate, and only bosses use anyways). Fixed entirely in the second game.
* Billy Jean Blackwood in ''[[Backyard Sports]]'' has equal stats in everything in almost every game. She's a Master of None and not a Mario because she doesn't help your team in any way. This was probably the reason she was discontinued from the series (that and being a [[Southern Belle]]).
* Red Mages from ''[[Final Fantasy I (Video Game)|Final Fantasy I]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy III (Video Game)|Final Fantasy III]]'' tended to suffer from this. Later games like ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'' were much kinder to them, and gave them [[Game Breaker]] abilities like Doublecast... if you're willing to [[Magikarp Power|grind for it]].
** Thanks to some bugs and magic uses being rather limited, Red Mages were actually the best magic class in the NES version of FF1. The remakes [[Nerf|nerfed]] him.
** Averted in "[[Final Fantasy XI]]." Red Mages received two specializations, being strong (though not necessarily the best) enhancing and enfeebling spell casters.
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** In the sequel, his equivalent Jacob Taylor is easily the worst character in the game. He would make a decent tank if Grunt wasn't so much better at that, and Samara makes a much better [[Magic Knight]] that he. It also doesn't help that he's the least interesting character, as well as having a sleazy [[Romance Sidequest]].
* The balance (sorcerer) class in [[Wizard 101]] is this, having buffs and traps for every other school and some multipurpose ones, as well as having a few spells that mimic those of other school's such as their unique healing spell.
* Competitive ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' circles assign this to the Pyro class--Pyros are among the least seen classes because their abilities, while considerable, are simply overshadowed by the other choices available to a 6-man team. Pyros can move quicker than most of the common competitive classes and excels at short range, but the [[Fragile Speedster|Scout]] is both faster and more agile, and deals damage in bigger chunks. It's a good defensive class in close quarters, but the [[Mighty Glacier|Heavy]] has better range, more health, and deals more damage. Spy checking, Ubercharge denial, and sentry defense, its remaining important uses, simply don't account for much competitive playtime due to the lack of need or lack of acceptance of the role. Ironically, this puts the Pyro (considered one of the classes requiring the least thinking to play) together with the Spy (considered the class requiring the most thinking to play) in the bottom of the competitive class tier--neither class' abilities play into a match strongly enough to justify their regular inclusion in a 6 vs. 6 skirmish.
* Gogo in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' can use almost any ability worth using in the game. He can't equip Espers, though, meaning that a specialized character who's been concentrating on physical attacks or magic will far outpace him.
* In [[Dragon Age II]] it's best to focus all of a character's ability points in their specialization tree and ''one'' ability tree, with maybe a few extra points in another tree when the first two are maxed out. Trying to spread the points equally across three or more trees can easily lead to [[Master of None]] syndrome since you won't have enough points in any one tree to unlock the secondary bonuses, which can be a real problem at the endgame or on higher difficulties. Many of the available moves are decidedly mediocre without those bonuses.
** That goes for weapon and magic skill trees. On the other hand, Rogues get a lot more value mixing-and-matching skills across trees than from most of the top ranked skills in each tree. They can still be effective as a [[Master of None]].
* Kamil from [[The 7th Saga]]. Presumably, he was worth using in the original version, but in the version we all know, his stat growths are so hampered that he ends up below average in almost every way.
* You want to achieve a balanced research in ''[[Star Ruler (Video Game)|Star Ruler]]''. While [[Crippling Overspecialization]] invites counters, spreading your research too widely will result in more focused opponents rolling over your forces with tougher ships, ships that can regenerate faster than you can hurt them or ships that can blow yours up easily.
* This is a potential pitfall in ''[[The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim]]''. With the game eschewing classes in favor of an open-ended leveling system, players going the [[Magic Knight]] route are easily tempted into spreading their points too thin and not being as effective as a pure fighter or caster.
* You want to avoid this in ''[[Alpha Protocol]]''. Without the boost from [[New Game+|Veteran]] it's impossible to fully level everything and most paths don't give you the really good stuff until far in, so too generalised a spread will leave you with a deficient Mikey that can't do much usefully.
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== Literature ==
* Notes in the ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'' novel ''The Short Victorious War'' state that Manticore sees battleships as this, hence its not using them. Sitting in the gap between battlecruisers and dreadnoughts, they lack the firepower and survivability of full ships of the wall as well as the mobility of battlecruisers or anything below. Eventually, the Havenites manage to turn them into [[Jack of All Stats]] by using them in deep raiding, where being stronger than battlecruisers allows them to blow away pickets using said class while outrunning full wallers, and every Manty waller stuck guarding a backwater is one fewer at the frontlines.
 
== Webcomics ==
* As indicated by the page quote, this is parodied in ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' with Red Mage, a [[Munchkin]] who firmly believes that the world works on tabletop RPG rules. Considering the amount of times he has be able to abuse this conviction in his favor, he might actually be right. However, regardless of whether he is right or not, one fact still stands: He is totally and completely inept at pretty much everything he does.
** To make matters worse, he is [[Villain Protagonist|The Warrors of Light]]'s selfproclaimed strategist, and it could be argued that [[Omnicidal Maniac|Black Mage]]'s standard sollution to any problem they encounter; [[Kill It Withwith Fire|to set the world ablaze]] [[Kill'Em All|and let the flames sort everything out]], is far more likely to solve, or even ''adress'' the problem at hand, than Red Mage's plans, that, for the greater part, are a toss up of [[Insane Troll Logic]] and [[You Fail Logic Forever|complete absence of logic in any way or form]].
** It should be noted, though, that since 8-bit Theatre's universe runs on [[Rule of Funny]], Red Mage's plans DO work sometimes, but only if they are so [[Flat What|mindfuckingly stupid]] that they are likely to give the other characters, and the readers, an aneurysm as he is explaining them, and another one when the plans are pulled off successfully... Unless, of course, the universe decides that physics don't work that way, after all. Like I said, it works on Rule Of Funny.
* Señor Vorpal Kickasso in [[Goblins]], who tries to master 11 [[Dungeons and Dragons|D&D]] classes at once and ends up with 1/11th of a level in each of them, meaning he can hide 1/11th of his body in shadow (which is fine, as long as the enemy is only looking for his ankle), or cast 1/11th of a sleep spell:
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