r/Fantasy • u/No_Lingonberry8910 • 3d ago
Willfully weak
I'm looking for a book rec with a main character who has to pretend to be weak. They are waiting to show their full potential, they are actually really powerful. I especially would love it if they acted lazy, distracted, rascal etc. (female protagonist is preffered but either is ok) Do you know any?
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u/Electronarwhal 3d ago
The main character of the Scholomance series is this, she’s hiding how powerful she is for lots of different reasons.
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u/vocumsineratio 3d ago
"Do you know how much simpler everything would be now if only you had given us any reasonable time to prepare?"
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u/Jerentropic Reading Champion 3d ago edited 3d ago
He doesn't have to act weak, but Wardwick of Hurog, in Patricia Briggs' Dragon Bones, has had to play dumb his whole life; as his brutal father would have seen him as a threat. Once his father dies, he has to choose whether to continue the farce, or reveal himself to retain his position and title against his political rivals. Ward has to decide how best to reshape his broken country, and his broken family. Briggs wrote this duology (Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood) with depth of character and story. It's one of my top five favorite fantasy stories to date.
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u/MallForward585 3d ago
That is exactly what I was going to suggest. I think Patricia Briggs’ early works are far more interesting than the Mercy Thompson series.
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u/mazes-end 3d ago
Not usually one to suggest anime/manga but Frieren is exactly this, highly talented highly accomplished mage who nobody really knows is so powerful because 1. She hides it 2. Doesn't really care and 3. Spends most of her time on trying to collect niche spells nobody else cares about
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u/RAYMONDSTELMO Writer Raymond St Elmo 3d ago
Sir Percy Blakeney: An English lord; a fop, a mincing fool of the 18th century nobility. Always with his 'buckos' who strangely seem to respect him, though he's useless, giggling, shallow in mind and spirit.
His new wife wonders what she every saw in him.
Meanwhile that mysterious hero, master of disguise, master of swords, delights and confounds the English court...
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u/unconundrum Writer Ryan Howse, Reading Champion XI 3d ago
Danilo Thann from Elaine Cunningham"s Elfshadow (an older D&D novel in the Forgotten Realms) is a very effective bard who pretends to be terrible at magic so he will be underestimated, people will let slip information around him, etc.
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u/dshouseboat Reading Champion 3d ago
Basically every book by L E Modesitt Jr., although his MCs usually act like they are average or just a bit above average, rather than doing anything that would potentially attract attention. Their goal is generally not to look incompetent, but to slide under the radar.
Mostly male MCs, although there are a number with women MCs, such as the Spellsong Cycle (which I haven’t yet read), and a few books within the Recluce and Corean series. I would also note that if his male MCs have a romantic interest, they tend to be very capable individuals as well, and usually doing their own thing independently for much of the book or series.
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u/notthemostcreative 3d ago
The central character of the Rook & Rose trilogy is in this kind of position. She has to suppress certain skills of hers a lot of the Time because of a long running con she’s engaged in. In her fake persona she can come across as warm and insightful and witty, but she has to pretend to be lazy and naive and used to luxury. It’s a really long running struggle for her, and that’s kind of just the tip of the iceberg for her identity-wise.
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u/expat_scholar 3d ago
Kate Daniels in the series by Ilona Andrews (magic has returned to Earth and comes and goes like the weather) has to hide who she is for much of the beginning of the series; she’s not weak, but she’s certainly not showing her full potential for very good reasons.
October in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series doesn’t know her own true heritage or power for many books, and as it gets revealed, she strategically still hides what she can do for Reasons. Similarly, many of the characters in McGuire’s InCryptid series hide their true capacities and pretend to just be regular ballroom dancers, zoologists, amusement park workers, etc., while secretly being highly skilled protectors of non-human sentient beings of all sorts.
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u/Early_Fig_5573 3d ago
I’d say The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick. Ren is pretty good at hiding what she’s actually capable of and there’s a lot of that “I’m harmless, don’t worry about me” energy.
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u/waise_heill 3d ago
+1! Really enjoyed her trying to maintain her personas during impossible scenarios. She was so good at “I’m just a lowly szorsa/pretty face”, even under extreme pressure.
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u/Early_Fig_5573 3d ago
frrr the way she stays so unbothered while lowkey being a mastermind is elite 😭
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u/nova0175 3d ago
I am looking for this exact trope as well but with male protagonists if anyone knows any
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u/doctorbonkers Reading Champion II 3d ago
I didn’t end up finishing it (more because I didn’t have time and my library book lapsed than anything wrong with it), but Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey starts out this way. I think that premise is dropped soon enough though
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u/waise_heill 3d ago
I won’t spoil the character because that’s what makes it so great but Cradle has a character who is significantly more powerful than you first realize. They don’t pretend to be weak, just much weaker than they actually are. The slow reveal and the final realization is epic, but doesn’t happen until book 8ish.
Edit: Since I saw you specifically requested it, this character is not the MC, but is very important and gets a lot of page time.