A subtrope of Informed Attribute: A character's skill and abilities are frequently mentioned by the cast, but are nonexistent in practice. Though the motivations for allowing this are similar to the motivations for allowing Informed Attributes in general, there is much less of an excuse for it. Believably getting it across that, say, someone is compassionate is difficult stuff; it's the mark of a good author to pull that kind of thing off. Skills and abilities are a much simpler deal: Is someone a master locksmith? Have them pick a lock now and then. Are they combat experts? Have them take the fight to their opponents whenever they can and gain the upper hand. Are they supposed to be a smooth talker? Have them talk their way out of a sticky situation once in a while. What often deters writers from going through with the above plan is the fact that Most Writers Are Writers. They're writing a character who's supposed to be a musician, but they don't know the particulars of meters or chords. They have a character who is a military expert, but they don't know how long an infantry division can fight until it needs to be resupplied. They have a character who's a genius, but they haven't a clue as to how or what a genius needs to do to solve a complex problem. If the writer attempts to show the ability in action, they take a very real risk of the portrayal falling completely flat. On occasion, the ability cannot adequately be portrayed by the medium used for the work. For example, a comic book cannot show how good a character's singing voice is, and a radio show would, at best, be forced to merely describe a character's great paintings. Occasionally, the ability cannot be portrayed because of the work's audience, such as a dangerous weapon in a family-friendly show causing Scenery Gorn if activated, and thus, it can't be activated onscreen. One choice the writer has is to go ahead and show the supposed "ability". But if they don't do the research, this leads to such laughable characters as the scientist who spouts Hollywood Science, the tactician who comes up with the sort of tactics a five-year-old would think of and the "genius" who is only a genius because they're the only one coming up with any plan at all, and everyone else is downright stupid. Lack of convincing detail means the reader does not believe, whether it is fixing an engine or presenting the actual philosophy of a character purported to be wise, and can make the readers long for the informed ability. It's much easier for the writer to just stay away from showing that character's expertise at all. After all, how can the portrayal possibly live up to the hype? And since the audience has to know about this expertise some way or the other, this inevitably leads to telling the reader about it instead of showing it to them. There are, fortunately, ways around this. The hard way is doing the necessary research, and lots of it. In the above examples, knowing the particulars of a field of science, military tactics and strategies, or the inner workings of genius minds of yesteryear is a good place to start. Then, working the writing around this research would allow the audience to see that this character's ability is at least somewhat applicable to the real world. It may not be applicable to every situation — it might even require a Hand Wave or two. But it's at least enough to not break the Willing Suspension of Disbelief around the ability in question. The easier way is to have the character act out their expertise without going into technical details. The military leader arrives at the war room, going from briefing to briefing, gives out commands over the radio, and the tide of battle turns. The master composer comes up with the hook for a popular singer's upcoming single, and a week later we hear that it's topping the charts. The genius has a montage of going through books and papers, works many a sleepless night, and ends with a small success in the laboratory that turns into a "Eureka!" Moment. The character can display their skills without showing their work directly. It's only an Informed Ability if there is no meaningful evidence they have this skill; it's even worse if there's evidence that the character doesn't have this ability at all. The audience is more likely to accept an informed ability if the ability itself is not the focus of the story so much as a plot device or source of drama. If, for example, a story of an obsessed genius artist is mainly focused on the family conflict this creates (with a father, say, who wants his son to have a conventional career or a wife who feels neglected) the audience may not care if the genius's paintings look like third rate impressionism or surrealism (as they usually do). This trope can be Played for Laughs — a character might find increasingly bizarre and unlikely reasons to not use their alleged abilities in situations where they would prove useful, or that one time where they actually put it to use may be a Noodle Incident that goes on being mentioned at random, or they may display their skill, but in a manner conspicuously offscreen while the other characters exclaim "Look at them go!". If they finally, at one point, go ahead and prove that they are every bit as capable as their reputation suggests, that's Let's Get Dangerous!. See also Faux Action Girl, a variant where "competent fighter" becomes an Informed Ability, and The Worf Effect, which often turns it into one. Among the Acceptable Breaks from Reality in Video Games, where often you'll be playing someone supposedly very competent, but how well they actually perform is up to you, and often they'll go through tutorials teaching them the basics of their supposed area of expertise for the player's sake. Compare Character Shilling and compare/contrast with Creator's Pet. Also see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, where the characters never even attempt to perform the tasks for which they are supposedly famous. Commonly uses Props to imply the intended effect. The Informed Flaw is the opposite, where someone is supposed to be terrible at something (ie. Hollywood Homely), but isn't. In a video game, this frequently overlaps with Gameplay and Story Segregation (when the story says that someone has amazing abilities, but they show up in neither gameplay nor cutscenes.) Suddenly Always Knew That is when a character demonstrates a skill the audience has never been told he possesses before.
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