When people think of professional wrestling, their minds are most likely drawn to some of the biggest names in the sport. Larger-than-life characters like John Cena, Hulk Hogan and The Rock have all become cultural icons thanks to their careers in pro wrestling. Of course, in order to get to the top of the wrestling world, they had to beat people along the way.
Enter "jobbers" -- wrestlers whose sole purpose is to lose in order to make other wrestlers look better. "Jobbing" comes from the expression "doing the job," which is another way of saying that a wrestler is supposed to lose to another, elevating the winner in the process in the minds of fans. So how did anime get mixed up in all of this?
Some Jobbers Are the Most Famous Characters in a Series
Anime and professional wrestling have mixed before -- after all, shows like Tiger Mask W are based entirely on wrestling -- but "jobber" specifically has made its way into character discussion vernacular, especially those based on battle animes, and almost always with a negative connotation. Calling a character a jobber is meant to be an insult because it means that despite everything else about them, their only real narrative purpose is to lose.
Dragon Ball's Vegeta, for example, is often called a jobber by fans, but it's important to keep in mind that being a jobber does not necessarily mean a character is weak -- just that they lose more often than not. Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, has some of the greatest strength feats in shonen history, and yet he does not have a single major villain defeat under his belt. He lost to Frieza repeatedly on Namek, lost to Cell during the Cell Games, was unable to defeat Majin Buu without Goku's help, and so on. One of the most notable times Vegeta was depicted as a jobber was when the androids debuted during the Cell Saga. Android 18, fresh to the series, made her debut in a battle against Vegeta, easily defeating him and breaking his arm.
Worfs Losing is Sometimes More Important Than Jobbers Losing
Although this injury caused Vegeta to push himself to get stronger for the Cell Games, it also did exactly what it was supposed to do story-wise: establish the Androids as a credible threat in the Dragon Ball universe. There's another term for this that Star Trek fans might be familiar with: the Worf Effect. Named after Lieutenant Commander Worf, this is when a character that is already well-established as powerful is defeated by the newly-arriving villains.
This is one of the easiest ways for an author to make the new bad guys look like a credible threat, making fans think that if someone like Worf was defeated so easily, the new villains must be seriously powerful. A great example of a Worf-like character in anime is Aizawa from My Hero Academia. Aizawa is perfectly powerful in his own right, possessing one of the most impactful Quirks in the MHA universe, and he is more than capable of dispatching villains. Nonetheless, during Shigaraki's arrival in the "USJ" arc, Aizawa is easily defeated by the villains. It's simple storytelling at its finest -- the students are now in dire need of a solution as their teacher, who is far more powerful than them, is in a desperate situation and needs their help.
Having Heroes Defeat Jobbers Is Important Too
Both jobbers and Worfs are important for not only the story but also the fans. Having a brand-new villain showing up and killing civilians isn't a great way to establish how powerful they are, but if they defeat Lieutenant Commander Worf, people are suddenly forced to take them seriously. The same can also be said for the heroes. If Izuku only defeated no-name villains throughout MHA's story, fans likely wouldn't take him seriously either. The villains also need to have their own Worf that can be overcome to show just how far the hero has come in their journey to get stronger.
Sometimes, a one-sided beatdown can be one of the most memorable moments in a story. Goku's complete dismantling of the Ginyu Force after arriving at Namek is a terrific example of this, as they looked completely unbeatable beforehand. Fans might consider the iconic Ginyu Force to be jobbers now, but at the time, they were definitely Worfs.