History ConservationOfNinjutsu / Film

* ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' has this especially bad. The large hordes of "upgraded" Ultrons in the film's climax manage to prove less of a threat to the Avengers than the small number of prototypes (who very explicitly aren't a SuperPrototype) encountered early in the film.

* The ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise both invokes and justifies this trope seeing as how the [[Film/{{Alien}} first installment]] has one Xenomorph Drone terrorizing a ship of miners and [[Film/{{Alien 3}} the third installment]] has one Xenomorph Runner menacing a prison colony whereas both the [[Film/{{Aliens}} second installment]] and the [[Film/AlienResurrection fourth installment]] feature entire hives of Xenomorph Drones that just seem far easier to kill off, but the in-universe justification for the franchise's usage of this trope comes from the fact that there was rather weak weaponry present in the first film and also absolutely no weaponry whatsoever present in the third film, and while the lone specimens from the first and third films were explicitly every bit as vulnerable to gunfire as their countless other brethren from the second and fourth films, that doesn't make any difference at all whenever there are no guns with which to shoot your lone enemy with in the first place, however.
** ''Aliens'' is also notable in the fact that it's one of few cases where this trope actually doesn't make the enemy any less menacing or threatening. Despite being in big enough hordes to be gunned down with ease, the titular creatures are still able to hold the upper hand for 90% of the movie due to the combination of their [[ItCanThink surprising intelligence]] and sheer numbers, which allow them to overwhelm Ripley and company with ease.

* Subverted in ''Film/BlackWidow2021'', where Natasha at first is able to hold off a whole class of Black Widows, but then they manage to use their superior numbers to overpower her, only being stopped by [[BigDamnHeroes Yelena intervening]].

** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'': Several squads of Klingons vs. four main characters. Three guesses who wins and the first two don't count.
** Inverted then Played Straight again in ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'': [[spoiler:''Enterprise'' vs. Krall's swarm? ''Enterprise'' is obliterated. ''Franklin'' vs. the same swarm? ''Franklin'' kicks their ass.]]
* ''Film/BatmanBegins'' skirts the edge of this trope. Bruce Wayne only fights one member of the League of Shadows during his escape (all the others were too busy dodging explosions); still, [[FridgeLogic one might wonder]] how Bruce was the only ninja to escape the exploding dojo. (The answer: [[spoiler:he wasn't]]). When he takes up the Batman mantle officially, he is able hold his own against four ninjas at once. This is {{Lampshaded}} to a certain degree with Batman's training as its designed to teaching him how to face vastly superior numbers and Ducard even declares Bruce his greatest student.
* In ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' Scott has little trouble mopping the floor with Lucas Lee's (the second evil ex's) stunt team, while only being able to defeat Lee by goading him into doing an insanely dangerous stunt on his skateboard.

** There's a scene in the film where the older model [=NS4=]s try to protect Spooner from the new [=NS5=]s and just get the crap kicked out of them, regardless of number. They do manage to slow them down, though.

* The ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise invokes this trope. The [[Film/{{Alien}} first movie]] has a single xenomorph terrorizing a ship of miners and [[Film/{{Alien 3}} the third]] has one xenomorph menacing a prison colony. The [[Film/{{Aliens}} second movie]] and [[Film/AlienResurrection fourth movie]] have entire swarms of them that seem easier to kill. This is very easily justified by the fact that, logically for their respective settings, there was no effective weaponry present in the first and third films. Presumably, the lone creatures in the first and third films were every bit as vulnerable to gunfire, but that doesn't make a difference when there are no '''guns''' handy.
** ''Aliens'' is also notable in the fact that it's one of few cases where this trope ''doesn't'' make the enemy any less menacing or threatening. Despite being in big enough hordes to be gunned down with ease, the titular creatures are still able to hold the upper hand for 90% of the movie due to the combination of their [[ItCanThink surprising intelligence]] and sheer numbers, which allow them to overwhelm Ripley and co. with ease.

* In ''Film/KungFuHustle'' this trope is mixed in with a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome, the Axe Gang that attacks Pigsty Alley in the climax of the movie is so numerous, that they can't really fight without getting in each other's way. It's to the point that those in the back can only uselessly fail their axes around menacingly rather than actually attack due to fear of accidentally hitting their own guys. Thus the slum's fighters are really only realistically fighting maybe three guys at a time.

* ''Film/ThePrincess'': Most of the {{mooks}} attack the princess singly, to be easily killed. At one point though she's cornered by many and in real trouble, having to jump down several stories with one as a cushion.

* ''Film/ThePrincess'': Most of the {{mooks}} attack the princess singly, to be easily killed. At one point though she's concered by many and in real trouble, having to jump down several stories with one as a cushion.

** The above could also be applied to the end of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', wherein Luke is the last living user of the Light Side of TheForce, thus the only person channeling its power in concentrate, enabling him to defeat two Sith whose purposes are divided (it helps that Darth Vader is having a HeroicBSOD of the ConflictingLoyalty variety).

* The assassins in ''{{Film/Hero}}'' effortlessly carve through thousands of palace guards in order to reach their target, the Emperor, who by himself is [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking much tougher than his men]]. This being a {{Wuxia}} film, this is hardly surprising, as the assassins' abilities are the very model of a CharlesAtlasSuperpower.

* In the ''WebVideo/MegaMan'' FanFilm, the Blue Bomber gets into a confrontation with all six robot masters at once before the individual fights begin. Fighting the whole gang is no problem, but alone we get real fights. Especially noteworthy is [[ThatOneBoss Elec Man]] who [[spoiler: nearly kills Mega Man, until he gets [[BigDamnHeroes saved by Blues/Proto Man]].]]

* ''Film/IronMan3'': In previous films when Tony only had one suit it was virtually invincible. When he attacks with a dozen they get torn torn to bits in short order and he keeps swapping them out. Sort of justified in that they were fighting super power mooks and they were all prototypes Tony had put together as stress relief.
* Briefly discussed in ''Film/TheWarriors'' with regards to [[HarmlessVillain The Orphans]]:

* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' averts this, surprisingly. While the Turtles are able to defeat individual Foot Ninjas with ease (and Raph takes out a small group at once thanks to the element of surprise), a large group of them at once beats Raph nearly to death and forces the other three to retreat. Played straight later where the Turtles defeat an entire army of ninjas but then have trouble against The Shredder alone. Although with Shredder, it's played with: [[JustifiedTrope The Foot ninjas were intentionally leading the Turtles to the rooftop where he was waiting and partially tired them out so he could take them on fresh. He stepped in after his ninja were beaten and fights defensively using minimal movements and turning the Turtles' aggression against them, making him the freshest and most conservative fighter]]. But as the fight drags on, this approach starts to fail him; [[RealityEnsues he is fighting four skilled opponents half his age]], as ''Leonardo'' draws first blood, something that we never saw Shredder do to the Turtles. Shredder admits the Turtles might have won eventually with only the loss of one turtle.

** Related, the Trade Federation Droids only kill Jedi when there's a whole army of Jedi, as ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' shows. ([[Film/ThePhantomMenace the Gungan army]] [[RedshirtArmy is a whole different matter]].) In the same sequence, Jango Fett pretty casually shoots a Jedi and kills him but when it comes to fighting Mace Windu, he is much less fortunate.
*** The Jedi being overrun by Clone Troopers in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' is another example of Jedi getting gunned down en masse, only for the named Jedi to easily survive and fight the troopers off (mildly justified in that the Troopers still had the element of surprise on their side, whereas Obi-Wan lucked into surviving their first attempt on his life, and they never had it ''at all'' regarding [[CombatClairvoyance Yoda]]).

* Aragorn in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' films faces dozens of orcs at a time throughout his adventures. The only time he seems to be having any difficulty is fighting one-on-one with the Uruk-hai leader and the troll.
** A single troll was giving the entire group of heroes a hard fight in ''The Fellowship Of The Ring'' in a rare heroes vs. villain example.

*** The Jedi being overrun by Clone Troopers in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' is another example of Jedi getting gunned down en masse, only for the named Jedi to easily survive and fight the troopers off.

* In ''Film/{{Commando}}'', when [[Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger Ahnold]] comes across Arius after mowing down countless soldiers simply by [[MoreDakka pointing his gun in their general direction and firing]], his aim suddenly deteriorates into [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy that of the countless soldiers]] he just killed. Luckily for him, Arius's aim is just as bad, and after a few moments of the two firing at each other and missing while ''twenty feet from each other'', Arnie kills Arius. Bennett, Arius' DragonInChief, is, of course, a vastly more cunning and formidable opponent than either Arius or his dozens of soldiers; Arnie has to provoke him into fighting one-on-one rather just using his daughter as a human shield, and even then, he almost wins.

** Another ExpandedUniverse example: After the Brotherhood of Darkness imploded magnificently after Ruusan, Bane was left to rebuild the Sith. Instead of building a large army of Dark Side wielders, and dealing with the ChronicBackstabbingDisorder that came with it, he chose to take just ''one'' apprentice. Once the apprentice learned all they needed, they were to slay their master, take a new apprentice, and the cycle begins anew. Arguably, since the Sith lasted 1000 years under this idea, and it was the Sith dynasty that spawned Palpatine, it was the most successful. It's implied in the books that he got the idea from [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Revan's holocron]]. Not surprisingly, one of Creator/BioWare's writers was behind the Bane books.

** Inverted then Played Straight again in ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'': [[spoiler:''Enterprise'' vs. Krall's swarm? ''Enterprise'' is obliterated. ''Franklin'' vs. the same swarm? ''Franklin kicks their ass.]]

* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' averts this, suprisingly. While the Turtles are able to defeat individual Foot Ninjas with ease (and Raph takes out a small group at once thanks to the element of surprise), a large group of them at once beats Raph nearly to death and forces the other three to retreat. Played straight later where the Turtles defeat an entire army of ninjas but then have trouble against The Shredder alone. Although with Shredder, it's played with: The Foot ninjas were intentionally leading the Turtles to the rooftop where he was waiting and partially tired them out so he could take them on fresh. He stepped in after his ninja were beaten and fights defensively using minimal movements and turning the Turtles' aggression against them, making him the freshest and most conservative fighter. But as the fight drags on, this approach starts to fail him; he is fighting four skilled opponents half his age, as Leonardo draws first blood, something that we never saw Shredder do to the Turtles. Shredder admits the Turtles might have won eventually with only the loss of one turtle.

* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' has the turtles effortlessly kick the asses of dozens of Foot Soldiers throughout the film. However, a ''lone'' Foot Soldier is able to sneakily follow the turtles back to their lair, spy on them for a time, and then escape without any hint of detection.
** At the climax of the film, four ninjas cannot defeat one. It takes a single ninja to defeat him.
** Subverted at one point, as Raph gets attacked by a large group of Foot Soldiers. They beat him unconscious and throw his body through a skylight to the other turtles. The Foot Ninja proceed to attack the other three turtles, and though they put up a good fight and even with Casey joining in, they're still forced to flee the battle.

* Played with and lampshaded in ''Film/SpyKids'', when two good guys are easily overpowered by two robots... then later in the film, four good guys come up with a plan ''under the assumption'' they can hold their own against 500 of those same robots. [[spoiler:Luckily. Floop ends up reprogramming them to render them harmless just in time.]]

* In the ''Film/MegaMan'' film, the Blue Bomber gets into a confrontation with all six robot masters at once before the individual fights begin. Fighting the whole gang is no problem, but alone we get real fights. Especially noteworthy is [[ThatOneBoss Elec Man]] who [[spoiler: nearly kills Mega Man, until he gets [[BigDamnHeroes saved by Blues/Proto Man]].]]