History GlassCannon / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', Jesse Faden's paranatural abilities and weaponry can inflict horrendous damage in no time, but without her debris shield (which isn't all that strong and also prevents her from using most of her attacks) she's about as durable as an unarmored human can be expected to be when faced with hordes of enemies wielding firearms and supernatural abilities like her own. Her main defense consists of always being on the move to avoid getting hit in the first place and to drain health on enemies.

** On the same route, Kris can become this (coupled with FragileSpeedster) against [[{{Superboss}} Spamton]] [[StoneWall NEO]]: even if they have the highest HP they will ever have, make more damage than ever and even get a double damage special move which has nothing to envy to Susie's Red Buster, they fight the {{Superboss}} alone, which means that they take all the damage if they fail to dodge, and they can't ask Ralsei to make them a shield around the soul.
** Funnily, on both Routes, you can invoke this with Spamton NEO: if you abuse a glitch that allows you to spam big shots, you can destroy his attacks more easily, but he will increase his power in rage, making you more vulnerable if you miss.

[[folder: Action RPG]]

*** The Soda Jet offers the second-to-best top speed and acceleration with a decent mini-turbo, handling and the best drift, but is extremely light and endures off-road more than the [[MightyGlacier Bruiser]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' has [[CorruptTheCutie Noelle]] who combines this trope with SquishyWizard: she starts with the lowest HP of the team, but if you go on the Snowgrave Route, you can increase her offensive magic to a point where she can [[AnIcePerson freeze]] enemies with one attack and even make her learn an insanely powerful spell if you make her wear an armor that depletes her HP.

** [[spoiler: The Anti Ninja]] hits hard, but has nonexistant defense. He doubles as a FragileSpeedster due to his incredible speed.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has [[FieryRedhead Undyne]], the Captain of the Royal Guard. Ironically, she wears of the heaviest armors in the game, but she's just a bit more resistant than Papyrus with it and even ''less'' when she doesn't wear it. However, she throws a near-endless amount of spears per second on your character to the point you actually need an armor that increases their MercyInvincibility rather than their defense.

*** The poster child for Fighting-Type Glass Cannons is Hitmonlee: bad HP and Defense[[note]]But decent [[MageKiller Special Defense]], even if it doesn't help it.[[/note]], okay Speed and good Attack, its SignatureAttack is Hi-Jump Kick, a very powerful Move with the [[DeathOrGloryAttack drawback of inflicting recoil damage if it fails to hit. This was amplified from generation IV, as it received Reckless as a possible Ability. Reckless boosts the power of recoil-causing Moves, and Hi-Jump Kick is one of those: meaning Hitmonlee can shred through multiple opponents but is already dead if it misses even once.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee-only class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets, bracers or even shields; even with a fighter kit's inherent high HP they'll usually be dead or close to it at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing shenanigans though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive/supportive spells to offset their paltry Armor Class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability; either option will turn them into a straight-up GameBreaker.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets, bracers or even shields; even with a fighter kit's inherent high HP they'll usually be dead or barely standing at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing shenanigans though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive/supportive spells to offset their paltry Armor Class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability; either option will turn them into a straight-up GameBreaker.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets, bracers or even shields; even with a fighter kit's inherent high HP they'll usually be dead or barely standing at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing shenanigans though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive/supoortive spells to offset their paltry Armor Class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability; either option will turn them into a straight-up GameBreaker.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets, bracers or even shields, so they'll usually be dead or barely standing at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing shenanigans though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive/supoortive spells to offset their paltry Armor Class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability; either option will turn them into a straight-up GameBreaker.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets, bracers or even shields, so they'll usually be dead or barely standing at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing shenanigans though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive spells to offset their paltry armor class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability; either option will turn them into a straight-up GameBreaker.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets, bracers or even shields, so they'll usually be dead or barely standing at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing shenanigans though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive spells to offset their paltry armor class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability.

** Kensais zig-zag the trope; they're a melee class that gets cumulative damage and accuracy bonuses and a special ability that causes all their attacks to do maximum damage for a few seconds, but they can't equip ANY armor, helmets or bracers, so they'll usually be dead or barely standing at the end of a tough fight. They are an easy favorite for dual-classing, though, as they can dual over to a Mage to get all manner of handy defensive spells to offset their paltry armor class, or a Thief to do massively powerful backstabs and, at high level, completely bypass their armor restrictions with the Use Any Item special ability.

** ''C&C Generals'' has units such as the Chinese Inferno and Nuke Cannons, the GLA Scud Launcher, Buggy and Bomb Truck and (debatably) the US Humvee, that have tremendously high attack power but are in mortal danger if so much as one or two [[RedshirtArmy basic infantry]] with rifles walk up to them (of course, they can always run over said infantry). The Nuke Cannon sometimes even says "Careful, she's fragile" when selected.
*** Aircraft in general are exceedingly fragile but deadly, engagements often ending in a MutualKill. The Aurora Bomber is essentially a one-use weapon that's invulnerable until it drops its high-damage bomb, after which its speed drops by half, making it an easy target.

** [[UsefulNotes/GameandWatch Mr. Game & Watch]] from the same series is almost as light (he's a two-dimensional character resembling an old LCD display) but has among the strongest smashes in the game and Judge 9, an RNG move that can KO extremely early.

*** Concerning the sole UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch version, these examples have all have the second-to-best land top speed, a below average mini-turbo and the bikes have inside drift, a strong handicap considering how drift works in this game: Prancer, Sport Bike and Jet Bike only have an above nothing weight and below average acceleration; Sneeker, Gold Standard and the [[Franchise/TheLegendofZelda Master Cycle]] bike have a slightly better weight, but no traction, making them less stable; [[VideoGame/FZero Blue Falcon]] and [[VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} Splat Buggy]] correct the problem of traction and give slightly better acceleration than the previous examples, but are extremely light and have less handling, making them more imprecise.

** Tocotoco has above average attack, a powerful partner skill that allows it to be used as a GrenadeLauncher and learns Megaton Implode, the most powerful skill in the game. Its average defense is offset by the lowest HP stat in the game at 60. To top it off, its two most powerful attacks are [[TakingYouWithMe suicide attacks]].

* VideoGame/{{Palworld}}: