History Main / BiggerStick

** Setsuna F. Seiei of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' fame survived his battles with [[CharClone Graham Aker]], [[ColonelBadass Sergei Smirnov]] and [[PsychoForHire Ali Al-Saachez]] because he has Gundam Exia. Had he been piloting a lesser Mobile Suit, he would've had his ass handed to him all three times. Hell, ''all'' of Celestial Being, [[spoiler:[[SixthRangerTraitor Thrones]] included]], was like that until the [[LensmanArmsRace GN-X units were deployed]]. And on the one occasion when it seemed to get subverted, [[spoiler:it turned out the Gundam in question had a OneWingedAngel form.]]

** At the start of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Amuro Ray is initially nowhere near the level of Zeon's aces, but survives several encounters because he's piloting the [[SuperPrototype RX-78-2 Gundam]]. Ramba Ral even lampshades it when he's defeated by Amuro, who promptly calls him a sore loser.

** The events of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' are touched off by the Earth Alliance's attempt at building a Bigger Stick with which to fight the more physically-abled Coordinators of ZAFT, and ZAFT's theft of all but one of those {{Bigger Stick}}s. Then [[TheHero Kira Yamato]] and [[TheRival Athrun Zala]] get even ''bigger'' sticks halfway through the series (the Freedom and Justice Gundams), which only [[BigBad Rau Le Creuset]] in the Biggest Stick yet (the Providence Gundam) succeeds in being an actual threat to. The only exception is Natural AcePilot Mu La Flaga, who manages to hold his own against Coordinators in cutting-edge HumongousMecha while he is piloting a much less powerful mobile armor and, in some cases, only a fighter jet. Nevertheless, he does eventually get a Bigger Stick in the form of the Strike Gundam after Kira moves on from it and obtains the Freedom. And in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'', he gets an even ''Bigger'' Stick in the form of the Akatsuki Gundam (which Cagalli Yula Athha lends him). And then there's cases where you want your Bigger Stick to literally be much bigger. Cue the [[OhCrap Destroy Gundam.]]

** Setsuna F. Seiei of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' fame survived his battles with Graham, Sergei and Ali because he has Gundam Exia: had he been piloting a lesser Mobile Suit he would've had his ass handed to him all three times. Hell, ''all'' of Celestial Being, [[spoiler:Thrones included]], was like that until the [[LensmanArmsRace GN-X units were deployed]]. And on the one occasion when it seemed to get subverted, [[spoiler:it turned out the Gundam in question had a OneWingedAngel form.]]
** This later proves to not exactly be true late into the second series when Setsuna pulls the reverse. He pilots a trashed Exia that is held together by spare parts, spit and sheer dumb luck. The unit is missing an arm, has a makeshift replacement camera eye, joint protection parts missing and a literally broken weapon. That, combined with the fact that his Gundam is literally five years out of date means that he was actually very skilled to have made it that far fighting that Ahead and GN-X III because if he had been any less skilled, he would have been shot down like before.
*** Throughout much of the second season, the Bigger Stick came into play with the [[StateSec A-LAWS]] updating their newer units on a regular basis, with only minor adjustments to the Celestial Being Gundams (such as 00 Raiser), yet Celestial Being would triumph every single time. Unfortunately for her, [[HateSink Nena Trinity]] wound up becoming the victim of a Bigger Stick when [[BrokenBird Louise Halevy]] [[KarmicDeath did her in]] with the [[SuperPrototype Regnant]] after ambushing [[SoLastSeason her outdated Throne]].

** In the first ''Anime/YuGiOh'' anime series, this appears to be Seto Kaiba's strategy for much of the series. Even after getting his Egyptian God Card, it doesn't seem to work. He actually does display tactics, and a great deal of strategy - though it primarily centers around bringing out his Bigger Sticks quickly, protecting his Bigger Sticks, reviving his Bigger Sticks, using his Bigger Sticks to power up Still Bigger Sticks, and [[OhCrap gaping]] [[TheWorfEffect when the opponent brings out a Bigger Stick Than The Bigger Stick He Has.]]

** At the start of the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Amuro is initially nowhere near the level of Zeon's aces, but survives several encounters because he's piloting the Gundam. Ramba Ral even lampshades it when he's defeated by Amuro, who promptly calls him a sore loser.
** In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'', this is Glemmy's thing. He isn't exactly an AcePilot, nor are most of his subordinates especially skilled (though [[spoiler: he's the only leader in the series able to field a full battalion of Newtype soldiers]]), but he has money, he has technology, and he uses it to ensure that his personal suit and the suits of his elite subordinates are significantly more powerful than anyone else's gear.
** Similarly, Setsuna F. Seiei of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' fame survived his battles with Graham, Sergei and Ali because he has Gundam Exia: had he been piloting a lesser Mobile Suit he would've had his ass handed to him all three times. Hell, ''all'' of Celestial Being, [[spoiler:Thrones included]], was like that until the [[LensmanArmsRace GN-X units were deployed]]. And on the one occasion when it seemed to get subverted, [[spoiler:it turned out the Gundam in question had a OneWingedAngel form.]]\\
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This later proves to not exactly be true late into the second series when Setsuna pulls the reverse. He pilots a trashed Exia that is held together by spare parts, spit and sheer dumb luck. The unit is missing an arm, has a makeshift replacement camera eye, joint protection parts missing and a literally broken weapon. That, combined with the fact that his Gundam is literally five years out of date means that he was actually very skilled to have made it that far fighting that Ahead and GN-X III because if he had been any less skilled, he would have been shot down like before.
*** Throughout much of the second season, the Bigger Stick came into play with the A-LAWS updating their newer units on a regular basis, with only minor adjustments to the Celestial Being Gundam (00 Raiser), yet Celestial Being would triumph every single time. Unfortunately for her, Nena Trinity wound up becoming the victim of a Bigger Stick when Louise Halevy did her in with the [[SuperPrototype Regnant]] after ambushing [[SoLastSeason her outdated Throne]].
** The events of ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Gundam SEED]]'' are touched off by the Earth Alliance's attempt at building a Bigger Stick with which to fight the more physically-abled Coordinators of ZAFT, and ZAFT's theft of all but one of those {{Bigger Stick}}s. Then the protagonist and TheRival get even ''bigger'' sticks halfway through the series, which only the BigBad in the Biggest Stick yet succeeds in being an actual threat to... The only exception is AcePilot Mu La Flaga, who manages to hold his own against Coordinators in cutting-edge HumongousMecha while he is piloting a much less powerful mobile armor and, in some cases, only a fighter jet. Nevertheless, in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'', even Mu gets a Bigger Stick. And then there's cases where you want your Bigger Stick to literally be much bigger. Cue [[OhCrap Destroy Gundam.]]
*** It's especially noticable in Destiny when Kira's Freedom is the only nuclear powered unit still in service, and he is just untouchable by everyone up until Shinn manages to destroy it by exploiting his unwillingness to kill in a situation where Kira can't go all out without footage of the fight being used as bad press against his homeland. Then Shinn gets a nuclear powered MS and also becomes unstoppable. Whereas before he was an ace by skill, with the Destiny he can basically crush the EA without even trying. In fact Shinn's skills notably degrade after awhile with Destiny, because against all but Kira and Athrun (who get new nuclear MS's equally powerful) all he has to do is flail his sword or fire his cannon and his enemies die.
*** Shinn's a good example of how this trope can be dangerous. He got the Destiny, and a promotion, ''without'' the [[CharacterDevelopment Character Growth]][[note]]not Development, ''Growth''. Big difference[[/note]] that Gundam protagonists usually go through. As a result it quickly went to his head, with many of his bad traits, particularly his bratty, impulsive arrogance and temper, going out of control.

-->-- '''Tony Stark''', quoting his late father '''Howard Stark''' (the guy selling the sticks), ''Film/IronMan1''