History Main / FragileSpeedster

** With the exception of [[LightningBruiser Yang Xiao Long]], the rest of the titular team can move fast and hit hard with the use of [[AppliedPhlebotinum Dust]], [[KiManipulation Aura]], [[PersonalityPowers Semblance]], and [[MixAndMatchWeapon weapons]]; but their physical strength and durability are still within the human limit.
** Neon Katt of Team FNKI is one of the opponents faced by the Weiss/Yang duo in the Volume 3 Vytal Tournament. She zips around the arena on her {{rollerblade|Good}}s, initially [[CurbStompBattle dominating Yang]] with hit 'n' run attacks and [[IShallTauntYou infuriating Yang with taunts]] all the while. [[spoiler:[[HoistByHisOwnPetard Unfortunately for Neon]], she eventually goes too fast for her own good and trips up, sending her crashing into a geyser and shooting up into the air. A single shot from Ember Celica is enough to put her out for the count, sending Team FNKI crashing out of the tournament and Team RWBY through to the singles round.]]

->''"All the world will be your enemy, O Prince with a Thousand Enemies. And if they catch you, they will kill you. But first, they must catch you."''
-->-- '''Frith''' to '''El-ahrairah''', ''Literature/WatershipDown''

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'': {{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed. While renowned for his supersonic speed, Sonic's small height and lithe figure keep him from hurting a huge, burly biker at a bar even with a bottle. There's also the fact that being in close-proximity to some explosions knocks him out cold, even to the point of nearly dying. However, [[spoiler:this was due to Sonic not understanding his powers or how they work, but he eventually unleashes his full strength once he gains the will to actively fight Robotnik in the climax, hitting his ship with enough strength- while powered by conducted electricity-to send him flying through a portal and send him packing into the Mushroom Planet]].

** Oni Lee is no more durable than a regular human, but his power -- a combination of TeleportSpam and SelfDuplication -- makes him nearly impossible to hit, especially since his clones are short-lived and feel no pain, making them eminently {{expendable|Clone}}. They also copy all his gear, and Grenades are one of his preferred weapons, so his go-to tactic is using them as massed Suicide Bombers

** Azula seems to fall under this as well. She's usually too quick for Team Avatar, but on the few occasions they manage to land a blow, she gets knocked back pretty hard.
* [[SuperSpeed XLR8]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Ben10}} Ben 10]]'' can run so fast that he becomes invisible to the human eye. And, although his resistance is slightly above human level, he is still pretty frail compared to Ben's other forms and ends up knocked out almost everytime he is used for direct combat.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' has the elven assassin Rayla. She mainly uses speed, agility and nimbleness in combat. And though she is not a weakling, she does not endure much harm. In battles her opponents were able to knock her over pretty easily and knock her to the ground (of course she jumped up quickly).

* Franchise/TheFlash from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' ([[DependingOnTheWriter Most of the time]]). He sometimes leans towards combining it with GlassCannon, or even becoming a full-on LightningBruiser depending on how serious he's getting and how well his RequiredSecondaryPowers are working this week. Especially early on, though, he's often taken out of the fight with one lucky hit.
* From ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[ArcVillain Kuvira]] in Season 4. Kuvira is exceptionally fast and agile, able to dodge most attacks and strike back before her opponent can go on the defensive. However, she lacks Korra's stamina and fights between the two tend to even out rather quickly whenever Korra lands a solid blow. She's also notably vulnerable against air attacks, which are harder for her to anticipate or sidestep.
%%* Catra from ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''. Not counting her claws, she's not particularly strong, and she's a rather petite young woman. However, she is ''quick'', extremely agile, and can jump impressive heights, meaning she can hold her own against much bigger and stronger opponents because they can't get a hit in on her. Whenever she's forced to engage in close-range combat, she fares much worse.

* Kid Flash in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' [[LightningBruiser is actually an]] {{aver|tedTrope}}sion. He ''is'' super-fast, but while he's not as tough as Aqualad or Superboy, he ''is'' tougher than Robin or Artemis. The truly ''fragile'' speedster of the show is his cousin. Impulse being faster than Kid Flash means that he's also more fragile; while Kid Flash can't tank hits, he often uses himself as a cannonball or a battering ram, with his speed giving him leverage, force, and impact. Impulse doesn't, as evidenced by the fact that his costume doesn't have as much padding, so he tends to use 'hit, then run' tactics. Kid Flash is also physically stronger, he's shown carrying Artemis, Robin, and Miss Martian at different times, without visibly tiring and with no detriment to his speed. When Blue Beetle asks if Impulse can carry someone, Impulse answers "I'm fast, not strong."

* ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'': Aly herself is a highly acrobatic KnifeNut like her dad (who is more of a LightningBruiser), but she's not as hardy as her mother the knight and doesn't take being hit hard well.

* In the opening scene of ''Film/DeathRace'' (2008 remake) Frank drops his "tombstone" leaving his gas tank exposed to Joe's rack of missiles. However, Frank does have speed as an advantage and tries to finish the race. Joe blows him up on the last lap. He does however, manage to achieve a PyrrhicVictory as his burning wreckage slides over the finish line in 1st place.
* Godzilla in ''Film/Godzilla1998''; unlike other incarnations in which the main difficulty for the humans is finding anything that even puts a dent in him, this time the difficulty is keeping him in one place long enough to get a decent shot at him (not helped by an extreme case of ATeamFiring), and even basic military ordinance causes him to bleed. [[spoiler: At the end, they tangle him up in the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, and unable to escape this time, Godzilla goes down very easily.]]
* In ''Film/Godzilla2014'', the male MUTO, thanks to flight and its relatively small size, is able to employ hit-and-run tactics against Godzilla but goes down instantly when Godzilla manages to get a direct hit in. The female, which is flightless, is a MightyGlacier. This actually complements their separate fighting styles, allowing the two to work together well enough to gain the advantage against Godzilla: While the male is distracting Godzilla, it allows the much bigger and stronger female to attack Godzilla from behind. When Godzilla reacts to this and begins to overpower the female, the male flies around and attacks Godzilla again from behind, distracting him and repeating the cycle.
* Mothra in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters''. While she's still an Alpha Titan and powerful {{Kaiju}}, compared to [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruisers]] Godzilla, Rodan and Ghidorah, Mothra definitely leans towards the fragile flying-type similar to the aforementioned Male MUTO. She makes her BigDamnHeroes moment in the FinalBattle [[SpeedBlitz blitzing]] even Rodan who can outpace fighter jets, but she gets greatly injured during her bout with the pterosaur [[spoiler: and [[MadeOfIron unlike]] her partner Goji is killed when hit with Ghidorah's [[BreathWeapon Gravity Beams]].]]
* In ''Film/GodzillaVsMegaguirus'', Megaguirus is among the fastest kaiju, using her speed to outmaneuver Godzilla at every turn, but is frail and easily destroyed once Godzilla adapts to her style.
* Prince Nuada from ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy''. While much faster and more agile than the titular character, he suffers from a condition akin to hemophilia that leads to him having to dodge rather than tank Hellboy's attacks.
* [[MeaningfulName Dash]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is capable of outrunning damn near anything that tries an attempt on his life, but often gets knocked around like a ragdoll if he is involved in physical combat. The latter part is justified in that he's only 10 years old.
* Hit-Girl from ''Film/KickAss'' is a superheroine who can defeat criminals only because she is very fast, agile and [[WeakButSkilled skilled]]. When facing [[BigBad Frank d'Amico]], however, she's immediately outclassed because he too is a skilled martial artist while also being an adult while she's a child.
* The ''[[UsefulNotes/StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Gallimimus]]'' from ''Film/JurassicPark''; they are among the fastest dinosaurs in the park, but lack any other defenses against predators and as such are easily killed by the ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' (who is a LightningBruiser). Similarly the ''[[RaptorAttack Velociraptors]]'' are speedy killers towards similarly sized prey, but anything bigger than them are perfectly capable of taking them down (the aforementioned ''T. rex'' and [[spoiler:the ''Indominus rex'']] from [[Film/JurassicWorld the fourth film]]).
* The title character from Creator/StanLee's ''Lightspeed''. Unlike most, this speedster shows ''actual'' negative effects from his power, ranging from windburn to problems with his metabolism and heart.

** When Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) appears in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', he's the only character with superspeed, but even [[BadassNormal no-powers Clint Barton]] can knock him out in one punch. [[spoiler: He's also the last one to die in the battle.]]
** Pietro's nephew Tommy from ''Series/WandaVision'' shares his uncle's speed but is even more fragile, even his brother Billy can subdue him by holding out his hand at the right moment and telekinetically stopping him in his tracks.
** Sam Wilson / The Falcon is a BadassNormal type fragile speedster. In the air he's fast enough to serve as a blink tank against [[spoiler:the full firepower of a Helicarrier, at one point being the ''only'' person drawing their fire while Cap and his other allies are occupied elsewhere]], but tends to suffer when forced into close-quarters combat without his wings. Sam does manage to overcome this in ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' thanks to a new armoured suit from Wakanda [[spoiler: and implementing Cap's Vibranium shield into his fighting style]].
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Spider-Man, he's still a LightningBruiser compared to most of the cast but when up againist [[EvilIsBigger bigger]] and stronger foes, he falls into this. As seen when he fought [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Giant-Man]], [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Cull Obsidian and Thanos]], Spidey can swing and jump circles around them and dodge their blows due to his small teenage frame. But when he does get caught by them, he tends to get very slammed down hard and needs time to recover, although keep in mind, most other Avengers would be greatly injured -- if not killed were they in Peter's place.
** Rocket Raccoon from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. Like a RealLife raccoon he can jump four feet and is extremely agile, but nevertheless he's still a small animal at the end of the day and can be easily picked up or overpowered by the average human-sized enemy.

* As in the comic, Kevin of ''Film/SinCity'' is fast and hits hard, but can't take a single punch from Marv before going down.
* {{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed in ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020''. While renowned for his supersonic speed, Sonic's small height and lithe figure keep him from hurting a huge, burly biker at a bar even with a bottle. There's also the fact that being in close-proximity to some explosions knocks him out cold, even to the point of nearly dying. However, [[spoiler:this was due to Sonic not understanding his powers or how they work, but he eventually unleashes his full strength once he gains the will to actively fight Robotnik in the climax, hitting his ship with enough strength- while powered by conducted electricity-to send him flying through a portal and send him packing into the Mushroom Planet]].
* The [[MookMobile TIE fighters]] in ''Franchise/StarWars'' have no shields, instead focusing on being fast, maneuverable, and [[ZergRush cheap to mass-produce]]. Their high casualty rate is [[WeHaveReserves considered acceptable]] by the Empire. The TIE Interceptor is a newer model built according to the same philosophy, which is to say it's [[UpToEleven even faster]]. The Rebel equivalent is the A-Wing, which ''does'' have shields, they're just not as strong as those of the [[JackOfAllStats X-Wing]].

* Doc Holliday in ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'' is dying of consumption and can often barely stand due to illness, but he's still damn fast on the draw.
* For the Autobots, there's the Arcee Sisters in ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries''. Particular emphasis when [[spoiler:in the final battle of ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'', one of them is easily shattered after one hit]]. The same goes for Jazz from [[Film/{{Transformers}} the first movie in the series]]. He's even smaller than Bumblebee, fast, and agile to the point of being able to pull a ColossusClimb on Brawl, but is launched and downed by a single shot [[spoiler: then easily [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath torn]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in half]] by Megatron]]. For the Decepticons themselves, there are also two notable examples: Frenzy and [[TheyLookLikeUsNow Alice]]. Both are comparatively very small for their kind and can as a result move very, very quickly. However, this comes with the downside that when they're actually directly hit, they go down for the fight almost as fast.
* The main character of ''Film/WhipIt'' is the roller-derby version of a Fragile Speedster. Very fast and good at scoring points, but very tiny and easily knocked down if her opponent can catch her.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': Swoop is the smallest and fastest of the Dinobots and the only one capable of flight in every version. While the rest of them are heavily armored and mostly invulnerable in their dinosaur modes, Swoop is still very vulnerable to enemy fire when transformed in his Pteranodon form.

** Oni Lee is no more durable than a regular human, but his power -- a combination of TeleportSpam and SelfDuplication -- makes him nearly impossible to hit, especially since his clones are short-lived and feel no pain, making them eminently {{expendable|Clone}}.

* ''Literature/TheSpectrumGame'': Inigo is a hybrid between this trope and StoneWall. His Defense and Resistance are incredibly high, and his Speed is the highest of his allies. To compensate, however, his Strength is poor and his Intelligence is merely okay, hampering his offensive potential.

** Justified with Arya Stark, as she's a young girl. Arya's very light on her feet and quick with her sword, but a blow from someone bigger will often leave her incapacitated. The Hound has stunned her with one punch more than once, and this was how Polliver managed to get Needle off her. However later on Arya has averted this as [[https://youtu.be/4US9QGU2yQI?t=133 she got back up from a kick from Brinne]] (who beat The Hound) quickly winning the latter's respect.

* [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on who writes him]] the flagship Marvel character Franchise/SpiderMan is [[MadeOfIron much sturdier than the average non-powered civilian]], but compared to upper echelons and some his heroes pals (e.g. Hulk and Thor) he's a lightweight. His fighting style is all about using his speed and reflexes (and his SpiderSense giving him a few crucial seconds' warning of incoming attacks) to dodge around using HitAndRunTactics not to mention [[DeadpanSnarker constantly running his mouth]] to [[IShallTauntYou annoy opponents and break their concentration]]. However, subverted as Spidey has taken powerful blows from TheJuggernaut and survived a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Phoenix-Enhanced]] ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, and Spider-Man is ''much'' stronger than the likes of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/LukeCage and ComicBook/BlackPanther; so overall Spidey walks the line between this trope and LightningBruiser.

** Eldar are fast and fragile, but more specialized than weak, their unit are extremely effective in the right place. This trope applies more to their basic troops and vehicles; while HQ and Elite units, especially [[MightyGlacier Wraithguard and the Wraithlord]], are considerably more resilient.

** ComicBook/{{Gambit}} while certainly above BadassNormal doesn't display any extreme SuperStrength or durability, so his melee fighting prowess comes from his agility. This what helped Gambit survive a one on one fight with [[FlyingBrick Gladiator]], who acknowledged his mobility before grabbing Gambit's foot and overpowering him, however Gambit still turned the tables by using kinetic energy to blast Gladiator with a full deck of cards.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans.'':

* Kid Flash in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' is actually an [[LightningBruiser aversion.]] He ''is'' super fast, but while he's not as tough as Aqualad or Superboy, he ''is'' tougher than Robin or Artemis. The truly ''fragile'' speedster of the show is his cousin. Impulse being faster than Kid Flash means that he's also more fragile; while Kid Flash can't tank hits, he often uses himself as a cannonball or a battering ram, with his speed giving him leverage, force, and impact. Impulse doesn't, as evidenced by the fact that his costume doesn't have as much padding, so he tends to use 'hit, then run' tactics. Kid Flash is also physically stronger, he's shown carrying Artemis, Robin, and Miss Martian at different times, without visibly tiring and with no detriment to his speed. When Blue Beetle asks if Impulse can carry someone, Impulse answers "I'm fast, not strong."

* Kanga in ''TabletopGame/TheOthers'' can move 5 spaces per turn, greatly outspeeding her teammates. Unfortunately, she is practically the only character with no defense, and dies easily against bosses.

* Dot Dash from ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' can punch her opponent [[https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/detail?titleNo=141697&articleNo=38 multiple times]] before he even knows she's there. However, she can be knocked down if caught [[https://www.smackjeeves.com/discover/detail?titleNo=141697&articleNo=40 off-balance]].
* Robin, from ''Webcomic/ItsWalky'' and ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'', could probably create a sonic boom if she felt like it. She's only physically fragile compared to super-strong people like Sal or Beef, though, but her main vulnerability is her emotional and mental stability. Hence, still fragile, just in a different way.
* In ''Webcomic/JungleJuice'', Suchan's top speed makes him nigh-untouchable once he's moving and in-flight, but he can't do a thing if his wings are bound and he's not nearly as tough as he is fast. In fact, he injures his hands multiple times while punching much tougher insect humans.
* ''Webcomic/{{Scurry}}'': Protagonist Wix is said to be the fastest of the mouse scouts. How fragile he is compared to the other mice is yet to be seen. But considering he's generally pitted against cats, he's VERY fragile.
* In ''Webcomic/WeakHero'', Alex's main strength in battle is his speed. He can overwhelm his opponents with RapidFireFisticuffs, hitting too swiftly for them to counterattack. However, he's nowhere near as powerful or durable as his friend [[MightyGlacier Ben]], and is liable to get ganged up on since he has a bad tendency to rush into every battle.

** Nafir also counts, being Azrael's MovesetClone, also counts, since his stats are identical to Azrael's with the defenses swapped around, while also sharing Azrael's FlashStep abilities. So, a magic-user is Nafir's bane as a result.

* {{A|ctionGirl}}mara in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', whose [[BlowYouAway primary abilities]] give her BulletTime SuperSpeed, but who doesn't have much in the way of earth -- or metalcrafting to let her ignore damage she takes. In fact, the lack of RequiredSecondaryPowers limits just how fast windcrafters can move without injury. Tavi nearly liquefied his arm at one point.
* Annabeth Chase and Piper Mc Lean from ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' are not as strong and resilient as the other [[DivineParentage demigods]] they fight with, which is why they rely more on agility and speed in combat. However, they are not as strong and tough as other demigods, they are still physically superior to [[{{Muggles}} ordinary humans]].

* ''Literature/TrickstersDuet'': Aly herself is a highly acrobatic KnifeNut like her dad (who is more of a LightningBruiser), but she's not as hardy as her mother the knight and doesn't take being hit hard as well.

* Robin, from ''Webcomic/ItsWalky'' and ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'', could probably create a sonic boom if she felt like it. She's only physically fragile compared to super-strong people like Sal or Beef, though, but her main vulnerability is her emotional and mental stability... Hence, still fragile, just in a different way.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' has the elven assassin Rayla. She mainly uses speed, agility and nimbleness in combat. And though she is not a weakling, she does not endure much harm. In the battles, her opponents were able to knock her over pretty easily and knock her to the ground (of course she jumped up quickly).

* ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'': In comparison to more well-trained programs like Tesler and Paige, Beck is, faster and more agile than both, but far less resilient and with less punching power. In comparison to the [[{{Mooks}} normal Programs]], he's a LightningBruiser. Acknowledged by Pavel in "Price of Power". He boasts that he was always stronger and smarter than the Renegade, but with the UpgradeArtifact he is faster, too.

* Parodied in ''WebVideo/FilthyFrank'' when the titular Frank summons the lightning-fast [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Speed Lord]] in a fight against [[EvilCounterpart Evil Dade]], who [[SuperSpeed moves at incredible speeds]]... and [[OneHitKill dies in one hit]]. [[InformedAttribute Apparently]] he had a [[GlassCannon strength stat of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
%%* ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'''s Chrome Falcon's potential lies entirely in a single ability, whereas otherwise his Duel Avatar is very weak. In this case, said ability is a pseudo-teleport/FlashStep ability.
* ''Manga/AngelicLayer'': Hikaru, Athena, and most of the Angels. It's never explained ''why'' so many people choose to construct Angels this way, but possibly it's to emulate TheChampion Athena. Also possible is the fact that every heavyweight angel except for Shirahime looks absolutely hideous and unnatural. Case in point: Vasquez.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
** The Anti-Titan troops use an advanced system of ropes and grapples to gracefully BuildingSwing around, and being teenagers, they're quite light on their feet as well. However, they're teenagers going up against [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]], so if a Titan manages to get a solid hit on one, or God forbid actually get a hold of one... [[LudicrousGibs Goodnight]] [[EatenAlive Vienna]].
** By Titan standards, [[spoiler: Ymir's Titan form]] is smaller, faster and more acrobatic than normal Titans, but when caught out goes down quickly.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
** Casca, while not the ''physically'' strongest of the Band of the Hawk, is still capable of taking out mooks twice her size thanks to her agility. She can easily be deemed the acrobat of the Hawks, since [[SheFu she does some crazy flips]] and always lands on her feet [[spoiler:[[GoMadFromTheRevelation even after she goes crazy from the Eclipse]]]], but when she does get hit, she goes down. Casca is the opposite of her LightningBruiser lover Guts and MightyGlacier comrade Pippin.
** After acquiring the wind cloak and sword from Flora, Serpico can run, jump, and even fly, but he has very little defense against physical attacks -- when a troll hits him in the side with a spiked mace, he's down for at least two days.
** Isidro, being a child, is a fragile speedster by default. He wants to be as strong and tough as Guts, but Guts advises him to use his speed and small size to his advantage instead, advice which Isidro grudgingly takes. While still not the most competent fighter ever, Isidro is still alive after numerous battles with demonic monsters, which [[CrapsackWorld in this series]] is a feat in and of itself. [[spoiler: When Casca gets her sanity back she actually [[MentorArchetype trains]] Isidro herself, who's delighted to find someone whose fighting style is akin to his own.]]
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Kamanosuke is one of the fastest Braves, but he's not tough.
* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': When using his Motor Gears in their Sky Walker Mode, Gouta can greatly increase his speed and agility. Unlike many of his fellow Alchemist Warriors, however, Gouta’s stamina and physical abilities are no greater than a regular human teenager, so he is far more vulnerable than his comrades.
* Lessar from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' is fast but hasn't really shown herself to be too durable. Her job during normal missions is basically to run around as a scout and gain accurate information.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': Poor, poor Burger-Kun from the second season. Super speed with none of the RequiredSecondaryPowers. [[spoiler: His opponent makes it rain, which at his speed, immediately turns into buckshot. Makes you wonder what his plan was since he didn't carry a weapon of any sort and using his fists would destroy his own arm.]]
* Franchise/{{Digimon}} often has this dynamic: In ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', Zoe's evolutions cannot take a hit. They are also the fastest, at least until Takuya and Koji reach other evolutionary levels. They also have martial arts skills to make up for their low physical stats, meaning they double as WeakButSkilled.
* Cabba in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is very fast and can pack a punch that can knock Vegeta back, but tires easily and seems to have a hard time against Vegeta's more brutish fighting style. One gut-punch from a Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta knocks him out entirely.
* ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' -- The ''Alleluia'' IFO from the [[Anime/EurekaSevenAO sequel]] is very quick and agile, but its armor and armament aren't worth a damn, as it was designed primarily as a EAW/EW platform. It plays the role of spotter for ''[[MightyGlacier Kyrie]]''.
* ''Manga/Eyeshield21'':
** Sena was very fast before the series began to avoid getting beat up by bigger kids. Hiruma recruits him to become the runningback for the football team, promising that if he was fast enough, he wouldn't get tackled. Later in the series, [[AvertedTrope Sena toughens up defensively, enough to shake off linebackers trying to tackle him.]]
** Panther is not as fragile as Sena, but he can be taken down relatively easily... provided you can even come close to touching him.
** Of Teikoku Taka and Karin. Taka could freaking fly and, presumably, finish the 40-yard dash in less than 5 seconds, but when compared to Yamato, he seemed to be (relatively) frail. Karin is a fragile girl with good quaterback ability, but she couldn't take a hit.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has Wrath, who is ''horrifically'' fast and agile, more than any character in the series aside from [[spoiler:[[LightningBruiser Sloth the Indolent]]]], [[DodgeTheBullet dodging bullets]] left and right and casually slipping past every defense to slice his enemies to pieces. Unlike the other [[ArtificialHuman Homonculi]] he lacks any special defensive power [[spoiler:even a HealingFactor]], but he doesn't need one.
%%* Sagara Sousuke's fighting style from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' is effective by [[CombatPragmatist fighting dirty against his opponents.]] In the first season's finale, he manages to [[spoiler: win the fight between him and Gauron by attacking Gauron so rapidly and repeatedly that Gauron is unable to concentrate on using the lambda driver (at least, for an extended period)]]. And in the physical fistfight with a muscled terrorist, he managed to beat the guy by speedily kneeing him and tasering him.
* The High Elf Archer in ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' uses speed and agility to keep her from dangers, while she decimates her opponents with [[ArcherArchetype a bow and arrow]]. But even a single goblin can knock her to the ground.
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
** The Kampfer, a Zeon commando-strike mobile suit from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket''. Lightning fast and well armed, the Kampfer is demonstrably able to outrun mobile suits and destroy a team of six Federation EliteMooks. It even manages to demolish the Alex's resilient Chobham Armor. Unfortunately, it buys this speed and firepower at a high price -- no armor of its own to speak of. It is torn to pieces by a single burst from the Alex's 90mm Gatling cannon.
** The Correl, a mobile suit from ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'', is a HumongousMecha example of the trope. It's so delicate that it can't use any weapons other than a beam knife, but it's so fast that it can inflict DeathOfAThousandCuts on most enemy mobile suits it fights, and it nearly totals Garrod's Gundam. The downside is that it doesn't have any armor either, and Garrod destroys it by using a Gundam's weakest weapon: ''vulcans''.
** From ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', Union and AEU mobile suits are known to be fast and fragile. Graham Aker souped up his Overflag and GN Flag. By stripping the armor from the suit and installing progressively larger engines, Graham was able to increase his Flag's performance to the point where it was a match for the Gundams in terms of speed and maneuverability, if not armor (not that armor really mattered, as even heavily-armored suits get shredded by Gundams). The GN Flag was the logical conclusion of this process having ''no'' armor, one beam sword as a weapon, and a freaking ''Gundam'' engine rammed into the back. Yes, Graham stuck a Gundam engine into a {{Mook|s}} suit. Needless to say the result practically has SuperSpeed, at the cost of absolutely no defense.
** This really applies to many of the Mook MS, particularly in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIGLOO MS IGLOO]]''. Despite being 60-ton armored giants, Zaku are actually pretty vulnerable to attack by missile-equipped infantry and tanks due to poor situational awareness (like what tank crews have to deal with in real life, also being an 18 meter tall robot just makes you easier to hit). Due to this, the survival of most Mobile Suits seems to hinge around [[DodgeTheBullet dodging cannon fire and missiles]] despite them being gigantic robots that dwarf all the weapon systems shooting at them.
** ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamThunderbolt'': The MS-06R Psycho Zaku from the first arc is an exceptionally fast and well armed machine with a ton of verniers to easily dodge attacks and the space debris that litters the sector it operates in. While it does have more armor than the average Zaku, the Federation's heavy ordinance and beam weaponry make [[ArmorIsUseless that a moot point]]. This contrasts it with the LightningBruiser FA-78 Full Armor Gundam; the Psycho Zaku evades attacks while the Gundam's heavier armor and extra shields allows him to tank more punishment than the Zaku. This comes to a head in the end where both heavily damaged suits launch one last mutual attck; the Gundam loses its head and arm but remains intact while the Zaku loses its head, all of its limbs, and explodes soon after.
** The Earth Forces' Windams in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' combine this with DeathFromAbove. They're fragile and blow up with alarming frequency, but are armed with beam rifles (thus all but guaranteeing one-hit KO's), and can fly, giving them a massive advantage over ZAFT's slower, earthbound ZAKU's.
** Astray from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'' and their successor [[TransformingMecha Murasame]] from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' is even more fragile speedster than their Alliance counterpart, Daggers and Windams. Notably, Murasame is even more of a GlassCannon than any other grunt mech in this verse and could go toe to toe with Gundams since they pack immense firepower for MechaMooks. There's a reason their armor is called Foaming Metal though...
** The Eternal is a ship variant. It's the fastest spaceship in the series and can outrun every other type of ship. However it can't even take on a single Zaft mook ship by itself and win, as opposed to Archangel and its many weapons. Instead it's reliant on its mobile suits to protect it, and it's specifically designed to support and deploy the Freedom and the Justice, two of the most powerful mobile suits in the series.
** Most of the Mobile Suits from ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' trade on not getting hit instead of tanking shots, due to the growing prevalence of beam weapons in the storyline. The epitome of this is probably the Hyaku Shiki, Quattro's distinctive gold mobile suit. Incredibly high speed, good firepower, but very easily damaged due to the fact that it weapons layout omits a shield. While the gold skin is actually a coating meant to protect against beam weapons, in practice it proved ineffective and thus the Hyaku Shiki is only barely more resistant to them than any other machine while also lacking a shield to block projectile and explosive weapons.
** Chronologically later Universal Century stories like ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'' continue this trend, making nearly all mobile suits physically smaller and lighter with even less armor than before. This allows them to be faster and more agile, but also means that even human-sized bazookas could cause actual damage if they score a hit. Yet also [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] in that the introduction of beam shields mean that mobile suits finally have a capacity to block beam cannon shots (previously only mobile armors enormous enough to have room for an I-Field generator could do this), so long as they can position their shield properly.
** The EMS-10 Zudah of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIgloo'' is another example of a Zeon design [[CripplingOverspecialization focusing too much on one trait]]. Originally a production competitor to the Zaku I, the Zudah features reasonable firepower but far less armor -- it is noticeably less hefty than the standard Zaku I and has less armor coverage overall as well. It was also ''exceptionally'' fast as a result, but had the unnerving tendency to [[ExplosiveOverclocking disintegrate completely if their engines were pushed to the limit such that the sheer thrust tore apart the frame]]. As such they were much, much faster than even the Zaku II, but so fragile that ''their own engines'' could kill them. Of the four Zudahs seen, two overtaxed their engines and exploded, taking their skilled pilots with them. A 50% loss rate with no enemy hits scored consigned the Zudah to the FlawedPrototype junkheap of history.
* ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'':
** Itagaki Manabu's skills are graphed in the manga, where only his speed is truly outstanding.
%%** Ichiro Miyata used to be this before gaining his [[SignatureMove Jolt Counter]].
** Saeki Takuma relies on his extremely high speed and reflexes to win fights; a few punches from Ippo were enough to take him down. He, Manabu, and Karasawa Takuzou were even considered the fastest boxers in Japan (Miyata wasn't in the running because he was focused on being the fastest ''[[ToBeAMaster IN THE WORLD]]''), aptly named "Speed Kings" and fought for who was truly worthy of the title. [[spoiler: Itagaki won in the end.]]
* ''Manga/InuYasha'':
%%** Jakotsu is stronger than a human being, he relies much more on speed and agility in combat. A real fight also shows that he would not be equal to a [[HalfHumanHybrid hanyou]] or a {{youkai}} in combat.
** The horse youkai Entei is very fast, one of the fastest youkai in the anime. In a real fight, however, he is quickly defeated by Inuyasha.
** This is the typical fighting style of wolf youkai. They are very fast, but not very strong and resilient compared to other youkai, although there are exceptions like Koga.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** Fate's Sonic Form allows her to move at SuperSpeed at all times, but at the cost of defense. Her opponents always note that, in that form, one hit is all it'll take to kill her. What they usually fail to note is that to land a single hit on Fate, you have to move ''faster'' than her -- [[FastestThingAlive and no living canon character so far has even come close to that]]. [[spoiler:Except Erio, once, while she was distracted and, as shown in [[Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce Force]], Fate seems to have gotten even faster since then.]]
%%** Erio from ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS StrikerS]]'', although not to the same extent as Fate. Like Signum, he is a Belkan knight that have inherently stronger defense than their mage counterpart.
** Chantez from ''[[Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaViVid ViVid]]'' has SuperSpeed as her personal skill. However, her defense are very weak compared to her speed.
** Micaiah from ''[=ViVid=]'' has a Barrier Jacket (or Knight Clothing) called Storm Armor, which is designed to give her immense speed but low defense. Due to her extremely strong sword attacks, Micaiah is specialized as a fast sweeper, but her low defense became a lethal disadvantage against LightningBruiser Miura, who has melee versions of Nanoha's [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill Starlight Breaker]].
** The Numbers Tre, Nove and Deed are very fast and strong. Tre has [[SuperSpeed Ride Impulse]] as her Inherent Skill and can compete with Fate's speed, Nove is faster than LightningBruiser Subaru, and Deed is shown using {{Flash Step}}s. However, like most Numbers, they have weak defenses.
** Vivio lost most of her power in the GrandFinale of ''[=StrikerS=]''. She has ''much'' weaker defense, but she's still very fast and her Counter Hitter skill allows her to strike immediately back, even if she can't dodge an attack. Thanks to her training, she has improved her defense skills, but if she miscalculates the opponent's attacks or misses the timing, Vivio will get a lot of damage.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Haku has shown to be fast for age, as he was able to quickly close the gap between Zōri and Waraji and take their swords from them before either of them realised what had happened. This is [[UpToEleven taken up a notch]] with his [[AnIcePerson Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals technique]]. But during his fight against Naruto and Sasuke, he couldn't take one punch from either one of them.
** Rock Lee and Might Gai can be considered a variation of this overlapping with GlassCannon, thanks to utilizing the power of the Eight Gates they're both very, very [[SuperSpeed fast]] as well having the strength and power to back it up; being strongest Taijutsu practitioners in the world. ''But'' due to nature of the Gates, their bodies actually become much weaker, Lee and Gai have have their muscles fibers ripped to shreds when opening the Gates, and if anything or anyone touches them it will cause ''immense'' pain. So The Eight Gates can ensure that opponent won't get the chance to land a hit on you and give you a major damage output, but if opponents do succeed in catching and injuring you the effects will be [[DeadlyUpgrade severe and even lethal]].
* Using Magia Erebea in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' allows one to gain various buffs by absorbing various spell types. Fire, for example, increases offensive power an incredible amount and defense a reasonable amount but leaves the user [[MightyGlacier a bit too slow]] to be an effective threat. Lightning, however, gives great speed but only so-so offense and truly pitiful defense. The most potent form seen allows [[spoiler:Negi to pinball Rakan around the stadium,]] but does no meaningful damage. The lack of defense can be partially compensated for with [[spoiler:the intangibility granted by an upgraded form of the ability]] but one good counter is devastating.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Kuro can move too fast to see; so fast, that apparently even ''he'' can't see who he's attacking. Once Luffy manages to catch him, however, the fight is over rather quickly.
** Nero the failed member of [[SecretPolice CP9]] is a Fragile Speedster; he trained in [[SupernaturalMartialArts Rokushiki]] but only in [[FlashStep Soru]], [[DoubleJump Geppo]], and [[SuperReflexes Kami-e]] (the speed styles) while he lacked training in [[SuperToughness Tekkai]] and [[FingerPokeofDoom Shigan]] which made him unable to block powerful strikes and pierce opponents. So an advantage in speed and disadvantage in defensive and offensive meant when [[{{Cyborg}} Franky]] actually got a hold of him, the fight ended quickly.
** Brook the Undead Swordsman Musician of the Straw Hats is classified as a "Speed-Type" Swordsman in contrast to Zoro who is a "Power-Type" and Oda [[WordOfGOd confirms]] that Brook is indeed the fastest crewmate thanks to his ''very'' [[DemBones light frame]]. However Brook's skeletal physiology is against him as any strong blow can literally knock his head off, Brook has attempted to subvert this being able to get up several times after receiving powerful attacks from [[EvilMatriarch Big Mom]] who’s a Yonko (an emperor of the sea). But regardless Brook just lacks the physical strength and power to deal with strong enemies for long without breaking apart.
** Sugar of the Donquixote Pirates is very quick, able to use her powers against the several attacking Tontatta dwarves (who are too fast to be seen by regular humans). But when [[spoiler:she was defeated ''twice'' by Usopp]], only one hit was needed.
** Carrot the Rabbit Mink who unofficially joined the crew in Zou ''is very fast'' in her [[EstablishingCharacterMoment first scene]] she effortlessly dodged Zoro's slash and she can also [[InASingleBound jump extremely high]]. In Whole Cake Island Carrot her [[{{Lunacy}} Sulong]] form makes her even faster to point where she can SpeedBlitz an army and do some DeadlyDodging to Charlotte Daifuku's [[GuardianEntity Genie]]. However physically Carrot is a lightweight Charlotte Katakuri overpowered her by just stepping on her, and when Carrot was exhausted by using Sulong she was nearly sliced by the Genie before Sanji saved her.
* In ''Anime/{{Pikaia}}'', Vince uses a BMS with the emphasis on speed, which still puts him in danger if he's to be caught by any of the dangerous creatures chasing him. The "fragile" part is dealt with when Parker combines it with abalone biomimetics.
* In ''Manga/PopcornAvatar'', Lisa observes that Kurando has "no toughness" when using the Deva's wind powers.
* ''Anime/PsychoPass'': [[BigBad Shogo Makashima]]. Makishima is fast and strong enough to fight and defeat an admittedly-wounded [[MightyGlacier Shinya]], in addition to previously quickly and easily taking down three armed thugs, but [[JackofAllStats Akane]] knocks him out with a single surprise helmet-strike to the back of the head.
* ''Anime/RanpoKitanGameOfLaplace'': Akechi uses speed to startle his enemies before he attacks with his karate skills but breaks bones after hitting tougher and older opponents.
* Following tradition from the games Ibuki in the [[ComicBook/StreetFighter comics]] is this, having quickness and speed that even Ryu had troubles hitting her and is how she was able to stay in battle with the much more powerful Oro but she is defeated by Elena after she lands on her rump hard, then gets defeated in 1 hit by Ryu in another comic, and then gets defeated in one shot by Gill in ''Unlimited''.
* In ''Anime/SK8TheInfinity'', everything about Cherry's S persona seems to be a play toward this, including his ninja get-up. He nearly reaches TheDreaded Adam's level of speed, and shifts his style to be more rough against his opponent...but, when he least expects it, [[spoiler:his holding onto emotional connections with the antagonist of the series shatters him, specifically with a blow to the head]].
* In ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'', this is the defining characteristic of Ukaku Ghouls. Their wing-like kagune gives them incredible speed and mobility, as well as a long-ranged projectile attack. However, they are noted for their poor stamina and cannot typically handle a drawn-out battle or physical punishment.
* The Horse Girls of ''Anime/UmaMusume''. Based on real-world horse racing, it carries the same risks of major injuries while running at extremely high speeds. It's mentioned that a Horse Girl running at 40+ mph could be killed by a fall, and other forms of breakdown are a serious risk. [[spoiler: Silence Suzuka ends up breaking her leg mid-race from the strain of running at top speed.]]
* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'':
** Thorfinn son of Thors is a {{Child Soldier|s}} who specializes in dagger fighting and assassination. As a result of his small size and training he's extremely fast and agile and tends to kill most opponents by getting inside their reach as they attack him, but his light weight also means that any hits he takes, he takes ''hard''.
** Garm is even faster and more skilled than Thorfinn. In a series where even the MightyGlacier types like Thorkell can move faster than the eye can track, Garm might very well be the fastest and most agile warrior in the Viking world. Combining his speed, dexterity, and superb acrobatic ability with a custom-made spear that can split into DualWielding blades, Garm has been set up to be the most dangerous opponent Thorfinn has ever faced. [[spoiler: Thorfinn is able to take him down though; since Garm has a slim build and doesn't wear any armor, all Thorfinn needed was a well-placed headbutt to knock him out.]]
* Jakotsumaru from ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon'' was a very fast and agile fighter who could easily flee from Setsuna and Towa, and Moroha easily dodged in combat. But at the same time he was weak and fragile for a demon (but still stronger and more durable than a human), so that Moroha could easily defeat him in battle.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Hiei is capable of [[SpamAttack delivering 20 sword strikes in the blink of an eye]]. This is in a world of demons and martial artists where most are at or barely above realistic speeds. The only problems are that he can't take a hit and that in a few rare cases, his sword simply won't cut them. Almost every fight he's involved in is a CurbStompBattle, the only question is which side of the curb stomping he's on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Fisher,_1st_Baron_Fisher Admiral Sir John Fisher]] is famous for saying "speed is armor," and was a proponent of battlecruisers, which were warships as heavily armed as a battleship, but with armor no more than that of a cruiser. The resultant trade-off in armor made them faster than the battleships of their day, but in turn made them vulnerable to just about anything better-armed than a cruiser.
** The most fragile of all were the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courageous-class_battlecruiser Courageous-class battlecruisers]], also known rather aptly as "large light cruisers". Even faster than most battlecruisers with a top speed of 32 knots, their armor was almost nonexistent (while most battlecruisers had protection on par with an armored cruiser, the Courageous-class were [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin armored like the smaller light cruisers]]. Having proved to be quite useless in World War I, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courageous-class_aircraft_carrier all three were converted into aircraft carriers]].
** The final nail in the coffin of the battlecruiser was the newer battleship designs that had equivalent (or better) speed, thus rendering the entire concept pointless.
** Italian UsefulNotes/WorldWarII warships were designed in a similar way, sacrificing armor for increased speed. As they had seen what had happened to the British battlecruisers, they were designed for a completely different use: cruisers would engage the immediately smaller class of enemy warship of the French fleet, matching their speed to chase them down while using their superior firepower to sink them, while destroyers would use their superior speed to either make hit-and-run attacks on convoys in spite of the escorts or try and torpedo enemy battleships while dodging their counterfire that would have quickly crippled or killed a conventionally armored destroyer anyway (battleships, on the other hand, were well armored, as their main job was still engaging enemy battleships). [[CripplingOverspecialization While theoretically good enough to deal with the French fleet, the more aggressive, versatile and carried-supported Royal Navy was something the Italian Navy could not face]].
* Destroyers, up until the end of WWII. Generally the fastest ships utilized in fleet roles, the massive engines needed to propel the ships to such speeds meant modest armament, short range, and absolutely no armor whatsoever. But while high-explosive shells of any caliber would rapidly shred them, destroyers were so fast and maneuvered so wildly that fire control systems of the era simply couldn't cope. The only solution was to [[MoreDakka blanket the general area in shells and hope something hit.]] And since destroyers carried torpedoes, they could hurt much larger ships -- assuming they survived long enough.
* Cruiser tanks. The "cruiser tank" was a British inter-war innovation: an armored fighting vehicle which would perform the same tasks on land as cruisers at sea, namely scouting, outflanking, harassing the enemy and destroying his logistics. The British went MinMaxing on tanks: they developed heavy, well-armored but slow infantry tanks and fast, light cruiser tanks. Cruiser tanks were light, fast and had excellent range, but they had paper-thin armor and puny QF 2 lb (40 mm) "peashooter" cannon, which on top of their small caliber lacked any high-explosive rounds at all. They were on their own element on open terrain, such as desert, where they could fully employ their mobility, but suffered horribly at close terrain. In 1943 latest the British noticed their doctrine was flawed, and both were eventually replaced by the [[LightningBruiser main battle tank]]. The last cruiser tank, Cromwell, is often considered as the prototype for main battle tank.
* Cheetahs. They're the frailest of the big cats and they have to eat quickly because of their inability to defend their kills from other carnivores, but they're the fastest land animal alive. In fact, they're so lightly built that they have difficulty pulling down a prey animal that's standing still, so they use their speed itself as a weapon: they intentionally startle antelopes into running at top speed, overtake them, and trip them.
* Thoroughbreds and Greyhounds. Both are the fastest examples of their species, reaching speeds averaging around 40 mph. Pretty outrageous for a horse or dog. However, that speed is usually accomplished in conjunction with skin like tissue paper and bones like a bird's. Just ask anyone who's owned either of these animals, and they will give you lists of examples of their porcelain-like fragility.
* Most birds tend work like this, discounting flightless species like ostriches and emus. Generally, birds can cover far more distance than any other animal in a given time frame, and many birds of prey are apex predators in their respective habitat. However, most birds have light skeletons with hollow bones to maximize stamina in the air, so they're at a disproportionately high risk for skeletal injury.
* Russian blues, and some other meek breeds of house cats who just want to get along with the world, are lightweight, relatively delicate and ill-suited for the harsh environment outside. As a result, any fight-happy street-smart tomcat would beat the stuffing out of a Russian blue with ease... if it could catch it. They're so fast that the main reason their owners are discouraged from letting them outside isn't that other cats will wallop them -- it's that if they feel threatened they'll bolt so quickly they might easily find themselves in unknown territory and might not know how to come back home.
* Skirmishers. Traditionally, these were specialist foot soldiers or horsemen tasked with conducting reconnaissance and disrupting the enemy without being drawn into combat with them, which necessitated a comparatively high degree of mobility and the ability to strike enemy with minimal risk of retaliation. As such, they tended to be lightly armored at best, and operated in smaller groups than most other formations. While such troops were able to move around more freely than otherwise and presented a smaller target to the enemy, it also meant that they tended to be outnumbered and would generally lose a straight fight.
* Many super fast cars. Fast yes, but be wary if you crash. Racing cars are ''extremely'' delicate and fragile.
** Even sturdy looking UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} stock cars' bodywork can be shredded by a blown out tire -- except when it comes to the driver's safety zone. If the car's suspension or engine bay takes a blow, then chances are that the car will be incapacitated and need to be towed off the track. A [[SubsystemDamage damaged oil cooler]] or other subsystem can leave a car undrivable from the risk of engine failure not long after.
** In UsefulNotes/FormulaOne cars the monocoque 'survival cell' is made of stabilized carbon and steel and is basically indestructible, even at ridiculous speeds. In UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} and other touring and rally cars the driver is encased in a solid roll cage. Unlike NASCAR where mild contact is expected, the peripheral parts, like suspension or wings, will break if they come into ''any'' kind of force acting ''in the wrong direction''. The front wings and suspension especially can withstand huge loads pressing down on them but are so delicate in a forward facing collision that almost every driver had at least once a race ruined because they touched something they shouldn't have touched, like the back of another car. This is partly for performance reasons as lighter cars will be faster, but also for safety as the peripheral parts will dissipate the forces of the impact away from the driver.
*** This applies to just about any open-wheel series, such as UsefulNotes/IndyCar and Japan's Super Formula series which both follow ''Formula 1'' in some aspects.
** By contrast ''any'' road-legal car (with the exception of some really high-end supercars) going faster than about 80 mph is subject to this trope; no crumple zone or airbag could possible dissipate that amount of energy, and weight considerations (which is why trucks are safer) aren't quite as relevant when you're hitting a solid object, which is usually what happens.
** The Classic Mini was designed as a very small car before anyone thought of crumple zones; the engineers thus stressed giving the car the best possible handling ability in order to give the driver the tools to avoid crashing under the widest possible range of circumstances.
** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterham_Cars#Superlight_R500 Caterham R500]], it has no doors, no roof, no air bags, practically nothing in the way of any sort of safety features. That said, it has a power to weight ratio of 500 BHP per ton, can out-accelerate a Ferrari Enzo, the fastest road legal Ferrari ever made, and on a track it can beat the Bugatti Veyron, the fastest production car ever made. Because it's essentially an engine strapped to the bare minimum of parts to classify a vehicle as a car it can accelerate like mad and since it's so light a driver can wait until the last conceivable moment to start braking before a turn. Not bad for a car that's barely been changed since 1957.
** Any racing car designed by [[UsefulNotes/FormulaOne Colin Chapman]]. Drivers who raced his Lotus-cars in their prime said that while they are incredibly fast and light, they are also mobile death traps. Many drivers, sadly, [[CriticalExistenceFailure fell victim to his creations]]. He is still regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, innovator in F1 design though.
** The 2010 Red Bull cars designed by Adrian Newey. They dominated the latter half of the season but suffered many mechanical failures. Averted in 2011 when the Red Bulls rarely suffered any mechanical failures and their [[TheAce #1 driver]] Sebastian Vettel dominated the championship.
** Creator/DouglasAdams likened driving a Porsche in London to "bringing a Ming vase to a football game."
* Boffer {{LARP}} players usually know at least one [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Skinny Fast Kid]]. They're usually male, between the age of 16 and 25, and a new enough player that they can't deal or take much damage. Even a low level NPC could take them out, if they could just catch them. If a Skinny Fast Kid decides to play a NPC, beware. There is a story about Russian [[Creator/JRRTolkien Tolkien]]-based yearly {{LARP}}, ''Hobbit Games''. One year they had a rule that players without armor have 1 HP, armor with [[RealLife RL]] protection gives +1 HP, historically accurate (therefore heavy) armor gives more HP bonus. At one point one camp needed to send a messenger to allied camp a few kilometers away through enemy territory. On a hot summer day. The messenger decided to run unarmed and wearing only swimming trunks. Nobody managed to catch him.
* The American-built F-104 Starfighter was a supersonic fighter aircraft that was, among other things, slightly faster than the F-16 Fighting Falcon, cheaper than the F-5E Tiger II, and better armed than the Soviet Su-15 Flagon. It was a Mach 2 capable interceptor, and was a pants-browning terror to fly. It got the apt nickname "The Missile with a Man in it": its high speed, low cost, and moderate firepower came at the expense of protection and the ability to actually ''control'' the damned thing in any role other than as an interceptor. It was notoriously easy to damage or crash a Starfighter, even when you weren't trying. Air forces who presses the F-104 into light bomber roles found this out the hard way. Heaven help you when the enemy wanted a turn to actually ''try''. This led to a record of safety issues (most notably, the forward edges of the wings were so thin and razor-sharp that they were actually ''hurting unwary ground crews'') and many less-than-flattering nicknames like "The Widow Maker," "Tent Peg" (''Erdnagel''), or most evocatively, "The Lawn Dart."
* The [=MiG=]-25 "Foxbat" is the fastest armed aircraft ''ever'', with a high flight ceiling and a fairly fast rate of climb as well; all of these characteristics are highly desirable for interceptor aircraft in order to quickly gain height and keep up with high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and bombers. However, it's practically useless in a dogfight against other fighters, as it has no internal gun and can't turn very quickly. Also qualifies as fragile outside of combat because its engines had to be frequently replaced. It was typically operated no faster than Mach 2.5 -- its airspeed indicator was redlined at Mach 2.85 -- but it was capable of flying at Mach 3.2. The particular aircraft that was observed at this speed ''destroyed its engines in flight.''
* The American SR-71 Blackbird is an even more extreme example. The fastest manned, air-breathing vehicle ever, but completely unarmed. It leaks fuel like a sieve when it's on the runway -- which fuel, by the way, was so exotic it was used as coolant -- but it ''has to'' as it heats up so much in flight due to the speed that it needs a loose fit to compensate for the expansion. It fits this trope even more once you consider its primary defense from enemy fire -- it outran it. With a cruising speed of a little over Mach 3 (about as fast as a bullet and faster than most missiles at the time of its design) and with a service ceiling of roughly 25 km (80,000 feet), it relied on no armor what so ever. Instead of maneuvering or launching a volley of countermeasures to avoid enemy fire, Blackbird pilots instead responded by simply accelerating to a point that no aircraft could catch them, no shell could strike them, and no missile could go fast enough to challenge them. Having an especially low (for the time) radar cross section was just overkill. Of course, being an unarmed strategic scout that was not weighed down by weapons helped -- it was built to do nothing but fly fast and take pictures[[note]]The SR-71 was originally designed to launch ''drones'', serving as a launch platform for early [=UAVs=], until it was realized that the SR-71 could go ''higher'' than the drones, fly ''faster'', and were much easier to recover.[[/note]], which meant it could specialize in its roles quite well. There could have been an interceptor based on the A-12 (a slightly earlier version of the SR-71). Three prototypes were built and 93 were ordered by the Air Force, unfortunately at the time the Vietnam War ate up so much money that the order was never fulfilled.
* The North American P-51 Mustang used by the American and British air forces in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was one of the fastest piston-engined fighters of the war and ''the'' longest-ranged with a single engine, but was very vulnerable to enemy fire. Most inline-engined aircraft were relatively frail compared to radial-engined planes (although the [[MightyGlacier Il-2 Sturmovik]] of [[VideoGame/IL2Sturmovik flight sim fame]] was a major exception, earning nicknames like "Concrete Plane" and "Flying Tank") due to their liquid cooling, but the Mustang's radiators and coolant lines were particularly vulnerable, making ''any'' hit forward of the cockpit a potential OneHitKill.
* The infamous Japanese [=A6M=] Zero; early models lacked armor or even [[ShootTheFuelTank self-sealing fuel tanks]] for the sake of keeping the plane as light as possible. Notably, its main strength was agility rather than top speed; it was actually quite slow by 1943 standards, able to easily outmaneuver American [[MightyGlacier Hellcats]] and [[LightningBruiser Corsairs]] in a dogfight, but unable to outrun them and thus very vulnerable to high-speed power dives.
** This was the standard for Japanese combat air manufacturing up until about 1944: many of their fighters and bombers were pathetically armored even by the standards of the late 1930s when they were designed, but they were generally faster, better armed, more maneuverable, and had better operating range than most of their contemporaries. It was only when the Allies recovered a few downed Japanese aircraft and began designing planes to counter them that things began taking a turn for the worst and losses mounted up. By 1944 Japan did shift towards designing better-defended craft, and a late-war [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_N1K N1K1 "George"]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84 Ki-84 "Frank"]] could easily match a Hellcat or Corsair in a fight, but by this time most of the Japanese best pilots had been killed and the new planes did not have much effect on the outcome of the war.
* The German Me-163 Komet was a rocket-propelled interceptor aircraft designed to kill bombers and capable of speeds close to the speed of sound. In fact, it was ''too'' fast -- often zooming by the slow-moving bombers before the pilots could line up a shot. Its frame was made of wood, and its light construction made it very vulnerable to enemy fire, relying almost totally on its blistering speed for defense. There was even a risk of the plane disintegrating on landing, though it was hardly helped by the fact that its landing gear consisted of a single skid. And if by any means the 2-part rocket fuel-oxidiser came into contact it exploded immediately, a problem if it mixed anywhere but the rocket nozzle.
* The British [=DeHavilland=] Mosquito was a light bomber designed from the ground up for speed. Built with an all-wooden airframe which was both lightweight and easy to manufacture (many Mosquito parts were made by small furniture or piano manufacturers throughout the UK rather than in specialized plants that were easier targets for air raids) and maintain, it was for a while the fastest aircraft in the RAF, beating out the famous Spitfire fighter in speed trials. It also had no defensive armament whatsoever and its wooden airframe was highly vulnerable to enemy fire. The Mosquito still had lower loss rates than any other RAF bomber in the war (and one of the lowest loss rates of bombers in the entire war, period) simply because it was an extremely hard target to catch. By the time defending fighters could be vectored in to intercept, the "Mossies" would already have finished their bombing runs and be racing back for home. It also excelled at stealthy low-altitude precision raids and as a target-marking "Pathfinder" aircraft for larger bomber formations. Later variants of the Mosquito would be equipped with steadily heavier armaments, culminating in the FB Mk. XVIII model, designed for hunting submarines and light surface ships and equipped with a ''57mm autoloading anti-tank cannon'', effectively crossing over into [[GlassCannon another trope altogether]].
* Tank destroyers (excepting the M36, which had fairly respectable forward armor), the M18 Hellcat in particular. The Hellcat clocked in at 60mph (97km/h) on road, making it the fastest armored fighting vehicle of the war, used a long-barreled version of the 76mm gun used by the Sherman... and had only 5 to 25 millimeters (0.2 to 1 inch(es)) of armor depending on location. Modern wheeled tank destroyers have the heavy gun of a MBT and superior speed (the ''slower'' has a speed of 85 kph (53 mph)), but have paper-thin armor (the Italian B1 Centauro 120 mm and B1 Centauro II, the two with the best armor, can only resist guns up to 40mm caliber, and only from the front arc).
* Motorcycles have a superior power-to-weight ratio compared to automobiles, allowing even an average bike to outclass an exotic sports car in acceleration and, in some cases, top speed. However, they are also considered one of the most unsafe modes of transportation on the road today because of the risk of being easily thrown off by one of the millions of drivers operating 2+ ton cars, trucks, and vans.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_%28vehicle%29 Technicals]] are made of this trope. Being nothing more than simple pickup trucks with light weaponry (sometimes not even ''that'' light; some technicals are large pickups or even flatbed trucks with light tank turrets or howitzers mounted on the back) attached to the back they can't deal or take much damage compared to more heavily armed and armored vehicles. However in comparison they're much quicker and more maneuverable, capable of hitting targets and getting out of the line of fire before the enemy has time to properly respond.
* UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague players:
** Quarterback Robert Griffin III is famed for his ability in a "read option" offense, to make quick decisions to throw the ball to a receiver, hand it off to a running back, or run it ahead himself. Unfortunately, he seems ... ''uniquely'' prone to injury while being tackled. In 2009, he tore his ACL (a knee ligament) while still in college. In his 2012 rookie season in Washington, he tore his other ACL [[UpToEleven and his LCL]]. In 2014, [[SerialEscalation he dislocated his ankle]]. In a 2015 preseason game, [[OverlyLongGag he suffered a concussion]]. [[EpicFail The Redskins signed him because of his speed.]]
** Before Robert Griffin, there was Michael Vick. Probably the greatest running quarterback in NFL history (though Lamar Jackson might now be giving him a run for his money), his speed frequently bamboozled defenders, even at age 30. He also finished a full sixteen-game season exactly once in 8 years as a full-time starter.
** "Burners", in NFL parlance, are Wide Receivers that rely on straight-line speed to make plays, and fit this trope to a T. Players like Cliff Branch, Joey Galloway, or [=DeSean=] Jackson would routinely leave defensive backs grasping for air as they waltzed into the end zone. However, this speed tended to come with a lack of size and toughness that left them limited to deep routes, and thus specialized roles in the offense.
* In that [[UsefulNotes/AssociationFootball other type of football]], [[UsefulNotes/BritishFootyTeams Liverpool]] striker Daniel Sturridge is fast, pacy, and great at scoring, but very injury prone.
* The prehistoric marine crocodile ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metriorhynchus Metriorhynchus]]'' shows that this trope is OlderThanDirt -- unlike most known crocodilians, ''Metriorhynchus'' lacked osteoderms (armored scales), having most likely lost them in its evolutionary history to make it a faster and more efficient swimmer. However, this left it more vulnerable to attack, especially seeing as it shared the oceans with 20+ foot long leviathans like ''Liopleurodon''.
* UsefulNotes/WayneGretzky spent his professional career about 20 pounds (9 kg) lighter than the average NHL player. He was also physically the weakest player on the Oilers during his time with the team, only able to bench press 140 lb (63.5 kg). In spite of all that, his speed and skill made him the most accomplished hockey player of all time.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', the male MUTO, thanks to flight and its relatively small size, is able to employ hit-and-run tactics against Godzilla but goes down instantly when Godzilla manages to get a direct hit in. The female, which is flightless, is a MightyGlacier. This actually complements their separate fighting styles, allowing the two to work together well enough to gain the advantage against Godzilla: While the male is distracting Godzilla, it allows the much bigger and stronger female to attack Godzilla from behind. When Godzilla reacts to this and begins to overpower the female, the male flies around and attacks Godzilla again from behind, distracting him and repeating the cycle.
* Mothra in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters''. While she's still an Alpha Titan and powerful {{Kaiju}}, compared to [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruisers]] Godzilla, Rodan and Ghidorah, Mothra is definitely leans towards the fragile flying-type similar to the aforementioned Male MUTO. She makes her BigDamnHeroes moment in the FinalBattle [[SpeedBlitz blitzing]] even Rodan who can outpace fighter jets, but she gets greatly injured during her bout with the pterosaur [[spoiler: and [[MadeOfIron unlike]] her partner Goji is killed when hit with Ghidorah's [[BreathWeapon Gravity Beams]].]]

* For the Autobots, there 's the Arcee Sisters in ''Film/{{Transformers}}''. Particular emphasis when [[spoiler: in the final battle, one of them is easily shattered after one hit]]. The same goes for Jazz from the first movie in the series. He's even smaller than Bumblebee, fast, and agile to the point of being able to pull a ColossusClimb on Brawl, but is launched and downed by a single shot [[spoiler: then easily [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath torn]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in half]] by Megatron]]. For the Decepticons themselves, there are also two notable examples: Frenzy and [[TheyLookLikeUsNow Alice]]. Both are comparatively very small for their kind and can as a result move very, very quickly. However, this comes with the downside that when they're actually directly hit, they go down for the fight almost as fast.

* For the Autobots, there 's the Arcee Sisters in ''Film/{{Transformers}}''. Particular emphasis when [[spoiler: in the final battle, one of them is easily shattered after one hit]]. The same goes for Jazz from the first movie in the series. He's even smaller than Bumblebee, fast, and agile to the point of being able to pull a ColossusClimb on Brawl, but is launched and downed by a single shot [[spoiler: then easily [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath torn]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in half]] by Megatron]]. For the Decepticons themselves, there are also two notable examples: Frenzy and [[TheyLookLikeUsNow Alice]]. Both are comparatively very small for their kind and can as a result move very, very quickly. However, this comes with the downside that when they're actually directly hit, they go down for the fight almost as fast.

* [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on who writes him]] the flagship Marvel character Franchise/SpiderMan is [[MadeOfIron much sturdier than the average non-powered civilian]], but compared to upper echelons and some his heroes pals (e.g. Hulk and Thor) he's a lightweight. His fighting style is all about using his speed and reflexes (and his SpiderSense giving him a few crucial seconds' warning of incoming attacks) to dodge around using HitAndRunTactics not to mention [[DeadpanSnarker constantly running his mouth]] to [[IShallTauntYou annoy opponents and break their concentration]]. However, subverted as Spidey has taken powerful blows from TheJuggernaut and survived a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Phoenix-Enhanced]] ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, and Spider-Man is ''much'' stronger than the likes of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} and ComicBook/BlackPanther; so overall Spidey walks the line between this trope and LightningBruiser.

* The infamous Japanese [=A6M=] Zero; early models armor or even [[ShootTheFuelTank self-sealing fuel tanks]], but its strength was more [[DeadlyDodging agility]] than pure speed -- it was actually quite slow by 1943, able to easily outfly American [[MightyGlacier Hellcats]] and [[LightningBruiser Corsairs]] but unable to outrun them and thus very vulnerable to high-speed power dives.
** This was the standard for Japanese combat air manufacturing up until about 1944 -- many of their fighters and bombers were pathetically armored even by the standards of the late 1930s when they were designed, but they were generally faster, better armed, more maneuverable, and had better operating range than most of their contemporaries. It was only when the Allies recovered a few downed Japanese aircraft and began designing planes to counter them that things began taking a turn for the worst and losses mounted up. By 1944 Japan did shift towards designing better defended craft, and a late-war [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_N1K N1K1 "George"]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84 Ki-84 "Frank"]] could easily match a Hellcat or Corsair in a fight, but by this time most of the Japanese best pilots had been killed and the new planes did not have much effect on the outcome of the war.

* The infamous Japanese [=A6M=] Zero; early models armor or even [[ShootTheFuelTank self-sealing fuel tanks]], but its strength was more [[TheArtfulDodger agility]] than pure speed -- it was actually quite slow by 1943, able to easily outfly American [[MightyGlacier Hellcats]] and [[LightningBruiser Corsairs]] but unable to outrun them and thus very vulnerable to high-speed power dives.

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** After acquiring the wind cloak and sword from Flora, Serpico can run, jump, and even fly, but he has very little defense against physical attacks- when a troll hits him in the side with a spiked mace, he's down for at least two days.

* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': Poor, poor Burger-Kun from the 2nd season. Super speed with none of the RequiredSecondaryPowers. [[spoiler: His opponent makes it rain, which at his speed, immediately turns into buckshot. Makes you wonder what his plan was since he didn't carry a weapon of any sort and using his fists would destroy his own arm.]]

* ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' - The ''Alleluia'' IFO from the [[Anime/EurekaSevenAO sequel]] is very quick and agile, but its armor and armament aren't worth a damn, as it was designed primarily as a EAW/EW platform. It plays the role of spotter for ''[[MightyGlacier Kyrie]]''.

** The Kampfer, a Zeon commando-strike mobile suit from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket''. Lightning fast and well armed, the Kampfer is demonstrably able to outrun mobile suits and destroy a team of six Federation EliteMooks. It even manages to demolish the Alex's resilient Chobham Armor. Unfortunately, it buys this speed and firepower at a high price--no armor of its own to speak of. It is torn to pieces by a single burst from the Alex's 90mm Gatling cannon.

** The EMS-10 Zudah of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIgloo'' is another example of a Zeon design [[CripplingOverspecialization focusing too much on one trait]]. Originally a production competitor to the Zaku I, the Zudah features reasonable firepower but far less armor--it is noticeably less hefty than the standard Zaku I and has less armor coverage overall as well. It was also ''exceptionally'' fast as a result, but had the unnerving tendency to [[ExplosiveOverclocking disintegrate completely if their engines were pushed to the limit such that the sheer thrust tore apart the frame]]. As such they were much, much faster than even the Zaku II, but so fragile that ''their own engines'' could kill them. Of the four Zudahs seen, two overtaxed their engines and exploded, taking their skilled pilots with them. A 50% loss rate with no enemy hits scored consigned the Zudah to the FlawedPrototype junkheap of history.

** Fate's Sonic Form allows her to move at SuperSpeed at all times, but at the cost of defense. Her opponents always note that, in that form, one hit is all it'll take to kill her. What they usually fail to note is that to land a single hit on Fate, you have to move ''faster'' than her--[[FastestThingAlive and no living canon character so far has even come close to that]]. [[spoiler:Except Erio, once, while she was distracted and, as shown in [[Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce Force]], Fate seems to have gotten even faster since then.]]

* [[DependingOnTheWriter Depending on who writes him]] the flagship Marvel character Franchise/SpiderMan is [[MadeOfIron much sturdier than the average non-powered civilian]], but compared to upper echelons and some his heroes pals (e.g. Hulk and Thor) he's a lightweight. His fighting style is all about using his speed and reflexes (and his SpiderSense giving him a few crucial seconds' warning of incoming attacks) to dodge around using HitAndRunTactics not to mention [[DeadpanSnarker constantly running his mouth]] to [[IShallTauntYou annoy opponents and break their concentration]]. However, subverted as Spidey has taken powerful blows from TheJuggernaut and survived a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown from [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Phoenix-Enhanced]] ComicBook/{{Colossus}}, and Spider-Man is ''much'' stronger than the likes of ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, ComicBook/{{Luke Cage|HeroForHire}} and ComicBook/BlackPanther; so overall Spidey walks the line between this trope and LightningBruiser.
* In ''ComicBook/SinCity'', Kevin is fast but fragile, compared to MightyGlacier Marv. Marv has to handcuff himself to Kevin to land a single punch, but it knocks Kevin out cold.
* Lille Skutt, the small white rabbit from the Swedish comic ''ComicBook/{{Bamse}}'', is extremely fast, but also extremely small and fragile. He's ''very'' aware of this, and as a result [[LovableCoward is afraid of most things that move and quite a few things that don't.]]
* The speedster interns at the main law firm of ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' have a clause in their contracts that requires their employers to provide hazard pay if circumstances require them to fight, because they do not have combat training and any injuries they suffer could result in accelerated blood loss.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'': The villain Mayfly has superspeed without all of the RequiredSecondaryPowers. In [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Volume 2]] this led to her rather gory death when she ran into a gate at nearly full speed while trying to escape prison.

* Doc Holliday in ''Film/{{Tombstone}}'' is dying of consumption and can often barely stand due to illness, but he's still damn fast on the draw.
* The main character of ''Film/WhipIt'' is the roller-derby version of a Fragile Speedster. Very fast and good at scoring points, but very tiny and easily knocked down if her opponent can catch her.
%%* Cohen in ''Film/CohenAndTate'' is a seasoned professional assassin who is near retirement. Nevertheless, he can be very quick with his pistol and usually works as an impressive marksman. His counterpart is his partner, the hitman Tate, who appears more as the [[MightyGlacier big menacing type of killer]], slower but more brutal, and with a preference for a heavy shotgun.
* For the Autobots, there 's the Arcee Sisters in ''Film/{{Transformers}}''. Particular emphasis when [[spoiler: in the final battle, one of them is easily shattered after one hit]]. The same goes for Jazz from the first movie in the series. He's even smaller than Bumblebee, fast, and agile to the point of being able to pull a ColossusClimb on Brawl, but is launched and downed by a single shot [[spoiler: then easily [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath torn]] [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe in half]] by Megatron]]. For the Decepticons themselves, there are also two notable examples: Frenzy and [[TheyLookLikeUsNow Alice]]. Both are comparatively very small for their kind and can as a result move very, very quickly. However, this comes with the downside that when they're actually directly hit, they go down for the fight almost as fast.
* [[MeaningfulName Dash]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is capable of outrunning damn near anything that tries an attempt on his life, but often gets knocked around like a ragdoll if he is involved in physical combat. The latter part is justified in that he's only 10 years old.
* The title character from Creator/StanLee's ''Lightspeed''. Unlike most, this speedster shows ''actual'' negative effects from his power, ranging from windburn to problems with his metabolism and heart.

* As in the comic, Kevin of ''Film/SinCity'' is fast and hits hard, but can't take a single punch from Marv before going down.
%%* Quorra from ''Film/TronLegacy'' could certainly hold her own against the MightyGlacier Black Guards, but one good hit was all it took to send her offline. She also didn't stand a chance in hell against [[LightningBruiser Rinzler]].
* Godzilla in ''Film/Godzilla1998''; unlike other incarnations in which the main difficulty for the humans is finding anything that even puts a dent in him, this time the difficulty is keeping him in one place long enough to get a decent shot at him (not helped by an extreme case of ATeamFiring), and even basic military ordinance causes him to bleed. [[spoiler: At the end, they tangle him up in the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, and unable to escape this time, Godzilla goes down very easily.]]
* The [[MookMobile TIE fighters]] in ''Franchise/StarWars'' have no shields, instead focusing on being fast, maneuverable, and [[ZergRush cheap to mass-produce]]. Their high casualty rate is [[WeHaveReserves considered acceptable]] by the Empire. The TIE Interceptor is a newer model built according to the same philosophy, which is to say it's [[UpToEleven even faster]]. The Rebel equivalent is the A-Wing, which ''does'' have shields, they're just not as strong as those of the [[JackOfAllStats X-Wing]].
** Jedi tend to favor these, with many of their personal ships lacking even shields and focusing heavily on speed. This is because, thanks to being Jedi, they can push the capabilities of the ship to its limits; shields are dead weight when you can basically dodge rain.
* ''Film/PacificRim'': Raiju is the fastest {{Kaiju}} on record, moving so quick it can barely be seen by the good guys. But the moment it charges head on it gets ripped in half, compared to other kaiju that can survive getting stabbed in the head or a nuclear detonation.
* In ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', the male MUTO, thanks to flight and its relatively small size, is able to employ hit-and-run tactics against Godzilla but goes down instantly when Godzilla manages to get a direct hit in. The female, which is flightless, is a MightyGlacier. This actually complements their separate fighting styles, allowing the two to work together well enough to gain the advantage against Godzilla: While the male is distracting Godzilla, it allows the much bigger and stronger female to attack Godzilla from behind. When Godzilla reacts to this and begins to overpower the female, the male flies around and attacks Godzilla again from behind, distracting him and repeating the cycle.
* Mothra in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters''. While she's still an Alpha Titan and powerful {{Kaiju}}, compared to [[LightningBruiser Lightning Bruisers]] Godzilla, Rodan and Ghidorah, Mothra is definitely leans towards the fragile flying-type similar to the aforementioned Male MUTO. She makes her BigDamnHeroes moment in the FinalBattle [[SpeedBlitz blitzing]] even Rodan who can outpace fighter jets, but she gets greatly injured during her bout with the pterosaur [[spoiler: and [[MadeOfIron unlike]] her partner Goji is killed when hit with Ghidorah's [[BreathWeapon Gravity Beams]].]]

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
** Quicksilver is specifically the GlassCannon variety. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he only has to tap the Pentagon guards lightly with his fingers in BulletTime to cause them to knock themselves unconscious. In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', he uses his SuperSpeed against En Sabah Nur, and the latter is flying through the air when Quicksilver is punching him. However, Maximoff's great advantage is nullified after [[spoiler:Apocalypse traps his foot into the ground and breaks his leg]]. In the vicious hands of the god-like mutant, Peter is as fragile as a toy.
** ''Film/{{Logan}}'': Laura is extremely fast and agile and can do a lot of damage with her adamantium claws, but she is an 11-year-old girl and has the durability of one. She can easily be knocked out and restrained by ordinary people.

** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Spider-Man, he's still a LightningBruiser compared to most of the cast but when up againist [[EvilIsBigger bigger]] and stronger foes, he falls into this. As seen when he fought [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Giant-Man]], [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Cull Obsidian and Thanos]], Spidey can swing and jump circles around them and dodge their blows due to his small teenage frame. But when he does get caught by them, he tends to get very slammed down hard and needs time to recover, although keep in mind, most other Avengers would be greatly injured -if not killed were they in Peter's place.

* Prince Nuada from ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy''. While much faster and more agile than the titular character, he suffers from a condition akin to hemophilia that leads to him having to dodge rather than tank Hellboy's attacks.
* Hit-Girl from ''Film/KickAss'' is a superheroine who can defeat criminals only because she is very fast, agile and [[WeakButSkilled skilled]]. When facing [[BigBad Frank d'Amico]], however, she's immediately outclassed because he too is a skilled martial artist while also being an adult while she's a child.

* {{A|ctionGirl}}mara in ''Literature/CodexAlera'', whose [[BlowYouAway primary abilities]] give her BulletTime SuperSpeed, but who doesn't have much in the way of earth- or metalcrafting to let her ignore damage she takes. In fact, the lack of RequiredSecondaryPowers limits just how fast windcrafters can move without injury. Tavi nearly liquefied his arm at one point.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Rue can move through the treetops like Spider-Man, but is far too small and physically frail to face anyone in a one-on-one fight.
* Annabeth Chase and Piper Mc Lean from ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' are not as strong and resilient as the other [[DivineParentage demigods]] they fight with, which is why they rely more on agility and speed in combat. However, they are not as strong and tough as other demigods, they are still physically superior to [[{{Muggles}} ordinary humans]].
* ''Literature/TheSpectrumGame'': Inigo is a hybrid between this trope and StoneWall. His Defense and Resistance are incredibly high, and his Speed is the highest of his allies. To compensate, however, his Strength is poor and his Intelligence is merely okay, hampering his offensive potential.

** And the Romulan drone ship from season 4. It maneuvers like no other ship ever seen, but as an UnfinishedUntestedUsedAnyway prototype, it's prone to system failures and takes a lot of damage when it actually gets hit.

* The titular CoolStarship of ''Series/TheOrville''. As a mid-level explorer, it's stated that she's not as powerful as a heavy cruiser, and she tends to take considerable damage if she's hit, but she can literally fly circles around a Krill destroyer courtesy of AcePilot Malloy (a maneuver he calls "hugging the donkey").

* Speedsters are one of the major build types in the ''[[TabletopGame/{{Champions}} HERO System]]'' -- one of the sourcebooks was even called The Ultimate Speedster. They can be very powerful-- a high speed stat is very powerful in the game, and certain builds can give them damage outputs that even dwarf that of the MightyGlacier-- but they tend to be {{Glass Cannon}}s.

** Wood elves, at least in 3.5, are however closer to {{Glass Cannon}}s given they also have a higher Strength --and their favored class being the ranger, a Glass Cannon itself.

* Light 'Mechs in ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' tend to fall into this role; being lightweight, they can get potentially high speeds out of a relatively small engine, yet that same low weight limits how much armor and firepower they can carry, so speed (possibly augmented by jump jets) is frequently their only real protection against heavy weapons. Several entire classes of non-[=BattleMech=] units also qualify for the role: Hovercraft are pretty much the fastest type of land unit, but highly prone to finding themselves abruptly grounded and vulnerable to being pounded to pieces in short order, [=VTOLs=] are light and fast but susceptible to losing their rotor and crashing, and conventional fighters, while being really ''extremely'' fast relative to anything that usually operates on a ground map, suffer from both poor armor and the aerospace critical hit rules (short version, pretty much ''anything'' that hits such a fighter may go critical). In fact, during ground support missions any kind of fighter, including the more solid aerospace versions, qualifies because taking any damage whatsoever forces them to make a 'control roll' to avoid abruptly losing altitude and potentially imitating a lawn dart; this together with their capacity to carry quite a bit of firepower ''plus'' an external bomb load actually pushes the larger models into GlassCannon territory.
* In the starship miniatures game ''TabletopGame/FullThrust,'' the Federal Stats Europa's missile-heavy fleet strives to be {{Lightning Bruiser}}s. In practice, while their ammo lasts they're more like fast-moving {{Glass Cannon}}s, during which time they can pretty much wreck your day, ''especially'' if your ships are PointDefenseless or they (the FSE) get even a little lucky. But once their missiles are spent, they're pretty solidly this trope.
* While most TabletopGame/{{Exalted}} are {{Glass Cannon}}s, Scourge caste Infernals are inclined to be speedsters. Adorjan's charmset doesn't contain soak improvers, bonus health levels or parries (Scourges tend to avoid damage by being somewhere else), but a Scourge can reach speeds without trying that a Solar has to expend a lot of effort to hit.

* Elves in ''TabletopGame/KingsOfWar'' have a move of 6, 50% higher than dwarf infantry, but rarely have a Defense better than 4+, meaning that any hit will hurt them half the time.
* TIE Fighters in ''TabletopGame/XWingMiniatures'' aren't very manoeuvrable, have only three hull points each, and lack shields. However, they are capable of blistering speeds and [[ZergRush they're cheap]] - you can buy two Academy Pilots for the price of the most basic [[Film/TheForceAwakens T-70 X-wing]]. Interceptors are even faster thanks to the Boost action, and are much more agile with a ridiculous amount of green on the dial, but are no more durable than a basic TIE Fighter. On the Rebel side, A-Wings are absurdly fast, having a green 5 move (most ships have that as either white or red, and many don't have it at all), but only 2 hull and shield. Scum, meanwhile, have the knife-fighting Protectorate Starfighter, which is basically a 4-hull TIE Interceptor that come with a handful of upgrades dedicated solely to point blank knife-fighting. On a tactical level, this is the idea of Arc-Dodger lists, which tend to be small, elite and fragile, but counter straightforward jousting lists by never being in their fire arcs to begin with; they fall apart against turret lists, which don't ''care'' about fire arcs.
* Kanga in ''TabletopGame/TheOthers'' can move 5 spaces per turn, greatly outspeeding her teammates. Unfortunately, she is practically the only character with no defense, and dies easily against bosses.
* ''TabletopGame/DescentJourneysInTheDark'':[[note]]referring to the basic set of the second edition here[[/note]] [[https://descent2e.fandom.com/wiki/Jain_Fairwood Jain Fairwood]] has a movement rate higher than any other hero save one, but she's got as few HitPoints as the SquishyWizard. Her heroic feat allows her to move twice in a turn and still attack, and with the obvious choice of the bow-using Wildlander class, she gets access to other abilities related to movement, avoidance and fast reactions.

%%* Edin Dan in ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' is known for his exceptional speed, but that's the only way he stands out -- he hardly ever fights at all, even when he's taking part in combat with his team, though he might do a surprise attack.%%zce

%%* The Agile man-tank in ''Literature/BabeRuthManTankGladiator'' is the fastest and most nimble style.
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Scrambler, [[strike:Quickie]] Go-Go, Accelerator, and -- what the heck, most of the speedsters at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]]. Hyper actually broke a couple of his own fingers punching a 'brick' in the eye as he ran past at about a hundred miles an hour. Note that while it is a common trope in the series, it isn't an enforced trope by any means; certainly the likes of Aries and Stormwolf are anything but fragile.

** Oni Lee is no more durable than a regular human, but his power--a combination of TeleportSpam and SelfDuplication--makes him nearly impossible to hit, especially since his clones are short-lived and feel no pain, making them eminently {{expendable|Clone}}.
* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': The Commonwealth's mounted guard are a force of elite, lance-wielding horsemen. Alongside more veteran forces, they are the best troops the young Republic can deploy, fast and devastating whenever they charge. At the same time however, they can be swiftly cut down by bayonet-wielding infantry or several volleys of musket fire.
* Parodied in ''WebVideo/FilthyFrank'' when the titular Frank summons the lightning-fast [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Speed Lord]] in a fight against [[EvilCounterpart Evil Dade]], who [[SuperSpeed moves at incredible speeds]]... and [[OneHitKill dies in one hit]]. [[InformedAttribute Apparently]] he had a [[GlassCannon strength stat of 1,000,000,000,000,000,000.]]

* Franchise/TheFlash from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' ([[DependingOnTheWriter Most of the time]]). He sometimes leans towards combining it with GlassCannon, or even becoming a full-on LightningBruiser depending on how serious he's getting and how well his RequiredSecondaryPowers are working this week. Especially early on, though, he's often taken out of the fight with one lucky hit.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'': Ilana's mech Corus is this. As well the Mutraddi in "Under the Three Moons."
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': Swoop is the smallest and fastest of the Dinobots and the only one capable of flight in every version. While the rest of them are heavily armored and mostly invulnerable in their dinosaur modes, Swoop is still very vulnerable to enemy fire when transformed in his Pteranodon form.
* [[SuperSpeed XLR8]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Ben10}} Ben 10]]'' can run so fast that he becomes invisible to the human eye. And, although his resistance is slightly above human level, he is still pretty frail compared to Ben's other forms and ends up knocked out almost everytime he is used for direct combat.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans.'':
** Más y Menos are very fast, but very squishy if the villain manages to slap them down. They have the bonus weakness of having to touch each other to use their speed.
** Kid Flash. He has the typical Flash speed and connection to the Speed Force, but he doesn't know much about how to use it to defend yet, and his personal durability is "average teenager". It takes a while for Jinx and Rouge to catch him, but when they do they find him very easy to hurt.
%%* Catra from ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower''. Not counting her claws, she's not particularly strong, and she's a rather petite young woman. However, she is ''quick'', extremely agile, and can jump impressive heights, meaning she can hold her own against much bigger and stronger opponents because they can't get a hit in on her. Whenever she's forced to engage in close-range combat, she fares much worse.

* Destroyers, up until the end of WWII. Generally the fastest ships utilized in fleet roles, the massive engines needed to propel the ships to such speeds meant modest armament, short range, and absolutely no armor whatsoever. But while high-explosive shells of any caliber would rapidly shred them, destroyers were so fast and maneuvered so wildly that fire control systems of the era simply couldn't cope. The only solution was to [[MoreDakka blanket the general area in shells and hope something hit.]] And since destroyers carried torpedoes, they could hurt much larger ships - assuming they survived long enough.

* Russian blues, and some other meek breeds of house cats who just want to get along with the world, are lightweight, relatively delicate and ill-suited for the harsh environment outside. As a result, any fight-happy street-smart tomcat would beat the stuffing out of a Russian blue with ease... if it could catch it. They're so fast that the main reason their owners are discouraged from letting them outside isn't that other cats will wallop them - it's that if they feel threatened they'll bolt so quickly they might easily find themselves in unknown territory and might not know how to come back home.

** Even sturdy looking UsefulNotes/{{NASCAR}} stock cars' bodywork can be shredded by a blown out tire - except when it comes to the driver's safety zone. If the car's suspension or engine bay takes a blow, then chances are that the car will be incapacitated and need to be towed off the track. A [[SubsystemDamage damaged oil cooler]] or other subsystem can leave a car undrivable from the risk of engine failure not long after.

* The [=MiG=]-25 "Foxbat" is the fastest armed aircraft ''ever'', with a high flight ceiling and a fairly fast rate of climb as well; all of these characteristics are highly desirable for interceptor aircraft in order to quickly gain height and keep up with high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft and bombers. However, it's practically useless in a dogfight against other fighters, as it has no internal gun and can't turn very quickly. Also qualifies as fragile outside of combat because its engines had to be frequently replaced. It was typically operated no faster than Mach 2.5 - its airspeed indicator was redlined at Mach 2.85 - but it was capable of flying at Mach 3.2. The particular aircraft that was observed at this speed ''destroyed its engines in flight.''
* The American SR-71 Blackbird is an even more extreme example. The fastest manned, air-breathing vehicle ever, but completely unarmed. It leaks fuel like a sieve when it's on the runway--which fuel, by the way, was so exotic it was used as coolant--but it ''has to'' as it heats up so much in flight due to the speed that it needs a loose fit to compensate for the expansion. It fits this trope even more once you consider its primary defense from enemy fire--it outran it. With a cruising speed of a little over Mach 3 (about as fast as a bullet and faster than most missiles at the time of its design) and with a service ceiling of roughly 25 km (80,000 feet), it relied on no armor what so ever. Instead of maneuvering or launching a volley of countermeasures to avoid enemy fire, Blackbird pilots instead responded by simply accelerating to a point that no aircraft could catch them, no shell could strike them, and no missile could go fast enough to challenge them. Having an especially low (for the time) radar cross section was just overkill. Of course, being an unarmed strategic scout that was not weighed down by weapons helped--it was built to do nothing but fly fast and take pictures[[note]]The SR-71 was originally designed to launch ''drones'', serving as a launch platform for early [=UAVs=], until it was realized that the SR-71 could go ''higher'' than the drones, fly ''faster'', and were much easier to recover.[[/note]], which meant it could specialize in its roles quite well. There could have been an interceptor based on the A-12 (a slightly earlier version of the SR-71). Three prototypes were built and 93 were ordered by the Air Force, unfortunately at the time the Vietnam War ate up so much money that the order was never fulfilled.

* The infamous Japanese [=A6M=] Zero; early models armor or even [[ShootTheFuelTank self-sealing fuel tanks]], but its strength was more [[TheArtfulDodger agility]] than pure speed--it was actually quite slow by 1943, able to easily outfly American [[MightyGlacier Hellcats]] and [[LightningBruiser Corsairs]] but unable to outrun them and thus very vulnerable to high-speed power dives.
** This was the standard for Japanese combat air manufacturing up until about 1944- many of their fighters and bombers were pathetically armored even by the standards of the late 1930s when they were designed, but they were generally faster, better armed, more maneuverable, and had better operating range than most of their contemporaries. It was only when the Allies recovered a few downed Japanese aircraft and began designing planes to counter them that things began taking a turn for the worst and losses mounted up. By 1944 Japan did shift towards designing better defended craft, and a late-war [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_N1K N1K1 "George"]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_Ki-84 Ki-84 "Frank"]] could easily match a Hellcat or Corsair in a fight, but by this time most of the Japanese best pilots had been killed and the new planes did not have much effect on the outcome of the war.
* The German Me-163 Komet was a rocket-propelled interceptor aircraft designed to kill bombers and capable of speeds close to the speed of sound. In fact, it was ''too'' fast - often zooming by the slow-moving bombers before the pilots could line up a shot. Its frame was made of wood, and its light construction made it very vulnerable to enemy fire, relying almost totally on its blistering speed for defense. There was even a risk of the plane disintegrating on landing, though it was hardly helped by the fact that its landing gear consisted of a single skid. And if by any means the 2-part rocket fuel-oxidiser came into contact it exploded immediately, a problem if it mixed anywhere but the rocket nozzle.

* The prehistoric marine crocodile ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metriorhynchus Metriorhynchus]]'' shows that this trope is OlderThanDirt--unlike most known crocodilians, ''Metriorhynchus'' lacked osteoderms (armored scales), having most likely lost them in its evolutionary history to make it a faster and more efficient swimmer. However, this left it more vulnerable to attack, especially seeing as it shared the oceans with 20+ foot long leviathans like ''Liopleurodon''.

* Jakotsumaru from ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon'' was a very fast and agile fighter who could easily flee from Setsuna and Towa, and Moroha easily dodged in combat. But at the same time he was weak and fragile for a half-demon (but still stronger and more durable than a human), so that Moroha could easily defeat him in battle.

** When Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) appears in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', he's the only character with superspeed, but even [[BadassNormal no-powers Clint]] can knock him out in one punch. [[spoiler: He's also the last one to die in the battle.]] Pietro's nephew Tommy from ''Series/WandaVision'' shares his uncle's speed but is even more fragile, even his brother Billy can subdue him by holding out his hand at the right moment and telekinetically stopping him in his tracks.
** Sam Wilson/The Falcon is a BadassNormal type fragile speedster. In the air he's fast enough to serve as a blink tank against [[spoiler:the full firepower of a Helicarrier, at one point being the ''only'' person drawing their fire while Cap and his other allies are occupied elsewhere]], but tends to suffer when forced into close-quarters combat without his wings. Sam does manage to overcome this in ''Series/TheFalconAndTheWinterSoldier'' thanks to a new armoured suit from Wakanda [[spoiler: and implemtning Cap's nigh indestructible shield into his fighting style]].
** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] with Spider-Man, he's still a LightningBruiser compared to most of the cast but when up againist [[EvilIsBigger bigger]] and stronger foes, he falls into this. As seen when he fought [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar Giant-Man]], [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar Obsidain Cull and Thanos]], Spidey can swing and jump circles around them and dodge their blows due to his small teenage frame. But when he does get caught by them, he tends to get very slammed down hard and needs time to recover, although keep in mind, most other Avengers would be greatly injured -if not killed were they in Peter's place.
** Rocket Raccoon from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. Like a RealLife raccoon he can jump four feet and is extremley agile, but nevertheless he's still a small animal at the end of the day and can be easily picked up or overpowered by the average human-sized enemy.

** When Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver) appears in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', he's the only character with superspeed, but even [[BadassNormal no-powers Clint]] can knock him out in one punch. [[spoiler: He's also the last one to die in the battle.]] Pietro's nephew Tommy from ''Series/WandaVision'' shares his uncle's speed but is even fragile, even his brother Billy can subdue him by holding out his hand at the right moment and telekinetically stopping him in his tracks.