History Main / NoSell

* In what was one of the silliest naval battles of all time, the USS Monitor, the world's first true ironclad warship, and the casemate ironclad CSS Virginia squared off in the Battle of Hampton Roads (which, contrary to what the name might suggest, was a naval battle) during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar. The two ironclad warships squared off and started firing cannonballs at each other for ''three hours'', only to discover that [[MutualDisadvantage neither ship could cause significant damage to the other]] because the cannonballs kept bouncing off of them. The Virginia thus tried to [[RammingAlwaysWorks ram]] the smaller Monitor, but the Monitor had a much shorter turning circle and was able to easily evade those attempts. All the while the ships kept firing away at each other in the vain hope that enough hits would cause the armor to fail. Eventually a chance shot temporarily blinded the captain of the USS Monitor, causing it to pull back momentarily before another man took over. The CSS Virginia interpreted the temporary pullback as a withdrawal, and thus began to withdraw itself, so when the USS Monitor returned to the battle, they thought the CSS Virginia was fleeing. Both sides promptly declared victory in the battle. As a result of the battle, all the European powers immediately stopped building wooden warships and built copies of the USS Monitor instead.

** When it was made anew with the Naval Act of 1794[[note]]The USN considers its establishment date October 13, 1775, when the Second Continental Congress passed a resolution creating the Continental Navy[[/note]], Congress authorized six frigates as designed by Joshua Humphreys (though one was extensively modified by her naval constructor). These ships were designed to be America's capital ships in lieu of heavier ships of the line and were quite unlike common European frigates. For one, their frames and other critical parts were made of southern live oak (''Quercus virginiana''), a form of live oak that grows only in what is now the southeastern United States and is ''much'' stronger than the kinds of oak commonly used in ships of that time. For another, Humphreys included a number of innovations in his designs, such as "diagonal riders" that greatly improved the frigates' structural integrity. It's resulted in memorable cases of these frigates shrugging off things that would have easily ruined other ships.

** [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] uses her pheromone powers to get others to obey. When Mr. Freeze takes the diamond from her and she tries it on him, Freeze points out it doesn't work on a coldhearted individual like himself. Though Freeze is mostly being dramatic. The real reason it probably doesn't work is that he's wearing his refrigeration armor with a sealed helmet.

*** Loki attempts to brainwash [[Film/IronMan Tony Stark]] by touching his staff to his chest, only for it to harmlessly bounce off the arc reactor keeping Tony alive instead. Tony is, to say the least, supremely unimpressed. [[SoundOfNoDamage It even makes a loud clink when it hits]]. After a {{beat}} Loki tries again. ''Clink.''

** In ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', [[spoiler:Wanda]] no-sold everything launched against [[spoiler:her]]. Best example is when [[spoiler:America fight Wanda, America's punches literally fails to do something beyond annoying her.]]

* The jordain from Halruaa (TheMagocracy in ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''), are almost totally immune to magic -- only the strongest spells can penetrate their resistance. And, of course, they have Magehounds capable of piercing ''a lot'' of magic resistance, in case some jordaini goes rogue. One of protagonists of ''Literature/CounselorsAndKings'' is the product of a jordaini birth gone awry: she possesses both magic ''and'' resistance to it. Of course, GameBreaker and much HilarityEnsues.

* At ''[[Wrestling/{{TNA}} Bound For Glory]]'' 2005, Wrestling/ChristopherDaniels hits Wrestling/AJStyles with a German Suplex, but Styles gets up immediately showing no signs of pain before flooring Daniels.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' has this in the "Trials of Lion-O". Lion-O must force [[TheBigGuy Panthro]] out of a wrestling ring within a time limit, but cannot even move him.

* Near the end of ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'s'' first Death Swap, in the Nether, [[spoiler: Dream uses an enchanted golden apple to swim in lava. Of course, George doesn't know this, and Dream had humorous reactions swimming in the lava]].

** In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 The Return of Harmony Part 2]]", the first time Twilight tries to combine the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord, it doesn't work, because her friends have become [[EmbodimentOfVice corrupted to their opposite selves]] and [[OnlyTheChosenMayWield the Element of Loyalty does not work with Spike.]]

** In the fourth season, the Winx discover their Enchantix powers are not strong enough against the Wizards of the Black Circle, thus the Winx must earn Believix, one of the higher level fairy forms, which is the only thing stronger enough than their dark power.
** In the fifth season, Believix turns out to be really weak underwater, and the Winx have to aquire Sirenix, an ancient power last used by Daphne, to fight against Tritannus.

** In a similar vein, "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E1TheReturnOfHarmonyPart1 The Return of Harmony, Part 1]]" shows that Fluttershy is the only one of the Mane Six who's immune to Discord's verbal manipulation. Granted, [[spoiler:he finally just gives up and uses straight-up mind control instead]].