History Main / PlotArmor

* ''WesternAnimation/South Park'': [[TheyKilledKennyAgain Kenny]] never stays dead. No matter how he's killed, he's usually back in time for the next episode. They did, at one point, tried killing him off permanently, but even this only lasted for one year, partly due to fan backlash.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'', in the Manhunts he wins. He somehow survives situations that other people are very unlikely to live through. He's so lucky that some fans are even going as to saying he has plot armor. What actually happens behind the scenes is that if the hunters win early on, Dream and his friends are more likely to restart and pretend that never happened, for a more intense video. That being said, there are some Manhunts in which Dream loses, but they happen really late in the video.

* ''Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits'' averts this. The people watching make fun of an enemy who, falling off a building, continues to fire his gun into the window: but it transpires that [[spoiler:even firing at random, he actually hit and killed Armando]].

* A great many games have points you can spend on various things including not taking damage. Plot Points in ''[[Series/{{Firefly}} Serenity]]'', Chips in ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' etc. etc. ''TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness'' games generally don't have this but in ''TabletopGame/KindredOfTheEast'' [[HalfVampire Dhampyr]] actually do have Plot Armor in the form of Passive Joss, which is a form of involuntary luck that sometimes stops them being hit by throwing freak events in the way.

** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' sees all members of Noble Team sans the sniper Jun die during the game (Jorge and Carter both perform HeroicSacrifices, Kat gets sniped from above and behind, Emile gets stabbed but manages to live just long enough to [[TakingYouWithMe kill the Elite who stabbed him]], and the player character gets swarmed by Covenant but is stubborn enough that it takes seven Elites (most of whom do not survive the cutscene) to finish him/her off).

* Unusually, the player is put at the recieving end of this trope at the end of ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''. As the game is a prequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and follows the story of Zack Fair, who is [[ForegoneConclusion tragically]] DoomedByCanon, you're put against a BolivianArmyEnding and left to fight a HopelessBossFight. However, whether offscreen or by your own hand, [[OneManArmy Zack actually beats the army!]] That's right, you can kill every single soldier sent to kill you! [[HopeSpot Eeevery single one of them...]] ''Except,'' of course, for those three guys who are required by the plot to survive the fight and kill you; those three guys are literally immortal.

->'''Jeff:''' ''For any villains we may meet, we haven't any fears.''\\
'''Orville:''' ''Creator/{{Paramount}} will protect us, 'cause we're signed for five more years.''
-->-- ''Film/RoadToMorocco''

** Roger the AlienAmongUs is practically made of plot armor. Although he may take an occasional beating, death can't touch him. Not only does he always survive certain doom, he's almost always saved by the most amazing and unlikely of circumstances, usually at the last possible second. His own people tried to rid themselves of him by [[spoiler: deliberately crashing his space ship into the desert outside Roswell, New Mexico]] but no dice.
** Stan also undergoes all sorts of horrific injuries and scenarios, including, on separate occasions, being paralysed by gun shot (and rehabilitated by another), having his retinas detached, undergoing numerous bloody beatdowns, losing his legs to a polar bear attack and briefly being pronounced dead on at least two occasions. Regardless of this however, he always recovers and reverts to the Status Quo by the end of each episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'' is a good example. Archer's been in so many situations that should result in him dead, but he's always come out minimally harmed thanks to [[DeusExMachina conveniences]] ''and/or'' bad guys who are [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy aimless]] ''[[RunningGag and/or]]'' [[EvilGloating monologuing-prone]]. He's commented that things just work out for him, and he takes his mortality for granted.

** Fry's death has been subverted kind of often. In one of the first episodes it was implied that he was mere days from death.

** Every one of the several times Fry has "died," or done something that was supposed to result in his death, it turned out he either wasn't really dead, it didn't happen, etc. Though, he did die just like nearly everyone else as part of the premise of the "Rebirth" episode.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Homer Simpson is a grossly incompetent safety inspector who has cheated death so many times that the writers have lost count. Bart Simpson has also had a vast number of attempts on his life from several different villains, all failing for various contrived reasons. The obligatory plot armor of the Simpson family is even lampshaded in a ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' episode, where most of the kids at the school have been killed and eaten and Bart and Lisa are in mortal danger. Since the specials are non-canon, however...

* Most important Jedi in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' have some degree of plot armor (granted, this is mostly so they can survive to be killed in the movies) but the one who takes the cake is Anakin. He has notably survived multiple life threatening injuries that should have killed him, such as when he almost got blown up by a fiery inferno. It's a wonder Obi-Wan got anywhere close to killing him in ''Revenge of the Sith''.

** Heather in ''Island (2007)''. Despite her manipulative tactics earning the ire of just about every other player, she repeatedly manages to avoid elimination either by earning literal invincibility or through a ContrivedCoincidence to make another player's elimination seem more immediately necessary. The most egregious examples would be Geoff's and Leshawna's eliminations. For the former, despite having wanted Heather gone for weeks and finally having the perfect opportunity to boot her (no invincibility, no immediate issues with other players), they decide to vote off Geoff instead for "being too nice," justifying this sudden shift in attitude with some InsaneTrollLogic. In the latter, the eliminated contestants all have a chance to vote off one of the remaining team players, making it the perfect chance to say a certain someone's name. Unfortunately, so much as saying a contestants name counts as a vote, so when Katie and Sadie mistakenly vote for Leshawna, with many of the other contestants saying they ''don't'' want her voted off while using her name, and with Chris also counting the vote of a random parrot, she gets the boot anyway.

** Heather in ''Island (2007)''. Despite her manipulative tactics earning the ire of just about every other player, she repeatedly manages to avoid elimination either by earning literal invincibility or through a ContrivedCoincidence to make another player's elimination seem more immediately necessary. The most egregious examples would be Geoff's and Leshawna's elimination. For the former, despite having wanted Heather gone for weeks and finally having the perfect opportunity to boot her (no invincibility, no immediate issues with other players), they decide to vote off Geoff instead for "being too nice," justifying this sudden shift in attitude with some InsaneTrollLogic. In the latter, the eliminated contestants all have a chance to vote off one of the remaining team players, making it the perfect chance to say a certain someone's name. Unfortunately, so much as saying a contestants name counts as a vote, so when Katie and Sadie mistakenly vote for Leshawna, with many of the other contestants saying they ''don't'' want her voted off while using her name, and with Chris also counting the vote of a random parrot, she gets the boot anyway.

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' gets hit with this pretty hard; while the series doesn't shy away from the main characters dying, there's usually a loophole to get them out of it. Dream selves, time hopping doubles, and alternate timeline duplicates are all fair game though. In fact this is so prevalent that when [[spoiler: Bro and Davesprite]] seemed to be KilledOffForReal, the predominant fan reaction was LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt. [[spoiler: Turns out only one was actually killed.]]

* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' has this a lot, with characters drawing cards that let them win a duel simply because the plot wouldn't be able to move on otherwise. Not only does nobody important die, when characters ''do'' die or otherwise lose their souls, they always come back once the villains are defeated.

* In ''Videogame/TheOuterWorlds'', Phineas Welles is the only character you can't kill whenever you want since he spends most of the game hiding in a room protected by bulletproof glass, stating that he doesn't trust you to not decide to kill him on a whim. The only time that you get to kill him is [[spoiler:if you side with the Board in the ending, upon which he'll be the FinalBoss]].

** A literal example came when it was announced that [[Characters/X23LauraKinney X-23]] would not only survive the events of the book, but also appear in ''ComicBook/AllNewXMen''. So not surprisingly, the only person absolutely guaranteed to survive the supposed AnyoneCanDie story was the one tied to a popular franchise like the Franchise/XMen...

* What do you get when you take away plot armor from everybody but one psychopath? ComicBook/ThePunisher and Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}} find out in their respective versions of ''Comicbook/ThePunisherKillsTheMarvelUniverse'' and ''Comicbook/DeadpoolKillsTheMarvelUniverse''.

* This is basically Comicbook/TheUnbelievableGwenpool's entire thing. She is a girl from the real world who got plopped down in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, and she recognizes it as such. She has no superpowers, but she is GenreSavvy. So her plan is basically to put on a costume and act like a Superhero (well, AntiHero) that is the star of a story, so that she will gain plot armor. That she knows she can't be killed because she is the star of her own book essentially becomes her superpower. This ends up getting {{deconstructed|Trope}} in her encounter with Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}} along with PopularityPower. Gwen boasts that she'll be able to kill Wade because this is her book and her Plot Armor will save her. When Wade figures out what's going on, he delivers a devastating TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Gwen by pointing out that she's a D-Lister who casual readers might confuse for one of the many Gwen Stacy duplicates that spawned from ComicBook/SpiderGwen's popularity while he's an A-Lister with hundreds of issues, merchandise and the highest-grossing R-Rated movie of all time -- there was no way she will win.

* During the ''[[ComicBook/HouseOfM Decimation]]'' event, Plot Armor thoroughly protects the most currently marketable mutant characters from a horrid catastrophe that has depowered and/or caused the deaths of over 10 million others and reduced the population to approximately 198. The few notable characters who were depowered, such as [[Characters/XMen90sMembers Jubilee]], ended up either being repowered or gaining new superhuman abilities to compensate. The D-listers weren't so lucky.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

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* ''TabletopGame/{{Fiasco}}'' has AnyoneCanDie and Plot Armor at the same time. Since you will get all your scenes, even if you die, you will get to keep playing. You can create flashbacks which lay out incredibly, amazingly brutal ad hoc ThanatosGambit after ThanatosGambit for the schadenfreude of it, and if you're not all about that schadenfreude, you would not be playing Fiasco. Additionally, many scenarios have endless ways to bring the dead back if there are supernatural forces or mad science at work. Finally, you could always just look at the relationships and role of your late character and play out NPCS doing terrible, no-good things that develop out of the death of your character. Dying can be surprisingly liberating.

*** Within the game data, several important NPCs and enemy characters cannot be killed and will dodge any attack that would put them at zero HP. Infact there is an actual invisible skill within the game data called "immortal", assigned to these characters, that allows them to dodge with 100 accuracy, any lethal attack, even if the opponent has a 100% hit chance. It isn't just important characters that have the skill either. The minor boss of [[TheSiege chapter 20]], [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Baraat/Barath]], cannot be killed until his barrage of reinforcements show up, at which point he loses the immortality skill!

** A particularly pronounced example was the Siege of Orgrimmar. At face value this would be a devastating setback for the Horde and a decisive, even potentially conflict-ending win for the Alliance. But of course, the game must maintain its balance of relative power, so you quickly realize that very little real damage can or will be done to the Horde. By the next expansion, the Horde was battling the Alliance as if nothing had happened beyond losing several notable NPCs.

->'''Jeff''': ''For any villains we may meet, we haven't any fears.''\\
'''Orville''': ''Creator/{{Paramount}} will protect us, 'cause we're signed for five more years.''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Discussed a number of times in regards to Monarch Henchmen 21 and 24. In one episode, 21 remarks, "Dude, we're like those guys on TV who never get shot. We're, like, main characters!" In another episode, they spend an entire mission pointing out to a RedShirt how he will die while the two of them will live on. Their boss realizes this, too: "[[MauveShirt I know it sounds crazy, but they both have that rare blend of "expendable" and "invulnerable" that makes for a perfect henchman]]." Ultimately, [[spoiler:24 does end up dying midway through the series, mostly because Jackson Publick didn't like performing his voice. 21 spends a lot of time mourning him, and he does come back occasionally as a ghost or hallucination]].

* Lampshaded in TheMovie of ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle''; the narrator mentions during a recap that "George was really shot but can't die because, let's face it, he's the hero."

** Eyvel in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'' is similarly plot-critical, but has a variant: for the first part of the game, she automatically dodges any attacks that'd kill her. This is to ensure that she makes it to [[spoiler:the chapter where she gets [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] by the main villain]]. As Eyvel is an overleveled FragileSpeedster with an absurdly high dodge rate, and ''Thracia'' characters can never have more than 99% hit rates anyway, it's remarkably easy for players to assume Eyvel is just somewhat lucky. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize that it ''isn't'' odd for Eyvel to be lucky.[[spoiler: Given her identiy as Brigid, she has major Ulir blood. Ulir blood drastically increases growths in [[LuckStat Luck]].]]

** A particularly pronounced example was the Siege of Orgrimmar. At face value this would be a devastating setback for the Horde and a decisive, even potentially conflict-ending win for the Alliance. But of course, the game must maintain its balance of relative power, so you quickly realize that very little real damage can or will be done to the Horde. In fact, the necessity of letting Horde players themselves paradoxically lay siege to their own capital resulted in a storyline that gave more immediate political and military benefits of the battle ''to the Horde'' themselves.

* ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'': [[spoiler:Ethan can get into a car accident, cut up his body crawling through broken glass, electrocute himself, cut off his own finger, get shot at with a shotgun ''at point-blank range'' (it clips him, though) and fall off a building ''in that order'', '''and he still can't die until the endgame.''' Shelby can get beat down, get shot in the shoulder, get beat down again, [[OverusedGag get beat down once more]], nearly drown in his car and get shot at by {{Mooks}} ''in that order'', '''and he still can't die until the endgame'''. Justified in Shelby's case, as he's the main villain]].

* ''Super Snail'' by [=QCplay=] Limited outright says your protagonist Super Snail has plot armor. Whenever you lose a battle, DeathIsJustASlapOnTheWrist. The game will say your PlotArmor has just saved you and you aren't penalized for anything. The only inconvenience is that certain enemies have a waiting period before you can battle them again.

* ContractualBossImmunity: The same thing but for major villains.
** JokerImmunity: Plot-mandated protection given to a particularly series-defining recurring villain.
** HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct: Hitler has unbreakable Plot Armor, to the point where any timey-wimey attempt to assassinate him will either fail or make things even worse. (If this features in the story, ensure there is a good reason for it.)
** InvincibleVillain: When the Plot Armor gets so thick that the villain never loses as a result.

* Certain characters in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series have scripted immunity, whether for the entire game or only until they fulfill their purpose in the story. Should they take a fatal amount of damage, they'll fall over briefly, only to pick themselves up a moment later. The ''Call of Duty'' [[TheWikiRule Wiki]] has [[http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Plot_armor its own page for the phenomenon]], covering the entire series.