History Main / RemovedAchillesHeel

* Hermione Granger ''Fanfic/TheArithmancer'' receives a letter of thanks from a curse-breaker who encountered a basilisk that had been deafened and was thus immune to the crowing of a rooster. [[spoiler:Fortunately, Hermione's color-filtering goggles allowed the man to resist its deadly gaze and prevail.]]

** Tristan of the Round Table died to poison, which the Hassan-i-Sabbah Assassins plan to exploit in the Sixth Singularity by killing him with poisoned weapons. [[spoiler:Unfortunately the [[ArcVillain Lion King]]'s "Gift" of Inversion placed upon Tristan inverts literally everything about him, so what killed him in legend is now useless.]]

* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', Medb is confirmed to have a weakness to being struck in the head by a thrown cheese, as this was how she died in legend. When you try it, however, she kicks the cheese away, and announces that she's used her time on the Throne of Heroes to train for exactly that. After an animation update, her new Buster-style attack is reacting to a cheese that comes flying at her, and kicking it at the enemy.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'': The Annihilator was a living suit of armor created by Hephaestus, who deliberately included a flaw that it would be powered by aggression and shut down when it ran out of aggression to feed on. When Felix Faust possessed it he made sure to remove this weakness.

* The Angels from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' had a Core that, if destroyed, would mean the Angel's destruction as well. But the eleventh Angel had a body made of nanoscale entities, meaning that it didn't have a core, at least not that the heroes could detect and destroy as usual. It ''also'' had an AdaptiveAbility that allowed it to learn and become immune to anything that they used against it.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', the only surefire ways to kill a Demon is to either behead them with Nichirin swords or by sunlight. [[spoiler: Muzan Kibutsuji, the manga's BigBad, as well as the top three-ranked Demons, Kokushibou, Douma and Akaza are immune to beheading due to sheer BodyHorror the former employs, and the other Demons having a higher will to resist dying; while Nezuko herself is immune to sunlight.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': In "[[Recap/JackieChanAdventuresS2E35ChiOfTheVampire Chi of the Vampire]]", the Jiangshi is at first blind and reliant on smell to find his victims, but after draining chi from Tohru, Jade and Uncle, he regains his sight and furthermore becomes immune to sunlight.

[[folder: Audio Plays]]

[[folder: Films -- Animated]]

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', the Second Death Star was planned to be built without the weakness of the first one. Instead of a single thermal exhaust port large enough for a pair of proton torpedoes to enter, its reactor would instead dissipate heat through millions of millimeter-sized heat dispersion tubes, which would render it immune to that tactic. Fortunately, it was destroyed before it was fully completed, when there were still many openings in its superstructure leading to the reactor.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', [[ThePsychoRangers the Rowdyruff Boys']] first appearance ended with them exploding [[GirlsHaveCooties just from the Girls kissing them]]. When they're brought BackFromTheDead by [[BigRedDevil Him]], they no longer have this weakness, but unfortunately now have an equally pathetic one: the increasing power and size they got from tormenting the Girls [[ShamefulShrinking is later lost and even reversed when their masculinity is threatened]].

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona''
** The main point of the Ultimate Personas in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is removing the elemental weakness of the party member's starting Persona (in ''4'', though two members still have a weakness) or, in a {{downplayed|Trope}} example tripling the Evasion stat against their elemental weakness (in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'' version of ''4,'' as well as ''5''). Since being hit by an attack you are weak against gives the attacker an ExtraTurn, removing or reducing elemental weaknesses in your teammates should be a top priority.

** In both Part 4 and [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo 5]] there was a character whose Stand activated after the user's death, and since the only surefire way to destroy a Stand is killing the user, it was impossible to destroy.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonTitansAndOtherCreatures Monster X]] is capable of massive bursts of speed and strength via its own ShockAndAwe stimulating its muscles, the same way electric shock can cause massive muscle recoil in people, but it runs the risk of inflicting debilitating HeroicRROD on Monster X by tearing their body apart. [[spoiler:Once Monster X metamorphoses into its final form, this is fixed so it can use SuperSpeed freely]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', the otherwise hard to damage [[MechanicalMonster Mechon]] are easily dispatched by [[LegendaryWeapon the Monado]]. Early on in the game, however, Faced Mechon show up who can NoSell the Monado like any other weapon, which in turn forces the heroes to take them down the hard way. [[spoiler:In turn, the Monado later gets a MidSeasonUpgrade which lets it take on Faced Mechon with ease.]]

** It's also worth noting, San gets this by becoming part of Monster X. When San was part of Ghidorah, that body fared very ill in waters [[Film/GodzillaKigOfTheMonsters2019 as was demonstrated in canon]], whereas Monster X's vaguely closer-to-humanoid build and its [[TwoBeingsOneBody Vivienne Graham half]]'s swimming knowledge mean Viv and San fare better in waters.

** It's also worth noting
,,

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'': When the Gremlins break into the genetics lab, one of them mutates into a [[MixAndMatchCritters Bat-Gremlin hybrid]]. Another Gremlin who recently gained sentience because of a brain potion injects his winged compadre with another mixture that makes him resistant to the Gremlins' [[WeakenedByTheLight fatal weakness to sunlight]] so that he can go on a rampage in the city. Why he didn't take the potion himself is another matter.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', Megamind creates a new superhero using [[InvincibleHero Metroman]]'s genes. This new [[GoneHorriblyWrong "hero"]], Titan, has the same powers as Metroman. That's why Megamind is shocked to learn that, unlike Metroman, he's immune to copper. [[spoiler:In this case, it hints at the fact that Metroman was never weak against copper to begin with; [[FakeWeakness he merely faked it]]. The weakness is not so much removed as [[SubvertedTrope never existed in the first place]].]]
* In ''Film/ErnestScaredStupid'', trolls' weakness to milk was {{foreshadow|ing}}ed due to Trantor constantly running off whenever he caught sight of it. In the climax, Kenny realizes the truth and he and the neighborhood kids use it to help Ernest wipe out Trantor's newly raised army. However, during the fight, Trantor channeled the evil spirits of the woods to take on a OneWingedAngel form for a FinalBattle with Ernest. When he corners Kenny, he sprays Trantor with milk, [[NoSell to no effect]].
-->'''Trantor:''' I've grown too strong for that. [[NothingCanStopMeNow Not even milk can stop me now!]]

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' vampires feel a strong, almost uncontrollable urge for blood, [[spoiler:the only exception being Bella after her Vampification in ''Literature/BreakingDawn'']].

** A specific case happens in Chapter 110 when [[spoiler:Edo Tensei!Hiashi meets his brother Hizashi. His natural course of action would be to try and use the Caged Bird Sealed, which by then had already been removed from him and the rest of the Branch House Hyugas.]]

** The [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerks]]' need to leave their hosts once every three days to absorb Kandrona rays with their real bodies, otherwise, they die of starvation. On their planet, [[AlienSky the Kandrona rays are generated by their sun]], on Earth they have a secret base with an artificial generator.

* The main point of the Ultimate Personas in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is removing the elemental weakness of the party member's starting Persona (in ''4'', though two members still have a weakness) or, in a {{downplayed|Trope}} example tripling the Evasion stat against their elemental weakness (in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'' version of ''4,'' as well as ''5''). Since being hit by an attack you are weak against gives the attacker an ExtraTurn, removing or reducing elemental weaknesses in your teammates should be a top priority.
* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Slaking has some of the best stats in the game, comparable to some legendaries, but its ability, Truant, make it only attack every second turn. Yet there are some attacks that can remove or replace this ability, allowing him to unleash his full potential every turn, most likely overwhelming everything that stands on his path.
* In the Wii installment of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', many opponents cover up their weaknesses during Title Defense. For example, Glass Joe wears headgear to protect his glass jaw while King Hippo wears a manhole cover over his stomach. Special mention, however, goes to Bald Bull. Normally, Bald Bull will instantly be knocked down if he's punched in the stomach during his Bull Charge. In Title Defense? Bald Bull will keep his balance and go right back to fighting.

** In some games, Personas lose their elemental weakness upon evolving. Others have a downplayed variant where evolved Personas gain an Evade skill that triples their evasion against attacks of the element they're weak to.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', the otherwise hard to damage [[MechanicalMonster Mechon]] are easily dispatched by [[LegendaryWeapon the Monado]]. This isn't the case for the later introduced faced Mechon, who NoSell the Monado like any other weapon, which in turn forces the heroes to take them down the hard way. [[spoiler:In turn, the Monado later gets a MidSeasonUpgrade which lets it take on faced Mechon with ease.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', [[ThePsychoRangers the Rowdyruff Boys']] first appearance ended with them exploding [[GirlsHaveCooties just from the Girls kissing them]]. When they're brought BackFromTheDead by [[BigRedDevil Him]], they no longer have this weakness, but unfortunately now have an equally pathetic one: the increasing power and size they got from tormenting the Girls [[ShamefulShrinking is later lost when their masculinity is threatened]].

A common trait of monsters is the WeaksauceWeakness that allows humans to face them. After all, if monsters are so powerful and scary, how come that they haven't already taken over? Thus, [[TheFairFolk fairies]] are [[ColdIron repelled by iron]], demons run away in fear before a drop of Holy water, vampires [[WeakenedByTheLight can't stand sunlight]], werewolves only roam when there's a full moon, mages need to utter [[MagicalIncantation magic words]] to cast spells, and so on. Not only monsters have this problem; very often, characters that are too powerful are bound to have a restriction that, if they're villains, gives the Hero a chance against them and, if they're heroes, prevents them from being too boring to watch.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', [[ThePsychoRangers the Rowdyruff Boys']] first appearance ended with them exploding [[GirlsHaveCooties just from the Girls kissing them]]. When they're brought BackFromTheDead by [[BigRedDevil Him]], they no longer have this weakness, but unfortunately now have an equally pathetic one: the increasing power and size they got from tormenting the Girls is later lost when their masculinity is threatened.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' :

* In ''Manga/LetterBee'', the only way to eliminate a Gaichuu is to shoot a Shindan, or heart bullet, into the gaps in its armor. Near the end of the anime, Cabernet, the most dangerous Gaichuu shown, is able to gain a layer of armor that covers its entire body, protecting its weak spot. Niche and her sister are forced to break a hole in said armor in order to get at this weakness.

* Subverted by ComicBook/TheRiddler in the Franchise/{{Batman}} story that established that he's obsessively compelled to leave clues, otherwise he can't successfully commit a crime. The Riddler starts using forms of self-therapy to overcome his compulsion, and eventually manages to steal some jewelry without leaving any riddles. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin keep stumbling across strange people and events, which they end up connecting together to figure out Riddler's next crime. It's revealed when they catch him that Riddler hadn't overcome his compulsion--he started sleepwalking and left clues subconsciously. This realization actually led him to surrender to Batman, because he realized it meant he really was crazy.

* One of the characters in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' is secretly a werewolf, masquerading as a merchant and selling silver artifacts and wolfsbane herb to werewolf hunters. Not only does this keep suspicion away from him, but he also claims that [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity exposing himself to his weaknesses in this way has allowed him to build up a tolerance to them.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim's'' ''Dawnguard'' expansion pack, the vampire Lord Harkon intends to create a permanent eclipse to black out the sun, allowing his clan to hunt freely without being hindered by their weakness to sunlight.
** According to lore in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', the Cyrodiilic strain of vampires long, long ago made a deal with Clavicus Vile (the Daedric Prince of Pacts) that allowed them to decrease or outright lose the weaknesses of vampirism so long as they kept fed (a vampire that has fed in the last day can pass as mortal, take no damage from sunlight, and is only somewhat weaker against fire — and as one quest reveals, a well-fed vampire is mortal enough to [[spoiler:sire a child [[{{Dhampyr}} the old-fashioned way]]]]), at the cost of also downplaying the ''strengths'' of vampirism until they go without feeding. ''Skyrim'' brought in a similar mechanic for Skyrim vampires without the lore explanation, although in their case sunlight will ''always'' weaken no matter the stage — it's just increasingly crippling.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', the otherwise hard to damage [[MechanicalMonster Mechon]] are easily dispatched by [[LegendaryWeapon the Monado]]. This isn't the case for the later introduced faced Mechon, who NoSell the Monado like any other weapon, which in turn forces the heroes to take them down the hard way. [[spoiler:In turn, the Monado later gets a MidSeasonUpgrade which lets it take on faced Mechon with ease.]]

* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Slaking has some of the best stats in the game, comparable to some legendaries, but its ability, Truant, make it only attack every second turn. Yet there are some attacks that can remove or replace this ability, allowing him to unleash his full potential every turn, most likely overwhelming everything that stands on his path.
* In ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' it is brought up multiple times that the Spirit Monk's fighting style has a flaw. The flaw is such that it doesn't really hinder them since pretty nobody can take advantage of it in a meaningful way. The people who observe it praise the Spirit Monk's master for teaching them this way, assuming it's supposed to be a FakeWeakness to lure opponents into a false sense of security. [[spoiler:It's not. Master Li deliberately incorporated the flaw so that he could easily kill the Spirit Monk once they had outlived their usefulness. The flaw was designed such that only Master Li could take advantage of it.]] By the time the final battle begins, [[spoiler:Master Li]] correctly assumes that the Spirit Monk has corrected the flaw in their technique, meaning he can't easily kill them anymore.
* In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'', Kaptain K. Rool's weakness is that the cannonballs fired from his blunderbuss can be picked up and thrown back at him to plug it up. This is not the case for King K. Rool in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', who can use his blunderbuss to vacuum up cannonballs thrown at him and fire them back.
* The main point of the Ultimate Personas in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' and ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is removing the elemental weakness of the party member's starting Persona (in ''4'', though two members still have a weakness) or, in a {{downplayed|Trope}} example tripling the Evasion stat against their elemental weakness (in the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden]]'' version of ''4,'' as well as ''5''). Since being hit by an attack you are weak against gives the attacker an ExtraTurn, removing or reducing elemental weaknesses in your teammates should be a top priority.
* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'', Gwyn was noted for his vulnerability to parrying; a skilled player could give him a truly dreadful time with it. [[spoiler:As the second phase of the Soul of Cinder]] in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', [[spoiler:he can no longer be parried; players have reported hearing Gwyn's battle music go, instinctively going for a parry, and ending up getting torched]].
* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'', Medb is confirmed to have a weakness to being struck in the head by a thrown cheese, as this was how she died in legend. When you try it, however, she kicks the cheese away, and announces that she's used her time on the Throne of Heroes to train for exactly that. After an animation update, her new Buster-style attack is reacting to a cheese that comes flying at her, and kicking it at the enemy.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', units can learn abilities that cancel weapon effectiveness against them by increasing their Riding, Flying or Heavy Armor skill to the maximum rank. They're also used by some bosses.

** In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', Shadow Chie is weak against Wind, but also casts Green Wall, a skill that gives her resistance to Wind, meaning that there's only a small window of opportunity to exploit her weakness. Something similar happens with Shadow Yukiko in ''Golden'', since she's now weak against Ice, but also has White Wall.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', units can learn abilities that cancel weapon effectiveness against them by increasing their Riding, Flying or Heavy Armor skill to the maximum rank. They're also used by some bosses. Certain shields can grant the units the same abilities.

** In some games, a Persona that evolves will have a downplayed variant of this, gaining an Evade skill(triples evasion against a certain type of attack) for the element it's weak against.

** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', the Crystal of Vanity, as well as its upgraded counterpart, the Ring of Vanity, removes all of a Persona's weaknesses,