History Main / SelfDefenseless

* Subverted hilariously in ''Film/{{Thor}}''. The title character, recently banished to the mortal realm and stripped of his powers, is found by the good guys and goes on a rant that makes PluckyComicRelief Darcy nervous enough to aim her taser at him.

** It should be noted that although it's not possible to tough out a taser, it's not the case with pepper spray. Training (including repeated exposure) may render it less effective. Also, certain drugs may suppress the effect and some people can withstand the pain even without them. There are also some hypotheses stating that some people can be naturally immune or somehow can aquire immunity.

* On ''Series/ShamelessUS'' hears a ScaryBlackMan claim that he can stay on his feet after being tasered. Frankly does not believe him (most likely because he has been tasered a fair bit himself) and bets him $10,000 that he will go down if Frank taseres him. The man is able to withstand the taser and Frank is forced to make a run for it since he has no money.

* In the "Battle for Mahora" arc of ''MahouSenseiNegima'', Ku Fei is tased by a Chachamaru replica, only to shrug off the effects a few seconds later.

** Wraith stunners on Series/StargateAtlantis work similarly. Humans who are taking the Wraith enzyme have increased resistance to them.

* On ''{{Shameless}}'' (US) hears a ScaryBlackMan claim that he can stay on his feet after being tasered. Frankly does not believe him (most likely because he has been tasered a fair bit himself) and bets him $10,000 that he will go down if Frank taseres him. The man is able to withstand the taser and Frank is forced to make a run for it since he has no money.
* ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' averted this a couple of times, and in fact it's one of the few things Jack Bauer can't just shake off.

** Well, they are [[FridgeLogic under]][[WaterIsAir water]]...
* Averted for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}''. "Pepper spray? That sounds delicious! [gets sprayed in the eyes] AAAAH, I WAS WRONG, I WAS HORRIBLY WRONG!!"
** While it's obviously horrifyingly painful, they are fairly fine several minutes after the chase scene, despite each character in the chase scene getting ''several cans' worth'' of pepper spray emptied into their faces.
* [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]] likes pepper spray on his eggs, for that "South-of-the-Border" flavor.
-->"Mmm, incapacitating... *Eyes water*"
* [[WesternAnimation/DanVs Dan]] is immune to not only mace, but also tear gas (he doesn't even notice it when he's covered with so much that it's causes other people to have trouble seeing and breathing).

%comment% PLEASE NO "TRUTH IN TELEVISION" SNARK. That above comment is up there for a reason.

* Pepper spray and tazers provide brief incapacitation in ''SaintsRow2'', although the latter weapon is still lethal when applied directly to the face in a human shield execution.

* Averted for laughs in ''{{Chowder}}''. "Pepper spray? That sounds delicious! [gets sprayed in the eyes] AAAAH, I WAS WRONG, I WAS HORRIBLY WRONG!!"

* [[DanVs Dan]] is immune to not only mace, but also tear gas (he doesn't even notice it when he's covered with so much that it's causes other people to have trouble seeing and breathing).

* Averted by ''{{GURPS}}'' where pepper spray doesn't wear off until the victim goes somewhere and washes it off.
* ''D20Modern'', however, has pepper spray that incapacitates for ''less than a minute'', and stun guns that a healthy, average adult has a 25% chance of resisting. Probably CompetitiveBalance, as the game's AlmostLethalWeapons are pretty cheap.

* In ''Film/RockNRolla'' One Two gets maced, point-blank, in the face [[StopHelpingMe by one of his mates]]. It's certainly shown to hurt, and he needs nursing along for a minute or so, but he seems fine shortly afterwards and it never seems to affect his breathing. Also worth noting that the guy he was grappling with at the time, quite possibly within splashing range under the circumstances, suffered no apparent ill effects.

* Like [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Quagmire]], ChristopherWalken's ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive SNL]]'' character The Continental has been sprayed so often he [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity is no longer affected by pepper spray]].

* On ''JustShootMe'', Jack buys a taser to protect himself. Dennis' tough father tries it and finds it only tickles him. Jack thinks he bought a defective taser and tries it on Elliot. For some time afterwards, Elliot is a convulsing, incoherent mess, and right when he's supposed to meet Tyra Banks, who thinks he's some kind of weird pervert and hits him with her can of mace.

* In ''MortalKombat'', Stryker's taser does minor damage and really only makes the opponent stumble back a bit. Though, frankly, when dealing with a cast who routinely shrug off missiles to the face, even that is pretty impressive.

* ''{{SWAT 4}}'' is a mixed bag. Tasers will result in 100% compliance, but all of your other potent less-than-lethal weapons (beanbag shotguns, pepper spray/paintballs, flashbangs, tear gas, sting grenades, and a mean left hook in the expansion) sometimes take multiple shots in order to get suspects to comply. How inappropriate/necessary/realistic this is is variant on your personal cynicism/optimism level.

* Inverted in the early ''SyphonFilter'' games. The taser is hilariously overpowered, causing people to ''[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential catch]] [[KillItWithFire fire]]'' if applied long enough.

* In ''RockNRolla'' One Two gets maced, point-blank, in the face [[StopHelpingMe by one of his mates]]. It's certainly shown to hurt, and he needs nursing along for a minute or so, but he seems fine shortly afterwards and it never seems to affect his breathing. Also worth noting that the guy he was grappling with at the time, quite possibly within splashing range under the circumstances, suffered no apparent ill effects.

* A faceful of mace is one of the ''least'' painful things done to the villains trying to break into the home in ''HomeAlone''.

* In ''CrankHighVoltage'', protagonist Chev Chelios is tasered by police officers, which does absolutely nothing in preventing him from turning around, stealing their guns, and beating them all down. [[VoodooShark Questionably]] [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that [[YouFailBiologyForever Chev's heart was removed and replaced with a high-powered electronic battery]], and the [[FeedItWithFire taser blast only powered him up]].

* Like [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Quagmire]], ChristopherWalken's ''{{SNL}}'' character The Continental has been sprayed so often he [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity is no longer affected by pepper spray]].

* In ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8wLU6E8Zsg the fight between Shion and Rika]] demonstrates both pepper spray and tasers being used to cause...momentary irritation, and not much else.

* Bean Bandit from ''GunsmithCats'' collasped onto a table when he was hit with a taser ... and then got straight back up again. However, Bean is described as a 'gorilla in a flak jacket' - a taser had realistic effects on other characters.
** This isn't new to Bean. ''RidingBean'' had Rally attempting to ''wake him up'' with a taser. It doesn't work.
*** Averted in the main series; Rally gets tased by a kid suckered by some mobsters, and only escapes because of her ImprobableAimingSkills. And the next day, she's ''still'' shuddering from the effects.

* In ''CityOfHeroes'', the Taser in the Devices powerset just has a short five-second stun. The Taser Darts temporary power gotten at level one are worse, doing possibly the worst damage in the game--but, hey, free power.

* StevenSeagal likes this trope. ''Film/ExitWounds'' has a bunch of corrupt cops use their tasers on each other for the sake of showing off, bets, and entertainment. In ''UnderSiege2DarkTerritory'', one of the bad guys takes a can of pepper spray and squirts it into his own mouth to prove that he has become accustomed to the taste, pointing out to his attacker that she only had civilian issue pepper spray rather than full strength mace.

* Played surprisingly straight in an early scene in ''Film/{{Kick-Ass}}''. When Kick-Ass hits Razul with a taser whose prongs ''get stuck in his forehead'', he does go down, but the second it runs out of power, he gets right back up. Lampshaded when Hit-Girl later tells him that was a pretty crappy taser.

* Averted in the ''Series/BurnNotice'' episode "Comrades". Fiona manages to kidnap someone with a taser.

* Averted in ''[[Film/{{Friday}} Next Friday]]''. Day-Day gets maced by his ex-girlfriend, and needs to be sprayed off with a house for twenty minutes before he's okay.

* In an episode of ''HighlanderTheSeries'', Duncan [=MacLeod=] is hit with a taser. He is stopped for a few seconds before managing to cut the wires with his sword (that he had already drawn). Once it's stopped, he's able to resume going after the bad guy, although slowed down a bit.

The instances where pepper spray or tasers are shown as being effective are often PlayedForLaughs.

* Averted in the ''BurnNotice'' episode "Comrades". Fiona manages to kidnap someone with a taser.
* Used in ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'', where the zat gun supposedly operates on principles similar to a taser but you can acquire some resistance to its effects if you get shot too many times.

* When [[ActionMom Nicole]]] of ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' goes on an UnstoppableRage in a supermarket a security guard hits her with his taser and it barely slows her down.