History Main / SuperweaponSurprise

* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' the Decepticons have weapons while the Autobots fight with tools.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': The Autobot victory was assured by their creation of the Omega Sentinels.

* Modern humans on the whole are individually peaceful and mostly harmless -- because they have determined violence is infrequently needed and tasked it to a tiny minority of the population. Meanwhile, those folks are ready to go at all hours.
* From the Second World War, the original HomeGuard. The British had taken a considerable hammering in France and had little in the way of proper equipment to spare for the newly-formed Local Defence Volunteers... But it so happened that the majority of said Volunteers were farm workers, exempt from conscription as they were performing essential war work. Farm workers tend to own shotguns and small-caliber rifles for pest control and sometimes hunting small game, and use them often enough to be quite good with them.
* UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates: If you can manage a trans-oceanic invasion, congrats... you've now invaded the country with the highest amount of guns per capita.

* Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands because the islands were completely undefended (the only British "military" asset stationed there at the time was an Antarctic research ship, and even that was about to be pulled out) and they believed the British simply had no real desire to try to retake them, especially in the face of proposed defense cuts. Then they invaded; then the British got pissed, and sent anything they could to the South Atlantic, including postponing the retirement of their Vulcan bombers (and pulling some out of the boneyards), originally scheduled for retirement early that year and doing an emergency cancellation of the sale of the aircraft carrier HMS ''Hermes'' (one of only two the Royal Navy had at the time) to the Indians when the ink was still drying (and completely scrapping the sale of the other one, HMS ''Invincible'', to the Aussies).
* New Zealand has a very small military, retiring the last of their tactical combat aircraft in 2002 and their largest warships are under-gunned frigates; yet they possess some of the most respected, well-trained and highly capable special forces teams in the world (some have argued they're better than what the US can put out), and have been on nearly continuous overseas deployment during TheNineties and since the turn of the millenium.
* Australian soldiers are renowned for being very professional and excellent at teamwork (though not always at taking orders). Small population countries do the best with what they have.
* Canada also has such a force, known as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Task_Force_2 Joint Task Force 2]]. Little is known about them, but they're among the most, if not ''the'' most competent special task force in the world despite having an estimated 600 soldiers. They also legally do not exist, as each member is stripped of their identity upon joining. The name of only one member is known, and that was only revealed after his accidental death.
* Finland during the Winter War. The Soviet Union was certain they could conquer the entire country within a span of few weeks. Instead, the plucky little place resisted for a hundred days and made their enemy pay a heavy price for every mile they acquired using guerrilla tactics. Technically the Soviets did win, and they could have kept going and eventually crush the Finns, but it more than qualifies regardless. Besides, Finland had a OneManArmy UsefulNotes/SimoHayha, who practically qualifies as a superweapon in his own right.
* Though widely regarded as ineffectual, Italy's military does have its moments.
** In 1917 the Austro-Hungarians had finally broken through Italian lines at Caporetto and were marching on the valley where most of the Italian weapons were and still are made... Only to stumble on a massif fortified with thousands of guns. In the same days, the routed Italian soldiers running from the main Austro-Hungarian force suddenly realized that their homes were under attack, stopped running, and started fighting like demons (an Italian brigade was actually nicknamed 'Demons' by the Austro-Hungarians due their ferocity), with the Austro-Hungarian invasion being stopped dead on its tracks.
** At [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Kasserine_Pass Kasserine Pass]], the Americans believed they had stopped Rommel's counterattack; his German troops were exhausted, and all he had left were Italians. But the Italians were ''Bersaglieri'', elite troops who Rommel considered superior to his German infantry; they attacked the American forces and showed that Rommel's appraisal was right.

** The warlike Kzinti stumble upon a completely demilitarised humanity. They invade, only to find out that [[WeaponizedExhaust reaction drives and solar sail launching lasers are actually pretty good at blowing things up]]. Surprise! This is referred to as the Kzinti lesson: "The more efficient a reaction drive, the more effective a weapon it makes." Related is Jon's Law which states "''any'' interesting space drive is a weapon of mass destruction".

* [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]] ''lived'' by this trope: Literature/TheCulture itself is also a nasty surprise. They are not SpaceAmish, they are [[PlanetOfHats Space Hippies]]. They spend their time [[ReallyGetsAround having as much sex as they can]], playing {{MMORPG}}s [[DeepImmersionGaming while sleeping]], organizing parties, and just enjoying their very, very long lives. They are apparently so [[MildlyMilitary alien to discipline]] than even their equivalent of [[OneManArmy elite soldiers]] can wander off the battlefield if they feel like it. But the civilization is run by [[DeusEstMachina godlike AI]], virtually any of their 30+ ''trillion'' citizens can be made into a PersonOfMassDestruction, and their war fleets have little trouble [[ApocalypseHow blowing up planets]] or suns if they feel like it.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Utawarerumono}}'': None of their neighbors in feudal-era Japan know how the small, apparently peaceful nation of Kunnekamun and their [[LittleBitBeastly bunny people]] survive, given that they don't have much in the way of an army. When they attack, though, it's quickly revealed: HumongousMecha!
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'': Myrrh appears to be a shy, young little girl who seems harmless. But when equipped with her Dragonstone, she transforms into a huge-ass Dragon who can kill almost anyone with one shot.

* Subverted by the Fleenians in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' a bunch of PerfectPacifistPeople who colonized a planetoid full of a rare mineral that can power [[WaveMotionGun really big guns.]] So they hid the stuff as best they could, and when the secret got out... they refused to use it even to defend themselves or to keep the stuff from getting stolen. At least they're consistent.

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* In ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'', the forces of Satan invade the Earth [[spoiler: after Yahweh, pissed that people aren't as into worshiping him as they once were, decides that Satan can have the whole lot of them]] expecting a curbstomp. Too bad the demons are at bronze age levels of technology and haven't been keeping up to date on recent human history. As it happens, there IS a curbstomp... right about when bronze meets the [=M1=] Abrams. Surprise! Also a surprise to Incomparable Legion Of Light when [[spoiler:a cruise missile detonates over their main body of troops and a 1.2 megaton nuclear explosion kills 150,000 to 250,000 Angels and Human Levies at once with the estimate in the next chapter being 349,000 humans and 45,000 angels with another surge of deaths expected in six to eight weeks time from radiation sickness.]]
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* ''VideoGame/{{Myth}}'': In The Last Battle, Alric reveals his secret weapon, one of the five Eblis Stones. It gives him enough power to temporarily paralyze Balor (The Leveler), the strongest being in the world, long enough for your forces to take his head.

* Any planet in the ''Franchise/{{Stargate Verse}}'' under the Protected Planets Treaty. The Goa'uld don't attack those (usually technologically primitive) planets, because if they do, the Asgard will show up and kick their asses. O'Neill asks the obvious question: if the Asgard are capable of so easily outfighting the Goa'uld, why haven't they overthrown the System Lords? Answer: [[spoiler:the Asgard are way too busy fighting the Replicators in their own galaxy, and cannot spare more than a handful of ships for defending the Protected Planets. The Goa'uld don't know this, which is good, because if they really attacked in earnest, the Asgard don't have the forces to stop them.]]
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXT22Ghouw This]] ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' clip. Note that while a Federation Galaxy class starship is the most powerful Federation vessel up to that point and is by no means a pushover, it could hardly overcome a single Romulan warbird without suffering catastrophic damage, to say nothing of facing two.
** There are also the peaceful Edo people from the first season episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E7Justice Justice]]". When Wesley breaks a law, {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s whom the Edo worship as God, intervene to ensure the Enterprise does not escape.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}'' 21st century Earth is a backwater world way behind the technology level of the spacefaring civilizations that surround it. It's also the favorite world of [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]], a mad genius by the standards of his own species of [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien nearly omnipotent]] time travelling aliens: threaten humanity's homeworld or hurt its inhabitants too much and you might [[BullyingADragon remind him]] that he is [[BewareTheNiceOnes way above Cthulhu]] in the food chain.

* Fairly common in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. That Eldar Exodite/Maiden world with its peaceful bunch of space elves, or that Imperial Medieval/Feudal world may look ripe for conquest and corruption, but beware the SuperSoldiers, massive battlefleets, and elf ninja clowns that the planet's distant rulers are liable to send when they receive word that one of their vassals is under attack. On the other hand with the galaxy being so big, it may take days, weeks, or months for reinforcements to arrive.

* From the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe:

* Seen in Heinlein's YoungAdult novel ''Literature/SpaceCadet''. The Venusians are supposedly primitive, so a JerkAss PoorLittleRichKid thinks he can push them around to get mining rights. It turns out that the 'primitive' Venusians are very good at chemistry, and use a powerful acid to burn into his ship and kill his crew. Later the Space Patrol is astonished when the Venusians synthesize fuel for their rocket. "They can do ANYTHING!" Except play a harmonica.

* ''VideoGame/StarControl:

* In ''FanFic/OriginStory'', which is set during the ''Marvel ComicBook/CivilWar'' arc, the Avengers are tasked by SHIELD to arrest a girl who escaped from their custody. SHIELD had previously tested the girl's power level, and put her somewhere on the scale between Power Man and Franchise/SpiderMan. Well, surprise, surprise, turns out she was a [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Kryptonian]] who figured out that maybe hiding just how powerful she really was might be a smart idea. Cue [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] getting the [[CurbStompBattle ass-whipping]] of his life.

* HigherTechSpecies / SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: They either have technology not immediately apparent to observers or else ''are'' said {{Precursors}} in disguise; while they like to present an amicable, low key image, in reality they possess unimaginable power and can demonstrate it whenever push comes to shove.

* ''The Algebraist'' by Iain M. Banks: the Dwellers, a bumbling, if ancient, race of gas-giant aliens reveal that their tech is vastly superior to the junk with which they are normally credited: [[spoiler:in an ill-advised attack on the Dwellers, the Mercatoria find out about the Isaut, a Planetary Protector (Deniable), which rises from the cloud-deck, destroys the entire fleet in moments and sinks again.]] Also consider that if you really piss off Dwellers, you can expect to find a planet sized collection of rocks, gravel and dust impacting your home world at a great proportion of the speed of light.