History Main / TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort

* Real-life NonchalantDodge master [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts Anderson Silva]] does this often when matched against inferior opponents, before effortlessly [=KOing=] them. See the bottom of that page for details. It was a [[http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/3403/2lu2cyp.gif huge shock]] when Chael Sonnen [[http://www.gifsoup.com/view/1030831/sonnen-vs-silva-o.gif forced]] Silva to [[http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/646620/silva-rocked.gif fight]], and [[http://urdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Zombie-prophet-Sonnen.gif fight]] [[http://i52.tinypic.com/hs2epw.gif hard]] to [[http://urdirt.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/AndersonSubmitsChaelSonnen.gif win]] in their UFC 117 matchup.
** Came back to bite him in the ass when facing Chris Weidman. Silva believed him to be inferior and went into his usual routine of barely dodging and luring his opponent in before being unexpectedly knocked out. Interestingly the rematch went in the opposite direction -- Silva [[AttackAttackAttack attacked so hard]] that he broke his own leg against Weidman's defense.

* Frederica from ''LightNovel/AvestaOfBlackAndWhite'' has a Commandment that forbids her from ever dodging or blocking attacks made against her, but gives her near complete immortality in return as long as she doesn't do anything to violate it.

* [[TheBerserker Berserker]] from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' is big on this trope. Attacks beneath 'A'-rank cannot hurt him at all [[spoiler:and he has 11 extra lives on top of that; he must be killed 12 times to keep him down]]. Thus, any attack Berserker will even deign to defend against will be one capable of mortally wounding him: It therefore becomes noticeable when he is actually forced to go on the defensive, especially in the anime [[spoiler:when he fights Archer and the up-to-that-point unnoticeable Servant manages to force him to do just that with his first attack.]]

** To reiterate, swinging your "standard" sword wouldn't faze a knight in armor, so you had to have the martial prowess and strength to wield weapons and techniques capable of overcoming his armor, or you had to have the strength and training to overpower him and kill him in a grapple... all of these are skills that a knight has in spades.
** Contrast its main predecessor, [[OlderThanFeudalism chainmail]]. It was heavy, bulky, and yet fairly protective to wear, especially when backed with enough padding to absorb the impacts of weapon blows. Powerful piercing attacks from swords, lances, or arrows could penetrate mail to the detriment of its wearer.
** A lot of old suits of armor made knights have that funny pointed pot-bellied look. Unless a stab is perpendicular to the slope of the breastplate, it would tend to deflect off to the side instead of puncturing, and naturally a conic form makes determining the angle to stab much harder in the heat of combat. Naturally, you rarely if ever see it in mass media, due to RuleOfGlamorous.
* The modern counterpart of the armored knight is of course the battle tank. Early tanks did not have the armor to resist much more than machine gun fire, but that alone made them useful complements to bomber-teams and light machine gunners when assaulting enemy strongpoints -- 'defence in depth' doctrine having made 'trench lines' obsolete by the time tanks saw minor use in 1917 (after one experimental use 1916). In 1917–18, the sight of rifle and machine-gun fire glancing harmlessly off a pair of tanks as they lay waste to enemy pillboxes and redoubts -- at least until the Germans started putting artillery pieces into pillboxes and redoubts. From then until now, no long-lived (outside of peacetime) tanker has ''ever'' been under the illusion that they are invincible -- "shoot first!" is their international, eternal motto.
** Of course, as per the knight example, this goes both ways: not all tanks are built equally, and a round that would punch through a Leopard I ''[[NoSell wouldn't even faze a Leopard II]]'', leading to many [[AntiArmor would-be tank-slayers armed with obsolete weaponry]] [[OhCrap gasping in astonishment as their rockets do little more than blowing out their tracks or destroying their radio antennae]]. Consequently, no long-lived (outside of peacetime) soldier has ''ever'' considered an enemy tank 'harmless' unless [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill it's a burnt-out, gutted hulk with its turret half blown off]].
*** Evolution of tank armor has been cyclical. Early tanks were lighly protected, while armor grew thicker during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. During TheFifties, the era when Leopard I was conceived, armor became lighter again due to advances in AntiArmor weapons reducing the benefits of heavy armor. Composite armor of the 1970s made heavy armor useful again for a while, but the very latest generation of anti-tank weapons has rendered it irrelevant given that a) many can penetrate composite armor outright and b) many are programmed to strike vehicles from above, where their armor is weakest. Now tank survivability is conditional on 'reactive armor' (outfitting the outside of the tank with explosives) and point-defense systems (shooting the anti-tank rockets down in the split-second before they hit) -- and, of course, shooting first.
* In the same vein as the tank, but going back even further, ironclad warships brought the same defensive powers to naval warfare, with cannonballs simply bouncing off their armour plates. Since they were armed with those same weapons, the first few duels between these ships were all draws. For a brief time, when two ironclads fought, neither ship could hope to harm one another. There was, in fact, a short period around that time when the idea that due to the ineffectiveness of cannons, ''ramming'' would come back into fashion as a decisive naval tactic! Of course, that was when black powder cannons (frequently still muzzle-loaded) firing actual cannonballs were still ''en vogue'' -- and naval artillery refused to remain stuck there long enough for the prediction to actually come true.
* This is at least partly the point of the Bando Monk system of self-defense (Burma?) where their goal if attacked is to dodge and parry until their attacker gives up in frustration. Then they wish him or her a nice day and go about their business. Yes, it's active defense, but the intention is to frustrate the attacker into submission.

* People will often start off following all safety protocols and then after time, pay less and less heed to them. This comes from people relaxing because the dangers that the safety protocol prevents don't happen often. Then, disaster strikes and people get hurt.

** This is also why the car accidents men get into are generally worse, if less frequent than the ones women do. Men are ''slightly'' better at spatial orientation, but they tend to overcompensate for this with reckless driving. That's why most female accidents are fender benders and most male accidents are far more serious.
* Can also be somewhat true in real sparring and fighting situations by attacking overwhelmingly enough that the opponent goes entirely on the defensive. You don't have to defend yourself if the opponent is too busy ducking and dodging to fight back. Better hope your opponent is weak in defense, though, since attacking takes far more effort. In an unarmed striking fight, if you don't win before you tire, you're at his mercy.

* Completely averted in sport fencing, where an attack ''must'' be stopped or avoided before a counterattack is considered valid. Were the swords sharp, failing to defend before counterattacking would result in punctures of various vital organs, especially the lungs. Epee, which is based on a duel to first blood with less-lethal weapons, is an exception.
** Played with by some Medieval- and Renaissance-era Western martial arts and Olympic fencing, such as the Liechtenauer tradition of German longsword fight, which advocate combining attack and defense in the same movements. The ultimate goal is to defend yourself in such a way that your defense also attacks the opponent, and to launch attacks that aren't easily countered. Since one good blow generally ended a fight in swordplay, the best defense was one that killed the opponent and prevented him from attacking again. Swordsmen got very good at this - the sign of an experienced swordsman was an explosive counterattack that [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat immediately caused the opponent to be able to do nothing but defend himself]], and keep being forced to defend himself over and over until he failed to do so. Beginners ''begin'' by learning parry and reposte as separate moves, but soon learn to combine them.

** Up until the Cell Saga, Kuririn/Krillin had a technique called Kienzan/Destructo-Disc, which was powerful but easy to dodge. So powerful, in fact, that it was the only technique among the secondary characters to actually break their enemies Diminished Effort. When he uses it against Nappa in the Saiyan arc, he is the first to do some actual damage to Nappa, and only because Nappa actually dodged it in the last moment thanks Vegeta's warning (Vegeta is later seen using a similar technique to cut off Great Ape Gohan's tail, which is how he knew it was dangerous enough to kill Nappa). In the Frieza arc Krillin uses the technique again on Frieza and is the first to actually damage him in his first transformation by cutting his tail off (though, again, one has to wonder how Frieza figured out the attack would actually hurt him). It is only in the Cell arc that the Law of Diminishing Efforts comes back to haunt him as Krillin uses a barrage of attacks against Perfect Cell, including the Kienzan, and the Kienzan uselessly breaks against Cell's neck who does absolutely no effort in dodging this attack. Note that Perfect Cell isn't any more or less arrogant than both Frieza or Vegeta, and yet both of these figured they actually HAD to dodge this attack while Cell figured he didn't have to. However, Cell was capable of regenerating from just a head anyway so it wouldn't have killed him even if it HAD worked and Cell knew this. Later one of the Cell Jrs. uses the Disc against Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, and it's the only technique out of all of the ones they throw at him Gohan doesn't just stand/float there and take the blow and instead dodges.
** Its worth nothing that Cell resisting the Kienzan was an anime only scene; it did not appear in the manga, and general statements by Toriyama related to the Kienzan mean that its generally interpreted as being a mistake on the part of the anime.
** During Goku's fight with Spike the Devil Man, Spike decides to use his Devilmite Beam attack. Master Roshi freaks out, quickly explains that the attack is a OneHitKill to any being with a shred of evil in them, and yells at Goku to dodge it. Goku takes it head on because he couldn't understand what Roshi was saying and he thought the beam was pretty. It's a good thing Goku is pure of heart or else he would have died.

** Kenpachi Zaraki is perfectly content to let his opponents attack him, and actually encourages them to go for the eye or the throat. The first time Ichigo tried to hit Kenpachi with his sword, Ken was unharmed, and Ichigo's hands got hurt from the impact. However, even when his enemies show they ''can'' cut him, he still rarely bothers to dodge or defend and lets them keep hitting him so he can get in the perfect range to strike back. This almost got him in trouble fighting Nnoitra, as he underestimated how much damage Nnoitra was actually doing to his body and made him sober up on the realization that if he didn't take him out ''now'' he'd bleed to death in the long run.
** Also, Nnoitra Gilga fits it pretty well, especially the corollary during his fight with Kenpachi. He doesn't actually dodge any of Kenpachi's attacks until Kenpachi aims for the head, giving Kenpachi the proof he needs that Nnoitra's [[SuperToughness hierro]] ''isn't'' actually invincible. [[AvertedTrope However]], Nnoitra replies that it's just natural instinct to dodge a sword coming for the head, and when Kenpachi goes for [[EyeScream a stab through the eye]], he makes the mistake of aiming for his EyepatchOfPower, which actually covers Nnoitra's [[TorsoWithAView Hollow hole]] and opens him to a retaliatory strike. That said, Nnoitra's smugness quickly fades once Kenpachi finally figures out the trick to cutting him and he's forced to start parrying and dodging rather than tanking.
** [[spoiler:Aizen]] ''averts'' this for a while, using his [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]] to avoid attacks he could probably easily tank anyway. But when he reveals [[spoiler:his HealingFactor]], he adheres fully to this trope.

** In ''[=StrikerS=]'', Fate develops a "defensive costume" that trades ''all'' protection for a massive speed boost. The [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Numbers]]' best fighter immediately recognizes that a single hit that connects will kill Fate. What she fails to realize is that in a high-speed battle, [[FastestThingAlive you CAN'T land a hit on Fate]].
** Yuuno was good at two things, barriers and teleportation. When he's seen fighting Vita in the second episode of ''A's'' he nearly completely ignores her, throws up a defensive barrier, and keeps working on teleporting the entire gang out of the Wolkenritter's barrier. This ALL WITHOUT THE USE OF A MAGICAL DEVICE. Vita had [[CurbStompBattle demolished Nanoha]] and would have won if the others hadn't interfered just the episode before.
* Alucard from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', not because he can't be damaged (rather the opposite, really) but because his HealingFactor is quite powerful and makes him practically unkillable. He likely also doesn't because it's as scary as hell for those attacking him with absolutely no clear actual permanent effect. When he begins employing anything approaching tactics, you can tell the fight is very serious.

** Hidan is entirely immortal, and thus has almost no strategy or moves beyond "get opponent's blood for voodoo technique". Both his partner Kakuzu and eventual opponent Shikamaru tell him how stupid that is. [[spoiler:They are [[AndIMustScream entirely right]].]] Again, Conditional Immortality like with Alucard. WordOfGod says that, if he doesn't perform his ritual sacrifices, his immortality will eventually run out. No word on how long that TAKES, though.
** The series is otherwise an aversion, as it's shown that even with heavy use of CharlesAtlasSuperpower there's a limit to the raw physical ability any person can normally achieve (as detailed in [[http://narutoforums.com/showthread.php?t=454470 this helpful essay]]). Thus, even insanely powerful ninja have to avoid simple things like kunai and explosives and the strongest techniques are the ones that make being hit nearly impossible.
*** Hidan DOES have to dodge or avoid certain things though, since [[spoiler: his body parts can be severed, and he shows no ability to reattach them. After getting his head cut off, Kakuzu has to sew it back on. Since Kakuzu is capable of ripping out peoples' hearts and absorbing them with that sewing... it's debatable if Hidan would've been able to pull himself back together on his own. Though Hidan's mid-range attack methods suggest not.]]
*** Some ninja, like Orochimaru, [[GoodThingYouCanHeal still play the trope straight though]]. In Orochimaru's case, he can simply regenerate after almost anything including a broken neck. [[spoiler:This also bites him in the ass, as he makes no effort to dodge a blade that he thought couldn't harm him, only for it to turn out to be a ''spiritual'' blade that [[LotusEaterMachine sealed him in an endless illusion]].]]
*** Orochimaru also plays it entirely straight when [[spoiler:he fights Naruto in the 4-Tailed Transformation. He makes very little effort to actually dodge attacks, though he does use a technique which allows him to create a "new" body in order to avoid certain attacks' effects after they've connected. It isn't until Kyuubi!Naruto uses the [[BreathWeapon 4 Tails]] [[WaveMotionGun Menacing Ball]] that he puts forth a ''serious '' effort to defend himself, commenting on how it could kill even him in one shot. Said "serious effort" being to summon the ''Triple'' Rashomon Gate in the blast's path; a pair of his EliteMooks had previously described a ''single'' Rashomon Gate as the "ultimate defense". All three gates were destroyed, but the blast was slowed enough for Orochimaru to avoid destruction.]]

** Subverted with both Gaara and later [[spoiler:Sasuke]] who tried to rely on their "ultimate defense" (the Sand Shield and [[spoiler:Susanoo]]) technique to mean they don't need to do anything else to defend themselves, but eventually have both of them defeated.
*** Semi-Subverted with Tsunade [[spoiler:and later Sakura]]. Her healing techniques mean that she can both take the front lines and survive lethal attacks, but she still trains in evasion, so its more of a last resort than anything.

* Subverted in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': Simon puts up a barrier of Spiral power that effortlessly deflects a barrage of Anti-Spiral attacks. He [[TemptingFate mocks the Anti-Spirals]] when they immediately try another barrage - but this one penetrates the barrier and causes serious damage. This is an example of the Anti-Spirals rewriting the laws of the universe, basically, to make "the impossible possible."

* In ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'', to demoralize Lina into using her DangerousForbiddenTechnique, Hellmaster tells the Slayers that they can attack him all they want and he won't counter-attack or even attempt to defend himself, and then spends a while laughing off everything they throw at him (even more so in the novel version, where all of the Slayers actively participate in the fight). The first thing that forces him to react is two simultaneous Dragon Slaves from Lina and Sylphiel, which "might have hurt a bit if I hadn't dodged it". The only thing that he really considers worth defending against is the Giga Slave - at which point he discovers that [[EvilIsNotAToy ultimate destructive power is not a toy]].
* Averted in ''Manga/BlackButler'', where Sebastian regularly dodges when shot at despite being ImmuneToBullets. This is suggested to be because getting shot ruins his clothes, and as a BattleButler he must look impeccable.
* [[spoiler:Father]] from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' can do pretty much the strongest [[FunctionalMagic alchemy]] in the entire series ''without moving at all''. [[spoiler:He spends several chapters just standing there, [[ImplacableMan arms crossed]], blocking everything the good guys can throw at him. And when he finally raises his arm to block, that's when they know he's finally losing it.]]

** Juvia has a body of living water that normally feels no pain and can effortlessly re-from when splattered. When Meldy throws a StormOfBlades at her, Juvia confidently stands still, but they turn out to be magical swords that ''can'' hurt her, and she gets badly injured.

** Played with by [[WorldsStrongestMan Acnologia]], who occasionally takes strikes head on and at worst just gets knocked back before acting like he didn't even feel it [[spoiler:because he has natural AntiMagic thanks to his Dragon Slayer element being Magic itself]], but other times he can be seen blocking strikes or jumping away from them. ''However'', the ease and almost casual way he does both makes it clear he doesn't actually feel threatened by them in any way.
* Totally averted in Chapter 280 of ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''. The Karate club is taught Muy Thai by one of the members of Yomi, but he only taught them how to attack. As such they could not defend against Kenichi at all when he counter attacked.

** [[EldritchAbomination Asura]] also plays this straight after his fight with [[BigGood Lord Shinigami]]. Attacks seem to damage him he still just [[NoSell No Sells]], [[spoiler: and it turns out he's the personification of fear and [[AsLongAsThereIsEvil can't die as long as fear exists]], so he had no reason to be concerned about them.]] He only had reason to concern himself with Shinigami since he defeated him prior to the series.
* Often used in ''Manga/OnePiece'': Luffy is made of Rubber and thereby immune to bullets and blunt force trauma (unless supplemented by haki), Logia users are elementals and immune to everything except sea stone, the sea itself, something that defeats their element (e.g. using water on a fire logia) or haki.
** Both of these come up as plot points later as Crocodile (a sand Logia) and Enel (self appointed god of Skypeia and lightning Logia user) Don't bother to dodge Luffy's punches they get smacked in the face as Luffy has coated his hands in water or his own blood (Crocodile) or is made of rubber and is insulated from electricity (Enel). From this point on both fights are over pretty quickly as neither is as used to conventional hand to hand combat as Luffy (although Crocodile still won their second round with the water by dehydrating Luffy's body and only lost the third round with the blood because [[VillainousBreakdown he finally had enough and threw strategy out the window for a simple beatdown]]). Likewise Luffy makes little to no effort to block punches so when Sentoumaru shows up and uses hand to hand combat, reinforced by armament haki on him Luffy is freaked out that he's being hurt by these attacks.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', when Sayaka Miki starts to go LaughingMad due to learning [[spoiler:Magical Girls like herself are pretty much liches]], she charges straight at Elsa Maria, relying on her FeelNoPain and regeneration to tank the witch's attacks, until she gets close enough to kill her. Everyone comments that she had to be out of her mind to fight that way, even if she can't feel pain and can heal from injuries. [[spoiler:Doing so actually makes the Magical Girls lose their minds and become Witches even faster than normal]]

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11972895/1/The-God-of-Destruction-comes-to-Remnant The God of Destruction Comes to Remnant]]'', Godzilla is sent to the world of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' in the form of a Faunus. When he gets into a fight with a thug, he stands still when the thug throws a punch, thinking that he's still invulnerable and the thug will just break his hand, only to get hurt and knocked down. He learns his lesson after that and fights smarter.

* While Franchise/WonderWoman has been impervious to small arms fire for decades and can usually tank much more impressive hits she usually blocks and/or catches bullets and other projectiles especially when she's in a city, which prevents a ricochet from hurting someone else. If the fight is in the wilderness she'll just walk through a hail of bullets without flinching.

* In ''ComicBook/SecretWars'', Amora ComicBook/TheEnchantress stood still against ComicBook/SheHulk, believing that the mortal would not be able to harm her, only to be knocked out with a single blow.

* ''Discworld/TheFifthElephant'' shows this only applies if the person has some knowledge of combat: an ordinary policeman dodges when Vimes tosses an orange at him, but someone who doesn't flinch from gently-flung fruit presumably knows how to fight.

* Played with is ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' where late-game boss [[spoiler:Asha, in his rematch]] is able to dodge all your attacks, but doesn't bother to dodge shotgun or autogun rounds, believing them to be beneath him. [[spoiler:He doesn't count of Iji surviving as long as she does, constantly chipping down his health until his pride gets him killed.]]

** Just like in the previous game, the aliens that can't Take Cover! are those that are so hardy they don't need to, or they have innate Defence that confers the same advantage anyway. Or both. You also don't get the 40% bonus to critical hit chance that flanking normally does.

* ''Fanfic/LostToDust'': Because Yang Xiao Long has Avalon which heals her injuries, combined with her [[FeedItWithFire Semblance]], she's started to become arrogant and just stand there tanking damage. Kairi Sisigou scolds her and points those abilities aren't foolproof and she almost got killed by Beowulf.

** Averted with Reinforce Eins, who isn't averse to using external barriers to stop her opponents' attacks.[[spoiler: Nanoha pierces her barrier, fires an Exelion Buster point-blank at her... [[NoSell and she isn't even scratched]].]]

* In ''Fanfic/FatesCollide'', the RWBY characters often confidently stand still, believing their Aura will protect them, only to find out the hard way Noble Phantasms are powerful enough to wound them.

* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', Superman, Supergirl and a third Kryptonian crash into Darkseid's stronghold and bump straight into Kryptonite Man. After rescuing them from the trap they had been lured into, Lightray considers the trio is too cocky, but he'd probably also get cocky after shrugging off the attacks of thousands of parademons.

* RobinHood in Creator/MelBrooks' ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'' does something similar, having a nonchalant conversation with his servant while fighting the guards.

--> "Sounds like we're winning, sir."

* Franchise/{{Superman}} in, well, just about anything he shows up in. This was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in the {{Franchise/DCAU}} by Batman, who realized that Superman is so powerful he probably doesn't need to fight strategically most of the time.
** In Franchise/TheDCU proper, kryptonite-tipped bullets have been used several times against Superman for that very reason. While he could very easily dodge a bullet, he's simply got no reason to and will therefore stand there and [[ShootingSuperman let you shoot him]]. Get a bullet that hurts him, and this backfires against Big Blue badly. But then, Superman being the kind of person he is, he's likely tanking the bullets just to protect any innocent bystanders nearby.

** Lampshaded by [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Jerry Seinfeld]] in a American Express TV commercial with an animated Superman. Instead of catching a VCR thrown at him, Superman just puts his hands on his hips and thrusts out his chest. Jerry asks him why didn't he just catch it (to prevent it from breaking), and Superman replies that he doesn't catch, he does the chest thrust.
** Lampshaded in the ''Film/SupermanReturns'' movie, where Supes wins a "fight" with some bank robbers merely by showing up.
** Clark in ''Series/LoisAndClark'' was supremely bad about this, in a show where the number of laser guns and other MadScientist inventions outnumbered the Kryptonite chunks, Superman would just stare at the bad guy's gun pointed at him instead of dodging it or using his heat vision to melt it away.
* Adam Destine (''Comicbook/ClanDestine'', Marvel) can't be harmed, ''period''. As he has lived several centuries with this condition, he tends not to react to any attack. His usual tactic is to stand still while his opponent gets tired or leaves.
* Kimura is physically indestructible, so she doesn't even flinch when a gun is pointed at her head, or when faced with Comicbook/{{X 23}}'s adamantium claws. Her arrogance bites her in the ass when she faces ComicBook/EmmaFrost, and learns that [[MindRape her mind is not nearly as invulnerable as her body]].

* [[ComicBook/TheEnchantress Amora the Enchantress]] once stood still against Comicbook/SheHulk, believing that the mortal would not be able to harm her, only to be knocked out with a single blow.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Juvia has a body of living water that normally feels no pain and can effortlessly re-from when splattered. When Meldy throws a StormOfBlades at her, Juvia confidently stands still, but they turn out to be magical swords that ''can'' hurt her, and she gets badly injured.

The corollary: ''Any attack that forces someone who normally ignores self-defense to dodge the attack is [[OneHitKill an attack that can kill him in one hit]].''

* Free from ''Manga/SoulEater'' hardly ever bothers with blocking or dodging, because he has CompleteImmortality. In fact, the one time he went out his way to dodge Black Star's sword strikes Kid immediately realizes something's up and that "Free" is really a projected illusion used for distraction. The only times he's ever bothered with blocking is when he's acting like a meat shield for the much more vulnerable ally Eruka.

* Sebastian Shaw in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. When Magneto sends a storm of metal at him, he doesn't even seem to notice it as all the metal harmlessly bounces off him.
** Which makes sense, since his mutant power (in the comics at least) explicitly is to absorb kinetic energy, so simply hitting him tends to leave him both unhurt ''and'' stronger than before. He's still vulnerable to less straightforward attacks (he still needs to breathe, for one) and knows it, though.

** Although, Archer's involvement up to that point in the game route that the series of mainly based on is due to Saber having injured him.

** Also, Nnoitra Gilga fits it pretty well, especially the corollary during his fight with Kenpachi. He doesn't actually dodge any of Kenpachi's attacks until Kenpachi aims for the head, giving Kenpachi the proof he needs that Nnoitra's [[SuperToughness hierro]] ''isn't'' actually invincible.

** Played with by Cell who (despite Vegeta's warnings) stands still to take a Final Flash, [[ExaggeratedTrope an attack that notably takes a few minutes to properly execute]]. As he is about to be struck, he cries out in surprise, and moves aside, but his arm and a part of his upper torso are blown off. Vegeta, seeing the damage he's done, is very pleased with himself, [[spoiler: until Cell reveals that it was all a ruse, regenerates the damage, and proceeds to beat the snot out of Vegeta]].
** Up until the Cell Saga Kuririn/Krillin had a technique called Kienzan/Destructo-Disc, which was powerful but easy to dodge. So powerful, in fact, that it was the only technique among the secondary characters to actually break their enemies Diminished Effort. When he uses it against Nappa in the Saiyan arc, he is the first to do some actual damage to Nappa, and only because Nappa actually dodged it in the last moment thanks Vegeta's warning (Vegeta is later seen using a similar technique to cut off Great Ape Gohan's tail, which is how he knew it was dangerous enough to kill Nappa). In the Frieza arc Krillin uses the technique again on Frieza and is the first to actually damage him in his first transformation by cutting his tail off (though, again, one has to wonder how Frieza figured out the attack would actually hurt him). It is only in the Cell arc that the Law of Diminishing Efforts comes back to haunt him as Krillin uses a barrage of attacks against Perfect Cell, including the Kienzan, and the Kienzan uselessly breaks against Cell's neck who does absolutely no effort in dodging this attack. Note that Perfect Cell isn't any more or less arrogant than both Frieza or Vegeta, and yet both of these figured they actually HAD to dodge this attack while Cell figured he didn't have to. However, Cell was capable of regenerating from just a head anyway so it wouldn't have killed him even if it HAD worked and Cell knew this. Later one of the Cell Jrs. uses the Disc against Super Saiyan 2 Gohan, and it's the only technique out of all of the ones they throw at him Gohan doesn't just stand/float there and take the blow and instead dodges.

** Kenpachi Zaraki is perfectly content to let his opponents attack him, and actually encourages them to go for the eye or the throat. The first time Ichigo tried to hit Kenpachi with his sword, Ken was unharmed, and Ichigo's hands got hurt from the impact.

** Sanosuke Sagara hardly ever bothers with dodging or blocking, relying on his MadeOfIron body to tank attacks until he can hit his opponents and knock them out. Saito Hajime treats him with derision for this attitude, and demonstrates that he's strong enough to hurt Sanosuke and fast and skilled enough to avoid his attacks, then tells Sanosuke that unless he learns defense, he's useless. Sanosuke doesn't take his advice, instead learning the powerful Futae no Kiwami technique to improve his attack power, which at least makes him more useful.

* Subverted in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': Simon puts up a barrier of Spiral power that effortlessly deflects a barrage of Anti-Spiral attacks. He [[TemptingFate mocks the Anti-Spirals]] when they immediately try another barrage - but this one penetrates the barrier and causes serious damage.
** This is an example of of the Anti-Spirals rewriting the laws of the universe, basically, to make "the impossible possible."
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', where Kenshin's best ''Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu'' moves have two parts, greatly reducing blind spots and successful counterattacks.