History Main / TheWorfEffect

* While they did not fight, Antediluvians and [[BiblicalBadGuy Cain]] from ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' qualify. Antediluvians are one step from [[PhysicalGod omnipotence]], all of them have at least one 10-level discipline which allows them to do anything connected to it. Several were close to wiping out the whole population of Earth. Most [[CompleteMonster lack any semblance of morality]]. Yet all of them become frightened from even a mention of their progenitor.

** An odd example is Ollanius Pius, who dates back to the oldest fluff. This [[PunyEarthlings mere human Guardsman]] intervened during the GodEmperor's duel against his [[FallenHero fallen]] [[ParentalFavoritism son]] [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels Horus]], and though slain effortlessly, Pius' death showed the Emperor that his son was past redemption, inspiring him to defeat Horus once and for all. Later {{retcon}}s tried to be true to this trope, and turned Pius from a human to a SpaceMarine [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous Terminator]] to a [[PraetorianGuard Custodian Guard]], but this is arguably missing the point: Pius' death was meaningful ''because'' he was no threat to Horus, yet [[HeroicSacrifice he acted anyway]] and was [[ForTheEvulz killed for it]]. As of the Literature/HorusHeresy books, Pius is back to being a Guardsman, albeit an immortal warrior and peer of the Emperor instead of a normal human, perhaps as a weird compromise.

* This is a very common way of establishing a new star in wrestling. Have him or her beat an older wrestler that fans know is tough. It doesn't always work, and it can [[XPacHeat backfire]] if fans are unwilling to accept the new wrestler as an equal of the older one.

* [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-682 SCP-682]], from the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'', is a giant lizard proven via many in-page tests to be unkillable, to a degree that even supposedly "foolproof" methods just take longer for it to recover from. Yet in later [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2935 SCP pages]] it is killed off to show how dangerous the SCP or situation in question is, or even [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/kill-682 just for laughs.]]
** Also, Mobile Task Force Squads are touted as the elite, specially trained troops of the Foundation, however when they do appear (mainly in wiki based exploration logs) they proceed to fire automatic weapons at an SCP and then die, quite frequently.
* A similar thing can be said about [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/sandrewswann-s-proposal SCP-001: Swann's Proposal]] given that they're [[{{AuthorPowers}} the writers]] of the wiki. Despite this, now it seems like the only purpose they have is to serve as a meta-benchmark for [[{{NoticingtheFourthWall}} pataphysical]] skips. Case in point; [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-5500 SCP-5500: Death of the Authors]].

[[quoteright:296:[[{{Franchise/Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_worf_effect.jpg]]]]

** [[NobleBigot Equius]], the strongest of the trolls, (he ''[[TestosteronePoisoning punched the head off an ogre with his bare hands!]]'') is [[spoiler: easily strangled to death by [[MonsterClown Gamzee]] as his first victim]]. This is arguably both a [[PlayedStraight straight play]] and a subversion, since WordOfGod says [[spoiler: he could have easily broken the bowstring with his STRONG neck, but didn't because [[FantasticRacism Gamzee is a highblood]] and therefore had the right to kill him]], [[CombatSadomasochist at least in Equius' mind]].
** [[DemotedToExtra Hegemonic]] [[TheBrute Brute.]] Biggest, toughest, meanest of the Derse agents, save Jack once he gets the ring. His [[AlternateUniverse Midnight Crew counterpart]] Hearts Boxcars devours the heads of his enemies whole and rips huge safes out of brick walls. Yet in the first iteration of the kids' game he's held in a headlock by Dad Egbert and later slain off-screen by the [[BewareTheNiceOnes relatively harmless-looking and meek Parcel Mistress]] (using the sword his boss gave her, no less), and in the post-[[ResetButton Scratch]] session decapitated in one sweep by Dirk Strider with only three panels worth of screen time.
*** Dirk himself becomes a Worf later on when he gets badly beaten by the ascended Caliborn, and has to be bailed out by Jake's Hope bomb.
** [[BigBad Jack]] [[PhysicalGod Noir]]. He was the main antagonist of the first five arcs, the reason why both the kids and the trolls' sessions turned to shit, and was shown to be able to take on people with god-like power as well as destroy two universes. [[spoiler: He gets in a fight with John while in a dream bubble. John manages to beat him back for most of the fight and humiliate him with a silly hat, before PM comes back to chase him across the universe.]]
** Jade Harley is the most powerful God-Tier kid in the series. She has abilities derived from the Green Sun, the power source of the First Guardians, as well as God-Tier, and is capable of effortlessly shrinking planets down to small size. [[spoiler:As it turns out, not even the Green Sun can match the [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower fully unleashed power of hope]] from [[TheFool Jake English]] of all people.]]

* In Chapter 14 of ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13701943/1/BlazBlue-Remnant-Alternative BlazBlue Alternative: Remnant]]'', Pyrrha Nikos ends up subjected to this by Ragna when he starts using his [[YourSoulIsMine Semblance]] during their fight. Thanks to Pyrrha's reputation as an InvincibleHero InUniverse, Weiss expresses outright shock at seeing that Pyrrha can lose.

** The hilarious amounts of worfs Kaldor Draigo plowed through is what contributed to his MarySue status, as his codex entry in 5th edition had him all but dance on Tzeentch's ass on how badly he stomped Daemon Champions (including carving a name into a Daemon Primarch's chest). The books later expanded on all of this providing context, while the later 7th edition codex omitted them completely.

* TheWordEffect/{{Film}}

[[folder:Film]]
* A common trope in horror movies, especially {{slasher movie}}s, is to kill off TheBigGuy early, in order to establish the killer as somebody who can overpower even the toughest of the heroes. For the same reason, police officers who show up in such films [[PoliceAreUseless aren't long for this world]].
** In the opening scene of ''Film/Scream1996'', Casey attempts to threaten Ghostface by telling him that her [[LovableJock football player boyfriend]] is on his way to her house and will beat his ass when he gets there. Ghostface's reply? "His name wouldn't be... Steve, would it?" He then instructs Casey to turn on the patio light, where she sees Steve BoundAndGagged in a chair before he gets GuttedLikeAFish, driving her over the DespairEventHorizon. Dewey Riley, the police officer protecting the main characters, also gets viciously attacked, [[spoiler:though he survives his injuries]].
** PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/{{Feast}}'', where the guy introduced as TheHero gets brutally killed just seconds after his introduction. His last words? [[SedgwickSpeech "I'm the guy who's gonna save your a-"]]
* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': Just how formidable is Bane? He literally broke ''The '''Batman''''' in a CurbStompBattle.
* In ''Film/DieHard2'', Colonel Stewart's men kill the SWAT team sent to protect Chief Controller Barnes when he goes to activate the antenna array in the Terminal Annex. Only [=McClane=] is able to kill all of them to prevent them from killing Barnes, too.
* In ''Film/EnterTheDragon'', we get introduced to Williams' ability to kick butt. He then faces the BigBad, Mr. Han. It is the first time we actually see Han in action so naturally, this trope in invoked.
* In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' the fiery pterosaur Rodan is shown to have immensely destructive capabilities, obliterating a small town with the gust of his wings just by flying over it, and effortlessly destroying a squad of fighter jets shooting at him. And then ''[[BigBad King Ghidorah]]'' shows up, who very quickly turns the tides and tears into Rodan like an eagle seizing its prey...
* ''Film/HobbsAndShaw'' has [[BigBad Brixton]]'s punches send [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Hobbs]] and [[Creator/JasonStatham Shaw]] flying. WordOfGod is that this was deliberate, and Creator/IdrisElba playing Brixton is probably meant to play into that.
* Samuel L Jackson is infamous for playing badasses in movies, so at the end of the movie ''Film/JackieBrown'' when the titular character asks bail bondsman Max Cherry "Are you scared of me?" The answer was obviously "yes". [[spoiler: Having just killed Samuel L. Jackson's character, Ordell Robbie, puts her in the same category of lethality as Emperor Palpatine, King Kong, a hyper intelligent shark and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.]]
* The ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' movies gauges the danger-levels of characters against the ''[[UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex T. rex]]'' ([[StockDinosaurs the most well-known dinosaur even before the movies came out]]) in order to let the audience know how tough they were:
** Muldoon takes on a ''T. rex'' early in [[Film/JurassicPark the first film]] and holds his own, but is then easily outsmarted and killed by the ''Velociraptors'' in order to establish them as more of a threat. Ironically, the ''T. rex'' later kills the ''Velociraptors''.
** A ''T. rex'' [[SpinosaurusVersusTRex is killed]] by the ''Spinosaurus'' in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' to show that the latter is tougher.
** Played with and ultimately subverted in ''Film/JurassicWorld''; [[spoiler: the ''I. rex'' gets the upper hand and soundly trashes the old ''T. rex'', but a timely distraction from [[RaptorAttack Blue]] gives the ''T. rex'' room to recover and overpower the ''I. rex'']]. Although played straight earlier on: one of the first victims of the ''I. rex'' is an ''Ankylosaurus'', a large herbivore with an armoured shell and a heavy bone club on the end of its tail, which gets killed very quickly and [[OffWithHisHead messily]] by the abomination.
* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', after the original Lancelot's introduction shows off his badass credentials by having him effortlessly slaughter a room of bad guys without spilling a drop of whiskey, [[spoiler:Gazelle suddenly and quickly kills him to establish how formidable she is]].
* Gandalf in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' is a powerful wizard, respected and feared by all. It is thus a very big deal when he is terrified of the [[spoiler:Balrog in Moria]] and showcases the [[spoiler:Balrog's power and the tragedy of Gandalf's defeat]]. Though he doesn't fight it, Legolas' reaction to [[spoiler: the Balrog]] is this: when the camera cuts to his face after Gandalf says the name of the new threat, the elf prince who is unflappable and composed throughout the trilogy, who stares down massive armies, mighty trolls, and rampaging mumakil without batting an eye, is [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130531121957/http://www.freewebs.com/the_leaves_of_lorien/legolas_fear.jpg barely able to contain his fear]].
** Gandalf gets Worfed quite a bit throughout the movies. In ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', he's [[CurbstompBattle curbstomped]] by Saruman, though he gets to pay that one back in the sequels when he [[CameBackStrong Comes Back Strong]]. The extended edition of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]'' has the Witch King shatter his staff, in the theatrical cut he 'merely' expresses apprehension at the thought of having to fight him. And in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'', he's easily defeated by the Necromancer/[[spoiler: Sauron]].
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', anyone who faces against the [[ComicBook/BuckyBarnes titular villain]] is easily dealt with. ComicBook/TheFalcon suffered a CurbStompBattle while ''in his wing suit'', and [[Comicbook/BlackWidow Natasha]], who put up one hell of a fight, was quickly overwhelmed by his combat ability and shot in the shoulder. The only exception to this is [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve]], who early on defeated [[BadassNormal Batroc]] and later an entire elevator filled with ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} agents entirely on his own. It's shown that Steve and the Winter Soldier are equals in one-on-one combat, due to being the only physically enhanced humans in the entire film. This is all to build suspense, as while Steve is the only one capable of defeating the Winter Soldier in combat, [[spoiler:he is also the ''least'' capable person of facing against him, due to the Winter Soldier's true identity as Bucky Barnes, Steve's long-thought-dead best friend.]]
** WordOfGod from director James Gunn is that this was the exact reason [[spoiler: The Other]] was killed off in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''.
--->'''James Gunn''': So that’s part of it, and then part of it is the fact that you’re setting up this incredibly powerful character, but you don’t want to belittle the actual antagonist of the film, which is Ronan. You don’t want him to seem like a big wussy. So how do you make that work? And that’s why Ronan kills [[spoiler: The Other]]. I thought that was interesting, because we’ve had [[spoiler: the Other]], who’s obviously very powerful even in comparison to Loki, and then we see Ronan wipe his ass with him.
** A heroic inversion for Vision in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': although to him it's a meaningless but polite gesture, his ability to wield Mjolnir -- which the other Avengers, including Quicksilver, couldn't wield and Captain America could barely move -- cements both his power and status as a pure, good being (although Tony and Cap later both argue that because he's [=AI=], it doesn't count).
*** Earlier in the film, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch both easily overwhelm the other Avengers: Quicksilver is too fast for Captain America to keep track of, and Scarlet Witch is able to implant psychic visions in Captain America and Thor and force Banner to Hulk out.
** ''Film/AntMan1'': Scott makes it to the roof of the Avenger's Headquarters only to be confronted by Comicbook/TheFalcon. In quick succession, Scott enters the Avengers HQ, defeats Falcon in a one-on-one fight, and escapes to reveal he successfully completed the mission. Being able to hang with Falcon proves his mettle as a superhero on par with the Avengers.
** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', franchise newcomers Film/{{Black Panther|2018}} and [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming Spider-Man]] both take on powerful heroes and win; the former chases Captain America, Falcon, and Bucky across Bucharest and only stops when all four are arrested, and the latter steals Captain America's shield, catches Bucky's metal fist with one-hand, webs both him and Falcon to the floor, and [[spoiler:even comes up with the plan to take down Giant-Man]]. Both show how powerful they are and that they are able to go toe-to-toe with the other Avengers. However in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' Tony states that Cap was holding back against Spider-Man because he was a kid .[[note]] Pretty [[FridgeLogic confusing]] line from Tony though given we see Spider-Man in the films: holding a split ferry togther, stagger Thanos (who defeated Cap with one punch) in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and according to WordOfGod was the one [[AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength pulling punches]] in the Airport fight, since Spidey didn't actually want to hurt anyone, especially his idols.[[/note]]
** In the first act of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', Hela quickly kills [[spoiler: Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun]] from the previous [[Film/{{Thor}} two]] [[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld movies]] to show how deadly she is. She also wields and subsequently destroys Mjolnir in her ''first scene'' before hijacking the Bifrost as Thor and Loki escape and throwing them off to Sakaar.
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Wanna show just how strong Thanos is after years of buildup as TheDreaded? Have him wipe the floor with the ''Hulk'' in a fight and kill the very powerful [[spoiler:Heimdall.]] All in the opening scene. Oh, and he defeated [[PhysicalGod Thor]] [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome before the movie even started]].
** ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': To show that Thanos is still no slouch even without the [[CosmicKeystone infinity stones]], he's the first person in the MCU to [[spoiler:damage Captain America's [[MadeOfIndestructium shield]]]] with his {{BFS}}.
* In ''Film/PacificRim'', when Crimson Typhoon is introduced, its impressive combat record is listed along with a description of its ace pilots. When Cherno Alpha is introduced, it's revealed that not only is it a Mark 1 Jaeger, making it the oldest still functioning, but it's the largest and heaviest Jaeger around. It's also stated that the perimeter it was assigned to went 6 years without being breached by a {{Kaiju}} attack. [[spoiler: During the Hong Kong attack, both Alpha and Crimson get to show off their skills, but are completely destroyed by the two attacking Kaiju, effectively spelling out just how dangerous they must be to eliminate such powerful Jaegers with so little effort. Gipsy Danger's ability to defeat both by itself (albeit one at a time, ''after'' they had split up) illustrates just how powerful it is, despite the rust it has in some inconvenient places. Striker Eureka is also defeated in the battle but is not an example; it was taken out by a specialized attack that the other nuclear-powered Jaegers were immune to. Incidentally, the scene also serves to reveal that Kaiju are developing ways to counter individual Jaegers -- not just the specialized weapons above, but Odachi's acid breath counters Cherno's dense armor, and its prehensile tail can grab Crimson Typhoon's head.]]
* The first hour of ''Film/{{Predator}}'' establishes that the team of commando mercenaries is made up of the absolute deadliest men on Earth as they slaughter a guerilla encampment made up of several dozen {{Mooks}}. This is used to highlight just how dangerous the [[KnightOfCerebus titular alien]] is when he shows up and starts effortlessly slaughtering them one-by-one. The Worf Effect is especially well outlined in the means by which the Predator picks off the members of the team.
** Blain Cooper (aka 'Old Painless') hasn't got time to bleed; the Predator stuns him with its first attack and messily eviscerates him with its second, making him both feel pain AND bleed.
** Hawkins, who exhibits situational awareness around himself so effectively that even while he's reading a newspaper he catches a balled up wrapper thrown at him from outside his line of sight without looking. The Predator catches him completely by surprise.
** Billy, their tracker, fears no man, yet is plainly terrified by this opponent. Although he exhibits his own moment of truly bad ass awesomeness by staying behind to buy his team time to escape, and facing it by himself.
* In ''Film/TheRock'', the elite SEAL team sent in against the renegade Marines is quickly ambushed and massacred, leaving behind only the two non-[=SEALs=] that were accompanying them.
* ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' Gorgeous George is very muscular and uses unorthodox attacks while training. [[spoiler: He gets one-hit KO'd by Mickey.]]
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** Worf himself did not escape this trope when it came time for the cast of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' to make it to the big screen. In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', his ship ([[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space 9's]] ''Defiant'', a SuperPrototype originally designed with the Borg in mind, if you're keeping track) is damaged early on against a massive Borg Cube (on-screen, at least, as it's implied that it's one of the only ships still intact and even at fighting capability from when they first clashed with the cube ''at the edge of the Solar System''! "Tough little ship", indeed) and he is forced to hang out on the Enterprise for the rest of the movie. But averted for most of the movie when he proceeds to wreck every Borg drone he encounters.
** Other Klingons suffer from this tendency, too. In ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', the opening sequence is three Klingon ships, all looking quite badass...and all three get taken to pieces in about ten seconds by V'Ger. For that point forward, Birds of Prey were about as [[BadassDecay durable as tissue paper]].
** In ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', a bunch of Klingons (of course) ring it in as jobbers to show how powerful John Harrison is.
*** And the ''Enterprise'' herself, boasted as one of the most advanced ships in the Federation fleet (a few years prior), [[spoiler:gets curbstomped by the ''Vengeance'' (A brand-new, so logically even more advanced) without even being able to fire a single shot back. An understandable outcome for a cruiser versus a battleship. Khan also mentions later that the Vengeance was specifically designed for that kind of overwhelming Warp ambush, previously thought to be impossible]].
*** And as if that weren't bad enough, ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'' has the ''Enterprise'' [[spoiler:get torn apart by a swarm attack, with what's left of her crashing on Altamid]].
* Obi-Wan Kenobi had his fare share of worf effects through the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series. Obi-Wan was killed the first time we got to see Darth Vader in action, was getting beaten by Darth Maul (alongside his mentor) until Maul picked up the IdiotBall, and was beaten by Count Dooku twice. He nearly becomes fish food thanks to [[BadassNormal Jango Fett]], though he managed to put up ''much'' more of a fight than against Dooku. The one in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' is justified via WorfHadTheFlu; the novel describes Dooku as rested and fresh, while Obi-Wan is exhausted from the Battle of Geonosis.
* ''Film/{{Swelter}}'' includes Stillman, a character played by Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, whose one and only fight scene is a quick and systematic defeat by the weaker but more ruthless Kane.
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
** In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' we see the T-101 (Arnold), the 6'2" unstoppable killer robot who for the whole last movie was one of the most menacing things ever put to film, get thrown around like a rag-doll by the considerably shorter and skinnier T-1000. Mainly at the end of the movie, though; earlier in the film, he tends to keep the upper hand. For the most part, if its a gunfight, the impervious T-101 will win. If it's a fistfight, the intangible T-1000 will win.
** Even more pronounced in ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'', in which the ''even stronger'' T-X repeatedly defeats the Arnold Terminator in direct combat. He gets blasted inactive by a bolt from her plasma cannon, thrown through walls, gets his head knocked off and reprogrammed by her, [[spoiler:and only defeats her by blowing himself up as well.]]
* From ''Film/VanHelsing'', Anna by Aleera, repeatedly throughout the movie. The above problem actually becomes an issue, as it turns Anna into a FauxActionGirl. For what it's worth, she gets even.
* In the 2011 film ''Film/{{Warrior}}'': We see Mad Dog crush his sparring partner with a spinning back elbow, only to be crushed himself by Tommy the first time we see him fight.
* This is played with on a meta level in ''Film/{{Wishmaster}}''. The evil Djinn's victims include people played by horror film icons such as Creator/RobertEnglund (Freddy Krueger from ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet''), Tony Todd (the eponymous ''Film/{{Candyman}}''), and Creator/KaneHodder (Jason Voorhees from ''Franchise/FridayThe13th''). It's a little hard to believe that this casting was not deliberate.
* Just like his comic counterpart, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} gets this treatment in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''. ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, Mystique, Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike, and the Juggernaut all had their way with him throughout the series to show how tough they are. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Good Thing He Can Heal]]!
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', [[spoiler:when he confronts the First Class, Shaw kills one of them in the conflict. Who does he kill? The guy whose power is gaining the traits he needs to survive in any situation.]]
** After looking almost infallible previously in the prequel movies, Quicksilver shows up in the final battle of ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' just to put up a bit of a fight before falling to the BigBad.
[[/folder]]

** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', franchise newcomers Film/{{Black Panther|2018}} and [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming Spider-Man]] both take on powerful heroes and win; the former chases Captain America, Falcon, and Bucky across Bucharest and only stops when all four are arrested, and the latter steals Captain America's shield, catches Bucky's metal fist with one-hand, webs both him and Falcon to the floor, and [[spoiler:even comes up with the plan to take down Giant-Man]]. Both show how powerful they are and that they are able to go toe-to-toe with the other Avengers. However in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' Tony states that Cap was holding back against Spider-Man because he was a kid .[[note]] Pretty [[FridgeLogic confusing]] line from Tony though given we see Spider-Man in the films: holding a split ferry togther, stagger Thanos (who defeated Cap with one punch) in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'' and according to WordOfGod was the one [[AfraidOfTheirOwnStrength pulling punches]] in the Airport fight, since Spidey didn't actually want to hurt anyone, espeically his idols.[[/note]]

** Behemoth, The King of All Animals, is unlucky, suffering humiliating losses on Threatening Roar, Lucky Punch, and Cross Counter.

* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' has the Monarchs. Any time they appear on a card, it's them [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Prideful_Roar getting their asses]] [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Intercept kicked or about]] [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Inverse_Universe to get their]] [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Screen_of_Red asses kicked.]] This may be something of a backlash against their former GameBreaker status.
** Behemoth, The King of All Animals, is similarly unlucky, suffering humiliating losses on Threatening Roar, Lucky Punch, and Cross Counter.

** Daemon Lord M'kar is a case that [[DependingOnTheWriter Depends on the Writer]]. Sometimes he's a terrifying threat, or when written by Matt Ward he exists to show up and get pantsed by the latest new special character needing some badass cred.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' product line, a remarkable number of adventures require the {{player character}}s to rescue Dr. Rudolph van Richten when he's kidnapped, mind-controlled, committed to an asylum, or otherwise incapacitated...so much so, it mars his reputation as a shrewd and competent monster-hunter, to have gotten himself captured so many times. Probably a side effect of his being the most prominent non-evil {{NPC}} in the game setting, whom writers can't resist using in their scenarios, yet must hamstring to ensure he won't outshine the players' characters. This actually gets explained in ''Van Richten's guide to the Vistani''. He's under a [[GypsyCurse Vistani curse]] that compels him to go into dangerous situations and fail horribly in ways that get all his friends killed, but allows him to survive.

WorfHadTheFlu is sometimes used to {{justif|iedTrope}}y Worf's poor showing. TheWorfBarrage is when an "ultimate" attack or technique is defeated this way instead of a character. If a new villain introduces themselves by beating the previous villain, that's MakeWayForTheNewVillains (a {{subtrope}}). If this happens to a major villain following a HeelFaceTurn on their part, that's a RedemptionDemotion. When Worf gets beaten ''emotionally'' rather than physically, that's BreakTheBadass. Applied to an entire military? You may get a RedShirtArmy. If the defeated badass is a ProfessionalKiller, that's AssassinOutclassin.

** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Wanna show just how strong Thanos is after years of buildup as TheDreaded? Have him wipe the floor with the ''Hulk'' in a fight and kill the very powerful [[spoiler:Heimdall and Loki.]] All in the opening scene. Oh, and he defeated [[PhysicalGod Thor]] [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome before the movie even started]].

* The Giants in ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus''. Despite being stated to be the greatest threat Olympus has ever faced and often being direct counters to the most powerful Olympians they have all be defeated fairly easily. There is some light justification in that they may not be at full power (for Porpheryion this is explicitly the case). There's also the fact that defeating a giant explicitly requires a God and a Demigod working together, but with so many demigods running around the limitation isn't really that significant. There might also be a degree of OvershadowedByAwesome, as slaying Giants is a relatively minor bullet point on Percy's list of accomplishments.

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* In ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]], this happens to the [[Franchise/MassEffect Reapers]] who are set up as TheDreaded in Mass Effect canon. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] InUniverse since weaponry from the [[StarWars Trans-Galactic Republic]] is considered orders of magnitude more powerful and their DeflectorShields are better--unlike kinetic barriers, they block both energy ''and'' physical weapons.

** A heroic inversion for Vision in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'': although to him it's a meaningless but polite gesture, his ability to wield Mjolnir - which the other Avengers, including Quicksilver, couldn't wield and Captain America could barely move - cements both his power and status as a pure, good being (although Tony and Cap later both argue that because he's [=AI=], it doesn't count).

* Just like his comic counterpart, ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} gets this treatment in the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''. ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, Mystique, Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike, and the Juggernaut all had their way with him throughout the series to show how tough they are. [[GoodThingYouCanHeal Good Thing He Can Heal]]!
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', [[spoiler:when he confronts the First Class, Shaw kills one of them in the conflict. Who does he kill? The guy whose power is gaining the traits he needs to survive in any situation.]]
** After looking almost infallible previously in the prequel movies, Quicksilver shows up in the final battle of ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' just to put up a bit of a fight before falling to the BigBad.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'': Just how formidable is Bane? He literally broke ''The '''Batman''''' in a CurbStompBattle.
* In ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' the fiery pterosaur Rodan is shown to have immensely destructive capabilities, obliterating a small town with the gust of his wings just by flying over it, and effortlessly destroying a squad of fighter jets shooting at him. And then ''[[BigBad King Ghidorah]]'' shows up, who very quickly turns the tides and tears into Rodan like an eagle seizing its prey...
* The ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' movies gauges the danger-levels of characters against the ''[[UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex T. rex]]'' ([[StockDinosaurs the most well-known dinosaur even before the movies came out]]) in order to let the audience know how tough they were:
** Muldoon takes on a ''T. rex'' early in [[Film/JurassicPark the first film]] and holds his own, but is then easily outsmarted and killed by the ''Velociraptors'' in order to establish them as more of a threat. Ironically, the ''T. rex'' later kills the ''Velociraptors''.
** A ''T. rex'' [[SpinosaurusVersusTRex is killed]] by the ''Spinosaurus'' in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' to show that the latter is tougher.
** Played with and ultimately subverted in ''Film/JurassicWorld''; [[spoiler: the ''I. rex'' gets the upper hand and soundly trashes the old ''T. rex'', but a timely distraction from [[RaptorAttack Blue]] gives the ''T. rex'' room to recover and overpower the ''I. rex'']]. Although played straight earlier on: one of the first victims of the ''I. rex'' is an ''Ankylosaurus'', a large herbivore with an armoured shell and a heavy bone club on the end of its tail, which gets killed very quickly and [[OffWithHisHead messily]] by the abomination.
* Gandalf in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' is a powerful wizard, respected and feared by all. It is thus a very big deal when he is terrified of the [[spoiler:Balrog in Moria]] and showcases the [[spoiler:Balrog's power and the tragedy of Gandalf's defeat]]. Though he doesn't fight it, Legolas' reaction to [[spoiler: the Balrog]] is this: when the camera cuts to his face after Gandalf says the name of the new threat, the elf prince who is unflappable and composed throughout the trilogy, who stares down massive armies, mighty trolls, and rampaging mumakil without batting an eye, is [[http://web.archive.org/web/20130531121957/http://www.freewebs.com/the_leaves_of_lorien/legolas_fear.jpg barely able to contain his fear]].
** Gandalf gets Worfed quite a bit throughout the movies. In ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', he's [[CurbstompBattle curbstomped]] by Saruman, though he gets to pay that one back in the sequels when he [[CameBackStrong Comes Back Strong]]. The extended edition of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]'' has the Witch King shatter his staff, in the theatrical cut he 'merely' expresses apprehension at the thought of having to fight him. And in ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug'', he's easily defeated by the Necromancer/[[spoiler: Sauron]].
* Obi-Wan Kenobi had his fare share of worf effects through the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series. Obi-Wan was killed the first time we got to see Darth Vader in action, was getting beaten by Darth Maul (alongside his mentor) until Maul picked up the IdiotBall, and was beaten by Count Dooku twice. He nearly becomes fish food thanks to [[BadassNormal Jango Fett]], though he managed to put up ''much'' more of a fight than against Dooku. The one in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' is justified via WorfHadTheFlu; the novel describes Dooku as rested and fresh, while Obi-Wan is exhausted from the Battle of Geonosis.
* In ''Film/EnterTheDragon'', we get introduced to Williams' ability to kick butt. He then faces the BigBad, Mr. Han. It is the first time we actually see Han in action so naturally, this trope in invoked.
* In ''Film/TheRock'', the elite SEAL team sent in against the renegade Marines is quickly ambushed and massacred, leaving behind only the two non-[=SEALs=] that were accompanying them.

* In ''Film/PacificRim'', when Crimson Typhoon is introduced, its impressive combat record is listed along with a description of its ace pilots. When Cherno Alpha is introduced, it's revealed that not only is it a Mark 1 Jaeger, making it the oldest still functioning, but it's the largest and heaviest Jaeger around. It's also stated that the perimeter it was assigned to went 6 years without being breached by a {{Kaiju}} attack. [[spoiler: During the Hong Kong attack, both Alpha and Crimson get to show off their skills, but are completely destroyed by the two attacking Kaiju, effectively spelling out just how dangerous they must be to eliminate such powerful Jaegers with so little effort. Gipsy Danger's ability to defeat both by itself (albeit one at a time, ''after'' they had split up) illustrates just how powerful it is, despite the rust it has in some inconvenient places. Striker Eureka is also defeated in the battle but is not an example; it was taken out by a specialized attack that the other nuclear-powered Jaegers were immune to. Incidentally, the scene also serves to reveal that Kaiju are developing ways to counter individual Jaegers - not just the specialized weapona above, but Odachi's acid breath counters Cherno's dense armor, and its prehensile tail can grab Crimson Typhoon's head.]]
* From ''Film/VanHelsing'', Anna by Aleera, repeatedly throughout the movie. The above problem actually becomes an issue, as it turns Anna into a FauxActionGirl. For what it's worth, she gets even.
* In ''Film/DieHard2'', Colonel Stewart's men kill the SWAT team sent to protect Chief Controller Barnes when he goes to activate the antenna array in the Terminal Annex. Only [=McClane=] is able to kill all of them to prevent them from killing Barnes, too.
* In ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', after the original Lancelot's introduction shows off his badass credentials by having him effortlessly slaughter a room of bad guys without spilling a drop of whiskey, [[spoiler:Gazelle suddenly and quickly kills him to establish how formidable she is]].
* ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' Gorgeous George is very muscular and uses unorthodox attacks while training. [[spoiler: He gets one-hit KO'd by Mickey.]]
* The first hour of ''Film/{{Predator}}'' establishes that the team of commando mercenaries is made up of the absolute deadliest men on Earth as they slaughter a guerilla encampment made up of several dozen {{Mooks}}. This is used to highlight just how dangerous the [[KnightOfCerebus titular alien]] is when he shows up and starts effortlessly slaughtering them one-by-one. The Worf Effect is especially well outlined in the means by which the Predator picks off the members of the team.
** Blain Cooper (aka 'Old Painless') hasn't got time to bleed; the Predator stuns him with its first attack and messily eviscerates him with its second, making him both feel pain AND bleed.
** Hawkins, who exhibits situational awareness around himself so effectively that even while he's reading a newspaper he catches a balled up wrapper thrown at him from outside his line of sight without looking. The Predator catches him completely by surprise.
** Billy, their tracker, fears no man, yet is plainly terrified by this opponent. Although he exhibits his own moment of truly bad ass awesomeness by staying behind to buy his team time to escape, and facing it by himself.
* ''Film/HobbsAndShaw'' has [[BigBad Brixton]]'s punches send [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson Hobbs]] and [[Creator/JasonStatham Shaw]] flying. WordOfGod is that this was deliberate, and Creator/IdrisElba playing Brixton is probably meant to play into that.
* Samuel L Jackson is infamous for playing badasses in movies, so at the end of the movie ''Film/JackieBrown'' when the titular character asks bail bondsman Max Cherry "Are you scared of me?" The answer was obviously "yes". [[spoiler: Having just killed Samuel L. Jackson's character, Ordell Robbie, puts her in the same category of lethality as Emperor Palpatine, King Kong, a hyper intelligent shark and the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.]]
* A common trope in horror movies, especially {{slasher movie}}s, is to kill off TheBigGuy early, in order to establish the killer as somebody who can overpower even the toughest of the heroes. For the same reason, police officers who show up in such films [[PoliceAreUseless aren't long for this world]].
** In the opening scene of ''Film/Scream1996'', Casey attempts to threaten Ghostface by telling him that her [[LovableJock football player boyfriend]] is on his way to her house and will beat his ass when he gets there. Ghostface's reply? "His name wouldn't be... Steve, would it?" He then instructs Casey to turn on the patio light, where she sees Steve BoundAndGagged in a chair before he gets GuttedLikeAFish, driving her over the DespairEventHorizon. Dewey Riley, the police officer protecting the main characters, also gets viciously attacked, [[spoiler:though he survives his injuries]].
** PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/{{Feast}}'', where the guy introduced as TheHero gets brutally killed just seconds after his introduction. His last words? [[SedgwickSpeech "I'm the guy who's gonna save your a-"]]
* ''Film/{{Swelter}}'' includes Stillman, a character played by Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme, whose one and only fight scene is a quick and systematic defeat by the weaker but more ruthless Kane.

* There are many examples in Steve Alten's ''Literature/{{Meg}}'' series where a {{Megalodon}} defeats equally large and dangerous predators, but only the opening scene of the first novel qualifies (wherein Meg eats a UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex) because the marine reptiles are too obscure to the general public to be this trope.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''The Return'', Worf is pwned by, of all people, [[spoiler:the risen Kirk]], using a Klingon's best weapon. Consider who these novels are written by...supposedly.
** Creator/PeterDavid uses this sparingly in ''Literature/StarTrekNewFrontier'', mainly because the Excalibur's version of Worf, Kebron, is a veritable walking landmass. But being used sparingly, it's much more effective: When someone can topple Kebron, you know they're trouble.
** In addition, in David's Starfleet Academy novels, guess which Klingon gets in a fight with which Brikar on their very first day there?

* Wrestling/TaminaSnuka often fills this role in WWE's women's division. She's quite limited in the ring but benefits from MusclesAreMeaningful - so she can be presented as TheDreaded in order to make others look better by beating her. She has often found herself being used as a bodyguard for other title contenders.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' product line, a remarkable number of adventures require the {{player character}}s to rescue Dr. Rudolph van Richten when he's kidnapped, mind-controlled, committed to an asylum, or otherwise incapacitated...so much so, it mars his reputation as a shrewd and competent monster-hunter, to have gotten himself captured so many times. Probably a side effect of his being the most prominent non-evil {{NPC}} in the game setting, whom writers can't resist using in their scenarios, yet must hamstring to ensure he won't outshine the players' characters. This actually gets explained in ''Van Richten's guide to the Vistani''. He's under a [[GypsyCurse Vistani curse]] that compels him to go into dangerous situations and fail horribly in ways that get all his friends killed, but allows him to survive.
* The eponymous ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' were shown lying beaten alarmingly often for the world's premier heroes in the game's 4th edition, in the interests of making whichever villain they were trying to promote look nastier. Nowadays the art usually shows the heroes putting up a fight rather than just having lost one.

* This is actively subverted in White Wolf's ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheForsaken''. The Rahu Auspice are the designated tough guy in any pack. What inborn ability do they gain for being Rahu? The ability to tell at a glance whether or not they could take a given opponent in a fight.
* While they did not fight, Antediluvians and [[BiblicalBadGuy Cain]] from ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' qualify. Antediluvians are one step from [[PhysicalGod omnipotence]], all of them have at least one 10-level discipline which allows them to do anything connected to it. Several were close to wiping out the whole population of Earth. Most [[CompleteMonster lack any semblance of morality]]. Yet all of them become frightened from even a mention of their progenitor.
* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', a variation occurs, because of the {{metagame}}: If a card turns out to be a GameBreaker, there will be instant answers to it next set, though (as per the rules) there are always answers to everything. Storyline-wise, Lin Sivvi was a GameBreaker in the Masques block; she died at the very beginning of the Invasion block.
** How did Khans of Tarkir establish that Surrak Dragonclaw was badass? [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386652 Have him punch out a bear.]] On a Common card, no less, so it was likely that anyone who bought more than 1-2 boosters worth of KTK would see it. Then Sarkhan altered the timeline. In the new one, the people who had been the Khans were all over the place: Anafenza was a ghost, Zurgo little more than a living musical doorbell, Sidisi a zombie (albeit one that still had ambitions), Narset had actually done pretty well and awoken as a planeswalker, and Surrak...[[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=394567 was still badass, as shown by art of him punching out a dragon.]]
** The Gatewatch had a year-long introduction in which they took out two of the [[EldritchAbomination Eldrazi Titans]] and then bound the third ([[WorfHadTheFlu admittedly with its help]]), in order to 1) resolve that particular plot arc, which had been hovering in stasis for half a decade, and 2) establish how much the faces of the five colours of mana could achieve if they worked together; while all the characters were individually known qualities and most had been the viewpoint character for a block or two, this was the first time they had worked as a concerted unit rather than bounced around having their own adventures. Then they had the trope turned back on them by Nicol Bolas, a major contender for Magic's BigBad and a character who hadn't appeared on a card in eight years, most of which had seen the player base expand and sales go up; to establish his credibility with the people who hadn't been playing in 2009 and remind people who had that he was a ridiculous powerhouse, Bolas took down the entire Gatewatch, making sure to hit each one in their own specialty for bonus showoff points.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': the Bull of the North is recommended for this in Compass: North, while Return of the Scarlet Empress sets up [[spoiler:as much of the Fivescore Fellowship as the Storyteller wishes to take out]], and especially Chejop Kejak.
* The [[http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3481&it=1 first book]] in the ''Immortal Handbook'' series (an UpToEleven modification of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'') shows two monsters battling on the cover. If you look, you can see the ''Tarrasque'' cowering on the background.
* In ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'', there was a time period during the early Clan invasion until just before the Fed-Com Civil War where new 'Mechs such as the Clan Omnis or advanced-tech Inner Sphere assault 'Mechs had to quickly make names for themselves. In these cases they were often shown destroying an ''Atlas'', otherwise revered as one of the biggest, toughest, and most dangerous Battlemechs around. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] because while the ''Atlas'' is a famous mech with a fearsome reputation in-universe, it's not actually that great of a mech and therefore it's pretty easy to build something that's more powerful than it is (or at least designed to take advantage of the ''Atlas's'' weaknesses), especially if the new mech has more advanced weaponry and equipment. The original example of this is in the write up for the ''Grand Titan'', a mech of equal size to the ''Atlas'' that was described as having in its debut in the Solaris VII gladiator games as having delivered a CurbStompBattle to one. This was almost certainly the result of a rigged match, as the ''Grand Titan'' is actually a very inefficient machine that would have serious trouble against an ''Atlas'' at any range.

* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', Bun-Bun found himself used like this during "Dangerous Days Ahead". Getting his butt kicked by the monstrous CEO form of [[spoiler:clone!]]Aylee was a major plot point because in the past, Aylee was not strong enough to win a fight with him.
** Their first battle ended in a draw as they both collapsed from exhaustion, although Bun-Bun managed to slice off Aylee's arm before the end (it regenerated). [[spoiler:The fact that "Aylee" was a clone whose evolution was controlled to make her stronger helps]].
** Oasis sometimes falls victim to this, as while she is a deadly assassin, she also loses against [[spoiler:Clone!]]Aylee, and previously lost to [[SuperPoweredEvilSide demon-possessed Gwynn]].
*** Finally, in June 2009 Bun-Bun and Oasis faced each other in a full-out fight. Who would be the Worf this time? [[spoiler:Bun-Bun. It was likely decided by the fact that the storyline at the time was all about Oasis and it would have been cut anticlimactically short if she'd been the one to lose. Bun-bun had taken the advantage when it was solely about conventional means of fighting, but when Oasis' pyrokinetic powers are shown, the fight goes the other way]].
* In one of the prequel books of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', the Order is about to face a guard monster, only to have it hit Roy with a roll of 2. Upon realizing that it can nail the party member with the probable highest Armor Class with such a low roll, they flee.
** Explicitly lampshaded in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0736.html this strip]].
** Slight alteration by Redcloak, when he takes out a tribe's number 2, in front of the number one, and then turns to the chief and says something like, "Oh, he was your chief, wasn't he?". The real chief immediately surrenders to avoid death.
* Sara and the other Time Monks from ''Webcomic/ErrantStory''. The author directly invokes the trope in a [[http://www.errantstory.com/2009-04-29/4173 commentary comic]].
** Sara's jobbing seems restricted to magic-using enemies. For example, she gets caught by an unexpected bind spell, but once Meji frees her she takes down three elves in a handful of seconds.

* Generally, the first action of a villain during the Yearly ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' Villain Kills Everyone storyline is to take out Protoman, who could be loosely described as a sort of robot Franchise/{{Batman}}. More often than not, the nigh-indestructible "Demon"-class robots, Nate and Chadling, would also be reduced to their goo state at this stage, meaning that unless they merged with another character, they wouldn't be contributing too much.
* Elliot from ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' suffers from this, even though the series isn't focused on combat. He built a reputation as a BullyHunter and befriended two of the main characters through saving them from bullies and defeated the first antagonist of the strip. He then lost to [[spoiler:Grace's brother Hedge]], and embarrassingly so having been knocked out after one blow[[note]]and the exhaustion from one involuntary transformation that may have been precipitated by that blow[[/note]]. Elliot also suffered from this in Nanase's introduction, where her badass cred is established as being the only person able to defeat Elliot in combat.
** Nanase herself also suffer the Worf Effect indirectly. Her Guardian Angel spell made her able to pretty much curb-stomp Abraham, but then when she assumes it against Not-Tengu Ellen is able to tell she's lying when she said she could take it on singlehandedly. In addition, Magus schemes to keep Nanase away from his plan, and when one character presumes this is because she'd be able to defeat him, he replies that it's actually because he's far more powerful and doesn't want to hurt her.
** Elliot further suffered from this effect even after his NextTierPowerUp through his Cheerleadra spell (which turns him into a busty FlyingBrick). He is almost killed by a dragon and spends more or less his time "fighting" a griffin just flying away from it. Somewhat justified in that while Elliot is a skilled martial artist, he explains that all of his combat training simply doesn't translate well to having superpowers, in particular being able to fly.
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' where a Dreen is described as powerful and scary by Jagermonsters, [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20121029 immediately before being squashed]] by a mecha of [[spoiler: the Knights of Jove]]. Except in the [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20121031 next panel]] the Dreen is entirely unharmed and explodes the mecha.
** The Jagermonsters themselves tend to suffer from this a lot. They're a ProudWarriorRace whose three favorite pastimes are [[BoisterousBruiser fighting enemies, fighting friends, and fighting each other,]] but they have a tendency in the series to encounter menaces that can lay them low, sometimes without even noticing them.
** WarriorPrincess Zeetha is often injured or defeated to show that she's up against something serious. The Monster Horse Beastie, Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, a drugged-up Zola and a Geister have all defeated her at some point.
* A minor example in ''Webcomic/TheStoryOfAnima'', [[http://tapastic.com/episode/43379 but Pocket is the first heroic Animus to be identified as such]]. And despite being Jade's personal bodyguard, [[http://tapastic.com/episode/45466 his opponent completely overpowers him]].
* ''Webcomic/GuildedAge'': Byron is billed as "the Berserker" and generally treated as the most competent member of the group, but he's usually also the first to go down (one way or another) when things get sufficiently serious.

* This would apply to the way Tex dominates Maine, Wyoming, and York in season 9, episode 10 of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' were it not for the fact that we're already well aware of Tex's badassery. To the other Freelancers, however, this is exactly what's going on. The show does a good job of averting this for the most part, however. Those that are skilled all appear completely competent even next to the absolute badasses, but the most badass of them still show clear superiority.
** Earlier in the series, Season 8 to be exact, Tucker had [[TookALevelInBadass taken a huge level in badass]], to the point that many fans thought he might be able to give Tex a run for her money. When he finally meets up with her, even with the rest of the Reds helping him, [[CurbStompBattle it turns out he's not even]] ''[[CurbStompBattle close]]''. He still manages to keep his dignity by being utterly defiant throughout the entire beatdown.
* This particular effect happens to Yellow in ''WebAnimation/SuperMarioBrosZ''. Supposedly the toughest of the [[Franchise/PowerRangers Axem Rangers X]], not only does he get his first strike turned into a dud, he's also the first one of the group to be killed off when [[BigBad Mecha Sonic]] comes calling, followed quickly by the other four. Also, this effect happens earlier with the [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Koopa Bros]]. A couple episodes earlier, their [[GreenRocks Chaos Emerald]] fueled special attack decimated the heroes. Mecha Sonic blew through them like they were wet rice paper.
* In the fangame series, ''Sonic RPG'', Sonic himself gets hit with this rather often. He's on the brink of losing to Chaos 0, only surviving thanks to Shadow's interference, is unable to defeat Eggman's latest mech without going Super, gets one-shotted by Ristar (unless he goes Super) is easily defeated by Reala, and is also easily defeated alongside Shadow in their first fight against [[BigBad Seelkadoom]] (both of the latter fights he was in his Super Form for).
* In the second season of ''Series/LegionOfExtraordinaryDancers'', they introduce Organization X, a group of Evil Counterparts to the heroes set up as the main antagonists. When episode 16 rolls around, they haven't actually gotten a chance to show off their skills in a fight just yet (Except for Fangz, who isn't actually in the episode). Episode 16 has them facing off against The Umbras, a group of identically dressed Mooks working for the Dark Doctor who are only introduced a minute or two before OX shows up, just enough to show that they're actually pretty good. It's a perfect set-up for this trope, [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope but The Umbras end up wiping the floor with them]]]].

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'':
** On her very first night out in action, the protagonist plays a critical role in defeating supervillain and gang warlord Lung, who usually can take on many heroes by himself. To make things better or worse, we later learn that Lung once dueled and drove off a HeroKiller {{Kaiju}}, a feat that normally needs the local PhysicalGod's attention. Though it's somewhat justified by the nature of Lung's power: he gradually grows stronger over time, and against the aforementioned {{Kaiju}} he had enough time to equal its power.
** The Interludes for arc 11 have the various members of the Slaughterhouse Nine kicking around both heroes and other villains, showing just why they're so feared and collectively given the same threat rating as the aforementioned {{Kaiju}}.
** [[spoiler:The protagonist herself]] plays Worf's role for the supervillain Contessa in [[http://parahumans.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/crushed-24-2/ Chapter 24.2]].

* Retroactively done by [[spoiler: Hercule/Mr Satan]] on the show ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' regarding his series of origin. [[spoiler: He]] actually is a very competent and accomplished fighter in his own series, even being declared the WorldsStrongestMan. His main problem, however, is that [[spoiler: his home series happens to be ''Franchize/{{Dragonball}}'' where, because he can't use KiManipulation, he is nowhere near the level of power of the series regulars such as Goku or Krillin. This helped him secure the win against [[Franchise/StreetFighter Dan Hibiki]] because, unlike Dan, he has actual skill as a martial artist.]]
* In Episode 21 of Project Mouthwash's ''WebVideo/BleachSAbridged'', Urahara directly references the Worf Effect by explaining it to Chad as a reason for not training him. He subsequently agrees to help Chad train after being amused by Chad's comment that the Worf Effect applies perfectly to Renji.
* Parodied in [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/10/12/why-cant-avengers-infinity-war-cost-1-billion/#7352f144579f this]] Forbes article speculating on the events of ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'':
-->'''Steve:''' Oh my god, Thanos has just murdered Iron Man, the central character to this entire Marvel Universe thus far! I would have thought Tony was untouchable, but Thanos just killed him!
--> '''Scott:''' Wow, if he can do that, he really must be the great and powerful villain that we all suspected that he was!
--> '''Thor:''' Right you are, tiny friend! This Thanos character is indeed beyond any mere foe we have ever faced!
* This headline from ''Website/TheOnion'': [[https://local.theonion.com/flu-takes-down-biggest-guy-in-office-in-as-warning-to-r-1820330659 "Flu Takes Down Biggest Guy In Office As Warning To Rest Of Staff"]]

* ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' has Kravitz, aka TheGrimReaper, who spends the first half of the Crystal Kingdom-arc laying waste to our heroes. [[spoiler:Legion]] knocks him out of the fight in a single hit, signifying just how strong they are. [[spoiler:When the Hunger begins to make its attack on the planar system, the Astral Plane is one of the first planes affected. While pulling Magnus back from the brink of death, Taako spots Kravitz drowning in the corrupted Astral Sea, barely able to keep his head above the water until he's pulled back under.]]
* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/GirlchanInParadise'' with the character of Yusuke, ostensibly the main rival of the protagonist. Like a lot of tough, edgy, angsty rivals who strive to be the strongest, his main role in the show is to throw himself at any given threat and then lose badly. This has at one point included a flight of stairs.

%%** The most consistently Worfed thing in ''40k'' has to be the Avatar of Khaine, the physical embodiment of the Eldar's god of war. To date the Avatar has been killed by two different Primarchs (one of whom somehow strangled a giant animated statue of molten metal), Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines, the Blood Angels' Sanguinor.

** Materials can be Worfs too: [[MadeOfIndestructium Adamantium]] is only ever mentioned in terms of how a given weapon can effortlessly slice through it, while Terminator armor has a similar tendency to get ripped apart to show how dangerous a threat is.

** Probably the ultimate worf is the Imperial Guard. The standard Guardsman is armed with a laser rifle akin in terms of power to a modern battle rifle while being just as pin-point accurate as you'd expect a laser to be, and armoured in flak jackets and helmets impervious to civilian/police firearms and even capable of stopping high-powered rifle rounds and shotgun blasts; this is stuff that modern special forces would kill to get their hands on. Yet against just about everybody else in this setting, these remarkable weapons are derided as [[FanNickname "t-shirts and flashlights"]], and Guardsmen '''die in droves'''. It really does hammer home the fact that if any of the armies of ''40000'' attacked Earth in real life, all the combined might of every nation's military [[CurbStompBattle wouldn't last long at all]].

** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', franchise newcomers Film/{{Black Panther|2018}} and [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming Spider-Man]] both take on powerful heroes and win; the former chases Captain America, Falcon, and Bucky across Bucharest and only stops when all four are arrested, and the latter steals Captain America's shield, catches Bucky's metal fist with one-hand, webs both him and Falcon to the floor, and [[spoiler:even comes up with the plan to take down Giant-Man]]. Both show how powerful they are and that they are able to go toe-to-toe with the other Avengers. However in ''Film/SpiderManHomecoming'' Tony states that Cap was holding back against Spider-Man because he was a kid.