History Main / WeaksauceWeakness

* One of ventriloquist Creator/JeffDunham's puppets is a goofy superhero wannabe named Melvin, who has no realistic powers to speak of, but is enthusiastic about it. He also has not one, but ''two'' weaknesses: cupcakes and porn -- though not both at the same time, however, because [[ADateWithRosiePalms he needs a free hand]].

* The Russian screw tank was a wildly innovative vehicle able to cross snow, ice, mud, gravel, debris, water, in short any terrain you can imagine. Except a good road.

** Despite all their bluster of being strong, the Yugopotamians have a huge weakness- anything considered cute, happy, or saccharine. This comes up in several episodes featuring them, where they panic and stop fighting every time they encounter something that falls into that description. In one episode, for example, they challenge Timmy to eat a bar of chocolate, something they consider the most lethal poison in existence, and they pass out in fright when he easily does so.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Konan of the Akatsuki is, like all members of that group, very powerful. Yet her [[PaperMaster paper-based techniques]] can be completely nullified by spraying oil on her to make her stick together (a technique one human ninja and some summoned toads have), although water can release her.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' ([[spoiler:He was.]])

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': In "Ultra Sheen", using his encyclopedic knowledge of [[ShowWithinAShow Ultra Lord]], Sheen remembers that his ArchEnemy [=RoboFiend=] has crippling lactose intolerance ([[RuleOfFunny despite being a robot]]). Spraying him with llama milk causes him to ''explode''.

** Pillar Men also have a weakness to the sun and Hamon, but due to their biology (and possibly Kars'/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Cars']] stone masks) they [[TakenForGranite can turn themselves into something similar to stone]] blocking off UV rays. When Kars becomes the UltimateLifeform, [[OneHeroHoldTheWeaksauce he loses his weakness to the sun]] among other benefits.

** Some powerful Stands also incorporate this trope for narrative balance reasons. One key example is [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Part Four's]] Red Hot Chili Pepper. Since it becomes stronger and faster the more electricity it has access to, with no stated or hinted upper limit, it can be said to be one of the most powerful stands in Part 4, excluding only ''arguably'' [[HavingABlast Killer Queen:]] [[GroundhogDayLoop Bites the Dust]]. But this comes with two weaksauce weaknesses; first, if you cut off its access to electricity, say, by destroying the motorcycle battery it was hiding in, it rapidly weakens and fades. Second, since salt water is such an excellent conductor, immersing it in the ocean will cause it to rapidly dissolve.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

* Shyamalan probably got the weakness idea for ''Film/{{Signs}}'' from ''Film/InvasionOfTheSaucerMen'', whose aliens were melted by ''light''. There is nothing lamer. Especially considering they were done in by [[spoiler: the headlights of teenage hot rodders]]!

* Achilles was the greatest of the Greek Heroes. When he was born, his mother dipped his body in the river Styx (or into a fire, depending on which version of the story it is) so that he would be invincible. The only part of him that wasn't affected was his heel, which was where she held him. Given that the trope AchillesHeel is [[TropeNamers named after him]], you can guess what happened to him eventually. However, he was shot with arrows poisoned with scorpion venom, which deflects the weaksauce bit.

** [[Literature/BookOfJudges Judges 1:19]] is often taken by unbelievers and skeptics to argue that ''iron chariots'' are a weakness of God; as the King James Version translates it, it reads ''"And the Lord was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron."'' Needless to say, this interpretation is [[http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=6&article=301 not generally accepted by believers]], particularly since the iron chariot was a mighty weapon in that era.

* Achilles was the greatest of the Greek Heroes. When he was born, his mother dipped his body in the river Styx (or into a fire, depending on which version of the story it is) so that he would be invincible. The only part of him that wasn't affected was his heel, which was where she held him. Given that the trope AchillesHeel is [[TropeNamers named after him]], you can guess what happened to him eventually. However, some of the myths indicate that he was shot with arrows poisoned with hydra venom, the same ones that killed Hercules, which deflects the weaksauce bit.

* ElephantsAreScaredOfMice. At least in cartoons. The scientific jury is still undecided whether this has a sound real-life basis or whether it is just an {{Urban Legend|s}}. ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' tested it and found it confirmed: elephants will actively avoid mice if at all possible. Though it's not specifically mice so much as it is wariness at something smaller than an elephant's poor eyesight can reliably identify, to them it could be a snake or something else potentially threatening-the Mythbusters test was done by suddenly revealing white domestic mice to wild elephants, who would have only ever experienced a sidden flash of white color low to the ground as the warning signal of a disturbed cobra. They could also simply be aware of their surroundings and give the small quick moving creature a wide berth to avoid stepping on it.
* Giraffes can easily suffer fatal neck and head injuries just from ''falling over''. Don't believe it? Just imagine the whiplash with a neck that long... This is true of most large animals--the bigger you are, the worse falling over is for you. That's why, for example, elephants keep at least 3 legs on the ground when running (rearing up on their hind legs, as is sometimes seen in circuses, is ''not'' a natural behavior). [[SquareCubeLaw Gravity is a bitch]].

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', the reason that most large creatures ultimately fall under AwesomeButImpractical is because they can easily be dealt with using simple, cheap, and ubiquitous spells like the one-mana [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=UNSUMMON Unsummon]]. A great specific example is Marit Lage, an ancient EldritchAbomination summoned from [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=dark+depths Dark Depths]] who, at 20/20, is capable of killing a planeswalker in a single hit, and who requires ''30 mana'' to summon under normal circumstances, can be undone with a single ''Unsummon''.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'', vampires have all the "classic" weaknesses found in folklore; crosses, garlic, wooden stakes, sunlight, as well as a couple usually attributed to other monsters (wolfsbane, silver). One weakness that's rather unique to ''Rifts'', and the most weaksauce of all, is running water, in any form. Which means a vampire that can shrug off nuclear detonations and hails of rail gun bullets can be taken down by a ''squirt gun''.

** ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' has an alien attack force made up of gigantic ScaryDogmaticAliens who are a ProudWarriorRace do a mass MookFaceTurn because of... singing. And souvenirs. In fairness, it does make sense in the story (at least as much as ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' Martians being vulnerable to Earth's diseases) and is perhaps one of the best logical conclusions to a typical alien's PlanetOfHats treatment. The Zentradi have no culture to speak of other than fighting, so when exposed to humans and their culture in the form of songs and interacting with the other gender after sending a team of spies to the SDF-1, typical Zentradi start feeling emotions, questioning their purpose, and [[HumanityIsInfectious becoming similar to humans]]. Because of this, their entire fleet gets deemed "contaminated" by the unexposed Zentradi and programmed for destruction. In the face of this EnemyCivilWar, they wisely choose to ally with the humans. Still, it doesn't quite wash away the faint air of ridiculousness when Minmay's singing becomes an ''offensive weapon'' to unbalance the unexposed Zentradi in their attack.

** Water is actually a much greater weakness to [[DishingOutDirt Sir Crocodile]], as he is a man who can turn into sand, making him NighInvulnerable to most attacks. But if water strikes him, the sand "sticks together," and he is rendered unable to turn into sand at all, thus leaving him fully open to attack. He has a natural defense in that his sand powers extend to causing alarmingly fast dehydration with direct skin contact. In addition, he has the good sense to not only do his villainous business on a relatively large island, but on a ''desert island.'' He also uses Dance Powder to not only to frame the king in an effort to overthrow him, but also to stop it from raining in the town he was using as a base. In addition, on the off-chance that someone was able to negate his Logia defense for a significant period of time (like with Luffy), he's a master tactician who's skilled in other combat arts as well. His hook has a second, ''poisoned'' hook under it, and if ''that'' hook gets broken, [[CrazyPrepared he can eject a knife in its place]].

** Blackbeard has one of the most powerful abilities in universe. With his Darkness manipulation, he can wipe out entire towns in seconds, shoot the debris out like a cannon, and negate other Devil Fruit powers through physical contact. But he has a major weakness that isn't shared by any other fruit of the same class as his. Most Logia-users are NighInvulnerable due to being able to dematerialize around attacks, but because Blackbeard's ability makes him a "Gravity Man", his body is always in physical form. Not only that, but the same qualities that let him negate other Devil Fruit powers (by forcibly holding their bodies together) also draws attacks INTO him. In short, attacks are both more likely to hit him ''and'' always exceptionally damaging.

* ''Webcomic/PvP'' parodied the Wicked Witch of the West melting from water weakness here [[http://www.pvponline.com/comic/2013/03/15/bucket-brigade here.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10''

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBOTSMaster'', the BigBad uses a special alloy to make his MechaMooks [[NighInvulnerability nigh-invulnerable]]. The good guys think that they're screwed, until the inventor of the alloy tells them that the alloy can be dissolved by...''citric acid''. In the end they use ''lemon juice'' to defeat the new MechaMooks.

** [[CuteBruiser Shampoo]] and Ryoga Hibiki have an even worse case of the water weakness than Ranma does; Jusenkyo made them become a [[BalefulPolymorph little kitten and miniature pig]] respectively when splashed with cold water. So they go from incredibly powerful fighters to harmless little animals whose only recourse is to run or hide until they can get some hot water. Genma Saotome, Ranma's father, subverts it; his panda form loses little, if any, speed and agility while gaining in strength and toughness due to the increased [[StoutStrength bulk]]. Mousse, meanwhile, seesaws between subverting this trope and playing it straight with his duck curse; while it is much smaller, weaker and can't use his physical attacks, it can fly and he's still capable of throwing barrages of knives, darts and bombs in it.

** The ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' parody in "Anthology of Interest II" spoofs that movie's witches' [[KillItWithWater melting when they touch water]], having both Mom and [[spoiler:Leela]] as witches who predictably end up splashed with a small amount of liquid and melt away.

** Despite all their bluster of being strong, the Yugopotamians have a huge weakness- anything considered cute, happy, or saccharine. This comes up in several episodes featuring them, where they panic and stop fighting every time they encounter something that falls into that description. In one episode, for example, they challenge Timmy to eat a bar of chocolate, something they consider the most lethal poison in existence, and they show amazement when he easily does so.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Eldritch}}'', while most Eldritch wolves are allergic to silver, [[http://eldritchcomic.blogspot.com.br/2011/06/eldritch-lessons-027.html any bullet in the heart or head would do them in just as easily]].

* Stitch of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' is speedy, clever, and able to lift 3000 times his own size... but is too heavy to swim. One reason falling in water is so damaging is that Stitch tends to ''panic'' when he's underwater. He eventually starts to handle deep water better; one episode of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' (the theme of which was conquering your fears) had him fall into a swimming pool, but he manages to keep calm, hold his breath, and climb out without issue.

** Celty is an immortal dullahan, however, she is ''terrified'' of aliens. In a special side story, she tries to play a video game with 'Blue Kappas' as the monsters with the logic that since they're not aliens, she'll be fine. Unfortunately, the monsters are indeed aliens and she's found an hour later, hiding in a closet.

** This is an especially big problem for the Nuckelavee of Orcadian folklore. Widely considered the most malevolent elf in all of Scotland, the Nuckelavee is an eldritch horror that resembles a man on horseback, if the man was fused to the horse and both had all their skin flayed off. It rides through the countryside destroying crops, killing travelers, causing floods and plagues and generally being a harbinger for all things bad. How do you defeat this monstrosity? Fresh water, and burning seaweed. The Nucklavee fears freshwater, so much so that it cannot cross a stream, and hides in its oceanic lair during the winter storms. Likewise, it finds the smell of burning seaweed intolerably offensive. However, don't provoke the Nucklavee, especially with taunting or burning seaweed, as whenever the Nucklavee is offended, it tries to kill all of the horses in the Orkneys with a hideous disease called "Mortasheen".

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''

* Most electronic devices can be damaged irreparably by contact with water. This happens because water is a great conductor of electricity and causes it to run places it's not supposed to. Contrary to popular belief though it's not always fatal; if the device is off and you dry it, it could be salvaged. In fact, the best way to clean your keyboard if it can take the abuse? '''Run it through the dishwasher.'''

* The Ferdinand (Elefant) tank destroyer -- which was based on the chassis of rejected Porsche-designed Tiger I tanks -- was quite impressive on paper, boasting extraordinarily thick frontal armour and a powerful gun capable of punching through any Allied tank fielded during the war. However, because of Ferdinand Porsche's penchant for toying with experimental technology it used a novel petro-electric drive for its transmission, which allowed for more precise steering and high-speed reversing, but was prone to overheating and catching on fire under the slightest amount of overexertion (such as going up a small hill). Compounding the problem was that Elefant was horribly overweight, more so than the rather husky Henschel-designed Tiger I.

* Laser weapons that are starting to be used by the US military can be thwarted by such phenomena as dust, sand, bad weather, clouds, smoke, steam, etc. As Creator/StephenColbert put it, it's a good thing they're not planning on using it in regions that have above-mentioned problems, or if Iran develops sand technology.