History WeaksauceWeakness / Film

* ''WesternAnimation/TheMitchellsVsTheMachines'': The PAL Robots' main weakness is that they are unable to tell if Monchi is a dog, a pig, or a loaf of bread, and they'll [[LogicBomb short-circuit while trying to figure it out]].
* The Blue Meanies from ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' are repelled by positivity in any form. This doesn't work out so badly, though, since their entire arsenal is built around the proliferation of depression and despair, but it does still leave them vulnerable to [[ThePowerOfRock music]].

* Invoked by Syndrome in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'' with the Omnidroid. It was built for an EngineeredHeroics scheme, so he designed it to be [[NighInvulnerability nigh-invulnerable]] and unstoppable... to anything ''except'' the remote control that Syndrome wore on his wrist. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for him when the Omnidroid's adaptive A.I. [[GoneHorriblyRight adapts to cover for that weakness]], but it does eventually allow the heroes to win, after a period of desperately playing keep-away while the Omnidroid attempted to destroy the remote.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': Metro Man has a weakness to copper, which causes Megamind to kill him without even meaning to. ([[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Except that he actually made it up]] in order to [[FakingTheDead fake his death]] and retire]].) This is even lampshaded by Megamind:
-->'''Megamind:''' Your weakness is ''copper''!? You're kidding, right?

* ''WesternAnimation/TheKingAndI'' has this in the form of every single solitary minion the BigBad conjures up. His first pair of minions are giant traditional Chinese dragons who ruthlessly attack the teacher's ship to the point that it's near sinking. How are they defeated? Whistling. Everyone aboard whistles a happy tune and they dissolve into nothingness.

* In the 1973 Russian version of ''Animation/TheNutcracker'', the evil mice [[SneezeOfDoom explode if they sneeze]], so any sneeze-inducing substance is deadly to them. In the Nutcracker Prince's backstory, his father the King defeats the Mouse Queen by dousing her with [[PepperSneeze pepper.]]

* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' gives the trope-codifying example: the Wicked Witch of the West [[KillItWithWater melted when Dorothy splashed her with a bucket of water]].
* ''Film/ReturnToOz'' continues the proud tradition of Oz villains having an unexpected, thorough weakness that kills them on the spot. In this case, the Nome King (and seemingly Nomes in general) [[spoiler:find regular chicken eggs to be extremely poisonous. All of them react to Dorothy bringing a chicken along like she had an armed bomb with her, and when the King accidentally ingests one of its eggs he dies (and falls apart) within the minute]].
* ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'': Freddy Krueger, the nigh-unstoppable humanoid monster that can kill you in your dreams, has a weakness to ''[[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve people not believing in him]]''. This becomes far funnier when you realise that his weakness is the same as ''[[Literature/PeterPan Tinkerbell]]''!
* In the AffectionateParody superhero movie ''Surge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes'', both the hero and villain have their powers nullified by the presence of peppy music. Fortunately the hero is able to save the day with his incredible accuracy with slingshots.
* The aliens in ''Film/{{Signs}}''. It's [[NightmareRetardant hard to feel threatened]] (retrospectively) by creatures which will dissolve in an April shower or corrode in a particularly humid breeze. And are completely incapable of breaking down wooden doors.
* In Shyamalan's earlier film, ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', water is also used as a [[KryptoniteFactor weakness for the main superhero character]]. In that case, though, it isn't that he is especially vulnerable to water, but rather he is just as susceptible to drowning as a normal person. If he drinks something too quickly, he will choke and if he is submerged he will succumb to drowning just like everyone else -- though it was theorized that the dense bone and muscle that make him ''unbreakable'' also make him ''unfloatable'' (or the character simply can't swim). There is a complicating factor in the scene where he ends up almost drowning in a swimming pool: he's tangled up in a big piece of fabric, which would give anyone a bad time while in water. It is also a [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes psychological weakness]]: he had almost drowned once as a child (probably due to the aforementioned bone density), an event so traumatic he blocked it from his memory. That would make anyone nervous around water, even if they couldn't remember why.
* ''Film/InvasionOfTheSaucerMen'': The aliens are melted by ''light''. There is nothing lamer. Especially considering they were done in by [[spoiler: the headlights of teenage hot rodders]]!
* The Bioraptors (also called "Demons") of ''Film/PitchBlack'' has a similar weakness to light. Though this actually works, as most of the movie is during a solar eclipse and they broke their flashlights. Oddly enough, the creatures are shown moving about in the light, albeit cautiously, before the eclipse. Compare this to later on, when a lighter is enough to make them run away...
* The weakness to light appeared in ''Film/AttackOfTheEyeCreatures'' (because it was an almost word-for-word remake of ''Invasion of the Saucer Men'').
* Also happens in ''Film/TheMolePeople'', in which a lost colony of ancient Sumerians living BeneathTheEarth had adapted to their lightless conditions to the point where our heroes can kill them with a ''flashlight''.

* The Tenctonese in ''Film/AlienNation'' (the movie as well as [[Series/AlienNation the series]]) are harmed by ''salt water''. Seawater is like acid to them. They live mostly on the Californian coast; while they do develop a tolerance to it, direct exposure is still harmful to them. There is a slightly funny moment when the police find the partially-dissolved body of a Newcomer washed up on the beach. When asked how they were able to identify him, they simply shrug and show his soaked wallet. All his clothes were, naturally, fine too.
* In the Creator/DisneyChannel movie ''Film/UpUpAndAway'', the weakness of the superhero family is aluminum foil. However, it's never made clear if it was just their family or all supers who are vulnerable to foil. Both [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Spider-Man]] and Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} are mentioned to exist in this 'verse, and they don't have any weakness to aluminum foil (although Supes has his own weakness). The bad guys definitely assume that all supers have this weakness, as, when Randy claims to have powers, they give him some foil to test it.
* In ''Film/{{SYNGENOR}}'', the title creatures were created to be the perfect soldiers for a war with the Middle East. They don't need to eat or sleep, are immune to most weaponry, and reproduce every twenty-four hours. Their only weakness? Water is like acid to them. It's somewhat hard to be afraid of a super soldier that can be defeated with a super soaker. Or, if worst came to worst, by peeing on them.
* In the Dead Gentlemen Productions (of ''The Gamers'' fame) running ''Demon Hunters'' series, Duamerthrax the Indestructible is a walking brick that is, well, all but indestructible. He's an "earthwalker", a demon said to have been kicked out of hell for being ''too mean''. Unlike other monsters and demons in the mythos, he's not susceptible to ordinary injury. He can eat the round of a large-caliber revolver jammed in his mouth ("Mmm! Nice 'n' leady!") casually regrows limbs after being dismembered, and generally shrugs off what few injuries he even takes while making terrible puns. So what's the convenient balance? We're told that every earthwalker has a weakness to some substance, "a plant, metal, anything". Duamerthrax's turns out to be ''mint''. Being shot repeatedly at close range with numerous handguns does little more than inconvenience him, but the breath of someone having just used breath spray causes him intense pain, water-guns full of mouthwash can inflict serious harm and [[spoiler:mint dental floss can do even worse things. Ultimately subverted; he turns out to have faked his defeat when the body count got where he needed it, regenerated almost immediately, and the credits show him happily dancing away. Then he gets hit by a car and sent back to hell in the beginning of the second movie]].
* ''Film/MarsAttacks''. The Martians' weakness is hearing high-pitched yodeling, such as in the song "Indian Love Call" by Slim Whitman, which [[YourHeadAsplode causes their heads to explode]].
* The Tomatoes in ''Film/AttackOfTheKillerTomatoes'' have the same weakness, in the form of a song called "Puberty Love".

* Like the Dalek example given below, in ''Film/RoboCop1987'', the killer robot ED-209 chasing the title character is taken out of play simply by trying to chase [=RoboCop=] down stairs that its chicken-walker legs are ill-suited to negotiate. Somewhat justified in that the ED-209 is just meant to look intimidating and get bought up by the military, not to do real police work.
* In an {{Homage}} to ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', Death in ''Film/SixStringSamurai'' is killed when squirted with water.
* Derek Film/{{Zoolander}} can't turn left until his BigDamnHeroes moment. (Though continuity nitpicks will note that he does turn left (relative to himself, though not the camera) while in disguise while trying to retrieve Maury's computer.)

* ''Film/MysteryMen'': [[{{Invisibility}} Invisible Boy's]] weakness is anybody looking at him while he is invisible. [[spoiler:(Machines, like motion detectors and cameras, don't trigger this.)]]
* The SuperCop in ''Film/SuperFuzz'' has super speed, super strength, invulnerability, telekinesis and so on, but he completely loses his powers when he sees the color red (probably a nod to Green Lantern and his vulnerability to yellow): a red traffic light, a red flower, a red ribbon, and he's harmless.
* The Psychlo homeworld of ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' can be blown to (relatively) tiny bits with a nuclear explosion. You'd think that a nuclear bomb is substantial enough to bypass the Weaksauce bit, but remember that this is a ''[[ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale PLANET]]''. It'd be like a human exploding in a smear of gore after stubbing their toe. The given reason is that the planet's atmosphere ignites upon the slightest exposure to radiation. This, of course, implies that the planet completely lacks any heavy elements ''and'' has an insane set of Van Allen belts to protect it from any stellar radiation.
* ''Film/{{Sleepwalkers}}'' has monsters that are MadeOfIron, except when scratched by house cats.
* As is the usual with horror movie monsters, the 1973 {{Blaxploitation}} movie titular character Blackenstein was ImmuneToBullets, fists, and blunt objects -- traits which, when added to his SuperStrength, seemingly made him all but unstoppable. What is it that finally laid the mighty monster low? The primal forces of nature themselves or divine intervention? No. The police sicced the hounds on him. That's it. Doberman Pinscher fangs trump bullets, apparently.
* ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'': Blaster is the immense Dragon to Master. According to people who want him dead and have been hunting for the right assassin to get the job done, "He can kill most men with his breath." His weakness: he can't stand high pitched noises. Max discovers this when the car alarm on his vehicle renders Blaster into a writhing, screaming, mess -- and promptly figures out that his [[ChekhovsGun whistle]] can have the same effect. [[spoiler:Not a surprise, given that this is a common problem for people with Down's Syndrome.]]
* The [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot undead mutant warrior things]] from The80s flick ''Film/NeonManiacs'' are virtually invulnerable except, like many other things on this list, they can be [[KillItWithWater dissolved with a squirt gun.]]
* The goblins from ''Film/Troll2'' are defeated when Joshua eats a double-decker bologna sandwich in front of them during the film's climax. They can't come within 20 feet of you after you eat 2 bites of bologna.
* In ''Film/ErnestScaredStupid'', what's scaring Ernest so much are a variety of trolls who, legend has it, are vulnerable to... milk.
* In ''Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm'', a vampire's natural enemy is the mongoose due to vampires in this universe being snake-people. [[spoiler:The mongoose ends up getting killed anyway but it's still enough to make the BigBad retreat for a while.]] Also, playing the bagpipes puts them in a trance. [[spoiler: Unless they have earplugs.]]
* In ''Film/{{Hook}}'', the Lost Boys exploit Captain Hook's fear of the sound of ticking clocks, which they attribute to Hook's memories of being pursued by a clock-swallowing giant crocodile. Subverted when Peter points out that Hook can't really be afraid of the crocodile, [[spoiler: which he killed years ago; rather, Hook is afraid of ''time'', as he's become an old man beneath his wig and make-up, and old age is hardly a fear that can be dismissed as Weaksauce]].
* ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' brings us the horror that is Nuclear Man who, for reasons unknown, is powered solely by the sun. The minute he is out of direct sunlight he stops dead. Even if he's in a well lit room but slightly in the shade, he's next to worthless. This is especially pathetic when you consider that, in canon, Superman's own powers are ultimately derived from sunlight, but ''he'' doesn't power down in the shade -- at least not unless he has to use his powers a lot before the next time he can catch some rays.
* In ''Film/TheTraveler'', the only way to counter Mr. Nobody is actually by [[spoiler:letting him [[IKnowYourTrueName hear his real full name]] ]], which will make him lose powers and become vulnerable to physical attacks. Kinda makes sense for him to conceal his identity throughout the film.
* Played for laughs in ''Film/{{Evolution|2001}}'', where the aliens' critical weakness is to [[spoiler:selenium]], the best local source of which is in dandruff shampoo.
* Film/{{Hancock}}'s only weakness? His real wife. Any attempt to live a loving, fulfilling life with his wife of ''3,000'' years will cause them to both become mortal in order to die together. Unfortunately, Hancock has a hero complex to save people, which attracts bad guys who attack them in their weakened state. They argue, he leaves, they meet again and the whole cycle starts again. His wife says the gods who created them gave this as a gift. So that they could find love and be happy, and not have to see everyone they care about die as they remain [[WhoWantsToLiveForever unchanged and alive]].
* ''Film/{{ROTOR}}'' is about a robotic policeman gone mad. He's almost unstoppable except for being paralyzed by loud noises. This might not sound ''that'' dumb, until you witness him repeatedly frozen by people honking their car horns at him or playing a radio a little too loud.
* The SensoryOverload to the Kryptonians in ''Film/ManOfSteel''. Good thing Supes learned how to control it [[spoiler:and unfortunately, so did Zod]].
* Marcus Wright in ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' is every bit as tough and unstoppable as you would expect [[spoiler:from a terminator...]] except for [[spoiler:his glaring exposed weakpoint in the form of his organic human heart (which isn't even covered with any sort of armor; it just hangs there in a big gaping hole in his chest, leaving it completely exposed to any stray pistol shot or well-aimed punch)]].
* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'':
** In ''Film/Godzilla2014'', Godzilla's arms are very stubby compared to the rest of him. The male M.U.T.O took advantage of this a couple of times by jumping on his head and stabbing away at him with those long forelegs, with Godzilla having an extremely difficult time dislodging him since he could barely touch the top of his head. They are plenty strong, though, and he uses them to fight the female Muto.
** King Ghidorah in ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' is a nigh-unstoppable living extinction event whose very wing-flaps create ''hurricanes''. His notable weakness? The same enormous wings that grant him superpowered flight also make him incredibly ungainly in water, rendering him almost entirely defenceless when Godzilla drags him into the ocean.
* The titular Film/NightmareMan is a pretty powerful fertility god, he can kill people, grab and crush people's hearts by sticking his hand in, control dead people as puppets, etc. His weakness, if the person he's possessed is on anti-psychotic pills he can't do anything at all.
* The aliens in the French comedy ''Film/LeGendarmeEtLesExtraTerrestres'' are physically tough, can teleport, and can appear as any person they desire. What's their weakness? Water (note: the film predates ''Film/{{Signs}}'' by a few decades). Apparently, they're MechanicalLifeforms (they're shown drinking motor oil at one point) and rust at the slightest touch of water in a matter of minutes. The worst part? They came in peace! It was the gendarmes' aggressiveness that made them hostile. In the end, the aliens are destroyed (with water, naturally), and [[BrokenAesop the gendarmes are hailed as heroes]].
* Even though Film/{{Thor}} is the God of Thunder and has the power of ShockAndAwe, he's still vulnerable to electric attacks from others, as we see in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''.
* In ''Film/TheThing1982'', the titular monster's assimilation powers only have one big flaw; it [[AssimilationBackfire acquires the weaknesses of its victims alongside their strengths]]. When it assimilates [[spoiler:Norris]], it unwittingly copies the heart condition he suffers from, which leads to it ''having a heart attack'' during a stressful moment. Things go FromBadToWorse when the rest of the team tries to resuscitate [[spoiler:"Norris"]] with a defibrillator, forcing the Thing to transform and blow its cover in order to stop the painful electric shocks.
* The playable characters in ''Film/JumanjiWelcomeToTheJungle'' all have lists of strengths and weaknesses. Some weaknesses, like Ruby’s weakness to venom, make sense, but others, like Mouse exploding if he takes one bite of cake, are just silly.
* In ''Film/NightOfTheDemons2009'', the demons are vulnerable to rust.
* ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'': The Knights Who Say "Ni!" are sent into unbearable pain upon hearing the word "it".
* ''Film/{{Hungerford}}'': The [[BigCreepyCrawlies bugs]] don't like body spray. If a [[MindControl mind-controlled]] human host is sprayed, they'll fall to the ground, clutching their faces, and then the bug will leap out of their neck.
* ''Film/{{Peelers}}'': The infected can be killed with water. The apparent logic behind this is because the two substances are as incompatible as oil and water.
* ''Film/BlackSheep2007'': The were-sheep are horrible monsters. But they're mentally still sheep, so a single sheepdog is enough to contain them.

* In the Creator/DisneyChannel movie ''Film/UpUpAndAway'', the weakness of the superhero family is aluminum foil. However, it's never made clear if it was just their family or all supers who are vulnerable to foil. Both [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Spider-Man]] and Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}} are mentioned to exist in this 'verse, and they don't have any weakness to aluminum foil (although Supes has his own weakness). The bad guys definitely assume that all supers have this weakness, as, when Randy claims to have powers, they give him some foil to test it.

* The [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot undead mutant warrior things]] from TheEighties flick ''Film/NeonManiacs'' are virtually invulnerable except, like many other things on this list, they can be [[KillItWithWater dissolved with a squirt gun.]]

* Played for laughs in ''Film/{{Evolution}}'', where the aliens' critical weakness is to [[spoiler:selenium]], the best local source of which is in dandruff shampoo.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' has Metro Man having a weakness to copper, which causes Megamind to kill him without even meaning to. ([[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Except that he actually made it up]] in order to [[FakingTheDead fake his death]] and retire]].) This is even lampshaded by Megamind: