Line #16 Main/TanksForNothing


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7	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merkavabw4_5423.jpg]]
8	[-[[caption-width-right:300:[[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Told you we shoulda made that left at Albuquerque!]][[note]]Due to Merkavas having their engines in the front, right behind the very massive glacis armor, they are ''very'' nose-heavy.[[/note]]]]-]
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10	->''"What it does to a tank" is apparently the standard unit of damage.''
11	-->-- '''AltText''', ''Webcomic/GrrlPower''
12
13	Main Battle Tanks are a crucial part of modern armed forces. They combine the mobility and speed of motor-vehicles with the killing-power of artillery, and can also help infantry assault entrenched defensive positions. Modern tanks are all but invulnerable to the crude and improvised weapons used by most partisans and rebels, making them invaluable in the extermination of such groups. All in all, a properly-used and handled tank of a sufficiently modern model can be a formidable weapon.
14
15	However, this is not true in fiction. Tanks will be destroyed right and left by the HumongousMecha or MonsterOfTheWeek, with their firepower [[TheWorfBarrage doing little to no damage]]. Essentially RedShirt for armored vehicles, this is where a normally effective force of tanks serves as nothing but cannon fodder to make the enemy look intimidating.
16
17	'''Note that this does not involve tanks getting destroyed in the normal course of warfare.''' This is when tanks are completely useless for any purpose other than getting blown up for dramatic effect, even when you'd normally expect them to be effective. A tank column getting wiped out by the enemy through good tactics and properly placed weaponry is not this trope. An entire company of tanks firing at the enemy and doing no damage at all, followed by getting destroyed in one shot is this trope. This is about tanks themselves being useless, not just incompetent leadership. Also bear in mind that this can even apply in situations where the tank's introduction makes it rather badass, i.e. mowing down a squad of soldiers or weaker vehicles before being blown away by the ''real'' threat. In those cases, the [[CurbStompBattle swift destruction]] of something that was until recently kicking ass and taking names can serve to make it clear that this new threat is [[TheWorfEffect nothing to be taken lightly.]]
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19	In RealLife, tanks have been designed for two purposes: [[StrategyVersusTactics winning battles, and winning campaigns.]] NATO and the USA specifically designed tanks for the former purpose, and the USSR and Warsaw Pact designed their tanks for the latter. More specifically NATO focused on fielding high-maintenance nigh-invulnerable tanks that could beat WP tanks in set-piece tank duels and hold the line due to their numerical inferiority, whereas the WP focused on fielding cheap tanks with good reliability and fuel-efficiency that could go long distances at high speed across rough terrain and defeat NATO logistics personnel in hit-and-run engagements, as well as flank, while not losing too much if a single vehicle was destroyed, since they have numerical superiority.[[note]]This is not to say that NATO weren't prepared to use tanks to attack an enemy's supply lines, or that the WP wouldn't have used tanks to help assault defenses or fight enemy tanks, but these were not the primary roles each respective force had in mind for them.[[/note]]
20
21	What this works out to on the field is tanks fighting while or in between speeding along with other vehicles, and tanks fighting while crawling alongside infantry on foot. Despite their higher costs, even NATO tanks are very vulnerable to (handheld) anti-tank weaponry in the latter role. Indeed, despite what we said about 'being nigh-invulnerable against ill-equipped opponents' urban warfare tends to expose the weak top- and rear-armor of tanks to potentially lethal attacks and ambushes by infantry at short ranges. Good tank commanders always know how to balance the need to avoid losses and their need to accomplish their immediate objectives - losses are inevitable, but they will never be ''[[HollywoodTactics wasted]]''.
22
23	But in many {{Kaiju}} series, tanks are ''very poorly'' commanded and used. Tanks will be shown to line up directly in front of the monster and get stomped, despite the fact that modern battle tanks can reliably hit small-ish targets many kilometres away (and even ''over the horizon''). Additionally, despite most militaries carrying ammunition designed to penetrate the thick armor plating of other tanks and defensive fortifications, they will never be able to cause [[GiantEqualsInvincible even superficial wounds to the monster]].
24
25	Even in more [[RealRobotGenre "realistically"]] based HumongousMecha shows, the mecha can destroy tanks with ease despite being larger targets and not having any heavier weapons or armor than battle tanks. In fact, these reasons are why most militaries consider the idea of HumongousMecha to be impractical to begin with. This can be {{justified\|Trope}} if there is an extreme technological gap between the combatants. Usually, conventional tanks would have about the same problems with ''any'' ImpossiblyGracefulGiant war machine as they do with their old nemesis the ground attack aircraft, but in a practical situation the technology enabling that grace would be applied to the ''tanks'' first. Tanks could be said to be the RedShirt counterpart to the MechaMooks of the enemies.
26
27	In superhero series, tanks are never any threat to superheroes, usually only serving as an impromptu missile, getting swung at another tank, or flipped upside down. This can be [[JustifiedTrope justified]] if all the characters have SuperToughness in addition to SuperStrength (as is usually the case), but you'd still think the military would [[ShootingSuperman learn their lesson after a while]].
28
29	When tanks are ''not'' useless, and are, in fact, quite awesome, then it's TankGoodness. If the things being destroyed are called "tanks" but aren't or the depiction of tanks is incorrect, then it's TanksButNoTanks. A SubTrope of ArmorIsUseless. Compare TheWorfEffect, RedShirt, and FiveRoundsRapid. Contrast MechaMooks, when it's the HumongousMecha that are getting crushed. For the helicopter version of this trope, see HellishCopter.
30
31	[[noreallife]]
32	----
33	!!Examples:
34	[[foldercontrol]]
35
36	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
37	* In ''Anime/AldnoahZero'', the United Earth government used tanks to combat Martian Kataphrakts in 1999. [[ShellShockedVeteran Lt. Marito's flashbacks]] show us this didn't go well at all. Though even in 2014, Earth-developed Kataphrakts are ''still'' ridiculously outmatched against their Martian counterparts.
38	** Japanese type 90 tanks Marito's unit was equipped with are a bit of this even in the RealLife. While very well protected and powerful, they are also very large and heavy, so that few of the roads and bridges in the Japanese heartland can withstand their bulk, and the JR's narrow clearances mean that they cannot be transported by rail. This basically confines them to Hokkaido and select areas on Honshu, and the Japanese had to develop an another smaller and lighter type 10 tank so it could operate on the Japanese mainland.
39	* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Japanese tanks prove to be useless against Britannian HumongousMecha. Oh the irony.
40	* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'', if an army of tanks attacks a BigBad, he'll crush them in mere seconds. Guaranteed.
41	* In the [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic future]] of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', it's rare to have working vehicles, and even rarer to have working combat vehicles. A fully functional and fully armed tank is next to unheard of in the setting and would make its owner a bandit leader unto themselves. One such tank appears once in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ZeD40Rg8A the anime]]. [[StuffBlowingUp But only once.]]
42	* Subverted in ''Manga/TheFiveStarStories'', where during the infamous [[GambitPileup Emperor Rescue Mission]] the extremely light forces, with which Mishalu Ha Lonn took off to Both, meant that [[WithThisHerring she had to rely on tanks]] to carry the day against three times more HumongousMecha than she had at hand. The subversion lies in that while the tanks were clearly inferior to the Mortar Headds, and they were [[HeroicSacrifice destroyed almost to a man]], they ''did'' held the line until the [[GunshipRescue reinforcements arrived]], and the enemy ace [[HeelFaceTurn switched sides]].
43	* Tanks in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' are pretty useful against humans, although not so much against homunculi- Wrath cut one in two using ImplausibleFencingPowers, Greed couldn't be harmed by one due to InstantArmor, and Sloth is just too bulky to be much affected by tank rounds.
44	** The last case is more of a subversion, though, since Major General Armstrong commanded her men to remove the fuses from the rounds to limit the damage done to the facilities where the battle was held. Besides, the tanks ''were'' still useful even when they couldn't actually harm Sloth, because they were able to push him around and outside where he froze solid. The tank's performance during the assault on Central in the final arc [[TankGoodness definitely subverts this trope against the humans]]… well, until [[OneManArmy Fuhrer Bradley]] (the aforementioned Wrath) decides [[CurbStompBattle to get to work]].
45	* ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' is a good example of some more "realistic" mecha shows that shows tanks as useless, but mecha as nigh-unstoppable (especially after they cheat with the [[spoiler:Lambda Driver]]). Justified early on, as the first major fight in the series features top-of-the-line mecha against explicitly obsolete Cold War era tanks, but later played straight.
46	* ''Anime/{{Gasaraki}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4b-haPATmI features a squad of mechs single-handily destroying an entire regiment of Main Battle Tanks and Infantry Fighting Vehicles in open desert combat]]... [[MookHorrorShow Mostly from the perspective of the tank and IFV crews]] as they try to deal with a major OutsideContextProblem in the form of HumongousMecha that can run faster than they can traverse their turrets, though it also didn't help that the regiment commander seemed to get his tactics from the back of a cereal box.
47	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': Depending on the series, this can swing one way or the other. In more "realistic" shows like ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam'' this is averted, while more fantastical series' played it straight. Justified a bit more in some of the more fantastical versions like ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'', where each mech is practically an army unto itself.
48	** On the other hand, [[AllThereInTheManual official Universal Century history guides]] do [[InformedAbility state that]] most of the land battles were fought and won ''[[TankGoodness by tanks]]'', [[HumongousMecha Mobile Suits]] being only a useful addition mainly used as a force-multiplying mobile units. Given Gundam's love of {{Super Prototype}}s, most of the tanks' uselessness in the actual anime could probably be explained by the ConservationOfNinjutsu(i.e.: the tanks only go down so fast because they are {{Mooks}}).
49	*** A case in point is the liberation of Odessa, where the Feds had only ~30 [=MSes=] (including the ''White Base'' complement) compared to the Zeon's 1000+, but had their lines packed to the brim with the [[TankGoodness good ol' M-61s]] and artillery, of which they had more than three times against the Zeon's numbers.[[note]]With the Zeon's tanks being an utter crap of the ''[[AwesomeButImpractical Wunderwaffe]]'' extraction to boot[[/note]] M'Quve's lines started to collapse after barely a single barrage, and they've managed to evacuate someone only due to the nuclear mines, installed by the fleeing spacenoids, bogging down the Feds advance somewhat.
50	** Zakus are unsurprisingly enough shown to go down against tanks that are less then 1/5th of their size, though this mostly tells more about their status as {{Mooks}} then the ability of the tanks.
51	** Guntank in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the original series]] is an advanced prototype hybrid of Mobile Suit and tank that proves less than effective on the battlefield. The G-Bull, on the other hand, [[CoolTank averts this trope]].
52	*** Then there were the Guntank variants that appeared in IGLOO, which kicked all kinds of ass while operating primarily as very large (and [[LightningBruiser fast]]) tanks.
53	* The intro of ''Madox-01'' shows tanks being blown up easily by a MiniMecha... in a dense urban area. It was a mock battle to show off the new prototype Mech.
54	* ''Literature/MuvLuvAlternativeTotalEclipse'': Tanks are probably effective against weakly armored Soldier and Laser-type BETA, but we mostly only see them fail hilariously against Destroyer-types, which amount to sauropod-sized rhinoceroses with even thicker frontal armor than the tank. Tanks are mostly just used to lure BETA into killing zones for the [[HumongousMecha TSFs]].
55	* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The opening episode has the UN deploy tanks in mass numbers to try to combat the first angel. They are of course hopelessly outmatched and the UN forces make no further land participation until the finale of the season.
56	** ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'' has shown tanks deployed at various additional battles, including long-range bombardments and close-range running battles. They failed to have any impact on any of those battles.
57	* {{Subverted\|Trope}} in ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}''. Humanoid Labors go down pretty quickly in the face of tanks simply by being undergunned and fragile. In ''Anime/Patlabor2TheMovie'', Ōtah becomes upset over his labor's armament (an anti-labor shotgun) in anticipation that he will face tanks; the mechanic replies that he should shoot with both eyes closed.
58	* ''Manga/PumpkinScissors'' has lots of tanks. Too bad they can't stand up to [[spoiler:one gargantuan SuperSoldier who's been conditioned to ignore pain and his ''13mm, armor-piercing'' '''HandCannon''']].
59	* {{Downplayed\|Trope}} and [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] in ''Manga/StrikeWitches''. In a setting where Magical girls in the 1940's using magic-tech to fight supernatural aliens that regenerate and shoot laser beams: conventional tanks in the series various stories are faced with a complicated situation. In the series its shown that simple Neuroi infantry and conventional Neuroi armor are able to be engaged and destroyed with reasonable, relatively even footing by the various tanks of the time period, barring the use of large wave tactics, and even than, while difficult, victory could still not be completely insurmountable, even factoring in considerable casualties at worst. However, it's also shown that larger and more powerful Neuroi can completely destroy conventional tanks with ease, and even conventional, mid-sized air and ground units that make use of beam weapons can cut through the armor of M4 Sherman's, Tiger I's and Panzer IV's like a hot knife through butter. And supposing that what small umber of weaker Neuroi infantry that make use of [[DeathOfAThousandCuts weaker beam weapons could feasibly melt the armor of such tanks giving a short amount of time]], [[CruelAndUnusualDeath which would likely not be a desirable fate for the poor crew's of such tanks to endure]]. Ultimately, while not utterly useless against Neuroi by any Stretch of the imagination, they are still facing a foe with comparably better weapons and more resilient attrition rates by at least a few steps, not even factoring the distinct nuances of Neuroi warfare.
60	* ''Anime/VividredOperation'': The scene with the completely useless UN tanks in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is given extended ShoutOut during the Alone attack on Tokyo. (This is a series which loves giving extended ShoutOut to a lot of things.)
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder:Comic Books]]
64	* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' pretty much uses this as a conversation starter.
65	* In the ''ComicBook/{{Sturmtruppen}}'' comics, Tanks are often played for laughs as they fall apart, run out of gasoline and fall into pits of various kinds. The few time they're efficient they'll end up running over their own soldiers.
66	* In ''ComicBook/{{Uber}}'', the Nazis' "tank"-class superhumans can easily destroy regular tanks in close combat, but can still be killed by a direct hit from a tank shell. (Hitting a highly mobile man-sized target with a World War II-era tank's main gun is easier said than done, though.) The [[PhysicalGod "battleship" superhumans]], meanwhile, are totally immune to tank fire and can fling tanks around like beach balls.
67	* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', an early demonstration of Doctor Manhattan's godlike RealityWarping power is when he disassembles a tank to its components, then makes them implode in a fused lump. Happily, it's on a government test site rather than a battlefield.
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69
70	[[folder:Fan Works]]
71	* Averted in ''Fanfic/CodeGeassLelouchOfBritannia''. Like in the source material, tanks are clearly inferior to [[HumongousMecha Knightmare Frames]]. But in his under-equipped unit that Lelouch commands in North Africa, where he has to make up for limited supply of Knightmares by supplementing them with tanks he pulled out of storage, he's able to use good tactics to make up for their inferior mobility. And even physics-defying Knightmare Frames go down after being hit by [[KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter 140mm railgun]] shells.
72	* Subverted in ''Fanfic/OperationForgingSteel'', a White Fang Paladin mech managed to get a drop on an American MBT bearing the same model name, and launched its first attack with the mech's main cannon.... to no effect. The Paladin Tank then returned fire and destroyed the mech in one-shot.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
76	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', a bunch of tanks try to take on the Omnidroid, and of course do nothing to it. To their credit, they ''did'' actually try to fight intelligently, aiming for the joints rather than trying to shoot its near-perfectly spherical hull.
77	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'', multiple tanks fire at the Giant, none of which lay a scratch on him. [[spoiler:When the Giant goes into "defense mode", his ArmCannon weapons can send tanks flying and, in once case, completely disintegrates one in a puff of green plasma.]]
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80	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
81	* [[OneManArmy Booker]]'s DynamicEntry in ''Film/TheExpendables2''. Given that he's played by Creator/ChuckNorris, he probably blew up the T72 [[MemeticBadass by scowling at it]].
82	* In the 2003 ''Film/{{Hulk}}'' movie, the Hulk is attacked by a squad of 4 tanks. He throws the first one like a hammer, rips the second one's turret out, then proceeds to beat the crap out of the third one with that same turret, and finally disables the fourth by bending the cannon muzzle to aim at the gunner. It is awesome to behold.
83	* In ''Film/IronMan1'', Tony Stark (in his Iron-Man suit) gets matched up against a tank. The tank was able to accurately knock him out of the sky with a shell, and scuff up his armor (there's a deleted scene that showed how bad the damage was). Iron Man stands right back up, looks at the tank, fires a dinky missile at it, and walks away. [[YouAreAlreadyDead Said tank then explodes]]. [[AllThereInTheManual The novelization]] confirms that the missile did penetrate a weak spot on the tank and set off the ammo.
84	* ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'':
85	** ''Film/{{Transformers\|2007}}'':
86	*** The Transformers' destructive power is first shown when Blackout singlehandedly attacks a US military base in Qatar, deploying a SphereOfDestruction and an EnergyWeapon that send tanks flying.
87	*** Devastator, a Decepticon, actually has a modified Abrams as his vehicle mode, but isn't able to contribute much more than collateral damage to the climactic battle: he gets ganged up on by several Autobots and cut to pieces.
88	** ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' depicts a squad of Abrams being used more effectively in the Battle of Giza, being used in a hull-down position as direct-fire artillery against the Decepticons. But then The Fallen starts [[GravityMaster playing around with gravity]] and the tanks are once again thrown around like gravel.
89	* In ''Film/WarOfTheWorlds2005'', the Martian weapons are able to cut through tanks like butter. By the point that they finally appear in the film, they're only being used to buy time for survivors to escape before the [[TripodTerror Tripods]] can get to them.
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92	[[folder:Literature]]
93	* Played with in the ''Literature/AxisOfTime'' trilogy. The small number of [=M1A4=] Abrams tanks brought by the "uptimers" (this particular modification is geared towards urban warfare and antipersonnel operations) make short work of Japanese and German forces, when they're deployed. On the other hand, German tank columns are bombed to hell and back on D-Day, thanks to all the Allied bombers being directed by the AI aboard the HMS ''Trident'', allowing them to drop bombs exactly where intended.
94	* Subverted in ''Literature/{{GATE}}'', where the JSDF sends their oldest active tanks, Type 74, [[AlternateUniverse through the titular Gate]], vaguely expecting something like this, and instead finding that even these obsolete tanks effortlessly [[CurbstompBattle curbstomped]] their vaguely Roman/High Medieval-level opponents.
95	* In the ''Literature/HammersSlammers'' universe tanks were made obsolete by improvements in anti-tank weaponry. Then advanced computers and satellite observation and rapid-firing energy weapons made missiles harder to get through. And fusion power enabled {{Hover Tank}}s with heavy iridium armor.
96	* In Creator/AndreyLivadny's ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' series, standard treaded or wheeled vehicles are considered vastly inferior to HumongousMecha/[[RealRobotGenre Real Robot]]s. The first time this is proven true is at the very start of the [[TheWarOfEarthlyAggression First Galactic War]], when the [[TheEmpire Earth Alliance]] fleet attempts to invade Dabog, its own LostColony. However, since Dabog has a bit of a {{Deathworld}} feel to it, the early colonists had to struggle and innovate in order to beat the environment and terraform the planet. Specifically, the big threat are giant dinosaur-like lizards and swamps that make traditional vehicles useless. Instead, they studied the lizards' leg joints and based their walker vehicles on them. They proved superior to the Alliance invasion forces due to their maneuverability and ability to cross any terrain, even when piloted by farmers. After the Alliance fleet nuked Dabog (because they actually managed to fight off the invading troops), it learned its lesson and replaced most of its treaded/wheeled tanks with HumongousMecha based on Dabogan designs. The [[LaResistance Free Colonies]] followed suit. Centuries later, Combat Planetary Machines (i.e. traditional vehicles) are only useful as troop transports, if that.
97	* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': Tanks have generally been phased out due to PoweredArmor becoming widespread in modern militaries. One of the short stories in the ''Worlds of Honor'' {{Anthology}} series features tanks, but they are stated to only be useful because the planet they are on has little in the way of a modern military force. [[spoiler:One of the characters is killed using a tank in a duel against a [[DeathFromAbove Havenite shuttle]], though the shuttle is destroyed as well.]]
98	** However, in ''Echoes of Honor'' the [[spoiler:Allies [=POWs=]' assault on the Havenite base during their GreatEscape]] is seriously aided by the fact that they take the armor park of the base and use the tanks stationed there, which prove surprisingly efficient, as the speed and surprise of their assault minimized a coherent response by defenders in Powered Armor — in fact, they've managed to overrun the base's "morgue" ''before'' any {{Power Armor}}ed troopers have the chance to reach it, much less to suit up.
99	** Scorpion light armored fighting vehicles (which, technically, aren't stated to be tanks) show up on the planet Mobius Beta in ''Shadow of Freedom'', and are mainly used to disperse protesters and assault LaResistance positions with their 35-mm grav guns. However, when caught in the open by rebels with off-world anti-tank weaponry, they easily go down from a single shot. It is later revealed that although Scorpions are Solarian issue vehicles, they're [[AwesomePersonnelCarrier more along the lines of IFVs/light tanks]], and aren't designed to withstand the bona-fide antitank weapons.
100	* It is openly stated in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' that tanks are useless against [[PoweredArmor Mobile Infantry]]; too small and agile to hit with heavy ordnance, too heavily armored to give a right damn about anything other than heavy ordnance, and they all carry the kind of havoc that can eat a tank.
101	* When the heroes of ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' rebel against the US Government, the restored Tsar (yes, that's a thing) gives them... 100 WWII surplus T-34s. This is perfect, the heroes say, because the T-34 is super-reliable (hah!) and the purpose of tanks isn't to fight head on but to raid the enemy's supply chain and rear areas. However, no tanks on any side are ever mentioned as making a difference in the war.
102	* ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'': Justified for human tanks during the initial tetralogy, as the Race's level of military tech is roughly equivalent to TheFifties or TheSixties (and they strike during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). On the flipside, their own "landcruisers" are very difficult to destroy due to their better armor and millennia of perfecting all this tech. Even Germans manage to destroy a few of them by using better tactics and the terrain to their advantage (e.g. hitting a Race landcruiser in the poorly armored bottom as its crossing a hilltop), while also losing most (if not all) tanks involved in those fights. Shoulder-launched [=RPGs=] also work, but not against the heavy frontal armor. By the follow-up trilogy, however, taking place nearly two decades later, German tanks have reached a one-to-one parity with their Race counterparts in terms of survivability and firepower, as well as through the use of superior tactics. The tanks of the other major free powers are likely not far behind. It can be assumed that, by ''Homeward Bound'', most of which takes place in 2031 (i.e. nearly 90 years after the first novel), human military technology has surpassed that of the Race by a wide margin. [[spoiler:This is signified by the arrival of the American FTL starship ''Commodore Perry'' into the orbit of Home, the Race's homeworld.]]
103	* In ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', the tanks present at the Battle of Yonkers were nearly useless. They primarily used anti-tank rounds which were woefully ineffective, since nobody thought to bring enough anti-personnel rounds to make a difference. Using the tanks to run over the zombies supposedly wouldn't work because the zombie guts would clog up their treads, which any real-life tanker would point out is extremely unlikely, as most tanks can function just fine with much worse things (i.e. ''full-sized trees'') stuck in the treads. Mostly this is just another instance of HollywoodTactics present throughout the book.
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106	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
107	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot Robot]]", a tank is rolled out in an attempt to stop the eponymous robot, but is quickly destroyed by it instead.
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109
110	[[folder:Pinballs]]
111	* In ''Pinball/OperationThunder'', the only purpose the enemy tanks serve is as cannon fodder for the player's [[CoolPlane Stealth Fighters and F-15 Strike Eagles]].
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
115	* Subverted in ''Tabletopgame/BattleTech'', though the ''Videogame/{{Mechwarrior}}'' video games tend to play it straighter (Seen in the VideoGames section below). 'Mechs and tanks coexist in-universe and tanks are used by all major militaries. Tanks can mount just as much weaponry and armor as a 'Mech, but are somewhat easier to disable if something inside gets damaged and are less mobile than a 'Mech of the same size. The "tanks are inferior" attitude does exist in-universe, particularly among the more naive Mechwarriors, but veterans always warn their younger comrades that underestimating the power of a tank is a good way to get yourself killed. The [=ComGuards=] in particular absolutely ''love'' combined-arms teams of infantry, tanks, and 'mechs all working together, and they are damnably hard to deal with using 'mechs alone. Clan Hell's Horses also likes fielding combat vehicle centric, or combined arms formations, and they can make it work as Clan tech is way more advance and tougher than Inner Sphere tech. All the other Clans do not hold the same views as the Hell's Horses and generally treat tanks with condescending disdain and regarding them as obsolescent relics of a world past, in which their attitude would cost them dearly during the Invasion of the Inner Sphere (even though the majority of their losses is more due to their fatuous HonorBeforeReason attitude rather than underestimation of combined arms warfare).
116	** The classic board game follows the trope much closer. In most editions of the game Mechs and Tanks use the same weapons and armor, but the damage rules heavily favor Mechs. Every hit has a roughly 3% chance of inflicting a critical on a healthy unit with that chance going up as armor gets worn down. However, 50% of the possible criticals on a tank will kill it instantly while Mechs typically lose weapons or gain penalties to future rolls. Given all the shots thrown around in a typical game this means Tanks are often killed by criticals when they are still otherwise in fighting shape while Mechs tend to take lots of abuse before going down. Also, mechs tend to get significant advantages in weight-saving than tanks of the same size. For example, the Awesome Battlemech and Schrek PPC Carrier tank are both 80 tons and have the same top speed and firepower- three Particle Projection Cannons. The Awesome, though, has roughly triple the armor that the Schrek does. But, of course, the Schrek is much cheaper to use.
117	* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/HeavyGear''. The titular mecha are much smaller and lighter than battle tanks with considerably less firepower and armour, complementing battle tanks by being utilized in terrain impassable to large armoured vehicles or where the expense of battle tanks isn't merited. The invading CEF, who initially didn't have Gears, made extensive use of hover-tanks and did very well for themselves.
118	* Subverted in ''TabletopGame/KingOfTokyo''. Playing the Tanks card nets your Kaiju 4 Victory Points and immediately discards the card, implying that your Kaiju stomped them. However, playing this also does 3 damage to your Kaiju, which means that the tanks did score a good hit.
119	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
120	** The Imperial Guard being the most "normal" and vehicle-heavy of all armies, they tend to suffer a WorfEffect in many an army codex. One unfortunate tank was seen to stop firing after being hit with a Tau railgun even though there were only two holes in the tank's sides... and the crew having been ''liquefied and sucked out'' by the hypervelocity round's passage.
121	** There were points where even the tanks of the {{Space Marine}}s, Games Workshop's favourite faction by a ''wide'' margin, have been subjected to the WorfEffect. The first full Necron codex illustrated the raw power of Necron weaponry by putting in some art of a Necron heavy weapon platform obliterating a Land Raider, one of the most durable vehicles in the game at the time.
122	[[/folder]]
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124	[[folder:Video Games]]
125	* The first boss in ''VideoGame/{{Apocalypse}}'' is a tank twenty times larger than the player... and an easy WarmUpBoss. A later stage throws two tanks as a DualBoss, but they still go down like a punk.
126	* The tanks in ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' might as well be plushies for all the good they do.
127	* In the ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}'' series, it's surprisingly common for [[RockBeatsLaser bronze-age spearmen to take down modern tanks]] due to quirks in the combat system. Each successive game tweaked the combat mechanics in an attempt to make this less common, but it still happens often enough for "Spearman beats Tank" to become [[MemeticMutation a long-running meme.]]
128	* Unless you're spectacularly bad at designing your mechs in ''VideoGame/{{Chromehounds}}'' individual tanks are just funny little speed bumps. A squad of them just makes for some sad fireworks.
129	* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun'', the [[OneWorldOrder GDI]] Titan walker is tougher, more powerful, and has a greater range than its [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Nod]] counterpart the Tick tank, whose main advantage (besides its greater speed) is the ability to literally dig in and turn into a static turret, trading mobility for survivability. It's also cheaper, allowing Nod commander to make more of them. To be fair, though, Nod tactics have always favored hit-and-run type attacks and non-traditional weapons.
130	* ''VideoGame/{{Dangan}}'', an obscure old shooter from the [=PS1=], has tanks which initially appears to fulfill the GiantMook-type enemy role, being large enough to take up an entire section of the arena, until you actually starts fighting them. Just whip out your smallest gun and fire away, and the tanks somehow blows up in less than ten shots.
131	* Averted in most ''VideoGame/FrontMission'' games that features tanks, especially in ''Alternative''. MightyGlacier doesn't even enough to describe their potential (they can pack some big guns).
132	** Tanks, as well as many conventional military vehicles, are [[CutscenePowerTotheMax somewhat more powerful in the cut-scenes]], justified that most of the fight in the game is in close range (or in terrain where tanks would be less effective, like cities, jungles, or on bodies of water) where wanzers are more effective.
133	* ''VideoGame/HonkaiImpact3rd'': A Honkai Emperor beast in Second Eruption withstands several direct shots from tank rounds with little effect. It goes on to kill 5000 soldiers and likely several tanks before finally dying from attrition.
134	* ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'':
135	** Light Tanks occasionally appear as part of Archive {{Protection Mission}}s. As in, your {{Humongous Mecha}}s are the ones protecting them from the enemy {{Kaiju}}s. One hit is enough to destroy them. They aren't completely useless, as you can control them once they come online in the midgame and use their cannons to push Vek; they do no damage unless you shove the Vek into a mountain, building, another Vek, or [[SuperDrowningSkills into the water]], but positioning and repositioning are so valuable in ''ITB'' that this can still provide a ton of assistance.
136	** The various deployable tanks you can get start out as {{One Hit Point Wonder}}s, and tend to be very demanding in power cores to run at maximum strength, but can be upgraded to be as durable as a main-line mech; the deployable version of the Light Tank is slightly better than most starting mechs if you're willing to commit a massive six power cores to getting it up to full power. Others can provide some very useful effects like covering an enemy in [[DamageIncreasingDebuff ACID]] or shielding your mech.
137	** Averted with the Cannon Mech, Mirror Mech, Unstable Mech and Bulk Mech, which function as normal mechs in gameplay and are just designed aesthetically to evoke tanks. The list gets longer if you permit {{Spider Tank}}s as well.
138	* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/KaijuWars''. Tank squadrons are one of the basic units available to the player. Kaiju can flatten any given tank squadron with a single attack, but the tanks ''will'' do some damage as they're being destroyed and will slow the kaiju down for the rest of the turn. Presumably, stepping on a tank is the kaiju equivalent of stepping on a Lego brick. Even then, it's going to take a ''lot'' of tanks to bring down a kaiju.
139	* In ''VisualNovel/MarcoAndTheGalaxyDragon'', the Mayor of Gold Cord rolls up in a tank to rescue Tera Isezaki from being executed by the Galaxy Auction representatives. It doesn’t go well.
140	* This is given a strange justification in the ''Videogame/MechWarrior'' series and its source Tabletop Game. Tanks are among the ''lighter'' mainstays of most militaries, with Battlemechs and even ''Aerospace Fighters'' mounting heavier armor and weapons (e.g. between a 100 ton tank, a 100 ton Assault Battlemech and a 100 ton heavy Aerospace Fighter the tank will typically have less armor and fewer weapons). Granted, the latter are practically tanks themselves, just with legs or fusion jets.
141	** In ''[=MechWarrior=] 4'', tanks are absolute joke enemies - the die in a couple hits from almost any weapon, and while some of them have powerful weapons, [[ArtificialStupidity they almost never fire them]]. The trope is [[TankGoodness thankfully averted]] in ''[=MechWarrior=] Living Legends'', where heavy tanks like the [[MightyGlacier Demolisher]] can rip any battlemech to pieces with glee, and light tanks can drive ([[MultiTrackDrifting or drift]]) in circles around the more sluggish mechs.
142	** Averted with a vengeance in ''VideoGame/{{BattleTech}}''. Lighter vehicles might not pose much of a threat, but heavier tanks can, and if you ignore them, ''will'' cause you massive damage. Be extremely scared if you end up near a Demolisher or SRM Carrier.
143	** But also justified as well. If a mech launches a melee attack on a tank (translation, attempts to step on it), the tank is nearly always destroyed if the attack hit. Tanks take 2x damage from melee attacks and only have one internal spot, so destruction is nearly always assured.
144	* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', the Pigmask army deploys some tanks to break into Osohe Castle, which works out fine. They later use the same tanks to chase down your party, only to have one get destroyed by them (Having a TomboyPrincess with PsychicPowers and a mighty old man packing explosives helped there), while another is crushed like a tin-can by a [[TRexpy Drago]] right after its driver decide they've seen enough and bail out.
145	* Played With in ''VideoGame/RebelInc'': Tanks will win virtually every battle they engage in, but have other flaws that can make them anywhere from a DifficultButAwesome SituationalSword to an outright liability in a Counter Insurgency campaign, compared to the BoringButPractical option of scraping them for a quick cash injection:
146	** Tanks damage the infrastructure just by being there and thus actively hinder your main victory condition of [[WhatTheRomansHaveDoneForUs winning hearts and minds]]
147	** Tanks cannot support (increase combat efficiency of) adjacent units.
148	** Tanks cannot enter Remote Zones unless they have Roads or Highways.
149	* In the first ''VideoGame/RuneFactory'' game, the main opponent [[spoiler:the Sechs Empire]] sends an armored battle tank to defeat the player. By this point, your character is strong enough to defeat the tank easily, at which point the opponent says "Maybe it was a manufacturing defect." At the climax, the opponent sends dozens of tanks to destroy your town. Then [[spoiler:the huge Dragon causes plants to grow and defeat the tanks by clogging them]]
150	* ''VideoGame/ShadowGuardian'' has the Alexandria shootout, where the hero Jason is ambushed by a tank... which he took out in ''five'' seconds by shooting a fuse-box atop a nearby lamppost, which lands on the tank and disables it. After a brief shootout against enemy mooks, the tank reactivates to continue attacking Jason, only for Jason to grab a rocket launcher from a slain mook and destroy it in ''one'' shot.
151	* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', [[AscendedFanboy Ryusei]] thinks this is the case since he lives in a world where giant robots exist. He gets outmaneuvered and shot down by tanks during his very first training session, teaching him a [[ThisIsReality very important lesson]]
152	** [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Of course AFTER that, they're pretty much just there for flavor.]]
153	* ''VideoGame/UniverseAtWar'' plays this trope several different ways:
154	** In cutscenes and backstory, human tanks are said to be weak and virtually ineffective against the invading alien forces, playing the trope straight.
155	** [[GameplayAndStorySegregation In the game itself]], in the hands of a competent player they're easily able to hold their own against "superior" alien vehicles while their shells' large knockback lets them play Ping-Pong with enemy infantry, making them one of the most versatile and arguably most powerful units for their cost. If used en masse, they can even chew through the enemy's Habitat Walkers fairly quickly, provided their firepower is concentrated on a single hardpoint.
156	* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles,'' your own tank, and tanks in general are quite effective. However in one event you are tasked with diverting the path of the enemy's humongous mobile battle fortress into an ambush where the Gallian Royal Guard's tank squad awaits. Your diversion is successful, the Royal Guard attacks, does absolutely nothing and is destroyed utterly making the mission entirely pointless.
157	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': While not outright useless, Steam Tanks ([[YouWannaGetSued sorry, Siege Engines]]) have a niche role: they have barely-above-melee range, deal less damage than the other artillery unit, and can't attack units. They're essentially steampunk battering rams, used to attack buildings and be hard to kill thanks to their building-type armor, and the expansion grants them the ability to fire rockets at up to three flyers simultaneously.
158	* The army tanks in ''VideoGame/WarOfTheMonsters'' are always seen being destroyed easily, and the ones in game only deal chip damage to your health. Somewhat subverted with the missile tanks, as they deal considerably more damage and the player should take note of their presence.
159	[[/folder]]
160
161	[[folder:Web Comics]]
162	* Spoofed in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', when [[spoiler:Cumberland turns into a HumongousMecha. The President of the United States wants to counter with a mecha of her own, but upon realizing they don't ''have'' one, she gives up and tells them to just send some tanks, knowing full well that those are just cannon fodder for mecha.]]
163	* ''Webcomic/DICETheCubeThatChangesEverything'': The best weapon available in the final game is a walkie-talkie. Which can be used to summon any heavy artillery, starting from a giant tank. The accuracy of which is much to be desired.
164	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'' has the Cattank. It ''does'' kind of look like a cat if you squint a bit. And, it very definitely has treads. And, it does get to be kind of fitted for battle in the [[AfterTheEnd Silent World]] (in the most cheapskate way imaginable). But, it's far closer to being a [[TheAllegedCar clapped-out RV modified for comms jobs behind the lines]] than it is an actual, you know, [[TankGoodness troll-ready tank]].
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Web Original]]
168	* Played straight in ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', when Wallflower manages to handle three tanks at once with her force field. Discussed Trope later on, as she does the math to determine how much force she just handled... and realizes it was WAY more then she should have. Subverted in a later story, where tanks are amongst the ground forces that TPK Team Kimba in a simulated battle.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Western Animation]]
172	* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' the finale features a scene [[spoiler:during the taking of Ba Sing Se where pretty much every one of the Order of the White Lotus has fun beating the crap out of Fire nation]] tanks.
173	** This is a pretty justified example considering [[spoiler: the White Lotus benders are some of the best in the world and the firebenders off the group are getting a boost from Sozin's Comet and are much better than the firebenders that are acting as the tanks' "cannons"]]. It's also zigzagged throughout the series since the tanks' introduction: talented benders can defeat them with fair ease, but they're still part of the reason why the Fire Nation is making great strides in their war to conquer the Earth Kingdom as the latter is still using foot soldiers and mounted infantry.
174	* In the finale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', tanks are powerless to stop the Lorwardian war machines.
175	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Carnage," tanks are sent in to stop the titular character. Carnage easily overturns one tank, rips open the underside, and feeds on the souls of the crew inside.
176	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Good Neighbor", [[ItMakesSenseInContext Squidward's house goes on a rampage after its security system malfunctions.]] The police send in a tank, only for the house to easily catch the shell and smash the tank.
177	* ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats'': The Enforcer Peacekeepers' only purpose is to get stomped by the MonsterOfTheWeek so the heroes can save the day.
178	** In "Metal Urgency," Pumadyne designs an experimental tank for them called the Behemoth. It seems impressive, since it is protected by a force field and (for whatever reason) all of its armaments are said to be thought-controlled. But after being stolen by Hard Drive, it's taken on a rampage so brief it never even leaves the facility where it had just been built before the SWAT Kats manage to take it out by frying its electrical systems, which results in the thought controls becoming disabled. And apparently there is no backup conventional control for it because once Hard Drive loses the ability to operate it with his mind, the million dollar prototype promptly drives itself into a wall and crashes uselessly.
179	* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' plays this very straight. [[GeneralRipper General Steel's]] usual response to any threat is to throw tanks at it. This never works, of course. [[spoiler: Steel himself gets wise to this and has a HumongousMecha of his own built, the "Hammer" that enjoys initial success against the Kaiju being sent to Earth, only to end up being destroyed just before the Titan gets upgraded in the SeriesFinale.]]
180	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TanksForNothing