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Protection from the Elements

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Let a spell be your umbrella

"The cold never bothered me, anyway."
Elsa, Frozen (2013)

Weird Weather, Hostile Weather, and Weather Manipulation powers can be devastating to characters, places, and objects without the proper personal protective equipment. Characters that understand this will thus make use of weatherproofing methods and abilities to protect themselves or the things they care about from harmful weather effects. These can range from raincoats to storm doors to Applied Phlebotinum. Characters with Weather Manipulation powers or certain Elemental Powers often have an innate weatherproofing Required Secondary Power.

Keep in mind not all weather protection is universal or 100% effective; a warm bulky coat is useful in the winter cold but can be detrimental in the summer heat. In addition, occasional maintenance may be required for continued protection. Some protection works to a point but prolonged exposure can erode its efficacy.

See also Defog of War in regards to Fog of War and Exposed to the Elements which can overlap with this.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 

    Comic Books 
  • Fantastic Four: Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, can endure frigid temperatures due to his powers.
  • During the first Secret Wars (1984), the good guys hunker down in a fortress while a tremendous storm rages outside. Iron Man wonders why Thor is out amid the gale-force winds and slashing rain. Spider-Man points out that Thor is the god of thunder, "He's probably cheering it on." Verily, Thor is almost giddy with delight at the storm's power and fury, being almost enough to result in The End of the World as We Know It.
  • Superman has shown resistance to extreme heat and cold as part of his Super-Toughness. He is also impervious to sunburns since he gets his powers from the yellow sun's radiation.
  • Uncanny X-Men:
    • Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, can and has strolled around in frigid temperatures in clothes that make Elsa's ice dress look downright conservative, due to her weather powers allowing her to regulate her internal temperature at will.
    • Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, can also handle extreme temperatures, though arid, dry heat can affect his ability to generate ice, as he has to pull the moisture from the air to make it.

    Film — Animation 
  • Frozen (2013): Elsa has the power to create and manipulate ice and snow, and has immunity to freezing temperatures. She is completely unbothered running through snowstorms clad only in a thin, skin-baring dress made of ice.

    Film — Live-Action 
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Wizards have a spell that allows them to use their wands as an umbrella, casting a bluish light that repels rain. Newt and Queenie both use the spell at different points in the film.

    Literature 
  • Equal Rites: Drum Billet is easily recognizable as a wizard, first because of his staff, and second because the raindrops from a thunderstorm evaporate before they reach him.
  • Goblin Slayer: The Breath spell is normally just used to allow people to breathe underwater. However, Goblin Slayer demonstrates that the spell accounts for all forms of water including snow and ice, which allows him to survive being buried by an avalanche. He also uses the Required Secondary Powers of the spell that protect the user from changes in temperature from water immersion to help his companions stay warm in a snowstorm.
  • Mermaid (2011): The mermaids' thick, hard, opalescent skin protects them from the cold, so they can comfortably swim naked between icebergs.
  • The Mermaid: Mermaids are immune from the cold. Amelia thinks the human practice of wearing dead animal skins is barbaric, until she transforms into a human for the first time on a cold night and quickly realizes why humans need to cover themselves.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire: The Red Priestess Melisandre claims that the power of her god, the Lord of Light and fire, keeps her warm no matter the weather. People near her can actually feel the supernatural heat.
  • The Syrena Legacy: Syrena are unaffected by water temperature, as Emma discovers to her chagrin when her powers awaken; hot showers and the cold ocean both feel lukewarm to her.
  • In The Vazula Chronicles, merpeople have adaptations to survive the cold at the bottom of the ocean. Merletta finds it uncomfortable and prefers the heat at the surface, but she's not in danger of hypothermia like a human would be. When she and the guards transform into humans on the coast of Valoria during winter, they feel truly cold for the first time in their lives.
  • Tom from The Water-Babies gains this after his transformation into a water-baby. If he's out of the water for too long he can be burned by the sun, but otherwise he's totally immune to both heat and cold, even in boiling water.
  • The Wheel of Time: Channelers of the One Power use a vague "concentration technique" to ignore the effects of hot and cold weather. Although non-channelers could theoretically learn it, no one ever does, and several channelers go Exposed to the Elements to subtly flaunt their powers.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Dungeons & Dragons:
    • Some weather-related spells (such as Protection from Winds, Storm Shield, Wind and Rain Protection, and Endure Elements) will protect a Player Party from the effects of Hostile Weather.
    • Characters with resistance to cold or fire damage (whether innately due to their race or as an effect from a magic item or class feature) are also immune to the effects of extreme cold or heat, respectively.
  • Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay:
    • A minor Hedge Magic spell shields the user from rain — useful everyday Utility Magic, but it also protects gunpowder weapons from water damage.
    • One of the possible Marks of the Supernatural that Ice Witches can acquire makes them immune to non-magical cold, a major benefit in their frigid homeland.

    Video Games 
  • Coromon: Weatherproof, a Trait unique to the Silquill line, makes the user immune to all weather effects.
  • Don't Starve: Wetness, Freezing, and Overheating are mechanics associated with the weather (spring rain, winter snow, and summer heat respectively) and can negatively affect players depending on the level. Various clothes and objects can mitigate and decrease said level to protect players.
  • Empire at War: Some planets have a mercenary outfitter building where the player can buy various upgrades for their troops. One possible upgrade is becoming immune to the effects of planetary Hostile Weather, such as missiles being less effective.
  • Empire Earth II: The Aztec civilization has no debuffs during bad weather, and one of the modern era researches makes mechanical units immune to weather effects. However, as weather effects are entirely optional in skirmish matches, its usefulness can vary.
  • In I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, Cal's Bio-Augmentation maintains his body temperature regardless of how hot or cold it is outside, so he doesn't sweat or shiver. However, he can still sweat when stressed.
  • Nintendo Wars
    • Olaf's units are immune to the effects of snow but are severely affected by rain.
    • Drake's units are immune to the effects of rain.
    • Penny/Lili's ability gives her units immunity to all weather effects.
  • In No Man's Sky, exosuits are outfitted with a Hazard Protection system which provides immunity to extreme heat, cold, radiation or toxicity for up to eight minutes (about one third of an in-game day) before they must be recharged either manually with resources like sodium or automatically by getting inside a shelter, such as a spaceship, a natural cavenote  or under a roof of any building. Users can install upgrades on the exosuit to extend protection against specific elements, but those can be recharged only manually.
  • Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time: Various plants, mainly fire-based and ice-based ones, are immune to the freezing wind in Frostbite Caves and some fire-based ones are capable of thawing adjacent frozen plants or otherwise preventing freezing.
  • Pokémon:
    • Rock, Ground, and Steel Types are immune to damage from Sandstorm.
    • The abilities Sand Veil, Sand Rush, and Sand Force prevent damage from Sandstorm.
    • Ice Types are immune to damage from Hail.
    • The abilities Snow Cloak and Ice Body prevent damage from Hail.
    • Shadow Pokemon are immune to damage from Shadow Sky.
    • The abilities Overcoat and Magic Guard prevent damage from either Sandstorm and Hail.
    • The ability Forecast, signature ability of Castform, changes the user's Type depending on the weather. In Hail, the Type becomes Ice.
    • Inverted with the abilities Dry Skin and Solar Power, which decrease the user's HP for every turn of harsh sunlight. However, Dry Skin makes the Pokémon immune to the Water Type and rain/Water-type attacks will heal it and Solar Power increases the Pokemon's special attack during harsh sunlight.
    • The abilities Air Lock and Cloud Nine negate all effects weathers have such as the damaging effects, although they do not remove the weather itself.
    • The items Safety Goggles and Utility Umbrella protects the holder from the effects of weather.
  • Pokémon Masters: the skills Sand Shelter and Snow Shelter prevents damage from Sandstorm and Hail respectively.
  • Red Dead Redemption II: If Arthur goes into hot or cold environments, he needs to be wearing appropriately light or heavy clothing in order to avoid having his stamina drained. Fortunately, such outfits are easy to get a hold of.
  • In Rodina, you need a heat-generating unit for your spaceship to touch down safely on the freezing planet Morena, where in turn you can find an upgrade to protect your ship against the acidic atmosphere of the Venus-like Veles.
  • Heat and cold resistance play a major role in the formation of ecosystems in The Sapling, with there being a wide variety of body parts that can play a role in determining what species can survive in what temperatures (for example, a fat animal with thick fur would be better suited for colder climates). This is especially true if playing on a world with seasonal extremes, as only the most specialized species will be able to survive year round without some sort of behavior like migration, hibernation, or (in the case of very short lived species) simply timing their eggs to hatch during more favorable seasons.
  • The Sims 4: One of the aspiration traits is titled "Waterproof", and makes it so your Sims won't get wet when outside in the rain, something that normally causes irritation.
  • In Warframe, Heat Generators scattered on the surface of Europa prevent shield degeneration for anything within their operating radius as long as they are not destroyed.

    Web Original 
  • Looming Gaia: Glenvar's mother gifted him a flamcor, a ring from the stomach of a kaldvurm, which kept him warm anywhere. After he saved Alaine from getting scaled by sailors, Salina and Marina, the Divines of the Ocean, rewarded him by fusing it to his chest, making him immune to the cold.

    Western Animation 
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: All bending disciplines save for earthbending have at least some level of body temperature control that can keep them warm (or at least tolerable) in polar conditions.
  • Gargoyles: Despite mostly being dressed in simple loincloths (Hudson has leather armor, but not much else), the title creatures have little problem flying around Manhattan in the dead of winter. As Goliath states "Cold doesn't bother us." In fact, in the episode where they find themselves stranded in the Arctic Circle, it's the lack of visibility a sudden blizzard generates that causes them problems rather than the cold.
  • The Owl House: Because the rain in the Boiling Isles is superheated, witches and demons with magic will create protective shields over themselves and their homes to protect them.

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