History Main / ScissorsCutsRock

* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': The Green Lantern Corps have repeatedly defeated Sinestro and his organization, despite the Green Lanterns being weak to the colour yellow and the Sinestro Corps' ability to generate yellow objects. (Though this is more about the emotional side of the spectrum: Yellow means Fear and Green means Willpower. If a Green Lantern's Willpower is stronger than their Fear, they circumvent the weakness the Green Lantern rings have against Yellow. Being able to overcome the Yellow weakness is basically a rite of passage for Green Lanterns, so for the most part only newbies would be completely helpless against a Sinestro Corp member.)

* The Franchise/GreenLantern Corps have repeatedly defeated Sinestro and his organization, despite the Green Lanterns being weak to the colour yellow and the Sinestro Corps' ability to generate yellow objects. (Though this is more about the emotional side of the spectrum: Yellow means Fear and Green means Willpower. If a Green Lantern's Willpower is stronger than their Fear, they circumvent the weakness the Green Lantern rings have against Yellow. Being able to overcome the Yellow weakness is basically a rite of passage for Green Lanterns, so for the most part only newbies would be completely helpless against a Sinestro Corp member.)

* Franchise/TheFlash has a LogicalWeakness against cold-based attacks; coldness is down to molecules lacking movement, so freezing the Flash robs them of their speed. Captain Cold, his sister Golden Glider, and her partners Chilblaine have all weaponized this, but the Flash still often ends up on top. This is due to Barry Allen often outsmarting them, or in the case of his LegacyCharacter, ComicBook/WallyWest, outfighting them using his determination and sheer power. In fact, despite Chillblaine being basically a ManOfKryptonite, Wally would treat him like a JokeCharacter because they were never very smart and usually, Glider only picked them (there was more than one) because she thought they were hot.

* The Franchise/GreenLantern Corps have repeatedly defeated Sinestro and his organization, despite the Green Lanterns being weak to the colour yellow and the Sinestro Corps' ability to generate yellow objects. (Though this is more about the emotional side of the spectrum: Yellow means Fear and Green means Willpower. If a Green Lantern's Willpower is stronger than their Fear, they circumvent the weakness the Green Lantern rings have against Yellow.)

** In [[ComicBook/{{Invincible}} Omni-Man]] vs. [[ComicBook/TheBoys Homelander]], [[spoiler:it's noted that Homelander does have two of Omni-Man's weaknesses in extreme heat (via his EyeBeams) and loud sounds that could disrupt their equilibrium (via [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic scream]]). Neither would have made much difference against Omni-Man, who was [[CurbStompBattle billions of times stronger, tougher, and faster]], and the eye beams were deemed to be ''far'' weaker than the prolonged heat from a sun's surface needed to take out a Viltrumite]].

* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'':
** Attacking anti-air units with infantry or tanks with recons, which can only do scratch-damage at best to said anti-air or tank units, remains a valid tactic because it forces them to ''expend ammo''. Used strategically you can cripple that unit's offensive power and either force your opponent to draw back to resupply or swoop in with a better unit and blow the now ammo-less offender away without being counterattacked. Bombers also completely eviscerate anti-airs if they strike first, but [[RocketTagGameplay only if they strike first]]. It also charges your CO Power meter which, again, can turn the tide of a battle if used strategically.
** Also, in ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]'', if they strike first, bombers can neutralize anti-air tanks and cruisers while taking minimal damage in return. Mechs can also cripple anti-airs (which are very effective against foot units) without losing too much health. Not the case in ''Super Famicom Wars'', where units fire simultaneously (both will be crippled).

** Pretenders deal 0.5x damage from Casters while taking neutral damage from them. Hephaestion's skill, For He is Another Iskandar (Fake), changes it so that she deals double damage to and receives half damage from Casters for three turns.

** Durant, which was specifically designed to be Heatmor’s prey, will more often than not outclass Heatmor due to its superior Speed, high Attack, and the ability to learn [[DishingOutDirt Dig]], which would spell doom for the [[GlassCannon defensively-lacking]] Heatmor.

** Also in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', [=SkullSatanmon=] easily knocks out eight other Ultimates, including [=MagnaAngemon=] and Angewomon, each with a single hit.

* Combat in ''VideoGame/RenownedExplorers'' has a mood system where the party gets buffs or debuffs based on their attitude relative to thier opponents' attitude (Friendly beats Devious, Devious beats Agressive, Agressive beats Freindly). In general being in the inferior attitude gives a large penalty to your defenses. However several items and crew abilities subvert this by reducing or negating the defense penalty when you're in a specific inferior attitude.

** Winged units are weak to bows, but bow users usually can't attack at close range, and winged units have a Move advantage. This tends to end poorly for bow users, unless specific effort is made to get the archer to a point where they can directly counteract them. There's also times where a Pegasus/Falcon Knight will have evade high enough that the archers won't be able to hit her, literally avoiding her weakness and then counter-attacking with javelins that ''will'' hit the archers. [[ZigZaggedTrope]] However, this is unlikely though, as, while Pegasus Knights ''are'' quite fast, Archers are the most accurate class in the entire game. Likewise, this scenario depends on the game and the unit. For example, in ''Three Houses'', those who develop their bow skill can equip the Close Counter ability, which allows them to counterattack adjacent units, and bow-wielding bosses can often counterattack at any distance.

** Winged units are weak to bows, but bow users usually can't attack at close range[[note]]This depends on the game and the unit. For example, in ''Three Houses'', those who develop their bow skill can equip the Close Counter ability, which allows them to counterattack adjacent units, and bow-wielding bosses can often counterattack at any distance[[/note]], and winged units have a Move advantage. This tends to end poorly for bow users, and it's part of why exclusive bow users are a LowTierLetdown. There's also times where a Pegasus/Falcon Knight will have evade high enough that the archers won't be able to hit her, literally avoiding her weakness and then counter-attacking with javelins that ''will'' hit the archers. This is unlikely though, as, while Pegasus Knights ''are'' quite fast, Archers are the most accurate class in the entire game.

** A far more straightforward example is his first battle with [[WorldsStrongestMan Kaido]]. Being rubber as mentioned, Luffy is also nearly impervious to blunt force trauma. Kaido's opening move is to smack Luffy with a huge club, channeling what appears to be lightning through it for good measure. [[OneHitKill Down goes Luffy]].

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': Colonel Mustang vs Lust. Lust breaks a water main and soaks Mustang, to prevent him from using his [[PlayingWithFire fire powers]] against her. [[spoiler:Except that Mustang's power doesn't involve some classical elemental model of fire, he controls ''[[ScientificallyUnderstandableSorcery oxygen and hydrogen]]''. Though getting him wet kept him from making a spark to ignite them, all he has to do is borrow his lieutenant's cigarette lighter to use all that water to make ''even more'' fire.]]

Often the reason people sometimes have cases of ElementalIgnorance, if they can win consistently in spite of their supposed disadvantage. Alternatively, if someone is a PoorPredictableRock and knows it, they can train specially to fend against the element that's supposed to counter them, diversifying their skills while remaining true to their art -- and often providing a nasty shock for opponents who think they'll have an easy fight simply on the grounds of having the counter element.

* ''VideoGame/{{Temtem}}'': Koish with the Iridesence trait have their weaknesses and resistances reversed. Chromeon's Pigment Inverter trait has the opposite effect: it reverses the weaknesses and resistances of the Temtem it's attacking.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', the League of Villains attack the USJ and bring a Nomu designed to absorb [[WorldsStrongestMan All Might's]] attacks. All Might points out that the Nomu is not designed to ''nullify'' All Might's strength, so he just hits the Nomu repeatedly at full power, eventually destroying it. The League is [[ThisCannotBe actually boggled]] that this happened and run away immediately afterwards[[note]][[PyrrhicVictory Unfortunately for All Might, this victory screws him over in the long term]], because [[HeroicRROD he burned through his Quirk's waning reserves a lot faster]][[/note]].

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', the League of Villains attack the USJ and bring a Nomu designed to absorb [[WorldsStrongestMan All Might's]] attacks. All Might points out that the Nomu is not designed to ''nullify'' All Might's strength, so he just hits the Nomu repeatedly at full power, eventually destroying it. The League is [[ItCannotBe actually boggled]] that this happened and run away immediately afterwards[[note]][[PyrrhicVictory Unfortunately for All Might, this victory screws him over in the long term]], because [[HeroicRROD he burned through his Quirk's waning reserves a lot faster]][[/note]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/CatDog'' episode "Flea or Die" When CatDog gets infested with fleas and Cat refuses a flea dip, they're given a flea collar to share that only works to fully rid one brother of fleas when they wear it up around their waist rather than in the center of their body. Their bickering over who gets to wear the belt results in the fleas having more and more openings to multiply on the unprotected brother until there's so many of them that the belt as no effect whatsoever and they end up having to take the flea dip anyway.

* ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': Attacking anti-air units with infantry or tanks with recons, which can only do scratch-damage at best to said anti-air or tank units, remains a valid tactic because it forces them to ''expend ammo''. Used strategically you can cripple that unit's offensive power and either force your opponent to draw back to resupply or swoop in with a better unit and blow the now ammo-less offender away without being counterattacked. Bombers also completely eviscerate anti-airs if they strike first, but [[RocketTagGameplay only if they strike first]]. It also charges your CO Power meter which, again, can turn the tide of a battle if used strategically.

* In ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]'', if they strike first, bombers can neutralize anti-air tanks and cruisers while taking minimal damage in return. Mechs can also cripple anti-airs (which are very effective against foot units) without losing too much health. Not the case in ''Super Famicom Wars'', where units fire simultaneously (both will be crippled).

** And if you fold even common paper a certain number of times, then the resulting thick wad will be virtually impenetrable to anything that isn't as cutting as a laser, never mind to ordinary scissors. Not to mention the fibres that make up paper will dull a steel blade quite quickly, so scissors can be ruined if there's enough paper to cut.

** Natsu is able to withstand any of [[TheDarkChick Totomaru]]'s fire spells as he devours fire. Totomaru reacts by using a special fire that smells like garbage. During the same battle, Natsu manages to beat Totomaru's flame control out of [[HeroicWillpower sheer will.]]