History GlassCannon / VideoGames

** The Troll Berserker of the Horde [[{{Zigzagged}} zigzags]] this trope. They have a decent amount of HitPoints (450 vs 245) unlike the Night Elf Archer, but come with a [[TheBerserker Berserk]] "mode" that increases their attack rate by 50%, but also makes them take 50% more damage from attacks. This is especially bad if melee attackers (their counter) close the distance.

** Fuddler has a base attack of 80, which is pretty high for an early game Pal, but their defense of 50 is the lowest in the game.

** Bushi has an attack stat of 125 but with merely average HP and defense (80), they'll go down quickly to powerful attacks.

** Maria Renard in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood''. She is amazingly powerful almost to the point of being overpowered with her double jump and animal buddies but just a couple of hits and she's done.

** [[MasterSwordsman Meta Knight]] tends have great speed and attack power, but low stamina in his playable appearances. In ''[[VideoGame/KirbysAdventure Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land]]'' for example, he has half the HP that Kirby has and can't copy abilities but can run as fast as Kirby's Wheel power-up and can break blocks with his sword that Kirby needs the hammer to break.

* ''VideoGame/ProjectWingman'': Glass Cannon is among one of the game modifiers. Enabling it for a mission will increase damage towards enemies by 2.5x, but you receive 5x damage back.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': Cave spiders are half the size of and have two hearts less health of the regular spider (six versus eight), making them one of the least durable enemies in the game, but do just as much damage and inflict poison damage (in normal difficulty or above). Combined with the fact they almost always [[ZergRush spawn in numbers]], and that they can fit into smaller entrances thanks to their smaller size, this makes one of the most dangerous mobs in the game.

-->''[Misery blasts King across the room.]''\\

* In ''VideoGame/FZeroX'' and ''VideoGame/FZeroGX'', the vehicles with maximum boost and low grip can drift more frequently, increasing the speed they gain by boosting this way. However, they still have to use a high quantity of energy to boost, making them more vulnerable to collisions.

* Starting from ''[[VideoGame/FZero F-Zero X]]'', you can vary the acceleration and top speed of your vehicle (before every race, there is a sliding scale where you can increase top speed at the cost of some acceleration or vice-versa) so you can make {{Mighty Glacier}}s [[LightningBruiser quicker to start]] or {{Fragile Speedster}}s more powerful. For the latter example, a vehicle like the Red Gazelle, which has a good acceleration and powerful turbos, can gain more top speed, making it hard to catch up for others while still remaining quick to start. However, it still remains a frail lightweight against enemies' attacks.

*** The One-Hit Obliterator in the Trials of the Hero take this up to eleven. Link is able to [[OneHitKill defeat any enemy in one hit]], however the sheer power of the weapon reduces Link's health to 1/4 of a heart, making him die in one hit as well.

* Joachim's Golden Bat form in ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsCovenant'' halves his HP and disables his skills and spells, but makes his attacks deal double damage.

** In ''VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash'', the Bullet Blaster (which, fittingly, looks like a Banzai Bill, the Giant missile {{Mook}} of the Franchise/SuperMarioBros franchise) is the lightest vehicle and the most vulnerable to off-road, but its top speed is comparable to the heaviest karts and it still gets great mini-turbos after drifts. The Green Fire is a more moderate example, having the best top speed of middleweights, but average mini-turbos, weak acceleration and off-road, and being the second lightest vehicle of its league.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'': Tita Russel is a 13 year old GadgeteerGenius and TheCutie who has the lowest hitpoints by far and specializes in support using AbnormalAmmo from her cannon. She remains a glass cannon until ''The 3rd'', where she creates her own Orbal Gear MiniMecha to pilot into battle.

* Raphael in ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIV'' has the lowest health of any character, but moves the fastest and has the strongest dash attacks.

* Joachim's Golden Bat form in ''VideoGame/{{ShadowHeartsCovenant}}'' halves his HP and disables his skills and spells, but makes his attacks deal double damage.

* Joachim's Golden Bat form in ''VideoGame//{{ShadowHeartsCovenant}}'' halves his HP and disables his skills and spells, but makes his attacks deal double damage.

* Joachim's Golden Bat form in ''VideoGame//ShadowHeartsCovenant'' halves his HP and disables his skills and spells, but makes his attacks deal double damage.

*** Golden attempts to offset this wotj her unique Shield of Justice skill, which completely nullifies one attack on every member of the party. It costs a hefty 150 MP per use though, so it's best saved for attacks that do devastating damage and are telegraphed.

** Emerald's gear Crescens falls under this umbrella too, with damaging attacks and very fast turn speed but the lowest HP of any Gear when fully equipped.

** Elly zigzags this; she is the archerypal party mage, though her spells are somewhat middling by default. Equipping her with an Ether Doubler (doubles spell damage and EP cost) makes her spells very strong, though. Equipping her Gear with a Power Magic on top makes her Aerods attack extremely powerful, capable of one-shotting several bosses. She still retains her low HP, physical strength and durability even with her amazing damage output.

** Elly zigzags this; she is the archerypal party mage, though her spells are somewhat middling by default. Equipping her with an Ether Doubler (doubles spell damage and EP cost) makes her spells very strong, though. Equipping her Gear with a Power Magic on top makes her Aerods attack extremely powerful, capable of one-shotting several bosses. She still retains her relatively low HP, physical strength and durability, though.