History Main / ArmoredButFrail

** Zerg Larva have the highest armor value of all units in the game outside of custom maps (along with their sibling, the egg) but have a mere 25 HitPoints. Also, this armor provides relatively less protection from attacks that emphasize quality over quantity. Notably, Siege Tanks and Reavers can kill them in one hit and can even make short work of eggs (200 HP).
** [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] with Archons. They are Protoss heavy-assault EnergyBeings with a tremendously powerful {{Deflector Shield|s}} (more than twice as strong as a human Siege Tank) and an absolute pittance in Hit Points (one quarter those of a puny zergling). This lets them recover easily between fights, but makes them tremendously vulnerable to {{EMP}}s, which strip the shields in an instant. In ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'', their shields made them [[InvertedTrope take full damage from all damage types]], which meant Terran vehicles could quickly and cost efficiently melt through their shields, however in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'', Protoss shields were changed to be affected by unit attributes which (due to their unusual attributes) ended up making them weak to no damage type instead of every single one, but they remained vulnerable to EMP (it now only removes 100 shield points per shot instead of all).
** Protoss Immortals in ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' were the first game's Dragoons, retrofitted with special plasma shields that reduce all damage to 10 or less as long as they have shields. While this lets them counter hard-hitting units like siege tanks (and weak to ZergRush, which relies on lots of weak attacks) and they aren't nearly as vulnerable as Archons without shields, their actual hull isn't well armored against scratch damage. Immortals invert this trope completely in ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIILegacyOfTheVoid Legacy of the Void]]'' where they lose the hardened shields in exchange for a 3-second barrier that simply absorbs 100 damage and has no armor bonuses at all.

Compare with MetalSlime, which may too be low in raw health, but very well armored to impair easy kills for their significant reward. A boss that has a BrokenArmorBossBattle may fall under this as well.

** Several Pokémon invert it by having low defenses but absurdly high base HP. For instance, Regidrago sports one of the highest base HP, at a colossal 200. However, both of Regidrago's defenses are abysmal, at 50. For reference, Normal Forme Deoxys possesses the exact same defenses as it, a Pokémon renowned for being a GlassCannon.

Several Pokémon invert it by having low defenses but absurdly high base HP. For instance, Regidrago sports one of the highest base HP, at a colossal 200. However, both of Regidrago's defenses are abysmal, at 50. For reference, Normal Forme Deoxys possesses the exact same defenses as it, a Pokémon renowned for being a GlassCannon.

** [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Shuckle]] is an extreme example, with the highest Defense and Special Defense of any usable Pokemon (230 for both) protecting a mere 20 base HP, one of the worst in the game.[[note]]Shuckle is tied for second lowest HP of any Pokémon that isn't [[OneHitPointWonder Shedinja]].[[/note]] In fact, the phenomenon of high defenses and low HP is common enough (as seen below) that it's sometimes referred to as "Shuckle syndrome."

** [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Stakataka]] has a very high base defense of 211, the fourth highest in the game in fact, and not counting Megas, it's only behind Shuckle. Its Special Defense is quite good too at 101. However, its base HP is a mediocre 61.]

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has an enemy in the Shevat shafts called the Gimmick, which only takes [[ScratchDamage 1 damage]] when hit from any physical attack, and is immune to magical damage. However, they only have 6 HP, meaning that using the weakest combo of 6 light attacks will kill them in a single turn.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has an enemy in the Shevat shafts called the Gimmick, which only takes 1 damage when hit from any physical attack. However, they only have 6 HP, meaning that spamming your weakest combo string will kill them in no time.

** [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Shedinja]] is a literal OneHitPointWonder, whose Wonder Guard ability prevents any damage from an attack type that it isn't weak to. However, Wonder Guard also does ''not'' protect it from DamageOverTime like [[UniversalPoison poison]] and [[ManOnFire burns]], from damage inflicted by [[WeatherManipulation weather]] or [[{{Caltrops}} entry hazards]], or from Pokémon with abilities like Mold Breaker (which makes the user's attacks [[AntiMagic bypass other abilities]]).

* Metal Slimes from the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, on top of being absurdly fast and running almost instantly, are only capable of taking 1 point of damage from attacks, but their HP is always somewhere in the single digits. The advanced forms downplay it, but still have incredibly low HP compared to other monsters you'd find them with (though it's still high enough you'll probably need a [[ArmorPiercingAttack critical hit]] to defeat them before they flee).

** [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Shedinja]] is a (literal) OneHitPointWonder, whose Wonder Guard ability prevents any damage from an attack type that it isn't weak to. However, Wonder Guard also does ''not'' protect it from DamageOverTime like [[UniversalPoison poison]] and [[ManOnFire burns]], from damage inflicted by [[WeatherManipulation weather]] or [[{{Caltrops}} entry hazards]], or from Pokémon with abilities like Mold Breaker (which makes the user's attacks [[AntiMagic bypass other abilities]]).
** [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Onix]] (HP 30, Def 160, Sp. Def 45) is maybe the earliest example in the series, which is significantly downplayed but still somewhat intact with its [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver later-introduced]] evolution Steelix (HP 75, Def 200, Sp. Def 65) and its Mega Evolution (HP 75, Def 230, Sp. Def 95) simply due to their otherwise average HP paling in comparison to their massive Defense.
** [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon Stakataka]] has a very high base defense of 211, the fourth highest in the game in fact, and not counting Megas, it's only behind Shuckle. Its Special Defense is quite good too at 101. However, its base HP is a mediocre 61.
** In fact, this is what most {{Stone Wall}}s and many {{Mighty Glacier}}s tend to be:
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Dusknoir]] (HP 45, Def 135, Sp. Def 135)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Wishiwashi]] (HP 45, Def 130, Sp. Def 135, takes massive stat penalties while at 25% HP or less)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Cloyster]] (HP 50, Def 180, Sp. Def 45)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Mega]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Sableye]] (HP 50, Def 125, Sp. Def 115, [[AntiDebuff blocks and reflects status ailments]] back at the attacker)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Mega]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Mawile]] (HP 50, Def 125, Sp. Def 95)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Deoxys Defence Forme]] (HP 50, Def 160, Sp. Def 160)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Carbink and Diancie]] (both HP 50, Def 150, Sp. Def 150)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Toxapex]] (HP 50, Def 152, Sp. Def 142)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Mimikyu]] (HP 55, Def 80, Sp. Def 105, and its unique Ability absorbs an attack before Mimikyu can be damaged directly)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Bastiodon]] (HP 60, Def 168, Sp. Def 138)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Probopass]] (HP 60, Def 145, Sp. Def 150)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Aegislash Shield Forme]] (HP 60, Def 140, Sp. Def 140, [[{{Nerf}} previously had 150 Def and Sp. Def]])
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Skarmory]] (HP 65, Def 140, Sp. Def 70)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Aggron]] (HP 70, Def 180, Sp. Def 60) and Mega Aggron (HP 70, Def 230, Sp. Def 80)
*** [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Regirock, Regice, and Registeel]] (HP 80, and either 100/200 or 150/150 Def and Sp. Def)
** Then there's Eviolite, a held item for not-fully evolved Pokémon (most of which have relatively low HP) which causes them to take 33% less damage from attacks. Or the Fur Coat Ability possessed by Furfrou and Alolan Persian, which halves damage from physical attacks.