History Main / ArmoredButFrail

* Tanks are known for being hardy vehicles with strong armor, but anything that manages to get past that armor is liable to destroy vital components and shut the vehicles down due to how compact they are.

** In ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' and ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' there are certain families with bodies of stone, like the Clefts, with small HP counts but high defenses. If you don't want to go all in on power to overcome their defenses, you'll have use defense-bypassing techniques like the Quake Hammer.

* In the ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series this is part of the GameBreaker "Danger Mario" build, which involves [[MaximumHPReduction lowering Mario's maximum hit points to 5]] in exchange for higher stats in other areas, then equipping him only with items which [[CriticalStatusBuff increase his attack and defence while at 5 HP or less]].

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', [[TheEngineer Tali]] has low health and limited armor options due to being a [[BubbleBoy quarian]], but she compensates for this by having good shield strength that only gets stronger as she levels up her Electronics skill, to the point where she can survive most of the game wearing the same suit she started with. However, anything that can [[ArmorPiercingAttack pierce shields,]] like rockets or acid attacks, will [[WeaksauceWeakness drop her very quickly.]]

** [[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 weak to 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.

** [[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.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', [[ChromeChampion Metal Mario]] is so heavy that he often can't be knocked off the stage until he's taken well over 200% damage. [[CripplingOverspecialization However]], he is almost completely unable to recover once he ''does'' get to that point because his weight also makes him the fastest-falling character in the entire series. If he's off once, he's finished. His home stage[[note]]officially named Meta Crystal, but [[FanNickname more commonly]] known as [[VideoGame/ProjectM Metal Cavern]][[/note]] has disproportionately huge K.O. boundaries compared to the tiny stage size because otherwise he'd be out too fast to even ''attempt'' to come back.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': When she first appeared in 1st Edition Advanced D&D products, the drow deity Lolth had an Armor Class of -10 (which is incredibly hard to hit even for a deity), but only 66 HitPoints, which is very low for a deity. Almost all deities of that period had at least 100 HitPoints, and some had up to 400.

*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Aegislash Shield Forme]] (HP 60, Def 150, Sp. Def 150)

*** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Mega]] [[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Sableye]] (HP 50, Def 125, Sp. Def 115, reflects {{Status Ailment}}s back at the attacker)

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': Ezio's health depends [[ArmorAsHitPoints entirely on what armour he's wearing]]. If you don't equip any armour on him, his health will be stuck on the same base level regardless of what point in the game you're in. As a result, you can be an absolute tank with an armour on and go down in two hits without it.

** Other examples include:

A character or enemy in a video game who has a high defensive stat or ability would be expected to have at least a decently-sized pool of HP to go with it, but this isn't always the case. Some characters instead have a dangerously low pool of health and use their high defense to balance it out, much like how a FragileSpeedster would use their superior evasive skills for the same effect. Common tactics against such an opponent include [[DeathOfAThousandCuts wearing them down with lots of quick-but-weak attacks]] since they'll often do the same amount of ScratchDamage as a single hard-hitting attack, utilizing some kind of AntiArmor technique or ArmorPiercingAttack, or a FixedDamageAttack which disregards the defenses.

** 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.
** 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]]).

** 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.

*** Dusknoir (HP 45, Def 135, Sp. Def 135)
*** Wishiwashi (HP 45, Def 130, Sp. Def 135, takes massive stat penalties while at 25% HP or less)
*** Cloyster (HP 50, Def 180, Sp. Def 45)
*** Mega Sableye (HP 50, Def 125, Sp. Def 115, reflects {{Status Ailment}}s back at the attacker)
*** Mega Mawile (HP 50, Def 125, Sp. Def 95)
*** Deoxys Defence Forme (HP 50, Def 160, Sp. Def 160)
*** Carbink and Diancie (both HP 50, Def 150, Sp. Def 150)
*** Toxapex (HP 50, Def 152, Sp. Def 142)
*** Mimikyu (HP 55, Def 80, Sp. Def 105, and its unique Ability absorbs an attack before Mimikyu can be damaged directly)
*** Bastiodon (HP 60, Def 168, Sp. Def 138)
*** Probopass (HP 60, Def 145, Sp. Def 150)
*** Aegislash Shield Forme (HP 60, Def 150, Sp. Def 150)
*** Skarmory (HP 65, Def 140, Sp. Def 70)
*** Aggron (HP 70, Def 180, Sp. Def 60) and Mega Aggron (HP 70, Def 230, Sp. Def 80)
*** The Regi trio of Hoenn (HP 80, and either 100/200 or 150/150 Def and Sp. Def)

* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}''
** A PlayerCharacter or NonPlayerCharacter can be created with very high defenses against certain attacks such as PD (Physical Defense), ED (Energy Defense) and Damage Reduction, but with very low Body (the ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' version of HitPoints). It takes a tremendously powerful attack to get through their defense, but when it does, the target will go down quickly.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. When she first appears in 1st Edition Advanced D&D products, the drow deity Lolth has an Armor Class of -10 (which is incredibly hard to hit even for a deity), but only has 66 HitPoints, which is very low for a deity. Almost all deities of that period had at least 100 HitPoints, and some had up to 400 HitPoints.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': SpaceMarine Dreadnoughts are huge armored sarcophagi on legs outfitted with heavy weaponry, each containing a Space Marine too critically wounded to survive outside of a HealingVat. If anything manages to get past the armor, the Marine inside can't do anything to defend himself (sometimes they're missing entire limbs), and so in the fluff they're considered just short of TooAwesomeToUse, instead sleeping for centuries between battles so their experience can benefit the Chapter.

* According to the lore of ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', the [[EliteMook Kingsmould]] enemies' pearly white outer armor hides their frail LivingShadow bodies, owing to their nature as golems made out Void. Upon defeat, their armor is destroyed and their bodies fall to the ground, which straight-up ''melts'' into nothing shortly after.

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'': [[spoiler: [[EliteMook Eridian Guardians]]]] have very powerful shields that can take almost every attack like a champ... Unless you're using a [[ShockAndAwe Shock-elemented]] weapon/attack to quickly wear down their shields and expose their laughably low hit points. After that, a few hits will kill them instantly, even if your attacks don't land a CriticalHit on their [[BoomHeadShot small heads]]. In fact, there are ways to bypass the shields, such as [[FriendlySniper Mordecai's]] [[ArmorPiercingAttack Trespasser ability]] They still have this weakness in''[[VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel The Pre-Sequel]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Borderlands3 3]]''. It's far worse in the latter as the Guardians gain a new weakness: radiation. While it's not to the degree of damage of shock, it's still enough to wreak havoc on shields.

* [[spoiler:Maxwell]] from VideoGame/DontStarve has only 75 hit points, but starts out with the best armor in the game.

* Metools from the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' series have NighInvulnerable helmets that they hide under to block attacks. When they expose themselves to attack, they usually fall in a few basic buster shots.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''

** Onix ([=HP 30, Def 160, SpDef 45=]) is maybe the earliest example in the series, which is significantly downplayed but still somewhat intact with its later-introduced evolution Steelix ([=HP 75, Def 200, SpDef 65=]) and its Mega Evolution ([=HP 75, Def 230, SpDef 95=]) simply due to their otherwise average HP paling in comparison to their massive Defense.
** 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 HP is a mediocre base 61.

*** Dusknoir ([=HP 45, Def 135, SpDef 135=])
*** Wishiwashi ([=HP 45, Def 130, SpDef 135, takes massive stat penalties while at 25% HP or less=])
*** Cloyster ([=HP 50, Def 180, SpDef 45=])
*** Mega Sableye ([=HP 50, Def 125, SpDef 115=], reflects {{Status Ailment}}s back at the attacker)
*** Mega Mawile ([=HP 50, Def 125, SpDef 95=])
*** Deoxys Defence Forme ([=HP 50, Def 160, SpDef 160=])
*** Carbink and Diancie (both [=HP 50, Def 150, SpDef 150=])
*** Toxapex ([=HP 50, Def 152, SpDef 142=])
*** Mimikyu ([=HP 55, Def 80, SpDef 105, and its unique ability absorbs an attack before Mimikyu can be damaged directly=])
*** Bastiodon ([=HP 60, Def 168, SpDef 138=])
*** Probopass ([=HP 60, Def 145, SpDef 150=])
*** Aegislash Shield Form ([=HP 60, Def 150, SpDef 150=])
*** Aggron ([=HP 70, Def 180, SpDef 60=]) and Mega Aggron ([=HP 70, Def 230, SpDef 80=])
*** The Regi trio of Hoenn ([=HP 80, and either 100/200 or 150/150 defences=]).
*** Skarmory ([=HP 65, Def 140, SpDef 70=])
** 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.
* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII'', you can recruit a character named Kiwi. Kiwi has by far the worst HP growth in the game, but his defense is so high that very few enemies will ever do more than a single point of damage to him. However, he has no defense against magic or [[FixedDamageAttack Fixed Damage Attacks]], meaning his usefulness decreases by the end game, when these types of attacks are very common.
* Sonic in most ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games is a OneHitPointWonder who uses rings and occasionally shields as a damage buffer. If he's caught without rings, he's a dead hedgehog, but as long as he can catch at least one of the rings that fly out of him upon damage, he's effectively invincible.

** 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=]).
** ZigZagged 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 weak to 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.
** 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/LegacyOfTheVoid'' 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.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'', [[ChromeChampion Metal Mario]] is so heavy that he often can't be knocked off the stage until he's taken well over 200% damage. However, he is almost completely unable to recover once he ''does'' get to that point because his weight also makes him the fastest-falling character in the entire series. If he's off once, he's finished. His home stage[[note]]Officially named Meta Crystal, but [[FanNickname more commonly]] known as [[VideoGame/ProjectM Metal Cavern]][[/note]] has disproportionately huge KO boundaries compared to the tiny stage size because otherwise he'd be out too fast to even ''attempt'' to come back.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}:''

* Several ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' enemies have some kind of (often completely invincible) armor that can be removed with the right item (usually a grappling hook or its analogue), exposing or stunning them so they can be taken out with a single sword slash.
* VideoGame/SlayTheSpire has an event that takes away a large percentage of Max [=HP=] and adds Apparition cards to the player's deck. These cards reduce ''all'' damage to ScratchDamage, while they last.

* Mad Pierrot from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' is a highly powerful assassin equipped with a personal force field that deflects bullets and other high-speed projectiles, rendering him invincible for most of his fight against Spike. He's also a PsychopathicManchild with no pain tolerance, so a single throwing knife (moving slow enough to not be stopped by the shield - it only stops things moving above a certain speed) to the leg is enough to cause a complete mental breakdown and take him out of the fight.
* The heroine of ''LightNovel/BofuriIDontWantToGetHurtSoIllMaxOutMyDefense'' was a novice to [=VRMMORPGs=], so when creating her character, she... well, you read the title, right? But since she was more concerned about the physical pain of getting hurt, she ''only'' maxed out her Defense, but not her Hit Points. Fortunately for her, she also quickly gained an immunity to the usual Video Game weakness to such a build: poison.
* Valeria Trifa, one of the earlier antagonists from ''VisualNovel/DiesIrae'' is in possession of the Divine Vessel, a relic that is the BigBad's physical body. This gives him defenses to the point of absurdity making him able to NoSell pretty much anything. However should someone find a way to pierce it or take advantage of the fact that he has to open a metaphorical hole in it to use his most powerful move, then he tends to go down fairly easily. Unfortunately, the aforementioned BigBad whom the body belongs to is nowhere near as frail should his defenses be pierced.
* The titular Radd from ''Webcomic/KidRadd'', being a platform game character who's mechanics followed him out into the comic's setting, has a measly 4 points of health. However, ''anything'', from a light poke from a character with CollisionDamage to a nuclear bomb, only does a single point of damage, and his MercyInvincibility prevents enemies from chaining together attacks against him.

* 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. Their stronger iterations can only be taken down by a CriticalHit due to subverting this trope with HP in the dozens or hundreds.

** ZigZagged 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 weak to 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 type instead of every single one, but they remained vulnerable to EMP.

** ZigZagged 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 weak to 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 type instead of every single one, but still vulnerable to EMP.

** Archons 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.

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'': [[spoiler: [[EliteMook Eridian Guardians]]]] have very powerful shields that can take almost every attack like a champ... Unless you're using a [[ShockAndAwe Shock-elemented]] weapon/attack to quickly wear down their shields and expose their laughably low hit points. After that, a few hits will kill them instantly, even if your attacks don't land a CriticalHit on their [[BoomHeadShot small heads]]. In fact, there are ways to bypass the shields, such as [[FriendlySniper Mordecai's]] [[ArmorPiercingAttack Trespasser ability]].

Compare with MetalSlime, which may too be low in raw health, but very well armored to impair easy kills for their significant reward.