History Main / ShedArmorGainSpeed

* In ''[[VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey Etrian Odyssey V]]'', Fencers who take the [[PrestigeClass Phantom Duelist]] title can learn the Lightweight passive skill, which gives them a bonus to evasion based on how many armor slots they leave empty.

%% COMMENTING OUT THIS ONE JUST IN CASE IT'S ALSO MISUSE OF THE "DISCARDED WEAR WAS NOT WORN FOR DEFENSE" NATURE LIKE THE OTHER DRAGONBALL ENTRIES. IF THE ARMOUR REALLY WAS FOR DEFENSE THEN IT CAN BE UNCOMMENTED * In ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', Sixinglong/Nouva Shenron discards his armor and his already impressive speed skyrockets.

** The move Shell Smash is inspired by this trope. All of the user's defensive stats drop by one, but their offensive stats (including speed) increase by 2. Gen 9 introduced the ability version of Shell Smash called Angry Shell, which only happens when the user has half or lower health.

** Xaku, can use the ability Vast Untime to explode their outer shell leaving a skeletal frame that can move faster. Unlike most examples of this trope, Xaku does not become more fragile, suffering no penalties in durability. They, in fact, become tankier by virtue of increased Evasion, meaning enemies are less likely to land a hit.

* ''Literature/AccelWorld'': Cyan Pile is a variant. Normally [[MightyGlacier his movement is restricted]] by the massive, unwieldy PileBunker he wears on one arm. However, in book 4 he develops the incarnate technique "Cyan Blade" which discards the bunker and transforms its pile into a lightweight [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]], allowing him to [[LightningBruiser move and fight far more swiftly]]. This comes at the cost of [[CloseRangeCombatant range]] and most of his {{Special Attack}}s, so in later battles he [[MultiformBalance switches between the two modes as needed]].

* ''Literature/AccelWorld'': Cyan Pile is a variant. Normally [[MightyGlacier his movement is restricted]] by the massive, unwieldy PileBunker he wears on one arm. However, in book 4 he develops the incarnate technique "Cyan Blade" which discards the bunker and transforms its pile into a katana, allowing him to [[LightningBruiser move and fight far more swiftly]]. This comes at the cost of [[CloseRangeCombatant range]] and most of his {{Special Attack}}s, so in later battles he [[MultiformBalance switches between the two modes as needed]].

** Xaku, can use the ability Vast Untime to explode their outer shell leaving a skeletal frame that can move faster. Unlike most examples of this trope, Xaku does not become more fragile, suffering no penalties in durability. They in fact become tankier by virtue of increased Evasion, meaning enemies are less likely to land a hit.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', Chroma can use the Effigy spell to animate his pelt into a fire-breathing dragon[[note]]or icebreathing, or lightningbreathing, or toxinbreathing, depending on your setup[[/note]]. As he's no longer wearing the pelt, this causes his Armor stat to drop but boosts his running speed.

** The move Shell Smash is inspired by this trope. All of the user's defensive stats drop by one, but their offensive stats (including speed) increase by 2.

* The prehistoric marine crocodile ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metriorhynchus Metriorhynchus]]'' achieved this trope through millions of years of evolution--unlike most known crocodilians, ''Metriorhynchus'' lacked osteoderms (armored scales), having most likely lost them in its evolutionary history to make it a faster and more efficient swimmer. However, this left it [[FragileSpeedster more vulnerable to attack]], especially seeing as it shared the oceans with 20+ foot long leviathans like ''Liopleurodon''. To quote Nigel Marvin in [[Series/WalkingWithDinosaurs one]] of the [[SeldomSeenSpecies very, VERY few media depictions of this creature]], "it has sacrificed defense for speed".

* ''Franchise/DragonBall'' loves this trope:
** It's first introduced when Goku and Krillin train with the Muten Roshi by wearing 50-100 pound turtle shells whilst doing menial labour. By taking them off their speed and power skyrocket, to the point where Krillin defeats an Orin Temple bully literally before he realizes it.
** The technique is brought back when Goku trains with God, having weighted armbands, boots and undershirt. Taking them off is a LetsGetDangerous moment for him, as he did when fighting Tenshinhan, Piccolo. and Raditz. By the time Goku fights Freeza, he doesn't do this anymore, and Kaiou pointing this out to Yamcha while [[CurbStompBattle Goku has his tail handed to him]] is a sign of how dire the situation is. It's also worth noting that Piccolo utilizes this as well for much longer than Goku.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', when Kaiou tells Goku to chase and catch his pet monkey to get acquainted to his home's gravity, which is much higher than that of Earth, Goku sheds his weighted training gear to better do so. After a while, Kaiou tells him to put it back on, telling him that the other Saiyans--who he's here to prepare to fight--live on a planet with the same gravity as Kaiou's planet, thus Goku would not be getting a leg up by not wearing the weights.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', Sixinglong/Nouva Shenron discards his armor and his already impressive speed skyrockets.

* ''Manga/DragonBall'' features characters wearing weighted clothing as part of their training. By taking off the clothing during battle, one can increase their agility and strength significantly. Goku first demonstrates this during his fight with Tien at the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, where it is demonstrated that Goku's weighted clothing clocked in at around 250 pounds total. Goku later demonstrated how much speed and strength he can gain by shedding weighted armor during his fight with Piccolo in the following Tournament, then again against Raditz. Piccolo also demonstrates this following his fusion with Nail during his fight with Frieza.

** Impressively when the vest hits the floor, it's revealed just how heavy that golden vest is, because of the ''ground shaking, cracking and leaving a crater'' when it lands due to it's ''sheer weight''. Also fittingly enough, the discarding of the vest reveals that the diamond logo on the suit's torso, actually has wings on it's sides (that the vest covers up). Which emphasizes the [[SuperSpeed speed boost]] the SuperMode gives.

%%* Lord Boros from ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' is a power limiter example. His armour channels his power and when it's broken by Saitama's [[MegatonPunch punch]], his power goes out of control.

* Parodied in an early ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' comic, where [[TheDitz Elan]], misunderstanding how this trope works in TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons, believes he can remove all of his clothes and become impossibly nimble and stealthy. (He can't. [[RPGMechanicsVerse The bonus does exist]], but only for removing actual armor.) Of course, since [[PleasePutSomeClothesOn nobody wants to look at him when he has no clothes on]], Elan believes it works better than he thought. It becomes a minor running gag that anyone who is naked is said by Elan to be "invisible".

* Parodied in an early ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' comic, where [[TheDitz Elan]], misunderstanding how this trope works in TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons, believes he can remove all of his clothes and become impossibly nimble and stealthy. (He can't. [[RPGMechanicsVerse The bonus does exist]], but only for removing actual armor.) Of course, since nobody wants to look at him when he has no clothes on, Elan believes it works better than he thought. It becomes a minor running gag that anyone who is naked is said by Elan to be "invisible".

** The Doolittle Raid took this UpToEleven, stripping most of the weapons, armor and bombs out of the B-25 to allow an army medium bomber to fly off a navy carrier.

* ''Manga/{{Bastard}}'': After Princess Sheila's armor gets caught in the scenery, Dark Schneider tells her to discard her armor because all it will do is slow her down and she does it. While she does seem to move better without it and it makes it easier for him to carry her, it is possible he said it just so he could see her in her skimpy outfit under the armor.

* Numerous battle pictures from medieval times show even otherwise fully armored men declining to wear gauntlets on their hands. Though it did not give them more speed, using bare hands permitted finer control of one’s weapon, which could make stabbing between the plates of an armoured opponent easier. It also may have just been more comfortable, to the point where they were willing to risk getting their hands maimed.
* Samurai armor was designed for individual pieces to be removable in response to circumstances such as terrain. For example, some field manuals recommended wearing the cord for holding up the thigh guards (haidate) over the cuirass instead of under it, allowing the haidate to be quickly removed if they needed to run faster, or perhaps wade through a marsh. The large shoulder guards (sode) might be removed in order to scale a wall without them getting in the way.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', Dunban's skill trees contain abilities that increase his Agility and Evasion if he isn't wearing armor. This leads to the [[LethalJokeCharacter surprisingly deadly strategy]] fans term "[[NakedPeopleAreFunny Naked Dunban]]".

* In ''Anime/ZoidsWild'', when Quade activates his Awakened Wild Blast, Zaber Fang ejects several pieces of armor and starts moving significantly faster. As the fight [[spoiler:against Demise]] continues, more armor gets damaged, destroyed, or ripped off, and each time Zaber Fang gets a bit faster.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'': whenever Samus uses her Final Smash, she sheds her PoweredArmor and wears a skin-tight suit. [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Suit Samus]], as she is thus called, is much faster and lighter. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Smash 4]]'' does away with this quirk and made both forms of Samus separate characters.