Line #94 Main/ExploitedImmunity


1	->''"I'm fireproof. You're not."''
2	-->-- '''Hellboy''', ''Film/Hellboy2004''
3
4	[[LiteralMetaphor Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.]] This trope is about characters "attacking" by exposing themselves and their target to danger which they only expect themselves to survive.
5
6	This can range from the mundane (e.g., an amphibious character forcing their opponent onto land or drowning them) to the more fantastic (e.g., fireproof characters dragging their opponents into a burning building) and more abstract situations (e.g., stranding themselves in the desert when they have more experience surviving in it). It can also cover [[KryptoniteFactor weaknesses that the target has]] which aren't shared by most people; what matters is that one character lacks the weakness and exposes them both to it (or they are exposed to it by the immune character's allies). It also counts if the character is only ''resistant'' rather than completely immune to whatever they're exposing themselves to (allowing them to claim VictoryByEndurance).
7
8	This is one of the ways to use a SwissArmySuperpower or to give a TechnicalPacifist a victory. It can also show off an AdaptiveAbility if it's used with something that the character was previously defeated with as well as being one of the many ways to use GeoEffects. If it's used against a protagonist, then expect a struggle to either escape in time or for them to end up stealing whatever was allowing their opponent to pull it off (e.g., stealing a {{mook}}'s parachute after being pushed out of a plane). A monster with a RemovedAchillesHeel will likely use this on a less fortunate member of their own kind to show off their new lack-of-weakness. In many {{Platform Game}}s, the player takes CollisionDamage, while enemies don't, meaning they have but to walk into the PlayerCharacter to damage them.
9
10	Supertrope to DruggedLipstick (unless there's explicitly another reason the user isn't affected by the drug) and GiveChaseWithAngryNatives (where the hazard is a third party). Compare FriendlyFireproof (for when the hazard in question is your allies' attacks), GoodThingYouCanHeal, AcquiredPoisonImmunity, and YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead. Contrast SuicideAttack and DeliberateInjuryGambit (where the attacker ''is'' harmed), WeHaveReserves (where the attacker's allies are harmed -- but the attacker doesn't care), BriarPatching (when Alice tricks enemy Bob into doing something helpful to her), ImmunityDisability (where immunity to something can be "exploited" ''against'' said immune person), ReviveKillsZombie, and ImmortalLifeIsCheap. Some versions of the SelfPoisoningGambit rely on this. If the attacker's "unharmed" because they've already been harmed, this overlaps with DisabilityImmunity. See also SymmetricEffect, as this trope is one way to exploit mutually damaging variations.
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12	----
13	!!Examples:
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15	[[foldercontrol]]
16
17	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
18	* Kakuzu and Hidan from ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' fight by exploiting Hidan's immunity to [[{{Immortality}} dying]]; Hidan recklessly charges down the enemy while Kakuzu bombards them with his area-wide jutsu. Hidan is immortal, so they have nothing to worry about.
19	* In ''Anime/CodeGeass'', C.C. (while fighting in [[HumongousMecha Knightmare Frames]]) grabs her opponent and tackles them both into the ocean, attempting to crush them both with the water pressure. C.C. is immortal and can regenerate, so she has nothing to worry about.
20	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
21	** Don Krieg puts on a gas mask after launching his [=MH5=] gas bomb, trying to poison Luffy with it. Thankfully, Luffy grabbed a Mook's gas mask to save himself.
22	** Mr. 5's Devil Fruit lets him [[HavingABlast create explosions]] that don't hurt him, allowing him to use them at point-blank with impunity.
23	* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
24	** During his fight with Super Saiyan Goku during the Namek Saga, Frieza, realizing he's no match for him, decides to blow up Namek completely; while both of them are strong enough to survive an EarthShatteringKaboom, only Frieza can [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace survive in a vacuum]].
25	** In ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', [[spoiler: Future Zamasu takes advantage of his CompleteImmortality by pinning Goku and Trunks in place while [[EvilKnockoff Goku Black]] hits them with a [[KamehameHadoken Kamehameha]]. While both Goku and Trunks are critically injured and can barely stand, Zamasu walks away without a scratch]].
26	* Rin in ''{{Anime/Mnemosyne}}'' has ResurrectiveImmortality and takes advantage of this and regenerate any injuries on multiple occasions, but the best demonstration is in episode 4 where she drags a psychotic robot [[TurbineBlender into a jet turbine]]. Even she worries if it'll be too much for her, [[spoiler:and while she does eventually put herself back together it's after 20 years of continuous regeneration and loses her memories in the process.]]
27	* Similarly, several immortal characters in ''{{Literature/Baccano}}'' deliberately throw themselves into lethal situations to take a non-immortal out, since they'll just regenerate.
28	* ''Anime/YuGiOh'':
29	** Yami Marik does this a couple of times. First, his Shadow Game with Mai has both players losing memories of people they knew whenever one of their monsters is destroyed. But he's a sociopath, and she's not, so this has a large psychological effect on her over the course of the match, while he doesn't care at all. And against Joey, each player feels whatever pain their monsters feel and whenever a monster is destroyed, it saps the owner's stamina. Here he is counting on having greater stamina, while he saps away at Joey's strength to the point where he wins by disqualification when Joey falls unconscious seconds before victory.
30	** In the Virtual World arc, the monsters and effects are solid so players experience real damage. When Crump duels Tea, he adds a rule where whenever a player receives damage, parts of their body become frozen. Crump is in the body of a penguin, so the cold doesn't bother him, while Tea really suffers. When Noah Kaiba duels Seto and then Yami Yugi, he uses his VirtualRealityWarper powers to make it so the damage does not apply to him. Seto damages him several times and Yami Yugi hits him with several Direct Attacks and he doesn't feel a thing, while a mere 100 damage is extremely painful to Yami Yugi.
31	* ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'':
32	** Aki Izayoi, Divine, and other Psychic Duelists can make their cards real, so they basically turn duels into one-sided Shadow Games where any damage they inflict can seriously injure their opponents while nothing their opponents do affects them.
33	** Aporia faces Jack, Lua, and Luca in a three on one duel where their cards become real and inflict real damage. Aporia has FeelNoPain, so he is not worried about any damage he takes, while his opponents do.
34	* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'': As Zombieman fights [[GlassCannon Homeless Emperor]], the latter fires super-powerful explosive orbs, but being a regular human otherwise, cannot actually survive the explosion himself. Zombieman sneaks up on him in a moment of distraction, and puts him in a chokehold - if Homeless Emperor uses his power at this range, both of them would explode horrifically. The difference is, Zombieman would [[ResurrectiveImmortality regenerate]].
35	* ''Manga/SazanEyes'', Yakumo often takes full advantage of his status of Wu (which means CompleteImmortality)while fighting certain opponents. Examples include killing the first Tu Zhao (by grabbing his opponent and jumping with him in a fountain filled with burning gasoline), Elder Pael (let the monster bite him while carrying a large tank of liquid nitrogen) and during his gloveless match against a more skilled Muay Thai artist (since neither has protections, Yakumo can regenerate any damage, while his human opponent gradually hurts and tires himself while fighting.]]
36	* ''Manga/UndeadUnluck'': Andy's [[ResurrectiveImmortality regenerative]] powers let him survive [[TheJinx the lethal accidents]] caused by contact with Fuuko. There's a delay during which Andy can get up close to enemies so they'll be hurt by the same incidents that he'll withstand.
37	* ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon'': Moroha is a demon/human hybrid who is unaffected by exorcism materials like purification salt. When fighting demons, one of her tactics is to hide purification salt in her mouth and spit it at them, as it acts like acid to pure blooded demons.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'': A favorite tactic of Daredevil is to take out the lights as, being blind and having radar sense, he can fight just fine without them, but it throws his enemies into confusion.
42	* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'': The Merc with a Mouth generally FightsLikeANormal and trusts in his HealingFactor to rectify any mistakes he makes, but it also lets him deliberately choose to take crippling or deadly injuries in order to land a surprise hit or escape a difficult situation. The old 'break the bones in your hands to get out of handcuffs' trick, for instance, is very easy for him, and shooting/stabbing through himself to kill an opponent is almost a SignatureMove.
43	* ''ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers'': Mr. Immortal's only superpower is coming back to life after dying. He once talked OmnicidalManiac Maelstrom into a SuicidePact. To show his commitment, Mr. I went first. After Maelstrom followed through with his half of the bargain, Mister Immortal came back to life and switched off his doomsday machine.
44	* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': Subverted in issue #102. Mannah (a fish/squid hybrid creature) attempts this during his fights against the hippogriff Silverstream. Seeing she has wings, he creates a torrent of water to drown her, while he would be immune. However, Silverstream uses her pearl to [[NoSell transform into her seapony form]], then resumes beating down Mannah.
45	* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' graphic novel ''The Gorn Crisis'', Riker is on board a Klingon vessel that is being boarded by the titular Gorns. The Klingon captain is prepared to hit the self-destruct, but Riker convinces him to turn down the temperature on the life support instead. The Gorns, being cold-blooded LizardFolk, are quickly reduced to torpor while the warm-blooded human and Klingons are merely a bit uncomfortable.
46	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': Every human who uses Kryptonite against a Kryptonian is doing this. But as Lex Luthor discovered, they need to beware of ImmunityAttrition. Kryptonite may not kill a human in minutes, but it's still a radioactive material, and long-term exposure can cause cancer.
47	* ''ComicBook/{{Vampirella}}'': Being a FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire with none of the traditional weaknesses of a vampire, Vampirella has occasionally used this to her advantage. She once encountered a group of American Civil War era vampires who outmatched her in numbers and had almost two centuries worth of fighting experience. Fortunately, she had brought with her a priest who blessed the falling rain, transforming it into holy water. While the other vampires died, she lived.
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'': On one occasion, Wolverine sprayed Sabertooth with gasoline and threatened to light a match. When Sabertooth grabbed the gas pump and sprayed him right back, Wolverine shrugged and [[GoodThingYouCanHeal lit the match anyway]].
49	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
50	** On more than one occasion in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'', Diana uses her immunity to extreme temperatures to deal with a foe, with one particularly foolish pursuer not giving up until they'd fainted from the heat.
51	** Wonder Woman has repeatedly shown that she doesn't rely on her eyes. which lead to her intentionally blinding herself during her fight with Medusa in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987''. She was still a better fighter than most of the Justice League in the months she spent blind afterwards. She also on occasion will turn out the lights to deal with hostage situations while leaving the hostage takers in the dark.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Fan Works]]
55	* ''Fanfic/TheBridge'': Anguirus, who is immune to fire, kills Jeog by dragging her into a burning cabin and holding her until she dies.
56	* ''FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Ami and her designated allies can see through her own fog, so she can fill a room with it and fight fine, while her enemies have their vision hindered.
57	* ''Fanfic/HarryIsADragonAndThatsOK'': Dragons are highly magic-resistant, so when Harry grapples with a troll, he calls out to everyone around him to keep casting spells at the melee.
58	--> '''Harry:''' You might find something that works!\
59	'''Elora:''' But we'll hit you!\
60	'''Hermione:''' He's a dragon! ''Flipendo!''
61	* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13092187/1/Survive-the-Night Survive the Night]]'':
62	** [[Series/{{Smallville}} Clark Kent]] fights [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] and starts losing because Clark is WeakToMagic and the Curse of Thorn makes Michael and any weapon he uses supernatural. Martha Kent opens fire with a gun even though she is a lousy shot. She hits Clark a few times, but she knows Clark is ImmuneToBullets and what few bullets hit Michael stun him.
63	** In a rematch, Michael shatters a skylight and lets the glass rain down on him and Clark. The now supernatural glass cuts them both and Clark screams in pain, but Michael has FeelNoPain and a HealingFactor.
64	* In ''Fanfic/AWandForSteven'', Amethyst is the perfect person to fight the basilisk, because its lethal stare is no more than a momentary setback to her. Looking in its eyes merely causes her to poof and then reform again seconds later, ready for more.
65	* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/310814/we-can-do-this-forever We Can Do This Forever]]'', Twilight defeats Starlight by exploiting her own immunity to ''aging''. As long as Twilight keeps retriggering the time-travel spell, Starlight has not succeeded. And since the spell doesn't reset their personal timelines, each loop costs Starlight a little bit of time. Twilight, as an alicorn, is unaging. If she has to, she can keep fighting Starlight again and again until Starlight grows old and dies.
66	* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': The Mister Atom robot is not only unharmed by radiation, but actually [[EnergyAbsorption feeds on it to become stronger]], so he arranges his confrontation with the Justice League to occur over a lake of radioactive waste, where only the most resilient League members, like Superman and Wonder Woman, can face him. And then, during the fight, he deliberately damages the concrete covering the lake, allowing radiation to leak out and forcing the League to focus resources on containing the environmental hazard, at the same time as Atom himself is rejuvenated by it.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Film]]
70	* In ''Film/Hellboy2004'', the title character's immunity to fire comes up a few times:
71	** Hellboy defeats a demon by grabbing a live subway rail. He's fine (because he's fireproof), but the demon is less fortunate.
72	** When Hellboy is fighting swarms of Sammaels, Liz the pyrokinetic releases a fire blast that took all the Sammaels down while leaving Hellboy intact.
73	* In ''Film/SherlockHolmes2009'', Lord Blackwood plans an attack on the Houses of Parliament that involves gassing everyone inside with cyanide, leaving his opponents dead and his supporters alive, allowing them to seize power for him while reinforcing his image of being an EvilSorcerer who protects those loyal to him with dark magic. [[spoiler:He secretly immunizes his supporters against cyanide poisoning the night before the attack, by making them drink a toast in his honor.]]
74	* ''Film/AlienNation'': Due to their BizarreAlienBiology, saltwater burns Newcomers like acid. A Newcomer drug lord has his human henchmen pull another Newcomer into the ocean to kill him.
75	* ''Film/MarsAttacks'': When the Martians hear recordings of Slim Whitman singing "Indian Love Call" their heads explode. The humans take advantage of this to destroy them.
76	* In the original ''Series/{{V 1983}}'' movie ''V: The Final Battle'', the humans use a Red Dust chemical weapon that kills the aliens but doesn't harm humans.
77	* In ''Film/MacheteKills'', the eponymous character kills a mook by taking him with one hand, and then stabbing an electric box with his machete, making the electrical current go through both of their bodies. There's absolutely no explanation as why Machete got away unscathed while the mook died, besides RuleOfCool, though.
78	* ''Film/Constantine2005'' has the title character flush out some demons that have infested a hospital by having his apprentice perform a holy water ritual on the hospital's [[TelepathicSprinklers fire safety system]], then holding a cigarette lighter below a smoke detector, triggering the sprinklers to rain holy water. The holy water burns the demons while leaving the humans inside unharmed.
79	* In ''Film/DeathProof'', this is how the serial killer gets away with his crimes. He's an ex-stuntman who drives a specially modified vehicle which protects him even in serious crashes. It's designed for movie stunts, but he uses it to deliberately cause fatal collisions, walking away with minor injuries and without being charged with a crime. (As an additional precaution, he targets victims who've been drinking, knowing that they'll be blamed for the crash).
80	* During the final battle in ''Film/IronMan1'', Tony Stark flies skyward while Obadiah Stane gives chase in the Iron Monger suit. When Stane catches him miles above the surface, where the air is freezing cold...
81	-->'''Obadiah Stane:''' You had a great idea, Tony, but my suit is more advanced in every way!\
82	'''Tony Stark:''' How did you solve [[BrickJoke the icing problem]]?\
83	'''Obadiah Stane:''' [[OhCrap "Icing problem?"]] ''[the Iron Monger suit freezes up]''\
84	'''Tony Stark:''' Might wanna look into it.
85	* An accidental example near the end of ''Film/TheFrighteners''. [[spoiler:Frank (as a ghost) pulls Patricia into the afterlife with him, causing Bartlett to chase them. It turns out that it's "not his time" and he's sent back (and would have had a place in {{Heaven}} anyway), but the two serial killers are immediately dragged off to {{Hell}}.]]
86	* In ''Film/{{Innerspace}}'', Tuck moves his battle with Igoe [[FantasticVoyagePlot into Jack's stomach]], where [[spoiler:the acid dissolves the baddie while Tuck remains unharmed in his minisub]].
87	* In ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', the cyborg General Grievous breaches the hull of his own ship in hopes of [[ThrownOutTheAirlock ejecting the heroes into the vacuum of space]].
88	--> '''Grievous:''' You lose.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Literature]]
92	* ''Literature/ChrysalisRinoZ'':
93	** The Gravity Domain spell greatly increases the weight of those in the area of effect -- except the allies of the caster. Which means that when Anthony uses it, pinning monsters helplessly to the ground, Tiny can then go around smashing them without any hindrance.
94	** Having a much higher Will stat than your average monster, Anthony is better able to resist the effects of Tiny's [[SuperScream stunning scream]]. Several times, he has Tiny scream into a melee that includes him, knowing that he'll recover better than the monsters all around.
95	* In the ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'', witches melt in water, and wizards melt in ''soapy'' water (with some lemon). At one point a wizard uses the witch Morwen as a shield, so the stone prince gets both of them with the cleaning solution, correctly deducing that "no one who lives in a house as clean as [Morwen's] could possibly melt in a bucket of soapsuds".
96	* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', the servant Desmond can make parts of his body, or even the whole thing, [[HavingABlast explode violently]]. He always makes sure his reaper is clear of the blast zone, and if she's okay [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap she can recreate him]], but if he manages to catch his ''enemy's'' reaper or a non-servant opponent in the blast...
97	* This trope appeared in a few of Creator/LarryNiven's stories:
98	** In "Smut Talk", a ''[[Literature/TheDracoTavern Draco Tavern]]'' story, the bartender is infected with a PuppeteerParasite sentient virus. It warns his friends that there's no way to get rid of it without killing the bartender too, but the friends point out that [[ShuttingUpNow they can just treat him with antiviral sulfa drugs]].
99	** In "Literature/TheLionInHisAttic", a sorceress infiltrates a partially submerged castle by using magic to make the water withdraw. A man breaks her concentration and causes her spell to lapse, resulting in the water flooding back in and drowning her. The man doesn't care because he's a were-sea lion -- he just changes to sea lion form and swims back to the surface.
100	* In ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' (and [[Film/ThePrincessBride the film]]), Vizzini and the Man in Black are playing PoisonedChaliceSwitcheroo. Unbeknownst to Vizzini, the Man in Black has [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity trained his body to tolerate the poison being used]], so when Vizzini offers to let him choose which goblet holds the poison, he puts a half-dose in both goblets, takes a swig and watches as Vizzini drinks himself to death.
101	* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', the night Mat first discovers he's BornLucky, he's attacked by a gang of assassins, and in a reckless move hurls himself off a bridge along with one of them, trusting his luck to save him. The assassin breaks his fall and he waltzes off unharmed.
102	* ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'': When fighting the villain Helmuth face to face, Kinnison is wearing nigh-indestructible armour, but Helmuth has the home ground advantage -- so Kinnison grapples him and flings them both into the path of one of Helmuth's machine guns. Kinnison's armour survives it unscathed, but Helmuth's doesn't.
103	* In ''Literature/TheLicaniusTrilogy'', the exact circumstances of Davian's [[spoiler: death have been foreseen]], allowing him to take incredible risks because he knows they won't be [[spoiler: fatal]]. Of course, the antagonists know this as well, and use it as justification for very severe and harsh treatment during his imprisonment.
104	* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''[=SERRAted Edge=]'' series, it's common to use a bag of [[ColdIron iron filings]] as an area-effect anti-[[TheFairFolk sidhe]] weapon that won't hurt human hostages.
105	* In ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'', a common tactic when tanks are swarmed by demons is for the tank's fellows to hose it down with machine-gun fire, killing the demons but having little effect against the tank's thick armor.
106	* In ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1636: the Saxon Uprising]]'', General Stearns (having come from a working class background) is famous for taking care of his troops: enforcing good hygiene, providing ample food, and keeping them outfitted with warm clothing and decent equipment, in an age when most armies were made of underpaid mercenaries who had to buy all their own gear. Stearns uses this as a tactical advantage by waiting until the middle of winter to attack an enemy force. Their opponents have larger numbers, and their commanding officer General Baner has a record of success, but they're dressed in rags, demoralized by months of freezing in the trenches, and many of them are sick or recovering from illness. Then he attacks in the middle of a whiteout blizzard, which paralyzes Baner's centralized army (which is used to sweeping maneuvers requiring an awareness of the whole battlefield) but is much less of an obstacle for Stearns' self-directed regiments.
107	* Downplayed by Damon Kronski in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Time Paradox'', who likes organizing meetings in a leather souk in order to give himself an edge over whoever he's meeting. Most people find the smell of the leather-tanning chemicals used in the souk unpleasant or unsettling, but Kronski isn't fazed by this because he was born with anosmia and doesn't have a sense of smell. [[spoiler: Holly defeats him by using her healing magic to fix his sense of smell and rob him of his immunity. His FirstTimeFeeling of the chemicals drives him crazy.]]
108	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/SearchByTheFoundation": The Second Foundationers have near unstoppable PsychicPowers, but Dr Darell discovers that he can disable them by broadcasting a loud psychic static with a special electrical apparatus he calls the "mental static" device, while leaving normal people unaffected. He compares this to [[SensoryOverload flashing a bright light in somebody's eyes]]; somebody without sight (i.e. [[DisabilityImmunity normal people, without the psychic powers]]) are not even aware of the light, whereas [[LogicalWeakness people who can see will be hurt and incapacitated]].
109	* ''Literature/ServantMage'': The mages can take an ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit through the SpiritWorld in (relative) safety because their powers come from spirits symbiotically linked to their souls, making them immune to possession. Their non-mage pursuers are vulnerable to a nightmarish GrandTheftMe from hostile spirits.
110	* A downplayed version in ''Literature/ThePuppetMasters''. Humans aren't ''immune'' to Venusian Nine-Day Fever. In fact, as the name implies, it will kill a human in seven to ten days if left untreated. However, it will kill a puppet master in ''five'' days, leaving a window for the liberated humans to be treated.
111	* ''Literature/DaughtersOfTheMoon'': [[AntiHero Stanton]] frightens a minor villain into giving up some information by setting their car on a high-speed collision course -- they both know that Stanton's immortal and the villain very much isn't.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
115	* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'': "[[Recap/LexxS03E10 Battle]]" features an accidental example; [[BigBad Prince]] shows up to taunt Xev as she's dying in the desert, however he [[DeathIsCheap dies of dehydration]] almost immediately (since she's a HalfHumanHybrid with DNA from a desert dwelling creature and he isn't).
116	* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E13ForTheUniform For the Uniform]]", Eddington bombs Cardassian colonies with chemicals that are harmful to them, but not humans. In response, Sisko bombs Maquis colonies in kind with a chemical with an inverse toxicity, to force Eddington to surrender.
117	* ''Series/Tracker2001'': One episode has an assassin who exposed himself to a deadly virus which can kill by touch but doesn't harm him as long as he kills often enough. Except in human form, where it turns into a MateOrDie thing.
118	* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'':
119	** One villain uses a dark room to blind his opponents while he's wearing night vision goggles. Duncan thwarts this by using a lit match to blind the guy long enough to take him out.
120	** The recurring villain Xavier St. Cloud uses a variant of this. Early in the 20th century, Xavier, a longtime immortal, developed a fondness for the use of toxic gas in his robberies, and in one scene from the series' present day, he simply walks into a large jewelry shop, drops a vial of the stuff, lets everyone there including him succumb to the poison, then calmly gets back up a minute later when his HealingFactor brings him back to life, at which point he grabs all the loot and leaves.
121	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
122	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Doomsday]]", the Doctor vanquishes the Daleks and Cybermen by opening the Void and exposing the planet to "background radiation", which is found in the void and is self-attractive. The Daleks and Cyberman, who have been living in the void for years, are already soaked in the stuff so they are sucked back in, while humans remain unharmed. [[spoiler: However, Rose, who has traveled between her universe and [[AlternateUniverse Pete's World]], is also covered in a bit of Void Stuff, and is nearly pulled through herself except for Pete's intervention.]]
123	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E2TheDalekInvasionOfEarth The Dalek Invasion of Earth]]" the Daleks are defeated by detonating an underground pocket of trapped magnetic fields. The resulting surge of magnetism crushes the metal Daleks, while their human slaves are unaffected.
124	* ''Series/TheXFiles'': In "[[Recap/TheXFilesS09E01NothingImportantHappenedToday Nothing Important Happened Today]]", part 1, a female SuperSoldier who can't be killed lures a man into driving her home, forces his car to drive off a bridge and holds him underwater until he drowns.
125	* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' uses the example from the comic book section: before going in to save Claire from a room full of Russian mobsters, Matt takes out the lights in the room as he's blind and doesn't need them anyway. This serves to a) handicap the mooks who now can't see as well to fight, b) [[MookHorrorShow scare the mooks]] who now have to fight a man dressed in black coming at them out of the dark, and c) inform Claire that he's there as she knows about his blindness.
126	* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'': In one episode, someone who appears to be Dr. Magnus claims that saltwater makes yetis stronger. At the end there are two Magnuses in the same room that's half flooded with seawater and Will mentions what the first Magnus had said about yetis and saltwater. The second Magnus then grabs her double and throws the two of them into the water, which turns out to actually be like acid to yeti skin.
127	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': In "[[Recap/GameOfThronesS6E4BookOfTheStranger Book of the Stranger]]", Daenerys Targaryen is in a hut with the Dothraki Khals while they discuss what to do with the rebellious khaleesi, considering gang-rape as an option. Unknown to them, the floor was treated with a flammable coating, the doors were barred shut from outside, and the guards outside were assassinated. Dany casually knocked over the braziers after delivering a scathing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the khals, eventually engulfing all the hut in an inferno. Dany is ImmuneToFire. She walks out of the inferno naked, and the ''entire Dothraki people'' gathered around fall to their knees in reverent awe.
128	* ''Series/BurnNotice'': Michael and Sam get into a fight in one episode. Knowing he isn't a match for Michael in a typical fist fight, Sam, a former SEAL, tackles Michael into the water, where he has the advantage. It doesn't work, however, as Michael gains the upper hand by pretending to pass out.
129	* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'':
130	** Adam Monroe uses this tactic against [[spoiler:Nakamura]]. He met the victim atop a skyscraper, grabbed him and jumped off. Monroe can regenerate, and apparently isn't afraid of heights.
131	** Claire Bennett, who also has regenerative abilities, used this to get back at a JerkJock who had tried to rape her (and only stopped because he accidentally "killed" her while she was trying to escape). So she drives a car at full speed against a wall with him in the passenger seat. She walks away, while he ends up in a hospital with severe injuries.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
135	* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'': A spell lacking any Penetration total on the spellcasting die roll can't affect a target with any [[ResistantToMagic Magic Resistance]], which every Hermetic magus has to at least some degree. Magi can deliberately omit Penetration from their spellcasting to exclude each other from AreaOfEffect spells.
136	* ''TabletopGame/D20Modern'':
137	** In ''Urban Arcana'', you can cast a spell on yourself to resist concussion damage. Strap some C-4 to yourself (C-4 (and all explosives) inflicts concussion damage). Then, enjoy being [[ActionBomb a suicide bomber who actually ditches the "Suicide" part]].
138	** Similarly, tear gas, which actually is a GameBreaker at lower levels, since it allows the PC[=s=] to just wear gas masks and function normally while their opponents (who are unlikely to be equipped with gas masks a low levels) are exposed to the full effects of the tear gas.
139	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
140	** Intelligent [[TheUndead undead]] spellcasters, such as [[OurLichesAreDifferent liches]], can use AreaOfEffect magic like ''cloudkill'', ''sleep'' and ''stinking cloud'' on themselves and their minions with impunity, since undead are immune to these effects.
141	** Elven mages can use ''sleep'' spells without fear of friendly fire, as elves are immune to ForcedSleep effects.
142	** Any PC that is or acquires an immunity to a type of attack can be expected to exploit this. For example, a mage under a ''minor globe of invulnerability'' effect, which blocks 3rd-level and lower spells, can use a staff that casts 3rd-level area-of-effect spells at point-blank range.
143	** The ''inquisitor's bracers'' is a magic item that [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this, by allowing the wearer to simultaneously make a melee attack against and cast a healing spell on the same target. If used on a normal living person, they'll be hurt by the attack but [[HealingShiv healed by the spell]], leaving them likely angry but healthy. But if used against a vampire or other undead disguising themselves as a living person, they'll take damage from the melee attack ''and'' [[ReviveKillsZombie the healing spell]], revealing their true nature.
144	** Avernus, the top {{layer\|edWorld}} of the Nine Hells of Baator, is a FireAndBrimstoneHell where fireballs constantly rain down from the sky. This helps the native devils in their ForeverWar against the demons -- the baatezu have a racial immunity to fire damage, while any invading tanar'ri are merely ''resistant'' to fire damage.
145	** The yuan-ti are a race of SnakePeople with immunity to all poisons. They make extensive use of poison traps when defending their lairs, and they sometimes assassinate human nobles and royalty by getting one of their agents hired as a food taster and having them certify poisoned food as being safe to eat.
146	* The Burning Woman is a [[SlasherMovie Slasher]], a supernaturally-powered murderer from TableTopGame/HunterTheVigil. Specifically, she's a Mask, a Slasher whose superhuman toughness recalls [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] or [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]]. Tough as they are, most Masks aren't immune to fire, but the Burning Woman is, and she takes full advantage of it, coating herself and her weapons with flammable substances and setting them alight before attacking, or sometimes simply setting a building on fire and hunting people through it.
147	* Certain vampire swordfighting techniques in ''[[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade Vampire: The Dark Ages]]'' involve vampires with Fortitude allowing their opponent to stab them in order to trap the opponent's sword in their body.
148	* ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyBattle'': An early edition has the spell "Wind of Death", which hits every living thing on the table and (statistically speaking) can kill an average human unit 50% of the time. A player who has tougher troops (or, better yet, undead troops, who are immune) can easily find themselves better off than their opponent after using it.
149	* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In 2nd edition, the Avatar of Khaine is completely immune to flame and melta-weapons. The Eldar Fire Dragons carry melta-weapons that are devastating against any vehicle or infantry unit. Some players thus deliberately charge in the Avatar at some huge monstrosity like a Hive Tyrant or Carnifex and have a nearby Fire Dragon squad open fire on both combatants. The Avatar comes out unscathed while the enemy is reduced to a smouldering crisp.
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Video Games]]
153	* ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' has a number of attacks that hit the whole field. There's generally ways to avoid it, but it's usually easiest to set up elemental protection on your party and just spam the attack.
154	* Some of the upgrades in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' make Jensen immune to area-of-effect weapons he can use against enemies (for example, being immune to poison gas allows you to simply set off traps with it and let {{mook}}s suffocate). There aren't many chances to use it this way, but one reason for the sky-high price of Jensen's cybernetics is an equally high resistance to EM and electric shock; no enemy in the game can recover as completely from either as you can.
155	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'':
156	** Being the first game in the series where the player can swim, CJ can evade pursuit by jumping into water. The pursuers will jump in after him, but they have SuperDrowningSkills.
157	** Finishing the firetruck missions makes you completely immune to fire. So, you can stand in the middle of a burning firestorm and watch your enemies incinerate themselves.
158	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' franchise:
159	** Generation 3 introduced the weather effects Sandstorm and Hail, which will cause all Pokémon on the field to take gradual damage for a period of time. This damage is negated if the Pokémon is an Ice type (for Hail) or a Ground, Rock, or Steel type (for Sandstorm), with Rock types actually having their Special Defense stat increased by 50% during a Sandstorm.
160	** There are some attacks what will deal damage to every one in the battlefield in Double or Triple Battles. Some Pokémon can either prevent damage dealt from them, like Flying-type Pokémon being immune to Earthquake, or benefit from them, like a Pokémon with the Dry Skin or Water Absorb abilities being healed by Surf.
161	** Some of the most powerful moves in the game, such as Take Down and Head Smash, are accompanied by recoil damage that hurts the user. This can be negated by Pokémon with the Rock Head ability.
162	* ''Videogame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'': The Armageddon spell is one of the most damaging spells available, but inflicts heavy damage on ally and enemy alike. There are a few ways to negate this; some monsters (such as the fire-immune ifreet and the magic-immune black dragons) will be unharmed by the spell, and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Armageddon's Blade]] renders your entire army immune as one of the perks of wielding it.
163	* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'':
164	** A variation -- shields that grant immunity to certain elements encourage players to liberally spread that element around when enemies are affected by it and they are not. Most commonly manifests as the liberal application of fire from flame-elemental grenades or ExplodingBarrels, doing considerable DamageOverTime to enemies and leaving the immune player unharmed.
165	** Krieg, a [[TokenHeroicOrc Psycho turned Vault Hunter]], has two examples in his skill tree.
166	*** One skill allows him to become an ActionBomb if his HP is depleted. If he manages to kill an enemy in the explosion, he'll come back to life thanks to the [[DesperationAttack second wind]] mechanic.
167	*** He also has a skill tree branch dedicated to setting both himself and his enemies on fire. While he ''does'' still take damage from setting himself on fire, he heals based on damage he deals with elemental effects, ''including'' damage he deals to himself with incendiary weapons, making him more or less immune while still taking full damage, [[CombatSadomasochist just the way he likes it]].
168	* One highly effective late-game tactic in ''VideoGame/{{Summoner}}'' is to load everyone with frost-resistance items, and then have [[BlackMagicianGirl Rosalind]] cast Blizzard into every melee.
169	* The games in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series have a few examples:
170	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', there are many different enemies that will attack the entire battlefield, including themselves, with powerful attacks. However, as they are either immune to the elements of those attacks or actually gain health from them, the disadvantages of these attacks are lost. This can also be done with playable characters, by equipping them with elemental immune items.
171	** In ''Videogame/FinalFantasyIX'': [[BlackMage Vivi]]'s most powerful spell is Doomsday, which inflicts [[CastingAShadow shadow damage]] on all allies and enemies on the field. Equipping your characters with gear that absorbs shadow will cause them to be healed by the spell instead. The {{Superboss}} Ozma also tries this, but it's possible to invert it: it has Doomsday in its arsenal and normally absorbs shadow damage, but one sidequest rewards you by making it weak to shadow instead, so if it does use the spell, it'll harm itself.
172	** [[SituationalSword Calculators]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' have the ability to [[GameBreaker cast almost any regular spell in the game instantly and at no cost,]] provided you can find a parameter and multiple that applies to the target (they're basically a whole class based around the "Lv. X" spells from the main games). Unfortunately there is no way to differentiate friend from foe if the selected parameters apply to both. Fortunately, you can outfit your entire team to absorb a specific element ([[HolyHandGrenade Holy]] is a popular choice) and blast away.
173	* Some ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' games have Armageddon; an indiscriminate meteor storm that targets the whole map. It can be used to invoke this trope if you've prepared a lot of girders and/or dug your team deeply into the ground.
174	* ''VideoGame/VoodooVince'' pretty much uses this trope as a central game mechanic. You play as a voodoo doll, and your strongest attacks are 'voodoo' attacks that get charged up and unleashed, and are randomly chosen from the ones you've learned. They can range from getting halved by a bear trap to getting crushed by a satellite, but they all involve 'killing' Vince in order to insta-kill nearby enemies--Vince can do it all day, but the monsters he's killing would say otherwise.
175	* In ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', the Rockmen aliens are immune to fire. Therefore, a valid tactic for defeating enemy ships is to use a firebomb to light the ship's interior on fire, then send in your [[BoardingParty Rockmen crew to board the ship]] and interfere with the enemy crew's attempt to put the fires out. Similarly, the Lanius, with their immunity to suffocation, are perfect for fighting in airless rooms, a tactic that would otherwise be suicidal. Normally, when dealing with boarders, your main options are either venting the compromised rooms or sending in your crew to fight them. With a Lanius crew, you can do both at once.
176	* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, the [[LizardFolk Argonians]] have a racial ability which [[SuperNotDrowningSkills allows them to breathe underwater]]. They also have a reputation for being skilled at guerrilla warfare, constructing underwater camps (which are naturally hard for non-Argonians to assault) and one of their favorite tactics is to ambush their victims, grab them, drag them underwater, and keep them there until they drown (a feat which, unfortunately, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation is difficult to replicate in-game due to the lack of grappling mechanics]]).
177	* In both the games and literature for ''Franchise/TheWitcher'', witchers have a greatly enhanced tolerance of body toxins. This is exploited by the witchers concocting and imbibing a variety of potions that would be greatly beneficial to a normal person if they weren't highly (often fatally) toxic. Some of these potions involve no benefit for the witcher but [[SpikedBlood poisons their blood against]] [[VampiricDraining hematophagic]] monsters they may expect to face while on the job.
178	* In the MMORPG ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'', some classes (ranger, rogue, monk) have good Reflex saving throws and the Evasion ability (take no damage instead of half damage on a successful reflex save for half damage). Some players playing these classes will get the attention of monsters and run them through traps they will easily dodge, unlike the monsters...
179	** A variant on the above, usable by every class (though Barbarians and Monks are better at it due to fast speed) is to use careful timing to avoid a trap while the enemy will jump right into it to follow you.
180	* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', The various [[TakingYouWithMe "kirby-cides"]] can be a variant of this. If you have at least two stock and your foe doesn't, bodily grabbing your foe and diving off the edge with them, you'll get a net win, as you'll respawn and they won't. Of course, if you both have one stock, [[TakingYouWithMe it's a more standard trope]], and [[StupidSacrifice if you have one stock and your foe doesn't it's just useless.]]
181	* ''Videogame/{{Fallout}}'' series:
182	** Ghouls are humans who have been mutated into zombie-like creatures via exposure to intense radiation, and are now healed by radiation rather than being killed by it. Glowing Ones are some of the most powerful ghouls, able to store radiation within their bodies and release it in concentrated bursts, which can both heal other ghouls and induce radiation poisoning in humans.
183	** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' originally averted this. You still had to [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifice yourself]] in the chamber of deadly radiation at the end of the game, or take the [[KarmaMeter Evil karma option]] and convince Sarah Lyons to sacrifice ''her''self instead, despite the fact that you may have one of three possible companions who are immune to radiation tagging along with you, one of whom is a ''brainwashed slave who is physically unable to disobey you no matter how much he may want to''. Yet all of them will refuse and tell you to [[ButThouMust do it yourself]]. Purchasing the ''Broken Steel'' DLC will allow you to send one of them in, but the narrator still calls you a coward for not doing it yourself.
184	** Doctor Brian Virgil from ''Videogame/Fallout4'' betrayed the Institute, then turned himself into a [[RadiationImmuneMutants supermutant]] and took refuge in the Glowing Sea, hoping that the intense radiation would deter anyone from following him while not affecting him due to his mutation.
185	* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': Dark Crusade gives the Mad Dok the Burna Bomb ability, which creates a ridiculously powerful explosive near the dok's position. The dok also has an ability that makes him, an infantry squad, or the squad he's attached to, entirely invulnerable. Do the math.
186	* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'':
187	** The [[DemonicSpiders Cosmic Monolith]] is rather infamous for this in the third game. It has an attack appropriately called Doomsday that hits the entire battlefield for massive dark damage that is nigh impossible to survive without equipment reducing dark damage. It, of course, absorbs dark, so it also heals itself while putting your party at Death's doorstep at the same time. One wonders whether this is not ShoutOut to [[Videogame/FinalFantasyIX Ozma]]. On the other hand, there are fights where its allies are not resistant to darkness, but it still spells trouble. The next games changed Doomsday so it hits only enemies.
188	** The following games also have some spells such as Ashes that puts burn on everyone on entire battlefield. Since the damage from burn here is fiery DamageOverTime that can be absorbed, no points for guessing which enemies use it. Likewise, the Virus from ''5'' deals Bio damage and can spread by itself from enemies to allies by interaction between them, and this is used by the FinalBoss that can spread Virus and absorbs Bio.
189	* ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'' provides many opportunities for this:
190	** Any unit who steps on a flame tile is set on fire for one damage per turn. However, the only mechs actively designed to KillItWithFire have flame shielding, and can set the whole map on fire with impunity.
191	** [[{{Kaiju}} Vek]] can drown, while your mechs can't, so it's possible to stand in a tidal wave zone, cause a vek to move next to you, and then watch it drown. Flying Mechs (especially the [[SwapTeleportation swap mech]]) can use this effectively on other terrain types as well.
192	** Smoke will prevent any unit from attacking or repairing itself, but any mech piloted by [[AcePilot Camilla Vera]] is immune to both it and webbing, making her a very effective pilot for one of the smoke throwing Rusting Hulks.
193	** Some powerful weapons damage both the target and the user, however, a mech with either built in armor or the pilot [[TheStoic Abe Isamu]] won't take damage, significantly improving their lifespan. Putting up a shield before any kind of attack that would harm yourself or an ally (such as [[LightningLash lightning whip]] also works.
194	* The ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' combat system makes heavy use of GeoEffects, AreaOfEffect spells, and stackable DamageReduction for various {{element\|alPowers}}s, so the player characters can {{Invoke\|dTrope}} this and suffer from it. Standouts include enemies who are ImmuneToFire and spam their pyrokinesis and a group of undead who make liberal use of poison effects that either ignore or ''heal'' them; the undead playable character Fane can use the same strategy himself.
195	[[/folder]]
196
197	[[folder:Webcomics]]
198	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
199	** During one of her earlier appearance, Miko Miyazaki refuses to attack a band of ogres in their sleep, but instead wakes them and allows them to surround her... and then orders Vaarsuvius and Durkon to target her with their fire and lightning spells. Having once recieved some training as a Monk, she has the Evasion ability and can easily pass a Reflex save to minimize her injuries, while all the ogres take full damage.
200	** A minor example occurs in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0594.html "Rock the Boat"]], when Elan jumps on Kubota's rowboat. When Kubota complains that he's going to sink the boat and drown both of them, Elan reminds him that he isn't wearing any weighty armor (unlike Kubota, who's wearing a breastplate), so he has a better chance of swimming to safety.
201	** During a fight between Vaarsuvius and a Black Dragon, the dragon deploys an AntiMagic field which robs them both of their spellcasting. As the dragon notes, a SquishyWizard like V deprived of their magic becomes almost completely useless, while a dragon deprived of magic still retains their brute strength.
202	** Xykon has no problem using his area-of-effect Meteor Swarm spell at point-blank range because he has a magic item that makes him immune to fire damage.
203	** Simultaneously play straight and inverted in one fight scene in which Roy has Durkon use a [[HolyHandGrenade Holy Word]] spell in range of a group of villains, then has [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] spring an ambush on them. One of the villains attempts to use a [[CompellingVoice Suggestion]] spell on Belkar, but Belkar was deafened by the Holy Word, causing the Suggestion to fail.
204	--->'''Roy:''' It's not a bug, it's a feature.
205	** Undead are [[ReviveKillsZombie harmed by Cure Wounds]] spells and healed by Inflict Wounds. When the heroes fight a group of vampires, the living spellcasters use AreaOfEffect Cure spells to help their team while harming their enemy, while the vampires do the same with Inflict spells.
206	* In ''Webcomic/AnotherGamingComic'', this is Nuclear Dan's tactic of choice. He builds characters that are either immune or highly resistant to fire, and then drops fireballs centred on himself. It gets to the point where he actually forgets that fireball is a long range spell, and he doesn't have to catch himself in the area of effect if, for some reason, he is not immune.
207	* In ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'', while fighting GrayGoo during the Oisri mission, the Toughs's armor allowed them to survive tactics like [[KillItWithFire flaming down rooms]] to fry airborne nanite clouds and killing infested SuperSoldiers by [[ExplosiveDecompression opening hull breaches]].
208	-->'''Chisulo:''' Check with the enemy and see if they'd like to join us outside for a breath of fresh nothing.
209	* This was the favorite tactic of the Nidraa'chal in the backstory of ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'', where they would open up a [[DemonicInvaders nether gate]] in a populated area and the demons that came through would start possessing the citizens and soldiers sent to oppose them. The Nidraa'chal themselves were unaffected by this because they had already willingly merged with a demon and couldn't be possessed again.
210	** As a result of the above the Sarghress clan developed their own counter strategy in the form of the War Meat, a squad of non-fae (humans, orcs, ferals etc.) who due to lacking [[{{Mana}} auras]] could not be possessed by the demons, so they would be sent in first to kill the nether summoners before the regular troops moved in to finish the job.
211	* Big Ears from ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' carries a magic axe that has a unique enchantment; it cannot be used to harm a paladin, and will pass harmlessly through their body as though it were intangible. In one strip, he takes advantage of this when being grappled by Saral Caine, [[AttackingThroughYourself passing the axe through himself]] in order to stab Saral through the chest.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:Web Original]]
215	* In ''Literature/{{Twig}}'', the rebel forces against the AcademyOfEvil develop a means of rendering their elite soldiers immune to the Academy's poisonous gasses and plagues, and take advantage of this to deploy troops amidst clouds of poisonous gasses where the Academy's human soldiers can't enter, slaughtering the mindless [[FleshGolem Stitched]] with the advantage of human leadership.
216	[[/folder]]
217
218	[[folder:Western Animation]]
219	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Robot Santa and his reindeer are highly resilent and immune to explosions. In his first appearance, he intends to murder the Planet Express crew by simply having Rudolph detonate his red nose, taking out ''everyone'' in the room in a massive blast, knowing it will simply hurl him and his reindeer skyward [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Team Rocket style]].
220	* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': In one episode, Valmont attempts to free himself from DemonicPossession by Shendu, by handling the Pan'Ku Box, an object forged using [[GoodHurtsEvil Good Magic, which Shendu can't touch]]. It hurts both of them, but Shendu suffers more and is rendered unconscious by the pain.
221	-->'''Shendu:''' Fool! The Pan'Ku Box was forged using good magic. We cannot touch it!\
222	'''Valmont:''' No Shendu. ''You'' cannot touch it!
223	* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': In one episode, Tombstone, who doesn't need to breathe, catches the hero in a chokehold inside a room that's filling up with toxic gas.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'': In the animated series, one villain, Kablamus, was originally a children's entertainer attempting to develop a formula to keep balloons from popping. After the inevitable laboratory accident, he became a supervillain with the ability to explode his own body and then regenerate.
225	* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': A brawl between Aquaman and Wonder Woman was neck-and-neck for the powerful pair until Aquaman forces Wonder Woman into the water where his ability to breathe beneath it gives him the advantage.
226	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels''[[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS1E12RebelResolve , "Rebel Resolve"]]: In his getaway, Chopper spaces himself. While the pursuing stormtroopers helplessly flail about in vacuum and quickly run out of air, Chopper does not breathe and has a rocket for propulsion.
227	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' The turtles and their mutant alligator ally Leatherhead are semi-aquatic by nature and they use this to their advantage on several occasions. The turtles use the water to sneak into areas at several points and one episode has Michelangelo holding his breath for an extended period in order to get through a room full of toxic air. Leatherhead meanwhile hides a [[AliensAreBastards kraang]] energy crystal in an area that's only accessible through a flooded tunnel, and in season four he drags evil mutant dog Rahzar [[spoiler:into the ocean [[GoodIsNotSoft and drowns him]]]].
228	[[/folder]]
229
230	[[folder:Real Life]]
231	* Some species of ants can attack their enemies with formic acid. Birds will sometimes deliberately enrage colonies of these ants, since the acid only hurts them a little but kills off fleas and other parasites.
232	* Alcohols are toxic. However, some sorts (most notably ethanol, which can easily be produced with fermentation) can be safely processed by the human body in limited amounts while being very lethal to moulds, bacteria and other assorted nasties. Same could be said with a lot of traditional ways to preserve food, such as with salt or acids that humans can tolerate in small amounts but microorganisms cannot.
233	* Narrow-spectrum pesticides and herbicide-resistant crops invoke this trope, killing off pests without affecting valuable or harmless organisms in the same field. Similarly, a lot of modern insecticides are designed to be completely harmless towards humans by using substances that are only toxic to insects, making spraying houses a safer prospect.
234	* Similarly, this is what makes diatomaceous earth such an effective killer of ''many'' kinds of bugs, and yet so harmless to humans we use it as both medicine and a food additive. It's a fine powder that sticks to the bodies of anything that touches it, but humans are completely immune to its moisture-absorbing properties. Bugs who touch it, on the other hand, have the moisture sucked right out of them and die of dehydration within hours to days. Humans can practically ''bathe'' in the stuff no worse for wear, while any bug that dares enter a living space treated with it has effectively chosen death, making it a handy and safe alternative to actual poisons that harm humans and bugs alike.
235	* This is how most of medicine works. Flood your system with something that binds to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50S 50S Ribosomal Subunit]]? Or the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penicillin_binding_proteins PBPs in the cell membrane]]? Those sound like some potent poisons. Except to life forms which use different ribosomes and membranes and therefore the poisons have nothing to target (e.g. humans).
236	** Penicillin in particular works by inhibiting the growth of bacterial cell walls, causing the bacteria to die when its cell wall disintegrates. Animal cells, unlike plants, fungi, and bacteria, do not have cell walls.
237	** Even without medical intervention, many of the human body's inborn defense mechanisms target infections this way. Both lysozyme in our sweat and saliva and the complement proteins in our plasma puncture bacterial cells, but ''not'' human cells, because they can only target the bacterial cell wall.
238	** Fevers are actually a Downplayed version of this. While a sufficently high fever can be lethal[[note]]108 degrees Fahrenheit is almost certainly lethal, while 104 is the threshold for permanent damage. General rule of thumb is to start worrying around 101.4[[/note]], there's a butter zone between "normal body temperature" and "harmful temperature" where humans are at most uncomfortable but the pathogens struggle to survive.
239	* Riot Squads usually wear gas masks, so they can exploit this by using tear gas against large crowds (for better or for worse), as can a SWATTeam. Military examples (like the SAS) avert this, however, since while they often adopt the GasMaskMook look for intimidation (and just in case someone else renders the air unbreathable), the rules and customs of war mean they're not allowed to use chemical weapons themselves.
240	* Trafigura had a "super injunction" [[note]]An injunction that effectively has an injunction on itself, meaning nobody can even talk about the fact they exist. They're automatically overturned once the information is made public, but doing so is a criminal offense since it breaches the injunction[[/note]] taken out to prevent the press from reporting on its alleged illegal waste dumping activities on the Ivory Coast. However, MP[=s=] in British parliament have a legal version of this trope; "parliamentary privilege". This allows them to say what they want without any legal consequences[[note]]As long as it's relevant to a debate, of course; an MP can't just start reading off lists of SIS agents.[[/note]], so Paul Farrelly MP simply mentioned it as an example in a debate about super injunctions, without any need to worry about being in contempt of court but overturning the injunction and making Trafigura's previously unrepeatable deeds a matter of public record on live TV at the same time.
241	* Japanese honey bees protect their nests from hornets by [[DogPileOfDoom dogpiling them]] and vibrating, giving off heat and turning the centre of the swarm into a convection oven. The bees have a slightly higher heat tolerance than hornets, so by maintaining the swarm's temperature between what they can cope with and what the hornets can, they cook the hornet to death without endangering themselves.
242	* An armadillo's favored means of escaping predators is to simply charge into the nearest patch of thornbushes, which understandably discourages any pursuer that lacks the armadillo's armored skin.
243	* Before the advent of electronic detectors to warn of DeadlyGas in mine shafts, coal miners brought canaries with them because the gas would begin to affect small birds before it hurt humans, giving the miners a chance to notice and evacuate. This gave rise to the expression "canary in a coal mine" for early warning signs of an imminent problem, (or, in a slightly darker fashion, someone who's expected to put themselves at risk to assess how dangerous something is).
244	* Animals that can breathe underwater/hold their breath a long time are able to drown their prey with relative ease, especially when their panicked prey struggles, wasting precious oxygen. Alligators are an example of this, as well as orcas.
245	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrophyte Pyrophytes]] are plants that can tolerate fire. Some actively exploit this by encouraging fires, which they can survive but other competitors can't, such as the Eucalyptus trees and their blanketing of the forest floor with [[MadeOfIncendium broad, oily dry leaves]], while others rely on fires to crack open their seed cones to let their seedlings take advantage of fertile ash and the lack of competition for light and space caused by the fire burning away everything else.
246	* One theory on why countries further from the equator tend to be wealthier and more developed is that humans can tolerate colder climates than most pests.
247	* Tanks are ImmuneToBullets. Infantry are not. This has sometimes led to tanks shooting each other with their coaxial machine guns or even canister rounds to kill infantry trying to [[InsertGrenadeHere plant explosives]] on them.
248	* [[SuperPersistentPredator Persistence hunting]] invokes this trope; since humans have far better ability to endure continued exertion, heat, and dehydration than most animals - especially when we can cheat and carry extra water.
249	* The "Mosquito" anti-loitering device relies on the fact that, as people get older, their range of sound narrows and they can no longer hear high-pitched noises. The idea is to place it in areas where young delinquents may congregate, and it deters them by simply making a loud high-pitched whine that is ''incredibly'' annoying to them but can't be heard by anyone over 25. Naturally, it's pretty controversial.
250	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ExploitedImmunity