History LightningBruiser / VideoGames

* Gadwin and Milda from ''VideoGame/{{Grandia}}''. Gadwin joins at a high level and has ridiculously strong HP, damage and speed and spells for as long as he sticks around. Milda doesn't quite have the level advantage and can't use any magic, but her insane durability and striking power more than make up for it.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', Lae'Zel and Karlach both fit the mold. Lae'Zel can equip heavy armor and leap across the entire battlefield (and later learns to Misty Step), so she can get wherever she needs to go to deal heavy damage while still being among the sturdiest party members. Karlach likewise can be built to have insanely long movement range, high HP and can Rage to make herself extremely hard to stop while smashing everything in reach with a massive axe. If so inclined the player can also respect them or make their own custom Fighter or Barbarian to play these strengths up even more.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', Lae'Zel and Karlach both fit the mold. Lae'Zel can equip heavy armor and leap across the entire battlefield (and later learns to Misty Step), so she can get wherever she needs to go to deal heavy damage in a hurry while still being among the sturdiest party members. Karlach likewise can be built to have insanely long movement range, high HP and can Rage to make herself extremely hard to stop while she runs around smashing everything in her path with a massive axe. If so inclined the player can also respect them or make their own custom Fighter or Barbarian to play these strengths up even more.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'', Lae'Zel and Karlach both fit the mold. Lae'Zel can equip heavy armor and leap across the entire battlefield (and later learns to Misty Step), so she can get wherever she needs to go to deal heavy damage in a hurry while still being among the sturdiest party members. Karlach likewise can be built to have insanely long movement range, high HP and can Rage to make herself extremely durable while she runs around smashing everything in her path with a massive axe. If so inclined the player can also make their own custom Fighter or Barbarian to play these strengths up even more.

**

* The Barbarian class in the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series is a variant of the Fighter with some unique perks; they get d12 HP per level (higher than any other class in the game), have an innate bonus to move speed, get a bonus half-attack at Levels 7 and 13, gain passive boosts to physical damage resistance and can Rage to make themselves immune to several statuses and boost their Strength at the cost of defense. The downside is that they can't get more than two points in any weapon specializations, have fairly limited choices of armor (splint or lower) and they can't Dual or Multiclass, so they're not the most flexible or tactically diverse of characters. Still, a half-orc barbarian, properly specced, is among the quickest, hardiest and deadliest melee class choices in the game, excelling at flanking foes and cutting them down.

** There's also the Janissaries from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'' and the Jagers in VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII. Like the Papal Guards before them, these elite of the elites are tougher and hit harder than the {{Mighty Glacier}}s while also being faster than the {{Fragile Speedster}}s and {{Kung Fu Proof|Mook}}.

** ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'': Several of the bosses are big, strong, hit like a freight train, and are almost as fast:

* ''Videogame/EliteDangerous'': The Federal Assault ship priorities firepower, defense, and speed above all else. Courtesy of some massively oversized engines, it can chase down and out-turn almost every ship, has enough armor to tank damage, and can mount twin large Plasma Accelerators. It's also so heavy that it can handily win [[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming fights]]. However, said heavy hull gives it terrible jump range and its oversized thrusters make it expensive to outfit.
* ''Videogame/{{Evolve}}'': The Goliath's leap lets it quickly cover distance or move past obstacles and two of its combat abilities let it move quickly, while its rock throw and heavy melee attacks let it quickly decimate opponents.

** Videogame/FinalFantasyVII prequel ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' shows Genesis and Angeal as experimental prototypes of the same project that created Sephiroth and both have the strength and speed needed to be some challenge to even Sephiroth and are durable and resilient enough to be able to take a lot of punishment and continue to function efficiently even while in a degrading state. Zack Fair is even superior to them, being [[DodgeTheBullet bullet-dodgingly]] fast and able to effortlessly one-shot normal enemies with a single hit, along with defeating those two even in their monstrous forms, along with being physically powerful enough to even battle and give an all-out Sephiroth a hard fight, withstanding a lot of punishment from the latter before going down, along with massacring an entire battalion of the Shinra Army, until they were reduced to only ''three'' troopers.

* Good God, the Shopkeeper in ''Spelunky''. He outperforms the player character in speed and power, and packs a mean shotgun to boot. In many ways, it takes more skill to become a Shopkeeper hunter than to defeat the final boss. However, the player character can also be this, depending on playstyle and accumulated resources towards the end of the game.

* ''[[Videogame/MechWarrior MechWarrior Living Legends]]'' has many lightning bruisers among its Heavy [[HumongousMecha Battlemech]] class, but by far the most terrifying mech in the game is the Fafnir "Foxtrot" variant, which is simultaneously the heaviest (100 tons, Assault class) mech, most armored, most dangerous, and the fastest Assault mech in the game. Other Fafnirs are stuck plodding along at 53kph -- but not this one, as it carries [[SprintShoes MASC]] which can ramp up its top speed to 75kph, enough to catch anything besides a Light mech. It carries a pair of [[MoreDakka Ultra Autocannon/20s]], rapid-fire murder cannons that can rip armor to pieces in seconds, and to top it off, it carries ''ten'' [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrowers]], enough to [[OverHeating roast enemies to the point]] where their [[GoingCritical reactor goes critical]]. Luckily for the enemy team, the Fafnir Foxtrot is just as dangerous to itself as it is to its enemies, courtesy of its weapons and MASC putting out some [[OverHeating truly astonishing amounts of heat]] which it has few heatsinks to deal with, leading to many of the [[HeroicRROD mechs melting to death in the middle of combat]].
* In the ''Videogame/MechWarrior'' series, first-generation Clan [=OmniMechs=] were heads and shoulders above their Inner Sphere peers at the time where they show up, much like the [[TabletopGame/BattleTech original boardgame]]. The Mad Cat/Timber Wolf is the most iconic example of a Clan-built Lightning Bruiser Omni. It's fast -- though it weighs 75 tons, it can outrun many 45 to 50 ton Inner Sphere 'Mechs, clocking in at a lively 86 kph in a weight class where 64 kph is considered the acceptable average. It's also very tough, boasting more armor than many Inner Sphere 'Mechs up to 10 tons heavier, meaning that its armor is thick enough to withstand repeated PPC or autocannon hits in any location save the head. Finally, it's frighteningly well armed, packing an array of lasers, missiles, and machine guns that gives it a throw weight equivalent to two or more comparable Inner Sphere 'Mechs -- a Marauder, for instance, has a maximum damage value of 35, where the Timber Wolf boasts a maximum damage value of ''85.''

* In the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' franchise:

** Phantoms are hard to hit since they're airborne, swoop down at the player swiftly and deal uncomfortable amounts of damage (similar what to normal monsters would do on ''Hard Mode'')[[note]]In the Java Edition, this damage was greatly reduced due to a bug, turning Phantoms into [[StoneWall Stone Walls]] instead, but they retain their usually-high damage in Bedrock Edition[[/note]], all with the same health as human-sized mobs, which lets them survive a few sword strikes to dive-bomb the player a second time.

* ''VideoGame/RivalsofAether'': Being an Expy of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' with an increased focus on combos, offense, and movement, almost any character in the cast in the right hands can be this. Special mention goes to Etalus, however. His base traits make him seem like a literal Mighty Glacier, with slow ground and air speeds and heavy weight. However, his Main/IcePerson fighter ability allows him to cover the stage in ice, allowing him to slide around while using any of his other moves, which can hit ''really'' hard. His moves can be a bit telegraphed even with the speed boost, but it isn't uncommon to see Etalus delete stocks faster than you can blink. Etalus can also shatter the ice to give himself armor, making him even tougher to take down.
* In ''Videogame/SuperAdventureRockman'', Ra Thor is said to be this. According to Dr. Wily, he was built to be twice as fast as Quick Man and three times tougher than both Wood Man and Hard Man. This is proven when Ra Thor initially starts his fight by beating down Rockman before he can react and deflecting a buster shot without a scratch. Besides the physical capabilities, Ra Thor is equipped with a buster like Rockman, Protoman, and Bass that he uses to finish off Rockman in the bad ending. His other abilities include firing red lasers from his fingertips and shooting out energy orbs of different colors with different traits. His sheer power forced Rockman to smart use of all the Robot Master Special Weapons he has acquired and the Proto Shield to finally defeat Ra Thor.

* Your Precursor flagship in ''Videogame/StarControl2'' can become in late game the fastest ship, surpassed only by the Thraddash Torch using afterburners, have ''a whole lot'' of firepower when fitted with enough [[BFG Hellbore cannons]] plus Dynamos and Shiva Furnaces to recharge batteries fast enough, and up to [[CastFromHitPoints hundreds of hit points]] being able to destroy an Ur-Quan Dreadnought or a Kohr-Ah Marauder with ease. Just don't forget [[PointDefenseless to add a point-defense module]].

** Donkey Kong was always been surprisingly fast for a heavyweight throughout the series, but the fourth game took it even further, with his overall mobility and attacking speed being just as good as characters like [[JackOfAllStats Mario]]. He's no slouch in the attacking department, since his fast attacks pack surprising KO power for their speed, and he's hard to knock out as a heavyweight of his size. In a few games, most notably in [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U]], DK also possesses traits of [[Main/TheGrappler The Grappler]], including a long grab range and lethal throw setups, meaning not even blocking is always safe.
*** Bowser became this in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Previously a Mighty Glacier, his running speed was jacked up to become faster than Marth and Mario, though he retains a slow air speed. While his big size still made him combo food, he picked up a passive trait that allows him to take weak hits (like Mega Man's pellets) without flinching, making him even harder to stop. His increased mobility made it harder to avoid his powerful attacks, and like DK, he boasts a kill setup off of his up throw (or he can break a shield outright with his [[Main/GroundPound down special]]. These traits were also carried into [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]], though [[Main/PowerCreep Power Creep]] means his strengths are a little less pronounced.

** Roy in ''Videogame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' applies, as he is a character with great power, speed, and durability, but is actually lacking in other areas specific to the series, such as low range, bad recovery, and high falling speed. Fortunately for Roy, he was heavily buffed in ''Smash 4'', and even moreso in ''Ultimate'', turning him into a true Lightning Bruiser whose only real weakness is that he needs to be very close to reach his full damage potential.

* ''VideoGame/TzarTheBurdenOfTheCrown'' has a few examples, the most prominent one being all mounted units (except Horse Archers who prefer {{Hit And Run Tactics}} and Chariots who are mobile {{Stone Wall}}s instead). All of them boast above average values of health, attack and defense as well as moving faster than infantry units. Their weakness is their crippling inability to deal with Pikemen/Spearmen/Samurais who deal bonus damage against them and the fact that almost all of them are end-game units that require specific steps to be accessible(European Knight and Arabian Heavy Horseman are exceptions from this rule).
* The TIE Defender from the Franchise/StarWars game ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'' can withstand more punishment than a bomber, can easily overtake a dedicated dogfighter, and still manages to pack four lasers, two ion cannons and two high capacity missile launchers. It is then taken up to eleven with the Missile Boat, which is even faster with four higher capacity missile launchers, with the only drawback being one laser cannon.

* ''Videogame/{{ULTRAKILL}}:'' All the game's most memorable bosses qualify for it.

* The upgraded Edelweiss in ''Videogame/ValkyriaChronicles'' can move farther than most enemy tanks, has a powerful main cannon that can oneshot them if it hits a weak point and possesses enough armor to shrug off a lot of return fire.

** The Vampire Counts have two more qualifying units, both large monstrous creatures: Varghulfs have devastatingly strong sweeping attacks with their large forearms, they have a lot of health (which also regenerates over time) and a big charge bonus, deceptively fast for their size, and their sheer mass means they can easily shove through a battle line unless the rank is particularly deep. Terrorgheists are even worse; these dragon-sized undead bats have everything that makes Varghulfs deadly, but they can ''fly'', faster in fact than most cavalry can run even at full stride, and in ''Mortal Empires'' they even gain a [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic shriek attack]].

** Many enemies fall under this trope such as Shadows, Abysses, Alto Angelos, Beowulf and a quite a literal LightningBruiser example with the Blitz from [=DMC4=].

** In ''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', PoweredArmor fit this trope. Thanks to the way those games handled damage calculations,[[note]]Damage Threshold (as opposed to Damage Resistance) [[NoSell utterly prevents weapon impacts weaker than a certain amount from doing any damage]][[/note]] Power Armor makes the player [[ImmuneToBullets practically immune to small firearms and other weak attacks]], to the point where it's entirely possible to be ''[[CriticalHit critically hit]]'' ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20200310073250/https://i.redd.it/v4juhu1hpscz.png for zero damage.]]'' This even happens to '''''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/critically_hit_for_zero.jpg Deathclaws]].''''' In addition, it also [[SuperStrength greatly increases the wearer's strength]] ''and'' functions as a Level A HazmatSuit, being completely sealed and providing substantial protection against radiation -- two things that no other armor in the game does. All this comes at [[LightningBruiser no cost to speed or agility.]]

** Sephiroth is ''the'' platinum standard of power, speed, and durability for the series, so much so that only serious LightningBruiser can even pose any threat to him. Even pre-insanity, he had it all: the strength and speed to one-shot large dragons and huge flaming Summons, usually with a single sword stroke before they can even react; jumps multiple stories with no effort; was capable of slicing up the barrel of the massive Junon cannon with his sword as easy as a master chef chops a carrot; had the durability to take a barrage of flaming magic missiles to the face without a scratch. Post-insanity, that strength, speed, and durability increases to nightmarish levels, as shown by him being able to easily overwhelm Cloud to where he can block his lightning-fast multiple sword combo of Omnislash with no effort and casually toss him around even when Cloud blocks his attack. In the Remake, he was able to withstand a lot of punishment from Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Barret, and Red XIII and weave them off rather quickly while once again easily beating Cloud.

* ''VideoGame/NavalOps: Warship Gunner'' players often build LightningBruiser battleships, because at the later missions and on the NewGamePlus, a well-balanced battleship with heavy firepower, good protection and good speed is crucial.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': It should be noted that, apart from Captain Falcon, most Lightning Bruisers in the series aren't as dominating as one would expect of the archetype; other factors (such as recovery, combo potential and frame data) are required for success, usually resulting in GlassCannon {{Fragile Speedster}}s being the best characters.

* And both games' SpiritualSuccessor, ''VideoGame/VectorThrust'', boasts an entire family of LightningBruisers in the form of the F-15 Eagle family. Eagles are extremely fast with impressive agility only outperformed by 5th generation aircraft and the Su-27 family, as well as above-average defensive abilities when compared to their smaller F-16 friends. They also boast formidable arsenals ranging anywhere from multi-targeting, long-range missiles, cluster bombs, and all-aspect munitions.

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' allows any player character to become this through the PointBuildSystem, but special credit goes to the Brujah [[VampireVarietyPack vampire clan]], who are unique in having access to both SuperSpeed and SuperStrength. In the [[JustifiedTutorial tutorial]], a Brujah Elder shows those powers off with a deadly FoeTossingCharge.

** Donkey Kong was always been surprisingly fast for a heavyweight throughout the series, but the fourth game took it even further, with his overall mobility and attacking speed being just as good as characters like [[JackOfAllStats Mario]]. He's no slouch in the attacking department, since his fast attacks pack surprising KO power for their speed, and he's hard to knock out as a heavyweight of his size. In a few games, most notably [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U]], DK also possesses traits of [[Main/TheGrappler The Grappler]], including a long grab range and lethal throw setups, meaning not even blocking is always safe.

*** While Hell Knights are as mobile as Barons of Hell, they can seem to be {{Glass Cannon}}s compared to them, but they're still pretty resistant and strong in their own right.

* ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars 2]]'':
** Sturm, SNKBoss. In the first game, he was a StoneWall with his units trading 80% Attack for 130% Defense as a playable character, but in the second, his units have 120% in both stats -- that's the "bruiser" part. For the "lightning" part, he ignores terrain speed reductions, meaning that his units can casually speed their way across entire mountain ranges before slamming into the opponent's base. All this is at no increase in costs or downsides to the units themselves, as opposed to, say, Kanbei, whose units slightly eclipse Sturm's in brute power but cost considerably more. His weaknesses are a slow-charging (but very potent) CO power and being so hard to unlock that he's pretty much a BraggingRightsReward.
** Colin and Hachi can easily turn into this, thanks to their [[GameBreaker extremely useful]] money-related abilities allowing them to deploy powerful units long before the opponent can and utterly swarm the map. Colin was intended to be more of a FragileSpeedster, owing to his slightly reduced attack power, but his incredibly cheap power "Gold Rush" has the side effect of increasing his stats, and can effectively make his forces average to above-average in strength on practically every other turn, on top of outnumbering you two-to-one. He also has "Power of Money", which boosts firepower based on the cash he has - at its full potential this gives him the hardest-hitting units in the game, leading to ridiculous scenarios like infantry one-shotting tanks.
** Neotanks in the same game and ''Dual Strike'' are very durable, have high movement thanks to their treads, and hit very hard to the point where they invalidate the TacticalRockPaperScissors of the two games. The only things that are a real threat to them are outside of the land vehicle class and are lightning bruisers in their own category -- bombers and battleships.
** In ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'', the Strato Destroyer is a do-everything flying weapons platform that can engage and destroy both ground and air targets with equal and deadly levels of effectiveness. About the only way to counter one is with multiple fighters, anti-air vehicles, or another Strato Destroyer.

** [[DragonKnight Volga]], armed with his [[PlayingWithFire Dragon]] [[BladeOnAStick Spear]], is a force to be reckoned with. Striking fast and hitting hard, it's easy to see why the Hyrulean army fears him.

** Bowser, a resident heavyweight in the series, is even stronger in the fourth game than in previous installments, with almost all of his attacks being able to KO at mid percentages, and he is still the heaviest character in the game, but his speed has been drastically increased, with all of his attacks coming out very fast, as well as managing to dash as fast as the likes of [[FragileSpeedster Diddy Kong]].

** Donkey Kong was always been surprisingly fast for a heavyweight throughout the series, but the fourth game took it even further, with his overall mobility and attacking speed being just as good as characters like [[JackOfAllStats Mario]]. He's no slouch in the attacking department, since his fast attacks pack surprising KO power for their speed, and he's hard to knock out as a heavyweight of his size.

*** The Cyberdemon comes back as a proper boss: he is extremely tough, his ArmCannon is even more powerful than before, and he can go from tiny steps to propel himself whenever he decides to.

** In his own series, ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'' is not only almost immortal (being able to literally reincarnate FromASingleCell) and extremely strong, but games like ''WarioLand4'' and ''[[WarioLandShakeIt Shake It!]]'' show that despite his tiny legs, he can go to speeds that rival Sonic the Hedgehog and break everything on his path only by spinning his arms.

* The Barbarian class in the ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' series is a variant of the Fighter with some unique perks; they get d12 HP per level (higher than any other class in the game), have an innate bonus to move speed, get a bonus half-attack at Levels 7 and 13, gain passive boosts to physical damage resistance and can Rage to make themselves immune to several statuses and boost their Strength at the cost of defense. The downside is that they can't get more than two points in any weapon specializations, have fairly limited choices of armor (splint or lower) and they can't Dual or Multiclass, so they're not the most flexible or tactically diverse of characters. Still, a half-orc barbarian, properly specced, is among the quickest, hardiest and deadliest melee class choices in the game, excelling at flanking does and cutting them down.