History Main / ShedArmorGainSpeed

* Robin Mask of ''Manga/{{Kinnikuman}}'' uses his armor as a form of PowerLimiter; When he takes it off during his match against Kin in the Choujin Olympics, he becomes much faster and agile. In fact, Robin strips himself of all of his armor and metal decorations, save his helmet and mask, during his fight against Junkman. Robin then becomes so fast that he literally runs rings around the evil wrestler.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket'', the NT-1 "Alex" is outfitted with a special Chobam Armor which makes it incredible resilient, but kills its mobility and agility. Once it's ejected, the suit is ''much'' faster, having been designed to A) not be completely useless with all the extra weight, and B) keep up with [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Amuro Ray's]] Newtype reflexes. However, the very Oldtype Christina [=McKenzie=] is out of her league with it.
* Inverted in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91''. The titular Gundam's high output and use of its Biocomputer require tremendous cooling, and one solution turned out to be the Metal Peel-off Effect (MEPE). Basically it transfers heat up its outer layers of armor material and dissipates it, with the added effect of playing merry hell on an opponent's visual sensors as [[SpeedEchoes they continue to register a mobile suit where there are only dissipated armor particles]]. (Later versions of the F91 remove this by limiting its output and using more advanced cooling materials, but it's made clear that it ''can'' be restored.)
* In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', [[{{Eagleland}} Neo-America]]'s [[BoxingBattler Gundam Maxter]] can eject its chest and shoulder armor for improved performance. Its shoulder armor actually mounts on its fists, improving its attack as well.
* The prototype Stark Jegan from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack''-MSV (basically canon mecha designs that didn't make it to the screen) had additional armor and armaments that it could eject in order to increase its speed.

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' the Virtue Gundam can eject most of its armor to become the more maneuverable Nadleeh Gundam. However, the Nadleeh was not intended as a combat unit -- as most of its capacitors and weapons are in its armor, it's [[ClippedWingAngel much weaker than Virtue and never used in battle except as a last resort]].
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'', Mikazuki sheds Gundam Barbatos's heavy armor and overclocks it in order to defeat Graze Ein.
** The Gundam Kimaris was a powerful, armored, and ultimately a bulky, cumbersome machine. When rebuilt into the Gundam Vidar, as little armour as possible was attached, and even what there is has slots cut in it to reduce weight As a result, the Vidar is a GlassCannon that is nigh impossible to catch.
* Chirico does this in the ''Anime/ArmoredTrooperVOTOMS: Big Battle'' OVA, shedding a full sixth of a standard Scopedog's weight off to create the Light Scopedog custom unit. (This sort of customization is also pretty standard in the setting.)
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', Jean-Pierre Polnareff's stand, the knight-like Silver Chariot can shed its armor for a more skeletal, much faster form. When the armor is off, Silver Chariot can move so fast that it seems [[DoppelgangerSpin that there are five of them]]. Avdol only manages to defeat Polnareff by setting up a trap with his Crossfire Hurricane attack. [[ForgotAboutHisPowers Unfortunately]], the only ''other'' time Polnareff uses this ability is when he becomes BrainwashedAndCrazy and tries to kill the Joestar crew again. There is another time where he used it on Hol Horse to stop a bullet. It would work easily if the bullet wasn't completely homing.
* A power limiter example rather than a simple speed boost, but in one episode of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Joey talks about how his card "Gearfried the Iron Knight" really wears its armor to control its own power, before removing that armor with a spell card to transform it into the powerful "Gearfried the Swordmaster."

* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Bui's armor is used as a PowerLimiter. Before he takes it off he's a ponderous MightyGlacier, but upon shedding it he's a LightningBruiser and now capable of flight.

* Fate Testarossa from the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' franchise is already a FragileSpeedster, but in ''[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS StrikerS]]'', she adds the "True Sonic Form" to her armor, which essentially trades whatever meager defense it still provided for ''another'' speed boost. Her enemy at the time notes that she can be killed with a single blow in that form--but fails to take into account that you can't hit someone who moves so fast you can't ''see'' her.
* In ''Literature/FateZero'', Saber discovers during her fight with Lancer that his weapon can ignore magical objects (like her armor), so she removes it to gain a boost in speed with little cost since it wasn't actually protecting her. [[spoiler: Which he'd planned for, he actually had a second weapon that causes much more dangerous wounds but could be blocked by armor.]]
* In ''Manga/BrokenBlade'', the [[AncientArtifact ancient]] [[HumongousMecha golem]] ''Tyrfing'' goes into battle wearing enormous plates of bolt-on armor, which only it is strong enough to carry. If those become too damaged to help anymore, Rygart drops them and gets about 200% faster.
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', the [[TheJuggernaut Armored Titan]] is able to go from a MightyGlacier to a (relative) FragileSpeedster by shedding the armor at its joints. This grants it increased mobility and speed, but creates an AchillesHeel that soldiers are already trained to exploit. As such, doing so is a risky gamble.
* ''Anime/DragonBallGT'': Sixinglong/Nouva Shenron wears armor that protects him with heat similar to the sun, making it almost impossible to attack him. When Super Saiyan 4 Goku is powerful enough to withstand the heat, he discards his armor and his already impressive speed skyrockets.

* A variant in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Shed Armor, Gain Power. The pro hero 'Fat Gum' is able to absorb kinetic energy with his {{Kevlard}}. [[spoiler:The thing most people don't realize is he can release the energy stored in his fat, burning them off and turning him lean, and deliver them into one single devastating blow.]]
* ''Manga/Bastard1988'': 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.
* ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'': [=MagnaGarurumon=] has an attack called "[[SuperSpeed Starlight Velocity]]" that he can only use when he drops his [[{{BFG}} heavy weaponry]] and armor.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': During his fight with Gaara in the Chunin Exam arc, Rock Lee removes the heavy ankle weights he is wearing which drop to the ground with a loud crash. He becomes insanely fast after this.

* Shurikenger from ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'' (and his American counterpart, the Green Samurai Ranger from ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm''), have this transformation as their SuperMode. In their default morphed form, they appear to wear a large golden vest that acts as armor and weighted gear; and when entering their SuperMode they quickly discard the vest, which granted them - along with a new visor (by the top part of the helmet spinning around) and a samurai saber - extra speed.
** Impressively when the golden vest hits the ground, it ends up ''shaking, cracking and leaving a crater'' from its ''sheer weight''. Alongside that, discarding the vest reveals that [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/powerrangers/images/a/a1/Prns-supergreen.png/ the diamond logo on the suit actually has wings on its sides]] ([[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/powerrangers/images/c/cf/Prns-samurai.png/ that the vest covers up]]). Which emphasizes the [[SuperSpeed speed boost]] the SuperMode gives.
** Similarly, the mecha Senpuujin/Storm Megazord used by the main trio, can do a similar transformation into its Lightning mode, trading its bulky frame for a sleeker, quicker form that however can only last for a few minutes.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Inverted. Matt initially shrugs off Claire's suggestion that he get body armor to protect himself, saying armor would just slow him down. He reconsiders after a near-fatal fight with Fisk and Nobu.

* Possible in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' with the armored coat, a special medium armor that only requires a move action to don or remove. Useful for characters with levels in classes that are heavily impaired by armors but would really like an extra protection from time to time. Magic items such as the bracers of armor exist, but they are way more expensive and cannot beat a +5 armored coat in terms of armor bonus and extra special abilities.

* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', Hercules is decked out in armor that makes him move slowly, and which Kratos knocks off bit by bit. When the armor's gone completely, Herc becomes much faster, but can be defeated in only a few more hits. Unfortunately it also becomes tougher to get those hits in, because for the first time in the fight Hercules will be trying to dodge.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', heavy armor offers the best protection, but is cumbersome and loud. It's not uncommon for players to don armor in close combat and then stash it in [[HammerSpace their inventory]] when moving across the landscape or sneaking. Though becoming skilled enough with heavy armor eventually allows you to make so that it weighs absolutely nothing when you wear it, allowing you to move at full speed, while the loudness issue can be solved by putting a Muffle enchantment on the boots or simply casting the Muffle spell when needed.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'', if you remove Crystal Snail's protective shell with Magnet Mine, he'll move quickly and wildly around the arena until he gets hold of the shell again.
* Wild Wuerger from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration''. As part of its finishing move it sheds its armor and reveals a pair of bladed wings, with which it launches [[AirJousting a series of blindingly-fast attacks]]. One of Arado's possible lines when using this maneuver is even a ShoutOut to ''Series/KamenRiderKabuto''.

* In ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'', the Pharaoh Zombie is initially the slowest zombie in the game since it's wearing its sarcophagus, but that makes him one of the toughest with an insane amount of health, immunity to being paralyzed, and the fact it can survive an explosive plant, which are usually a OHKO. Once it takes enough damage, the sarcophagus breaks and while he still has a ZombieGait, he's one of the fastest zombies in the game.
* In ''VideoGame/PAYDAY2'', the Second Wind skill from the Ghost's Silent Killer skill tree increases movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds when the player's armor breaks. Acing the skill also applies to other players once the effect is triggered.
* ''VideoGame/LittleFighter2'': Louis, who wears full body armor, is one of the slowest characters in game. However, by executing a specific key combination he will eject his armor off his body and become Louis EX, ''the fastest'' character in game.
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', the Great Sacred Treasure used in the FinalBattle combines this with TransformingMecha. It starts by shedding a few weapons in transformation to Pursuit Mode. When [[spoiler: [[BigBad Hades]]]] bombards it, in morphs into the more naturally controlled Mech Armor Mode. When [[spoiler: Hades]] breaks off the cockpit, the two primary jet engines reattach into Ultra-Light Mode. [[spoiler: When Hades completely smashes the thing, Pit salvages its major cannon to deliver the Final Strike.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SpacePiratesAndZombies'', players can have their ships jettison their armor plates to increase their speed. The catch is, you can't get the armor back. It doesn't see much use in normal missions, but is a necessary trick to win one of the bounty hunter missions.
* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForce: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon'', promoting Zuika to the Terminator class gives him a chitinous armor. When his health drops below 30%, the armor breaks, dramatically increasing his movement speed and replacing his normal attack with a FlashStep strike that has increased range and deals double damage.
* In ''VideoGame/RobotechBattlecry'', you can choose to pilot an armored version of any given Veritech fighter in multiplayer -- you start in your humanoid HumongousMecha mode and are forced to stay that way due to the heavy armor and numerous missile pods installed on your legs, chest, and shoulders disabling the Veritech's ability to [[TransformingMecha change modes]]. This leaves you in the slowest possible form, as the additional armaments and protection hamper the Battloid mode's mobility, but provides an exceptional defense boost as well as a ''lot'' of [[MacrossMissileMassacre missiles to throw around]]. In an emergency, however, you can execute the 'purge' command, which ejects all that extra armor and weaponry, reverting the Veritech to its standard model and re-enabling transformation.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/KaijuAGogo'' with one of Ginormasaurus's tier 2 abilities, which gives a boost to armour in exchange for reduced speed.

* Overlaps somewhat with DisposableVehicleSection in ''VideoGame/SpyHunter''. Once the Interceptor is reduced to 25% of its maximum health (or on player command in the sequels), it turns into a motorcycle. The two-wheeled Interceptor is lighter and faster, with better handling and acceleration, but loses a significant portion of its protective body panels, [[MagneticWeapons Rail Gun]], [[NitroBoost Turbo Boost]], and all defensive weapons.
* In ''VideoGame/CursedTreasure 2'', there are several enemies and bosses who lose their armor when reduced to some fraction of their maximum health, greatly boosting their speed. The game calls this a "Final Rush."
* This is a favored tactic in ''[[VideoGame/{{Boktai}} Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django]]'' which put a ''de facto'' level limit on armor by giving you running speed boosts with every level up, while stronger armor weighed more and reduced your running speed. Most players preferred having a base running speed ''faster than the Dash ability'' and would opt for ''no armor at all'' (until they found the Earthly Robe with it's 28 defense / 8 weight) in favor of being able to take extra hits.
* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyVBeyondTheMyth'': 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.
* The Iron Doll in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIBelmontsRevenge'' is a massively armored slow-moving knight... until you knock him down to half health, he sheds the heavy armor, and starts leaping around with a spear. It's an odd kind of balance because with the armor he's the easiest of the four bosses, and without it he's the hardest of them.
* A few of your available tanks in ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'' work this way. The most overt example is the KV-1S, which you acquire after training with the KV-1. Though using the same base chassis and several of the same parts, the 1S is nimbler but less durable. In a broader sense, this is how French battle doctrine evolves as you advance in tiers. Up to tier 4, their vehicles are very slow, but very well armored...then at tier 5, you go from the AMX 40, an adorably duck-shaped slab of steel, to the AMX ELC bis, an incredibly tiny but fragile tank that zips around the battlefield and sets the tone for later French vehicles.
* Hitler in ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'' starts out in a suit of PoweredArmor, which is visually impressive but is actually statistically identical to all the game's other bosses. After you destroy said Power Armor, Hitler comes out to fight you himself; he's noticeably faster than other bosses, but only has about half as much health.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'':
** Kulve Taroth starts the fight clad in a massive layer of gold armor which protects her from attacks but also makes her move extremely slowly. The majority of the fight involves breaking the armor apart, leading into the final phase where she is unarmored and significantly faster.
** Shara Ishvalda starts its fight covered in a layer of thick rock armor which must be broken. Once the armor falls off, Shara is notably faster, though still relatively slow.
* Late in episode 1 of ''VideoGame/TrafficDepartment2192'' there is a mission whose first half involves driving a slow, unarmed, but heavily-armored truck into the enemy Vulture HQ. The truck carries two things: a Vulture Mark II hoverskid, which is your cover for getting inside, and a bomb powerful enough to level the building. The second half involves escaping from the newly-ruined HQ building in the Mark II, which has had its armor stripped to the bone in order to be carried in the Truck in the first place.
* ''VideoGame/LesbianSpiderQueensOfMars'': Armored enemies carry huge shields that make them move slowly. If they are not defeated quickly, they will lose patience and drop their shields to start sprinting at the player.
* ''VideoGame/DaemonXMachina'': The online-only boss Zeruchroar is a heavily armored Colossal Immortal. At the halfway point of the fight, it discards its armor, increasing speed as the trope dictates. Problem being, Zeruchroar was [[LightningBruiser already fast]] to begin with! In stage 2 it's so fast as to effectively be an Evasion Tank, and its weaknesses change because the underlying frame has different resistances than its armor. On the plus side, the discarded armor pieces make good [[ImprovisedWeapon choices for throwing back at it.]]
* ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'': The Epic rarity Pavise Shields, that reduce Movement Speed when equipped, unlike most other shields.
* ''Junkworld'' has the Junk Mutt enemies, fast-moving psionically animated scrap in the form of dogs. When they lose most of their health, their out armor breaks off and they turn into a Nimble Hound that's weaker but ''even faster''.

* Erza Scarlet of ''Manga/FairyTail'' is known for her "Equip Magic," which lets her [[HyperspaceArsenal summon weapons and armor out of thin air.]] She also has a {{Sarashi}} form with no armor that greatly boosts her speed and attack power in exchange for almost no protection (in this case, it's because she's focusing all her magic power into offense, and by the point she uses this her enemy has likely proven they can tear through her defensive armors anyways).

Compare DidntNeedThoseAnyway, which often overlaps with this trope when it comes to video game enemies. If it happens to a boss, it's probably a sign that he [[TurnsRed Turned Red]]. Compare also DisposableVehicleSection; sometimes overlaps when the thing being shed is the vehicle's protective armor.

** Similar to the above example is King. [[spoiler:King being a Lunarian grants him several powers, including a flame on his back that he can extinguish and reignite at will. While the flame is burning, King is ludicrously tough, to the point of being NighInvulnerable. When the flame is out, King becomes much faster, but loses his insane resilliance to attacks. Zoro figuring this put is the key to allowing him to defeat King.]]

** ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' and ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' have a milder example, with Iron Knuckles gaining movement speed after losing their armor, but not attack speed.

* A Spartan saying admonished soldiers to "come back with your shield or on it," defying this trope. Spartan shields were large and sturdy enough to carry a human body, and thus they were extremely cumbersome; to run at full speed (i.e. to flee from a battle), a soldier would have to throw away his shield. Hence the command to "come back with your shield," i.e. victorious, "or on it," i.e. dead. To be clear, a field army was allowed to make an orderly TacticalWithdrawal upon its leader's command if the situation turned against them; what they would not tolerate was men dropping their weapons and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandoning their comrades]] in an "every-man-for-himself" fashion.

* A Spartan saying admonished soldiers to "come back with your shield or on it," defying this trope. Spartan shields were large and sturdy enough to carry a human body, and thus they were extremely cumbersome; to run at full speed (i.e. to flee from a battle), a soldier would have to throw away his shield. Hence the command to "come back with your shield," i.e. victorious, "or on it," i.e. dead. To be clear, a field army was allowed to make an orderly TacticalWithdrawal upon its leader's command if the situation turned against them; what they would not tolerate was men dropping their weapons and [[ScrewThisImOuttaOfHere abandoning their comrades]] in an "every-man-for-himself" fashion.

* A downplayed example, at the climax of ''Film/ThreeHundred'', Leonidas discards his shield and his helmet both to lull his enemy into a sense of security and give him the mobility he needed [[spoiler: to have a DefiantStoneThrow at the Persian king and wound him before Leonidas and the rest of the Spartans are killed]].

* A Spartan saying admonished soldiers to "come back with or on your shield," defying this trope. Spartan shields were large and sturdy enough to carry a human body, and thus they were extremely cumbersome; to run at full speed (i.e. to flee from a battle), a soldier would have to throw away his shield. Hence the command to "come back with your shield," i.e. victorious, "or on it," i.e. dead.

* In ''VideoGame/ShiningForceResurrectionOfTheDarkDragon'', promoting Zuika to the Terminator class gives him a chitinous armor. When his health drops below 30%, the armor breaks, dramatically increasing his movement speed and replacing his normal attack with a FlashStep strike that has increased range and deals double damage.
* In ''VideoGame/RobotechBattlecry'', you can choose to pilot an armored version of any given Veritech fighter in multiplayer--you start in your humanoid HumongousMecha mode and are forced to stay that way due to the heavy armor and numerous missile pods installed on your legs, chest, and shoulders disabling the Veritech's ability to [[TransformingMecha change modes]]. This leaves you in the slowest possible form, as the additional armaments and protection hamper the Battloid mode's mobility, but provides an exceptional defense boost as well as a ''lot'' of [[MacrossMissileMassacre missiles to throw around]]. In an emergency, however, you can execute the 'purge' command, which ejects all that extra armor and weaponry, reverting the Veritech to its standard model and re-enabling transformation.

* ''Junkworld'' has the Junk Mutt enemies, fast-moving psionically animated scrap in the form of dogs. When they lose all their health, their out armor breaks off and they turn into a Nimble Hound that's weaker but ''even faster''.

[[folder:Toys]]
* A variant in ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': During the Bohrok arc, the Toa discovered armor suits called "Exo-Toa" that boosted their durability and physical strength. However, they soon discovered this came at the cost of reduced elemental powers, and ended up shedding the armor in order to defeat the Bahrag queens.
[[/folder]]

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, specifically ''Sun and Moon'', Kiawe's Turtonator knows, and has used, Shell Smash. See the video game section below for more.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Saber discovers during her fight with Lancer that his weapon can ignore magical objects (like her armor), so she removes it to gain a boost in speed with little cost since it wasn't actually protecting her. [[spoiler: Which he'd planned for, he actually had a second weapon that causes much more dangerous wounds but could be blocked by armor.]]

* In ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'', this is a formal technique called Break Purge. By removing most of their armour and concentrating energy to the remaining pieces, a Drag-Knight can increase their offence and speed at the expense of defence. Celis is a specialist in this technique and often uses it against tough opponents.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', whenever Samus uses her Final Smash, she sheds her [[PoweredArmor Varia Suit]] and fights in the [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission skin-tight Zero Suit she wears underneath]], becoming lighter and much, ''much'' faster, as observed by Snake in his Codec conversation with Mei Ling. If you choose to start a battle as Samus in her Zero Suit form, she emerges on the stage with pieces of her power armor falling off of her, which can be picked up and thrown at opponents right from the start of the match. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Smash 4]]'' does away with this quirk and made both forms of Samus separate characters.

** Similar to the abpve example is King. [[spoiler:King being a Lunarian grants him several powers, including a flame on his back that he can extinguish and reignite at will. While the flame is burning, King is ludicrously tough, to the point of being NighInvulnerable. When the flame is out, King becomes much faster, but loses his insane resilliance to attacks. Zoro figuring this put is the key to allowing him to defeat King.]]

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Although he doesn't shed actual armor, Rob Lucci's use of the Life Return technique is essentially this trope. Using the technique in his half-leopard hybrid form, he turns his bulky and resistant body into a much slimmer form. What he loses in power and defense, he gains in agility and speed.

* Shurikenger from ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'' (and his American counterpart, the Green Samurai Ranger from ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm''), have this transformation as their SuperMode. In their default morphed form. they appear to wear a large golden vest that acts as armor and weighted gear, when entering SuperMode they quickly discard the vest, which granted them - among a new visor (by the top part of the helmet spinning around) and a samurai saber - extra speed.
** Impressively when the golden vest hits the ground, it ends up ''shaking, cracking and leaving a crater'' from it's ''sheer weight''. Alongside that, discarding the vest reveals that [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/powerrangers/images/a/a1/Prns-supergreen.png/ the diamond logo on the suit actually has wings on it's sides]] ([[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/powerrangers/images/c/cf/Prns-samurai.png/ that the vest covers up]]). Which emphasizes the [[SuperSpeed speed boost]] the SuperMode gives.

** Subverted in ''Series/KamenRiderAgito''. The manmade G3 system has a function which allows the user to shed his armor to allow for more speed. However, it's more or less an emergency switch that allows the user drop the cumbersome armor to make a quick getaway from a dangerous situation, not a form of MultiformBalance. It's only used once in the series by DirtyCoward Toru Hojo.

** An organic version happens in ''Series/KamenRiderFaiz'', where the Dragon Orphenoch sheds most of his skin and muscle mass to turn into a sleeker skeletal looking form, which is fast enough to keep up with the Faiz Accel form that's reputed to be as fast as the speed of sound.

** ''Series/KamenRiderZiO'' has Kamen Rider Geiz's MidseasonUpgrade Geiz Revive Shippu trades the thick armor and enormous strength of Revive Goretsu for Super Speed so great that even being able to predict the future isn't enough to reliably dodge Geiz's attacks.

** The move Scale Shot, available via move tutors [[spoiler:or naturally learned by Roaring Moon]], is a multi-hit attack that drops its user's Defense by one stage but increases its Speed by one stage after each hit.

** 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. Additionally, the move Fillet Away (unique to the Pokémon Veluza) is a variant in which, rather than dropping their defenses, the user sheds surplus ''[[CastFromHP flesh]]'' to increase their speed and offensive capabilities.

** Shelmet and Karrablast exhibit this when they evolve. They only evolve when one is traded for the other. Effectively, mid-trade, Karrablast swipes Shelmet's metal shell. Karrablast slows down and becomes the MightyGlacier Escavalier, while the newly-unencumbered Shelmet evolves into Accelgor, the second fastest non-legendary non-Mega Pokemon ever released.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', whenever Samus uses her Final Smash, she sheds her [[PoweredArmor Varia Suit]] and fights in the [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission skin-tight Zero Suit she wears underneath]], becoming lighter and much, ''much'' faster. ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Smash 4]]'' does away with this quirk and made both forms of Samus separate characters.
* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', Hercules is decked out in armor that makes him move slowly, and which Kratos knocks off bit by bit. When the armor's gone completely, Herc becomes much faster, but can be defeated in only a few more hits. Unfortunately it also becomes tougher to get those hits in, because for the first time in the fight Herculus will be trying to dodge.

* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', Hercules is decked in full armor that makes him move slowly, which Kratos knocks off bit by bit. When the armor's gone completely, Herc becomes much faster, but can be defeated in only a few more hits.