History Main / TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort

* ''Literature/DarthBane'': In ''Rule of Two'', Bane is parasitized by a swarm of orbalisks, creatures created with Sith alchemy that form a lightsaber-proof suit of living armor around them. He takes advantage of this by adopting a hyper-aggressive variation of [[FantasticFightingStyle Form V "Djem So"]], trusting the armor to protect him from attacks while he batters down his opponent's defenses with pure brute force.

** In a crossover with [[Franchise/MastersOfTheUniverse He-Man]], when Superman is attacked by Skeletor, he confidently stands still, thinking the villain will only hurt himself or damage his weapon, only to be shocked when Skeletor's magic sword slashes his chest. Superman then properly dodges or blocks attacks after this. This was the first time in the comics that Superman's vulnerability to magic was brought up.

* ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' has the titular hero starting out battling a monster ''naked''--but by the time the dragon comes around, he's an old man and prudently equips himself with chain mail and a shield.

** Contrast its main predecessor, [[OlderThanFeudalism chainmail.]] It was heavy, bulky, and yet fairly protective to wear, especially when backed with enough padding to absorb the impacts of weapon blows. Powerful piercing attacks from swords, lances, or arrows could penetrate mail to the detriment of its wearer.

** Hidan is entirely immortal, and thus has almost no strategy or moves beyond "get opponent's blood for voodoo technique". Both his partner Kakuzu and eventual opponent Shikamaru tell him how stupid that is. They are proven completely right when [[spoiler:Shikamaru buries his severed head deep underground]]. He was also shown to be at least partially vulnerable to dismemberment as unlike Kakuzu he can't pull his bodyparts back together automatically.

* For much of ''Manga/ArmedGirlsMachiavellism''[='=]s first arc Amou was surrounded by an aura of invincibility due her apparent invulnerability after she had taken two strikes from Rin and Mary's (blunted) swords and shrug them off, and that, combined with her [[RazorSharpHand ability to pierce flesh and bone with her hands]], [[OutsideContextProblem left everyone else wondering what was her deal or how she could be countered]]. Near the end of the arc, however, Rin and Mary face her again and aim to the same spot on Amou's body, and her parrying not only reveals she can in fact be harmed but also how and that she's a [[TrainingFromHell traditionally trained]] Uechi-ryu Karateka with a rare skillset.

* For much of ''Manga/ArmedGirlsMachiavellism''[='=]s first arc Amou gives the impression of being completely invincible by just tanking any attack while [[RazorSharpHand stabbing her opponent with her hand]]. This ends when facing Rin and Mary for the second time and they try to hit her in the same point, prompting her to parry the attack for the first time on page and revealing she can in fact be hurt if hit in the same spot in a ''very'' quick succession, as the first hit will make her muscles relax and make them vulnerable to the second.

* Pointedly averted by [[TheAce Maxima]] of ''Webcomic/GrrlPower.'' Even though she could probably tank an entire team of enemy supers, she still dodges all of their attacks.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', a squad of winged ComicBook/{{Darkseid}}'s parademons tries to stop him by kamikazing against his body. Superman just ignores their relentless assault as continuing his march forward.

** During an ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Amazons Attack tie-in]]'', Kara leaps in the way of an arrow to protect civilians. Unfortunately Amazon arrows are magic-imbued, so it gets embedded in her midsection.

** This trope was a major reason for why the ComicBook/New52 "armored Superman" design didn't last long; the wide perception among audiences was that, while it makes some sense for a BadassNormal to wear some kind of body armor, Superman wearing it doesn't do much more than make his design unnecessarily busy.
* ''Franchise/TheAvengers'':
** In Annual #2, ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}} defeats ''both'' the [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] and ComicBook/IronMan by exploiting the fact that they're parallel versions who know nothing about him, hence they'll not even try to dodge one arrow of the guy who has developed projectiles capable to bypass Hulk's invulnerability or melt Iron Man's armor down.
** In his second appearance, ComicBook/TheVision believes he can whitstand [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]'s attacks by making himself super-dense. He changes his mind after getting punched across the room.
* ''ComicBook/ClanDestine'': Adam Destine can't be harmed, ''period''. As he has lived several centuries with this condition, he tends not to react to any attack. His usual tactic is to stand still while his opponent gets tired or leaves.
* ''Franchise/XMen'':

* In ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', Amora ComicBook/TheEnchantress stood still against ComicBook/SheHulk, believing that the mortal would not be able to harm her, only to be knocked out with a single blow.
* While Franchise/WonderWoman has been impervious to small arms fire for decades and can usually tank much more impressive hits she usually blocks and/or catches bullets and other projectiles especially when she's in a city, which prevents a ricochet from hurting someone else. If the fight is in the wilderness she'll just walk through a hail of bullets without flinching, since even if it is something that can harm her she's got a HealingFactor that'll make short work of the damage.

* Subverted with Franchise/{{Godzilla}} in ''Film/GodzillaVsGiganRex''. While he's as capable of taking hits as other Godzillas, he's not sorely reliant on his durability, preferring to parry, block, and dodge to create openings for counterattacks.