History Main / UnderequippedCharge

**

* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': After a crushing defeat at the Dagor Bragollach, Fingolfin the elf was so angry with Morgoth that he challenged the most powerful of the Valar (effectively archangels) to single combat. Although somewhat diminished, Morgoth was still far too great for any elf to beat and came ready to DropTheHammer on his opponent. Even so, Fingolfin managed to inflict several wounds and leave Morgoth with a permanent limp before he died.

* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': In "[[Recap/CaptainPlanetAndThePlanteersS1E3BeastOfTheTemple Beast of the Temple]]", Wheeler and Linka are surprised by the dragon that's been rampaging over Thailand. When Linka catches her foot in some roots, keeping her from running away, Wheeler [[GoThroughMe plants himself in front of her]] and blasts it with the [[PlayingWithFire Fire Ring]]. Wheeler is a strong ordinary human with a power ring; the dragon is large and powerful enough to uproot trees and easily fit a human in its mouth...and it turns out to be invulnerable to fire, [[DrawAggro leading him to draw it after himself instead]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'': In "[[Recap/WhatsNewScoobyDooS1E9SheSeesSeaMonstersByTheSeaShore She Sees Sea Monsters by the Sea Shore]], after Motoshondu sinks their boat, the gang gets rescued by Sharkey dropping them a ladder from his helicopter. Fred tells the others that he'll keep the sea monster away while they climb up. Fred is armed with nothing but the broken flagstaff from the boat...but luckily, Motoshondu has already left.

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': This is practically Drax's SignatureMove: he routinely attacks ''much'' more powerful foes with just his pair of daggers.

* A main component of the comedy in ''Series/BlackadderGoesForth''. The advances in firepower prior to [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI World War I]] were not matched by advances in mobility, giving the defender the advantage. This made EVERY charge an unequipped one, and the futility of continual mass infantry going 'over the top' across No Man's Land only to be instantly mowed down by artillery shells and machine gun fire is not lost on the protagonist, although it very much is on those around him.

* Most Supes in ''[[Series/TheBoys2019 The Boys]]'' are ImmuneToBullets, thus making the attempts of the titular boys to shoot them a case of ShootingSuperman. Nevertheless, when attacked by Black Noir and Stormfront in the second season, they all unload their weapons, knowing full well it will have no effect but hoping it will either buy them some time or a least show they won't go down without trying to fight.

** The heroes describe the offensive against the Black gate in similar terms. The army of the west is outnumbered a hundred to one by the multiple armies of Mordor. After barely withstanding a siege by only one of these armies within one of the greatest fortresses in the world, going out to open battle was madness. [[spoiler: This was deliberate, as the goal was to convince Sauron that Aragorn had the ring of power - which was the [[BatmanGambit only conclusion]] Sauron was likely to draw from such a foolhardy attack]].

%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.

%%
%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1546086326047685300
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.
%%

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'' at the Tungshao pass. When the title character steals the last prepared Chinese cannon and rushes forward to get a better shot to take out [[TheHorde an entire Hun army charging at her,]] three of her fellow soldiers draw their swords and rush to help her. However, once her attack successfully causes the avalanche needed to crush the Huns that then comes [[GoneHorriblyRight barrelling down toward her and her comrades down the pass]], they [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat lose all their prior fervor and start fleeing for their lives.]]

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

** ''FIlm/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': This is practically Drax's SignatureMove: he routinely attacks ''much'' more powerful foes with just his pair of daggers.

* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' series. The title character once charged a [[BigRedDevil daemon of Khorne]] with nothing but a rusty bayonet and a vial of holy water (presumably people were watching, forcing him into '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM''' mode, or the alternative was worse). Also invoked, in that his reputation is such that (in his own words) when he asks something of someone, "they'd rather take on a [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/File:Carnifex.jpg Carnifex]] with a broken chair leg than feel they'd let me down".

* ''Literature/RedArmy'', a 1989 novel about a hypothetical Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe, has a scene in which a bemused Soviet tank commander watches as a lone British soldier, armed only with a rifle, charges at a Russian armoured column.

-->'''Blackadder:''' Our battles are directed, sir?
-->'''Melchett:''' Well of course they are, Blackadder. Directed according to the grand plan!
-->'''Blackadder:''' Would that be the plan to continue with total slaughter until everyone's dead except Field Marshall Haig, Lady Haig, and their tortoise, Alan?
-->'''Melchett:''' ''Great Scott!'' Even ''you'' know it!

** A variant appears in ''Film/TheAvengers2012'': Hearing that a quinjet is about to take off with orders to nuke Manhattan, Nick Fury races out on the Helicarrier's upper flight deck and shoots it down with a shoulder-fired missile. Then he sees a second quinjet taking off from the lower flight deck, drops the empty missile launchers and draws his sidearm, a ridiculously ordinary 9mm pistol, apparently with every intention of firing at the second quinjet.
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': Without his armor, Tony Stark is physically just an ordinary man. But he takes on the Winter Soldier with nothing but his sonic-stunner glove-thing for weaponry.

** Then in the sequel, ''Film/AvengersEndGame'', Captain America finds himself alone with a damaged shield, facing Thanos and his entire army. He tightens the straps to his shield and marches forward anyway.

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', Sam attacks [[GiantSpider Shelob]], the daughter of a monster even Sauron's former boss Morgoth had trouble handling, with Frodo's sword Sting. The book itself points out how outmatched he is, but [[UndyingLoyalty Sam]] is so furious that she dared to lay a claw on [[TheNotLoveInterest his beloved master]] that he [[RoaringRampageOfRescue runs at her without even thinking about it]]. Against all odds, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu he wins]], in no small part due to the fact that Sting is ''scary'' effective against big spiders.

* [[TheCaptain Shining Armor]] from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has nothing more than the standard unicorn load-out: a basic horn blast and one spell related to his talent ([[BarrierWarrior raising shields and barriers]]). This doesn't stop him from taking on King Sombra and the tag-team of Discord and Tirek, all of whom are rightfully called "gods" by the fandom, knowing he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. ''Alone''.

* Most Supes in ''Series/TheBoys'' are ImmuneToBullets, thus making the attempts of the titular boys to shoot them a case of ShootingSuperman. Nevertheless, when attacked by Black Noir and Stormfront in the second season, they all unload their weapons, knowing full well it will have no effect but hoping it will either buy them some time or a least show they won't go down without trying to fight.

* A main component of the comedy in ''Series/BlackadderGoesForth''. The advances in firepower prior to [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI World War I]] were mot matched by advances in mobility, giving the defender the advantage. This made EVERY charge an unequipped one, and the futility of continual mass infantry going 'over the top' across No Man's Land only to be instantly mowed down by artillery shells and machine gun fire is not lost on the protagonist, although it very much is on those around him.

** The heroes describe the offensive against the Black gate in similar terms. The army of the west is outnumbered a hundred to one by the multiple armies of Mordor. After barely withstanding a siege by only one of these armies within one of the greatest fortresses in the world, going out to open battle was madness. [[spoiler: This was deliberate, as the goal was to convince Sauron that Aragorn would only take such a move if he wielded the ring of power]].

* In May 2004, during the early days of the war in Iraq, a detachment from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders responded to a distress call from 8 British soldiers near Al Amara. But it was an ambush, and the 30 or so men were soon surrounded by more than 150 Iraqi militiamen. After three hours of fighting, their ammunition running low, the commander of the Scottish troops ordered his men to fix bayonets and charge the enemy positions. The Iraqis were completely taken by surprise; 28 were killed and the rest fled with the loss of only 2 Highlanders.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/Mulan'' at the Tungshao pass. When the title character steals the last prepared Chinese cannon and rushes forward to get a better shot to take out [[TheHorde an entire Hun army charging at her,]] three of her fellow soldiers draw their swords and rush to help her. However, once her attack successfully causes the avalanche needed to crush the Huns that then comes [[GoneHorriblyRight barrelling down toward her and her comrades down the pass]], they [[AttackAttackRetreatRetreat lose all their prior fervor and start fleeing for their lives.]]

* [[TheCaptain Shining Armor]] from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has nothing more than the standard unicorn load-out: a basic horn blast and one spell related to his talent ([[BarrierWarrior raising shields and barriers]]). This doesn't stop him from taking on King Sombra and the tag-team of Discord and Tirek, knowing he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell. ''Alone''.

* ''Literature/RedArmy'', a 1989 novel about a hypothetical Warsaw Pact invasion of Western Europe, has a scene in which a bemused Soviet tank commander watches as a lone British soldier, armed only with a rifle, charges at a Russian armoured column.
* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': After a crushing defeat at the Dagor Bragollach, Fingolfin the elf was so angry with Morgoth that he challenged the most powerful of the Valar to single combat. Although somewhat diminished, Morgoth was still far too great for any elf to beat, and came ready to DropTheHammer on his opponent. Even so Fingolfin managed to inflict several wounds and leave Morgoth with a permanent limp before he died.