Basic Trope: The Hero's clothing provides almost no protection, while the villain wears heavy armor.
- Straight:
- Bob goes into battle in his fatigues, while Emperor Evulz is wearing a full set of Powered Armor
- Alice wears normal clothing in battle while Carol is fully armored.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob's wearing his pajamas, while Evulz has armor recycled from a tank.
- Alice wears a bikini while Carol wears armor that covers most of her, including her face.
- Alice goes completely naked while Carol wears a tailored suit.
- Downplayed:
- Bob and Evulz both wear a Bulletproof Vest, but Evulz's is more expensive, more effective and more noticeable.
- Alice and Carol both wear Chainmail Bikinis with Carol's being more armored to give some protection.
- Justified:
- Bob can't afford expensive armor, while Evulz is rich.
- Alice is Nigh-Invulnerable, while Carol isn't and as such needs armor to protect herself.
- Alice is on the offensive and she and her army has to travel long distances to the point where armor will slow them down, while Carol is an Orcus on His Throne.
- Carol zapped Alice with The Nudifier, which prevents her from putting on any clothes until she finds a way to reverse the effect.
- Inverted:
- Bob is given efficient armor by the government. Evulz wears whatever he can find.
- Alice is fully armored, while Carol wears normal clothing.
- Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains means heroic Lady of War Alice wears plate armor, while Vain Sorceress Carol isn't even pretending her outfit is meant for protection.
- Subverted: Wait, that's not Bob, that's just a civilian who wandered onto a battle field by accident.
- Double Subverted: Wait, it's actually Bob disguised as a civilian, with an equally disguised armor.
- Parodied:
- Bob goes into battle with decent protection. Everyone who knows him immediately assumes he's changed sides.
- Alice is a Reluctant Fanservice Girl who Carol cursed with nudity. Carol repeatedly taunts her about it.
- Zig Zagged: Bob owns armor just as impressive as Evulz's, he just doesn't feel like every situation requires him to use it.
- Averted:
- Bob and Evulz both go into battle in standard military uniforms.
- Bob and Evulz both wear Powered Armor to battle.
- Enforced: "Guys, Evulz doesn't look nearly intimidating enough. Let's give him freaking massive armor! And while we're at it, let's have Bob wear no armor at all!"
- Lampshaded: "Hey, he's got freaking massive armor! Why don't we get freaking massive armor?"
- Invoked: Bob knows that less weight means he will be faster then Evulz who is mostly weighed down by his plate armor.
- Exploited:
- Bob uses tactics that involve being able to move quicker than Evulz and electrocuting his highly conductive armor.
- Evulz takes advantage of this by taking on a heroic persona with white robes and no armor in order to fool the people.
- Defied: "Of course I'm not gonna freaking wander onto a battle field dressed like this!"
- Discussed: "You know, I bet Dark Lord Danger would be a lot more intimidating if he had armor."
- Conversed: "Gotta say, not impressed with the design aesthetic. It makes it super easy to tell who's a good guy and who's a bad guy, which in this morally grey setting, doesn't mesh well."
- Deconstructed: Evulz's armor is extremely hard to move around in, boiling hot, and has a blatantly obvious weakspot. At the same time, Bob is ridiculously vulnerable to attack. One shot and he'll probably be dead.
- Reconstructed:
- Evulz's armor is less armor and more Mini-Mecha. It packs a ton of firepower that can be rapidly deployed to bury his targets in projectiles and keep them at bay, plus it's fortified enough to make insufficiently powered attacks bounce off harmlessly. And that obvious weakspot just gives him time to bail out once it's struck. Plus, Evulz is a Combat Sadomasochist, so while it's uncomfortable in the pilot seat, he doesn't care, it just makes him fight harder.
- Bob is a Glass Cannon. He sacrificed defense in order to amp his attack prowess. Sure, when he's hit, he goes down... but the problem is actually hitting him in the first place, considering how fast he moves and how hard he hits.
Back to Armored Villains, Unarmored Heroes.
