Basic Trope: A video game character grows more powerful at lower health levels.
- Straight: In the game Hiro and The Hundred Tropes, the titular character Hiro gains additional attack power when his HP is below 50%.
- Exaggerated:
- Hiro's attacks become exponentially more powerful as his HP decreases, potentially adding one or even two full digits to the final damage.
- Entire abilities are only usable when Hiro is at low HP.
- Downplayed: The additional attack power maxes out at 10% when at 1 HP.
- Justified:
- The God in this game's setting is chiefly concerned about the Balance Between Good and Evil above all else, and thus provides divine assistance to whichever side is losing — including Hiro's enemies.
- Hiro wields an ancient Magitek weapon with extreme power, but the fuel used to power it is very scarce and the technology to refine more is long gone. He therefore only engages its full power when he is on the verge of defeat.
- Inverted:
- Hiro gains more attack power when at full health.
- Hiro gains more attack power as his enemies' HP decreases.
- Subverted:
- When Hiro is brought down to 25% of his HP, the camera zooms in as he yells out, "Time to get serious!" But...he actually gains no benefit to his stats.
- Double Subverted:
- He later takes another hit that brings him down to 5% of his HP, and his body begins to glow. Now he hits harder.
- Parodied:
- Hiro and his party encounter a large boulder blocking their path in a cutscene. Hiro attempts to push the boulder aside, to no avail. He then begs his party members to punch him in the face, and once they do so, he shoves the boulder aside effortlessly.
- If Hiro is knocked out in battle, his party can pick him up and use him as a weapon. Naturally, because he is at 0 HP, the attack bonus is so great that his body is an Infinity +1 Sword.
- Zig Zagged: Hiro's attack power is boosted at 100% HP, then reduced as he loses HP until he reaches 25% HP, where it starts to climb back up.
- Averted: Hiro's attack power is the same regardless of his current HP.
- Enforced: The publisher of Hiro and The Hundred Tropes wants to make their game entertaining to watch on streams, and they believe that implementing this mechanic can offer opportunities for players to mount amazing comebacks in the face of defeat.
- Lampshaded: The party visits one of their members, Sir Lann, in the hospital during a cutscene. He points to his broken arm and claims if it happened to Hiro, it would do nothing but make him more dangerous.
- Invoked: In the climactic battle with The Dragon, Hiro walks right into some of his attacks during Quick Time Events to gain the strength to break through his otherwise impenetrable adamantine armor.
- Exploited:
- One of Hiro's party members can unlock a skill that sets an ally's HP to One in exchange for a massive boost to speed and power. This stacks with Hiro's own ability, making for a Game-Breaker.
- On the other hand, That One Boss has AI that is coded to focus-fire on the most injured character in the party with very quick attacks, making it so that only the most skilled players are able to utilize Hiro's ability here.
- Defied: When Hiro's HP gets low, the camera zooms in on him...only for him to exclaim, "This isn't worth dying for!" and running away.
- Discussed: Enemy Chatter heard at one point of the game: "That Hiro is something else, waylaying all those monsters while he's lost half his blood. I can barely function when I have a little headache!"
- Conversed:
- Deconstructed: Consistently being at low HP to exploit Hiro's ability will cause him to develop numerous scars over the course of the game, and will dull his ability to even feel pain. This ultimately results in a Bittersweet Ending where, while he and his party have saved the world, he becomes practically crippled after all of his grievous injuries and the game not-so-subtly implies that it's your fault that he's going to live in this condition for the rest of his life.
- Reconstructed: Hiro develops scarring depending on how much you use his ability, but giving him proper treatment after battle will let you avoid the aforementioned Bittersweet Ending. Beating the game with the maximum possible scarring while avoiding the bad ending awards you with an achievement and lets you start a New Game Plus with the option to make his ability be always at maximum efficacy, even at full HP.
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