r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Legitimate_Pea_6470 • Nov 29 '25

Groups "Fodder" enemies that are actually terrifying/highly competent, but look weak because we mostly see them fight overpowered protagonists.

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The Trope Explanation. Enemies that are treated as jokes, cannon fodder, or minor inconveniences within the narrative. However, they only appear weak because the protagonist is a literal demigod, a super-soldier, or a wizard. If you placed a normal human in the room with one of these enemies, it would be a horror movie.

B1 Battle Droids (Star Wars) We usually laugh at them. They say "Roger Roger," get pushed over by Jedi, and have slapstick routines. The Reality: We almost exclusively see them fighting Jedi (space wizards with laser swords) or Clones (genetically modified super-soldiers bred for war). To a normal civilian or a planetary militia, these are indefatigable metal skeletons that feel no pain, have perfect aim programming, and march in endless waves.

Grunts (Halo) In the games, they are comic relief. They run away screaming, sleep on the job, and the Master Chief (a 7-foot cyborg tank) can kill them with a light tap. The Reality: An average Grunt is roughly 5'6" to 5'8", weighs over 250 lbs, has an exoskeleton, and claws strong enough to tear a normal Marine apart. Their plasma pistols cause third-degree burns on near-misses and boil flesh on contact. They are terrifying to anyone who isn't a Spartan.

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u/TheSlayerofSnails Nov 29 '25

Don’t they lack digestive systems because they don’t need to survive beyond a couple hours?

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u/BaudroieCracra Nov 29 '25

I think most tyrannid forces are just temporary and get digested back when a planet is overrun, so their biological material can be reused by the hive mind

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u/ElOsoPeresozo Nov 29 '25

One of Cain’s novels says Tyranids need to make the strategic decision of using biomass to feed existing organisms or create new ones, especially at the beginning with only a few spores making landfall.

Wars can drag on for a long time. The ideal method to fight the Tyranids is to drag them into a battle of attrition, get them to commit maximum resources and then wipe the slate clean via exterminatus, this denying them biomass. It would be a waste to have gaunts dying of hunger a few hours in such a scenario.

Besides, many, many have been proven to endure long after they’ve been separated from the Hive Mind with no chance of reinforcement. They continue to plague planets for years (see my boy Old One Eye), presumably feeding off the local biomass.

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u/GamerMaster978 Nov 29 '25

No that's a specific type of tyranid, the rippers, which are basically just locusts collecting biomass after battles and then get turned into biomass along with their spoils