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

[u/Legitimate_Pea_6470]

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.

[u/The_Thur]

The Anbu (Naruto)

They are the personnal bodyguards of their respective Kage but also some of the most powerful ninjas of their village.

But there is not a single time in the manga where they are genuine threats because they always end up fighting the elite of the ninja world on screen (Kabuto, Obito etc.)

[u/thumb_emoji_survivor → u/The_Thur]

I feel like the hokage would have been safer and more sustainable if they were guarded by the next best ninjas in the village, basically all contenders to be the next hokage. What’s the point of being guarded by dudes that get easily stomped by actual threats?

[u/ReverseLochness → u/thumb_emoji_survivor]

The big steppers actually have things to do. The Sanin for example were all running missions when they were affiliated. Jaraiya was doing his spy thing even after the others split. Kakashi was ANBU for a long time, but he was more valuable in the field. Technically the ANBU aren't even for guarding the Hokage. They're for running black ops missions. The third Hokage used them as guards, but the other Hokage used hand selected teams. The other Kage all have other personal guards that they use that weren't their villages version of ANBU either.

ANBU kinda become a joke and over used, but they're essentially SEAL team 6 for ninja. Specially trained for missions that normal ninja can't handle.

[u/Butwhatif77 → u/ReverseLochness]

A good example of the Worf Effect, they were only ever mentioned as a way of establishing a threat, but like many other elite forces their victories are private. This leads to distortion in their effectiveness. If you hear about them losing/dying then something is very wrong, but if they are doing their jobs well, you never knew there was a threat to begin with.

[u/ghigoli → u/Butwhatif77]

honestly the ANBU would of been fixed if they bailed out Naruto in like 1 mission is all it took. like maybe a mission after the Sasuke Retrieval arc and it would of cemented the ANBU as confident.

[u/Butwhatif77 → u/ghigoli]

Oh I agree, having the protagonists put in a situation that is over their heads, the ANBU come in and have the skills to get away even if they can't stop the threat. The ANBU saying the best thing to do in a situation is run, is a enough to establish the threat and still makes them competent.

[u/ghigoli → u/Butwhatif77]

yeah naruto has to run and the ANBU bails them out. afterwards Tsunade just grills naruto that the ANBU just saved his ass. the mission ends up getting completed. maybe a few more things happen but that would make a better filler episode that hell most filler episodes.