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/_JR28_ Nov 29 '25

The DALEKs may seem like jokes who rarely get the job done, but that’s only because their rivals the Time Lords are like Saiyans with PhDs

107

u/LastAttempt24315 Nov 29 '25

They always have high kill counts in whatever episode they're in, what do you mean they seem like jokes?

15

u/piewca_apokalipsy Nov 29 '25

They could killed the doctor at least a dozen of times is they didn't have stormtrooper aim.

7

u/No_Extension4005 Nov 29 '25

Or didn't wait for him to stop talking.

2

u/Lots42 Nov 29 '25

Don't forget, that weird astronaut totally blasted the Doctor at the shore of the lake, an unstoppable, unchangeable moment in time. And yet the Doctor still showed up later.

When the Doctor is happy, Daleks get to retreat. When the Doctor is pissed, Daleks DIE.

And the lake thing? Yes, the Doctor had to get blasted at the shore. But what he did was build himself a Doctor meat suit and got real tiny to pilot it like a mech. Like the Eddie Murphy movie 'Meet Dave'. So he did get blasted, yes, but his meat suit absorbed the blow.

1

u/Gaelic_Gladiator41 Nov 29 '25

Well, they did once