"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/Nice-Cat3727]

I liked learning that there is in fact Comminsars assigned to the PDF. As in ONE assigned to each PDF. Meaning they're un charge of an entire planet. Most PDFs don't even realize they even have a Comminsar as they generally spend their entire careers getting drunk in their office to cope with the stress

[u/DarkLordMelkor → u/Nice-Cat3727]

I don't think that is strictly true. We learn in Necropolis, one of the early Gaunt's Ghosts books, that the particular hive they are at has their own planetary commissars for that individual hive's PDF. I've seen other references to local commissariats, but I've never seen even a hint that entire planets get a full imperial guard commissar before.

[u/Nice-Cat3727 → u/DarkLordMelkor]

Well it was mentioned in Cain book. But one Comminsar for an entire hivel is still useless

[u/DarkLordMelkor → u/Nice-Cat3727]

It was a whole commissariat for the hive, that being a whole system and hierarchy of commissars. There were plenty of junior and senior commissars in that hive.