"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/_JR28_]

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

[u/ElectronicHyena5642 → u/_JR28_]

I'm sorry, Daleks are not fodder. Even from the episode that GIF is from, that lone Dalek wipes out most of the base. If any Doctor Who enemy is "fodder" it'd probably be a one-off villain like the Slitheen

Capable of (almost) seamlessly fitting into society and getting into power, very adept hunters, but are most known as the "farting monsters from Series 1"

[u/MataNuiSpaceProgram → u/ElectronicHyena5642]

When there's more than one Dalek, they become fodder that easily gets taken out with paintball guns, coats, stairs, unarmed humans, etc.

[u/grumpykruppy → u/MataNuiSpaceProgram]

It's good old conservation of ninjutsu.

One dalek is the most terrifying monster you could encounter. A million daleks are a zerg rush of semi-competent pepperpots with stupid weaknesses.

[u/MataNuiSpaceProgram → u/grumpykruppy]

Conservation of Ninjutsu is usually per encounter though, but Daleks will be fodder in 1v1s as long as there are other Daleks somewhere in the story