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Fragile Speedster: Difference between revisions

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Fragile Speedster (view source)

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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* The final season of ''[[Blake's Seven (TV)|Blakes Seven]]'' replaces the [[Cool Starship|Liberator]] ("the most powerful fighting ship in the galaxy") with Scorpio (a nearly defenceless freighter whose experimental stardrive makes it the ''fastest'' ship in the galaxy.)
* ''[[Kamen Rider]]'': Riders that emphasize speed over defense fall neatly into this ([[Lightning Bruiser|though exceptions exist]]). [[Kamen Rider Kuuga|Kuuga Dragon]], [[Kamen Rider Agito|Agito Storm]], [[Kamen Rider Kiva|Kiva Garulu]], [[Kamen Rider Double|Accel Trial]], [[Kamen Rider OOO|OOO LaToraTah Combo]], and [[Kamen Rider Fourze (TV)|Fourze Rocket States]] can fit this.
 
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* Generally averted in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', as most speedsters have some sort of damage resistance as a [[Required Secondary Powers|side-effect of their velocity]].
* ''[[Whateley Universe]]'': Scrambler, <s>Quickie</s> Go-Go, Accelerator, and -- what the heck, most of the speedsters at [[Super -Hero School|Whateley Academy]]. Hyper actually broke a couple of his own fingers punching a 'brick' in the eye as he ran past at about a hundred miles an hour.
 
 
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== Real Life ==
* [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Fisher:Jackie Fisher,_1st_Baron_Fisher 1st Baron Fisher|Admiral Sir John Fisher]] is famous for saying "speed is armour," and was a proponent of battlecruisers, which were warships as heavily armed as a battleship, but with armour no more than that of a cruiser. The resultant trade-off in armour made them faster than the battleships of their day, but in turn made them vulnerable to just about anything better-armed than a cruiser. The British concept of high-speed and heavy firepower never really panned out though, and was invalidated both in practice and by advances in technology.
** To give an example of how flawed the concept was, the British lost ''three'' battlecruisers during the Battle of Jutland. Since battlecruisers equaled full-sized battleships in terms of cost, crew, and size, this is not to be taken lightly.
*** Jutland wasn't a demonstration of a flawed concept, but was a demonstration of what happened when you tried to stick a fragile speedster/glass cannon into a position better suited to a mighty glacier.
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* WWII American tank destroyers in general and the M18 Hellcat in particular faster than all other armoured fighting vehicles during the war and packing the same main gun as the Sherman they had just about enough armour to protect its crew from someone with a pocket pistol.
* WWII Motor Torpedo boats, e.g. American PT boats, and their modern descendents the Fast Attack Craft described as "eggshells armed with sledge hammers".
* Depending on which predators you ask, both [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/:Ornithomimosauria |ornithomimmids]], or ostrich dinosaurs, and their colloquial namesake and other rattites can be viewed as falling under either this trope or the [[Glass Cannon]]. Modern ostriches can run at 40 mph, and given a similar leg structure it's generally agreed that ornithomimmids were the fastest of all creatures of their day. However, if you're bigger, stronger, and most importantly capable of actually ''catching'' the damn things, from your POV at least, they'll essentially be [[A Worldwide Punomenon|fast food.]] It's now thought that tyrannosaurs developed their [[Lightning Bruiser]]/[[Glass Cannon]] skills, particularly as juveniles, specifically to run down their ornithomimmid drumstick dinners.
** Note that this view is somewhat subjective, though. Predators that are ''smaller'' than ornithomimmids and rattites, like dromaeosaurids and wild dogs, would have a more difficult time bringing them down, which is where the [[Glass Cannon]] trope comes in. Considering that an ostrich can kill a lion with a single kick or (according to one report) ''bend a half-inch-thick iron bar with a single kick,'' it's not that hard to imagine that ''[[Stock Dinosaurs|Ornithomimmus]]'' would have used a similar strategy if defending itself was the only option remaining.
*** Modern ostriches have an additional strength over modern predators that the ornithomimmids may or may not have had (we can't be sure until we find a fossil with complete skin impressions) - they still have thick scaly skin on their feet allowing them to run through obstacles (such as thorns) that mammalian predators would have to go around.
* In baseball, [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Herb_Washington:Herb Washington|Herb Washington]] was hired by Athletics owner Chuck Finley simply because he, as a former sprinter in college, would make a good pinch runner. He couldn't hit, field or even run the bases that well (although his speed sometimes made up for it), but this was avoided by never having him do anything but run the bases as a pinch-runner.
* Among bicycle models, road bikes fit this trope the best. They generally consist of a rigid and lightweight aluminum frame, to best optimize speed; they also have large, skinny tires with flat treads and high puncture resistance, and typically utilize multiple gear speeds and a derailleur to make steep inclines manageable. However, the amount of emphasis placed on making the bike fast sacrifices much of the comfort, and road bikes are completely useless for off-road cycling.
 
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[[Category:Competitive Balance]]
[[Category:The Squad]]
[[Category:Fragile Speedster]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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