Powered Armor: Difference between revisions

It's big, it's bulky, it's intimidating, and wearing it, you can wreak havoc on the battlefield. [[Powered Armor]] typically amplifies the movements of its wearer, adding its strength to theirs in a sort of purely mechanical [[Synchronization]]. As the page quote says, they also tend to be a self-contained environment, allowing the user to exist comfortably in space, underwater, or in other areas that would kill unprotected humans. They can often fly, at least for [[Not Quite Flight|short distances]] or via [[In a Single Bound|rocket-assisted jumps]]. If this gives them good mobility and speed then the users often join the [[Lightning Bruiser]] camp. And most importantly and as the name implies, the amplified sturdiness and strength allows the wearer to don thick slabs of armor rendering them at least highly resistant to small arms with little encumbrance or exertion.

 

 

[[Powered Armor]] is distinct from [[Clothes Make the Superman]] in that it is specifically designed for combat and is clearly armour rather than clothing. Distinct from [[Humongous Mecha]] in that [[Powered Armor]] is a suit worn on the body, while [[Humongous Mecha]] are vehicles that are controlled, either from a cockpit or with some [[Unusual User Interface]]. There are, however, [[Mini Mecha|the occasional mecha that sit on the line]] between [[Humongous Mecha]] and [[Powered Armor]]. A really advanced set of powered armor will usually be made of [[Nanomachines]] that make the hero into a [[Chrome Champion]]. The change may even be [[Instant Armor|Instant]].

 

Not to be confused with [[Mini Mecha]], where despite the machine's size, the limbs are still fully mechanical.

 

== Anime ==

* {{spoiler|Chao Lingshen}} claims the outfit she wore during the [[Story Arc|festival arc]] of ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' was merely a somewhat upgraded version of a standard battlesuit from her homeland, but even without the built in time-travel device it straddled the line with [[Clothes Make the Superman]].

* Bonta-Kun in ''[[Full Metal Panic]]: Fumoffu'' is a Theme Park mascot converted into the cutest miniature death machine since [[Metal Slug]] by Sousuke Sagara. Oddly enough, he marketed it to various police forces around the world, with limited success.

** A more straight-up example is the Battle Armor which [[The Woobie|Gosunkugi]] purchased [[Charles Atlas Superpower|off a mail-order ad]]. It promises amazing strength and incredible combat skills for defeating one's foes... and it certainly delivers, except that it locks into place as soon as you put it on and only activates when said foe comes along. And ''then'', you have a very limited time to defeat him before the suit self-destructs.

* One of the more bizarre powered armors comes from ''[[Kemeko Deluxe]]''. The titular Kemeko is a [[Super Deformed]], borderline [[Gonk]]-ish power suit that nonetheless provides its wearer, MM, with enhanced battle capabilities. MM herself wears a [[Latex Space Suit]] and has to have some form of [[Hammerspace]] inside that thing - she's bigger than it is.

* In ''[[Gao Gai Gar]]'', Cyborg Guy has a suit of "Ultimate Armor". He graduates to "ID Armor" when he becomes an Evoluder. It's not clear whether the armor is enhancing his natural strength and speed, enabling it, or is just there to [[Rule of Cool|look cool]]. That said, the ID armor has one important part in it (the GaoBrace and Will Knife), and Evoluder Guy probably at least needs the ID Armor to pilot GaoFar and GaoFighGar.

* The Figures in ''[[Figure 17]]'' are a kind of sentient powered armor, and Hikaru is an accientally-created [[Artificial Human]] derived from a broken Figure, who can still revert to Figure form when necessary. The aliens D.D. and Oldina also use Figures to fight.

** A downside of the armor is that they can't be permanently separated from their recognized user without the Remover. The user can "dequip" the armor at will when not needed and it's been demonstrated that a sufficient electrical jolt to the control metal can cause the armor to spontaneously dequip.The Removers have to be bonded to someone and though they don't kill the host, they do leave them naked and powerless in front of someone who ''wanted'' to strip their armor from them, probably a bad guy.

* ''[[Appleseed]]'' has two classes of Powered Armor: "Protectors", which are fairly standard suits; and "Landmates", which border on being [[Mini Mecha]] and suspend the wearer in the torso of the armor. The Landmates' main outer "Slave Arms" follow the movements of the arms of the pilot, placed in smaller, form-fitting armored gauntlets which dangle outside the main body.

** Meanwhile, in ''[[Nightmare of Nunnally]]'', the other spinoff manga: ''Lelouch, of all people'', gets this treatment. Although, in his case, it's not tech-based but a special type of wired Geass which allows him to fight in a similar manner to Suzaku's suit. By the end of the manga, he had faced off against hordes of [[Humongous Mecha|Knightmare Frames]] and other Geass-related pheomena, and always came out on top. There's a reason why fans [[Memetic Mutation|like to say]] that [[Clothes Make the Superman|Zero's Geass let's him fight on par with]] [[G Gundam|Master Asia]].

*** Oh, and it also lets him [[Running Gag|stop bullets by posing]]!

** In its higher forms, Sasuke and Itachi's Susano'o falls more into [[Mini Mecha]] in their size and power. Same with Madara's in its 'complete' (full skin form) {{spoiler|but it turns into a [[Humungous Mecha]] in his 'Perfect' Form.}}

* Similar to the [[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Toph]] example below, Risho of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' used earth to cover himself for battle, although it's not clear if it actually powered him or just lent more ferocity to his blows.

** Doom also has on occasion created stronger variants of the armor, powered by draining some of the above-mentioned "cosmic" characters and thus rendering Doom's power [[A God Am I|almost as God-like as his ego]]. Since Doom is also a mage, he can use a combination of [[Magitek|magic and science]].

** In one notable issue of Mighty Avengers (just before [[Civil War (Comic Book)|Civil War]]) Doom and Iron Man go one-on-one after the rest of the Avengers were subdued by an army of [[Mecha Mooks|Doombots]] and array of traps. Their suits are so well matched that it comes down to whose suit's battery can last longer. {{spoiler|It's Doom's.}}

* [[Batman]] in certain incarnations (most notably when [[Azrael|Jean Paul Valley]] [[Anti Hero Substitute|took on the role)]] beefed the suit into a virtual war machine not unlike [[Iron Man]]. (This was a sort of "Be careful what you wish for" to fans who wanted Batman to become more Punisher-like during the [[Dark Age]]). ''[[Batman Beyond (Animation)|Batman Beyond]]'' had the same general concept, but the suit was [[Clothes Make the Superman|more slender and less clunky looking]] than most.

** In ''[[Kingdom Come]]'' Batman needs an exoskeleton to move at all (thanks to the wounds from a life-time of crimefighting). His actual Batman costume is a [[Powered Armor]]. As is the [[Blue Beetle]]'s and several other heroes.

== Film ==

* ''[[Iron Man (Film)|Iron Man]]'' is unique in that it [[Deconstruction|shows the trials and tribulations]] that would logically have to go with actually creating and testing such a device. The sound of Tony Stark screaming in terror as his suit(s) malfunction at inopportune moments almost becomes a [[Running Gag]].

** The video game ''Aliens vs Predator'' gave us a military version nicknamed Alice. It looks like the aforementioned loader with some weapons strapped on and according to the manual, it could take on an infantry platoon or lightly armored vehicles.

* ''[[Avatar (Film)|Avatar]]'', by the same director as ''Aliens'', has AMP suits, which are made in both utilitarian and military models.

* ''[[Crysis (Video Game)|Crysis]]'' pretty much centers on a the deployment, uses and functionality of a semi-realistic, 2020's [[Power Armor]] suit. This "Nano-muscle suit" or Nanosuit is designed like a materials scientist's wet dream, with a reactive fabric that can, in turn, make the user [[Nigh Invulnerability|bulletproof]], [[Super Speed|super-fast]] with enhanced reflexes and dexterity, [[Super Strength|super-strong]] (and by that we mean "[[Person of Mass Destruction|bring-a-whole-house-down-with-but-your-fists]]" strong), or [[Invisibility Cloak|invisible]]. It also includes a large suite of sensors, scanners, emitters and recording equipment, and a medical system that can bring the user back from the brink of death in a few seconds. It's as close to being Superman as one is likely to get in this century. The only problem is, just like today, the power source. Exertion of any of the four suit functions drains power very quickly (especially the cloak, which increases power drain with movement speed). The capacitor banks recharge quickly, but there are significant intervals of vulnerability, especially outside of Armor mode.

** US Army Intelligence also seems to thinks that the larger alien machines, the flying Scouts and [[Humongous Mecha|gigantic]] [[Spider Tank|Hunters]], are actually a sort of powered "exosuit" for the rather feeble, jellyfish-like Aliens. In ''Crysis 2'' this is made clearer, as the main enemies are mollusk-like alien organisms granted rigidity and ''legs'' via an advanced robot exoskeleton.

* The best (and most expensive) form of armor tech in any turn-based ''[[X-COM]]'' game is generally this. Flying Armor, Magnetic Ion Armor, X-COM Armor (sic) all apply. The first two even give you unlimited flying, allowing for much more freedom in moving around the battlefield. Sadly, these suits do nothing against any of the game's [[Demonic Spiders]].

** Except for Chryssalids, which can't attack you if you're on air. Advisable not to hover too near them in any case.

* HACS (Heavy Armour Combat Suits) that the terrorists use in ''[[Razing Storm]]'' generally serve to be the game's [[Giant Mook|Giant Mooks]].

* The protagonist, Marines and heavy Skaarj of ''[[Unreal II the Awakening (Video Game)|Unreal II the Awakening]]'' are wearing various forms of power armor.

* The Power Suit in ''[[Power Blade]]'' is [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin]]. The sequel has several specialized power armors such as the Newt Suit and Rocket Suit.

* The NES game ''[[Shatterhand (Video Game)|Shatterhand]]'' also has a power armor powerup.

* Featured prominently in ''[[Vanquish]]'', which basically allows the user to go [[Crazy Awesome]]. Comes with a shapeshifting gun!

* The Demonica in ''[[Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey (Video Game)|Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey]]'' is designed to withstand the environment of the Schwartzwelt, a place innately hostile to humanity. It increases in power as its user progresses, and early on acquires the Demon Summoning Program, allowing them to control creatures of eldritch power. The only catch is that there are no on-board weapons - you have to carry an issued gun and knife.

** ''[[Warcraft Expanded Universe]]'' has a character class named "Steam Warrior", which specializes in operating similar suits of [[Steampunk]] or Magitek armor.

* The idea of powered-armor-wearing shooter heroes is directly ridiculed in ''[[Duke Nukem Forever (Video Game)|Duke Nukem Forever]]''. Duke is offered some oddly [[Halo|familiar]] power armor but turns it down on the grounds that "power armor is for pussies". In fairness, since Duke can kick an alien's head off, rip open metal doors with his bare hands and survive weapon damage using the power of his ego, he hardly needs it.