Shields Are Useless: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"If I were to pick up this cowering-plate, I would have to put down my [[Dual Wielding|second sword]]," a Scotsman thinks. "And surely this is madness."''|[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]], on the [[Averted Trope|Chargin' Targe]]}}

{{quote|''"If I were to pick up this cowering-plate, I would have to put down my [[Dual-Wielding|second sword]]," a Scotsman thinks. "And surely this is madness."''|[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]], on the [[Averted Trope|Chargin' Targe]]}}

Shields. Big pieces of wood and/or metal that protect at least one half of your body against attack. Pretty useful in battle, you might think. And indeed some characters will gratefully sigh that [[Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me]]. Others, however, are not so sure.

Shields. Big pieces of wood and/or metal that protect at least one half of your body against attack. Pretty useful in battle, you might think. And indeed some characters will gratefully sigh that [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me]]. Others, however, are not so sure.

In reality, people covered by a shield from shoulder to knee are rather difficult to hit. Only their head and calves/feet are exposed. This meant that in the [[The Middle Ages|Middle Ages]] a popular trick was to stab your opponent in the foot and then, when they cringed and let down their guard, stab them in the face. Which is arguably less [[Rule of Cool|cool]] than [[Slice and Dice Swordsmanship|heroic slashing]].

[[Shields Are Useless]] applies whenever shields are shown to have a negligible effect in combat. A [[The Hero|Hero]] may discard his shield before charging the [[Big Bad]] just to show how [[Badass]] he really is. Yes, our hero is so awesome that he doesn't need a shield. In the villainous version, [[Mooks]] will have shields - but the good guy, armed with the [[BFS]] or [[Dual Wielding]], will still slaughter them by the hundreds. Apparently they learn to use their shields at the medieval equivalent of the [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]].

[[Shields Are Useless]] applies whenever shields are shown to have a negligible effect in combat. A [[The Hero|Hero]] may discard his shield before charging the [[Big Bad]] just to show how [[Badass]] he really is. Yes, our hero is so awesome that he doesn't need a shield. In the villainous version, [[Mooks]] will have shields - but the good guy, armed with the [[BFS]] or [[Dual-Wielding]], will still slaughter them by the hundreds. Apparently they learn to use their shields at the medieval equivalent of the [[Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy]].

Closely related to [[Armor Is Useless]]. Not to be confused with [[Deflector Shields]]. Aversions are [[Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me]].

Closely related to [[Armor Is Useless]]. Not to be confused with [[Deflector Shields]]. Aversions are [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me]].

== Anime ==

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* Shields in ''[[GURPS]]'' provide no help against guns and energy weapon unless they're big enough to hide behind.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'': Shields give a passive bonus to your AC, typically by a mere 1 or 2 (5% or 10%) without any modifiers. In doing do, however, they take up a hand, preventing your character from using both hands for offense. Various magical enchantments, feats, and different rule systems can be used to make shields more useful. These examples should be listed in [[Luckily My Shield Will Protect Me]].

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'': Shields give a passive bonus to your AC, typically by a mere 1 or 2 (5% or 10%) without any modifiers. In doing do, however, they take up a hand, preventing your character from using both hands for offense. Various magical enchantments, feats, and different rule systems can be used to make shields more useful. These examples should be listed in [[Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me]].

** ''Basic D&D'' shields only provides a nominal passive bonus to AC. However, they provide [[Breakable Weapons]] known as Shield Weapons that give an attack and a better AC bonus if you train them well enough.

** In the 4th edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', shields provide no armor bonus if the character has no proficiency.

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== Videogames ==

* Sniper Joes are shield-toting enemies you'll find in many of the classic ''[[Mega Man (Video Game)|Mega Man]]'' games. Their shields are quite effective at blocking even fully charged buster shots, but are useless against weapons that go ''through'' enemies, like the Elec Beam. Similarly, [[Spell My Name With an S|Mettool/Metall/Mettaur]] hide under hard hats, and there are weapons that can destroy them while they're hiding.

* Sniper Joes are shield-toting enemies you'll find in many of the classic ''[[Mega Man (Video Game)|Mega Man]]'' games. Their shields are quite effective at blocking even fully charged buster shots, but are useless against weapons that go ''through'' enemies, like the Elec Beam. Similarly, [[Spell My Name With an "S"|Mettool/Metall/Mettaur]] hide under hard hats, and there are weapons that can destroy them while they're hiding.

** As of ''[[Mega Man X|Mega Man X8]]'', X's fully charged buster shot, Zero's 3-hit sword combo, and Axl's rapid-fire shots can flip Metools over. They all also have at least one boss weapon that breaks shields like the previously-mentioned techniques, and one that bypasses shields completely.

* The businessman's briefcase shield, however, is no match for the mighty [[Mad Karate Man]]'s skills!