Nigh Invulnerability/Film

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Examples of Nigh Invulnerability in Film include:

Animated

  • The title character in the The Iron Giant combines being "Made of Diamond" (survives heavy weaponry from tanks), as well as a mixture of "Regeneration" and "External Repair" (even after being blown apart, the Iron Giant is capable of self-repair while its pieces crawl back together from various places to rebuild itself).
  • WALL-E's cockroach, who survives being squashed by WALL-E (twice!) and nuked by EVE. He just pops right back up after each accident. However, he's otherwise powerless beyond his survival skills; he's just there to be a cute pet.
    • Another Pixar film, The Incredibles, deconstructs this a bit. Mr. Incredible can be hurt, as evidenced by a small scratch he receives going up against an omnicidal robot, but that's the only injury he receives and he has super strength to go along with it. That said, he doesn't have super anchoring abilities (he gets smacked around a lot), and when he stops a train he does so by bracing himself first and visibly winces just before impact.

Live-Action

  • The Terminator. The first Terminator "merely" has Super Toughness, but other examples do fit this trope:
    • In Terminator 2, the T-1000's blob-like nature makes him a Regenerator Blob.
    • In Terminator 3 The T-X a.k.a. Terminatrix has a standard Super Tough Terminator frame with a Regenerator Blob cover, just like the T-1000.
    • Meanwhile, the Sky Net in Terminator 3 is discovered to be virtually unstoppable because it's actually software, which puts it somewhere in the Multiple Bodies category.
  • Various kinds show up in The Matrix movies:
    • In addition to diamond-powers, the Agents in The Matrix also manifested by taking over the bodies of those still connected to the Matrix. Due to their abilities, "killing" an Agent is an incredible feat for a human—and all it meant was that the Agent had to move on to the next body. Then there's Smith in the latter two films, who could infect any plugged-in human or program and rewrite them into a copy of himself.
    • Neo, the central protagonist of The Matrix, is also effectively Made of Diamond (while inside the Matrix), specifically in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He's able to block a sword cut with his hand, only drawing a tiny bit of blood. An on-looker proceeds to highlight this fact, ignoring that Neo just proved himself to be ungodly tough even by Matrix standards. The character's NOT as invulnerable in the original movie until he learns to dis-believe the reality of the artificial world at the film's conclusion (and therefore seize the means to manipulate it). When Neo meets the multiple Smiths for the first time in Reloaded ("The Burly Brawl"), it's a case of Diamond vs. Diamond as neither can defeat the other no matter how hard they struck. Smith does draws the stalemate close to a win since there was only one Neo, who escapes from a dog-pile of nearly 100 Smiths atop him.
    • The Twins from The Matrix sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, combine Made of Air with Regeneration. Not only can they turn intangible at will, but while intangible they almost instantly heal any injuries they have sustained while in corporeal form. On the other hand, the Twins couldn't hurt anyone when intangible either, which the heroes used to their advantage.
  • Jason and most other horror movie Psycho Killers—at least the ones who got sequels.
  • Basically, any of the daikaiju in Toho's Godzilla series — any degree of firepower short of Applied Phlebotinum (and some of that, too) or other monsters can at best annoy or distract them. Gamera (from competitor studio Daiei) is comparably tough inside his turtle shell, but more recent films have suggested his exposed limbs can be vulnerable to explosives or concentrated fire.
    • Godzilla himself can also regenerate from almost anything short of being completely skeletonized or reduced to a radioactive puddle—the two things that actually have killed him in the series. Presumably, this also applies to Biollante and Space Godzilla, however this is uncertain, as they never return to show that they actually survived the injuries sustained in their respective movies after dissolving into particles of light and fleeing to space.
  • Dorian Gray in The Movie of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is of the Regeneration/Regrowth type. It could also be a form of Divine Protection, as the damage and aging he sustains is magically transferred to his picture, rather than healed.
  • In The Crow, when he comes back from the dead, Eric is completely invulnerable to being shot or hurt, until a mystic determines killing the man's crow companion leaves him vulnerable.
  • The Creeper in Jeepers Creepers is a regenerator with a twist: he cannibalizes his victims for parts. Literally.
  • From the Gag Dubbed And Edited movie, Kung Pow! Enter the Fist, Master Pain, also known as Betty. His invulnerability goes so far as including having a show of power by being beaten by several men with pole weapons. This did not go over nearly so well when the 'chosen one' tries to replicate it...
  • Aereon from The Chronicles of Riddick shows off two advantages to the Made of Air version. When she's on a plane another character threatens her while she's standing by an open trap door (which would make her fall out of the plane), and goes to take a swipe at Aereon with a sword, asking if Aereon (as an Air Elemental) can fly. Aereon goes insubstantial to avoid the sword, then drift across trap door before becoming solid on the other side, where she replies: "No, we can't fly, but we do glide very well." Made all the more awesome by the fact that Aereon is being played by Judi Dench, complete with a little smirk as she says her reply.
  • All the immortals from Highlander and Highlander the Series have the Healing Factor/Resurrection version of this, vulnerable only to getting made a little shorter.
  • Inspector—sorry, Chief Inspector -- Jacques Clouseau would seem to be an example of the "Extremely Lucky" variant of this trope.
  • Clu in Tron: Legacy is the "Divine Protection" variety, in a manner. He was created by Kevin Flynn to be his assistant and stand-in while Kevin isn't in the Grid. To ensure that Clu was still there if he left, he programmed Clu to be impervious to physical harm. Unfortunately, that came back to bite Kevin in the ass... When Clu executes his Coup, Tron single-handedly dices up all the other black guards accompanying Clu, but when Tron starts attacking Clu, a cutting stroke with a data disc is merely shrugged off.
  • The Adventures of Captain Marvel film serial of the 1940's is one of the earliest examples, and interestingly enough, a mild subversion. While Captain Marvel is completely immune to bullets and blades and most forms of harm, there exists technology that can hurt him enough to stun him for a while, and phenomena like molten lava is considered lethal even to him.
  • The titular creature in the horror parody Monster in the Closet: it emerges unscathed from an artillary bombardment, being electrocuted and shot with a prototype laser. (It turns out it can only be destroyed when all closets in the world are destroyed.)
  • Hancock is immune to bullets and trains. An apartment fire hurt him but even then, he survived. The only thing that can kill him is being near his wife.
  • In The Thing we have...well the Thing. Part of what makes the film so terrifying and such Paranoia Fuel is that it only takes ONE cell for the creature to survive. The fact that it's basically a virus that spreads it cells to others makes it that much worse and nearly impossible to kill.
  • The aliens in Ghosts of Mars are possessing spirits, putting them at Type 4. Moreover, while their hosts can be destroyed (qualifying them for the "nigh" part of this trope) they themselves can't, making them Invincible Villains.
  • Hellboy:
    • The Golden Army, due to their Healing Factor.
    • Downplayed with Johann Kraus. He is invulnerable whenever he assumes his intangible form, but he can't stay like this perpetually, needing to return to his suit.
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