[thaumasiotes]

> What about shows set in USA with heroes who are vulnerable to gunfire?

Buffy is more vulnerable to gunfire than the vampires are, but she's not vulnerable in the way that a human would be. She is a supernatural force just like the vampires are.

This is only called out in a few episodes; it seems that the writers would mostly prefer that you forget. But compare e.g. her meeting with Glory in season 5, where the two of them get into a fistfight, and after trading a few punches Glory realizes that a human would have been dead by now.

[aspenmayer]

Definitions from Oxford Languages

plot armor

noun

used to refer to the phenomenon in fiction whereby the main character is allowed to survive dangerous situations because they are needed for the plot to continue.

"I do think that he can't die since the inevitable plot armor is far too thick"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plot_armor

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlotArmor

[thaumasiotes]

...was this supposed to be related to my comment in some way? Do you just wander around the internet posting random links in random places?

[aspenmayer]

Yes, if it wasn’t obvious I apologize. Many main characters have plot armor in a way that makes for lazy writing, bad characterization, lowers stakes in the plot in favor of protagonists, and breaks immersion, which is what I was alluding to in response to this part of your comment, and the thread broadly:

> But compare e.g. her meeting with Glory in season 5, where the two of them get into a fistfight, and after trading a few punches Glory realizes that a human would have been dead by now.

That being said, you were a bit uncharitable near the end:

> Do you just wander around the internet posting random links in random places?

I think this was a bit of an unfair characterization of my original comment, and veers close to being against HN guidelines by assuming bad faith, and if you look at my comment and submission history I think you’ll find that I don’t in fact do this.

[thaumasiotes]

> Yes, if it wasn’t obvious I apologize. Many main characters have plot armor in a way that makes for lazy writing, bad characterization, lowers stakes in the plot in favor of protagonists, and breaks immersion, which is what I was alluding to in response to this part of your comment, and the thread broadly:

>> But compare e.g. her meeting with Glory in season 5, where the two of them get into a fistfight, and after trading a few punches Glory realizes that a human would have been dead by now.

You have yet to describe what the connection is between your comment and mine. Plot armor describes people doing things they can't do, and not suffering the consequences because that would be a boring story.

What's the connection to people doing things that require the supernatural powers they are explicitly characterized as having?

[aspenmayer]

The supernatural powers are the plot armor which prevent OP characters from suffering the consequences.

[DoughnutHole]

A character’s explained powers saving them isn’t plot armour, it’s just armour.

E.g. a superhero whose power is having impenetrable skin surviving a hail of bullets isn’t plot armour - it’s an explained part of the story. A character survived because of their nature as a character.

Plot armour would be a hero who does not have any particular resistance to bullets running through a hail of gunfire and surviving. It’s an extremely improbable outcome which ruins suspension of disbelief. The only reasonable explanation is that the character survived because the writers wanted to keep them alive. That’s plot armour.