The Most Bad Ass Body Armor in Movies and Video Games
Engineers in Japan have made significant progress in developing power suits that greatly increase the strength of those who wear them. Awkward sentences aside, I can’t imagine that engineers in our country aren’t doing the same thing, nor can I imagine that the military wouldn’t be interested in this sort of technology. Right now, the suits that exists seem to be used solely for lifting – but I think it’s pretty clear the next step is providing protection, increasing speed, and who knows what else.
In video games and movies, though, fully functional bad ass body armor is actually pretty common. Some forms of armor offer protection from bullets, while other forms may be best used for annihilating enemies. Below, check out 12 examples of the most bad ass body armor in movies and video games. For the purposes of this article, keep in mind that – in the case of video games – I’m listing body armor that is either the character’s “default” armor or that is worn so often that it is difficult to not associate the character with it. So, for example, you won’t find crazy powerful armor that’s acquired well into a video game.
With that out of the way, enjoy these examples of awesome body armor. As always, if you feel like I left one off, let me know in the comments.
The Prawn Battle Suit – District 9
The Prawn Battle Suit seems to connect neurologically to its user and gives them the ability to do pretty much whatever he or she wants. It can sustain massive amounts of damage from bullets, increases its users strength and speed significantly, and comes with an assortment of bad ass guns – including an awesome gravity gun. Simply put, whoever steps into the Prawn Battle Suit is essentially a one-man army.
Samus’ Power Suit – Metroid series
Samus’ Power Suit is easily one of the most recognizable, iconic suits in video game history. Even without upgrades, the suit protects Samus, comes equipped with an arm cannon, and allows Samus to movie freely underwater or in outer space. Of course, its real appeal is its ability to be significantly upgraded – few upgrades are cooler than the Screw Attack.
MJOLNIR Mark VI – Halo series
Keeping in mind that Samus is in fact a girl, I always thought Master Chief’s armor made him look like a testosterone-fueled, male Samus. And that’s not a bad thing. The MJOLNIR armor, in addition to looking really effing cool, features energy shielding and allows the user to run faster, jump higher, and punch harder than he would normally be able. The helmet is also quite sophisticated, featuring a Heads Up Display that links to the user’s brain.
Iron Man’s Armor – Iron Man movies
I imagine cruising around the skies in Tony Stark’s armor would be quite a rush. The Iron Man armor is a true triumph of technology, allowing its wearer protection from bullets and the ability to fly at supersonic speeds. The body armor is also capable of emitting blasts of energy at enemies and has a state-of-the-art targeting system. Really, though, the flight has got to be the coolest.
HEV Suit – Half-Life series
The “Hazardous Environments” Suit worn by Gordon Freeman was originally designed to protect scientists from radiation, energy discharges, and (of course) environmental hazards. By the time Freeman gets it, though, the HEV Suit has been upgraded to allow the wearer to sprint incredibly fast and jump over long distances and provides enough protection to withstand bullets and small explosions.
Zero’s Armor – Mega Man series
I love the classic Mega Man look, but Zero’s armor is definitely cooler. As for what it does, well, I suppose it offers protection…but other than that, I really couldn’t say.
Batman’s Armor – Batman movies and games
The older, campy Batman worse spandex, but that wouldn’t cut it against the criminals of Gotham these days. Using his vast resources at Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne has been able to develop a flexible yet sturdy suit of body armor that can offer protection from bullets while simultaneously striking fear into the hearts of criminals. If you consider the utility belt as part of the armor, then it’s virtually limitless as to the type of ambushes and attacks Batman is capable of.
Stormtrooper Armor – Star Wars movies and games
No, they don’t offer a lot of protection from blaster, but they sure do look cool. I thought about possibly including Boba Fett instead of the Stormtroopers but – and this may be sacrilege – Boba Fett is the most overrated character in the Star Wars universe. Sorry, couldn’t do it.
Marcus Fenix’s Armor – Gears of War series
Marcus’ armor is big and bulky, but it gets the job done. Able to withstand showers of bullets from the Locust, the armor certainly isn’t too big to prevent Marcus and his crew from sprinting and rolling to cover.
Gray Fox’s Exoskeleton – Metal Gear series
After surviving a rough encounter with Snake, Frank Jaeger was fitted for the powered exoskeleton seen above. As a cyborg ninja, Gray Fox needs to be able to move quickly and quietly, something his exoskeleton permits him to do.
Robocop’s Armor – Robocop movies and games
Robocops armor protects him from bullets and even grenades and rockets. The armor is also networked to his brain, allowing Robocop to withdraw his gun from its holder inside his thigh simply by thinking about it. One thing I always wondered, though, was why the hell the bad guys didn’t just aim for his chin.
Lord Marshal’s Necromonger Armor – The Chronicles of Riddick
Honestly – if you had that armor, would you ever take it off? Me neither.
HEV suit FTW!
I don’t think Zero is wearing body armor. I’m pretty sure he’s an android
I’m with you on Boba Fett man. He does have a jetpack and a weirdly-cool ship, but other than that he’s pretty useless.
The only bad thing about suiting up into Batman’s armour is that you have to quickly apply eye shadow before you charge out of the Batcave. Which I thought they would have changed in Batman Begins but it still magically disappears when he takes off his mask… hmm.
But Master Cheif and Iron Man are definitely one of the coolest suits out there.
As for the Scout Trooper, I’d totally drop the money for one if there were any Star Wars movies left, now all the costumes do is slowly turn yellow in peoples closets.
Great list, I think the District 9 armor could ace anyone one of these other guys’.
Just wanted to throw this out there: Predator armor, anyone? Or the dudes from Army of Two?
What about the Military Suit from Dead Space? It’s pretty fantastic, and maybe the game just never became popular enough?
http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Advanced_Soldier_RIG
@ Nate
Interesting – as in his armor is actually part of his body?
@ Bert
Plus, Boba had an incredibly lame death.
@ J5
For Predator armor, do you mean the standard armor and helmet, or is the camo actually a type of body armor, too? I think in the previews for Predator 2, it was referred to as “prism optic body armor,” which if true, definitely should earn it a spot on this list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL-mR79GErU
That is the single greatest video on youtube, Samus vs. Master chief. I find the lack of post about it most disturbing
@ Madison
No idea, I saw Predator 2 once at 2 a.m. while baked outta my gourd. So to try & differentiate between the two is gonna be near impossible….
I think it’s all one solid unit of armor, but I’m no Predator expert.
@ J5
Well, either way, that’s a pretty good way to watch Predator 2.
@ Madison
To be honest when I saw Danny Glover & Gary Busey I thought it was Lethal Weapon, before Murtaugh became too old for that shit.
what about the nano suit armor from Crysis?
The only one I could think of to add was the Terran and Protoss armor from Starcraft. Both are pretty effing cool.
You forgot Darth Vader, man. DARTH VADER!!!
I don’t believe robocop was a suit of armor. i think OCP implanted his brain and spinal cord into a robotic body. His face wasn’t actually flesh; i think it was a gold plate made to resemble Alex Murphy’s face so it wasn’t actually a vulnerable point. i don’t know why i remember that detail but correct me if i’m wrong.
No WH 40K mark IV power armor?
Fail article.
I agree, Crysis had some BAD assed armor
The nanosuit from Crysis should’ve been on the list. It looks cooler than the suit from Halo.
“Terminator Armour or Tactical Dreadnought Armour is the toughest and most powerful form of personal armour humanity has ever developed.”
Just saying…
lets go old school and talk sci-fi novels: the still suit from dune (well represented in David Lynch’s movie adaptation) written by frank hebert and the Power Armor from the 1965 (!!!) novel Starship Troopers (way better than the movie franchise) by Robert Heilen… or the polycarbonate suit used in William Gibson’s Neuromacer (written in the late 80’s)
Dude, what about the Judge’s armor from Final Fantasy 12?
– Robocop’s face is his own. As is his brain. It was the only survivable parts left after getting blown to pieces by the P50 Cobra.
– The Predator only has a few pieces of actual “armor”. That camouflage coloring is actually it’s skin. The predator wear an armored helm, chest armor covering one shoulder (in which the kick ass laser is attached to), wrist armor, light armor/ leather around the waist, thigh armor and shin armor. Most of the body is covered in netting. Predators are, after all, hunters. They need to be as swift and agile as possible.
– Zero is an android. He is a robot with a human face. As is Mega Man. That “armor” is his body.
@m
If i remember correctly, the starship trooper armor from the book was capable of allowing the wearing to leap long distances, increased their strength x-fold and had mini thermal nukes on them.
@madison
Your site’s blowin’ up lately! I’d love to see some hits comparisons pre and post lost finale. =]
WTF, where’s the Crysis suit?!
@ all
Yeah, I guess I should have included the Crysis Nano Suit. After reading about it (I never played Crysis; I don’t play games on my computer), it definitely should have been on this list.
Thanks for the heads up to those who suggested it.
Terran Marine!!!!!! HOO RAH!
ff 12 armor is pritty badass ;w;
I can’t believe they didn’t mention fallout power armor 🙁
@ Jon
I think it’s because it’s a type of armor in the game that you have to unlock later on for the main character to use. That’s why they added
“I’m listing body armor that is either the character’s “default” armor or that is worn so often that it is difficult to not associate the character with it. So, for example, you won’t find crazy powerful armor that’s acquired well into a video game.”
@ Bert – Boba Fett had night vision, infra red, and spectral vision all in his helmet with voice commands that can access his ships functions through the helmet. Environment sensors, Wrist gauntlet laser, wrist gauntlet darts, in poisoned and sophorific.
Also the cable tether grappling hook, that jetpack has a guided missile built into the top of the jetpack. Also the mandalorian armor is one of the few armors in the Star Wars universe that can take direct hits from a blaster. As a bad guy, thats pretty good (see stormtroopers – which btw can only absorb glancing hits).
@ Madison – Fett didnt die in there.
@ Madison and Bert – btw the internal rhetoric Fett has with himself while in the Sarlacc, in reference to being the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy, surviving countless odds and situations, such as single handedly taking an entire Imperial Base down. Well lets just says its pretty funny to consider he was taken out at that time by a blind smuggler and his furry sidekick. Believe me he wasnt happy about it either.
Gaaaaaah Dead space engineer’s suit should be up here
I think the Spartan laser from Halo 3 is pretty cool.
Well if you included Iron man, why not War Machine? Even more badass, if I do say so myself.
What no love for the G.I. Joe Accelerometer suits? Don’t worry me neither!
dont forget that the predator armour has active camoflague ,a bomb and heat scanners. not sure if the last is the predators vision though but there are a few diferent scans it does.
the G.I joe had movie had some pretty cool suits in it.
Another shoutout for the Judges’ armors in Final Fantasy 12. Especially Gabranth’s 🙂
The mechs from Avatar were pretty cool, big debate amongst my friends about who’s mech would win “Avatar” or “District 9”
Ok, you specify that you aren’t going to be including armour that is only aquired toward the end of adventures, then immediately open up the list with Wikus’s Prawn Mech-suit?
Then there’s master-chief, now I could be wrong with this one, but I was led to believe his high-leaping ways were more due to low gravity + he’s a cyborg.
@ Taurusus
District 9 isn’t a video game. FTA:
For the purposes of this article, keep in mind that – in the case of video games – I’m listing body armor that is either the character’s “default” armor or that is worn so often that it is difficult to not associate the character with it.
That should answer your question.
WHERE IS JACK BAUER
I agree with most of this list, but Lord Marshal’s Necromonger Armor??? Seriously?? Borat’s banana hammock is a better piece of clothing that thing…
-50 dkp 🙁
I know it’s acquired well into the game and all, thus disqualifying it, but I wear it soo much in game that it’s pretty much my default 🙂
FALLOUT 3 – Lyons’ Pride Power Armor !!!!!
Robocops armor looks retarded.
The Big Daddies or Big Sister from Bioshock, I’d say. No one’s going to mess with you if you’re strapped into that hunk of metal and have a creepy a** toddler following you around.
That was very enjoyable, I loved your selection of armour and suits, especially the District 9 and Samus’s suit.
Thanks and keep it up!
Oh yeah btw, you forgot GIJoe armour suit and Space Marine Armour.
i believe the power armor in fallout 3 should be on this list simply because its what the brotherhood and the enclave and the outcasts wear and has been featured in EVERY fallout game so i think it should count as a badass piece of armor
Came by to lear from this once again…… and add it to my favorites!