The most likely way for a prepared adversary to lose in such a situation is through a surprise, an out-of-sample error.
Say a 1000 year old vampire that spent the first 500 years thinking of every possible adversary. They are well defended against anything that existed in the year 1500. Too bad they haven’t really kept up to date with modern tech.
Or, well most people don’t wear a bulletproof vest every day. Often cost and convenience trumps protection when people aren’t expecting to be attacked.
If a powerful antagonist is dumb or shortsighted enough, anyone can kill them, but what stories go out of their way to claim that their Big Bad is dumb? That’s usually the role of side characters or mooks, not of the Big Bad.
Plus it takes a certain kind of survival instinct to survive for 1000 years in the first place.
I agree with the tradeoff of safety vs. convenience, but there are many types of preparation that require a one-off investment, rather than an ongoing inconvenience. Cost, though, should not matter to most antagonists, since they typically far exceed the protagonists’ resources.
Say a 1000 year old vampire that spent the first 500 years thinking of every possible adversary. They are well defended against anything that existed in the year 1500. Too bad they haven’t really kept up to date with modern tech.
Or, well most people don’t wear a bulletproof vest every day. Often cost and convenience trumps protection when people aren’t expecting to be attacked.
If a powerful antagonist is dumb or shortsighted enough, anyone can kill them, but what stories go out of their way to claim that their Big Bad is dumb? That’s usually the role of side characters or mooks, not of the Big Bad.
Plus it takes a certain kind of survival instinct to survive for 1000 years in the first place.
I agree with the tradeoff of safety vs. convenience, but there are many types of preparation that require a one-off investment, rather than an ongoing inconvenience. Cost, though, should not matter to most antagonists, since they typically far exceed the protagonists’ resources.