Power Armour
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Power Armour is a science fiction concept of armor which increases the strength, speed, and reflexes of those who wear it. It features heavily in science fiction/fantasy settings such as Warhammer 40,000.
Starship Troopers
Like so many military science-fiction concepts, the modern idea of powered armor dates back to the Mobile Infantry of Heinlein's Starship Troopers. The "Marauder" suit is bulky, with integrated thrusters and heavy weapons (including nuclear weapons and heavy explosives, carried as easily as a human soldier carries grenades). Their primary purpose is not to destroy indiscriminately (though they certainly can), but to "make war as personal as a punch on the nose" -- to drop in and destroy with precision, in order to break the enemy in exactly the right way. In other worlds, it's much like Crisis battlesuits with less weeaboo and more humanity fuck yeah inside.
Heinlein never discusses pauldrons, but the Space Marines certainly take after the Mobile Infantry's other aspects.
Warhammer 40,000
Because 40k has a huge hardon for Space Marines, and because no super soldier worth his genetic enhancements will go into battle without super armaments, 40k has developed nearly as large a hardon for power armor.
Space Marine Power Armour
The most iconic users of Power Armour in 40k are the Space Marines and the Chaos Space Marines. Made of ceramite which will deflect all but the most powerful of weapons, Power Armour possess many life support systems designed to keep the Space Marine inside alive. The Black Carapace, one of the Gene-Seed organs, is specially designed to interface with the Space Marine, and is the last organ implanted in Codex Chapters. Amongst its features, Power Armour possess auto-senses which enhance the Marines already considerable senses, injects pain killers in the event of lost limbs, and recycles the waste of the body into a nutrient paste which will keep the Marine going for up to fifty days without needing to eat again. The power source is a backpack mounted generator which needs initializing, but after that can take solar energy to keep itself going.
There are eight types or Marks of Power Armour used by the Astartes. Regardless of their type, they all have massive Pauldrons.
Mark I: Thunder Armour
The first type of Power Armour designed, these were used by the Thunder Warriors and many of the techno-barbarians of Terra. They provided the basic protection against weapons and enhancements to upper-body strength, but that is all - the suit was incapable of supporting its own weight and did not provide any protection to the legs. Since they were only used on Terra, there was no need to protect them against the void. Though the lack of life support systems and much lesser degree of protection make them essentially useless in the 41st millennium, several Chapters retain sets of Thunder Armour as ceremonial pieces of armour. If you were to field one now, it would probably count as Carapace Armor (4+ save) with a slight bonus to strength but a penalty to initiative.
In Deathwatch, if you manage to get your hands on some, it's noisy, doesn't offer as much protection, doesn't work with a Marine's Black Carapace, and actually might not be a whole suit of armor depending on its state of repair, and is overall kind of shitty. On the other hand, it impresses other Marines, and Ecclesiarchy schlubs, so take it for formal occasions.
Mark II: Crusade Armour
Designed by the Adeptus Mechanicus with the Great Crusade in mind, the Mark II armour was fully enclosed and contained all the life support and auxiliary systems now common among the Space Marines, like a waste recycling unit and automated medical equipment. Much of these newer additions were made possible by a more efficient cooling system, which allowed a considerable reduction in the size of the powerpack. The helmet also came with a bunch of enhanced sensory equipment but was bolted directly onto the armour, preventing the wearer from turning their head. Overall protection and flexibility was much improved, especially since the legs were now enclosed in armoured hoops and came with their own servomotors. Unlike the Mark I suit, the design is still sufficiently sound to remain in active - albeit extremely limited - use, well into the 41st millenium.
Mark III: Iron Armour
Mark III armour was first conceived during the Squat campaigns (later retconned to boarding actions) of the Great Crusade. It was pretty much a modified Mark II designed to provide better frontal protection for close quarters combat, essentially fulfilling same role that Terminator armour would later fulfill. By the time of the Horus Heresy, the Mark III was slowly being phased out and replaced by Terminator armour, but it's still fairly common among the Traitor Legions. In fact, several of the more traditional Legions were reluctant to phase out Mark III armour because it was the most brutally iconic Mark of Power Armour, so there was talk of keeping it for honour guards or spear tip operations. Even into M41 the helmet or faceplate is still popular.
Mark IV: Imperial Maximus Suit
Now having access to more of the Standard Template Constructs, the Mechanicum was able to further refine the power armour's internal systems. In addition to having more advanced visual sensors, the helmet was now capable of movement. The suit was also made a whole lot lighter than before while managing to further improve on the Mark II's protective capabilities. Although the chest power cables were once again relocated to the outside of the plating, they were given some level of armoured sheathing to protect them from damage. Horus Lupercal manipulated the Mechanicum's supply lines to ensure that the Legions that were planning to side with him in the Heresy would be fully equipped with Maximus Armour in time for the Heresy; as a result Mark IV was usually reserved for Chapter Masters and senior Captains of the Loyalist Legions. As the Legions were either fully or partially re-equipped with these suits by the time the Horus Heresy began, Mark IV is one of the most prevalent types of armour among the Chaos Space Marines.
Mark V: Heresy Armour
In between production of the Mark IV and what would be the Mark VI, both Loyalist and Traitor Legions found that they were running out of replacement parts for damaged systems. This would result in several Legions taking parts from older Marks and inadvertently making a brand new Mark of Power Armour. Although appearances varied widely as a result of its adhoc nature, some form of standardization was achieved. One of the most notable was the introduction of molecular bonding studs on the left pauldron and both greaves, which made them look totally Metal. Probably one of the most common suits of armour in service among the Traitor Legions, since this was what most of them were wearing when they retreated to the Eye of Terror.
Mark VI: Corvus Armour
The much beloved Beakie armour. Designed as a stopgap measure while newer equipment remained in development, it incorporates some of the newly developed Mark VII features into the battle-proven Mark IV design, producing a suit of armour that is in many ways equal to its descendants. Although it offered no additional protection, Mark VI armour was the first to feature a redundant power system and parts that are slightly interchangeable with those of other marks. Somehow, it also manages to be lighter and fit together more smoothly than the current Mark VII Aquila, allowing for quieter movement, while the helmet includes further improved sensor systems in its, uhm, "beak". It was named the "Corvus" pattern after Primarch Corvus Corax of the Raven Guard, as the XIX Legion was the first to be selected for field testing the armour. Due to the design's inherent stealthiness and legacy, it still remains the preferred armour among the Sons of Corax, who tend to be saddled with older equipment anyhow.
Mark VII: Aquila/Imperator Armour
The most common Mark of Power Armour among loyalist Space Marines, Mark VII armor was still being designed when the Traitor Legions reached the Sol System and seized Mars. When this fact became all too foreseeable, Rogal Dorn ordered the design teams transferred to Terra to prevent the Traitors from seizing it. Mark VII featured completely covered chest and arm cabling, a distinct helmet that provided more protection, a high level of compatibility with the previous Marks, and also bore the Imperial Aquila on the chest, which was first used there to provide quick identification of the Loyalist Marines during the chaos of the Siege of Terra.
Mark VIII: Errant Armour
Jes Goodwin originally designed it with awesome Power Fist-style hands, a modified helmet, a streamlined power pack and a more flexible leg-and-ankle joint. Games Workshop only bothered with using the altered breastplate, so the overall design looks like a regular Mark VII with a collar. Breaking the trend of reverse-compatibility between newer and older marks is the fact that the armour can only accommodate the helmet designed for it, which is probably a major reason why it has yet to be widely adopted among Space Marine chapters (that, and the Adeptus Mechanicus' head-up-own-arse tendencies when it comes to distributing cutting-edge technology). Of course, that explanation falters when you note that everyone higher up than the most basic battle brothers will never wear his helmet. Because of its rarity, the armour is generally restricted for use by senior officers only, and even then they'll usually only be able to wear the breastplate. The Minotaurs chapter appears to be the only exception here, as almost all of their battle brothers have access to full suits of armour.
Chaos Power Armour
While many Traitor Marines are equipped with Mark IV or later, Chaos power armor is often a mix-and-match setup. Because Chaos Marines often have to go through long periods with no access to proper industrial facilities, many subsystems don't work and replacement parts come in the form of whatever they can dig up from plunder and looted corpses after raiding and looting. Futhermore, Chaos Marines like to customize their armor with devotional iconography and personal trophies, making sure that virtually each suit of armor is personalized. Where things get even weirder is when armor gets too steeped in Chaos and begins to twist, mutate, and turns partially organic, or has its machine spirit is replaced with a daemon.
Terminator Armour
Set aside for space marines who are exemplars of toughness, martial ability, and wonky proportions, Terminator armor, or Tactical Dreadnought armor, provides the best personal protection available. Heavily layered with adamantium and indestructible pauldrons, a suit of Terminator armor is meant to steamroll nearly everything, and gives a fighting chance against everything else, which is anything that gives anybody else a fighting chance against Terminators. Standard loadout for Terminators are power fists and storm bolters or Power weapons and twin linked bolters for the Chaos variant, but they are able to fit a shoulder-mount missile rack, equip heavy weapons systems, and arm with other killtastic melee weapons. Since most suits are about at least as old as the chapter that owns them, and that the pauldron allegedly contains a tiny fragment of the Emperor's own power armor, these suits are holy relics as well as top-quality wargear.
Despite all the pain they lay down, Terminator armor has a few serious drawbacks. First thing is that they are seriously hard to make. Seriously. Most chapters have a only handful that they can distribute amongst their veterans and officers, and any lost suits are damn near irreplaceable. Second thing is that they lack mobility. They counter this mostly since Terminator armor can teleport into the thick of it, and judicious use of teleport homers can put them right where you need them, and a Land Raider can carry small squads;. Beyond that, Terminators are otherwise going to be footslogging since they're too fucking huge to hitch a ride on anything smaller than a house. Unless you're fighting a fast or a crafty opponent, you won't care anyways.
Centurion Armour
Since somebody at GW forgot that the Xzibit meme wasn't funny anymore, Space Marines now have Centurion suits that they wear over their power armor. A miniature walker vehicle, more like a mini-mech, a cute little dreadnought preparing space marines for their life after living. Centurion armour is "worn" over regular power armor, giving better protection (like terminator armor without the invul save) and comes in two flavors: assault and devastator. Assault are heavy assault units equipped with drills and meltas or flamers, meant to get in close to enemy hardpoints and fortifications and wreck shit. Devastator units are a heavy fire support units that fires hurricaine bolters and twin linked heavy weapons, exactly as devastators do.
Aegis Armour
The Power Armour of the Grey Knights, Aegis Armour is master-crafted on the forges of Titan and inscribed with prayers and wards to prevent Daemons from possessing it. Based on parts from Marks VI, VII, and VIII, within the breastplate of each set is a copy of the Liber Daemonica. It frequently bears a stormbolter on its left forearm, keeping both hands of the wearer free to use. There is an Aegis/Grey Knight version of Terminator and Dreadnought armours, too.
Sisters of Battle Armour
Less bulky than the Space Marine armour, as they're worn by normal sized humans, the power armour of the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas provides the same ballistic protection that Space Marine armour does, and gives them the strength to carry bolters into combat. Sororitas armor has noticeably smaller pauldrons, the leading idea behind this reasoning was incorporating a design feature that cuts back om the material it takes to create the armour, without having to sacrifice the pair of perky, globular breasts.
Whatever the Hell Titus's Armor Is
In Warhammer 40000: Space Marine, the Marines are wearing what looks like regular Mark VII Aquila Armor. However, it appears to be far less bulky in comparison to similar armor portrayed in official artwork or Dawn of War, suggesting it might be different. For one thing, it appears to be much more streamlined, with lower pauldrons that aren't quite as fucking enormous (although still unrealistically huge), and with more head room and mobility in the arm sections. This becomes very apparent when using ranged weapons, like the Bolter. This streamlining was likely done to avoid hilarious amounts of clipping. Judging by the fact that every other suit of Imperial power armour in the game - Chaos included - shares this appearance, it is probable that it is simply a redesign, or a 'realistic version' of regular Space Marine armour. It's not like the Space Marine game is the first artwork to portray power armour with different proportions to other media.
Human Power Armour
Virtually identical to Space Marine power armor, these suits of armor are scaled down to fit regular humans. Notice that this is the reverse of what it would have been 10,000 years ago; since it occurred to somebody that making good protection being an affordable and wide-spread asset would severely impinge on current state of grimdark.
Without the extra room and black carapace interface Marine armor provides, many suits of human power armor don't offer the same degree of protection, as much strength enhancement, or as many subsystems found in Marine armor. Still, the wearer will still be stronger, better protected, and better equipped than the guy in the T-shirt. There are a few variants, including lighter suit and one for Chaos-fighting Inquisitors. Because these things are still super-rare, usually only people rolling in money, tech fetishists, and able to declare not giving them power armor as heresy, will have any.
Fallout Power Armor
Unlike Warhammer 40,000, Fallout powered armor is more "power" than "armor". It was originally made to allow troops to use heavy weapons on the move and with increased weight limit it was obvious to put some extra armor on the exo-suit. Even while it turns you into a nearly-indestructible walking tank, sneaking and camouflage are always considered better protection than armor in Fallout, so the main reason people use it is strength and radiation resistance bonuses.
T-51b Powered Armor
This armor only has +1 STR for some reason. What's even stranger is that the hunk of metal that you put on your head (AKA the helmet, but who calls it that?) gives you a +1 CHR bonus (probably because its heavily featured in old world propaganda, but yet again, so was the T-45d variant) . We really should be wearing around hunks of metal on our heads these days. After all, this armour be pullin' all dem bitches...
T-45d Powered Armor
After Bethesda got the rights to make Fallout 3, they were like "Guys, guys, let's make a SHITTY POWER ARMOR!" and they went through with it. The result was far from shitty. Sure, it has -2 AGL, less rad. resistance and makes you move around like yo madda
the comic book guy from The Simpsons, but it looks BAD-ASS!!!
NCR Salvaged Powered Armour
This is the 'zombie' version of the T-45d Powered Armour. It has had all of what made it power armour ripped out by the NCR (because in New Vegas, they don't really teach you how to drive a suit of power armour) so now it's just a cool looking variant of metal armour with paint splashed on it (because NCR for the win!).
Advanced Powered Armor
The 2nd most advanced power armor and the newest, made by the Enclave who still have much of the pre-war resources. As a result it has little of the flaws of the older armours (T-45d and T51b models) while being better in every way. Save for the next power armour listed.
Advanced Powered Armor MK II/Enclave Powered Armor
Because advanced power armor wasn't good enough for the Enclave, Advanced Powered armor MK II was made. This is the armor that is featured in New Vegas, and while the NV variant kinda sucked, The variant in the 2nd game was OP (yet again, so was all the other power armors, but what the hell. OP for the win!). Although Bethesda fucked it up and made T-51b better. It was fixed in New Vegas (Although for some reason the power armor in NV is a 'medium' armor and degrades like it was made of cheap Chinese plastic).
StarCraft Power Armor
In StarCraft, the Confederate Marine Corps Power Armor, more simply called the CMC power armor, is the standard powered armor suit used by all military factions within the Koprulu sector. Despite the fact that each armored suit comprises of a complex array of sensors and other advanced combat technologies, life-support systems, and its own independent power supply that appears to be a portable fusion reactor, it seems to be dirt-cheap as hell to manufacture, given that every armed force within the Koprulu sector can give one of these suits to every Terran marine worth a damn. Unfortunately, that technology doesn't seem to do much actual protection; the marines are usually unceremoniously wiped out by the dozens hundreds during an engagement.
Along with that, however, it's not exactly known if the armor plating on the suit can protect the wearer from actual combat damage. The CMC armor is incapable of reliably protecting the wearer from projectiles, ruptures, or chemical attacks (apart from the passive hazards found in NBC environments), in both fluff and crunch, considering that it cannot hope hold out against: zergling claws, roach acid, the Marines' own gauss guns (hell, it can't even deflect the pistol rounds from their sidearms), fire and/or plasma, hydralisk spines, Mutalisk wurms, Psi attacks, Protoss photon guns, and really just about anything. Then again even tanks, huge giant robots and battlecruisers could not hold against said attacks en masse - this might say more about how nasty are weapons in StarCraft universe rather than how shitty is armor there, or more likely its how real world armor works. In fact, some of the fluff describes it as existing more to protect the wearer from the recoil of the Gauss than anything else.
Other variants exist that are worn by Firebats. The armor is much bulkier than the standard armor, which keep in mind was already similar in size to terminator armor, especially in Starcraft II, where the things arms and pauldrons are bigger than its legs. Since the the armor's bulk makes it thicker, it can take far more abuse than the regular armor. As the name of unit might indicate, the armor uses a pair of built flamethrowers. The armor worn by Marauders in Starcraft II looks almost identical apart from a change in color, and has the same durability, but in place of flamethrowers uses grenade launchers that are best used against armor. Despite the armors' size, the guys using them are just as fast as regular marines. A third type of armor is made for Reapers, which looks similar to Assault Marines except their jetpacks are bigger.
Metroid Power Armor
Probably one of the most powerful armor on this list. Like Starcraft, pretty much every scrub gets a power suit in Metroid, but the main character's suit is the one you probably want to know about. Samus Aran's armor is like a wearable, form fitting Titan, designed on a planet that weighs nearly a thousand times more than the earth that fires out basic weapons shots that carry more energy than small nuclear weapons. But that's not all, it's ridiculously modular and can accept pretty much any piece of technology ever and turn it into an upgrade, even if the Chozo had never once encountered the technology in question!
When fully upgraded to end-game status, the Chozo suit shits all over almost every other suits here like a pigeon with precision diarrhea.
The only really flaw in its design is that it is stupid easy to knock all of its power ups and reset to default -- Samus never manages to hold onto her upgrades between games. Like all Power Armours worth their name it also has pauldrons, although not as ridiculously huge ones as the most other armours on this list.
Halo Power Armor
Most people think of the Spartan power armor when they are asked about Halo. These suit cost as much as a UNSC ship and have the decency to protect the wearer from multiple Fuel Rod shots, to being penetrated by a single pistol shot...inconsistency aside the Spartan power armor is in between the strengths of a Astartes power armor and the Terran power armor. Unlike most other armors, the enhanced speed and strength of given by these things is too much for an ordinary human, anybody other than the Spartans who underwent cybernetic enhancements ends up getting mutilated in the armor just by trying to move in it. Other power armor in Halo includes both the Brute and Elite combat harness which boosts their already insane strength (twice that of a human of the same mass for elites, about two or so tons for a Brute) and reaction time (although Brutes tend to be a bit more sluggish than humans).
Of course there are the Forerunner Combat-Skins, but putting them here on the list would shit over any power armor listed there, that are not near Metroid grade. How powerful are they? enough that they could shrug off multiple melta-level bombs, fall off and survive a Slipspace rift without a scratch, tanking weapons that could dwarf most WH40K, Starcraft and Halo small-arms all together, can command up to a million attack drones, and can shut-off your brain like a switch. However in a setting where battlefleets can blow up planets and combat mechs can level cities (Which are the size of Continents!), they are very tame in comparison.
It is also worth noting that Forerunner armor comes in Mini-mecha and form fitting varieties. Most of the above is for the mini-mecha, while form fitting armor seems to be substantially less impressive.
Metal Gear Exoskeleton
Ever wanted to suplex a titan? No? Get the flying fuck out you pansy ass faggot!!! This here is A-grade MANLINESS. Grade A for awesome. Because that's what you'll be doing when you wear these. And playing hop scotch on supersonic missiles for fun. Because that is what awesome people do, and when you wear this, you are in fact, an awesome person. Other suits may have more gizmos, but in terms of raw lifting strength this is pretty much the best save for comic book power armor.
Iron man's suit
Probably the most well known Power Armor suit in fiction. At it's high end, Iron man's suit is flat out superior to anything in nonserialized science fiction short of a few cheese builds from role playing games, but hey comic books, even allowing him to fight Odinforce Thor, who mind you, has the power of a being who can deestroy galaxies as the side effect of his fights. Sure his standard suits may be beaten by weaker stuff but if he really sets his mind to it, the things Tony can build are essentially magic contained in metal and get shit done!
Destroyer Armor
Perhaps the snazziest and most powerful armor in fiction. This creation of Odin (Marvel Universe version) cannot be damaged by anything less powerful than Odin himself and can destroy just about anything weaker than Odin in a single hit. Forerunner suit, Chozo suit? HAH. This is made by gods who actually feel godlike. Crafted by someone who could eradicate entire galaxies as a side effect of his fights to battle even more powerful beings. Accept no substitutes, this is the finest power armor you'll ever find that does not ascend you to Celestial wonkyness. Even if it does run on magic.
Humorously, the things it was design for, to fight Celestials fails as they just one shot it the second it shows up.
Strike Legion
Strike Legion has teraton pistols, Uzis that can outgun all of WH40K and planet busting grenades. You can survive those in one of these babies. Like a bauss. Even the weakest ones have built in shield generators and flight capabilities. That is really all that needs to be said. They are also mass produced. Like, standard issue level mass produced. By factions that can outnumber the Imperium of Man.
X-COM
X-COM always had high-tech armor, but nothing could be considered power armor until the Enemy Within DLC to the 2012 remake. This came in the form MEC troopers. Departing from the usual type of armor, these require a considerable amount of cybernetic enhancements through the use of the game's Meld resource to use, which in game is shown in that MEC troopers have much of their body replaced with cybernetics (they basically look like smaller version of Robocop, minus the helmet) to interface with MECs. The pay-off far that is enormous, however. Unlike other low ranking soldiers in X-COM, the MEC troopers are extremely durable (to compensate for their size meaning they can use cover), and carrying extremely damaging guns that only the MEC's strength and durability allows them to use, which are more damaging than any other guns in the game, in addition to their other abilities. End result is that they are the most OP solider the player can use, and you acquire them pretty early in the game. However, as the game progresses, usual and gene-modified soldiers became much more powerful and versatile, and MEC's ability to sustain more damage is somewhat mitigated by the ridiculous firepower of most enemies, which could blast even the most durable MECs in two or three shots, while unmechanized troopers can tank even the most destructive shots by high defense value and defensive abilities, not to mention psy-powers on the latest stages.
Warmachine
Warmachine has had a number of different flashy armors with a more technological look to them, but probably the closest (and likely most famous) thing it has to traditional power armor is Khador's Man-O-War armor. Designed because Khador found it the lack of materials to make cortexes for its Warjacks meant even with the effort it put into building its jacks to last, it had a problem with still having a lot of resources it wasn't using and its lack of any cheaper jacks meant the jacks it had tended to be too badly outnumbered. To compensate for these problems, they designed huge suits of armor that would allow the wearers to function almost like pseudo-Warjacks. The Man-O-War functions the same way Khador's jacks do: it's slow, heavily armored, and hits really hard when it gets in close. Fluff wise there's a problem with the built in boilers releasing steam where it shouldn't go and killing the wearer, but this doesn't show up in gameplay since it would make them too unreliable (plus it only happens when they're damaged enough, depending on the addition to the game). Not that they care as they gladly DIE IN STEAM!! Since the armor is still expensive to manufacture, Khador only allows its veteran troops to wear it, meaning they possess high skill with melee weapons.
Star Wars
The Star Wars Expanded Universe has had some minor power armor use. The iconic stormtrooper armor is unpowered, but the "zero-G assault stormtrooper" or "spacetrooper" armor is a set of powered armor that is worn over stormtrooper armor. It incorporates a set of thrusters and other integrated weapons. Visually, it looks a bit like a cross of Terminator armor and NASA's Manned Maneuvering Unit, with a goofy, oversized stormtrooper helmet.
Power armor isn't used as much due to how useless armor is in the universe compare to plot armor.
Real Life
While they are still some ways off from producing a fully functional power suit, there is interest in the idea. Some people are now looking into making functional powered exoskeletons, this includes some guys in Japan and the US government. The basic idea works well enough, but there are still in the experimental phases and while they got the basics of the "power" part down they have yet to add the armor.
Come to think of it, they still haven't got the "power" part done either, since the batteries for these things last no more than a few hours. Still, the first airplane's flight only was about 35 meters.