Could a tiger kill a person in plate mail?

[Rain Man]

I was pondering this during a run this morning. Assume the following:

• An average-sized adult male tiger (440 pounds)
• The tiger is hungry but not starving. It's healthy.
• The human is an average-sized adult male of 5-9 height and 198 pounds of weight.
• The armor is full 16th-century plate mail that looks like the picture below.
• The guy in armor has no weaponry at all and is on foot. He's playing defense only.
• Assume that the encounter is happening in a natural setting with no other people, tigers, or prey around.

What would happen? Would the tiger immediately rip off the armor or some limbs and kill the guy? Would the tiger work on the armor and get it off after 15 minutes of hard work? Would the tiger give up quickly after breaking a fang or two? Would the tiger gnaw on the armor for 20 minutes before eventually giving up?

Edit: sorry for the typo in the poll. I know how to spell 'armor'.

Poll coming.

[SurroundedByMorons]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

The key here is whether the tiger can figure out how to raise its visor.

Precisely! No opposable thumbs and less savvy than the human. This is the only way to survive. I suppose the level of sneakiness required to approach and dress the tiger in an suit of armor is quite high. Let's say the human laid out a bowl of beer before hand and the tiger overindulged.

[stumppy]

Could a Mike Tyson kill Bruce Lee in plate mail?

[JohnnyV13]

Originally Posted by Mahomes_Is_God

I misread the OP. Plate mail would give you a better shot I guess. I still think there would be alot of bone breakage. Depends on how aggresive the tiger is. Is it in full-on murder your ass mode or is it just sort of toying with you like a cat does a mouse?

I think people assume the tiger will attack to kill without regard for consequences. But that isn't how wild animals behave. Remember, the tiger has no animal hospital to treat its wounds. If it breaks a tooth or multiple teeth, will they regrow?

Getting a wound that it can't heal while taking out the human in armor, could eventually kill the tiger if it impairs its ability to hunt. Remember also that wild animals live much closer to subsistence than we humans.

So, I think the human in armor might have a better chance than you think. Especially if it's a medieval knight who presumably knows more about wild animal behavior than a bunch of couch jockeys whose only jousting experience comes from electronic media.

Medieval knights would know how to manage a massive war horse and likely hunts wild boars. Talk to a farm kid, and you might learn that a human can deter a bull by punching it's vulnerable nose (much more developed than in a human and hitting it hurts).

If the knight were smart, he might be able to deter the tiger rather than defeat it using his knowledge of animal behavior and using the hard armor shell to inflict pain.

[Couch-Potato]

Not sure being covered in armor is a benefit here.

Tiger's going to get in close and on top of you quick.

Feels like you'd be a sitting duck in all that heavy armor.

Like a talking tuna can... "Here little kitty"

[Couch-Potato]

What if the Tiger is also in plate mail?

Checkmate.