With this work I intend to dispel some of the tropes surrounding armour in fantasy pop culture, be it the chainmail bikini, studded leather or the armour bearing large 'menacing looking' spikes and ridges. Some of these have arisen due to aesthetic reasons to attract an audience over having any form of realism or believablity to them. 

While I do understand the meaning of fantasy, that it is not meant to be overly realistic, I just want to define the boundary between what is historically accurate and what is fiction. Thank to much of common pop culture surrounding this, the line has at times become somewhat blurred between the two. I would imagine that there are some people out there that are unsure which is which or believe some of the falsehoods. 

I will first cover the existing false fantasy tropes, then I will go into what is more historically accurate. I also intend to go more in depth into the various forms of armour, their constituent parts and the functions for each of these. There have been a vast amount of different types and designs of protective attire over the many centuries and I cannot possibly cover them all here. I will only go into the ones commonl;y covered in works of fantasy, with particular attention to table top role play games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder. 

But, the aim of these games and other forms of entertainment, like movies, video games etc. is to have fun and I do not wish to detract from this with too much verisimilitude. I only mean this as a guide, or an aid if you will, to accompany these. If this is used to improve the immersion in a game then all the better. I hope this guide is both useful and enjoyable.