High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A tank (also known as a meat shield) is a style of character in gaming, often associated with a character class. A common convention in real-time strategy games, role-playing games, MMORPGs and MUDs, tanks redirect enemy attacks and/or attention toward themselves in order to protect other characters or units. Since this role often requires them to suffer large amounts of damage, they rely on large amounts of health or armor, or alternatively evasiveness and misdirection. Tanks are also frequently very strong and slow/heavy.