History BadassBookworm / ComicBooks

* Peter Parker. Science nerd. Photographer. {{Spider-Man}}. Once punched {{Wolverine}} through an unbreakable plate glass window to fall to the street 15 stories below when he was mad. The epitome of this trope due to being the first known teenage outcast super hero. He's the master of this trope because, despite being a nerd, he gets all sorts of awesome powers and is a straight up ChickMagnet. Second only to Tony Stark in that area (also a fellow Badass Bookworm), but Parker is the original Nerd {{Superman}}.
* Spiderman's villain, The Shocker. Smart guy and puts up a good fight. Has updated and improved his costume and blast gauntlets based upon past encounters with Spider-Man. Also one of the most professional villains in the rogues gallery, having an alright win-loss ratio considering that he fights ''Spider-Man''.
* The [[ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA's]] Mr. Terrific is the third smartest man on the planet. He has a knack for having knacks. He also has an Olympic gold medal and six black belts.

* Barbara Gordon in TheDCU is one. Even as ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}},'' she is a bookworm, physically unimposing and underestimated. As [[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey Oracle]], [[HandicappedBadass she's in a wheelchair and still capable of kicking the ass of various muggers, five Men In Black and the elite secret agent Spysmasher on different occasions]], in addition to being a master strategist with a photographic memory, unmatched computer skills and genius-level intellect.

* [[TheFlash Barry Allen]], whose powers also come with the benefit of giving him a faster working brain, and were caused by him playing with chemicals. He's one of the most powerful superhumans in Franchise/TheDCU, but he's also a scientist by trade.

* VandalSavage, although he [[WickedCultured deplores fisticuffs]], is a ContemporaryCaveman with enhanced strength, endurance, and reflexes. He will ''wreck you'' if you insist on a fistfight (as many superheroes throughout the decades have discovered).

* After a brief stint with the Wreckers in [=IDW=]'s ''[[TheTransformersIDW Transformers]]'' comics, during which he was badly wounded, Perceptor decides he needs to improve his combat abilities. He does this by adding gyroscopic stabilizers to his arm, an advanced targeting visor to his head, and a bunch of other upgrades that have the end result of turning him into a brutally effective ColdSniper. (This takes place chronologically before his appearance in All Hail Megatron, thus {{retcon}}ning an answer to the question, "When did Perceptor get scary?"

* Both Dwight and Wallace from ''SinCity'' are very intelligent, well-educated men who are more than capable of bringing down the bad guys.

** That said, Doom has had his moments as well.

* Tony Stark, the titular ComicBook/IronMan. He also kicks ass without the use of his suit or any advanced technology, considering CaptainAmerica taught him to fight.

* ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'': Sage, who explicitly has AwesomeByAnalysis as her superpower. Combine this with a strong ActionGirl streak and you have a badass who will beat you up while explaining what you are doing wrong.
** Also ComicBook/KittyPryde. Not only is she an electronics genius as a teenager, but she then gets ninja training from {{Wolverine}} and develops her phasing power so that she can hit you whilst she's phasing through somebody else.
** Also ComicBook/{{X 23}}. Although not of savant or genius-level, she's nonetheless highly-educated, multilingual, and once told Storm she's [[SmartPeoplePlayChess never lost a chess match]]. She's also an ''incredibly'' skilled fighter and deadly assassin, and ''ComicBook/AvengersArena'' reveals she applies AwesomenessByAnalysis and SherlockScan to plan how to kill everyone around her immediately upon entering a room.

** That said, [[SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom Doom]] has had his moments as well.

* [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] is ''the'' Badass Bookworm you wouldn't want to make angry! Perhaps not 100% applicable because the Hulk is a different personality, but overall they're the same person, and can certainly scrap ''any'' of the others. Not so long ago Bruce lost his powers (again) because of VillainSue RedHulk. Every sign on [[WordOfGod heaven]] or earth shows that Bruce is so Badass Bookworm that taking away his Hulk persona can make him even '''more''' dangerous. It's easy to forget he turned into The Hulk to begin with because he had a career building super-weapons for the government, which as Banner, he's intelligent enough to use and improve upon.

* Then there's NormanOsborn, who took a drug to boost his own intellect, becoming insane and super strong in the process. His successors (his son Harry Osborn and Roderick Kingsley, the first Hobgoblin) followed suit.

* The [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA's]] Mr. Terrific is the third smartest man on the planet. He has a knack for having knacks. He also has an Olympic gold medal and six black belts.
* [[TheIncredibleHercules Amadeus Cho]] in the MarvelUniverse is the epitome of this trope. When he isn't making SHIELD look like a bunch of fools with his mad hacking skills, he manages to take down foes with pebbles because of his understanding of physics and angles. He isn't called the seventh smartest person on the planet for nothing. And it's an open question among fans whether he's really ''only'' the seventh smartest.

** Also ComicBook/{{X 23}}. Although not of savant or genius-level, she's nonetheless highly-educated, multilingual, and once told Storm she's [[SmartPeoplePlayChess never lost a chess match]]. She's also an ''incredibly'' skilled fighter and deadly assassin, and ''AvengersArena'' reveals she applies AwesomenessByAnalysis and SherlockScan to plan how to kill everyone around her immediately upon entering a room.

** Bane is a good villain example. In prison, he spent nearly all his time reading tons of books, learned six languages and educated. All while training himself.

* Qubit of ''{{ComicBook/Irredeemable}}'' is the smartest guy in the Paradigm, but as soon as fighting breaks out he's out on the front lines. Never without his [[GadgeteerGenius gadgets]], of course, but he can also throw a solid punch when he wants to.

* Jill Trent, of the obscure [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] feature ''Comicbook/JillTrentScienceSleuth'', is an unusually early female version. Jill mostly relies on her prodigious science and engineering abilities to solve mysteries, as one might expect a Science Sleuth to do. But nearly every adventure ends up with Jill and her [[LesYay gal pal]] Daisy beating the crap out of the bad guys - [[ActionGirl just like contemporaneous male heroes would]]. (A public domain example of the feature can be seen [[http://nedor-a-day.blogspot.com/2008/10/jill-trent-science-sleuth-in-case-of.html here]].)

* Lilith Calah from {{Dreamkeepers}} definitely counts, being smart, well-read and having defeated at least two [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abominations]]

** Her villain counterpart, The Calculator, was rebooted as one of these.

** Also Kitty Pryde. Not only is she an electronics genius as a teenager, but she then gets ninja training from {{Wolverine}} and develops her phasing power so that she can hit you whilst she's phasing through somebody else.

* The version of Reed Richards in ''UltimateFantasticFour''. His stretch powers were regarded as the suckiest of the four right up to the point where he decided to pitch in anyway. Cue Doctor Doom getting thrown into scenery, Annihilus getting shot in the mouth (with his own gun!), and Diablo getting his Supervillain Lair blown up.

** Also {{X-23}}. Although not of savant or genius-level, she's nonetheless highly-educated, multilingual, and once told Storm she's [[SmartPeoplePlayChess never lost a chess match]]. She's also an ''incredibly'' skilled fighter and deadly assassin, and ''AvengersArena'' reveals she applies AwesomenessByAnalysis and SherlockScan to plan how to kill everyone around her immediately upon entering a room.

* Peter Parker. Science nerd. Photographer. {{Spider-Man}}. Once punched {{Wolverine}} through an unbreakable plate glass window to fall to the street 15 stories below when he was mad. BadAss. The empitome of this trope due to being the first known teenage outcast super hero. He's the master of this trope because, despite being a nerd, he gets all sorts of awesome powers and is a straight up ChickMagnet. Second only to Tony Stark in that area(also a fellow Badass Bookworm), but Parker is the original Nerd {{Superman}}.

* After a brief stint with [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix the Wreckers]] in [=IDW=]'s ''[[TheTransformersIDW Transformers]]'' comics, during which he was badly wounded, Perceptor decides he needs to improve his combat abilities. He does this by adding gyroscopic stabilizers to his arm, an advanced targeting visor to his head, and a bunch of other upgrades that have the end result of turning him into a brutally effective ColdSniper. (This takes place chronologically before his appearance in All Hail Megatron, thus {{retcon}}ning an answer to the question, "When did Perceptor get scary?"

* [[TheFlash Barry Allen]], who's powers also come with the benefit of giving him a faster working brain, and were caused by him playing with chemicals. He's one of the most powerful superhumans in Franchise/TheDCU, but he's also a scientist by trade.

* {{Tintin}}: A highly intelligent young journalist and a force to be reckoned with. Solves crimes and punches out bad guys on a regular basis.

* {{Daredevil}} is a [[HandicappedBadass blind]] lawyer who just happens to be a martial arts master.