History BadassNormal / TabletopGames

* This is just barely possible in ''TabletopGame/Godbound''. If you want, a Heroic Mortal can skip out on such things as [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Legacy]] talents, [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetics]], [[SupernaturalMartialArts Martial Strifes]] or magical training and stick to abilities that derive purely from personal ability; they'll still get extra hit points and won't be treated as {{Mooks}} by Godbound enemies, allowing them (in theory) to face down lesser Godbound toe-to-toe. This isn't likely, though; Arcem is a world where this sort of character will find small magics available and highly useful when fighting against gods.

* The Pure Mortal template in ''TabletopGame/DresdenFiles'' is precisely what it says it is: a PunyEarthling in a game where other PC options include shapeshifters, changelings, wizards, and even lesser vampires. However, it has a powerful ace up its sleeve: in return for not taking up any supernatural powers, the character gains two free points of Refresh, which translates directly into Fate Points they can use to [[HeroicResolve buy off compels]], [[HeroicSecondWind tag aspects]], [[ContrivedCoincidence make declarations]], and generally tilt the odds in their favor.

** [[TheKingdom Bretonnia]] ''doesn't even get the occasional matchlock musket''. It is effectively medieval England or France, dropped into HighFantasy, with some Arthurian legend sprinkled on top for flavour. They still hold their own through faith and valour. Heck, the whole kingdom was founded by an ordinary man uniting the Breton tribes under a single banner and against all odds beating the Orcs, mirroring the real life English king Alfred the Great [[note]][[NeverLiveItDown Yes, he was a great king and he certainly did more than burn a few damn cakes.]][[/note]].

* Any of the non-super OOC from ''{{Rifts}}'', but in particular the Rogue Scholar. For people whose sole class ability is "Knowledge is Power", they sure do have quite a reputation with the Coalition. And by reputation I mean "KILL HIM NOW! Now, HE'S the biggest threat!"

* Any high point ''{{GURPS}}'' Character will be this, if they didn't load up on lots of fancy exotic advantages.

* In D20Modern Urban Arcana, a high level hero without special powers can be this. Despite possessing no surnatural abilities, a Fast Hero5 Gunslinger 10 Sniper 5 is a force to be reckoned with, able to bring down demons with nothing more than [[OneHitKill one]] [[BigFuckingGun Barrett M82]] shot from more than half a kilometer away, dodge grenades (Evasion) and [[DodgeTheBullet bullets]] like there was no tomorrow (Huge class Defense and Dexterity), even if he/she didn't see the shooter, because he/she just had a gut feeling (Uncanny dodge), cannot be flanked (Improved Uncanny Dodge), can use stealth to get the jump on almost anything, spend time to aim an enemy and ignore cover less than one half (Improved Dead Aim), lay down a barrage of fire (lightning shot), is almost invincible when taking cover (Defensive Position)...

* ''IronHeroes'' thrives on this, with 9 out of 10 classes having no magical talent at all.
* This is the whole purpose of [[TheSyndicate the Guild]] in ''{{Exalted}}''. InAWorld ruled by beings so powerful that their original job description was [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu beating up the gods themselves]], the Guild's purpose is to provide PunyHumans with a power base of their own. They are so successful that the Guild, rather than [[TheEmpire the Realm]], is the only true power with influence across the whole of Creation, with the wherewithal to bring entire countries to their knees if displeased.

** All topped by the protagonist of the Graham [=McNeill=] story, ''The Last Church''. What could possibly be better than being an ordinary Guardsman who stands up to a insane demi-god? Being an old priest who [[spoiler:gives a scathing TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the God Emperor himself]]. It becomes an even bigger SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome if you go with the {{Fanon}} idea that [[spoiler:[[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Jesus was the God-Emperor in disguise]], as that would mean that the old priest inknowingly ''told off his own deity''.]]

* In ''[[TabletopGame/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy Mistborn Adventure Game]]'', non-powered characters not only have the strongest Attributes and Standings, but get two free bonus Traits.

** Space Marines win battles. Imperial Guard wins wars.

*** Sly Marbo, Gunnery Sergeant "Stonetooth" Harker and Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken [[TakeUpToEleven exemplify it to a suitable degree]]. For example, Harker carries a Heavy Bolter as his weapon of choice. This would make him a glorified Devastator Marine wannabe, right? Wrong. He carries it alone, with no superhuman enhancements or power armor and he can run with it (Space Marines can't). He is also known for crushing in an arm lock a Ravener that tried to sneak attack him.

* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' has three heroes who qualify: The Wraith, who uses [[Franchise/{{Batman}} a combination of advanced technology, martial arts, and money]] to match superpowered villains, Expatriette, who uses an [[WallOfWeapons enormous amount of guns]] and [[MoreDakka raw firepower]] to deal as much damage as other damage-focused characters (among whom are a PoweredArmor clad soldier, an alien who can control wind and lightning, and Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun), and Mr. Fixer, who holds his own against gods, alien warlords, and armies of superhumans with nothing but [[BareFistedMonk martial arts]] [[ImprovisedWeapon and a garage full of tools.]]

* ''MutantsAndMasterminds'' is explicitly designed so that these can compete with ultra-powerful wizards and NighInvulnerable aliens from Xenon.
* In ''{{Deadlands}}'', any player character who isn't a [[MagiciansAreWizards Huckster]] or one of [[ReligionIsMagic the Blessed]] ''has'' to be this. They're expected to go toe-to-toe with [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Native American demons]], {{Steampunk}} [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]], [[TheUndead walking corpses]], [[EvilSorcerer Evil Sorcerers]], and [[spoiler:the Four HorsemenOfTheApocalypse]], and are typically armed with nothing more than a Colt revolver, a BadassLongcoat, and a mean disposition.

*** Scout Sergeant Oan Mkoll is hardcore even by Tanith standards. That Chaos Dreadnought the Ghosts killed? A team effort helped by a lucky slash from a power sword and judicious use of [[KillItWithFire flamers]]. In ''Ghostmaker'', Mkoll kills a Dreadnought '''by himself'''. The rest of the regiment ''doesn't know about this'', and they still believe him to be completely invincible.

** Catachan Guardsmen are a level of badass most other Guardsmen can only dream of. Their homeworld is a DeathWorld that eats other Death Worlds for breakfast, where ''surviving to the age of ten'' is considered an accomplishment equivalent to graduating from boot camp, and the ones sent to the Guard are the best of the PDF forces.

** [[BadassGrandpa Commissar Yarrick]], a perfectly human man who had his arm torn off by a massive Ork warlord and responded by tearing off said Ork's own cyborg arm, attaching it to himself, killing the Ork and leading his army to victory before allowing himself to pass out. And he's only got harder since then. This is a man who, upon hearing that his enemies were so afraid of him that they believed he could kill them with an angry glare, ''replaced his eye with a laser so that he could actually do so.''
*** Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka considers Yarrick to be a WorthyOpponent. As in, the largest and most influential Ork ''in the entire galaxy'' who has personally led two of the largest and most destructive Ork WAAAGH!s in Imperial history considers a "skwishy humie" to be as good as him.
*** The [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]], an army of AxCrazy BloodKnight ChaoticStupid {{Fearless Fool}}s, are '''utterly terrified''' of him. The problem is, [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve most Orks think Yarrick is an unkillable badass and their belief actually makes Yarrick an unkillable badass]]. On the tabletop, if Yarrick is killed by Orks, there is a good chance ''he will get back up''. What's more is, due to missing out on the mass MindRape inflicted by the [[EldritchAbomination Nightbringer]] on the galaxy at large, the Orks alone are a sentient race entirely free from the fear of their own mortality. They do not fear death at all, and indeed rush heedlessly towards it and love every second, but they '''[[BeyondTheImpossible still fear Commissar Yarrick]]!'''

* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' has three heroes who qualify: The Wraith, who uses [[Franchise/{{Batman}} a combination of advanced technology, martial arts, and money]] to match superpowered villains, Expatriette, who uses an [[WallOfWeapons enormous amount of guns]] and [[MoreDakka raw firepower]] to deal as much damage as other damage-focused characters (among whom are a PoweredArmor clad soldier, an alien who can control wind an dlightning, and Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun), and Mr. Fixer, who holds his own against gods, alien warlords, and armies of superhumans with nothing but [[BareFistedMonk martial arts]] [[ImprovisedWeapon and a garage full of tools.]]

* Corvus Belli's ''Infinity'' has this in the form of the Ariadna faction. Lacking the technological advantages of their rivals, the nations of the planet Dawn make due with guerilla tactics, a mean-streak in CQC and an ungodly amount of firepower. Also, this makes them immune to the hackers of PanO or the Nomads[[labelnote:*]]. The one character this troper can think of who isn't immune requires you to be within CQC range. That character? ''William Wallace''.[[/labelnote]].

* The Imperial Guard of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe, consisting of ordinary men and women, regularly take on all varieties of horrific AliensAndMonsters, including swarms of alien locusts like the Tyranids, hordes of Orks, the endless LegionsOfHell, backed by gibbering {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and power-armoured Chaos Space Marines, the Necrons - an undead, implacable race of zombie robots - and technologically advanced [[SpaceElves Eldar]], with little more than a flashlight and t-shirt[[note]]Laser guns and flak jackets. A lasgun is powerful enough to dismember a single human, but they're going up against overpowered {{Eldritch Abomination}}s where lasguns are basically laspointers.[[/note]]. And they sometimes '''win'''. The amounts of bravery needed to take against such abominations led to the Imperial Guard being described as more badass than the transhuman SpaceMarines, and also earned them the MemeticMutation: [[BrassBalls Standard issue balls o' steel.]]
** The Tanith First and Only from Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts line of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels. They're just as squishy as any other Guard regiment, yet that doesn't stop them from pulling off feats that would get other Imperial Guard units annihilated. Most of these feats consist of winning against vastly superior numbers of Chaos forces. Individual characters and squads have been known to kill all sorts of things that could easily wipe away enemies and units that could potentially destroy entire armies of Imperial Guardsmen all by themselves. These include, but are not limited to: numerous Chaos warlords, a Dark Eldar assassin, high-level psykers, a Chaos Dreadnought, and a squad of Chaos Space Marines.
*** This is made even more impressive because the Ghosts are NOT a standard Guard regiment - they're LIGHT INFANTRY. No tanks, no artillery, and less body armour than most other regiments. They're actually MORE squishy than most of the already quite squishy Imperial Guard. Ironically, since their specialties lie in the stealth and dirty tricks department, having less armour (and a colossal dose of badass) has actually made them more survivable.
** '''[[CiaphasCain Ciaphas Cain, HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!]]''', in SandyMitchell's novels, who has managed to defeat everything from psykers and Greater Daemons of Slaanesh to Necron warriors, Dark Eldar Reavers, an Ork Warboss, Khornate Berserkers, and Tyranid Hive Tyrants, Broodlords, and Genestealers, along with countless mooks and minions of all of the above.
*** He does generally outwit them first, and his ultimate goal is to not be fighting at all; he just fights with the desperation of a cornered rat.
*** His motives don't change the fact that several of those victories (an Ork Warboss, a great many Genestealers, two and a half Khornate Berserkers (one was killed by [[{{Sidekick}} Jurgen]] with his trusty meltagun, but Cain still fought it to a stand still) and the Greater Daemon of Slannesh) were in single combat and all he had was a laspistol and [[ChainsawGood chainsword]]. He's also taken on at least one Inquisitor and managed to live long enough for reinforcements to arrive.
*** He's described by Vail to be one of the best marksmen and duelists she's ever known. Coming from an Inquisitor, that's extremely high praise.
** Commissar Yarrick, a perfectly human man who had his arm torn off by a massive Ork warlord and responded by tearing off said Ork's own cyborg arm, attaching it to himself, killing the Ork and leading his army to victory before allowing himself to pass out. And he's only got harder since then.
*** This is a man who, upon hearing that his enemies were so afraid of him that they believed he could kill them with an angry glare, ''replaced his eye with a laser so that he could actually do so.''
*** Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka considers Yarrick to be a WorthyOpponent. As in, the largest and most influential Ork ''in the entire galaxy'' who has personally led two of the largest and most destructive Ork WAAAGH!s in Imperial history considers a "skwishy humie" to be as good as him. That, ladies and gentlemen, is this trope.
*** Yarrick is so BadAss, that the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]], an army of AxCrazy BloodKnight ChaoticStupid [[FearlessFool Fearless Fools]], are '''utterly terrified''' of him. The problem is, [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve most Orks think Yarrick is an unkillable badass and their belief actually makes Yarrick an unkillable badass]]. On the tabletop, if Yarrick is killed by Orks, there is a good chance ''he will get back up''. What's more is, due to missing out on the mass MindRape inflicted by the [[EldritchAbomination Nightbringer]] on the galaxy at large, the Orks alone are a sentient race entirely free from the fear of their own mortality. They do not fear death at all, and indeed rush heedlessly towards it and love every second, but they '''[[BeyondTheImpossible still fear Commissar Yarrick]]!'''
** In the related video game, La'Kais probably qualifies as well. Sure he's an alien, but he's a Tau, which means he's shorter lived and physically weaker than even the average [[PunyEarthlings human]]. And yet, according to the OneManArmy page, on his first day of live fire combat, he personally killed "several battalions of the Imperial Guard, large numbers of Space Marines and several Dreadnaughts, a good deal of Chaos Marines and several Daemons, and he does it all within the timespan of twenty four hours." Alas, he breaks down after that.

**** As for the daemon prince, it might have helped that the Tau have no warp presence whatsoever.
**** Actually, the Tau's lack of warp presence merely prevents them from being corrupted by it's influence. Daemons are still capable of killing Tau quite handily. Still, the Tau are one of the most dangerous opponents to Chaos forces because Chaos are forced to [[TheLegionsOfHell fight them head-on]], rather than simply influencing members of their society and bringing them down from the inside.
** Although no longer canon, probably the biggest example in ''40k'' is Ollianus Pius, a Guardsman who more or less told Horus "if you want the Emperor, you'll have to GoThroughMe". Keep in mind Horus was already at demigod status ''before'' the [[EldritchAbomination Chaos Gods]] decided to use him as a receptacle for all of their power, and Pius was an ordinary dude with an assault rifle. Pius was swiftly killed--no, ''atomized'' for his troubles, but damn.
** The ''HorusHeresy'' novels also contain a fair amount of them. The one that stands out particularly was the mute bodyguard Maggrad, who was by the standards of ANY universe containing {{Space Marine}}s, an extremely proficient killer. This was further emphasized later when he was able to almost best an extremely experienced Space Marine captain. Dinas Chayne, another bodyguard, was also an incredibly talented soldier who was, even more amazingly, capable of briefly matching a Primarch in term of swordplay. Many of the Imperial Army soldiers of the era were also pretty badass.

** Guardsman Hawke. In GrahamMcNeill's ''Storm of Iron'', he escapes the initial assault (blowing away a couple of Chaos Space Marines with an assault cannon as he does), hoofs it to an orbital torpedo silo, and takes out half of the Iron Warriors Chaos Space Marines besieging the Citadel. He's also the only Imperial Guardsman to survive the whole war, not counting slaves hauled off to Medrengard (though a few Imperial Fists in a Thunderbird manage to save him, whether or not they were in the campaign or just happened to be investigating is unknown). To put that in perspective, he had been written off by his superiors as a useless, foul-mouthed, insubordinate and ill-disciplined Guardsman barely worthy of the name prior to the attack.
** The Catachans, being born on a [[DeathWorld planet that tries to kill you every minute you live and breath]] makes sure the only ones to survive are this trope.
** Uriah, the protagonist of the Graham [=McNeill=] story ''[[http://1d4chan.org/wiki/The_Last_Church The Last Church]]'', combines this with BadassPacifist. He's an unarmed, untrained old priest who ends up meeting ''the God Emperor of Mankind'', a man of such physical and psychic power that calling him a PhysicalGod wouldn't be too much hyperbole, and [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech telling him]] ''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to his]]'' '''''[[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech face]]''''' [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech why he sucks]]. He calls him out on his hypocrisy and brutality regarding his views on religion and his plans for galactic conquest, points out how the future he has in store for humankind is insane and utterly crapsack, and finishes up by issuing a warning that one day the Emperor's followers may start seeing him as a god, before [[FaceDeathWithDignity turning around and calmly striding into the remains of his burning church]]. And the best thing is, [[DoomedMoralVictor everything he said ended up being proven 100% correct]]. Bad. Ass.

*** Why stop just there? In 4th edition, there are '''14''' Epic Destinies, counting the Godhunter, restricted to Martial characters alone (that is, Fighters, Rangers, Rogues and Warlords -- Barbarians are [[GaiasVengeance Primal]] in 4e). The Adamantine Soldier is a Fighter or Warlord who has become such a master of heavy armor that they are NighInvulnerable; nothing hurts them, nothing can get past them, and they will never be broken in body or spirit. The Beastlord is a beastmaster Ranger who becomes so close to his animal companion that they become a single mind and soul. The Dark Wanderer is a Rogue or Ranger who has wandered so long and so far that they have outrun fate itself. The Eternal Defender is a Fighter who becomes an immovable object in battle, whose courage and duty leads to them taking up arms to protect the world or even TheMultiverse for all eternity. The Legendary General is a Warlord who goes on to fight in the greatest battles the planes have ever seen, and if they so desire, may conquer all of reality itself. The Martial Archetype is a multiclassed Martial character who bcomes the ultimate warrior. The Perfect Assassin is a Rogue so skilled at dealing death that even Death itself will not dare to approach them before the Perfect Assassin is ready to die -- they may even slay the God of Death and take the throne for themselves. The Undying Warrior is the ultimate Fighter, immortal and unkillable. The Warmaster is a Warlord who becomes so skilled that there is no challenge left in reality -- defeating armies of demons or outwitting the gods themselves becomes trite, forcing them to seek the Eternal War, the mythical arena where all of the greatest military leaders who have ever lived spend eternity testing their skills against each other. The Dragonheart is a Martial character who reveres dragons as the ultimate embodiment of martial virtue, devoting themselves to those concepts with such fervors that they transcend their original nature and become dragons in body and soul. The Invincible Vanguard is a Martial character is a warrior who yearns to face the greatest threats ever, and who goes on to defeat them all. The Legendary Sovereign is a Fighter, Ranger or Warlord who goes on to found a kingdom, or perhaps an empire, that will never be forgotten. And the Star-Favored Champion is destined to become, simply, one of the greatest heroes ever known. And each and every last one of these characters has no special gimmicks, no magic, nothing at all mystical. They are just. That. BadAss.

*** Yarrick is so BadAss, that the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]], an army of AxCrazy BloodKnight ChaoticStupid [[FearlessFool Fearless Fools]], are '''utterly terrified''' of him. The problem is, [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve most Orks think Yarrick is an unkillable badass and their belief actually makes Yarrick an unkillable badass]]. On the tabletop, if Yarrick is killed by Orks, there is a good chance ''he will get back up''. What's more is, due to missing out on the mass [[MindRape Mind Rape]] inflicted by the [[EldritchAbomination Nightbringer]] on the galaxy at large, the Orks alone are a sentient race entirely free from the fear of their own mortality. They do not fear death at all, and indeed rush heedlessly towards it and love every second, but they '''[[BeyondTheImpossible still fear Commissar Yarrick]]!'''

* The Imperial Guard of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe, consisting of ordinary men and women, regularly take on all varieties of horrific AliensAndMonsters, including swarms of alien locusts like the Tyranids, hordes of Orks, the endless LegionsOfHell, backed by gibbering EldritchAbominations and power-armoured Chaos Space Marines, the Necrons - an undead, implacable race of zombie robots - and technologically advanced [[SpaceElves Eldar]], with little more than a flashlight and t-shirt[[note]]Laser guns and flak jackets. A lasgun is powerful enough to dismember a single human, but they're going up against overpowered EldritchAbominations where lasguns are basically laspointers.[[/note]]. And they sometimes '''win'''. The amounts of bravery needed to take against such abominations led to the Imperial Guard being described as more badass than the transhuman SpaceMarines, and also earned them the MemeticMutation: [[BrassBalls Standard issue balls o' steel.]]

* The Imperial Guard of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe, consisting of ordinary men and women, regularly take on all varieties of horrific AliensAndMonsters, including swarms of alien locusts like the Tyranids, hordes of Orks, the endless LegionsOfHell, backed by gibbering EldritchAbominations and power-armoured Chaos Space Marines, the Necrons - an undead, implacable race of zombie robots - and technologically advanced [[SpaceElves Eldar]], with little more than a flashlight and t-shirt[[note]]Laser guns and flak jackets. A lasgun is powerful enough to dusmember a single human. Unfortunately, they're going up against overpowered EldritchAbominations where lasguns are basically laspointers.[[/note]]. And they sometimes '''win'''. The amounts of bravery needed to take against such abominations led to the Imperial Guard being described as more badass than the transhuman SpaceMarines, and also earned them the MemeticMutation: [[BrassBalls Standard issue balls o' steel.]]

* The Imperial Guard of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe, consisting of ordinary men and women, regularly take on all varieties of horrific AliensAndMonsters, including swarms of alien locusts like the Tyranids, hordes of Orks, the endless LegionsOfHell, backed by gibbering EldritchAbominations and power-armoured Chaos Space Marines, the Necrons - an undead, implacable race of zombie robots - and technologically advanced [[SpaceElves Eldar]], with little more than a flashlight and t-shirt[[note]][[LaserBeams Lasguns]] and flak jackets. A lasgun is powerful enough to dusmember a single human. Unfortunately, they're going up against overpowered EldritchAbominations where lasguns are basically laspointers.[[/note]]. And they sometimes '''win'''. The amounts of bravery needed to take against such abominations led to the Imperial Guard being described as more badass than the transhuman SpaceMarines, and also earned them the MemeticMutation: [[BrassBalls Standard issue balls o' steel.]]