History FromNobodyToNightmare / AnimeAndManga

** Ymir Fritz. [[spoiler: as a child, she was a mere slave to a tribe of barbarian warriors. After being blamed for a pig escaping, she was hunted for sport, and accidentally encountered a spine-like creature that attached to her and transformed her into the first titan. Ymir was granted such extraordinary power that the Eldians were able to turn their tiny warrior tribe into an empire that ruled most of the world for almost 2000 years. Subverted in that she was still a meek slave to the King, who used her to TakeOverTheWorld.]]
** [[spoiler: The protagonist, Eren Yeager himself. He started the series as a nobody, standing out only due to his rash BullyHunter nature and an extreme desire to travel outside the Walls he deemed as 'cages'. He is currently the ''single-most'' threat to the entire world, commanding thousands of Wall Titans to destroy life outside Paradis, and has a plethora of powers to ensure he goes unopposed.]]
** Floch Forster starts off as an inexperienced, naive, enthusiastic, and yet cowardly RedShirt. During the Battle of Shighanshina, he is caught in the bombardment by the Beast Titan and breaks down in TearsOfFear when he realizes he's going to die. [[spoiler: He miraculously ends up as the SoleSurvivor of Erwin Smith's suicide charge, develops a bitter hatred against the outside world after the TimeSkip, and becomes a ruthless and sociopathic military leader. He deliberately attacks civilians in Liberio, starts a RenegadeSplinterFaction (The "Yeagerists") to support Eren's scheme, murders General Zachly, breaks Eren from prison, executes a coup d'etat against the military junta, gleefully executes foreigners, commits mass purges against political opponents and mass poisons them with the Titan Spinal Fluid to turn them into Titans, and rallies his troops to prevent the rest of the Survey Corps from stopping Eren's plan to destroy the outside world.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Done in the [[{{Anime}} Gotei 13]] [[{{Filler}} Invasion Arc]]. [[ArcVillain Ouko Yushima]] began as a very weak and pathetic shinigami who didn't have the strength to fight in battle or master his [[EmpathicWeapon zanpakutou]]. He therefore decided to split himself and his zanpakutou apart into two mod-soul beings that could master his powers. The one mod-soul was the apparent villain Kageroza Inaba and the second mod-soul was the apparent heroine Nozomi Kujou. Kageroza could manipulate space-time, bring the dead back to life and was so powerful he could defeat Ichigo and Yamamoto at the same time. Nozomi could absorb reiatsu, steal the powers of others, combine them with her own power and use it as super-powerful attack, and heal better than even Orihime, she was so powerful she could fight Kageroza even when Yamamoto himself could not. Where the mod-soul powers came from is never explained as none of them were abilities of the original zanpakutou, but when the two were recombined back into Yushima, he was able to combine all these powers to destroy the very existence of Soul Society itself. Being an IneffectualLoner, he was defeated by both ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove.

* ''Manga/DeathNote'': Brilliant, yet disaffected high school student Light Yagami; incompetent, unpopular corporate drone [[spoiler: Kyosuke Higuchi]] and [[spoiler: a CrusadingLawyer, Teru Mikami]] each come across a [[ArtifactOfDoom simple notebook]] leading each of them to become notorious mass murderers and, in the case of one of them -- Light -- [[AGodAmI GOD OF THE NEW WORLD]].

** Neo as well, big time. [[spoiler:He was a pretty weak appetite demon (diminute, to boot) that was mocked and deemed by its peers to be unfit to travel with them. But, after it experienced its first meal, he began eating any animal no matter how big it was. and ''then'' began eating planets, stars and ''the entire blue universe''. And after being reborn several times, eventually becoming Acacia's own appetite demon, he's the biggest pillar in the [[GreaterScopeVillain Gourmet Nobility]] as their ultimate goal is to breed it in order to seal it once and for all.]]

** Ippo from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' certainly counts as this. At first he comes across as a small, meek high school student who gets pushed around by bullies, and even the man who would become his coach and trainer initially didn't see anything in him; it doesn't take long before he quickly rises through the Featherweight ranks and builds a reputation for being a powerful infighter with a vicious left jab and a destructive right straight. His contemporaries are routinely awed either by how ridiculously powerful his punches are, or how determined he is to keep fighting even when he's exhausted and damaged. That said, this really only applies to when he's in the ring- outside of it, even people who adore him will overlook him in public, given his non-confrontational personality and politeness.
*** One of Ippo's juniors and former fellow boxers, Yamada Naomichi, eventually becomes this. When first introduced to the manga he was the temporary buttmonkey of the gym, and wasn't expected to make it very far as a boxer- when he's reintroduced later in the series under the ring name Hammer Nao, his appearance has changed massively and he's gained a reputation for being a powerful underdog who rose through the ranks despite all odds. Even Ippo is astounded by how far Nao has come.

* Zigzagged with the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', who all spent the early years of their lives as {{Butt Monkey}}s, shunned or kicked around by the world around them. They made an attempt to make a name for themselves by joining the organization, but after a short tenure as wanted criminals known for stealing rare and unique Pokemon, they became obsessed with capturing Ash's Pikachu whom they saw as unique compared to others of his kind upon first seeing him, and through their constant failures to keep a hold on Pikachu for long, devolved into a GoldfishPoopGang who got continuously outsmarted and beat up by a gang of kids and their Pokemon. After they were promoted to a key mission in Unova however, the trio evolved into far more competent and sinister agents for Team Rocket, helping with some of their most ambitious schemes and regularly acting as a genuine adversary for Ash and his allies. When Team Rocket's business with Unova ended however, the three slowly reverted back into bumblers without a drive, though occasionally reminding Ash that they can still be a ruthless threat in the right circumstances.

** Ken started out as a lonely child who was always in the shadow of his older brother, however after his death a series of events lead to him becoming the evil Digimon Emperor.

** ''Anime/DragonBallYoSonGokuAndHisFriendsReturn'' deals with Abo and Kado, members of Freeza's Planet Trade Organization that were originally ranked below the Ginyu Force that ''both'' became as strong as Freeza himself in the fourteen years following his death. And they can perform a {{fusion|dance}} technique to become even stronger!

* Dio Brando of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' began life as the very intelligent, but frustrated ''and'' nigh psychotically [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] son of a petty thief in England, 1800s. From there, he quickly became a ''vampire'', a [[spoiler:HeroKiller]], attempted to raise a zombie army to take over the world, gained the psychic power to [[spoiler:[[TimeStandsStill freeze time]]]], and even after his death, continues to weigh heavily on the setting. It gets to the point that Dio mentored a FromNobodyToNightmare villain of his ''own'', [[spoiler:Father Enrico Pucci]], who through him, [[spoiler:''succeeded in rewriting the entire universe!'']]

** Nagato started out as a CheerfulChild in a small village called the Hidden Rain, who soon was subjected to BreakTheCutie as he watched his parents being killed by Konoha forces, leading to awakening of his Rinnegan. Then Jiraiya taught him Ninjutsu along with Yahiko and Konan. Then he joins his friend Yahiko's revolution, becoming his right hand. Soon after that, [[spoiler: Hanzo the Salamander growing fearful of the revolution gaining power, had Yahiko commit suicide after subjecting Nagato to a SadisticChoice, which enraged him so much he summoned the Gedo Mazo and instantly massacred the Salamander's army, later crushing the government so thoroughly Hanzo's legacy was literally ''wiped out'' by Nagato, now calling himself Pain, and Hanzo the Salamander was the guy who defeated the Legendary Sannin at their prime. Soon he turns the Rain Village into a Akatsuki-favoring dictatorship for his ultimate plan of periodically nuking the world in regular intervals, handed Jiraiya his ass and ''[[HeroKiller killed him]]'' soon after. He then invades Konoha to capture Naruto, which leads in the total destruction of the village with countless lives lost, even named characters like Shizune, Fukasaku and ''Kakashi'' himself, and almost won his war against the ''Nine-Tails'' singlehandedly. Only a major DeusExMachina saved it from being TheBadGuyWins, and months after his passing, his repute was so feared Kabuto kept him as an ace in the hole during the Fourth Great Ninja War.]]

** [[spoiler:BigBad Tobi]], who turns out to be none other than [[spoiler: Obito Uchiha]]. That's right folks, the same kid that [[spoiler: spent his childhood [[EpicFail failing at everything]], [[AllLoveIsUnrequited pining for Rin]], [[TheRival feeling jealous of Kakashi]], and pretty much being the [[IdiotHero Naruto]] of his day]], is now the guy who [[spoiler: indirectly killed Naruto's parents (one of which was his own ''sensei'') by taking control of Kurama and unleashing him on Konoha, took part in the Uchiha massacre, corrupted Nagato and later Sasuke, co-led the aforementioned evil army against the five great powers of the ''Naruto'' universe, worked to unleash the universe's resident Satan (albeit depowered somewhat) and briefly became the WorldsStrongestMan as the first Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails since the Sage of Six Paths, to say nothing of a whole laundry list of additional heinous acts he committed between his "death" and the current story.]] Basically he's Naruto on Evil. In fact, the only reason he was defeated was [[spoiler: he was convinced there was still hope for the world, and was struggling with himself about the path he took.]]

** Luffy went from being a no-name rookie pirate (sure, his family is kind of important, but it wasn't common knowledge at the time) from the weakest sea in the world, to having a [[spoiler:1.5 Billion beli]] bounty, declaring war on the [[OneWorldOrder World Government]], and slapping down their elite Warlords of the Sea left and right. Hell, [[spoiler:a former Warlord member ends up joining his crew!]] He's even [[spoiler:the leader of his own ''fleet'', with 7 sizable pirate crews serving him after he and his crew rescued them in Dressrosa. After butting heads with ''one of the Four Emperors'' just to save a crewmate, his achievements (both real and coincidental) had him labeled as ''the Fifth Emperor''. What makes Luffy such a notable example is that his pirate career was only a few months prior to the 2 year TimeSkip (a period of time where he went through TrainingFromHell and TookALevelInBadass), then a couple months more after that. Meanwhile, other infamous pirates gained their status after many years! And yet, Luffy (along with his crew) was able to accomplish so much in such a short time that the World Government makes it their top priority to capture him like the other big names.]]
** Teach was just a GiantMook in Whitebeard's crew. Even when we first meet him in the story, he's just a random guy who nearly gets in a fight with Luffy over pie. Then we find out he acquired a "special" Devil Fruit... suddenly he joins the Seven Warlords of the Sea, [[spoiler: kills the strongest man in the world and steals his earthquake powers, and declares war on the entire planet. Fast forward [[TimeSkip two years]], and he's one of the four most powerful pirates in existence.]]

** Garou, who went from a kid who found it extremely unfair that the bad guys in his cartoons never won despite their effort, to a menace that wiped the floor with everyone that wasn't the protagonist in an effort to become the ultimate villain.

* Tetsuo from ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. Originally a bike gang member - an incompetent one who's only there because his best friend is the leader of said gang - through a series of bizarre events he becomes an [[spoiler: ultra-powerful [[MindOverMatter telekinetic]] who [[BodyHorror morphs]] into [[EldritchAbomination a monstrosity worthy of the]] Franchise/CthulhuMythos]].

** [[spoiler: The protagonist, Eren Yeager himself. He started the series as a nobody, standing out only due to his rash BullyHunter nature and an extreme desire to travel outside the Walls he deemed as 'cages'. He is currently the ''single-most'' threat to the entire world, commanding thousands of Wall Titans to destroy life outside Paradis, and has plethora of powers to ensure he goes unopposed.]]
** Floch Forster starts off as an unexperienced, naive, enthusiastic and yet cowardly RedShirt. During the Battle of Shighanshina, he is caught on the bombardment by the Beast Titan and breaks down in TearsOfFear when he realizes he's going to die. [[spoiler: He miraculously ends up as the SoleSurvivor of Erwin Smith's suicide charge, develops a bitter hatred against the outside world after the TimeSkip, and becomes a ruthless and sociopathic military leader. He deliberately attacks civilians targets in Liberio, starts a RenegadeSplinterFaction (The "Yeagerists") to support Eren's scheme, murders General Zachly, breaks Eren from prison, executes a coup d'etat against the military junta, gleefully executes foreigners, commit mass purges against political opponents and mass poison them with the Titan Spinal Fluid to turn them into Titans, and rallies his troops to prevent the rest of the Survey Corps from stopping Eren's plan to destroy the outside world.]]
* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'':
** Ken started out as a lonely child who was always in the shadow of his older brother, however after his death a series of events lead to him becoming the evil Digimon Emperor.
** Oikawa started out almost the same way, having Iori's father as his only friend. But after Iori's dad was killed in line of duty, Oikawa promised himself he'd make their dream visiting the Digital World one day real no matter what, and with the help of [[spoiler:Vamdemon]], he becomes a ruthless MagnificentBastard who almost brought both worlds - and potentially the entire universe - to ruins in chasing his mad dream.
* The D-Reaper from ''Anime/DigimonTamers''. It began as an extremely simple computer program, designed to delete any other program that grew beyond its purpose. Then the Digital World came into being, and the Reaper decided that not only did the Digimon qualify, ''so did we''. It also had an increase in power over its lifespan, going from ridiculously simple computer program to nigh-unstoppable, city-devouring EldritchAbomination.
** Impmon went from a [[BoisterousWeakling not particularly powerful]] {{jerkass}} to the very powerful and DrunkOnTheDarkSide [[OmnicidalManiac Beelzemon]], going so far as to [[spoiler:kill Leomon]] before his later [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]].

* ''Manga/{{Kekkaishi}}'': Kuroda was once an UnskilledButStrong samurai with a streak for killing. [[spoiler: He then makes a deal with the Ayakashi and becomes the series' most memorable villain Kaguro]].
* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' gives us [Roxanne of Love and Hate]. She started her Yoma-slaying career with a low inherent power rating, leaving her at the low Rank 35, so she copied the fighting style of her partner to compensate. Then she realized she had the talent to fully replicate and surpass other warriors' fighting styles in a matter of weeks. She decided to ''backstab her former partner so she could get reassigned to someone stronger''. She also discarded the fighting style of her former partner when she deemed it weak and disgusting in comparison to her new obsession's fighting style. She repeated this process over and over, informally allowed to do so by the corrupt organization that wanted test subjects rather than warriors, until she managed to reach the very top. [[note]]She refused to copy the fighting style of her Rank 1 partner because it involved literally eating dirt through inhuman, distended dodging. So she just killed her outright.[[/note]] She's so powerful that after her death, the organization preserves her body (ranking her 1-8, as the eighth most powerful warrior to achieve rank 1) so they can resurrect her when they need a cleaner to decimate any rebellions.

* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'' brings us Paptimus Scirocco, a minor official from Jupiter recruited by the Titans. Over the course of the series he slowly gathers followers and influence, culminating in him supplanting [[BigBadDuumvirate Jamitov and Bosque]] and seizing control of the Titans. And did we mention he slowly reveals himself to be an amazingly skilled pilot, genius mobile suit designer and extremely powerful Newtype?
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'' has Glemmy Toto. Originally introduced as a minor, bumbling Neo-Zeon officer, he slowly becomes more and more ruthless and competent until, in the endgame, he's sending out mind-controlled Cyber-Newtype clones in psychically-controlled superweapons, and slaughtering Haman Kahn's top lieutenants left and right. It helps that, somewhere in there, he was revealed to be [[spoiler:either a clone or the BastardBastard of Gihren Zabi, the BigBad of the original ''Gundam''.]]
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn,'' Buch Concern, the salvage firm Banagher Links works a part-time job at, is run by the business-oriented Ronah family. The only real notable thing about them at that point in the UC timeline is that they had taken (and bought) their last name from an impoverished line of European nobles. In less than 30 years, that same family would have enough manpower, resources and influence to forge their own realm almost overnight: Cosmo Babylonia from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91''.
* Ippo from ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'' certainly counts as this. At first he comes across as a small, meek high school student who gets pushed around by bullies, and even the man who would become his coach and trainer initially didn't see anything in him; it doesn't take long before he quickly rises through the Featherweight ranks and builds a reputation for being a powerful infighter with a vicious left jab and a destructive right straight. His contemporaries are routinely awed either by how ridiculously powerful his punches are, or how determined he is to keep fighting even when he's exhausted and damaged. That said, this really only applies to when he's in the ring- outside of it, even people who adore him will overlook him in public, given his non-confrontational personality and politeness.
** One of Ippo's juniors and former fellow boxers, Yamada Naomichi, eventually becomes this. When first introduced to the manga he was the temporary buttmonkey of the gym, and wasn't expected to make it very far as a boxer- when he's reintroduced later in the series under the ring name Hammer Nao, his appearance has changed massively and he's gained a reputation for being a powerful underdog who rose through the ranks despite all odds. Even Ippo is astounded by how far Nao has come.
* ''Manga/InuYasha'''s Naraku. A bandit fails in his attempt to take over his band and ends up a crippled, burnt wreck of a man destined to live out the rest of his life in constant agony. But his PerverseSexualLust for [[{{Miko}} Kikyo]] grows so strong he makes a contract with demons and is transformed into the BigBad.
* [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr.]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Hell]] from ''Anime/MazingerZ'' started like an unwanted son born in a pauper, ordinary family was -psychologically and physically- [[AbusiveParents abused by his mother]], berated by his teachers and bullied by his classmates. Thirty years later he was designing {{Doomsday Device}}s for UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and experimenting with human beings in Auschwitz. Forty years later he was trying to TakeOverTheWorld and enslaving humankind with an army of HumongousMecha. [[spoiler:And in ''Anime/GreatMazinger'' he was handed over the command of the entire army of the Mykene Empire.]]
* Niki from ''Urotsukidouji'' is a [[ThisLoserIsYou teenage loser]] with an [[DeusAngstMachina improbably shitty life]] who becomes a super-powerful demon-man after making a DealWithTheDevil of sorts.
* Lucy in ''Manga/ElfenLied'' was resigned to getting bullied by [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the other children]] at the orphanage for being a [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair freak]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning of]] [[UnusualEars nature]]. Then she got [[PersonOfMassDestruction the power to turn a perfectly ordinary living room into a blender]].
* ''Manga/DeathNote'': Brilliant, yet disaffected high school student Light Yagami; incompetent, unpopular corporate drone [[spoiler: Kyosuke Higuchi]] and [[spoiler: a CrusadingLawyer, Teru Mikami]] each come across a [[ArtifactOfDoom simple notebook]] leading each of them to become notorious mass murderers and, in the case of one of them -- Light -- [[AGodAmI GOD OF THE NEW WORLD]].
* [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Hirose]] from ''Manga/AliveTheFinalEvolution''. Originally just TheHero's often ignored childhood friend, even ''after'' he [[TouchedByVorlons gains super powers]] and does a FaceHeelTurn he doesn't seem to be much more than the BigBad's mind controlled pawn. Then he gets his hands on [[MacGuffin The Heart of Akuro]], which frees him from the mind control and gives him ''godlike'' power, and he promptly decides to use it to ''[[OmnicidalManiac kill everyone on Earth]]''.

* Starting with volume 9, an important subplot in ''LightNovel/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'' is about averting this with Fuuga Haan, who Souma thinks has the potential to conquer the entire continent.
* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'', Irie Shouichi manages, through rampant misuse of TimeTravel, to accidentally make a nobody named Byakuran capable of communicating with [[AlternateUniverse alternate realities]], bent on [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the worlds]]... ''[[MultiversalConqueror all of them]]''.

** Teach was just a GiantMook in Whitebeard's crew. Even when we first meet him in the story, he's just a random guy who nearly gets in a fight with Luffy over pie. Then we find out he acquired a "special" Devil Fruit… suddenly he joins the Seven Warlords of the Sea, [[spoiler: kills the strongest man in the world and steals his earthquake powers, and declares war on the entire planet. Fast forward [[TimeSkip two years]], and he's one of the four most powerful pirates in existence.]]

* The Noah from ''Manga/DGrayMan''. All of them regular humans until [[InTheBlood their cursed lineage]] makes them spontaneously reincarnate into supernatural {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s.
** And then it turns out that [[spoiler:since the Noah's souls are those of the original survivors of the biblical Flood ([[MeaningfulName notice the name?]]), ''everyone on the planet shares their lineage'', meaning that absolutely anyone could potentially turn out to be their host]]. Can you smell the ParanoiaFuel?
* Jellal Fernandez in ''Manga/FairyTail'' started out as a slave working under the oppression of a ReligionOfEvil. Watching his best friend and love interest be brutally tortured and being even ''more'' brutally tortured himself, along with subtle {{brainwash|ed}}ing by a false god, turned him into an incredibly powerful mage whose powers come directly from celestial objects (such as meteors, among other things). He also managed to pull off a perfect EvilPlan, and it was only by devouring [[DeathRay Etherion]] that Natsu was able to summon the power to defeat him. [[spoiler:He is later healed by Wendy and becomes a good guy, although he is still one of the most powerful characters in the series.]]
** The members of the Oracion Seis (sans the leader Brain) started out as child slaves to the same ReligionOfEvil as Jellal. After Jellal went BrainwashedAndCrazy, the five were chosen by Jellal's EvilMentor Brain for having the highest Magical potential of the slaves and trained by him. Fast-forward to the present day and these five are the spearheads to one of the three most powerful Dark Guilds in Ishgar and so dangerous that Fairy Tail had to enter an alliance with three other guilds to bring them down and stop them from activating a DoomsdayDevice. Later on, four of the five said members would escape from prison and, together with a StarterVillain from a minor dark guild and [[spoiler:a [[LivingToy doll brought to life]]]], reformed the guild and took control of ''another'' DoomsdayDevice, with Fairy Tail having to join forces with a formerly CorruptChurch (corrupted through the Oracion Seis' own actions at that) to bring them down again.
** [[spoiler: [[BigBad Zeref]], the person Jellal was supposedly working to resurrect, was a case of this as well. Originally an otherwise normal, if absolutely [[ChildProdigy brilliant]], student at the Mildian Magic Academy he researched all manner of taboo subjects in an effort to bring his brother Natsu back to life after his untimely demise. Fast forward 400 years, and he's the most feared and powerful wizard in history with numerous dark guilds being formed in dedication to things they believe he would have wanted.]]
** Once, there was a simple healer who lived amongst humans and dragons who bemoaned the fact that the most he could do with his [[HealingHands magic]] was stop blood loss, not heal wounds, regenerate limbs, or even ease the pain of his patients. That man then witnessed [[DoomedHometown a horrible tragedy]] that pushed him down the path of {{revenge}} no matter the cost. That is the origin story of [[spoiler:Acnologia, the Dragon Slayer who slaughtered so many dragons that he turned into one himself, went completely insane, crowned himself the Dragon King, and for the next 400 years was the undisputed WorldsStrongestMan surpassing even the immortal Zeref and ultimately desired nothing less than [[OmnicidialManiac the destruction of the world and everything in it]] to sate both his bloodlust and unresolved grief.]]
* Tongpu aka Mad Pierrot from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' was originally an average man who had volunteered for an experiment to become the ultimate super human, the resulting experiments drove him completely insane and he became a bulletproof, psychotic SerialKiller with the mind of a child.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** The title character started out as a BoisterousWeakling who graduated dead-last in his year, but has grown into a super-powerful badass.
*** However, as he was also the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and the Fourth Hokage's son long before he was badass, you could argue he was never a normal or nobody to start with. He was, however, presented as one as he was unaware of both of these things at the start of the manga, but the adults around him all knew.
** Nagato started out as a CheerfulChild in a small village called the Hidden Rain, who soon was subjected to BreakTheCutie as he watched his parents being killed by Konoha forces, leading to awakening of his Rinnegan. Then Jiraiya taught him Ninjutsu along with Yahiko and Konan. Then he joins his friend Yahiko's revolution, becoming his right hand. Soon after that, [[spoiler: Hanzo the Salamander growing fearful of the revolution gaining power, had Yahiko commit suicide after subjecting Nagato to a SadisticChoice, which enraged him so much he summoned the Gedo Mazo and instantly massacred the Salamander's army, later crushing the government so thoroughly Hanzo's legacy was literally ''wiped out'' by Nagato, now calling himself Pain, and Hanzo the Salamander was the guy who defeated the Legendary Sannin at their prime. Soon he turns the Rain Village into a Akatsuki-favoring dictatorship for his ultimate plan of periodically nuking the world in regular intervals, handed Jiraiya his ass and ''[[HeroKiller killed him]]'' soon after. He then invades Konoha to capture Naruto, which leads in the total destruction of the village with countless lives lost, even named characters like Shizune, Fukasaku and ''Kakashi'' himself, and almost won his war against the ''Nine-Tails'' singlehandedly. Only a major DeusExMachina saved it from being TheBadGuyWins, and months after his passing, his repute was so feared Kabuto kept him as an ace in the hole during the Fourth Great Ninja War.]]
** Kabuto Yakushi starts out as an experienced Genin [[spoiler:who's actually a high-level spy for [[BigBad Orochimaru]]]], but he eventually surpasses his already legendary leader in power and ends up [[spoiler:co-leading an evil army of resurrected legendary ninja and Venus Flytrap monsters created from the DNA of one of the most powerful ninja ever.]]
** [[spoiler:BigBad Tobi]], who turns out to be none other than [[spoiler: Obito Uchiha]]. That's right folks, the same kid that [[spoiler: spent his childhood [[EpicFail failing at everything]], [[AllLoveIsUnrequited pining for Rin]], [[TheRival feeling jealous of Kakashi]], and pretty much being the [[IdiotHero Naruto]] of his day]], is now the guy who [[spoiler: indirectly killed Naruto's parents (one of which was his own ''sensei'') by taking control of Kurama and unleashing him on Konoha, took part in the Uchiha massacre, corrupted Nagato and later Sasuke, co-led the aforementioned evil army against the five great powers of the ''Naruto'' universe, worked to unleash the universe's resident Satan (albeit depowered somewhat) and briefly became the WorldsStrongestMan as the first Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails since the Sage of Six Paths, to say nothing of a whole laundry list of additional heinous acts he committed between his "death" and the current story.]] Basically he's Naruto on Evil. In fact, the only reason he was defeated was [[spoiler: he was convinced there was still hope for the world, and was struggling with himself about the path he took.]]
** Gaara's somewhat of a lesser example. As a child, Gaara made many attempts to connect to the people of Sunagakure, all of whom feared him because of his connection with Shukaku. Then his uncle, the only person shown to have ever loved and cared for him at all attempted to murder him [[spoiler:under the orders of Gaara's father, the Fourth Kazekage.]] All of that was enough to turn Gaara into a sociopath by the age of ''six'', and a serial killer by the age of '''''twelve'''''. Naruto's intervention was what would finally set him straight and help reverse some of the damage.
* ''Anime/RingingBell'' has Chirin, who starts out as a cute little lamb, grow up and become a ram who just looks demonic.

* From ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'', Alucard, of all characters, has a brief scene towards the end of the series, where its briefly implied his childhood was horrific. It indirectly implies his worldview is a combination of passing the DespairEventHorizon and JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. To call his in-story character arc plus his implied offscreen character arc was a case of FromNobodyToNightmare would be an extreme understatement.
* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' has the Chimera Ants, initially a species of small insects that take on traits of the animals they eat; other than that, they're garden variety bugs. They're even first mentioned by a character as a dining delicacy. That's until a rare six foot tall specimen starts eating literally everything from animals to Nen users, creating an army of animal hybrids capable of fighting and overpowering the elite officials of the Hunter Organization. And her heir offspring eventually gets so strong, that he's the closest thing to a PhysicalGod before [[spoiler: the strongest human, Nukes him to kill him off in order to prevent him from destroying humanity, even then the blast didn't kill him, only the radiation sickness that followed it.]].
* The very first villain to appear in ''Anime/TheBigO'', and one of the few to make a repeat appearance without being an outright BigBad, is Beck - a no-name low-level crook who wound up working as a go-between and muscle for a secret conspiracy between a MadScientist and a CorruptCorporateExecutive. That is, until he betrayed them both and stole the HumongousMecha they'd been developing in secret, and then proceeded to stomp through downtown in order to rob the Mint like an avaricious Godzilla. Between all the HumongousMecha and {{Kaiju}} that the title robot has fought throughout the series, Beck's record remains the best, returning to challenge Roger four times - arguably five if you count [[spoiler:using his abilities to make the BigBad and TheDragon's [[HumongousMecha Bigs]] operational in time for the GrandFinale.]] And on top of that, he's responsible for releasing the most destructive weapon in the series when [[spoiler: he tells Dorothy how to activate Big O's [[WaveMotionGun Final Stage]] ]]. He's very hard to take seriously at ANY point, but really, you probably SHOULD...
** And in the manga, he manages to get his hands on a "Gigadeus", completely trashing the Big O and nearly winning in one of the [[MindScrew trippiest sequences]] in the series.
** A perhaps more conventional example is Schwarzvald - once upon a time, he was just an IntrepidReporter, driven to discover the truth about the City of Amnesia while working on his great manuscript in a tiny, run-down apartment. Then his search for the truth drove him to explore the [[DugTooDeep vast network of underground tunnels beneath the city]], and what he found made him GoMadFromTheRevelation. Next thing you know, he's reappeared covered in bandages, trying to teach people the 'meaning of fear', and generally acting like a combination of The Joker, Scarecrow, and a mummy. With a HumongousMecha. Which can fly.
* Griffith of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' began as nothing more than a simple commoner who had big dreams of becoming king. Over the years, he put together a band of thieves, which later became a mercenary army, and then became the highest-ranking general in Midland's army. He then suffered a tragic [[FallenHero fall from grace]] that left him disfigured and physically incapable of realizing his dream... until the Eclipse passed, where he became one of the five demon kings of the Godhand and one of the singlemost powerful individuals in the world.
** This is partially subverted as [[TheChosenOne Griffith was always predestined by fate]] and [[spoiler:The Idea of Evil, essentially God of the Berserkverse]] to be more than a "no-name" in the grand scheme of events. But his grandiose narcissistic personality meant that few expected him to become more than a figurehead or an overly-idealistic FakeUltimateHero. And now he's a demon lord.
** Guts, too: he UsedToBeASweetKid, until his adoptive father sold him to a fellow merc as a sex slave, then tried to kill him in a drunken rage. In the time since then, he went on to become one of the most dangerous mercenaries in the land, and after the Eclipse, developed a reputation as [[RedBaron the Black Swordsman]], the bane of apostles and the one foe the God Hand respects.
* In ''Manga/ProjectARMS'', Alice was a sweet girl (albeit a genius, but no one outside of the Egrigori knew of her existence) who took care of the other experimental children and considered Keith White to be her dear "father". She gets shot while trying to see what the outside world is like, and ends up merging with an artificial alien life form, causing her to split into White Alice and [[BigBad Dark Alice]]. As Dark Alice, she first tries to [[spoiler: get the Jabberwock to destroy all of New York, ultimately aiming to get the city blown up by a nuclear bomb]]. When that doesn't work, she [[spoiler:possesses Katsumi, takes over her body, and tries ''again'' to destroy the world with her power. She only stops when Katsumi and Ryo offer her love, which was all she ever actually wanted]].
* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', Russia went from being a tiny, weak country under the control of the Mongols and constantly picked on by bigger nations, to being much larger and stronger. This would not be so bad, except that years of revolution and bloodshed mean have left him a PsychopathicManchild who terrifies pretty much all of the other nations he runs into. Exactly how bad he actually is is uncertain. He's shown snapping and firing on a crowd of protestors in the Bloody Sunday comic and it's implied that he whipped Lithuania when the Baltics were under his control, but he certain is not the [[FanNickname rapetruck]] he's portrayed as in a lot of {{fanon}}.
** From England's perspective, America could be seen as this. He went from a young child of a colony to declaring independence as a strong country to being a global superpower.
* [[spoiler:Shion, and, well, every character]] from ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' becomes this at one point or another. Special points go to [[spoiler: Shion]] becasue [[spoiler: she]] is introduced as a minor side-character rather than a main one. What makes this one so horrifying is that the first portrayal of [[spoiler: her]] is RADICALLY different from the portrayal of [[spoiler:her]] as pure evil in [[spoiler: Meagashi-hen]].
* Dio Brando of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' began life as the very intelligent, but frustrated ''and'' nigh psychotically [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] son of a petty thief in England, 1800s. From there, he quickly became a ''vampire'', a [[spoiler:HeroKiller]], attempted to raise a zombie army to take over the world, gained the psychic power to [[spoiler:[[TimeStandsStill freeze time]]]], and even after his death, continues to weigh heavily on the setting. It gets to the point that Dio mentored a FromNobodyToNightmare villain of his ''own'', [[spoiler:Father Enrico Pucci]], who through him, [[spoiler:''succeeded in rewriting the entire universe!'']]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Done in the [[{{Anime}} Gotei 13]] [[{{Filler}} Invasion Arc]]. [[ArcVillain Ouko Yushima]] began as a very weak and pathetic shinigami who didn't have the strength to fight in battle or master his [[EmpathicWeapon zanpakutou]]. He therefore decided to split himself and his zanpakutou apart into two mod-soul beings that could master his powers. The one mod-soul was the apparent villain Kageroza Inaba and the second mod-soul was the apparent heroine Nozomi Kujou. Kageroza could manipulate space-time, bring the dead back to life and was so powerful he could defeat Ichigo and Yamamoto at the same time. Nozomi could absorb reiatsu, steal the powers of others, combine them with her own power and use it as super-powerful attack, and heal better than even Orihime, she was so powerful she could fight Kageroza even when Yamamoto himself could not. Where the mod-soul powers came from is never explained as none of them were abilities of the original zanpakutou, but when the two were recombined back into Yushima, he was able to combine all these powers to destroy the very existence of Soul Society itself. Being an IneffectualLoner, he was defeated by both ThePowerOfFriendship and ThePowerOfLove.
* In ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', Han, one of the Rasho, warlords of the Land of Asura, qualifies, since only an Asura who has proven himself by killing hundreds of other warriors is worthy of having a name, let alone rising to the level of Rasho. What makes Han special is that he's the only one of the three Rasho who wasn't raised from childhood as a student of the incredibly powerful martial art Hokuto Ryuken. He is a Hokuto Ryuken master, but it appears that he only became one ''after'' impressing the other Rasho enough for them to personally train him - and getting a couple of AxCrazy {{Social Darwinist}}s to care about you enough to teach you is no easy feat.

* Pretty much any Puella Magi in any version of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' could qualify; most of them were ordinary girls upon making their [[DealWithTheDevil contract]], and many of those were so desperate they needed the wish. Upon making the contract, they become powerful magical warriors who tend to treat the rest of humanity as livestock. [[spoiler:When they [[TheCorruption become Witches]], they almost universally qualify; particularly the apocalyptically powerful Kriemhild Gretchen, born from someone who described herself as [[HeroicSelfDeprecation not having any real talents]].]] Homura Akemi is a particular example; as we learn, before the series, she was a meek and flustered IllGirl who seemed fairly weak even after contracting. [[spoiler:By the end of TheMovie, she's a GodOfEvil.]]

** ''Every one'' of the android villains from the BadFuture of season two - Aporia, Paradox, Bruno/Antinomy, and Z-One himself - were nothing but four common soldiers in the ragtag army of civilians who were brave enough to try fight the horde of Meklords; they were simply the only ones lucky enough to survive. Unfortunately, their attempt to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong turned them into {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s who caused Zero Reverse and almost made it worse.
* [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast General Esdeath]] from ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', who started out as a normal, [[LackOfEmpathy if slightly maladjusted]], little girl living in an Arctic tribe with her single father. Fifteen years, the death of her father, and a few mass slaughters later, she's the most feared woman in the entire Empire, a {{One Man Army}} that can create glaciers out of thin air, [[spoiler: freeze space and time]], defeat entire armies of men twenty thousand strong, and knows a lot more about torture than any normal person should. Oh, and did we mention that somewhere along the way she got a demon in her head that (figuratively) tells her to burn things? When Najenda said she was the scariest person in the Empire, ''she wasn't lying.''
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'':
** Kaneki slowly becomes an AntiHero version of this trope. He begins the story as a meek college student, but his life takes a ''very'' different turn when he's transformed into a HalfHumanHybrid. After Yamori tortures him, he decides that he will "[[KillEmAll remove]] [[PayEvilUntoEvil all the weeds]]" and spends six months becoming one of the most feared Ghouls in Tokyo. Between [[spoiler: satisfying his HorrorHunger through cannibalism and slaughtering the members of the Ghoul Restaurant]], he becomes something of a mythological figure feared by Ghouls and [[HunterOfMonsters CCG]] alike. Our first glimpse of him after the TimeSkip is an ominous figure in shadows with one glowing eye, as imagined by a group discussing the infamous "One-Eye".
** Yamori was a rather insignificant Ghoul until he was captured and spent time at the Ghoul Detention Center, where an insane Interrogator tortured him. Driven completely insane, he escaped and became the brutal cannibal known as [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason]] and eventually, one of the captains of [[AntiHumanAlliance Aogiri]].
** The sequel provides another example: [[spoiler: former PluckyComicRelief Seidou Takizawa]], [[spoiler:[[ReforgedIntoAMinion transformed]] into an incredibly powerful half-Ghoul and completely insane after literally YEARS of rape and torture]].
** Arima has been a prodigy ghoul investigator since the age of sixteen, but it seems some of his coworkers thought it was ''insane'' to let a child like him hunt ghouls. A little over a decade later, he's '''by far''' the strongest investigator the CCG has, with nobody being able to even keep up with him and even the monstrously powerful SSS rated ghouls acknowledging that going up against him is tantamount to suicide. The legendary [[HeroKiller One-Eyed Owl]], the most powerful ghoul on record, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere is utterly outmatched when facing him]], as is [[spoiler: Kaneki,]] who finds himself in battle with the [[RedBaron 'Reaper']] of the CCG and [[CurbStompBattle is unceremoniously annihilated.]] He's shown to effortlessly slaughter vast group of predators designed to hunt human beings [[DissonantSerenity with an utterly bored expression on his face]], and is able to anticlimactically end a pitched battle between the CCG and [[TheSocialDarwinist Aogiri Tree]] just by ''[[TheDreaded showing up,]]'' since '''every single ghoul there''' [[RunOrDie hauls ass the moment he arrives,]] as they otherwise face certain extermination. [[WorldsBestWarrior He's basically acknowledged in universe as being completely unbeatable.]]
* ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'': [[VillainProtagonist Sadao]] [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Maou]] began life at the very bottom of the demonic peking order [[spoiler:until his life was saved by an angel -- Emi's mother, Laylah. While he was recuperating, she tutored him in various things to pass the time, mainly politics, diplomacy and the proper use of military power]], which he used to rise up through the ranks and become the Demon King, nearly conquering Ente Isla until he was defeated by Emi and forced to retreat to Earth. Now, he plans to work his way up through the ranks at [[BlandNameProduct MgRonald's]] to eventually conquer the Earth.
* ''Anime/GingaDensetsuWeed'': The reason why Hougen and Genba were the way they are is because of a bad owner. Locked up in a small kennel with other dogs, the Great Dane brothers had to fight, kill, and even ''eat'' dead and dying dogs. When their owner comes back for them, Hougen and Genba (the only survivors) jump on him, kill him, and [[LiteralManeater eat him]].
* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'':
** The series in general seems to have a penchant for these, taking guys that just do something rather excessively and giving them superpowers based on it, like the guy who ate too much crab and became a giant crab monster, or the one who shadow-boxed with a light pull cord too much and became a hardy superhuman that could punch buildings into rubble.
** Garou, who went from a kid who found it extremely unfair that the bad guys in his cartoons never won despite their effort, to a menace that wiped the floor with everyone that wasn't the protagonist in an effort to become the ultimate villain.
** Saitama takes this to new heights. At the beginning of it all, he was just a recently-fired salaryman whose life felt rather meaningless. One battle against the aforementioned crab monster later, he decided he wanted to be a hero no matter what, and started training like hell to achieve it. Three years later, he's a super-bald, super-strong, super-fast, and super-durable engine of mass destruction that could punch a hole through the world on a very lazy day, and can't seem to hold back enough to make his fights last because he's so ridiculously overpowered.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is the heroic version of this. It starts with a kid drilling tunnels deep underground, who unintentionally sets off a LensmanArmsRace that ends with a galaxy-destroying cosmic brawl for the fate of the universe.
* In ''Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries'', Sid is a low level demon grunt whom nobody takes seriously and Dante considers NotWorthKilling. Then he manages to acquire artifacts and conduct a ritual that grants him the power of the demon lord Abigail, becoming powerful enough to beat the shit out of Dante. [[spoiler:Dante manages to defeat him by using [[OneWingedAngel Devil Trigger]], then comments that no matter how much power Sid gets, a loser is still a loser, before killing him.]]
* [[spoiler: Tomohiko Katsuragi]] from ''Manga/SakuraGari'' once was a smart, ambitious and obsessive teenager who worked as the butler of a rich Tokyo family, then [[spoiler: became the clan's personal doctor and one of the lovers of the family's heir.]] But not before commiting many, ''many'' crimes and abusing almost anyone who got in his way. [[spoiler: When his [[DomesticAbuse much abused wife]] snaps ''and'' the aforementioned heir finds out what Katsuragi did to his MoralityPet, [[TheDogBitesBack however]]...]]
* The main character of ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'' was just a salary man with no friends, lovers or family, obsessed with a video game his guildmates had all long since quit. Then he gets pulled into a world that operates on that game's rules, in the body of his character, a Level 100 [[OurLichesAreDifferent Elder Lich]] EvilSorcerer, with all his guild's NPC's (Including demons, dark elves, vampires, and more) becoming his [[UndyingLoyalty fanatically loyal]] [[TheLegionsOfHell army]]. The New World never knew what hit it.
** In a more benevolent example, Enri Emmott. From a helpless girl almost slaughtered with her sister by the enemy kingdom's evil knights, after Momonga gave her 2 goblin horns, she ascended rapidly to the Chief of Carne Village, with her second horn [[spoiler: outright giving her the reigns of the top Goblin Clan fully loyal to her]], which helps in her army mercilessly defeating Prince Barbro's army without taking much losses. You know you are this when even ''Momonga'' appreciates your current power status.
* Zigzagged with the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', who all spent the early years of their lives as {{Butt Monkey}}s, shunned or kicked around by the world around them. They made an attempt to make a name for themselves by joining the organization, but after a short tenure as wanted criminals known for stealing rare and unique Pokemon, they became obsessed with capturing Ash's Pikachu whom they saw as unique compared to others of his kind upon first seeing him, and through their constant failures to keep a hold on Pikachu for long, devolved into a GoldfishPoopGang who got continuously outsmarted and beat up by a gang of kids and their Pokemon. After they were promoted to a key mission in Unova however, the trio evolved into far more competent and sinister agents for Team Rocket, helping with some of their most ambitious schemes and regularly acting as a genuine adversary for Ash and his allies. When Team Rocket's business with Unova ended however, the three slowly reverted back into bumblers without a drive, though occasionally reminding Ash that they can still be a ruthless threat in the right circumstances.
* In ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' the protagonist is an introverted loner reincarnated as a [[GiantSpider Lesser Taratect]], one of the weakest monsters in her new world. Within two years of hatching she's killed dragons, decimated two armies, earned the title "[[TheDreaded Nightmare of the Labyrinth]]", and [[spoiler:become a ''god'']]. [[SerialEscalation The fun doesn't stop there,]] as she goes on to become TheManInFrontOfTheMan to [[spoiler:the Demon King]], becomes infamous for ''[[spoiler:killing the Hero]]'', orchestrates [[spoiler:the extinction of the Elves]] and eventually is revealed to ''the entire world'' as [[spoiler:a so-called GodOfEvil who will [[WellIntentionedExtremist cause global genocide to save the world.]]]]
** For bonus points, [[TomatoInTheMirror the protagonist turns out to have been]] [[spoiler:not a reincarnated human, but ''[[UplitftedAnimal a common house spider,]]'']] and [[UpToEleven the fact she was even reincarnated in the first place was because she was meant to be]] [[spoiler:a practical joke played by [[JerkassGods an uncaring God]] who just wanted some more time to play hooky.]] By the time of [[spoiler:her apotheosis]], the {{Irony}} of everything hits the protagonist [[spoiler:and said God]] like a ton of bricks, and while [[BrokenBird the protagonist experiences a considerable amount of angst over this]], [[spoiler:the God is so utterly ''[[VillainTakesInterest fascinated]]'' by her that she is basically adopted on the spot.]]
** Kyouya was a normal higschool boy, if [[BornInTheWrongCentury somewhat maladjusted due to having a strong sense of justice in modern conservative Japanese society.]] One death later, he was reborn into [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent a lowly, but happy and loving family of goblins]] . One ''extremely'' [[TearJerker gut-wrenching tragedy]] later, ThePowerOfHate eventually lets him become [[spoiler:''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Wrath]]'']], [[PersonOfMassDestruction a monster regarded as a walking calamity who spreads mass terror and destruction]] before [[PhysicalGod a literal God]] had to step in to stop him. After ''that'', [[spoiler:the now-ascended protagonist]] steps in, [[SanityHasAdvantages helps him restores his sanity]], takes him under their wing and sets him up as [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority one of the ten Demon Army Generals who answer directly to the Demon King.]]
** There was once a MadScientist who [[ImmortalitySeeker sought to live forever,]] and for some of his many unethical experiments to achieve it, he [[HarmfulToMinors sired children to use as fodder.]] Several of the survivors would go on to [[ShroudedInMyth become legend in the present story]], but one stood out: [[HalfHumanHybrid a spider-human hybrid girl]] who was [[IllGirl constantly weak and ill]] due to [[PoisonousPerson the poison produced by her own body;]] she was so weak she spent most of her time bedridden. This same, pathetically weak girl would go on to be known as [[RedBaron "The Oldest Divine Beast"]], revered as the messenger of the Goddess, [[MonsterProgenitor the progenitor of the Taratect species that the protagonist reincarnates into]] [[note]]A species that is feared far and wide for being capable of producing Queen Taratects, beings regarded as ''stronger than Dragons''[[/note]] and then becomes [[spoiler:Demon King Ariel]], a being so powerful she could [[PersonOfMassDestruction single-handedly destroy the entire world on a whim,]] and indisputably [[WorldsStrongestWoman the most powerful living being on the planet]] short of the Gods themselves.
* Hajime Nagumo from ''LightNovel/ArifuretaFromCommonplaceToWorldsStrongest'' goes from a scrawny nerd who was bullied viciously by most of his class, to a OneManArmy who rarely faced an actual challenge [[TookALevelInBadass since his forced foray through the entirety of the first dungeon.]] Granted, [[DieOrFly he kinda had to if he wanted to survive it,]] [[SerialEscalation and everything that came after.]]
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'':
** The man who would become All For One was one of the first people to develop a Quirk. With his limitless potential, he decided to become a villain, using his power to steal, manipulate, and amass an army of followers. By the time of the story (which takes place about a century later), he has ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist that entire time, and even after being defeated [[IRegretNothing doesn't see a need to change]]. When All Might asks why, he just shrugs and says he wanted to.
--->'''All For One:''' Just as you dreamed of being a hero, I dreamed of becoming a villain. It's as simple as that.
** All Might himself is the heroic equivalent--he started out an emaciated weakling with [[UnSorcerer no Quirk]], but after receiving "One for All," he quickly became a [[BigGood virtually unstoppable force of justice]] and the most feared enemy of all villains, in addition to the only hero to ever defeat All for One (twice!). His own successor, the show's protagonist, was also born powerless and is on track to eventually become even more powerful than All Might.
* Will from Manga/SaikeMatashitemo, in fact, the reason he became such a nightmare was because he was such a nobody to begin with. So completely average in everything that gave no one anything to remember him by.
* ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'': Deliberately and chillingly invoked by Sosai X. By mutating Berg Katse in the womb, he assured that Katse would always be hiding, always moving, always frightened of trusting others. Then Sosai scooped them up and turned them into the leader of Galactor, a powerful terrorist organization already in control of some countries and with an eye on world domination.

* ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' gives us Roxanne of love and hate. When she became a warrior she received the number 35 and was a low-ranking warrior. To survive in battle she started to copy the technique of a better-ranked warrior which she also worshipped. She then grew better than said warrior and upon getting a better rank, she abandonned the technique. Worse of all she managed to have her former idol killed in an awakened hunt. Then she turned her attention to another better warrior and did the exact same thing. Again and again. She finally reached number 2. She got close to the number 1 but finding out her special technique and deeming it disgusting she didn't try to copy it. However she contrived a way to have the best friend of the number 1 killed so that the number 1 comes especially to kill her. Of course she alerted the organization to gather every warrior. During the fight she managed to take the head of the number 1 and got the number 1 for herself. After the death of Roxanne she is known as a major pain in the ass for the organization and one of''' the 8 strongest number 1 that ever existed in history'''!

* Griffith of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' began as nothing more than a simple commoner who had big dreams of becoming king. Over the years, he put together a band of thieves, which later became a mercenary army, and then became the highest-ranking general in Midland's army. He then suffered a tragic [[FallenHero fall from grace]] that left him disfigured and physically incapable of realizing his dream...until the Eclipse passed, where he became one of the five demon kings of the Godhand and one of the singlemost powerful individuals in the world. Kind of a Subversion, Griffith wasn't exactly a "no-name" in the grand scheme of events, even the [[spoiler:The Idea of Evil, essentially God of the Berserkverse]] has said Griffith was always one of its more important members to ever be born.
** Guts, too: he UsedToBeASweetKid, until his adoptive father sold him to a fellow merc as a sex slave then tried to kill him in a drunken rage. In the time since then, he went on to become one of the most dangerous mercenaries in the land, and after the Eclipse, developed a reputation as [[RedBaron the Black Swordsman]], the bane of apostles and the one foe the God Hand respects.

** Impmon also went from a [[BoisterousWeakling not particularly powerful]] {{jerkass}} to the very powerful [[OmnicidalManiac Beelzemon]], going so far as to [[spoiler:kill Leomon]] before his later [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]].

* Ymir Fritz of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler: as a child, she was a mere slave to a tribe of barbarian warriors. After being blamed for a pig escaping, she was hunted for sport, and accidentally encountered a spine-like creature that attached to her and transformed her into the first titan. Ymir was granted such extraordinary power that the Eldians were able to turn their tiny warrior tribe into an empire that ruled most of the world for almost 2000 years. Subverted in that she was still a meek slave to the King, who used her to TakeOverTheWorld.]]

* ''Franchise/DragonBall:''

* ''Manga/DeathNote:'' Brilliant, yet disaffected high school student Light Yagami; incompetent, unpopular corporate drone [[spoiler: Kyosuke Higuchi]] and [[spoiler: a CrusadingLawyer, Teru Mikami]] each come across a [[ArtifactOfDoom simple notebook]] leading each of them to become notorious mass murderers and, in the case of one of them -- Light -- [[AGodAmI GOD OF THE NEW WORLD]].

* In ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'', Irie Shouichi manages, through rampant misuse of TimeTravel, to accidentally make a nobody named Byakuran capable of communicating with [[AlternateUniverse alternate realities]], bent on [[TakeOverTheWorld taking over the worlds]]... ''[[MultiversalConqueror all of them]]''.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''

* [[{{NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast}} General Esdeath]] from ''Manga/AkameGaKill'', who started out as a normal, [[{{LackofEmpathy}} if slightly maladjusted]], little girl living in an Arctic tribe with her single father. Fifteen years, the death of her father, and a few mass slaughters later, she's the most feared woman in the entire Empire, a {{One Man Army}} that can create glaciers out of thin air, [[spoiler: freeze space and time]], defeat entire armies of men twenty thousand strong, and knows a lot more about torture than any normal person should. Oh, and did we mention that somewhere along the way she got a demon in her head that (figuratively) tells her to burn things? When Najenda said she was the scariest person in the Empire, ''she wasn't lying.''

* ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan''

* Zigzagged with the Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth in the ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'', who all spent the early years of their lives as {{Butt Monkey}}s, shunned or kicked around by the world around them. They made an attempt to make a name for themselves by joining the organization, but after a short tenure as wanted criminals known for stealing rare and unique Pokemon, they became obsessed with capturing Ash's Pikachu whom they saw as unique compared to others of his kind upon first seeing him, and through their constant failures to keep a hold on Pikachu for long, devolved into a GoldfishPoopGang who got continuously outsmarted and beat up by a gang of kids and their Pokemon. After they were promoted to a key mission in Unova however, the trio evolved into far more competent and sinister agents for Team Rocket, helping with some of their most ambitious schemes and regularly acting as a genuine adversary for Ash and his allies. When Team Rocket's business with Unova ended however, the three slowly reverted back into bumblers without a drive, though occasionally reminding Ash that they can still be a ruthless threat in the right circumstances.

* Ymir Fritz of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler: as a child, she was a mere slave to a tribe of barbarian warriors. After being blamed for a pig escaping, she was hunted for sport, and accidentally encountered a spine-like creature that attached to her and transformed her into the first titan. Ymir was granted such extraordinary power that the Eldians were able to turn their tiny warrior tribe into an empire that ruled most of the world for almost 2000 years.]]

* ''Manga/DeathNote:'' Brilliant, yet disaffected high school student Light Yagami and incompetent, unpopular corporate drone [[spoiler: Kyosuke Higuchi]] each come across a [[ArtifactOfDoom simple notebook]] leading each to become notorious mass murderers and, in the case of one of them -- Light -- [[AGodAmI GOD OF THE NEW WORLD]].

* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', Russia went from being a tiny, weak country under the control of the Mongols and constantly picked on by bigger nations, to being much larger and stronger. This would not be so bad, except that years of revolution and bloodshed mean have left him a PsychopathicManchild who terrifies pretty much all of the other nations he runs into. Exactly how bad he actually is is uncertain. He's shown snapping and firing on a crowd of protestors in the Bloody Sunday comic and it's implied that he whipped Lithuania when the Baltics were under his control, but he certain is not the [[FanNickname rapetruck]] he's portrayed as in a lot of {{fanon}}.

** [[spoiler:Charlotte Linlin was just an innocent child who had the misfortune of being born abnormally large, with innate destructive power and an uncontrollable eating disorder, all of which eventually forced her parents to abandon her. She then fell into the care of a undercover child slaver, Mother Carmel, who pretended to care for her but also enabled her destructive habits as a selling point to a potential buyer. After Carmel "disappeared", she fell into ''another'' enabler, her future head chef Streusen, who encouraged those same habits for kicks. Linlin, devastated by Carmel's disappearance, sought to fulfill her caretaker's false ideals, and took her fake dream and made it her own: a world where all races could live together peacefully and see each other "eye-to-eye" -- ''by any means necessary''. Thus, the future pirate Emperor "Big Mom" was born, and she continues to terrorize the seas to this very day]].

* Pretty much any Puella Magi in any version of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' could qualify; most of them were ordinary girls upon making their [[DealWithTheDevil contract]], and many of those were so desperate they needed the wish. Upon making the contract, they become powerful magical warriors who tend to treat the rest of humanity as livestock. [[spoiler: When they [[TheCorruption become Witches]], they almost universally qualify; particularly the apocalyptically powerful Kreimhild Gretchen, born from someone who described herself as [[HeroicSelfDeprecation not having any real talents.]]]] Homura is a particular example; as we learn, before the series, she was a meek and flustered IllGirl who seemed fairly weak even after contracting. [[spoiler: By the end of TheMovie, she's a GodOfEvil.]]

* Griffith of ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' began as nothing more than a simple commoner who had big dreams of becoming king. Over the years, he put together a band of thieves, which later became a mercenary army, and then became the highest-ranking general in Midland's army. He then suffered a tragic [[FallenHero fall from grace]] that left him disfigured and physically incapable of realizing his dream...until the Eclipse passed, where he became one of the five demon kings of the Godhand and one of the singlemost powerful individuals in the world. Kind of a Subversion, Griffith wasn't exactly a 'no-name' in the grand scheme of events, even the [[spoiler: God of the Berserkverse]] itself has said Griffith was always one of its more important members to ever be born.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The man who would become All For One was one of the first people to develop a Quirk. With his limitless potential, he decided to become a villain, using his power to steal, manipulate, and amass an army of followers. By the time of the story (which takes place about a century later), he has ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist that entire time, and even after being defeated [[IRegretNothing doesn't see a need to change]]. When All Might asks why, he just shrugs and says he wanted to.
-->'''All For One:''' Just as you dreamed of being a hero, I dreamed of becoming a villain. It's as simple as that.

** Luffy went from being a no-name rookie pirate (sure, his family is kind of important, but it wasn't common knowledge at the time) from the weakest sea in the world, to having a [[spoiler:1.5 Billion beli]] bounty, declaring war on the [[OneWorldOrder World Government]] and slapping down their elite Warlords of the Sea left and right. [[spoiler: After butting heads with ''one of the four emperors'' just to save a crewmate, his achievements (both real and coincidental) had him labeled as ''the fifth emperor''.]]

** Oikawa started out the same way, having Iori's father as his only friend. But after Iori's dad was killed in line of duty, Oikawa promised himself he'd make their dream visiting the Digital World one day real no matter what, and with the help of [[spoiler:Myotismon]], he becomes a ruthless MagnificentBastard who almost brought both worlds - and potentially the entire universe - to ruins in chasing his mad dream.

** Oikawa started out the same way, having Iori's father as his only friend. But after Iori's dad was killed in line of duty, Oikawa promised himself he'd make their dream visiting the Digital World one day real no matter what, and with the help of [[spoiler:Vamdemon]], he becomes a ruthless MagnificentBastard who almost brought both worlds - and potentially the entire universe - to ruins in chasing his mad dream.

** Impmon also went from a [[BoisterousWeakling not particularly powerful]] {{jerkass}} to the very powerful [[OmnicidalManiac Beelzebumon]], going so far as to [[spoiler:kill Leomon]] before his later [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The man who would become All For One was one of the first people to develop a Quirk. With his limitless potential, he decided to become a villain, using his power to steal, manipulate, and amass an army of followers. By the time of the story ([[AmbiguousTimeframe which takes place about a century later]]), he has ruled the criminal underworld with an iron fist that entire time, and even after being defeated [[IRegretNothing doesn't see a need to change]]. When All Might asks why, he just shrugs and says he wanted to.

** The stand-out example, however, is likely [[ShrinkingViolet Nina]]. Starting out as the quiet, geeky member of the student council, this young TeenGenius only has the fact she has a very unsubtle [[StraightGay crush]] on [[PrincessClassic Princess Euphemia]] who she also worships due to her crippling self-esteem. [[spoiler: However, when Euphemia dies, Nina has an epic FreakOut that leads to her turning into an insane {{Yandere}} MadScientist that ''successfully creates an atomic bomb'' called the FLEIJA that ends up killing 300 million people on the first proper use of it and goes on to be ''the'' obstacle to deal with in the final battle. The good news is that the first time it was used snapped Nina back to sanity and she pulled a HeelFaceTurn to try to make up for what she's done, successfully creating the means for Lelouch and Suzaku to nullify the FLEIJA.]]

* In ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' the protagonist is an introverted loner reincarnated as a [[GiantSpider Lesser Taratect]], one of the weakest monsters in her new world. Within two years of hatching she's killed dragons, decimated two armies, earned the title "[[TheDreaded Nightmare of the Labyrinth]]", and [[spoiler:become a ''god'']].