History FromNobodyToNightmare / Literature

* At the beginning of {{John Maddox Roberts}}' SPQR series, Caius Julius Caesar, who the series gives a HistoricalVillainUpgrade, is depicted as a minor politician embroiled in a [[AnythingThatMoves series of hilarious sex scandals]]. In later books, the protagonist Decius is shocked to discover that Caesar is now a MagnificentBastard about to achieve world domination.

* ''Literature/GooseBumps'': The people of Dark Falls in ''Welcome To Dead House'' were a relatively humble community until toxic gas escaped from the local plastics factory. This mutated every man, woman, and child into an undead monster, and now they expand their numbers every year by feeding on visitors.

* [[Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible Doctor Impossible]]. From a nebbish perpetual undergrad mocked for his outdated theories to the third most dangerous man on Earth, who nearly destroyed the world with a toy, a mirror and a trinket.

* As far as entire nations go, [[Literature/TheDraka the Draka]] qualify. They started out as a British colony in what is now South Africa in the late 18th century. By World War II, they've all but taken over Africa and Eurasia, and the series ends with them having completely overrun the world.

* Literature/TheDraka are pointedly this, and on a national scale. Their ancestors principally consist of American Loyalists, Hessians from the American Revolution, Icelanders who fled the volcanic eruptions of the 1780s, French aristocrats, white Haitians, and American Confederates. Once they've become powerful enough to declare independence from Britain, they seek [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindofEvil the most horrifying revenge that they can.]]

* Mister Dattam from Yulia Latynina's ''WeiEmpire'' cycle started out as a [[CreepyChild somewhat asocial, awkward,]] [[MadScientist yet genial boy with a somewhat unhealthy obsession with technology]]. [[StartOfDarkness The events of the prequel short novel]], during which he was repeatedly and thoroughly manipulated and used by his close friends and relatives, forced to flee for his life, dragged into becoming one of the leaders of a bloody rebellion, [[spoiler: and then betrayed and told by [[MagnificentBastard his close childhood friend]] that [[UnwittingPawn he was nothing but a pawn in a much bigger game from the very beginning]],]] had changed him into a ruthless, selfish MagnificentBastard, who then went on to become a [[CardCarryingVillain shameless monster]], a medieval equivalent of a CorruptCorporateExecutive ''and'' [[TheManBehindTheMan the real leader]] of [[PathOfInspiration the Shakunik monks]].

* Kierkan Rufo from ''Literature/TheClericQuintet'' series set in the Literature/ForgottenRealms. In the first four books he's a pathetic fellow cleric of Deneir who goes through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor before settling on 'Heel' and condemned to a magically enforced exile by [[TheHero Cadderly]]. In the final novel, thanks to a meddling [[TheImp imp]] that was a SmallAnnoyingCreature working for the previous BigBad, Rufo becomes a ''hideously'' powerful vampiric embodiment of Chaos and the final BigBad of the series.

* ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'': Lio Shirazumi used to be a timid high school kid with a crush. He wanted to impress his crush by getting in a fight, but things got out of hand and he needed to find a way to dispose of a body. Then he eventually grew to become a [[spoiler:cannibal]] with a crush...

** Gentleman Johnny Marcone began his criminal career as a two-bit nobody. When a little girl ended up comatose from a bullet meant for him, he took it upon himself to "clean up" Chicago's criminal underground. By the time of the books, he is established as one of, if not the most powerful (mortal) man in the city, and can casually deal with supernatural threats that even Harry has trouble with. He later signed on with the Unseelie Accords, a sort of supernatural UN, making him the first mortal to do so in it's long, long history. The worst of it is, Harry can't bring himself to do anything about him, because [[EnemyMine he tends to pull Harry's fat out of the fire]]. A lot. Although, there a few moments where he's less of a "Nightmare" as he is a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold "Mobster With A Heart."]] This being the ''other'' reason Harry is unwilling to harm Marcone.
** Polonius Lartessa, one of the Denarian leaders is another example; when she started out she was just an underaged hooker in the temple of Isis. Then Nicodemus gave her the Denarian piece containing a fallen angel; since then she has ascended to a position where has not only become one of the most powerful mages on the planet, but has also caused numerous wars and ethnic cleansings (most notably the Rwanda Genocides and the Killing Fields of UsefulNotes/{{Cambodia}}) purely for the hell of it. From nobody hooker to one of the biggest bastards in Literature.
** The Archive. She's the magical receptacle for ''everything ever written down.'' Most Archives inherit this knowledge, the memories of past Archives at around age 30 or so, making them a straight example of this trope. The current Archive, though, has been the Archive since she was a few minutes old. She inherited it when her mother ''committed suicide, which Ivy remembers''. In the Dresdenverse, knowledge is power. She can tango with the better part of two thirds of the strongest soldiers for Hell in the setting at one time, inside a trap ''made for her'', with no preparation. [[spoiler: She would have probably escaped, too, if not for [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Harry's hero complex and the fact that he's one of her only friends]].]]

** Vencarlo Barsavi arrived in Camorr five years before the start of the city as a former scholar of rhetoric. Within two years, he had defeated 30 rival garristas and become capa, assuming control of the entire city's underworld.

** And though he's already a lord, Walder Frey also counts, going from TheFriendNobodyLikes old man who is openly spoken of with disdain by his allies to [[spoiler:perpetrator of [[ThePurge The Red Wedding]] and the killer of King Robb Stark]].
** [[spoiler: Lord]] Ramsay Bolton [[BerserkButton née Snow]]: a [[BastardBastard bastard]] born of [[ChildByRape casual rape]] of a common woman, now [[CainAndAbel heir]] to one of the great houses of the North [[spoiler: holding Winterfell as well as other lands and titles gained through marriage and murder... in that order]]. Villain of the AxCrazy, ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and FauxAffablyEvil school (when he remembers his manners, that is). Very quickly and justifiably gaining a reputation for being one of TheDreaded, even if he's [[StupidEvil not the sharpest blade]] in the Family sheath. He passes with flying colours -- which are [[RealMenWearPink red and pink]] for the [[TortureTechnician family hobby]].

** [[spoiler: Lord]] Ramsay Bolton [[BerserkButton née Snow]]: a [[BastardBastard bastard]] born of [[ChildOfRape casual rape]] of a common woman, now [[CainAndAbel heir]] to one of the great houses of the North [[spoiler: holding Winterfell as well as other lands and titles gained through marriage and murder... in that order]]. Villain of the AxCrazy, ChronicBackstabbingDisorder and FauxAffablyEvil school (when he remembers his manners, that is). Very quickly and justifiably gaining a reputation for being one of TheDreaded, even if he's [[StupidEvil not the sharpest blade]] in the Family sheath. He passes with flying colours -- which are [[RealMenWearPink red and pink]] for the [[TortureTechnician family hobby]].

* There's Mr. Teatime from ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'', a quiet, generally soft-spoken scholarship boy who is contracted to assassinate (the scholarship ''was'' to the Assassin's Guild school) a ''mythological creature'', the Discworld's equivalent of Santa Claus. And damn near ''succeeds''.

* Claudandus aka [[spoiler:Pascal]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}'' was an ordinary cat who was picked up off the streets for experimenting by scientists who vivisected him, along with many other cats, and being the only test subject to survive, this eventually drove him insane and killed the head scientist and became a serial killer of cats deeming them unworthy of resurrecting an ancient breed.

* Arawn Death-lord from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' began as nothing more then an ordinary mortal man. That is until the previous Death Lord Achren made him her consort and taught him Dark Magic. Arawn then betrayed Achren and seized the title of Death-Lord for himself

* At first, this ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'' fox is nothing but a sniveling little whelp and the son of [[TheMole Sela]], coming to heal [[BigBad Cluny]] [[ChessMaster the Scourge]]. When he ends up encountering Asmodeus after [[MoralEventHorizon his attempt at theft goes horribly wrong]], the snake [[TwoFaced leaves the fox with a token of his regard]]. In the sequel, he is a brutal slaver who kidnaps children, [[BadBoss gathers a bunch of vermin and promises them the sky]], [[ManipulativeBastard only to have them turn on each other so they'll kill each other off, leaving him the sole profiteer]]. Worse, [[ShellShockedVeteran an old rabbit]] heavily implies he's done this many times in the past. He becomes one of the main henchmen for [[EvilOverlord Malkariss]], yet he is shown [[DeceptiveDisciple able and willing to turn on Malkariss and rule over that kingdom, even stating that outright]]. His original name was Chickenhound, but those who have read ''Mattimeo'' know him by a different title: [[spoiler:Slagar the Cruel.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', at the start of the story, Taylor is a bulled high school student with the weak power of controlling bugs. A few months later, she's the uncontested ruler of Brockton Bay's underworld, has fought off every hero in the city multiple times, defeated [[ArtificialIntelligence Dragon]], and the heroes are terrified of facing her.

* Patrick Bateman in ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'' came out of nowhere in the aftermath of an nuclear attack on American soil by MiddleEasternTerrorists. He founds his own political party "Wake Up America" and beats both the Republican and Democrat establishment on the promise to "make those motherfuckers pay". Bateman declares an all-out war on Islam and its followers, nuking Mecca and Medina, most of the Middle-East (with the exception of Israel) and also Malaysia and Indonesia (for supposedly funding the Islamic rebels in the Philippines) - he also nukes North Korea for good measure. He pressures the rest of the world to evict its surviving Muslim population, clamps down on civil rights, repeals the American constitution and turns the country into a straight-up [[TheEmpire Empire]]. One has to wonder where he would have been if those nuclear attacks did not happen.
** [[Literature/AmericanPsycho Torturing and murdering prostitutes in NYC?]]

* Patrick Bateman in ''Literature/{{Caliphate}}'' came out of nowhere in the aftermath of an nuclear attack on American soil by MiddleEasternTerrorists. He founds his own political party "Wake Up America" and beats both the Republican and Democrat establishment on the promise to "make those motherfuckers pay". Bateman declares an all-out war on Islam and its followers, nuking Mecca and Medina, most of the Middle-East (with the exception of Israel) and also Malaysia and Indonesia (for supposedly funding the Islamic rebels in the Philippines) - he also nukes North Korea for good measure. He pressures the rest of the world to evict its surviving Muslim population, clamps down on civil rights, repeals the American constitution and turns into a straight-up [[TheEmpire Empire]]. One has to wonder where he would have been if those nuclear attacks did not happen.

* Kierkan Rufo from ''Literature/TheClericQuintet'' series set in the ForgottenRealms. In the first four books he's a pathetic fellow cleric of Deneir who goes through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor before settling on 'Heel' and condemned to a magically enforced exile by [[TheHero Cadderly]]. In the final novel, thanks to a meddling [[TheImp imp]] that was a SmallAnnoyingCreature working for the previous BigBad, Rufo becomes a ''hideously'' powerful vampiric embodiment of Chaos and the final BigBad of the series.

* In Sukhinov's book ''[[Literature/TalesOfTheMagicLand Gingema's Daughter]]'' there is Corina. She starts as an ordinary Munchkin girl who didn't want to spend her entire life collecting herbs so she ran away from home. She gets lessons from Gingema (aka The WickedWitch of the East), and from then on she gradually gets more and more powerful. By the end of the book, she is the most powerful witch in OZ, rules the City of Oz, has The Woodsman (who rules the Violet kingdom) under MindControl, and effectively rules the rest of Magical Land too (with the exception of Glinda's and Wiilina's kingdoms). '''And''' she has [[CoolPet ''Dragons'']] on her side.

** Polonius Lartessa, one of the Denarian leaders is another example; when she started out she was just an underaged hooker in the temple of Isis. Then Nicodemus gave her the Denarian piece containing a fallen angel; since then she has ascended to a position where has not only become one of the most powerful mages on the planet, but has also caused numerous wars and ethnic cleansings (most notably the Rwanda Genocides and the Killing Fields of PolPot) purely for the hell of it. From nobody hooker to one of the biggest bastards in Literature.