History FromNobodyToNightmare / Literature

* From ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' there's David. He is introduced as an ordinary kid with a BB gun and a pet cobra. Over the course of three books he goes from that to reluctant SixthRanger to vengeful SixthRangerTraitor who defeats the leader of the Animorphs in single combat and comes closer to wiping out the team than the entirety of an ''alien empire''.

* ''Literature/LesMiserables'': The original InspectorJavert was just the child of a fortune teller and a thief before he grew up into [[TheDreaded the most formidable policeman]] in France.

* Keiji Kiriya from ''LightNovel/AllYouNeedIsKill''. A GroundhogDayLoop allows him to develop from a mediocre soldier to a hardened killer via SaveScumming. One of the major themes of the book is an exploration of exactly what that process will do to a person.

* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'': 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...

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'':

** 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.]]

* 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.

* 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.]]

* ''LightNovel/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'': [[VillainProtagonist Sadao]] [[MaouTheDemonKing 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.

* ''LightNovel/SoImASpiderSoWhat'':

* ''Literature/ThOriginOfLaughingJack'': Isaac Grossman was a poor child with very few belongings and a FriendlessBackground, but when he returns 13 years after being sent to boarding school, he's grown to be a cruel man (not unlike his father, but) with a growing interest in ColdBloodedTorture and murder. This behaviour could have been influenced by his AbusiveParents or the boarding school, but even as a child, he laughs hysterically when his friend gets a cat killed, likely hinting at an {{early personality sign|s}}.

* Inverted in ''Literature/MeinKampf''. It was the ''[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler author]]'' who became from nobody to nightmare.

* Inverted in ''Literature/MeinKampf''. It was the ''[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler author]]'' who became from nobody to nightmare.

** 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.

* ''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.

* Starting with Volume 9, an important subplot in ''Literature/HowARealistHeroRebuiltTheKingdom'' is about Souma's efforts to [[DefiedTrope prevent this]] with Fuuga Haan, a charismatic warlord who Souma thinks has the potential to conquer the entire continent.

* Rob in ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' starts out at Level 1 and almost dies to the first enemy he encounters. From them on, he gains strength at an alarming rate and is well on his way to becoming this for his enemies.

* Akar Kessel from ''[[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy The Crystal Shard]]'': A wimp who finds the eponymous ArtifactOfDoom and becomes a pawn to its desire for conquest. [[spoiler:Still undone by his [[SuperLoser incompetence]].]]

* Literature/ImNotARegression: Gwon Ohjin, the Sky Devil, the Stigma Eater, the destroyer of the world, started out as a mere swindler who used his incredible lying skills to trick the newly awakened and give him a cut of the profit.

* ''Literature/Frankenstein'': The monster created by Frankenstein goes from a caring and curious creature to a vengeful and rancorous beast capable of murder after he is rejected and routed by all the people he meets.

* Raistlin the Wizard from the ''Dragonlance'' series barely survived the test to become a wizard (you fail, you die), and even then only because he was allowed out of pity to have his warrior brother help him. He went from almost being killed from touching a Dragon Orb to being able to wield an Orb's considerable power without even looking at it, and eventually his power rivaled that of the Dark Queen, the ''Dragonlance'' universe's equivalent of Satan. In keeping with this trope, he lost his humanity as his power increased.

* ''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.
** Della Raver from ''The Curse Of Camp Cold Lake'' was an average girl who hated her life at camp. She was killed trying to escape, and her spirit became the skeletal nightmare we see on the cover.
** The main villain of ''The Horror At Camp Jellyjam'' was once a ''snail'' whose underground cavern was polluted by jello from the above camp, and mysterious radiation. Contacting both substances, he was mutated, growing in both size and intelligence. Fearing that his stench would destroy him,the creature found he could telepathically influence others when councillors answered his cries and tended to him. Eventually, the beast came to relish the power he had over human lives, and crowned himself King Jellyjam, one of the most bloodthirsty and horrifying monsters in the Goosebumps canon.

** Gellert Grindelwald never properly finished his magical education, as he was expelled from Durmstrang. He ended up conquering and subjecting most of Europe into a reign of terror, before Albus Dumbledore (who, on the contrary, was an recognized genius from the beginning) stopped him.

** The Targaryens as a whole. They were originally a minor noble house in Valyria, as their fame of dragon riding wasn't much of a special trait when there were hundreds of people who could do that. But they were the only dragonlord house who survived the Doom, so riding dragons suddenly went from a commonplace skill to a rarity. Three of their members, Aegon "The Conqueror" [[SiblingTeam his two sisters]], Visenya and Rhaenys, invaded the massive continent of Westeros from a small volcanic island off the coast and, with the use of their [[OutsideContextProblem three dragons]], proceed to conquer six kingdoms and establish a 300-year dynasty.
** The Valyrians, in turn were this as well. According to ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', the Valyrians were originally humble shepherds who resided in a backwater region of Essos (the original superpower was the Ghiscari Empire, centered in what is now the Slaver's Bay). Then they discovered dragons, which would presage thousands of years-long Valyrian dominance in the Known World.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Lord Voldemort went from living in a Muggle orphanage as a child to being the BigBad as an adult. ''And'' got defeated by a boy who spent most of his early years living in a closet under the stairs of people who don't like him.

** The Targaryens as a whole. They were originally a minor noble house in Valyria, as their fame of dragon riding wasn't much of a special trait when there were hundreds of people who could do that. But they were the only dragonlord house who survived the Doom, so riding dragons suddenly went from a commonplace skill to a rarity. Three of their members, Aegon "The Conqueror" [[SiblingTeam his two sisters]], Visenya, and Rhaenys invaded the massive continent of Westeros from a small volcanic island off the coast and, with the use of their [[OutsideContextProblem three dragons]], proceed to conquer six kingdoms and establish a 300-year dynasty.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''

** Historically, Aegon "The Conqueror" Targaryen and [[SiblingTeam his two sisters]] were this. Three minor nobles from an [[DoomedHometown Empire lost in a cataclysm]], they invade the massive continent of Westeros from a small volcanic island off the coast and, with the use of their [[OutsideContextProblem three dragons]], proceed to conquer six kingdoms and establish a 300-year dynasty.

** Historically, Aegon "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Conqueror]]" [[OutsideContextProblem Targaryen]] and [[SiblingTeam his two sisters]] were this. Three refugees from an [[DoomedHometown Empire lost in a cataclysm]], hitting Five Kingdoms practically at once from a volcanic dot just off the coast to eventually weld all Seven of them into just the one Kingdom. And, found a [[BigScrewedUpFamily 300-year dynasty]] ([[SoleSurvivor which may not be done, thank you very much]]). The three [[WeaponOfMassDestruction dragons]] they brought with them helped with the whole "nightmare" bit. KillItWithFire does that, when "it" can include whole armies and castles. It's even more impressive since the Targaryens were a ''minor'' noble house in Valyria.
** Daenerys "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mother of]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dragons]]" Targaryen seems to have been taking notes from her ancestor, "The Conqueror". From the [[ImpoverishedPatrician penniless]], [[UnexpectedSuccessor youngest]], [[TheExile Princess-in-Exile]]... to a Queen in her own right by dint of bloody conquest, forget rights from birth or marriage alone. Underestimating this escalating nightmare when you oppose her is not recommended.
** Melisandre, born a slave, rises to become a formidable sorceress and one of Stannis Baratheon's two closest advisers (as well as being regarded as his 'true queen').

** In addition to the former, he has killed two nightmare beings from outside of our reality, who are unkillable; the Outsiders He Who Walks Behind and He Who Walks Before.

* ''Literature/HouseOfTheScorpion'': El Patron. He was born into a impoverished Mexican family, but at the time of the novel, he is one of the most powerful drug lords on the planet. [[spoiler: Even after his death, his influence is still profound on the world.]]

* Literature/SandmanSlim was just a magician who found magic easier than most. Then his buddies sent him to hell.

* ''Literature/{{Redwall}}'':
** In the original novel, at first this 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 ''Outcast of Redwall'' we follow archvillain Swartt Sixclaw on his journey from leader of a small band of robbers to Warlord of a vast horde. Along the way he graduates from a psychopathic teenager to a brutal, charismatic general nicknamed "The Pitiless One."
* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'':
** The ''Literature/KhaavrenRomances'' have an ongoing pattern in which a secondary villain in one book will become a much more competent BigBad in the next. In ''Literature/ThePhoenixGuards'', Lord Garland is an EvilChancellor who is the pawn of other, more competent villains. In the next book, ''Literature/FiveHundredYearsAfter'', Garland is reduced to hanging out in a BadGuyBar, but is behind machinations which successfully destroy the Dragaeran Empire, albeit not in exactly the way he planned. In that book, he is assisted by his daughter Grita, whom he mistreats and it's implied prostitutes. By the next book, ''Literature/ThePathsOfTheDead'', Grita has reinvented herself as a powerful [[EvilSorcerer sorceress]] and is TheManBehindTheMan during the rest of the series.
** In ''Literature/{{Jhegaala}}'', it's mentioned that Easterners who became Teckla or Jhereg in the Dragaeran Empire, thereby gaining access to sorcery, and then returned to their homeland, often become this trope as soon as they realize they can still use a type of magic none of their countrymen have any defense against. It usually becomes necessary for the local rulers to intervene and put such upstarts down.
* A series of science fiction books by Tony Daniel features Ames, an interplanetary dictator who sends virtual lifeforms to virtual deathcamps, and generally causes terror. He used to be a composer with an abusive childhood.
* Mister Dattam from Yulia Latynina's ''Literature/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]].
* Gully Foyle from Alfred Bester's ''Literature/TheStarsMyDestination'' began as an uneducated Engineer's Mate 3rd Class aboard a freighter, and by the end he is a [[spoiler:cybernetically enhanced unstoppable killing machine with the ability to teleport himself across the galaxy and through time.]]
* In ''Literature/TheGodfather'':
** Vito Corleone progresses by stages from a mild-mannered grocery clerk with no interest in anyone else's affairs to the head of the most powerful crime family in New York.
** His son Michael Corleone goes from being a U.S. Marine with no interest or experience in the mafia, to assassinating the leaders of all four rival families, plus the ringleader of Las Vegas and his brother-in-law.
* Pontius Glaw, recurring character [[spoiler:and eventual BigBad]] in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' ''{{Literature/Eisenhorn}}'' novels. Starting off as just another bored noble with a penchant for watching gladiatorial combat, a chance encounter with a pit fighter's Chaos-tainted piece of jewelery turned him into a powerful heretic and the head of a major Chaos cult. He was then knocked ''back'' to being a Nothing by getting himself mostly killed, eventually becoming nothing more than a personality engram encoded into a hunk of quartz. [[spoiler:He then became a nightmare ''again'', when Eisenhorn gave him a robot body in exchange for information; Glaw used the body to escape from his confinement, destroy Eisenhorn's carefully-constructed support network, and nearly unleash a powerful daemonic superweapon before finally being killed for good.]]

** Wizards in general, but Harry especially. He starts out an orphan, the son of a poor, kindly stage magician. [[spoiler:and Margaret [=LeFay=] [=McCoy=], but hush.]] Now? He's taken on literal gods [[spoiler:Winter and Summer Knights, Ladies, and Queens as well as several of their retainers, Greek godlings, ancient Native American nightmares, and so on,]] is on speaking terms with some such as [[spoiler: ''Odin'', plus some Angels, though they aren't technically gods, they're at the same unimaginable level of power]], has [[spoiler:killed at least a dozen of those gods: Lady Summer Aurora as well as the ''entire'' Red Court]], he's currently the [[spoiler:Winter Knight]], has [[spoiler:beaten to a standstill a creature that stops for nothing less than a nuke]], and killed one of the heirs of Kemmler twice - Kemmler being a Warlock that the ''entire '' White Council ''and then some ''had to deal with, and who was responsible for WWI. One of those times, Harry was ''dead''. He's [[spoiler:ousted the White King]], has killed [[spoiler:uncountable vampires (Red, White, and Black), ghouls, and Fae, to the point of wiping out the entire Red Court]], lead an assault on [[spoiler: Arctis Tor, the ''center of the Winter Queen's power'']], [[spoiler: resisted and ''converted'' the imprint of a Fallen Angel]], [[spoiler:established dominance over a creature so ancient it has achieved localized omniscience]], works for [[spoiler: Uriel]], [[spoiler: discovered the Black Council and killed at least several of its members], [[spoiler: used a loophole of the Laws of Magic to raise a ZOMBIE Tyrannosaurus Rex]] which won him a (temporary) reprieve after [[spoiler: insulting the Erlking (the Summer King) by imprisoning him in a binding circle]]. He's also nearly killed 2000+ year-old Nicodemus Archleon, leader of the Knights of the Blackened Denarius TWICE with his bare hands, to the point that said villain is now terrified of Harry. Suffice to say, there is a reason Harry gets/needs reminded from time to time about why, despite doing heroic things, some of his acquaintances question how close he is to picking up the black hat, and why some of the "good guys" wonder if he hasn't already.

* Literature/DarthBane. From two-bit nobody miner on an Outer Rim world to one of the most powerful and evil Sith Lords of all time.
* 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.
* A rare semi-heroic protagonist example happens in ''Literature/TheMentalState''. Zack starts off his stint in prison as a first-time offender with no friends and hardly anyone on the outside to talk to. By the end, he has [[spoiler:secretly taken over the running of the prison, reformed the entire prison system itself, been elected the prisoner representative with a landslide majority and achieved a so much infamy that he is occasionally referred to as the 'Wellington of Crime']].
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''
** Rand al'Thor went from a shepherd's son [[spoiler:to being the single most powerful man on the face of the earth, able to destroy whole cities at will. Granted, he is TheChosenOne and meant to save the world, but he is also prophesized to break the world too, and the fact he is quite rightly reputed to be a bit mad, and deteriorating, still makes a nightmare even to his allies.]]
** Padan Fain started out as a [[PunchClockVillain rank-and-file]] darkfriend whose cover was that he was a peddler. Then he got recruited by [[TheDragon Ishamael]] to track Rand down, given minor magical abilities in the process. ''Then'' he merged with the soul of Mordeth acquiring a whole lot more power in the process and also going [[AxCrazy nuts]]. Blaming both sides of the battle of good against evil for his suffering, he's got it out for everybody- but especially Rand- and is unfortunately one of the more powerful beings in the setting now.
** The thirteen Forsaken are ShroudedInMyth in the present day as [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient]], [[OneManArmy terrifyingly powerful]], utterly depraved servants of the [[GodOfEvil Dark One]], but some have very humble roots. TheChessmaster Moghedien was an investment advisor and {{white collar crim|e}}inal, while Mesaana was a middle-rate teacher who had her StartOfDarkness when she was refused a research position.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''
** As lords go, Petyr Baelish is an example. He was born the son of the most minor lord in the Seven Kingdoms and raised among his social betters, earning him a massive inferiority complex. He spent his early adulthood using his financial genius to steadily raise his social station until earning the position of Master of Coin for the whole Seven Kingdoms. Since the start of the series, he's revealed himself to be one of the nation's most accomplished [[ChessMaster Chess Masters]], with a seemingly limitless ambition, [[spoiler:secretly instigating a devastating civil war that destroys entire families and tears Westeros apart, and using the chaos to become one of the most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms]].
** Varys and Illyrio Mopatis, two {{Chess Master}}s, started life as an castrated orphan mummer boy and a homeless street bravo respectively. [[spoiler:Through their partnership, however, they create a criminal empire that puts Illyio into a magister position in Pentos and Varys into a Master of Whispers position in Westeros. They use their positions to gain amazing wealth and influence]].
** 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]].
** Historically, Aegon "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Conqueror]]" [[OutsideContextProblem Targaryen]] and [[SiblingTeam his two sisters]] were this. Three refugees from an [[DoomedHometown Empire lost in a cataclysm]], hitting Five Kingdoms practically at once from a volcanic dot just off the coast to eventually weld all Seven of them into just the one Kingdom. And, found a [[BigScrewedUpFamily 300-year dynasty]] ([[SoleSurvivor which may not be done, thank you very much]]). The three [[WeaponOfMassDestruction dragons]] they brought with them helped with the whole "nightmare" bit. KillItWithFire does that, when "it" can include whole armies and castles. It's even more impressive since the Targaryens were a ''minor'' noble house in Valyria.
** Daenerys "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Mother of]] [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Dragons]]" Targaryen seems to have been taking notes from her ancestor, "The Conqueror". From the [[ImpoverishedPatrician penniless]], [[UnexpectedSuccessor youngest]], [[TheExile Princess-in-Exile]]... to a Queen in her own right by dint of bloody conquest, forget rights from birth or marriage alone. Underestimating this escalating nightmare when you oppose her is not recommended.
** Melisandre, born a slave, rises to become a formidable sorceress and one of Stannis Baratheon's two closest advisers (as well as being regarded as his 'true queen').
* ''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.
* Akar Kessel from ''[[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy The Crystal Shard]]'': A wimp who finds the eponymous ArtifactOfDoom and becomes a pawn to its desire for conquest. [[spoiler:Still undone by his [[SuperLoser incompetence]].]]
* In the {{Literature/Gormenghast}} cycle, Steerpike was just a put-upon kitchen helper before discovering his ManipulativeBastard side.
* General Woundwart from ''Literature/WatershipDown'' was originally just an average ordinary rabbit who lost his parents from a young age who joined a gang of rabbit revolutionaries, then he became a power hungry dictator who enslaves rabbits and makes them work themselves to death and has his higher ranking officers do what they like to them including beating and occasionally raping them.

* Katniss Everdeen from ''Literature/TheHungerGames''. She was just another player, facing a one in twenty-four chance of staying alive longer than everyone else, but by the end of the series, she was the [[spoiler:face of the revolution and played a role in the deaths of two corrupt Presidents of Panem.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'', there is the wizard who started as con artist and ended as an evil dictator of OZ, destroying everyone who opposed him.
* In ''Literature/{{Holes}}'', Kissin' Kate Barlow, one of the most feared outlaws in the Old West [[spoiler:was once a small-town schoolteacher. Then she fell in love with black onion seller Sam, and the townspeople burned down her school and lynched him.]]
* Stag Preston of ''Literature/SpiderKiss'' went from a shady bellhop to a sociopathic superstar.
* From ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' there's David. He is introduced as an ordinary kid with a BB gun and a pet cobra. Over the course of three books he goes from that to reluctant SixthRanger to vengeful SixthRangerTraitor who defeats the leader of the Animorphs in single combat and comes closer to wiping out the team than the entirety of an ''alien empire''.
* ''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.
** Della Raver from ''The Curse Of Camp Cold Lake'' was an average girl who hated her life at camp. She was killed trying to escape, and her spirit became the skeletal nightmare we see on the cover.
** The main villain of ''The Horror At Camp Jellyjam'' was once a ''snail'' whose underground cavern was polluted by jello from the above camp, and mysterious radiation. Contacting both substances, he was mutated, growing in both size and intelligence. Fearing that his stench would destroy him,the creature found he could telepathically influence others when councillors answered his cries and tended to him. Eventually, the beast came to relish the power he had over human lives, and crowned himself King Jellyjam, one of the most bloodthirsty and horrifying monsters in the Goosebumps canon.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'', Lord Voldemort went from living in a Muggle orphanage as a child to being the BigBad as an adult. ''And'' got defeated by a boy who spent most of his early years living in a closet under the stairs of people who don't like him.

* Creator/RobertBloch's "Sweets to the Sweet" has Irma, who was unfortunate enough to have her mother suffer DeathByChildbirth. Blaming her for this, her father regularly beats and abuses her, constantly calling her a witch. Her uncle is no better; though he's fully aware of the abuse, he ignores it and goes about his own life, and gets irritated when the housekeeper begs him to intervene. So she resolves to become exactly what her father thinks she is, and studies witchcraft, creating a tiny wax VoodooDoll of her father. [[spoiler:And ultimately bites its head off, then slips away while her uncle rushes to her father's bedside]].
* Not exactly evil, but Dr. Alexandre Manette ends up nearly being the death of his son-in-law Charles Darnay in Dickens' ''Literature/ATaleOfTwoCities''. In one of those trumped-up coincidences Dickens was so famous for, Dr. Manette is imprisoned in the Bastille for many years thanks to the Darnays' influence and writes an angry journal entry condemning the whole family. His daughter Lucie later marries Charles, the young son of the family who had imprisoned him. When the French Revolution comes, a murderous people's tribunal puts Charles on trial and submits as evidence Dr. Manette's long-forgotten denunciation of his family. Charles is promptly sentenced to death and is due to be beheaded by the guillotine in 24 hours. If not for a certain HeroicSacrifice....
* Scourge from ''Literature/WarriorCats'', from small kitten named Tiny, bullied by his siblings, he manages to become leader of [=BloodClan=] with sheer ruthlessness and [[PintsizedPowerhouse one of most deadly cats]] in [[Literature/WarriorCats Warriors]].
* ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'': Viole Falushe and Howard Alan Treesong both started out as disliked, bullied kids before ending up as the titular [[TheDreaded Demon Princes]].
* ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine''
** [[PhysicalGod Ma'elKoth]] used to be Hannto the Scythe, a wimpy necromancer.
** [[spoiler: Ignoring concepts of predetermination]], Hari/Caine himself. Hari was just some street urchin with a crazy father who became the greatest actor Earth ever knew. And Caine was just some assassin who became the scariest bastard Home ever knew (who directly started at least four wars).

* In the ''Literature/AgeOfFire'' series, the Copper was ostracized from his family at early age and was considered a cripple and misfit by the Lavadome Dragons. By the end of his book, he's their leader, and has his sights set on conquering the world.
* The villain from ''[[Literature/{{Spellsinger}} The Moment Of The Magician]]'' was a balding, overweight loser who'd scraped by doing cheap tricks for kids' birthday parties, until he found himself in a world where his magic ''worked''.
* Rattila, the Ratislavan villain from ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth-Taken Identity]]'', was a janitor at a magical research lab until he stole an experimental artifact that vastly increased his power.
* ''Literature/{{Timeline 191}}'': Jake Featherston was an artillery sergeant with a bad temper, before he ran into the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Freedom Party]]. His rage at losing the Great War and skill as an orator has him become the [[ThirteenIsUnlucky thirteenth]] [[PresidentEvil President]] of the Confederate States of America following the Great Depression. He than starts the Second Great War, whilst conducting a genocide of the CSA's black population. Most of his major henchmen, including Jefferson Pinkard (steel worker and veteran turned concentration camp commander) and Clarence Potter (intelligence major turned Brigadier-General, [[TheSpymaster Spymaster]], and all around MagnificentBastard) also count.
* Norman Arminger of the Literature/{{Emberverse}} was an unknown professor of history whose hobby was mock-swordfighting in the SCA. When the Change put paid to guns and most modern technology, he swiftly rose to become "Lord Protector" of the Portland Protective Association; that is, a brutal despot running what amounted to a protection ''racket''.
* Raistlin the Wizard from the ''Dragonlance'' series barely survived the test to become a wizard (you fail, you die), and even then only because he was allowed out of pity to have his warrior brother help him. He went from almost being killed from touching a Dragon Orb to being able to wield an Orb's considerable power without even looking at it, and eventually his power rivaled that of the Dark Queen, the ''Dragonlance'' universe's equivalent of Satan. In keeping with this trope, he lost his humanity as his power increased.
* Otha from ''Literature/TheElenium''. Originally a shepherd boy with a penchant for hurting animals, he stumbles across an idol in a field and eventually becomes a 1,900 year old emperor with vast magical powers and one of the most powerful armies in the world at this disposal.
** A bit of a subversion, however, because he was, and is, as stupid as a stump and [[FatBastard incapable of movement without assistance]]. It's only his [[EldritchAbomination Azash]]-[[DealWithTheDevil given]] powers and Azash's cult that actually make him any threat.

* At the beginning of Creator/JohnMaddoxRoberts' 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/{{Discworld}}'':
** There's Mr. Teatime from ''Literature/{{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''.
** On the good side is Samuel Vimes, once a gutter drunk and laughing stock and now feared by every criminal in Ankh-Morpork as well as most of the old money aristocracy.
* Gretchen Richter in ''Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo''. She was first a printer's daughter, then she was reduced to the concubine of a mercenary captain. As of now, she's the leader of a powerful, well-armed political movement spanning half of Europe, and is said to figure prominently in the nightmares of most of Europe's nobility. [[spoiler:During the civil war in ''1636: The Saxon Uprising'', she took over Dresden, and held it for weeks against the Swedish General Baner, until the [[TheCavalry Third Division]] (including her husband) showed up and smashed Baner's army.]]
* In ''Literature/TheDogStars'', Bangley has fought off countless bandit invasions AfterTheEnd over the course of nine years. He keeps his backstory mysterious, but eventually Higs learns that [[spoiler:he was just some farmer who was abused as a kid. He's been itching for a time when he could do nothing but kill people, and it turns out he's incredibly good at it]].
* 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.

* In ''Seven Sorcerers'', Arafin Strood was originally an ordinary human, servant of a renown alchemist Gan Mafig. The the titular sorcerers tested the Deathbane on him, which gave him CompleteImmortality - and tested it by repeatedly tearing him to shreds. Now he is the most horrible villain the the magical realm.
* Geder Palliako from ''Literature/TheDaggerAndTheCoin'' is introduced as the nerdy, overweight son of a minor nobleman and isn't taken seriously by anyone, even himself. Then he gets put in charge of an occupying force thanks to political wrangling and proves himself to have a disturbingly sociopathic streak that manifests when he both has power and feels threatened. ''Then'' he meets [[HighPriest Basrahip]], the leader of a PathOfInspiration who decides Geder is TheChosenOne- and has a CompellingVoice that lets him make ''other'' people believe it to. [[spoiler: Things end up with Geder as EvilOverlord of half the continent, and still rather stunned at the chain of improbable events that got him there]].
* Both Ian Covey and David Tirado spend ''{{Literature/Everyman}}'' changing from normal men into literal monsters.
* Keiji Kiriya from ''LightNovel/AllYouNeedIsKill''. A GroundhogDayLoop allows him to develop from a mediocre soldier to a hardened killer via SaveScumming. One of the major themes of the book is an exploration of exactly what that process will do to a person.
* Literature/HonorHarrington starts out as a gifted but otherwise rather unimportant Commander in the Royal Manticoran Navy. Then she's sent to Basilisk Station. Twenty years later, she is known as "The Salamander" for always being where the fires are hottest, is considered her generation's answer to the military legends [[FamedInStory Edward Saganami and Ellen D'Orville]], is on first-name terms with the rulers of three separate star nations plus a good chunk of their governments, and has played a critical role in [[spoiler:forging an alliance between her star nation and the one she's spent most of her career fighting]]. Not to mention collected a couple of noble titles and a knighthood.
* ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': Kellhus is just a wanderer who is considered notable only because he happens to hang around Cnaiur. Very quickly, however, he has set himself up as a prophet and seized control of the entire Holy War. It only goes up for him from there.
* The alternate history novel ''Literature/ForWantOfANail'' gives us Bernard Kramer, a German immigrant in the United States of Mexico. Spending years trying to scrape out a living as a miner, he eventually puts together enough capital to found future MegaCorp Kramer Associates. Through this company, he would then go on to gain enough political power to do things like fund a pro-Mexican revolution in Guatemala for the sake of his business interests, and gain enough influence to effectively control the Mexican government [[spoiler: up to and including installing a dictator.]]
** Kramer Associates as a whole probably counts. Starting as a 26 member shipping and dry goods company, it would, as mentioned above, go on to become a MegaCorp of such influence that it practically controls politics in the Western hemisphere, becoming a [[NGOSuperpower nation unto itself]], even [[spoiler: developing nuclear weapons before any of the world's ''actual'' nations.]]
* ''Literature/TheStrangerBesideMe'': Ted Bundy goes from a college kid who can't hold a job for more than a month to one of the most notorious [[SerialKiller serial killers]] in US history.
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'': The original InspectorJavert was just the child of a fortune teller and a thief before he grew up into [[TheDreaded the most formidable policeman]] in France.
** [[BigBad Monsieur Thenardier]] went from a crooked innkeeper and a petty criminal to the leader of a feared crime gang. [[spoiler: By the end of the book he's a rich slave driver in America.]]

* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
** Seerdomin manages this ''twice'': Once the son of a fisherman, he became a high ranking officer in an army full of religious fanatics and cannibals. Then, after that career path has endet, he does it again in ''Literature/TollTheHounds'', when he goes from gloomy but generally decent citizen to stalking and murdering people at night because they were planning to get rid of their new lord, whom he secretly approves of.
** In ''Literature/MidnightTides'', Rhulad Sengar. He's introduced as POV character Trull Sengar's kid brother and his most remarkable feature is being something of a glory hound. After inadvertently acquiring an ArtifactOfDoom, dying and coming BackFromTheDead, and making a bargain with [[MadGod the Crippled God]], Rhulad finds himself well on the way to becoming [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Emperor of a Thousand Deaths]], ruler of the second most powerful empire in the world. Of course, the Crippled God's gifts always come tainted, as Rhulad [[TraumaCongaLine soon learns]]...
** Before Shadowthrone ascended to be the new Lord of Shadow, he started off as a [[spoiler: bar owner and middling criminal]]. ''Then'' he took [[TookALevelInBadass some levels in badass]] when he planned the conception of the [[spoiler: the continent-spanning Malazan Empire as Emperor Kellanved]]. Well, and then there is the whole 'new god' thing.
* Thomas Cromwell in ''Literature/WolfHall'', once he begins to implement Henry's more brutal policies. He was born the son of a blacksmith in Putney (a past he tries to leave behind and which his highborn adversaries remind him of whenever he irritates them), but his job as Wolsey's lawyer leads him to become Henry VIII's right-hand man, and he readily takes advantage of his position to exact deadly revenge on those who caused Wolsey's downfall.
* The nameless protagonist of ''Literature/RatmansNotebooks'' was a humdrum, put-upon loser, nagged by his mother and intimidated by his boss. Then he opted ''not'' to kill the family of rats living in his garden. Within months, he's robbing houses, terrorizing the neighborhood in a creepy rat mask, and siccing an attack-trained SqueakingCarpet on his personal enemies.
* In the ''ComicBook/QueenAndCountry'' novel ''A Gentleman's Game'', we're introduced to William Leacock. Starts off as a harmless British kid, and ends up becoming a bloodthirsty jihadi who murders his best friend, a girl he's fallen in love with, and [[spoiler: Tom Wallace, the love interest of series main character Tara Chace]].

* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'':
** Vencarlo Barsavi arrived in Camorr 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.
** The Grey King was just a refugee a few years ago, until [[spoiler:he arrives in Camorr and wrests the city's underworld out from under Capa Barsavi]].
* In ''Literature/EverybodyLovesLargeChests'', [[spoiler:a low-level mimic (i.e. monster pretending to be a treasure chest, just waiting to gobble up any curious adventurer) learns to pick up a sword, and things snowball from there. The nightmare part is reinforced by the mimic retaining its insatiable HorrorHunger, as well as getting better and smarter with every success, as well as learning skills that no one would ever expect a mimic to get, such as spellcasting]]. The reason this works is because this world operates on standard RPG rules, and everybody is aware of that, able to learn about new skills and abilities by saying "status", which calls up a mental stat window.
* Near-future thriller ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'''s economic doomsday and civil unrest scenario features several, as strange characters rise to the occasion in strange times, but the most iconic is surely General [[MeaningfulName Hadji al-Malik al-Shabazz]] of the radical Islamic militia that takes over Boston. Before he joined their group, he was Willy Welly the moderately successful saxophonist.
* The eight ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' generally count. Granted, one started off as a prince (albeit not well regarded by his family due to a stutter), but generally, they're reasonably ordinary people going about reasonably ordinary lives. Then six become AnthropomorphicPersonifications of Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, and Night. The other two become Satan and God.
* ''Literature/StoryThieves'' provides a case of this. Or rather, it provides a case of from nobody to Nobody. Nobody, the books BigBad, was once just a faceless goon working for a mad scientist before discovering he could rewrite himself to be anything.
* Sétimo in ''Literature/VampirosDoRioDouro'' was just a normal fisherman until one night, he and six other men (including his brother) sold their souls to the Devil to become vampires in order to survive a plague that afflicted their village. Sétimo was sacrificed and served as the Devil's slave for centuries, but in return, he emerged as the most powerful and dangerous of the Seven, with the ability to [[DaywalkingVampire walk under daylight]] and transform [[OneWingedAngel himself into a bat-like demon]]. He is feared even by his fellow vampires and rightly so, since they betrayed him to gain their dark gifts and he wants revenge against them. Other members of the group also qualify such as Lobo (a mere merchant), Espelho (an African slave) and Acordador (a humble artisan), but Sétimo is the biggest example of this trope.
* Pat Buckman 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". Buckman 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/ThePostman'': One of the robbers at the beginning introduces himself as a former stockbroker. Later on, Colonel Bezoar says he was once a lawyer and Republican county commissioner.
* ''Literature/ThePoppyWar'': Rin starts out as a war orphan working as a shopgirl for her foster family in a humble town, then she gets accepted into an elite military academy against all odds, discovers the lost powers of shamanism, and progresses to a genocidal warlord and commander of an elite troop of mystical assassins who destroys an entire country as retaliation for what was done to her people, and later leads a plot to overthrow and kill the Empress of her own country.
* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': Bastian starts out as an overweight, ugly, unathletic scared little boy who tells stories to himself. He reads the Neverending Story and gives the childlike empress a new name, propelling him into the world of Fantastica. He is granted the power to make wishes using Auryn, the symbol of the empress, and his first wish is to be strong, handsome, athletic and brave. This first wish also robs him of the memory of ever being that overweight, ugly unathletic, scared little boy. Each subsequent wish removes his memory of something vitally important to Bastian's character that made him a good person, and so he slowly transforms from the savior of Fantastica to a bloodthirsty conqueror who seeks to depose the empress and sit on her throne.
* ''Literature/JohannesCabal'': The [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] Ratuth Slabuth rose from his initial life as the insignificant imp Ragtag Slyboots to a general of {{Hell}}, TheDragon to {{Satan}}, and [[spoiler:Satan's successor]]. {{Exploited|Trope}} in [[Literature/JohannesCabalTheNecromancer the first book]] by Johannes to {{Blackmail}} him with his ignominious past.
* ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'': Dantes leaves the city a prisoner and returns as the rich, cunning and ruthless Count of Monte Cristo, who is willing to use all the powers at his disposal to get revenge.
* Literature/JamesBond's ArchEnemy and the head of [[NebulousEvilOrganization SPECTRE]] Ernst Stavro Blofeld started out as a low-level clerk for the Polish postal service, but used his position to sell top-secret wires to Nazi Germany. Anticipating WWII, he destroyed all records of his existence after moving to Turkey, where he set up the blueprint for SPECTRE by [[PlayingBothSides selling info to both the Axis and the Allies]], but eventually backed the Allied cause. He temporarily moved to South America, before establishing a criminal empire that rivals the superpowers in terms of resources, but fronts as a charitable organization whose HQ is in Paris.
* ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': due to the narrative laws the Guide-Verse follows, anyone who has a strong conviction and whose actions fit into the mould of a story can become a Named, standing head-and-shoulders above others, there are a lot of examples. Some especially noteworthy ones:
** Alaya, Dread Empress Malicia I of Praes. Born as the daughter of a tavernkeep in the breadbasket of the empire, she later became Empress of the country, and the most sucessful one for centuries (cutting the nobility's power, giving rights to the different species that live in Praes, covertly destabilizing the biggest rival country, providing for a flourishing economy, and, above all, occupying the neightbouring country, something nearly every ruler before her tried and failed).
** Hanno, the White Knight: born as the kid of a miner from the lowest caste in his hometown and his foreign, thus caste-less wife, he later gets blessed by the Angels of Justice, learns from the giants and becomes the leading Hero of his generation.
* ''Literature/SixOfCrows'': Most of the main cast qualifies as this, honestly.
** Kaz starts out as an innocent child, then, after [[spoiler: the death of his brother]] and several other traumas, he becomes the Bastard of the Barrel, eager to take his vengeance on Pekka Rollins.
** Inej is a teenaged acrobat before being kidnapped by traffickers. Afterwards, she's the Wraith, a deadly spy who works as the right hand of the lieutenant of one of the more powerful gangs in Ketterdam.

* There's Mr. Teatime from ''Literature/{{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''.