History Main / BadassNormal

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** Roman learned how to fight on the streets of Wind Path, and never unlocked his Semblance, but his combat ability and Aura strength enable him to fight Huntsmen students; he's good enough to be able to deal with Blake and Sun at the same time, and even Ruby on her own with little difficulty.
** Mercury never went through the Huntsmen Academies, instead being trained by his father to be an assassin. He also has no Semblance because his father stole it, but remains an exceptional fighter who can keep up with Huntsman-quality fighters, even those who have Semblances that can significantly enhance their own abilities.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries, World's Finest, Part 1''

* Syndrome of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' has no powers, yet his technical skills and smarts allow him to create a robot powerful enough to eliminate dozens of supers. As well as an energy beam that allows him to move ''anything'', regardless of its size, almost exactly like the Gravity Gun from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. It may be that he has the one power of the Fantastic Four that no member of the Parr family has: His ability to invent things. He's a {{Deconstruct|edTrope}}ion of Franchise/{{Batman}}-like BadassNormal superheroes: he is undeniably a genius inventor, [[BadassBookworm and he's hand's-on enough to use his gadgets in the field himself]], but his lack of powers causes superheroes with powers to disparage him as just another {{Muggle|s}} who gets in the way. The difference is that Batman uses his genius for the greater good, while Syndrome becomes bitter and instead uses his genius creations to enact revenge on the perceived {{Smug Super}}s of the world, when their only crime was not recognising his potential and (perhaps rightly, perhaps wrongly) trying to protect what they thought was a reckless kid who was in way over his head. Hence, he hates all "supers" equally, including ones he's never met or [[WouldHurtAChild ones who weren't even alive to disparage him in the first instance]]. This leads to the horrifying implication that Pixar's most dangerous villain and the Caped Crusader himself aren't so different. If Bruce Wayne's life had sucked even more than it already did, ''who knows'' what he would've become?

[[caption-width-right:350: [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Four]] may not be so [[ComicBook/FantasticFourNumberOne Fantastic]] in this universe, but they can still get the job done.]]

** PlayedWith in "The Seven Battle Royale (''Series/TheBoys'')". [[spoiler:Badass Normal Billy Butcher does defeat Starlight and Queen Mauve, but only because he had the baby with EyeBeams to use as a kind of WaveMotionGun and he could've easily been smooshed into LudicrousLibs at any point, which Homelander proves at the end. Granted to whole Battle Royale was just a promtion for the show and not supposed to taken seriously like "[[ComicBook/{{Invinicble}} Omni-Man]] vs. [[ComicBook/TheBoys Homelander]]".]]

* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' occasionally has this dynamic:

** "[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]] vs. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockhart]]". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:loses. It is true that Tifa is more experienced, and she also possesses a [[SheFu flowing and versatile martial art style]] that counters Yang's [[UnskilledButStrong comparatively straightforward berserker punching]]. However, Yang's Semblance lets her greatly surpass Tifa's strength, and her Aura allows her to stand up to the worst Tifa can throw at her. With Tifa in turn being effectually a GlassCannon, Yang's victory was only a matter of time and taking enough whacks.]]

They notably have none of the fantastic enhancements, magic, or special powers that others do. It might even be [[MugglePower a sore point for them]], but that just makes us encourage them more. If they are in TheTeam, then they are usually TheLeader, or at least [[TheSmartGuy the brains of the outfit]], to compensate.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'': The Freelancer Project tried to create the forty-nine most skilled and powerful human fighters alive, each paired with an armour enhancement and A.I. to empower them even further. Due to a tragic experience with A.I. in his past, Agent Washington refuses to use any armour enhancements or A.I., and relies solely on skill, tactics and sheer willpower. Despite this, he's still considered one of the most elite, dangerous fighters alive, and never ranked lower than sixth in the Freelancer Project, even when surrounded by enhanced colleagues.

[[caption-width-right:350: [[ComicBook/FantasticFour The Four may not be so Fantastic]] in this universe, but they can still get the job done.]]

* ''Roleplay/MarvelsRPG'' has rules for making your character one of these.

** [[TheJailer Hy]][[BattleBoomerang drax]][[KnifeNut on]]. No elemental powers. No Kanohi mask. Just unmatched lethality with every known weapon in the world, and that's more than enough for him to go toe-to-toe with the entire Toa Mahri, be entrusted with keeping the deadliest criminals in the universe locked up, and [[spoiler: training the Toa Mata before they lost their memories]]. In fact, he was so badass, [[spoiler:the Mask of Life chose to transform the Matoran Dekar into a new version of him.]]

** [[TheJailer Hy]][[BattleBoomerang drax]][[KnifeNut on]]. In fact, he was so badass, [[spoiler:the Mask of Life chose to transform the Matoran Dekar into a new version of him.]]

'''Note for Tropers:''' This trope '''only''' applies if the setting possesses a significant number of characters with superpowers. In a setting where superpowers are very uncommon or nonexistent, badass characters without superpowers [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment are just badass]]. If you encounter an instance of a character in a setting without superpowers being called a Badass Normal, please remove or change it. For average people that are forced to be a badass by the situation, see ActionSurvivor. For costumed heroes without superpowers in general, see NonPoweredCostumedHero. Anyone from a WitchSpecies who can't be defined as a MuggleBornOfMages is disqualified.

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'': Following Normal Monsters:
** Blue-Eyes White Dragon had the highest ATK back then in the earliest days of the card game, and even to this day, it is the strongest Normal Monster in the game. Though it has been outclassed by many monsters in terms of playability because it is/was impractical to use or because high ATK does not really matter anymore, since powerful effects are more favorable options, its 3000 ATK is still dangerous when it comes to beatstick battles and nowadays, it is a lot of easier to summon it. It is still relevant in Blue-Eyes decks, since many cards can either summon it easily or stronger forms of it require it as Materials.
** Also at the beginning of the ''Duel Monsters'' era, Summoned Skull was one of the most famous examples. Being a Level 6 monster, you only need one monster to tribute for his Tribute Summoning, getting a powerful 2500 ATK beatstick on your board. With only 1200 DEF, he was also easily searchable by the Witch of Black Forest until she was banned. Due to Summoned Skull having 2500 ATK, he was the strongest Normal Monster with only one Tribute, making him equal to Dark Magician in terms of power, and he was more favored in decks than Blue-Eyes, since the dragon required two monsters for her Tribute Summoning. However, Summoned Skull has been beaten by Frostosaurus and Trance the Magic Swordsman many years later, but he has become relevant again, thanks to the Red-Eyes archetype.
** Dark Magician has become this after many years. He was initially [[OvershadowedByAwesome overshadowed by Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Summoned Skull]], due to being a Level 7 monster with 2500 ATK, being weaker than Blue-Eyes who requires the same amount of tribute, and being equally as strong as Summoned Skull who requires one tribute less. But like Blue-Eyes, new support has make him more revelevant to the game, as he become much easier to summon and can be used for different strategies. Additionaly, some of his support cards require Normal Spellcaster-Type Monsters for their effects, so the fact that he ''is'' a Normal Monster has its advantages.
** Like Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician, Red-Eyes Black Dragon has also become a Badass Normal after many years, despite being weaker than both of them while requiring two tributes like them. Similar like the other two, Red-Eyes gained support cards that require Normal Monsters, and some new members of the Red-Eyes archetype are in fact Gemini Monsters (monsters that can either be Normal Monsters or Effect Monsters). However, in contrast to the other two, Red-Eyes Black Dragon is more required as a Material for its more powerful forms, but its potential as a Normal Monster is used quite well.
** Gem-Knight Pearl is a Rank 4 Xyz Monster with ATK and DEF equal to Alexandrite, the Gem-Knights' ace, and no effect; indeed, Pearl is the first ever non-effect Xyz card. In the storyline, this is what allowed him to defeat the Vylons - Vylon Disigman is able to take control of effect monsters and use them to destroy others, but since Pearl has no effect, he was immune to Disigma's ability and so was able to simply punch it into oblivion.

* The ''Website/{{Nationstates}}'' forum RP "Elementals" has [[BadassGrandpa Eric Lumen]]. Possessing none of the elemental magic of his companions, he gets by being a stupidly talented swordsman who has been swinging a sword longer than most of the cast have been alive.

** Roman learned how to fight on the streets of Kuchinashi, and never unlocked his Semblance, but his combat ability and Aura strength enable him to fight Huntsmen students; he's good enough to be able to deal with Blake and Sun at the same time, and even Ruby on her own with little difficulty.

'''ComicBook/TheJoker:''' There's nothing ''mere'' about [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} that mortal]].

'''ComicBook/TheJoker:''' There's nothing ''mere'' about [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batmortal]].

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'''ComicBook/TheJoker:''' There's nothing "mere" about ''[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} that]]'' mortal.
-->-- ''[[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Batman/Superman: World's Finest]]''

->'''ComicBook/LexLuthor:''' What makes you think you can kill Francchise/{{Superman}} when you can't even handle a mere mortal in a Halloween costume?\\