History Main / EmpoweredBadassNormal

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', it is confirmed by the creators of the show that Slade has enhanced durability and a super healing factor. After being killed at the end of the second season, he's resurrected as an undead servant of [[GreaterScopeVillain Trigon]], and gets a another truckload of superpowers out of the deal: [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetics]], {{flight}}, [[VillainTeleportation teleportation]], [[{{Intangibility}} phasing]], and NighInvulnerability. He's eventually stripped of these powers, though it doesn't slow him down much.

* ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'''s Sydney is effectively this. In her backstory, before getting her orbs, someone tried to mug her; despite the entire police report reading "Oh, the humanity!", it was ruled self defence. Then there's the incident that got her recruited to be a super hero: during a staged bank robbery that she didn't know was staged, she flipped over one of the 'robbers' by ''grabbing his tongue''. The powers of her orbs aren't fully unlocked, but she's able to fight four Kaiju-sized aliens (with associated drone fighters) by herself. '''Maxima''' (functionally a Superwomen) thought that avoiding one was a wise choice.[[note]]Informing her decision was the fact that a portal leading back to Earth was rapidly closing, and she wasn't sure how else to get back, but she still preferred not to stay to try fighting.[[/note]] The biggest casualty: Sydney's paycheck; she ended up taking a $10000 advance to throw in her swear jar using a "$5 per rant" penalty.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Vi is a strong and tough girl whose innate fighting instincts and [[BoxingBattler boxing skills]] serve her well in most fights, but she finds herself outclassed by Silco's shimmered up thugs. This changes though when after making a deal with Jayce she gets a pair of [[{{Magitek}} Hextech]] [[PowerFist Atlas Gauntlets]], massively increasing her strength and versatility. With her new weapons Vi is able to easily handle herself against any of Silco's soldiers.

* Quite a few ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' cards underwent this. As the LensmanArmsRace of GameBreaker superpowers continued, a variety of iconic Normal Monsters became SoLastSeason ComMons for many players. As a result, a large number of those Monsters were rereleased as Effect Monsters. For example, [[ALoadOfBull Battle Ox]] became [[ArmorPiercingAttack Enraged Battle Ox]], [[KnightInShiningArmor Gaia the Fierce Knight]] became [[DesperationAttack Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight]], [[JeanneDArchetype St. Joan]] became [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Guardian Angel Joan]], and [[VideoGame/{{Gradius}} Victory Viper]][[IAmNotShazam /Gradius]] went from a random ShoutOut to another game to an entire archetype of similarly-statted references. But perhaps the largest of them all was Chaos Soldier[[DubNameChange /Black Luster Soldier]], which went from a subpar and outdated Ritual Monster, to [[GameBreaker one of the founders of the banlist.]]

* This used to come and go for ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, with him gaining and losing superhuman levels of strength depending on the writers, before it was finally decided that his iconic status in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse was partly founded on him being a [[SuperStrength slightly-above-pinnacle of human physical ability]] (being the [[CaptainPatriotic Living Symbol of America]] didn't hurt either). SuperSerum wasn't too super, though given what Steve Rogers was [[HollywoodNerd before then]] it's still damn impressive. Steve Rogers' power was eventually set at a hair above normal (non-mutant) human maximum. This is not the case for the ComicBook/UltimateMarvel version, however, who was clearly superhuman from the get go.

[[quoteright:300:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_green_lantern.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Giving [[ImaginationBasedSuperpower a willpower-fueled weapon]] to the planet's premier BadassNormal? [[SuperpowersForADay That won't last long.]]]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s third book, a MassSuperEmpoweringEvent gives [[BlowYouAway Airbending]] to various non-benders around the world. Three major examples include:
** [[WellIntentionedExtremist Zaheer]], the season's BigBad, was a non-bender considered just as dangerous as the other members of [[BombThrowingAnarchist the Red Lotus]], each of whom had an unusually strong Bending ability. Unfortunately, he proves to be an InstantExpert and quickly breaks out of prison, since his cell wasn't designed for a bender and the guards were caught completely off-guard. By the end of the season, [[spoiler:he's even gained a legendary Airbendering technique that allows him to fly]].
** [[CoolUncle Bumi]], a [[RetiredBadass retired Commander]] in the United Forces and former MuggleBornOfMages (he's [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Aang and Katara']]s eldest child)
** Opal Bei Fong (Toph's granddaughter and Lin's niece), another former non-bender.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'''s third book, a MassSuperEmpoweringEvent gives [[BlowYouAway Airbending]] to various non-benders around the world. We get two examples:

** The other, thankfully less sociopathic example is [[CoolUncle Bumi]], a [[RetiredBadass retired Commander]] in the United Forces and former MuggleBornOfMages.

*** Sanji gets ''another'' even greater one later; [[spoiler: as a result of wearing the Raid Suit the dormant superhuman genetics awaken in his body. Now Sanji has a exoskeleton and a HealingFactor stacked on top of his own incredible natural strength and abilities allowing him to NoSell attack from one of Kaido’s EliteMooks.]]

* A few episodes after their introduction, Chris Bradford and Xever, two highly-trained martial artists who work for Shredder, get doused in mutagen by the Turtles and become dog and fish mutants.

* Before he became Series/KamenRider, Takeshi Hongo was already a BadassBiker and martial artist with an [[ImporbablyHighIQ IQ of 600]]. No wonder [[NebulousEvilOrganization Shocker]] thought he'd be a good candidate for their grasshopper super-{{cyborg}}.

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarolDanvers Carol Danvers]] was just an Air Force military figure, investigating about this new "[[Characters/MarvelComicsCaptainMarvelTitleCharacter Captain Marvel]]" and the Lawson scientist. And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Marvel Comics wanted to have more female super-heroes, and Carol Danvers was exposed to a Kree machine that turned her into a FlyingBrick with the capabilities of a Kree supersoldier. Though [[spoiler: [[RetCon her new origin reveals]] that she is actually half-Kree with her mother having been a Kree soldier herself. The machine just activated her latent powers]]. This happened to Carol ''again'' during her time as part of the X-Men supporting cast, after a prolonged period of being {{depower}}ed. The Brood captured and experimented on her (even with her FlyingBrick powers drained, her biology was still altered by the Kree machine and this piqued their interest) and accidentally granted her ''even stronger'' powers as [[ThePowerOfTheSun Binary]].

* In Comicbook/NewAvengers, [[Characters/MarvelComicsMockingbird Mockingbird]] received a mix of [[SuperSerum Super Soldier serum]] and Nick Fury's Infinity Formula to save her life -- an upgrade she has yet to fully exploit.

* In ''Series/WandaVision'', this happens to [[spoiler:[[Characters/MarvelComicsMonicaRambeau Monica Rambeau]] after she re-enters [[EldritchLocation the Hex]], turning her into an EnergyBeing]]. After [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction S.W.O.R.D.]] learns that [[Characters/MarvelComicsScarletWitch Wanda's]] RealityWarper powers are rewriting the DNA of the inhabitants of Westview, [[spoiler:Monica]] is advised not to go back, as she's already been in and out once and nobody knows what going through it again would do to her.

** This is at least partially true for the normal [[Characters/MarvelComicsNickFury Nick Fury]], who is badass and... virtually immortal, thanks to an anti-aging formula he took so he wouldn't age out of useful service. That near-immortality applies only to natural causes of death, though; Nick's survival in combat is purely a result of his badassitude. [[spoiler: Though it turns out that it's a lie. Nick Fury is actually pretty old, but still a badass [[TheChessmaster chessmaster]] with robotic duplicates as revealed in ''ComicBook/OriginalSin''.]]

* Near the end of ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'', Ganthet triggers an emergency mechanism in the rings of the highest-profile member from each Corps, prompting them to create a temporary duplicate ring and 'deputize' the nearest suitable individual. Most of the resulting Lanterns already had powers (Star Sapphire Franchise/WonderWoman, Indigo Tribe Atom, Blue Lantern Franchise/TheFlash), but we also get Orange Lantern [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] and Sinestro Corps [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]]. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for the Orange Ring to drive Lex mad(der) with greed, and the first ring he steals is Scarecrow's.

** While there are some Batman villains that fall under this trope, [[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] is a very prominent example whenever he's on Venom. Otherwise, he's a BadassNormal super-villain with a lot of [[{{Determinator}} willpower and discipline]] whenever he's not on it.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': In a 1968 issue [[Characters/WonderWomanSteveTrevor Steve Trevor]] took a temporary SuperSerum in the form of pills which gave him FlyingBrick powers, and he took the name of "Patriot". Although the story ended with a hint of possible future adventures, "Patriot" never appeared again, likely due to the all-new mod Franchise/WonderWoman just being around the corner.

** The Human/Earthling fighters Yamcha, Krillin, Tien and Master Roshi. Although they lack godly buffs and training of the Saiyans and Piccolo, are still through training the strongest Earthlings in existence, make the aforementioned Videl and her dad look as harmless as kittens and thanks to KiManipulation have become [[FlyingBrick Flying Bricks]] (with the exception of Roshi) who possess enough power to reduce Earth to space dust, if they weren’t such nice dudes. Yamcha and Krillin in particular, displayed feats of CharlesAtlasSuperPower well before learning how to use Ki.

*** Sanji gets ''another'' even greater one later; [[spoiler: as a result of wearing the Raid Suit the dormant superhuman genetics awaken in his body. Now Sanji has a exoskeleton and a HealingFactor stacked on top of his own his incredible natural strength and abilities allowing him to NoSell attack from one of Kaido’s EliteMooks.]]

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' gives us Videl, the daughter of Hercule (a genuine BadassNormal who, sadly, doesn't hold a candle to the heroes or the villains they fight). Before meeting Gohan, she could give her old man a run for his money in the martial arts. After meeting Gohan, she learns to fly in the same manner as Gohan and his allies.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Vincent Valentine was a Turk, one of Shinra's elite [[TheMenInBlack Men In Black]] who enforced the company's will and guarded their [=VIPs=]. And then Hojo got a hold of him and turned him into an ''unaging shapeshifter''. Cloud was also quite skilled despite being an infantry as he managed to kill Sephiroth and lift the masamune even impaled, and that was before Hojo forcibly injected Jenova cells into him and make him a SuperSoldier.

*** The ''original'' original [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Fox Features Blue Beetle[[http://pdsh.wikia.com/wiki/Blue_Beetle]], before being revived by Creator/CharltonComics and thence moving to Franchise/TheDCU, started as a BadassNormal then got a bulletproof costume and SuperSerum from a scientist ally. The scarab didn't pop up until UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} at Charlton.

** When the heroes first learn of the Flask Plan, Miyakonoujo Oudo describes this as its primary mission; to figure out how to not only complete Abnormalities, but also create a means to induce that complete in any normal person. The closest success they had at that point was Koga Itami, a Normal with an abnormal desire to BE Abnormal. She was remodeled by her BFF Naze Youka, the supervisor of the Flask Plan, to have superhuman strength, durability, speed, the inexplicable ability to walk on ceilings, and regenerative powers (her one big flaw being a lack of energy with which to fight for long).

* An awful lot of FanFiction tends to give Franchise/{{Batman}} powers, typically so he can "stand up" to Franchise/{{Superman}}. Some comics do this, too, usually as a one-issue gag or an {{Elseworld}}. One Elseworld gave him a ''[[ImaginationBasedSuperpower Green Lantern Ring]]'' -- leading to this [[FauxtivationalPoster Demotivator]] titled [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/green-lantern-batman.jpg "Overpowered"]]

* A bit of a meta-example is ComicBook/JonahHex. For much of his comics career he got by on his wits and his skills, yet no matter where he ended up, he always kicked ass and took names. When TheMovie [[Film/JonahHex was made]], they gave him the power to temporarily resurrect the dead.

* The basis for ''Film/TheLastWitchHunter''. Kaulder starts off as the man who slays the world's most powerful witch and because of this, ends up with immortality. Eight hundred years later, he's TheDreaded.