History Main / EmpoweredBadassNormal

* In Season 3 of ''Series/TheBoys2019'', [[EvilInc Vought]] develops a variant of their SuperSerum Compound V that gives non-Supes powers temporarily, with the intent of selling it to the military. [[WonderWomanWannabe Queen Maeve]] smuggles some to The Boys to give them a fighting chance against [[AlternateCompanyEquivalent Payback]] and eventually [[BigBad Homelander]].

** While there are some Batman villains that fall under this trope, Characters/{{Ba|tmanRoguesGalleryPart1}}ne 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.

* 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 Characters/{{Wonder Woman|TheCharacter}}, Indigo Tribe Atom, Blue Lantern ComicBook/TheFlash), but we also get Orange Lantern [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] and Sinestro Corps [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 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.

* This happens to Link in various ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' games. Usually he starts the game as a regular sword-wielding kid, but by the end of the game he's acquired various spells and other magical powers, his energy level has been magically doubled, etc.

* When you disregard his [[EvilHand Evil]] [[RedRightHand Red]] PowerFist, which he does not use for swinging his sword or firing his HandCannon anyway, Nero from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' looks like a "mere" CharlesAtlasSuperpower user... until TheReveal that [[spoiler:he is a descendant of the series' DefectorFromDecadence super-devil Sparda]].

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10'': Gwen starts out as a 10-year old girl who knows karate. She later learns magic after getting her hands on a spellbook.

** Miyamoto Haiji, president of the school's karate club. Like almost all of the school's residents, he's some variety of monster, but he doesn't even bother using any monstrous abilities when he first makes a combat appearance. He just wipes the floor with other monsters using his martial arts. As it turns out, he's a tengu -- a bird demon. And what we've seen for most of the series is his humanoid, weaker form.
** Tsukune is probably a straighter example. In the beginning he wasn't that impressive, but he was courageous enough to [[TakingTheBullet shield his]] [[OurMonstersAreDifferent stronger friends]] from attacks so often you have to wonder [[MadeOfIron what he's made of]] [[{{Determinator}} to keep getting up like that]]. Then he gets his EmergencyTransformation NextTierPowerUp, and this trope breaks loose. He goes through several power-ups over the course of series and by the final chapter he's [[spoiler:a Shinso Vampire, the most powerful monster there is]].

** Ling Yao is a BadassNormal WarriorPrince whose martial arts and swordsmanship allow him to fight homunculi on somewhat even ground and even sense their inhumanity.[[spoiler:He then willingly becomes a human-based homunculus as the second Greed and once Greed lets Ling take control of their body, Ling can utilize the homunculi's SuperStrength and [[InstantArmor Ultimate Shield]] with his fighting prowess. Ling loses this when Greed sacrifices himself to save Ling and weaken Father.]]

** The most famous example is [[Characters/BlackCanaryTheBlackCanary Black Canary]]. Before joining the Justice League, Black Canary had no superpowers, but one issue immediately after joining the Justice League, Black Canary suddenly acquired the [[MakeMeWannaShout Canary Cry]], a sonic projection weapon emitted from her mouth. This conflicted so much with her traditional BadassNormal nature, that her solo series and the smaller scale ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' constantly use KryptoniteIsEverywhere to force her to solve problems without using superpowers. Oh, it gets better. The Canary Cry is sometimes described as being ''so insanely powerful'' that any time she uses it, she's basically holding back so as not to ''completely and utterly eff up'' everything within earshot. It's put a hurt on characters who are considered to be ''much'' heavier hitters. Of course, this ironically lets the writers who are so inclined hold this back and [[FightsLikeANormal let her use her 'fu as her primary weapon]]: The Canary Cry really ''is'' that powerful, and you use the conventional weapons before you NukeEm. Gangs of {{Mooks}} and non-ComicBook/{{Superman}}-class superpowered thugs can easily be defeated by her martial prowess. The Canary Cry serves as her trump card against much stronger and or unconventional opponents or as an urgent contingency if she needs to end matters quickly (in DC Showcase: Green Arrow, she saves the Green Arrow and the princess from being stabbed by Count Vertigo with the Cry, likely since his vertigo-inducing powers would mess with her fighting.)

* In ''ComicBook/{{Arrow}}'', as in the comics, [[Characters/BatmanDeathstroke Slade Wilson]] starts out as a BadAss, sword-swinging secret agent before he gets injected with [[PsychoSerum Mirakuru]]. Even after he's cured, he can still fight off Oliver and Thea single handed.

* ''Series/SupermanAndLois'': In season 2, [[spoiler:General Mitch Anderson becomes obsessed with avenging the deaths of two of Supermen of America members at Bizarro's hands. After Superman and Tal-Rho escape his prison, Anderson goes to the secret DOD armory with anti-Kryptonian weapons and loads up to bear. He storms Tal-Rho's fortress in the Badlands by firing a Kryptonite RPG, thus weakening Superman and Tal. He then inhales some X-Kryptonite and proceeds to beat the crap out of both aliens, while also using his new EyeBeams to overpower Superman's. Bizarro goes to help them after Anderson shoots Superman with Kryptonite bullets, which Tal intercepts with his own body. While Superman is busy saving his brother, Bizarro fights Anderson. He's winning at first, especially after Anderson shoots him with Kryptonite, which makes him stronger. But then he discovers that X-K weakens Bizarro and uses it to weaken him enough to break his neck.

* In ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'', Iris is badass enough already, but twice in the series she temporarily gains powers. Once Barry's speed is transferred to her, and she becomes the Flash for a day (with purple lightning). Later on, her spending a lengthy time period in the mirror world gives her the ability to control mirrors. She loses that as well. [[spoiler:It turns out that her being the Flash has left an imprint on her, which is why their future daughter Nora has yellow and purple lightning when she runs.]]

* Reigen Arataka from ''Manga/MobPsycho100''. Despite being a self proclaimed world-renowned psychic and Mob's (an actual esper) master, he actually has no powers at all, but through smarts and extreme luck, he manages to usually end up conveniently looking like a badass. [[spoiler: And then, at the end of the first season of the anime, he inspires Mob so much his sheer admiration powers him up to a degree where his new acquired powers surpass even Mob's. He then proceeds to NoSell all the villains' attacks with ease and even give them a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech before this temporary boost runs out.]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

** {{Inverted}} with Sam the supernaturally powerful vampire being mundanely empowered by being given a gun so that he can get past someone using his vampire weaknesses against him. Who cares if they can repel you from coming close when you can [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim just shoot them]]?

* ''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.

** Eventually, Shredder himself ended up as a mutant by the second half of the fourth season, as a savage beating by Splinter left him bed-ridden and demanding Baxter Stockman to inject a lot of mutagen, which results into this series' version of Super Shredder. Even ''more'' nigh-undefeatable than before, and with the ability to generate bony spike blades.

* A few episodes after their introduction, the recurring ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' antagonists 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.

* Tigra of Creator/MarvelComics fame started as The Cat, a lab assistant who used a super suit to make her comparable to Captain America, and give her finger claw grapples. Said suit also played a part into turning teen humor character ComicBook/PatsyWalker into BadassNormal superhero [[Characters/PatsyWalkerAKAHellcat Hellcat]]. She later developed some vaguely defined psychic abilities, placing her squarely in this trope.

* ''Fanfic/VoyagesOfTheWildSeaHorse:'' Shampoo, a [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Chinese Amazon]] who is already strong enough to [[ThereWasADoor smash through walls with her bare hands]], eats a [[PowerUpFood Devil Fruit]] after being trapped in the world of ''Manga/OnePiece''. Zigzagged in that the precise fruit is the "Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit", a [[{{Animorphism}} Zoan]] that grants its user [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway all the powers of a rabbit]].
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe Cerise starts off her Train journey with hothing but a [[PipePain donut holer]] and her skills in softball. Over the course of the story, sehe later gains a cloak that lets her cast fire and a summoning mark to let her bring to life the demons she loves.

* The Girl[[note]]Real name: Hope Blackwell[[/note]] gets this as well. She's a world class judoka, capable of incapacitating opponents twice her size. Later, she learns she has latent psychic powers, which she learns to make use of in various ways (like being able to psychically bind spirits (and people) in place).

* 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, 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.]]

* Franchise/SpiderMan love interest the Characters/{{Black Cat|Marvel}} started out as a skilled thief, acrobat and martial artist. Feeling like she was a liability to Peter because of her lack of powers, she underwent a procedure that granted her the ability to [[WindsOfDestinyChange affect probability]]. Unfortunately, these powers also affected Spider-Man negatively (not surprising as it was a scheme by [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin The Kingpin]] to screw with Spider-Man). ComicBook/DoctorStrange was able to remove these abilities from her and she was left enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes, [[WolverineClaws retractable claws]] and night vision. She later lost those abilities too thanks to a device created by the Chameleon and ComicBook/BrandNewDay saw her probability manipulating powers restored.

* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' stars one. He was known as "[[RedBaron The Black]] [[{{Shinigami}} Reaper]]" even ''before'' he became a Contractor, and in one flashback he completely owned a Contractor in a straight-up fight using only a choke wire, throwing knives, and sheer badass ninja skills. He still has the aforementioned skills, but now he can also [[ShockAndAwe zap the crap out of people]]. Gets taken UpToEleven when it transpires that these same powers [[spoiler: make him a full-blown RealityWarper in the right circumstances]].

* Izuku Midoriya from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' starts the series as nothing more than a superhero {{Otaku}} with an incredibly sharp mind that lets him [[AwesomenessByAnalysis out-analyze]] and [[IndyPloy out-plan]] even people with powers, as well as having the heart of a hero ([[{{Muggles}} if not the powers]]). This catches the eye of the #1 hero All Might, who takes Izuku under his wing and puts him through an intense 10-month physical training regimen that practically turns the kid into a teenage Franchise/{{Batman}}. After his training is complete, All Might bequeaths to Izuku his power, One For All, granting him the ability to enhance his body.

*** 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 CoDragons.]]

* 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}}. The Elseworld ''Batman: In Darkest Knight'' 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"]]

*** There's one story where Batman gained Franchise/{{Superman}}'s powers, and Superman was BroughtDownToNormal. The ramifications were explored- Batman began to go a little bit crazy from [[KnightTemplar righting every possible wrong he could]], and ends up getting weakened- turns out fighting at night all the time doesn't suit a solar-powered hero.

** There are occasions where Batman has his own PoweredArmor to beat superpowerful foes. He does have a storage of more exotic technology and even supernatural items that he doesn't use in his normal crimefighting, but tend to be used when working with the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} or during drastic events.

** While there are some Batman villains that fall under this trope, ComicBook/{{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.

* 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 ComicBook/TheScarecrow. 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.

** The most famous example is [[Characters/BlackCanary Black Canary]]. Before joining the Justice League, Black Canary had no superpowers, but one issue immediately after joining the Justice League, Black Canary suddenly acquired the [[MakeMeWannaShout Canary Cry]], a sonic projection weapon emitted from her mouth. This conflicted so much with her traditional BadassNormal nature, that her solo series and the smaller scale ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'' constantly use KryptoniteIsEverywhere to force her to solve problems without using superpowers. Oh, it gets better. The Canary Cry is sometimes described as being ''so insanely powerful'' that any time she uses it, she's basically holding back so as not to ''completely and utterly eff up'' everything within earshot. It's put a hurt on characters who are considered to be ''much'' heavier hitters. Of course, this ironically lets the writers who are so inclined hold this back and [[FightsLikeANormal let her use her 'fu as her primary weapon]]: The Canary Cry really ''is'' that powerful, and you use the conventional weapons before you NukeEm. Gangs of {{Mooks}} and non-Franchise/{{Superman}}-class superpowered thugs can easily be defeated by her martial prowess. The Canary Cry serves as her trump card against much stronger and or unconventional opponents or as an urgent contingency if she needs to end matters quickly (in DC Showcase: Green Arrow, she saves the Green Arrow and the princess from being stabbed by Count Vertigo with the Cry, likely since his vertigo-inducing powers would mess with her fighting.)

** Stars and Stripes -- Star Spangled Kid got ComicBook/{{Starman}}'s cosmic rod and technology, while Stripesy built a mech for himself. Their successor, ComicBook/{{Stargirl|DCComics}} continues to use Starman's technology.

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': In a 1968 issue ComicBook/SteveTrevor 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.

* In Comicbook/NewAvengers, ComicBook/{{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.

* Franchise/SpiderMan love interest the [[Characters/SpiderManNeutralCharacters Black Cat]] started out as a skilled thief, acrobat and martial artist. Feeling like she was a liability to Peter because of her lack of powers, she underwent a procedure that granted her the ability to [[WindsOfDestinyChange affect probability]]. Unfortunately, these powers also affected Spider-Man negatively (not surprising as it was a scheme by [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheKingpin The Kingpin]] to screw with Spider-Man). ComicBook/DoctorStrange was able to remove these abilities from her and she was left enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes, [[WolverineClaws retractable claws]] and night vision. She later lost those abilities too thanks to a device created by the Chameleon and ComicBook/BrandNewDay saw her probability manipulating powers restored.
* Tigra of Creator/MarvelComics fame started as The Cat, a lab assistant who used a super suit to make her comparable to Captain America, and give her finger claw grapples.
** Said suit also played a part into turning teen humor character ComicBook/PatsyWalker into BadassNormal superhero [[Characters/PatsyWalkerAKAHellcat Hellcat]]. She later developed some vaguely defined psychic abilities, placing her squarely in this trope.

** This is at least partially true for the normal ComicBook/NickFury, 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''.]]

* There are several ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' fics in which [[TeamNormal Asami Sato]] is granted airbending by Harmonic Convergence. Considering canon!Asami is a GadgeteerGenius [[GeniusBruiser martial artist]] who totes a [[StaticStunGun shock]] [[PowerFist glove]]—and considering the two known {{Badass Normal}}s to be canonically affected—this is approximately akin to giving Franchise/{{Batman}} a Franchise/GreenLantern ring.

* In ''Fanfic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'', [[Franchise/TheFlash Barry]] was the fastest in the League of Assassins when it came to drawing and using a weapon. He was so fast that his League name was Al Sa'iqa or "The Lightning"; he got his League name five years before gaining SuperSpeed. [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] was also a superb fighter years before her powers surfaced.

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

** Used less subtly in the episode "Upgrades", when the three of them all wear [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum Atoniek armbands]], granting them enhanced strength, plus SuperSpeed on a level even Franchise/TheFlash would find respectable. Unfortunately for them but fortunately for the continued drama of the series, the armbands impart their superpowers by injecting a nanotech virus... that the human body eventually develops an immunity to. This turns out to be why the Atoniek civilization is extinct: they relied on the armbands exclusively for their defense, and once the entire population was immune, they were helpless.

* In ''Series/WandaVision'', this happens to [[spoiler:ComicBook/MonicaRambeau after she re-enters [[EldritchLocation the Hex]], turning her into an EnergyBeing]]. After [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction S.W.O.R.D.]] learns that [[ComicBook/ScarletWitch 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.

** As a race, the Nords are the resident {{Badass Normal}}s of Tamriel. They are a ProudWarriorRace of HornyVikings who epitomize the idea of HumansAreWarriors, but they are least magically inclined race (and have a [[DoesNotLikeMagic strong dislike of magic and distrust of magic-users]] to boot). Despite this, their ancestors were able to carve out a foothold in Skyrim by nearly driving the [[OurElvesAreDifferent Falmer (Snow Elves)]], who it is said were nearly as naturally magically inclined as the modern Altmer (High Elves), to [[FinalSolution extinction]]. The "empowerment" comes in when the Nords, facing the threat of the Dragons and their [[ReligionOfEvil Dragon Cults]], prayed for aid from the Divines and were granted it. They were taught how to use the [[MakeMeWannaShout Thu'um]], the LanguageOfMagic of the Dragons which allows users to "shout" [[RealityWarper elements into existence]] as well as some other [[UtilityMagic utilitarian]] effects. Led by the Tongues, masters of the Thu'um, the ancient Nord armies vanquished the Dragons and their Cults, then forged an Empire that covered nearly all of north Tamriel. A succession crisis would eventually tear it apart, and then the use of the Thu'um as a weapon of war dropped dramatically after their defeat at the Battle of Red Mountain, following which one of those Tongues (Jurgen Windcaller) founded the "Way of the Voice" to use the Thu'um only [[HeelFaithTurn honor the gods]].

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' has Batman borrowing Franchise/GreenLantern's ring to fight Sinestro. It looked like Batman was going to hand Sinestro a fairly heavy beatdown, but then the ring ran out of power. He hands it back to GL, saying it isn't his style.