History Main / ExperiencedProtagonist

* Samus Aran of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fame was trained as a Chozo warrior (and physically enhanced) after being orphaned, as well as trained as a soldier by the Galactic Federation. Her [[UpgradeArtifact Modular]] suit of PoweredArmour helps too.

* Many installments of the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' series establishes that Mario has saved the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser and similar threats so many times that he's practically a celebrity. Heck, a few games show that he was even capable of kicking butt as a ''baby''. By ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'', Luigi is evidently no stranger to the Poltergust and only needs a little practice from his Polterpup to get right back into the swing of things, [[CowardlyLion though of course he's still easily frightened]]. He is also able to quickly recognize extensions of the Poltergust that appeared in the previous games.

* In the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series, Naked Snake (aka Big Boss) and Solid Snake are experienced special forces operatives who were subsequently involved in FOXHOUND after being assigned to the unit from the Green Berets. PlayedWith in that new players still have to be guided through things, so in every game the protagonist has a support crew talking to him through comms and explaining incredibly basic facts that he'd either know about already or should have been able to quickly deduce (it gets pretty meta in that this is even incorporated into the plot).

* Many installments of the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' series establishes that Mario has saved the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser and similar threats so many times that he's practically a celebrity. Heck, a few games show that he was even capable of kicking butt as a ''baby''.
** By ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'', Luigi is evidently no stranger to the Poltergust and only needs a little practice from his Polterpup to get right back into the swing of things, [[CowardlyLion though of course he's still easily frightened]]. He is also able to quickly recognize extensions of the Poltergust that appeared in the previous games.

*** Though it's basically shown that Yuri was only part of the knights for a very short time and did barely anything while he was there (the OVA at least shows he was involved in one major incident but that was it) and hasn't done much since beyond bum around town doing odd jobs and getting into the occasional brawl and running from the knights trying to clean it up. So his low level makes perfect sense. He had training and knows the gist of swordplay but hasn't really done much with it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' protagonist Kazuma Kiryu is already a soldier of the Yakuza and capable fighter of some notoriety known as the "Dragon of Dojima" at the start of the first game, though a 10-year prison stint after the prologue leaves him rusty enough as to have to start from square one statistically. Subsequent games contrive various flavours of BagOfSpilling to keep him starting off from scratch again and again.
** In a similar vein, Ichiban Kasuga, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon'', has served in the Arakawa Family of the Tojo Clan since his teens, albeit as a mere grunt in what is considered a low-tier family without any of the notoriety Kiryu has. Also like Kiryu, his time in prison leaves him a bit rusty by the time he is released.

** Tetsuya Kuroko and Taiga Kagami of ''Manga/KurokosBasketball'' are already experienced basketball players prior to the start of the story. Taiga got his experience from playing in America while Kuroko was part of [[DreamTeam The Generation of Miracles.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' starts with Mr. Incredible as a famous superhero. Much of the plot involves how he deals with being forced underground, then getting a chance to get back in the game.

** By the middle of ''Ghosts'', Harry and the younger cast qualify as this, thanks to a number of truly awful experiences and offscreen training, with the ''Mirror Image'' arc contrasting Harry's brisk professionalism and combat skill with Clark's more amateurish approach and excellent control but lack of precision. The contrast isn't entirely flattering for Harry, however, as it highlights his TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour.

** ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'': Kazuma gets assigned to be Blade and to hunt down Phantoms prior to the series.

* Both Kiritsugu Emiya and Saber in ''LightNovel/FateZero''. Kiritsugu is an expert magus killer who is returning to his old job after a ten-year hiatus. In Saber's case, being famous (or infamous) as a powerful warrior is a prerequisite for being summoned as a Heroic Spirit.

* Sagara Sousuke of ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' is a {{Child Soldier|s}} who has several years of combat experience in Afghanistan. Kurz Weber was a mercenary who fought in many countries and Melissa Mao was an ex-American Marine before the three worked together in Mithril.

* Ditto for Diablo in ''LightNovel/HowNotToSummonADemonLord'' -- max level with a set of powerful items, including a ring that [[AttackReflector reflects all magic back at the caster]]. Also, since his experience comes from a video game where DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist, his practical combat experience is way beyond that of most adventurers in his new world.

* Tatsuya Shiba from ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'' is acknowledged as one of the best magicians of his generation, being an expert in several fields of magic, an accomplished fighter and tactician and several high-ranking students at his school defer to him, if only out of respect. [[spoiler:His most powerful attack has the equivalent strength of a tactical nuke.]]

* By the time the story begins, Momonga in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'' is already a max level spellcaster, equipped with a plethora of extremely powerful items, and is the leader of one of the most powerful guilds in ''YGGDRASIL''. When he's pulled into another dimension alongside with the headquarters of his guild (containing the accumulated wealth, equipment, and all of his guild's powerful created [=NPCs=], who are now fanatically loyal to him), he is already all set to become, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what the name of the franchise implies]].

* The heroes from ''LightNovel/RokkaBravesOfTheSixFlowers'', the chosen warriors must be among the best in the world.

* Shanon and Raquel Casull of ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'' are a powerful SwordAndSorcerer duo, right from the start, and tasked with safeguarding their adopted sister, Pacifica. [[spoiler:They were genetically engineered that way to ensure Pacifica would be well protected]].
** Something of a CreatorThumbprint: ''LightNovel/CoffinPrincessChaika'' has a similar arrangement, with Toru and Akari Acura being experienced mercenaries who take on the job of protecting Chaika as she searches for her father's remains.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' starts off with Lina Inverse as an already powerful sorceress.

* ''LightNovel/TheTestamentOfSisterNewDevil'': In most other animes of this genre, the moment Mio and Maria reveal their true nature as devils and attempt to brainwash Basara would be the moment the hapless protagonist is cowed by his decidedly not-normal new siblings: instead, Basara reveals that he's the strongest one in the room at that point. Whereas Mio can barely control her powers at will and Maria is an average-strength demon, Basara is already an experienced Hero who effortlessly blocks Maria's attack and terrifies the two of them into backing down.

* ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' has Abel Nightroad, who is an veteran Vatican agent and a centuries-old powerful vampire with a lot of experience under his belt.
* Lux Arcadia from ''LightNovel/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' is the legendary Black Hero that once defeated the Arcadia Empire. By definition, that makes him the best warrior of his generation, but [[SecretIdentity he keeps that under wraps]] to prevent political backlash.

* "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12451409/1/The-Hero-Melromarc-Needs-and-Deserves The Hero Melromarc Needs and Deserves]]" is a ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero''/''Manga/SaintSeiya'' crossover that replaces the titular Shield Hero with Cancer Deathmask, who, in spite of his "[[SociopathicHero issues]]", is not only a trained and experienced combatant, but, thanks to Athena wanting her warriors [[CrazyPrepared ready for anything]], was actually trained for both being summoned as a hero in another world and dealing with [[FalseRapeAccusation the specific situation he finds himself in]], proving himself extremely savvy (notably, he deduces the existence of other countries by being told that the local [[GoldSilverCopperStandard gold, silver and copper coins have a fixed exchange rate]]). This contrasts to the other Legendary Heroes, who ''think'' they're this thanks to their experience with video games detailing Melromarc's plight. A group of comedic omake shows ''all'' Gold Saints as this, with their reactions to the FalseRapeAccusation only depending on what each Gold Saint deems appropriate to do to those who break SacredHospitality, ranging from simple disintegration to whatever horror Aphrodite inflicted to Malty.

* Tooi in ''LightNovel/TheReunionWithTwelveFascinatingGoddesses'' already gained the power of the twelve goddesses and defeated the Demon King before the start of the story. He revoked his contracts with the goddesses and returned to his own world, only to be summoned back at the start of the series. While he initially lacks his incredible power, he still has the skills he built up, and once he regains his contract with one goddess (at the end of the first book) he immediately regains his OneManArmy status.

* Kyousuke in ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' is a veteran summoner, one of the most skilled in the entire world. He's been in the business ever since he was [[ChildSoldiers 10-years-old]].

** Altair in the original ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' is [[ATasteOfPower introduced as a star assassin]], though his supposed experience helps him very little after he is demoted and stripped of all of his equipment a bit later in the game.

* Kratos from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' starts off the game as a seasoned Spartan warrior. By the time of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'' and ''VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok'' he's taken this to absurd levels, having completely destroyed ''an entire pantheon of gods''. [[spoiler:This actually factors in to his fight with Heimdall - Kratos spends the initial part of the fight getting a feel for Heimdall's reflexes so that he can finally outmaneuver the latter's foresight and score a hit.

* Kratos from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' starts off the game as a seasoned Spartan warrior.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': The playable protagonists have all been elite veterans serving in the UNSC or [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Covenant]] militaries, even the youngest of the bunch like [[VideoGame/Halo3ODST the Rookie]] and [[VideoGame/HaloReach Noble Six]]. In particular, the [[SuperSoldier Master Chief]] has spent nearly all of his 40+ years of life fighting for the UNSC, the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Arbiter]] is a former Covenant [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority Supreme Commander]] who's over 67 years old, and [[VideoGame/Halo5Guardians Jameson Locke]] used to be one of ONI's most elite agents.

* Zigzagged in ''Fanfic/ArcCorp''. Jaune is new to running his own office, has no combat training, often forgets that his newest employee Blake regularly needs aspects of TheMasquerade explained to her, and is terrible at coming up with lies on the spot. However, he's still someone who has dealt with anomalies for his entire life, meaning that while Blake often has to take the role of the muscle, he's insanely good at the investigative part of the job and figuring out how the duo should engage with any given anamoly.
* In ''Fanfic/CheshireMiraculousLadybug'', Marinette has been a heroine for years by the time canon rolls around. Part of the reason the other heroes look so incompetent is that they are compared to someone else who has been using her miraculous for so long.

* Ayato Amagiri from ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'' is already an expert in melee combat, not to mention his natural magical energy is so huge his sister placed as seal on him to prevent his body from tearing itself apart. Very quickly he becomes the best fighter at school; and in the first tournament, he doesn't really become stronger, he just remembers techniques his sister taught him to win the current fight.

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', Edward and Alphonse Elric are already experienced alchemists who have been working for the Amestris military for three years when the story begins. [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist The first anime adaptation]] in particular provides several episodes worth of flashbacks.

* Downplayed with Monkey D. Luffy in ''Manga/OnePiece'', but even before his intense [[TimeSkip two-year training]], Luffy was already a skilled fighter from the start of the series -- having trained for 10 years on his home island.

* Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar:

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III]]'', Rean Schwarzer starts the game already a war veteran with at least 3 wars in his belt, compared to his previous self in the past two games where he was a newbie and who had to fight for his place. He is later joined by [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky Estelle Bright]] and [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure Lloyd Bannings]] in ''Cold Steel IV'' when three of the four protagonists finally meet up with one another. Kevin in ''The 3rd'' also fits this role and is the only one who starts off his game already experienced compared to the three.

* Even though many stories in ''VisualNovel/ChoicesStoriesYouPlay'' feature [[FromZeroToHero newbie protagonists]], there are a few that play this trope straight, such as ''VisualNovel/TheHeistMonaco'' and ''VisualNovel/CrimesOfPassion''.

* ''Fanfic/PointMeAtTheSkyrim'' has Victoria Dallon awaken in Skyrim, when she's been a superhero for several years and fought various monsters prior to arriving in the Arena. She's not up to date on the culture of Tamriel nor on Magic versus Alien Superpowers, but she's quick to adapt to the situation as best she can.

* In the ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' fanfic ''Fanfic/YoullGetNoAnswersFromTheBlueSeaStar'', the Jeralts are well-known, veteran mercenaries before the story starts, even Kid, the youngest. They're hired as teachers on this very basis.