History Main / FourStarBadAss

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': General Martok of the Imperial Klingon Defense Forces, who survived for at least a year and a half in a Dominion POWCamp while being used as a Jem'Hadar punching bag the whole time, and gave as good as he got. He's also able to give the much younger (and still possessing both eyes) Worf a good fight in "Soldiers of the Empire" (although [[TheWorfEffect Worf gets beat up by everybody]]).
** Vice Admiral William Ross who leads the Starfleet forces during the Dominion War. He gets props for being both a FrontlineGeneral and BadassBureaucrat, knowing when to lead advances himself and when to delegate command to Captain Sisko while he works behind the scenes to ensure the continued stability of the Federation-Klingon-Romulan alliance.

** In ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', Jean-Luc Picard now holds the rank of Admiral, and although he is retired from Starfleet now, he is no less badass than he was in his active duty life.

* While the command structure in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' can be defined as RankScalesWithAsskicking, the Sky Marshal takes the cake. In order to get that promotion, one needs to go through the command structures of both the Navy and the Mobile Infantry, starting from the bottom. Also note that Generals lead from the front. In the book, General Diennes, who planned the disastrous Battle of Klendathu, died there leading a diversionary attack to allow evacuation of the rest of the army. In the movie, he just resigned, being a REMF (Rear Echelon Mother Fucker).
** Neither the MI or the Navy have "commissioned officers", a requirement for the officer academy is going through basic training and surviving multiple combat missions.

* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' has another villainous example in [[GeneralRipper General-Admiral Makarov]], the BigBad of Shining Armor's side story and one of the [[AuthorityGrantsAsskicking strongest fighters]] in the series. [[spoiler: Though he kind of cheats by being an [[HumanoidAbomination Equineoid Abomination]]]].

* While the command structure in ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'' can be defined as AuthorityEqualsAsskicking, the Sky Marshal takes the cake. In order to get that promotion, one needs to go through the command structures of both the Navy and the Mobile Infantry, starting from the bottom. Also note that Generals lead from the front. In the book, General Diennes, who planned the disastrous Battle of Klendathu, died there leading a diversionary attack to allow evacuation of the rest of the army. In the movie, he just resigned, being a REMF (Rear Echelon Mother Fucker).

* [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRifles Russian Imperial Navy]] Admiral Fyodor Ushakov evades the [[IncrediblyLamePun full broadside]] of [[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease the ban on Real Life examples]] by being the [[OddJobGods patron saint]] of the [[UsefulNotes/RussiansWithRustingRockets Russian Navy]]. Yes, seriously. What else to do with a FatherToHisMen who never lost a battle nor a ship, and normally achieved [[CurbStompBattle a casualty ratio of 1 to 100]] at [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen a time]] when there was no meaningful difference in technology to exploit? His secret? He [[LetsSplitUpGang used combat subunits]] instead of [[HollywoodTactics a solid line of battle]], and he [[CombatPragmatist maneuvered]].

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' showed that Captain Janeway became FAR more badass when she became a Vice Admiral in the future. We later see her as an actual Vice Armiral in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' and ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekProdigy''.

** Kel Inesser has been an acclaimed general since [[OldSoldier before many soldiers' grandparents were born]], is the only general in Hexarchate history to have a capital ship named after her, and is [[HundredPercentAdorationRating so well regarded]] that the ''possibility'' of facing her in battle is a serious morale drain. [[spoiler:Fortunately she's also a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who comes to support LaResistance.]]

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' showed that Captain Janeway became FAR more badass when she became a Vice Admiral in the future.

* After two seasons of handling things from the backseat as a proper general, James Ironwood from ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' finally shows that he is more than capable of throwing down with the rest of them. To show how much of a badass he is, he is able to solo an Alpha Beowulf with [[BlingBlingBang his]] [[HandCannon own]] [[RevolversAreJustBetter sidearm]] [[CurbstompBattle without much effort]]. [[spoiler: It helps that he's also a {{Cyborg}}]]

However, some fiction writers don't subscribe to this notion. They believe that [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority in order to have reached a four-star rank you had to have done some]] ''[[AsskickingEqualsAuthority serious]]'' [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority asskicking once upon a time]]. While some writers feel Badassery is a muscle that [[BadassDecay grows weak]] with disuse, the writers who subscribe to this trope feel it's more like riding a bike; you never forget how to do it. Even after years of sitting behind a desk, filing reports, cashing fat checks, and being saluted by ''everybody''.

* The Generals of the Black Order in ''Manga/DGrayMan'', thanks to AsskickingEqualsAuthority- they're required to have a greater than 100% synchronization rate to get the post.

* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' has another villainous example in [[GeneralRipper General-Admiral Makarov]], the BigBad of Shining Armor's side story and one of the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking strongest fighters]] in the series. [[spoiler: Though he kind of cheats by being an [[HumanoidAbomination Equineoid Abomination]]]].

** Zhukov, AK-47 in hand, leads a group of Red Army officers in arresting Beria in the middle of a Communist Party Central Committee meeting and personally subdues him [[TalkToTheFist with two big punches]] that leave the NKVD head bloodied and stunned.

** For the villains, Baron Zemo is HYDRA's chief military commander. He's also a SuperSoldier of some kind who took out an entire US Army patrol in Grenada with a ''sword'', killed T'Chaka, a Black Pathe with physical stats equal to his own without taking more than a few scratches and when T'Challa immediately tries to avenge his father, Zemo effortlessly disables him, and in their rematch, holds him at bay while dispensing a few {{Combat Compliment}}s - it takes {{ComicBook/Wolverine}} ''stabbing him in the back'' to make him perform a tactical retreat.

** Alison Carter, former Deputy Director of SHIELD and a mentor of Nick Fury, casually describes [[ComicBook/BlackWidow Natasha]] as a "sparring partner" in "the bad old days", led a rescue mission during the Gulf War to extract her son, a certain Jack O'Neill, at the age of 45 and even into her sixties is more than capable of going up against major supernatural monsters. [[sppiler: Being a SuperSoldier by heredity helps.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', The Good Hunter is a OneManArmy who gets to lead his MenOfSherwood as a result of AsskickingLeadsToLeadership, from minor skirmishes to major battles. Despite his [[IntroversionTropes introversion]], he demonstrates a [[HiddenDepths remarkable]] [[AmbiguouslyTrained talent as a military commander]], able to cooperate with the sergeants and the troops to achieve strategic victory.

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', [[WorldsStrongestMan The Good]] [[TheHero Hunter]] is a OneManArmy who gets to lead his MenOfSherwood as a result of AsskickingEqualsAuthority, from minor skirmishes to major battles. Despite his [[IntroversionTropes introversion]], he demonstrates a [[HiddenDepths remarkable]] [[AmbiguouslyTrained talent as a military commander]], able to cooperate with the sergeants and the troops to achieve strategic victory.

* [[ComicBook/RedHulk General T.E. "Thunderbolt" Ross]] in ''Comicbook/IncredibleHulk'' comics.

** General Maximilian Veers in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. He led the Imperial Forces in their successful attack on the Rebel base at Hoth.

** Zhukov, AK-47 in hand, leads a group of Red Army officers in arresting Beria in the middle of a Communist Party Central Committee meeting and personally subdues him with two big punches that leave the NKVD head bloodied and stunned.
* General Oreius, the centaur commander of Aslan's forces in the first ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' movie ''The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe'' is particularly badass, as can be seen in the final battle.

* Reinhard von Lohengramm is the main character of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' and the Imperial equivalent of a FourStarBadass at the start of the series, becoming a Five-Star Badass very shortly after.

* [[AwesomeMcCoolName Brigadier General Francis X. Hummel]], Marines Force Recon from ''Film/TheRock''.

* ArchangelMichael, the commander-in-chief of God's forces in Christian and Jewish mythology. BilingualBonus applies [[AwesomeMcCoolname on his name]].

* The Admiral of [[VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients DotA All Stars]] and his ''VideoGame/{{Dota2}}'' incarnation, [[AwesomeMcCoolname Kunkka]].

* Reinhard von Lohengramm is the main character of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' and the Imperial equivalent of a FourStarBadass at the start of the series, becoming a five-star badass very shortly after.

* Reinhard von Lohengramm is the main character of ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' and he is a FourStarBadass at the start of the series, becoming a five-star badass very shortly after.

** The previous Legate Joshua Graham, also known as the Burned Man, was also horrifically terrifying in battle, though his poor understanding of warfare leads him to be more of a General Ripper.

** Vance ''[[FanNickname Motherfuckin']]'' Stubbs finds himself in the same situation. While {{Fanon}} believed him to be the victor of the campaign of ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn of War: Soulstorm]]'', come ''Dawn of War III'' it was revealed Gorgutz was the winner. Manly tears were shed by many,