History Main / HandicappedBadAss

[[caption-width-right:320:She doesn't need legs to kick your arse.]]

* ''Until Death Do Us Part'' has Mamoru. Yes, he has [[GogglesDoSomethingUnusual shades that counter his blindness by showing him a wireframe model of what's in front of him, can even give him a 3D map of his surounding]] and even [[DodgeTheBullet project bullet paths]] and such, but those get often neutralised somehow, leaving him, well, blind. It barely affects him, if at all, because he fights by [[SpiderSense sensing killing intent]] anyway.

* Terezi of ''{{Homestuck}}'' was blinded by an unfortunate "extreme LARPing accident", but more than makes up for it with her skill at both [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating other characters]] and beating up Imps in the Medium [[CaneFu with her cane.]]

* Garrett Miller from ''ExtremeGhostbusters''. He was born a paraplegic but still manages to be the 'jock' of the group. The only times his disability really impairs him is when there's steps involved.
** Apart from steps, Garrett's only notable instance of being impaired was in the early episode "Golem", where he is tipped out of his wheelchair and mocked by some racist jerks he had thought were his friends. Most times his chair is near enough for him to climb back into.

* Garrett Miller from ''ExtremeGhostbusters''. He was born a paraplegic but still manages to be the 'jock' of the group. The only times his disability really impairs him is when there's steps involved.

* Leela from Futurama counts, as she flies an intergalatic spaceship and kicks much ass dispite no depth perception.

* '''Any''' Paralympian.
** Of special note: Polish Paralympians consistently perform better than regular Olympians.
** Also of special note: Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius (the 'fastest man on no legs', as some have called him), who snagged a bronze medal - in an ''able-bodied'' event in Switzerland.
** And Aimee Mullins. Double amputee. Sprinter (ran for Georgetown while in college). Runway model. Actress. Author. While in college, earned an internship ''at the Pentagon''.
** Australian comedian Adam Hills (himself born without a right foot) went to Beijing to help host the Paralympics. He describes (in his stand-up show "Inflatable") seeing an athlete born without arms, who was a freestyle swimmer. The initial miracle was that he got his jacket off. The secondary and tertiary miracles were that this guy was the fastest thing in the water that anyone had ever seen (despite not having hands to touch the wall at each turn, instead actually having to ''headbutt'' the wall without slowing down each time), and that ''he won gold.'' Adam described it as the most inspiration thing he has ever witnessed in his life.

* The quote above comes from ''MenOfHonor'' in which the real life Carl Brashear, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., not only becomes the Navy's first Black Master Diver; he does it after he loses his leg in an accident at sea. In that climactic scene he has to walk 12 steps in a Diving suit. The badassness takes on new levels when you realize most of us with two legs wouldn't have been able to do it.

Of course, it annoys real-life disabled people often enough, too, when they are expected to follow this trope and be "inspirational" instead of just going about their lives, possibly (God forbid) wanting ''accomodations''. Well, at least it isn't [[DontYouDarePityMe vomit-inducing pity]].

* Emperor Claudius of Rome. As he points out in ''IClaudius'', he survived the treachery of the Roman ruling family with his disabilities (stutter, limp, and rumored to be mentally challenged), when so many others got killed.
** Claudius was most definitely not mentally challenged. The man was one of the most respected Roman politicians of the time, and developed his own form of public speaking to accommodate his disability. In an age where you stood to speak, and held the floor until you sat down...Claudius could silence an entire room from his chair.

* There's also Samuel Anders, who takes a bullet to the brain and survived and is then hooked up directly to the ''Galactica'''s central computer, essentially becoming ''Galactica'' itself for the final few episodes of the show.

* Amy Palmiero-Winters. She lost her left leg below the knee in a car accident at age 21. At age 37, she finished first ''overall'' in the 24-hour "Run To The Future" race. That meant that she became the first amputee ''ever'' to qualify for a place on a U. S. National track and field team. She will compete in the 24-hour world championships this May in Brive, France. How badass is this woman? She ran in the Badwater Ultramarathon (which goes through Death Valley in June) until heat from the road built up in her prosthesis and gave her ''third degree burns'' on her residual limb.

* Nobody's mentioned [[HarryPotter Mad-Eye Moody]] yet? Over the course of his career as an Auror, he loses an eye and a leg (not to mention a chunk of his nose). He remains a badass, using a wooden leg and a magically-enhanced prosthetic eye.

* [[Highlander Highlander's]] Joe Dawson doesn't let being a double amputee slow him down.