History Main / HandicappedBadAss

%%* [[HandicappedBadass/LiveActionFilms Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Amilyn continues serving Lothos despite the loss of his arm.
* Charlie from ''Film/LandOfTheDead''. Half his face is burned off, he has only one eye, and he essentially has the mind of a very young child (He calls fireworks 'sky flowers', for example). He also has insane ImprobableAimingSkills and scores a direct hit with every single shot he ever takes in the film... with a peep-sight rifle.
* Franchise/{{Zatoichi}}, the blind swordsman, who [[WalkingTheEarth travels from town to town]] as a common masseur but [[SwordCane keeps a sword hidden in his cane]] just in case. He slashes through hundreds of victims (including the wings off of flies) in 26 films (the [[Film/Zatoichi2003 2003 reboot]] included) and a TV series.
* In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', Neo becomes one when [[spoiler:Smith in Bane's body blinds Neo in the real world, although he is still able to 'see' in the real world by perceiving machine code, and he retains full vision in the Matrix]].
* ''Film/BlindFury'' is an American remake of film 17 of the Zatoichi series. It stars Rutger Hauer as an American soldier who gets blinded by an explosion during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. With the help of some friendly locals (shown via TrainingMontage) he learns to kick all kinds of ass while blind, then returns to America as a traveling swordsman.
* Lieutenant Dan in ''Film/ForrestGump'' remains a rough and tumble guy even after getting his legs blown off.
* ''Film/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 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_diving_dress Standard Diving Dress]]. The badassness takes on new levels when you realize that the suit weighed 200lbs on land.
* Col. Frank Slade in ''Film/ScentOfAWoman'' can drive, tango, and choke people who piss him off... blind.
* John J. Macready, played by Creator/SpencerTracy, who could've been the trope namer. Featured in ''Film/BadDayAtBlackRock''.
* The {{Franchise/Terminator}} reached maximum badassability when he [[LifeOrLimbDecision had to rip off his own arm.]]
* The protagonist in ''Film/{{Hush}}'' is Maddie, a novelist who lives in near-seclusion in the woods with only a nearby married couple as neighbors, who, one night while at home, encounters a masked serial killer who is hell-bent on toying with Maddie and eventually killing her. What makes this any different from any other run of the mill horror movie? Maddie is ''completely deaf.''
* The titular ''Film/TheManWithTheIronFists'' counts after having his arms severed and replaced with metallic fists that he can manipulate with his inner chi.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Darth Vader, who manages to be an [[NighInvulnerability almost invincible]] BigBad despite [[ArtificialLimbs missing both hands, one entire arm, and both legs,]] the entire remainder of his body covered in horrible burns, and having to wear a life support suit at all times. ''Episode III'' implies that, had he not been so injured, his Force abilities would have surpassed even the Emperor's; as it is, he's ''still'' strong enough to defeat him after getting his ass kicked by his own son. In ''Film/RogueOne'', the first scene we see him in has him outside of his suit and floating in a bacta-healing tank. In his last scene, [[spoiler:he effortlessly slaughters a squad of rebels in under a minute]].
** Luke himself qualifies: it's after being defeated by Vader in their first duel and [[AnArmAndALeg losing a hand]] that he [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] and becomes the awesome Jedi we know.
** [[WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars General Grievous uses his cyborg body to fight several Jedi at the same time]]. After getting his chest crushed by Mace Windu just before the start of the third film, however, he's more of a genuine handicapped badass and [[AnticlimaxBoss puts up only a moderate fight against Obi-Wan.]]
** Han Solo gets his moment at the beginning of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''. Shooting a tentacle? Big deal. Shooting a tentacle ''while blind?'' Awesome.
** Chirrut Imwe from ''Film/RogueOne'' is a middle-aged blind man who can still kick the assess of a whole squad of Stormtroopers, even when he obviously lacks the Force.
* The character in the ChopSockey movie who undertakes the eponymous ''Iron Fist Treatment'' kicks ass using Kung Fu with only one arm.
* Lord Blakeney from ''Film/MasterAndCommander''. One-armed and commanding a ship during an epic sea-battle... and his voice hasn't even broken.
* Chinese films seem to have a thing for martial arts masters with disabilities.
** The eponymous heroes from the kung fu movies ''One-Armed Swordsman'' and ''One-Armed Boxer'' are all about this trope. In ''One-Armed Boxer vs. Flying Guillotine'', the Master of the Flying Guillotine is a blind man who uses his exceptional hearing. He goes on a killing spree hunting down one-armed men, several of whom are martial artists.
** ''Crippled Avengers'' features a blind man with super-hearing, a deaf-mute with incredible eyesight, an armless man with deadly steel prosthetic arms, a legless man with iron legs and a severely mentally handicapped fighter who is nearly invincible.
** Not really a handicap, though Your Mileage May Vary: Chinese folklore and literature and film feature many eunuchs who achieve nearly-superhuman powers. Most notable is Pai Mei from ''Executioners from Shaolin, Clan of the White Lotus,'' and ''Film/KillBill Volume 2''.
* ''Film/KillBill'':
** Elle Driver is an excellent sword fighter, despite having only one eye.
** The Bride is temporarily paralyzed from the waist down after waking up from her coma, but that didn't stop her from killing two rapists within an hour of waking up after not moving at all for five years.
* Hammer Girl in ''Film/TheRaid2Berandal'' is deaf and has only one eye, which she always covers up with big sunglasses that really don't help with situational awareness either. She still can fight seven opponents at once, [[GirlWithPsychoWeapon with a pair of hammers]].
* Ash from the ''Franchise/EvilDead'' movies becomes a Badass when he cut off his own demon-possessed hand with a chainsaw, then mounts the chainsaw to the stump and uses it to saw off a shotgun for his other hand.
* Used in the 70s Kung Fu flick ''The Crippled Masters''. Lee Ho has no arms, Tang has no legs, together TheyFightCrime.
* John Creasy, played by Creator/DenzelWashington in ''Film/ManOnFire'' will simply '''not''' let a few bullet holes and massive internal bleeding stop him from opening a holy can of whoop-ass on a slew of corrupt Mexican officials who have killed a little girl he was guarding.
* The grandfather in the ''Film/SpyKids'' trilogy. He was played by Creator/RicardoMontalban, who really was a wheelchair user in his latter years.
* In ''{{Film/Darkman}}'', the eponymous character is also a burn victim, who's lost his sense of touch as a result of the operation that keeps him from living in agony. His nemesis, Durant, has henchman with a wooden leg that hides a machinegun.
* In ''Film/TheBookOfEli'' it is revealed [[spoiler:at the end of the movie that the title character was blind]].
* [[Film/EscapeFromNewYork Snake Plissken]] may have but one eye, but in no way does that impair his status as a legendary badass. Also, in both movies, [[spoiler:he winds up limping due to an injured leg]], but not even ''that'' slows him down.
* ''Code of the Dragon'': Badass fighting '''cripple'''. He doesn't even need the wheelchair.
** It's better than that. The fighting Black cripple is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF57HT0Ynho&feature=related Henry Smalls]]. He isn't crippled, '''he has NO legs'''. He is a kendo master, fourth-degree black belt, and a skilled practitioner of over 20 martial arts. If somebody tried to rob him in real life, the ass-kicking would be EPIC.
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in the case of Jake Sully in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', who still manages to be his own subtle kind of badass even though he is paraplegic and thus needs a wheelchair. However, most of his truly badass moments occur in his fully mobile Na'vi body [[spoiler:and he changes to this body permanently at the end of the film, killing his old one]].
* Sparky from ''{{Film/Steel}}'' is crippled in a training accident, but makes up for it by [[SuperWheelchair loading her wheelchair with projectile weapons that she can fire while spinning the chair.]]
* The Film/TransformersFilmSeries:
** Bumblebee is TheSpeechless, due to Megatron ripping out his vocal processors prior to the film. But that doesn't stop him from protecting and coming to Sam and Mikaela's rescue on many instances, [[spoiler: killing Ravage and Rampage in the second movie]] and probably having the most fighting scenes next to Optimus Prime.
** Jetfire. Run-down due to lack of energon, ''his landing gear turns into a cane.'' Doesn't stop him from kicking serious tailpipe, and ''opening space bridges at will,'' though he's too rusty with that to use it like TeleportSpam.
* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'':
** In the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides fourth movie]] [[spoiler: Captain Barbossa has a peg leg,]] but is just as badass as ever.
** Ragetti holds his own through a number of intense battles in the series, and is missing an eye.
* Vriess in ''Film/AlienResurrection'': Strapped into his wheelchair, gets caught alone with his weapon not ready by a Xenomorph directly above him (and notices it only because it drips corrosive saliva on his useless legs) and STILL manages to kill it and get away with only a few minor chemical burns.
* Bethany Hamilton in ''Film/SoulSurfer'', based on the true story of the young surfing star who lost her left arm in a shark attack.
* Bane has been reimagined as this for ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', wearing a mask which constantly provides him anesthetic gas to overcome the pain from a bad injury obtained during his backstory. The gas itself also qualifies as a major handicap, as it is knockout gas.
* ''Film/MadMax'': the title character is {{kneecapp|ing}}ed at the end of the [[Film/MadMax1 first film]] and improvises a brace using a wrench. He wears a medical brace in ''[[Film/MadMax2TheRoadWarrior The Road Warrior]]''. It doesn't stop him from being the most badass survivor of the post-apocalypse and there's even an amusing scene of one of the refinery dwellers scrambling to oil it before he sneaks off into the wasteland to retrieve the semi-tractor.
* Handicapped Badasses are all over the place in ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad''. Max still has his leg brace and is struggling with severe PTSD, [[ActionGirl Furiosa]] has a prosthetic arm, [[BadassDriver Nux]] is an IllBoy, and [[BigBad Immortan Joe]] has breathing problems.
* ''Film/{{Murderball}}'': most of the main characters since it's about quadriplegic rugby players.
* ''Blind Justice'' is a western where Armand Assante plays a blind gunslinger. He is a [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar Civil War]] veteran, who was blinded when he was thought dead and tossed into a mass grave. Quicklime was spread over the corpses, which damaged his eyes.
* In ''Film/WhenWorldsCollide'', one of the financiers who supplied the money to build the escape ship, stops an attempted mutiny by shooting the mutineer with a handgun concealed in his manual wheelchair.
* Cherry from ''Film/{{Grindhouse}}'' becomes a Badass when several zombies tear off her leg, then mounts a modified M4 Carbine with a M203 grenade launcher attachment to the stump and uses it to kill zombies.
* The Series/TalesFromTheCrypt movie ''Film/DemonKnight'' has one character lose her arm early in the film. She continues on shooting demons and blowing stuff up, regardless.
* Azog in ''Film/TheHobbit'' had his arm cut off by Thorin in the Battle of Azanulbizar. He would later be seen with a metallic hook directly shoved into his stump with a spike and is utterly terrifying as he hunts down Thorin and Company. [[spoiler: His and Thorin's rematch ended with Azog easily thrashing Thorin.]]
* [[spoiler: Subverted]] in ''Film/HouseOfFlyingDaggers'': Mei is extremely skilled in fighting and martial arts, [[spoiler: but she was only pretending to be blind]].
* Dai Bando the blind ex-boxer in ''Film/HowGreenWasMyValley''.
* In ''Film/MasterOfTheFlyingGuillotine'', the hero is the One-Armed Boxer, while the villain is a blind old man.
* [[TheCaptain Hauptmann]] Hermann Musk from the German film ''Film/{{Stalingrad 1993}}'', who is first seen affixing his prosthetic arm before [[EstablishingCharacterMoment leading his platoon to assault a heavily guarded factory]].
* ''Film/IceCastles'' the main character becomes completely blind during a ice skating practice gone wrong (although later she can see light and dark). Later, not only can she skate, but she masters her entire routine! In fact, the only reason people find out about her disability is that she trips over the flowers thrown into the rink.
* Javier Bardem's character in Pedro Almodovar's ''Live Flesh''.
* John J. Macreedy from ''Film/BadDayAtBlackRock''
* Luz from ''Film/{{Machete}}''. She gets one eye shot out midway through the film and spends the rest of it sporting an EyepatchOfPower. In ''Film/MacheteKills'', Luz gets [[spoiler: her other eye shot out, making her completely blind]].
* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': Professor Charles Xavier is confined to a wheelchair, although as ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' and ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' show, he is able to walk on his own, but it comes at the loss of his powers.
* In the opening scene of ''Film/Sharknado2TheSecondOne'', April gets her left hand bitten off when a Sharknado hits the plane she and Fin were in. When the hospital she is recovering at gets hit later, she's well enough to help a young girl patient get to shelter and then drive a fire truck to reunite with Fin. The climax sees her [[spoiler:tie a buzzsaw to her stump to chop up the sharks that are attacking him]].
* ''Film/{{Misery}}'': In the climax, [[spoiler: Paul delivers a glorious beatdown on Annie Wilkes, a deranged SerialKiller. By this point his legs are broke, his ankles have shattered, and he has been shot in the shoulder]].
* Bob Paulson from ''Film/FightClub'' is originally introduced as a pathetic guy who had to be surgically castrated (forcing him to take hormonal supplements that give him [[GagBoobs "bitch tits"]]) due to testicular cancer. By the time [[spoiler:he gets killed]], he has more than earned his place in Project Mayhem, as evidenced by the other members' chant:
-->''His name is Robert Paulson! His name is Robert Paulson! His name is Robert Paulson!''
* Lincoln from ''Film/TheBoneCollector'' is paralyzed from the neck down, relying on machines controlled by his mouth and his nurse, and still manages to fight off his assailant.
* The Old Man from ''Film/DontBreathe''. He's a blind old man who lives all alone. When the main characters break into his house to steal his money, he shows how capable he is to take on three intruders, taking one guy's gun and killing him. [[spoiler:Which makes his reveal as a villain in his own right all the more horrifying]].
* Despite being in a [[AndIMustScream vegetative state]], the title character in the cult 1978 Australian horror film ''Film/{{Patrick}}'' still manages to cause all kinds of mayhem thanks to his [[PsychicPowers psychokinetic abilities]].
* ''Kingsman'':
** ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'': [[TheDragon Gazelle]] is missing her legs, which she's replaced with bladed prostheses. She's even more dangerous with this.
** ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'': [[spoiler:Charlie]] lost an arm and his vocal chords from the events of the first film, and has robotic replacements offered by the BigBad. Like Gazelle, he's TheDragon to a NonActionBigBad and one of the most dangerous members of the Golden Circle.
** Also from ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'', but played for drama: After being [[MoeGreeneSpecial shot right through the eye]], former [[OneManArmy One-Man Army]] [[spoiler:Harry]] is now half blind, suffering from hallucinations, and out of practice due to having amnesia for a year. Unlike the bad guys, he does not get any snazzy prosthetics and has to adapt to it the old-fashioned way. He's eager to get back into the action, but struggles to overcome his handicap while the other characters question his physical and mental abilities. However, by the time they get to the Big Bad's lair his hand-eye coordination has improved greatly, and apart from a few clumsy moments he's a serious threat to his enemies again.
* ''Gunfight in Abilene'': Grant Evers has a wooden right arm, which we learn was caused by a childhood accident involving his old friend Cal Wayne. Cal feels guilty about this, and tries to help Grant whenever he can, since Grant by his own admission can't fight. But then we see Grant practicing with left-handed firing in his basement and exhibiting ImprobableAimingSkills, and it seems obvious that things will eventually lead to violence between the two men. [[spoiler:But then it's {{subverted}} when Grant has a falling out with his brutal enforcer, Joe Slade. Grant has his gun out and pointed in Slade's direction, but Slade still draws and shoots him down before Grant can take aim, revealing that he's the true BigBad.]]
* The 1970s crime BMovie ''Film/MrNoLegs'' has the titular Mafia hitman, a martial arts expert that moves around [[SuperWheelchair in a wheelchair with concealed shotguns and ninja stars]]. His actor, Ted Vollrath, was a RealLife version of this as well, being a former Marine (that lost his legs in Korea) and the first person to earn a black belt in Karate while handicapped in such a fashion.
* 2013 horror ''Film/TheHumanRace'' featured a one-legged protagonist who couldn't walk without crutches. [[spoiler:He's quite the fighter, uses his crutches to exploit a loophole in the 'no walking on the grass' rule and ultimately wins.]]
* In ''Film/TheSignOfFourSherlockHolmesGreatestCase'', the BigBad Jonathan Small has a wooden leg. This slows him down hardly at all, and he is very adept at using [[ArmedLegs the peg-leg as a weapon]].
* ''Film/TheUnknown'': After having his arms amputated, Alonzo is still a lethal knife-thrower; able to throw with pinpoint accuracy [[HandyFeet with his feet]].
* ''{{Film/Mythica}}'': Marek is clubfooted, with both a brace on her leg and using a stick to walk at the beginning. Over time there however with training she becomes nearly as mobile as any able-bodied person (magical aid is possibly involved then as well). She does ask if Teela can heal her, but when this turns out to not be a possibility it doesn't faze her. It helps in that her weapon is magic, but she's quite capable physically as well. [[spoiler: Her foot is entirely healed later.]]
* ''Film/BlindsidedTheGame'' has the blind Walter, who can still hold his own in combat against multiple armed opponents.
* ''Lonely Are the Brave'' (1962). Creator/KirkDouglas' character gets into a BarBrawl with a one-armed man (played by the same actor who played the one-armed murderer in ''Series/TheFugitive''). To make things fair, he declares he'll [[WithMyHandsTied fight with one arm held behind his back]]. Unfortunately the man he's fighting is a hell of a lot more familiar at this than he is, so our hero gets his ass kicked.
* In ''Film/TerrorInATexasTown'', [=McNeil=]'s [[TheDragon dragon]] is TheGunslinger Johnny Crale, who had his right hand shot off and replaced it with a steel prosthesis.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* Gobber from ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' only has one leg and one arm. As a Viking, he is very badass. Toothless only has half a tail but is still badass and at the end, [[spoiler:Hiccup becomes one when his lower left leg is destroyed during the final battle]]. [[BigBad Drago Bludvist]] from [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 the sequel]] counts too, having lost an arm after being attacked by a dragon. Although he's badass in a [[TheDreaded very]] [[AxCrazy different]] [[KnightOfCerebus way]] to the characters above.
* Viper in the ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' franchise was, according to ''Secrets of the Furious Five'', born without fangs and learned kung fu to make up for it. She also lacks limbs, but this doesn't really count as a handicap, what with her being a snake.
** [[OldMaster Master Shifu]] walks with a limp due to the injury given to him by [[APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil Tai Lung]]. [[GlassCannon As long as he's not hit, he can own you]].
** The [[WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2 sequel]] has Lord Shen, an EvilAlbino peacock, and the Wolf Boss, a [[EyeScream half-blinded]] wolf who's nonetheless the unquestionable [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking alpha]] of his pack and the efficient [[TheDragon right-hand man]] of Shen.
* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' had a few of these, including the title character with his underdeveloped fin. There's also Dory who suffers short-term memory loss and Gill, the leader of the tank gang who, like Nemo, has a permanently injured fin. If you count Marlin's crippling fear of the ocean (not undeserved), then he qualifies as well.
* Garrett ([[NamesTheSame another one?]]) from ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot''. He's blind but he "makes Daredevil look like an eight-year-old gymnast."
* ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Quasimodo. He is a hunchback, but he can do [[LeParkour Parkour]] (especially in the Cathedral) and is very strong.
* In Disney/Pixar's ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', Merida's father, King Fergus, loses a leg in a fight against a bear and has it replaced with a wooden peg leg.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'':
** Despite having lost an eye, an arm, and a leg, Skeleton Jorge is not slowed down by these infirmities, nor does it diminish how awesome a swordsman he is.
** [[spoiler:Joaquin's eye gets damaged in the climax, resulting in him wearing an eyepatch.]]
* In ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', Mulan's father Fa Zhou demonstrates perfect sword form and his mind is still sharp even in his advanced age. Unfortunately, his age, bad leg, and implied heart problems make him incapable of fighting for more than about a minute, which was why Mulan chose to take his place in the army.
* In ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings'', most of the main cast counts -- [[KidHero Kubo]] has only one eye, while [[MamaBear his mother]] suffers from complications due to head trauma which leaves her comatose during the day. [[TheBigGuy Beetle]] has amnesia, and has difficulty remembering even basic things without Kubo and Monkey to keep him focused. [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Monkey]] is injured midway through the movie [[spoiler: and is SecretlyDying, as the magic that keeps her soul in her body fades]]. The [[BigBad Moon King]] is completely blind [[spoiler: until the ending, where Kubo's other eye gives him sight at the cost of [[LaserGuidedAmnesia his memories]]]].
* Madam Mouserinks in ''Animation/TheNutcrackerAndTheMouseKing'' is wheelchair-bound, but she acts as TheManBehindTheMan to her nephew, can conjure up entire armies of mice, and plans to take over the world. The fact that she has a LivingShadow at her disposal also helps.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Reading all the [[CrazyAwesome INCREDIBLE]] exploits of [[FanFic/EnemyOfMyEnemy Rukth 'Kilkar]], it's almost easy to forget that he's effortlessly slaughtering hundreds of Brutes with only one eye. [[spoiler:Later, his compatriot Zerat 'Omdolo loses ''his'' left eye as well, though as Zerat is a [[ImprobableAimingSkills sniper]] instead of a [[SimpleStaff close-combat specialist]] like Rukth, this is a bigger deal.]]
* [[Comicbook/{{Batgirl2000}} Cassandra Cain]] in "Settling Accounts". Despite a spinal cord injury that leaves her paralyzed from the neck down, she manages to face down her psychotic father alone and defeat him thanks to a spring-loaded, poison-tipped dagger she had someone tape to her paralyzed arm. A subversion of DisabledMeansHelpless. Her injury leaves her unable to even feed herself, but she remains anything but helpless.
* In ''Fanfic/SupermanAndMan'', [[Franchise/{{Superman}} the titular hero]] finds himself in the body a person paralyzed neck down for one day and having to perform good deeds in spite of it.
-->When he went to bed the night before, he might have moved the Earth out of orbit. Now he could not move his hand.
* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' AU ''The Captain and the King,'' Boromir is blinded within the first chapter. This fic and its sequel have him riding into battle, blowing up an army of Orcs, wounding and killing his various assassins...and so on.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has quite a few of these:
** The Winter Soldier lost his left arm a long time ago. He's still quite possibly the scariest man in the universe (though it doesn't hurt that he has an artificial replacement).
** Lucius Malfoy walks with a stick thanks to Nick Fury, a few bullets and a lot of napalm. He's an A-Grade MagnificentBastard, however.
** Nick Fury lost his eye to Lucius Malfoy - while giving him his own handicap. This does not stop him being incredibly badass and a competent MagnificentBastard in his own right.
** Tony Stark. His arc reactor does not slow him down. At all.
** The Red Son winds up losing his left arm and eye fighting Magneto. He's still a PersonOfMassDestruction, though, and gets cybernetic techno-organic replacements that, if anything, only make him even more dangerous.
** Charles Xavier is confined to a wheelchair. He's also the most powerful human psychic in the world--possibly ever--bar just a few, and far more skilled than any of them.
** Odin, like Nick Fury, is missing an eye. Also like Nick Fury, he's a MagnificentBastard and stone-cold badass that even ''other gods'' don't want to piss off.
** Harry Dresden's left hand, as in canon, is currently badly burned due to a vampire's servant getting creative with napalm (his type of wizard has a HealingFactor, but it's a slow one). He's also TheDreaded for pretty much every supernatural monster in North America, and even those of his own people who don't like him treat him with wary respect.
* In a once-popular and now-dead ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' epic, Sailor Orion was blind in her civilian life but was still pretty awesome. In fact, "handicapped" otaku senshi were all the rage in the early [=OOs=].
* Ferdinand in ''Fanfic/WhatAboutWitchQueen'' loses his right hand to a cannonball, which doesn't stop him from surviving in icy cold water in the middle of the storm, finding a small cave where he can hide and climbing out of the water - all before he finds something he can stop bleeding with. Later, he deals with two men attacking him with little problem.
* Roleplay/DCNation has Oracle as a major player. But the OriginalCharacter Green Shield was terminally ill when she played ProfessorGuineaPig on herself. While it arrested her illness and gave her enhanced durability, she's in constant pain as a result of the damage the disease already did. There's also Franchise/GreenLantern Travis Grey, who is not only blind but has a specific kind of brain damage that short-circuited his fear response. He relies on his ring for a form of radar, and his inability to process fear normally makes him immune to some of the usual tricks used against Green Lanterns. On the down side, that inability also makes it hard to relate to his teammates.
* [[spoiler: Zuko]] in the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanfic [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5745749/1/Scarlet_and_Black Scarlet and Black.]] The idea is that [[spoiler: he was blinded in the Agni Kai against his father, and now gets around using firebender-style Toph-O-Vision to the extent that no one on his ship besides Iroh even knows that he's blind]].
* [[VideoGame/Left4Dead Nick]] in ''FanFic/TwoStep'' was blinded in his left eye before the start of the fic, when he [[spoiler:saved Coach from a Witch while they were fleeing across the bridge]]. Though this handicap is handled quite realistically, it does nothing to impair his ability to kick ass and take names.
* In ''FanFic/WinterWar'', Lt. Iba has a bad knee and needs to use a cane, but he's still capable in battle [[spoiler: and manages to kill Rubadon]], although he does need to use FunctionalMagic to make up for decreased mobility. There's also Kensei, who helps defend Karakura from Mayuri and Szayel's invasion despite having lost his leg from the knee down; Soi Fong, who lost her right arm as in canon but then spent months learning to fight with her left; and the canonical examples of Ukitake and Kuukaku.
* In ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8845297/1/Are-You-There-Primus-It-s-Me-Starscream Are You There Primus? It's Me, Starscream,]]'' despite her blindness the OC Hotwire is still perfectly capable of inventing devastating weapons. The writer explicitly mentions wanting to steer away from the 'Daredevil' version of badass blindness, and Hotwire is not ''more'' proficient in weapons than she would have been otherwise - but she can still land a solid hit.
* ''[[FanFic/TheGodEmpressOfPonykind The Warmistress of Equestria]]'': Justicar Echo is one of the best fighters in the Night Guard, and also happens to be completely blind. She is able to fight Galas, a [[OurElvesAreBetter Deer Ranger]], to a standstill despite being outclassed in weaponry and agility.
* In ''Fanfic/FriendshipIsShowtime'', [[spoiler:Nito lost his wing at some point in the past]]. This does ''not'' stop him from [[spoiler:kicking flank as Kamen Rider Beast]].
* ''Fanfic/InSearchOfF'', [[Series/KamenRiderDouble Shou]] was born with weak wings and even a short flight leaves him winded, thus explaining why he primarily gets around with [[CoolBike Machine HardBoilder]] instead of his wings. This does not stop him from kicking flank, both on his own or as half of Double.
* ''FanFic/BadFutureCrusaders'':
** Apple Bloom has a notable limp in one of her forelegs, but can still fight as good as anyone.
** Scootaloo is half-blind and has a broken wing, but can give Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon a run for their money.
** Dinky is also half-blind, but is also [[TheDragon one of the most powerful unicorns alive]].
** Babs was removed from active duty in the Royal Guard after a permanent lung injury. She doesn't let it slow her down.
* In the ''FanFic/HarmonysWarriors'' series, a side story reveals that Pinkie Pie (a spy in this universe) was left permanently deaf during a [[NoodleIncident mission in Istanbull]]. Fortunately for her, Twilight was able to create a set of advanced hearing aids to synthesize hearing for her. And she doesn't let this disability slow her down at all.
* In ''FanFic/TheRiseOfDarthVulcan'', a group of young remedial class [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic pegasi]] with serious deformities were able to destroy a rogue tornado that was about to wreck their town. It did end up biting THEM hard though, forcing in them into the service of Darth Vulcan, who ''won't'' underestimate their abilities.
* In ''FanFic/FlamGush'' Gourry ends up [[{{Fingore}} losing a few fingers]]. He is STILL Head and shoulders above any- and everyone else in the story with swordplay.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' fanfic ''FanFic/{{Ladder}}'', [[spoiler:Bubbles]] gets shot in an eye by Mojo Jojo. This leaves her blind in that eye. It doesn't inhibit her superpowers much [[spoiler:and in fact she becomes a very dangerous SerialKiller afterwards]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' fic ''Fanfic/TheVow'' has the canonical examples, but a special mention goes to the example created in the epilogue: [[spoiler:[[SparedByTheAdaptation Lord Shen]]]] is trashed by a wreck-filled stream and right after that, he walks for weeks with an injured leg. This renders him unable to ever regain his former physical prowess fully, but he copes by training himself to fight with a new style that takes into account his new physical limitations.
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal introduces the new character of Miss Ethylene Glynnie as a teacher of music at the Assassins' Guild School. She is a drummer and percussionist [[note]]Any resemblance to real-world percussion maestro Evelyn Glennie can be debated elsewhere[[/note]]. She was also taken on, twenty years previously, as a student Assassin after the Guild was pressured to take a quota of handicapped students. The Guild decided her deafness ticked the necessary boxes, and considered her to be an interesting experiment. They discovered she did not see it as a handicap at all, (to the terminal surprise of several professional clients) and were pleasantly surprised at how she turned out. Among other things, Evvie Glynnie re-wrote the training courses for non-verbal communication - a specialty she teaches on The Black - and as a bonus could teach drumming and precession to an advanced level. Fellow Music teachers reflect on the quality of the raw material they have to work with, and reflect that being deaf would be a positive ''advantage'' with some students. At the latest point in the timeline, she is poised to take over a Residential Housemistress position. Unwary and overconfident girls believe a deaf Housemistress means they can get away with ''anything''. However, Miss Glynnie can sense a penny being dropped thirty feet away from the vibrations its fall leaves in the air. And she can even tell you what denomination the coin was, and whether it landed heads or tails. Raven House girls are in for a surprise.
* Played with for the ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' fic "[[Fanfic/BlackAsNight Black as Night]]" and its sequels, where Hiccup is blinded on the second day of dragon training; the author explicitly avoids giving Hiccup the HyperAwareness of the likes of ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}, so he has trouble when directly attacked and needed Astrid to help him lay out a set of stones before he could even get to the outhouse behind his hut, but he still manages to train Toothless, with the addition of teaching Toothless how to make a series of sounds to direct Hiccup on what tail position he should use to control their direction.
* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/50266/Kimberly-T Kimberly T]]'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' fics basically turn Thailog into this, as it is revealed that he has been left with a crippled wing after his last battle with the Manhattan Clan. Admittedly, he's still the size of Goliath with the business skill and criminal intellect of pre-reformation Xanatos, so 'handicapped' might be a misleading term, but when the majority of his regular foes are capable of flight, the fact that he's permanently grounded does give them a key potential advantage in future confrontations.
* In ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'', Izuku nearly kills Katsuki Bakugou when they brawled as kids, leaving Bakugou with grievous scarring across his arms and chest as well as titanium screws in his arm. Despite this, he still manages to tear his way through the U.A Entrance Exam, earning more Villain Points than anyone else. The proctors are surprised to see that his condition doesn't seem to slow him down and he isn't even winded by the end of it.
* Fankil, the main antagonist of ''Fanfic/TheHeartTrilogy'', is a demon who looks [[LeanAndMean rather emaciated]] and walks with a limp. However, he's able to move with feline agility when he has to, and he's [[StrongerThanTheyLook strong and tough enough]] to face off the great fire-drake Smaug. This is justified by the fact that he has a lot of magical power as [[spoiler:the [[DivineParentage son of Morgoth]] himself]].
* Naruto in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12466642/1/Legend-of-the-Blind-Ninja Legend of the Blind Ninja]]'' is a very capable ninja despite his loss of sight.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* [[{{Franchise/Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] when he was wheelchair-ridden in ''Comicbook/{{Knightfall}}''. It's explored further in the {{Novelization}}.
* Marvin from the Franco-Belgian comic ''Dungeon Twilight'' ends up with both his arms cut off on top of being blind since the Timeskip. Thank to his species' law that a dragon gains a new power when he loses a previous one and his arms count as a power, he ends up raising an army of dead dragons that allows him to soundly defeat the {{Big Bad}}. And him being blind did not stop him from being one of the strongest fighters in the series even in his old age.
* The Chief in ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol'' -- specifically Creator/GrantMorrison-period -- becomes perhaps the ultimate example of this. Whether blasting his way into bad guys' homes with his chair-mounted rocket-launchers, calmly knee-capping opponents to put them on equal terms with himself, or using his knowledge and sheer grit to -- even blown out of his chair -- take on and kill the Beard Hunter (a ''[[Comicbook/ThePunisher Punisher]]'' parody), AND deliver a BondOneLiner afterwards...and, on top of all of that, [[spoiler: proving ultimately to have fully recovered from his paralysis some time ago, to have deliberately engineered accidents and disasters that created/destroyed other team members, and ready to re-shape the world using a combination of Chaos Theory and nanotechnology, thus becoming the Morrison run's ultimate ''Big Bad'']]. What a guy!
* ''Comicbook/XMen'' ComicBook/ProfessorX's wheelchair doesn't lessen his badassness.
* Barbara Gordon -- the first ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} -- gets [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke shot through the spine and paralyzed]]. Although she'd already retired as Batgirl she becomes an InformationBroker under the name ComicBook/{{Oracle}}, pictured above, and becomes the greatest source of info in Franchise/TheDCU, leader of the Comicbook/BirdsOfPrey, member of the JLA, the hero who can pick up hundreds of millions from a supervillain's secret account and employ them somewhere else, the one who can ''break the Internet should she so wish''. When a number of the Titans were once discussing who actually ran the JLA, and are suggesting a variety of names from Superman to Batman, Arsenal's four-year-old daughter immediately responded ''"Owacle."'' While she mostly does non-action work as befitting her position, she has proved to be a capable fighter even in a wheelchair. She also beat the shit out of Spy Smasher from her wheelchair when the latter threatens to take over her operation.
* Barbara's [[LegacyCharacter successor]], [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]], also fits this, due to having some serious mental disabilities. Aside from her difficulty speaking, she is also dyslexic and often comes across as having an AmbiguousDisorder due to her lack of social skills. This does not stop her from being most likely the greatest hand-to-hand fighter on the planet, at one point punching a zombified assassin in half (note that the assassin had died only minutes before at most, meaning that he was as durable as a living person).
* ''Comicbook/IronMan'': Tony Stark. The chest injury he suffers leads to the creation of the arc reactor. Also, in the comics, Stark becomes paralyzed and has to rely on an armor suit powered by his thoughts alone.
* Comicbook/{{Hawkeye}}:
** Hawkeye of Comicbook/TheAvengers handicapped ''himself'' by putting a sonic arrow in his mouth to counter an attack. He used hearing aids after that. Eventually another writer cured him of his deafness altogether, but it deserves the mention for the time he was deaf. He's also since been deafened again, and is still no less badass.
** Plus, there's one or another alternate universe where Clint is blind, but hasn't lost an inch of his edge; mainly, ''ComicBook/MarvelComics2'' and ''ComicBook/OldManLogan''.
* There's also Rose and Thorn, whose handicap is that she has a {{split personality}}. Rose is mild-mannered and sweet. Thorn is a bit of a vamp and very much a badass.
* In ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'', Tim Drake's first major villain was King Snake, a kung-fu master who was completely blind; King Snake resented the loss of his sight, but was so used to fighting blind that he was actually ''less'' capable a combatant when his vision was briefly restored.
* ComicBook/{{New Avenger|s}} Echo was born deaf, but makes up for it with [[AwesomenessByAnalysis photographic reflexes]].
* The Condor Knight, from ''The7LivesOfTheSparrowhawk'' ("Les 7 Vies de L'épervier" in French). Despite losing an arm, an eye and being like, fifty years old, he is certainly the most dangerous swordsman in the entire world. With his handicaps, he has defeated more than 125 people in single combat and is said to have wiped out entire Indian tribes. We won't even talk about before his accidents.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} and Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} have often fought while blinded (as in the ''Comicbook/KryptonNoMore'' storyline) or otherwise crippled. And they still managed to kick butts.
* In ''Comicbook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', Comicbook/GreenArrow turns up missing an arm. He says it hurts when the weather turns cold. Later in the story he hangs upside down from a fire escape to shoot [[spoiler:Superman with a kryptonite arrow]], pulling the string with his teeth.
* Every Cobra Warrior of Peng Lai in ''ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist'' is handicapped in one way or another, and freaking insanely hardcore. While the only one we've ever directly seen is the gargantuanly obese and unerringly awesome Fat Cobra, we hear of such luminaries as the ancient Old Cobra, One-Armed Cobra, and Blind Cobra.
* Master Wolf from ''Franchise/StarWars: Comicbook/{{Legacy}}''. Wolf lost his right arm in a fight with Darth Nihil and didn't replace it with a prosthetic, instead just training his left arm to use a lightsaber.
** He later accepted a prosthetic, though not because of any lack of skill or badassery -- just that a one-armed Zabrak stands out in the crowd, and when you're a Jedi going places where there are going to be plenty of Sith, better not to stand out.
* Despite its horrific imagery, ''Comicbook/MarvelZombies'' has its interpretation of Black Panther: [[spoiler: after being held captive and drugged by Zombie Giant Man as a food source, when Zombie Wasp finds out she and her husband argue, while Black Panther, ''without half of his right arm and left leg'', takes advantage of this and escapes. Then, while confronted by some of Magneto's comrades, he [[{{Pun}} SINGLEHANDEDLY]] kicks their asses]].
* Captain Storm in Franchise/TheDCU. One eye, a wooden leg and the toughest naval officer in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. He had 18 issues of his own title and then served as commander of ''ComicBook/TheLosers''.
* Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, lawyer by day, ass-kicking vigilante by night -- rendered blind after an accident in his youth, but was [[DisabilitySuperpower trained to utilize his hearing to make up for it.]]
* Dagger -- half the team of ''ComicBook/CloakAndDagger'' -- was rendered blind for a while; she adapted quickly, and it didn't hurt her career as a heroine much,
* {{Franchise/Batman}} featured -- briefly -- the Armless Master, a master martial artist [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin with no arms]]. His seven able-bodied students were each capable of giving Batman himself a serious fight. It was later retconned that he also trained Catwoman. [[Comicbook/RobinSeries Tim Drake/Robin]] at one point trains with his counterpart, the ''Legless'' Master. He manages to give Comicbook/LadyShiva, acknowledged as one of the best, if not ''the'' best martial artist in the DCU, a decent fight before she kills him.
* John F. Walker aka [=USAgent=] after the villain ''Nuke'' severed his left limbs. The lack of advanced prostheses (he does not want to end up as a cyborg like ''Nuke'') does not stop him from beating some escaped prisoners back into their cells.
* Comicbook/NewWarriors member Silhouette's legs are crippled, but that's never prevented her from beating ass. She even had her boyfriend Night Thrasher build a bunch of weapons into her braces.
* Rick Grimes in ''Comicbook/TheWalkingDead'' gets his dominant hand chopped off about midway through the series. The other survivors force him to admit that he's much more vulnerable with the handicap, but necessity forces him to get out of a number of scrapes using his off-hand, and his tenacity makes him pretty badass.
* Zato-Ino the "blind swordspig" in ''Comicbook/UsagiYojimbo'' is an obvious ShoutOut to Franchise/{{Zatoichi}}, the famous blind swordsman. He uses his acute sense of smell, rather than hearing to tell his surroundings.
* Security guard Aaron Cash in ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'' gets his hand eaten by Killer Croc before the story even begins. He understandably angsts about this for while [[spoiler:until he finds a better reason to angst]]. Doesn't stop him from [[spoiler:saving the rest of Arkham's staff from ''demons''. He also rips off a piece of demonized Killer Croc's hide and makes a wallet out of it]].
* [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Armless Tigerman]]. He's armless, [[MemeticMutation BUT HE'S A TIGER MAN]].
* Josie Beller, a.k.a. Circuit-Breaker, from the Generation One ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' comic published by Marvel, is a partial example. Partial because after she was almost completely paralyzed by an attack by Decepticon Shockwave, she [[GeniusCripple built herself]] a suit of {{Stripperiffic}} cybernetic armor that enabled her to move and fight against the Transformers. She was still almost completely paralyzed without the suit, however, and it seems unlikely that the suit could have restored her sense of touch. How badass was she, by the way? She fought and, for all intents and purposes, defeated [[GodOfEvil Unicron]]. Sadly, the [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu price of this victory was what remained of her sanity]].
* The Horsewoman of ''Comicbook/DemonKnights'' is a paraplegic woman who is a deadly horse archer.
* The Finnish humor and comic magazine ''Pahkasika'' featured a one-off character ''Teräsinva'' (Supercripple) as a parody of {{Franchise/Superman}}. His civilian job is a reporter for a Braille newspaper, his heroic deeds revolve around helping the handicapped and his KryptoniteFactor is polio vaccine.
* The Marvel hero The Shroud lost his eyesight in a religious ritual that granted him superhuman perception. But even without the powers, he's still a formidable martial artist.
* In ''ComicBook/BeforeWatchmen: Minutemen'', Mothman is a brilliant inventor and a brave hero despite being in constant, unbearable pain from a few too many bad landings. Sadly, his worsening alcoholism and mental illness ended his career when he was still in his prime.
-->'''Hollis Mason''': The common story is that Byron was the weak one. The one who cracked up. I see it differently. Byron Lewis was brave like ten men. And then he cracked up.
* ComicBook/{{X 23}} ''usually'' wouldn't be expected to qualify, since her HealingFactor allows her to fully recover from the exact sorts of injuries that would cause permanent disability in other people. If her neck or back are broken she only needs a few minutes to heal and she's back on her feet. The exception occurs in ''ComicBook/XForce'', when she carries out a positively ''epic'' MookHorrorShow on the Facility goons who recapture her ''[[AnArmAndALeg with one arm]]'' after [[AxCrazy Kimura]] had gone to work on her ''with a chainsaw'' for "being a bad girl." Adam Harkins is practically pissing himself as Laura tears apart the base, and even ''Kimura'' (who is invulnerable to Laura's claws) has an OhCrap moment when she realizes that the fire suppression system had been loaded with [[BerserkButton trigger scent]]...
* In ComicBook/{{Spider Woman}}'s new comic, Jessica meets the exiled Skrull royalty [[IllBoy Prince Klundirk]] (Dirk to his friends) in an alien hospital -- despite being a fourteen-year-old cancer sufferer hooked up to multiple [=IVs=], Dirk manages to outrun a mob of adult Skrull soldiers while pushing the heavily-pregnant Jessica in a wheelchair, just as her water breaks. (Their goal being to take him alive may have something to do with it, but he comments they're [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch too stupid to think of a way to stop him]].)
* Another X-Men example with Hellion, who got his hands blown up by Bastion. His telekinesis powers only got ''stronger'' when he had to switch from using his hands to control it, to his mind instead. He also got a shiny pair of metal prosthetic hands to he can control with his power. He also TookALevelInJerkass, which is ''really'' impressive considering he was a tremendous ass to begin with...
* ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} was missing a hand for most of his ComicBook/PostCrisis career. He used a variety of prosthetics over the years, including a magical hand made of water that he got from the [[Myth/KingArthur Lady of the Lake,]] but the most iconic one was a harpoon-shaped hook that he could fire off as a grappling line.
* The original run of the android [[Creator/JackKirby Machine]] [[ComicBook/NextWave Man's]] comic included an arc where he'd lost an arm in a fight, and when he went back to retrieve it, discovered it had been ''stolen.'' So he spends the rest of the story one-armed as he goes about getting it back.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** The current user of the ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote, Flash Thompson, lost his legs from the knees down during a tour of duty. The symbiote gives him a set of legs to use and, at one point, the ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan tried to give Flash a pair of robotic prosthetics in exchange for the symbiote, but Flash quickly dumped them and went back to the symbiote.
** On the other hand, there's Cletus Kasidy, ComicBook/{{Carnage}}, who lost ''his entire lower half'' at the hands of ComicBook/TheSentry.
* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}. After he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, he was given Wolverine's HealingFactor to save his life. Now he's a giant, self-repairing humanoid tumor. And one of the most [[CrazyAwesome insane]] and badass characters in the Marvel Universe.
* Captain Bor'Aq Sharaq in ''[[ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian Savage Sword of Conan]]'' is one such case where becoming handicapped only made him ''more dangerous'': at first he was just a pirate who had his sword hand chopped off in a duel with Conan and later lost his right eye in prison. Then he managed to escape and had a smith create a metallic arm for him with detachable blades that he could use to pursue his hated foe. He is one of the most recurring villains of that comic, since his persistence and hatred for the barbarian allow him to live through stuff that any other person would have perished from--such as [[DraggedOffToHell being thrown into a demonic dimension]] and managing to claw his way out!
* In ''{{ComicBook/Uber}}'', some of the titular {{super soldier}}s are disabled in combat, but still remain fairly dangerous:
** Siegmund loses his right arm in combat, though its considered a very annoying inconvenience at worst.
** Sieglinde is heavily disfigured and becomes wheel-chair bound after a fight with an equally powerful enemy. While she can no longer use her super strength in a straight up fight, she probably doesn't need it anymore as her halo effect is still available and pretty powerful, allowing her to create constructs out of mud and dirt.
* ''ComicBook/HotlineMiamiWildlife'' introduces us to Kurt, a former soldier who had his arm cut off to stop an infection (granted, the arm was pretty much done for anyway). But after joining 50 Blessings, he manages to blow up a Russian Mafia mansion, [[{{Gorn}} snipe some of the survivors, and brutally stab the rest of them.]] All of this without any of them realizing just who was attacking them. And after all of that, he leaves a message written in their blood: "YOU NEED MORE GUARDS".
* [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel Jr.]] wouldn't ordinarily qualify as he [[DisabilityNegatingSuperpower isn't disabled when in superhero form]], but his alter ego Freddy Freeman has to use a crutch to walk (for real; it's not just a disguise like [[ClarkKenting Clark Kent's glasses]]). Since Freddy not infrequently puts himself in dangerous situations ''before'' transforming and has occasionally saved the day when Junior accidentally transforms back into Freddy at the worst possible moment, ''Freddy'' probably counts.
* [[Franchise/TheFlash Hartley Rathaway]], aka Pied Piper, combines this with BadassGay, as he was born deaf and has to wear high-tech hearing implants. This doesn't stop him from being so badass that he was able to destroy [[EldritchLocation Apokolips]] with the power of Music/{{Queen}}.
* Deconstructed in ''ComicBook/RoughRiders''. Edison is partially deaf by the time he's recruited. A debilitation he tries to hide despite how being unable to hear people who are just six feet away from him could get him and his teammates killed. Luckily for Thomas, he's often in situations where everyone's shouting at one another.
* ''ComicBook/StarTrekEarlyVoyages'':
** Kaaj, the commander of the Klingon battlecruiser ''Varchas'', has a withered right arm. In "The Fires of Pharos", his subordinate Kir makes a snide remark about Kaaj's disability affecting his bravery when he does not engage the ''Enterprise'' in battle. Kaaj immediately smashes Kir's face into his console using his left arm and warns him not to underestimate either him or the Federation based on appearances.
** In the two-part story "Cloak and Dagger", Commander Tagok, the leader of the rogue group of Vulcans on Darien 224, is blind in his right eye. He possesses a large scar, indicating that it happened in combat.
* ''ComicBook/StarTrekUntoldVoyages'': In "Silent Cries", the Orion pirate Raydeen has a mechanical implant in place of his left eye, which he lost in battle.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Chassis}}'', Covergirl was horribly injured in a rocket car crash that left her unable to breathe without the assistance of a machine that she has to carry with her at all times. This does not prevent her from being an AcePilot, and arguably the most dangerous driver in the Aero-Run.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Gohē Takeda from ''Manga/{{Ginga Nagareboshi Gin}}'' after he [[spoiler:loses his leg]]. Made even more badass by the fact that he [[spoiler: cut it off himself]]!
* In the sequel, ''Manga/{{Ginga Densetsu Weed}}'', [[spoiler:Smith]] becomes this after [[spoiler:losing his leg to a car while saving GB]].
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' has [[spoiler:[[AntiHero Accelerator]], as [[TeleportSpam Awaki]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pREOMmhHyU8 learns the hard way]]]]. Him getting weaker certainly didn't make her any stronger.
** After the events of NT 9, [[spoiler: Kamijou Touma suffers from [[ShellShockedVeteran severe PTSD]], and freaks out [[TraumaButton every time something reminds him of his battle with]] [[PhysicalGod Othinus]]]]. He can still punch your face off if you threaten to hurt innocent people or [[TrueCompanions his friends]].
* Sora Takeuchi of ''Manga/AirGear'' can run as well as many other AT users in the series, if not better. '''''In a wheelchair'''''. He's just that awesome.
* Ichikawa from ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' is an OldMaster in Mah Jong who went completely blind in his youth and uses PhotographicMemory to play ongoing Mah Jong games in his head just by hearing what pieces are discarded. Akagi still beats him, but Ichikawa gets away (relatively) lightly and is still seen to be active in ''Ten'' decades later.
* Briareos from ''{{Manga/Appleseed}}'' had such extensive cybernetic surgery that he looks more like a robot than a human. He's often worried about become more machine than human, but so far his wife doesn't seem to care.
** It's hard to think of Briareos as being remotely handicapped in his cyborg body. He's at least seven feet tall, and bulging with synthetic muscle everywhere at Mr.Universe proportions.
** The body model, Hecatonchire, is named after mythical giants with 100 arms and heads. His significantly advanced hacking capabilities and add-on flight armor with two extra arms make the name fit pretty well.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' sees several characters perform feats of badassery even when suffering what turn out to be [[GameBreakingInjury Game-Breaking Injuries]]:
** [[spoiler: Erwin Smith]] is bitten by a Titan, and loses his arm just below the shoulder. Even so, he ''still'' manage to effectively use their [[BuildingSwing 3D Maneuver Gear]] and pull off a truly epic BigDamnHeroes moment, wounding the enemy and rescuing Eren in the process. Though bedridden for over a week to recover, he continues to be a serious player off the battlefield by [[spoiler: setting in motion and leading a plan to overthrow the government]].
** An anime-only example: Fan-Favorite Levi shows up in the finale to rescue Eren in a BigDamnHeroes moment, after breaking his ankle in the previous battle. It's considered a poorly-written case of {{Fanservice}}, as he had explicitly stated his injury prohibited him from participating in the battle and during his heroics, his injury is ignored.
* Played with in ''{{Manga/Basilisk}}''.
** Hyouma Muroga from the Kouga Manjidani is a mighty swordsman and mentor as well as a {{foil}} to both his [[TheLeader leader]] Danjou and his nephew/adoptive son Gennosuke - but either due to eyesight problems (original novel) or being BlessedWithSuck due to PowerIncontinence (anime and manga), he can't use his eyes, linked to his special powers. He still remains a ''really'' powerful fighter and excellent strategist.
** Played straight with [[spoiler: Koushirou Chikuma]] from the Iga Tsubagakure. [[spoiler: Ironically, ''he'' is the one who defeats and kills Hyouma, since he was already blinded when they fought... and Hyouma's ''doujutsu'' powers do NOT work on a blind opponent.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Gennosuke himself]] spends about half the story as one, [[spoiler: thanks to the Seven Days Ointment that forces his eyes sealed]].
** Jubei Jimushi, who has no limbs but can still use his extra-long ''tongue'' to either handle his pipe or use a small sword. [[spoiler: He's the one who kills Tenzen for the first time, after all. Too bad Tenzen's power is coming back from the dead...]]
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': Guts cuts his own arm off, [[spoiler: in a desperate attempt to save Casca from being raped by Griffith]], but it is later replaced by a metal version (that has a built-in cannon). Not long after losing the arm he loses his right eye. Also, besides the attached/built-in weapons and a magnet in the palm for holding his {{BFS}} the thing is just a regular prosthetic (fore)arm.
* ''Manga/BlackJoke'' has the AxCrazy paraplegic Italian mafioso Runover, who pursues people with a wheelchair doubling as an armed supercar. Don't think he's helpless without it either...
* In ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'', BloodKnight[=/=]{{Determinator}} Shira lost his right hand. What does he do? Scrapes the flesh from his bones, then sharpens the bones in order to use them as weapons. Later, he loses his other hand and his left eye and still wants more.
* [[TheStoic Killy]] from ''{{Manga/Blame}}'' spends a majority of the manga in peak condition, but by the final chapter, had lost a leg and the sight in his right eye. This forces him to replace his leg with a piece of scrap metal, earning him the affectionate nickname "Pirate Killy". ''[[{{Determinator}} This doesn't slow him down in the least]]''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** A three-year-old Ukitake was afflicted with a fatal lung disease. He struggles daily with the disease, often confined to his bed, requiring a lieutenant who can manage the division for him, and has been debilitated in battle by bloody coughing fits. He has still managed to become one of the longest-serving captains, and other captains have observed that, like Aizen, Ukitake's reiatsu is unusually powerful even by captain standards. However, it's permanently channelled into keeping him alive and functioning. [[spoiler:When he was three, his parents made a bargain with Mimihagi, the Right Hand of the Soul King. Mimhagi merged with Ukitake's lungs to keep him alive in return for Ukitake sacrificing his life for Soul Society on the day the Soul King is killed.]]
** Yamamoto sacrifices his left arm in an attempt to blow up Aizen. Although it was possible for him to have the missing arm replaced by Orihime's power, he refuses and remains one-armed ever after. [[spoiler:His killer notes that for this very reason, Yamamoto lacked the strength to be a true threat to the Vandenreich. Although Yamamoto remains the strongest Shinigami, he is no longer the man he was and cannot compete with the threat Yhwach presents.]]
* Subverted, in ''Manga/BreakBlade'''s case. While not necessarily the character itself that was handicapped, Girge defeated an elite troop of five with a golem that has lost its left foot and arm. It still gave other characters an [[TheWorfEffect awe]], though.
* [[GlassCannon Jun Misugi]] of ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' has a heart problem and is forbid to play soccer. He insists to play, and despite his health, he is one of the best players of Japan, at least until his illness catches up to him and forces him to bail out.
* ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'':
** Rosette Christopher. A generous estimate gives her life expectancy to be no greater than thirty, but god damn if she isn't going to spend those years being as HotBlooded as possible.
** Chrono also applies to a degree, as his abilities have been severely stunted and he's reliant on Rosette to use them even temporarily.
* ''Manga/CityHunter'': Umibozu debuted almost blind, but it didn't slow him down in the slightest. He later became fully blind, and that did slow him down a little... But he can still drive a car. It also helped for one hell of a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner.
-->'''Idiot who wanted to take our badass as hostage:''' "Can't you see my rifle?!"\\
'''Umibozu:''' "Sorry, but I can't see it."\\
''[The idiot got their ass kicked]''
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'' has Li Xingke, who, in a world filled with MemeticBadass, still manages to stand out. His intellect matches [[TheChessmaster Lelouch]]/[[MagnificentBastard Zero]]'s, his military skill and speed match Suzaku's and his diplomatic skill is that of an emperor. He just has one problem, an IncurableCoughOfDeath. His final fate is unknown [[spoiler: he is seen coughing and struggling during the final battle and is not in the TeamShot, but his [[HumongousMecha Knightmare]] is seen in one of closing shots]].
* While his primary role in ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'' is that of an extreme [[TheWoobie woobie]], there is still a certain badassness about Canale, perhaps best exemplified by his effortless victory in a duel with another pirate, despite the fact that he's blind.
* Inspector Kansuke Yamato from ''Manga/DetectiveConan''. He lost his eye and severely injured his leg in an avalanche, but he was able to fight the thugs of the killer of the week in his introductory case and would have qualified himself as a OneManArmy had not been for Conan and Heiji's presence.
* Hyakkimaru from ''{{Manga/Dororo}}'' is notable in that his eyes, nose, ears and ''all of his limbs'' are prosthetics, and yet he still manages to be a badass. It helps that he has PsychicPowers which he uses to compensate for his missing parts, and that his prosthetic arms are where he keeps [[BladeBelowTheShoulder his swords]].
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Gildarts. The man lost an arm, a leg, and a few ''internal organs'' to a black dragon and he's ''still'' one of Fairy Tail's strongest members.
* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
** Shuh is the second deadliest master of the ''Nanto Seiken'' style next to Souther himself, despite having clawed out his own eyes.
** Falco, the Gold Light of the ''Gento Kōken'' style, amputated one of his legs in order to spare his village Raoh's wrath. Ever since then, Falco has fought using a prosthetic leg and he still gives Kenshiro a good fight.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Most of Father's Sacrifices, since they all gave up part of their bodies when passing through the Gate. [[spoiler:(Hohenheim is the exception, as the transmutation he performed was the creation of a PhilosophersStone, not an attempt to revive someone from the dead.)]] This does not diminish their capabilities and also serves as a powerful reminder of their folly, as each loss is symbolic.
** Ed and Al. Ed is missing a leg and arm, and Al is missing his whole body (he can interact with the physical world because his soul is bonded to a suit of armor).
** Izumi Curtis. Missing her entire uterus and a portion of her intestine detracts in no way from the sheer aura of ass-kicking that woman emanates.
** [[spoiler: Roy]] is something of a DoubleSubversion. While he's unquestionably one of the series' premier badasses, his [[spoiler:loss of eyesight to [[JerkassGods Truth]]]] comes so suddenly that he hasn't gotten a chance to figure out how to work around it, which is a '''''bad thing''''' when it's the FinalBattle and one of the heaviest hitters just became TheLoad. However, he quickly gets around it by [[spoiler:having [[MeaningfulName Hawkeye]], who had been almost fatally injured a while ago (via a slit throat and heavy blood loss) and couldn't take direct part in the fight, correct and direct his aim]]. Furthermore, his encounter with the Truth still means that he can also perform alchemy without the need of a circle like Izumi and the Elric Brothers, allowing him to form large protective barriers from the ground quickly. His [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist 2003]] counterpart counts as well. [[spoiler:In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemistTheConquerorOfShamballa'' Roy is blind in one eye, as at the end of the series he [[EyeScream lost an eye]] while batting Frank Archer, but is as badass as ever. If anything the EyepatchOfPower makes him seem cooler.]]
** [[spoiler: Jean Havoc]] is paralyzed from the waist down after a confrontation with Lust. He's considered a non-entity by the military afterward, which he exploits to [[spoiler:provide Mustang's group with backup and weapons during the battle for Central, thanks to his family's grocery business. A picture during the closing montage shows he's learning how to walk again, thanks to the remnants of the last Philosopher's Stone]].
** King Bradley is blind in his left eye but is still reputed as a very dangerous fighter. [[spoiler:Subverted in that he's not really blind but has to hide his eye because it marks him as a Homunculus, one of the series' antagonists. When fighting particularly skilled opponents, who usually try to get to him through the blind spot on his left side, he tends to take the eyepatch off.]]
*** That being said, he does [[spoiler:lose his Homunculus eye]] and suffers enough injuries that he's half-dead. Despite this, he's still able to fight evenly with [[spoiler:Scar]], who's probably the second-best fighter in the whole series.
** [[spoiler: Lan Fan]] loses her arm, then comes back six months later to kick ass with an automail arm- the shortest recovery time shown in the series. She's so fresh off her rehabilitation that she nearly wrenches the prosthetic out of her socket fighting, but that doesn't stop her from saving most of the cast.
** Paninya has both legs replaced with automail, but is able to outrun and outmaneuver both Ed and Al, to the point where Ed asks if she's an acrobat. She also packs a knife and gun in her prosthetics and she knows how to use them. Plus the mini cannon that's mounted in one of her knees. Yes, an actual cannon that can fire baseball-sized cannonballs.
** Buccaneer, what with his crazy-awesome automail arm, one attachment being a {{chainsaw|Good}} while the other is more of a standard hand, but with ''diamond-tipped claws.''
* Chichiri from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. He lost an eye in a past incident that cost him his best friend... but he's still quite the badass KungFuWizard, [[VerbalTic no da]]!
* Edelhi Bootsvorz from ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula''. Losing his left arm and eye in a crash during a test drive, he gained a mechanical arm and eye in order to continue his racing career and eventually became a seasoned racer. Later in the series, he gains another replacement arm and eye, which are more advanced and natural-looking.
* The martial artist and leader of the Kyosen Ryuu Sakon Daimaru from ''{{Manga/Gamaran}}''. He's an insanely powerful warrior, capable of killing a man with nothing but his fingers and incredibly fast. Sadly, the horrible TrainingFromHell planned by his ambitious JerkAss brother destroyed his rationality and made him a sort of mentally retarded kid.
* ''Manga/{{Gangsta}}'' stars Nicolas Brown, an AxCrazy [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Twilight]] mercenary-for-hire with a 100% success rate for jobs. He has also been deaf since childhood. His business partner/{{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}} Worick also sports an EyepatchOfPower.
* ''Anime/GaReiZero'' [[spoiler: Ayame Jinguuji, with an awesome wheelchair and minigun prosthetic leg]].
* AcePilot Shinomiya Ayase from ''Anime/GuiltyCrown''.
** Her introduction sums it up rather nicely: the protagonist is told that Ayase would be his combat trainer before he sees her, and is somewhat confused to see a girl in a wheelchair, being a bit lost as for how to act around her. When she drops something, he awkwardly offers to help the poor cripple pick it up, and she smiles shyly and agrees... then when he comes near her she flips around like a ragdoll using only her arms for what is a wheelchair-bound judo throw. "Don't underestimate me", indeed.
* [[AntiHero Clair Leonelli]] from ''Anime/HeatGuyJ''. He suffers from PTSD and psychotic breakdowns, and seems to suffer from (non-convulsive) seizures, but still manages to kick some serious ass. He powers through one of the aforementioned seizures to rescue his friend, and even to lead an ad-hoc army to save his hometown from a dictatorship.
* Captain Pip Bernadette of ''{{Manga/Hellsing}}'' may have lost an eye, but he fights like a demon.
* Psy Kaina of ''Manga/{{Heroman}}'', possessor of [[Anime/CowboyBebop Spike Spiegel's]] [[AnimeHair hair on crack]]. Having an ambiguous but incredibly painful leg injury doesn't stop him from riding a motorized skateboard or [[MusicalAssassin whaling away on a weaponized guitar]] to fight off the aliens.
* [[AloofBigBrother Sesshomaru]] from ''Manga/InuYasha'' is missing one arm for most of the story. This does not make him any less of a badass. In his case, he was just so powerful to begin with that having one arm simply isn't enough to bring him down to the level of almost anyone else. He actually ends up admitting that losing his arm helped make him even stronger than before.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
** In Part 3, ''Manga/StardustCrusaders'', [[MonsterOfTheWeek Stand-user of the week]] N'Doul is completely blind yet is perfectly capable of slaughtering droves of people thanks to his sound-detecting Stand, Geb.
** In Part 5, ''Manga/GoldenWind'', [[spoiler: Polnareff uses a wheelchair]]. This doesn't actually make him any weaker, in large part because his [[FightingSpirit Stand]] doesn't ''need'' legs. (And if someone knocks the chair over, his Stand helps him right it.)
** Later on, Johnny, the [=JoJo=] of ''Manga/SteelBallRun'', has the same problem, even more so given the time period it takes place in. This doesn't stop him from kicking ass, as well as ''participating in a country spanning horse race''.
* [[spoiler:Ryuuto Asamiya, a.k.a. Odin]] from ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', is rendered wheelchair-bound after his fight with the titular protagonist, yet is shown to be still capable of an impressive level of combat despite this. Also Takeda Ikki, a [[ExtremityExtremist boxer]] whose left arm was unusable in a fight ''before'' fighting Kenichi. After the fight, Kenichi's Jujutsu master Akisame is able to repair the damage and give Takeda full use of his arm again. Akisame's "rival" and Takeda's boxing master, [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold James Shiba]] lost both an eye and the use of his leg fighting Yami, but is still considered one of the more powerful master-class fighters in the series. It's eventually subverted in the case of [[spoiler: Ryuuto]], who turns out to have been [[ObfuscatingDisability merely pretending to be crippled.]]
** Lugh from Yomi is blind. Though he doesn't see blindness as a handicap, specifically stating that he is strong because he cannot see, not despite it.
** Ro Jisei, a friend of Sougetsu Ma is also blind. And though he never fights, the fact that he was able to temporarily replace Sougetsu as a member of the One Shadow Nine Fists means he has to be a badass.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'':
** Sanageyama, who blinds himself after losing a match by relying on his eyes too much, which gives his other senses a massive boost when coupled with his Blade Regalia mkII, to the point where he unleashes a CurbStompBattle on Ryuko. [[spoiler:When he dons the final form of his Blade Regalia]] in episode 23, [[spoiler:he reveals that he's no longer blind and proceeds to kick more ass]].
** Nui the French faux-affable cutie, who lost an eye to a giant pair of scissors. [[spoiler:And then loses her arms. She gets pissed off because she can't regenerate sewing skills, and proceeds to open a can of whoop-ass with her augmented replacement arms.]]
* ''{{Manga/Kinnikuman}}'' has Terryman, who took a bullet to the leg for the title character and decides to retire to his ranch in depression, before Kinikkuman manages to get him back in the ring. A few chapters later, however, his false leg is revealed- sending him back into depression as his fans disown him; however, we meet another Handicapped Badass- a young kid in a wheelchair, who also uses a false leg and finds inspiration in Terryman. When Terryman's own leg is stolen by Kinkotsuman, the kid grabs onto his hero's leg and holds on, despite being attacked by the evil Choujin. This gives new hope to Terryman, who gets even stronger in future chapters. There's also Warsman, who has a mechanical body that frequently malfunctions, especially if a fight begins to drag out for too long.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** Hayate was this in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs''. She sat always on her wheelchair and she could only fly and walk because of her magic powers. She later recovered from her curse and is now able to walk by her own.
** One of the reasons why the fandom ate up the concept of Cinque in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS''. Enemy LittleMissBadass? Nice, but we've seen lots of that in previous seasons. Enemy LittleMissBadass who lost an eye in battle and doesn't let that little problem keep her out of the front lines? EnsembleDarkhorse.
** Add in the fact that Nanoha herself can technically qualify due to her development being permanently stunted from nearly fatal injuries she suffered when she was twelve, and the only reason she can still walk is simply because of her {{determinator}} nature.
** ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'' revealed that [[GodEmperor Sankt Kaiser Olivie Sägebrecht]], the [[WorldsStrongestMan queen deemed second to none in combat]] and likely the most powerful [[MagicKnight combat mage]] in the setting, managed to achieve this distinction despite losing ''both'' of her arms in her early childhood. The gauntlets she always wears are actually {{Medieval|EuropeanFantasy}} ArtificialLimbs she manipulates through constant self-targeted [[PeoplePuppets body control]]. In fact, even before she received her artificial arms, she was more than capable of foiling would-be assassins and killing them with a well-aimed rock using her legs alone back when she was still a kid.
* ''{{Franchise/Gundam}}'':
** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny''. [[spoiler: Andrew Waldfeld]] has a prosthetic leg and arm, and is missing an eye, but doesn't stop him from taking down perfectly healthy Coordinator assassins. [[spoiler: Kinda helps his prosthetic hand doubles as a shotgun, though.]]
** ''[[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]'' has Master Asia who is not only of considerable age but also seems to suffer from IncurableCoughOfDeath and still kicks lots of ass. ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'''s resident [[FanNickname stupid, sexy Lockon]] loses an eye at the end of season one.
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0083StardustMemory Gundam 0083]]'' has Kelly Layzner, a one-armed former Zeon pilot who retooled a Val Varo to accommodate his limitations so that he could possibly fight for Zeon again, but Cima Garahau snubbed him and the mobile armor was to go to one of her subordinates. He takes it to fight Kou in the Full Vernian, and we get a sad fight between friends.
** ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'' also has Kyral Mekirel, who was blinded 8 years prior to the series yet is a master swordsman and [[HitmanWithAHeart assassin]], and easily in the top 10 of the surviving Gundam Fighters.
** ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam: Ghost'' has Curtis Rothko[[note]]real name Tobia Arronax[[/note]], who is a blind AcePilot. He is able to do this because #1. he's a Newtype and #2. his cockpit is specially-designed to convert visual data into audio.
** ''Skull Heart'' and ''V Gundam Side Story'' feature a handicapped HumongousMecha. The "Gump" Gundam is the heavily modded [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Double Zeta Gundam]] with a pegleg and broken parts. By U.C. 130s, The Double Zeta is very outdated comparing to other {{Mook|s}} machines, and moreover it is piloted by a [[OlderIsBetter 60-year-old man]]. Doesn't stop it from being badass.
* In ''LightNovel/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'', Ripple losing her left eye and left arm barely hinders her swordsmanship, martial arts, or throwing skills.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'': [[spoiler: Roberto's right arm and hand are crippled after being shot by Tenma. It's strong enough to choke you so hard that your tongue pokes out, but not strong enough to actually kill you. His left, on the other hand..]].
* Zelik Lindemann in ''Manga/MotherKeeper'', despite having lost his eye, ear and arm on his right side, he's still the strongest man in the slums and no one wants to get on his bad side. Even without a prosthetic arm, he's near unbeatable and could punch a cyborg to death.
* ''{{Manga/Naruto}}'':
** Nagato nuked a village and he was in a wheelchair. Kimmimaro took Gaara and Rock Lee to the limit despite suffering from IncurableCoughOfDeath.
** Subverted with Kakashi, who wears his headband over his left eye, creating a blind spot. Unfortunately for anyone who ever thought it was a handicap, said headband was actually [[EyepatchOfPower hiding one of his strongest weapons]]. Twelve-year-old him might count though, as his ruined left eye had yet to be replaced when he and Obito actually managed to temporarily incapacitate the Iwa Jounin who was attacking them.
** A, the current Raikage, lost his left (and dominant) arm after attacking an-Amaterasu-shrouded Sasuke, yet hasn't been slightly slowed down by the loss.
** Itachi, by the time of his battle with Sasuke, was suffering from IncurableCoughOfDeath that would've killed him long ago if he didn't take drugs to stay alive longer, and had gone near blind from overusing his Mangekyo Sharingan; and he still bested Sasuke (despite that he was deliberately trying to lose in addition to all these above).
** After their second battle in [[spoiler:the Valley of the end]], both [[spoiler:Naruto and Sasuke]] lost their dominant arm. ''[[LightNovel/NarutoHiden Kakashi Hiden]]'' shows that [[spoiler:Naruto]] is more than capable of kicking ass even with one arm, although he gets a replacement one soon after that battle. [[spoiler:Sasuke]], however, doesn't get a prosthetic; ''Manga/NarutoGaiden'' shows he is still as badass as ever.
** During his battle with [[spoiler:Madara]], [[spoiler:Might Guy used the [[DeadlyUpgrade Eighth Gate]]]] and nearly killed his enemy, severely damaging his leg in the process. However, ''[[LightNovel/NarutoHiden Kakashi Hiden]]'' shows that despite a CareerEndingInjury, he's still more than a match for most ninja; just not up to his previous level of badassery.
* Early in the series, Red-Haired Shanks of ''Manga/OnePiece'' loses an arm to a sea monster. He goes on to become one of the four most dangerous pirates in the world. Outside of the other three, ''nobody'' screws with him.
** The first chapter shows Shanks doing a couple of things of things primarily with his left hand (holding booze, eating.) He also wears his sword on the right hip, which would imply that he was left-handed. WordOfGod states that losing his left arm hasn't diminished his fighting ability at all. [[FridgeLogic That makes no sense at all,]] but it's still freaking awesome.
*** According to [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} the Other Wiki]], left-handed people can develop ambidexterity much more easily than right-handed people. When you think about it, it isn't all that unbelievable.
** While he may not be missing an arm or a leg, or even his eyesight, [[CoolOldGuy Whitebeard]] definitely qualifies, as he manages to wipe the floor with several high-ranking Marines at once, shrugging off any wound on his person, after having been hooked on life support equipment for at least a few years. [[spoiler:He single-handedly defeated Blackbeard in one-on-one combat. With half his face. And ''slowly dying''. Blackbeard had to bring his crew to gang up and shoot and stab him until they ran out of bullets to finally kill him. It wasn't even an ''immediate'' death. And to top all that, he DiedStandingUp.]]
** [[spoiler: Gold Roger. The Pirate King himself]] suffered from a painful and terminal illness for four years prior to his death. [[spoiler: These were the years in which he made his final journey, conquered the grand-line and became the Pirate King]]
** Post TimeSkip, we also have [[spoiler:Zoro]], who has lost [[spoiler:an eye]].
** There's also Crocodile, who's missing a hand. His hook more than makes up for it.
** Sanji's mentor and father-figure, [[ChefofIron "Red-Leg" Zeff]]. He lost his leg, his main means of fighting, in an effort to save young Sanji, and though he retired from piracy to start a restaurant, and based on what we see in the Baratie arc, while he's slowed down a little, he's still capable of doing massive damage with his feet, peg leg and all.
** There's also [[spoiler: Admiral Fujitora. He may be blind, but because of his gravity-based powers, you don't want to fuck with him]].
** That's not even getting into the movie characters, like [[Anime/OnePieceFilmStrongWorld Shiki]], who has swords for legs, and [[Anime/OnePieceFilmZ Z]], who lost an arm (Which he later replaced by a huge, powerful mechanical arm) [[DentedIron and is heavily weakened by old age]], but more than capable of ripping his enemies a new one.
* Like his game counterpart, Wally of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' probably suffers from a severe case of asthma. That doesn't stop him from riding a bike all the way to the top of Sky Pillar (with its collapsing floors) while fending off the powerful wild Pokémon that keep jumping him so that he can battle with Norman at the top and finally wake up Rayquaza. Him having a respirator suit certainly helped, and actually allows him to safely breathe in Rayquaza's ozone-filled room.
* In the ''Anime/QueensBlade Rebellion'' battle-books and the 6th OVA, [[spoiler:Tomoe]] qualifies, being blinded by a curse. In her case she was handicapped in a deliberate attempt to curtail her badassery, though it didn't work that well.
* ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' has Xerxes Break, an [[EyeScream one-eyed]] swordsman. Prone to bouts of BloodFromTheMouth, and quite open about the fact [[YourDaysAreNumbered that he is dying]], he's the king of the CurbStompBattle. Even [[spoiler: going almost completely blind]] barely slows him down for a moment. Later on, [[spoiler: Gilbert]] becomes this after he [[spoiler: cuts off his own left arm]]. Cue BigDamnHeroes moment.
* Going by the trailer for the third part of ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'', being unable to see out of one eye doesn't appear to have seriously inconvenienced Asuka.
* In ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' Season II, [[spoiler:Hokuto]] makes his reappearance [[spoiler:in a wheelchair]] and ''still'' manages to {{curb stomp|Battle}} Tsukune.
* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'':
** After surviving an assassination attempt that rendered him unable to produce sweat, Shishio must avoid being in any fight for more than fifteen minutes in a row. That he never needed to go beyond these limits against anyone other than Kenshin and that Kenshin needed help to make the fight last this long cements the badass part.
** The portrayal of Souji Okita. He battled Kenshin to an equal-draw even as he was ''literally'' [[IncurableCoughOfDeath coughing]] [[BloodFromTheMouth bloody chunks of his lungs out]]; had Okita been in perfect health, neither he '''nor''' Saitou would have been his match.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
** Hotaru Tomoe is a small, sickly little girl who can't so much as play too long outside without having seizures, but once awakened as Sailor Saturn she becomes the most powerful of the Sailor Soldiers with the ability to basically turn herself into a bomb and destroy an entire planet [[spoiler: even though doing so costs her her life]].
** In the [[Manga/SailorMoon Manga]], Hotaru's even more severely handicapped [[spoiler: most of her body has been replaced with machines when her father turned her into a {{cyborg}} to save her life. Haruka Tenoh (Sailor Uranus) even states that even if the outer Senshi don't kill her she will probably die soon regardless]].
** In the proposed ''WesternAnimation/ToonMakersSailorMoon,'' Sailor Mercury was shown to be in a wheelchair in her civilian form and flying super chair in her Sailor form. Luckily, however the show was never greenlit and the idea was scrapped.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'':
** Dragon Shiryu. Has been blinded more than once in the series, without losing his status as one of the most capable Bronze Saints.
** Subverted with Virgo Shaka, who like Kenpachi ''purposely'' handicaps himself (in his case, by closing his eyes despite not being blind).
** And in ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'': Capricorn El Cid who lost his [[AbsurdlySharpBlade right arm]]; Sagittarius Sisyphus who [[EyeScream sacrificed his sense of sight in battle]]; [[BlindSeer Virgo Asmita]] who was naturally blind; [[LivingOnBorrowedTime Scorpio Kardia]] with his degenerative heart disease; and finally Aquarius Degel whose sight (though not blinded) was also greatly damaged that he couldn't see anything farther than a few inches away clearly.
* [[spoiler: The Goddess Vulcan]] from ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' may be blind, have bad hearing and unable to walk. But her ability to [[spoiler: control objects and move them with her mind]] more than compensates for this.
* Sara from ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'', who despite (or possibly because of) being blind, is easily one of the most powerful warriors in the series, easily capable of defeating the already insanely skilled and badass protagonists in a one on one duel.
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' and its sequel, '':Re''.
** Juuzou Suzuya ends up [[spoiler: losing his right leg above the knee during the finale]], but keeps on fighting until he passes out from his injuries. In the sequel, he's managed to continue serving on the front lines thanks to a [[ArtificialLimbs prosthetic]].
** Veteran Investigator Iwao Kuroiwa is one in the sequel, having lost his left hand during the finale of the original series. He's shown to use a crude prosthetic during combat, as a substitute for his missing hand, and is widely admired for remaining on the front lines in spite of his injury.
** Shiki Kijima from the VideoGame ''Jail'' and the sequel. Horrifically scarred to the point he barely looks human, he is missing his ears, nose, and right leg below the knee. He uses a peg leg as opposed to the more advanced prosthetics used by others, and is still a deadly opponent in the field.
** In a surprising twist, the legendary Kishou Arima is secretly one. [[spoiler: Suffering from Glaucoma, he'd already gone blind in his right eye and was slowly losing sight in his left. He compensated with his exceptional hearing, and a AttackPatternAlpha that left his blind spot guarded by his most trusted subordinate.]]
* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'':
** Kurogane is missing his left arm. He cut it off himself to [[spoiler: save Fai's life]] because he's just that much of a badass. He does get a cybernetic replacement, but it's an imperfect fit that causes him pain and [[spoiler: falls apart during the final battle]].
** ''Tsubasa'' also has [[spoiler: Clone]] Syaoran, who's blind in one eye (his right) and still manages to fell demons, misbehaving aristocrats and {{Mooks}} by the dozen almost every time he comes up against them. He just kicks them harder to make up for having a blind side, and for the lack of depth perception from his missing eye. It's also mentioned that he took up his fighting style, which involves quite a bit of spinning, to compensate for his blind side.
** Fai loses his left eye [[spoiler: because C!Syaoran ''[[EyeScream eats it]]'']], Kurogane turns him [[spoiler: [[EmergencyTransformation into a vampire]]]] and then, after the aforementioned "Arm-Hacking" incident he [[spoiler: sacrifices the last of his magic for Kurogane's artificial arm]]. This makes him into a one-eyed [[spoiler: vampire]] who hacks and slices his way through henchmen as if they were butter.
* In ''Manga/{{Tsukigasa}}'', Kuroe has no trouble killing a pair of robbers even though he only has one arm.
* ''Manga/UntilDeathDoUsPart'' 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 surrounding]] and [[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.
* Takehiko Inoue's ''{{Manga/Vagabond}}'' has a few of these. Ito who lost three fingers from his right hand leaving only his ring finger and pinky and still manages to floor Musashi with a palm strike (without even drawing his sword!). Kojiro Sasaki who was born deaf and main rival of Musashi. Sasaki's first teacher Kanemaki Jisai lost the ability to use his right arm after getting it injured in a fight and still keeps going. Master Fudo a guy who fought Kojiro was covered in scars and in his fight with Kojiro he lost his right arm and he thought it was "less distracting". Musashi himself qualifies as he fought at one point with only one eye and in another, on one leg. And Inoue's ''Real'' is also full of these, being a manga about wheelchair basketball.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' has the Three Kings of Makai, all of whom suffered something that left them handicapped and then went on to conquer about a third of Makai each:
** Centuries ago, Yomi was blinded by an assassin [[spoiler:sent by his partner, Yoko Kurama, as punishment for being a LeeroyJenkins]]. To counteract this, he grew four extra ears to allow him to "hear" his surroundings. Despite his blindness, he manages to grow in power from A to S Class, take over a third of the Makai, curbstomp his cloned son Shura in a fight, and [[spoiler:defeat Yusuke during the hero's final fight in the series—credit to Yusuke, though, his fight drained Yomi's Badass tank, causing him to lose in the next round]]. The most impressive of all his feats? [[spoiler:He manages to force ''[[TheChessmaster Kurama]]'' into an alliance with him, by having one demon threaten to sabotage his parents' honeymoon flight, and having another demon keep track of his beloved stepbrother, all the while flaunting his superior firepower to make sure Kurama doesn't simply try to kill either demon threatening his family or Yomi himself.]]
** Mukuro was [[spoiler:born a sex slave]], and only escaped by [[spoiler:throwing enough acid on herself to leave half her body skinless and lose an arm and a leg outright]]. Yomi flat-out admits he would be no match for Mukuro in a straight fight, hence assembling an elite force headed by [[spoiler:Kurama]] with the express purpose to ''wear Mukuro down'' before they fight and have a chance.
** Raizen is a youkai that can only eat humans, but has refused to do so for centuries and by the time he shows up he's greatly weakened, to the point of being the weakest of the Three Kings, and has only a year left. His attack power is ''still'' far greater than either Mukuro's or Yomi's (he's only the weakest because [[GlassCannon he can't take their attacks anymore]]), and mere minutes before dying he almost killed Yusuke in a frenzy before recovering his senses. According to his old sparring partners, in his prime he was so powerful that ''Yomi and Mukuro together would have been annihilated if they fought him''. [[spoiler:Considering that in the tournament to decide the ruler of the whole Makai said sparring partners, all of whom had gone severely out of shape in the last few centuries, defeat both Yomi and Mukuro and one of them proceeds to win the whole thing, it's completely believable]].
* In ''Manga/YuGiOhR'', one of the Card Professors that opposed Yugi was Maico Kato, [[CoolOldLady a grandmotherly old woman]] in a wheelchair, whose skill was rather potent.
* ''Anime/YukiYunaIsAHero'':
** Togo had an accident before beginning middle school that left her paralyzed. When she and her friends are shown to become {{Magical Girl}}s she considers herself TheLoad and angsts, thinking she can't help due to her disability. When her best friend is in lethal danger she transforms and is shown to be quite [[TheGunslinger good with guns]]. Her legs aren't "fixed" when she transforms, instead her costume has ribbon appendages she uses to get around.
** [[spoiler:All the girls get hit with this, except for Karin. Fu is the most traditional as she becomes partially blind while Yuna and Itsuki have "invisible disabilities". By the middle of the anime not only is Togo paralyzed but she's deaf in one ear as well.]]
** Sonoko is supposedly one of these but her fight is never seen. She's bedbound and covered in bandages but is the most powerful Hero [[spoiler:due to having over twenty [[FairyCompanion faeries]]]].
** In the final episode [[spoiler:Yuna]] becomes one, having lost the ability to use her legs but still fighting. [[spoiler:Karin]] even more so, as in the previous episode she was fighting as a OneManArmy despite being unable to [[AnArmAndALeg use an arm and a leg]] and in the final episode she goes Hero and even Mankai when [[spoiler:she's ''blind and deaf'']].
* In the anime version of ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', Kushana wears armor on one arm and removes it to reveal that the whole limb is {{artificial|Limbs}}. She suggests that her armored legs may be similarly mechanical, and that her body may be further maimed: "[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Whatever lucky man becomes my husband shall see far worse than that.]]"
[[/folder]]

* [[AntiHero Clair Leonelli]] from ''Manga/HeatGuyJ''. He suffers from PTSD and psychotic breakdowns, and seems to suffer from (non-convulsive) seizures, but still manages to kick some serious ass. He powers through one of the aforementioned seizures to rescue his friend, and even to lead an ad-hoc army to save his hometown from a dictatorship.

* Wild west legend Doc Holliday was diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of 21. No effective treatment existed at the time, and the doctor's prognosis was that he had mere months left to live. At the age of 30, he took part in the gunfight at O.K. Corral alongside the Earp family. He finally succumbed to the illness six years later.

* ''Manga/CityHunter'': Umibozu debuted almost blind, but it didn't slow him down in the slightest. He later became fully blind, and that did slow him down a little... But he can still drive a car. It also helped for an hell of Pre-Asskicking One-Liner.

* Reading all the [[CrazyAwesome INCREDIBLE]] exploits of [[FanFic/EnemyOfMyEnemy Rukth 'Kilkar]], it's almost easy to forget that he's effortlessly slaughtering hundreds of Brutes with only one eye. [[spoiler:Later, his compatriot Zerat 'Omdolo loses ''his'' left eye as well, though as Zerat is a [[ImprobableAimingSkills sniper]] instead of a [[SimpleStaff close-combat specialist]] like Rukth, this is a bigger deal]].

* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' had a few of these, including the title character with his underdeveloped fin. There's also Dory who suffers short-term memory loss and Gill, the leader of the tank gang who, like Nemo, has a permanently injured fin. If you count Marlin's crippling fear of the ocean (not undeserved), then he counts as well.

* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' has Expatriette, who is a remarkably skilled markswoman despite [[EyepatchOfPower having had only one eye]] since [[AbusiveParents twelve]], and BlindWeaponmaster Mr. Fixer, whose aura-vision ''mostly'' makes up for being blind since birth but is occasionally vulnerable to stuff that screws with it, such as the malign presence of the Chairman during a fight.

* ''Franchise/{{Wolfenstein}}
** In ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder, we have Caroline Becker, who is paralyzed from the waist down, but organizes a formidable resistance movement against the Nazi regime. [[spoiler:She later actively joins the fray when she downs a [[PowerArmor Da'at Yichud power suit]] which allows her to move as well as, if not better than, an an able-bodied soldier.]]
** In ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'', B.J. Blazkowicz starts off severely injured and wheelchair-bound, but is still perfectly capable of killing Nazis. He later dons PowerArmor to help him continue fighting the Nazis. [[spoiler:It's the same power suit that Caroline wore before she was killed.]]

* Like in [[WesternAnimation/SouthPark the show]], Jimmy Valmer as The Bard in ''VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth'' is not only TheDreaded who is known and feared by the warriors of Kupa Keep, but also serves as the [[WakeUpCallBoss first genuinely difficult boss]] in the game. He also manages to be a decent ally when he's in your party, able to use buffs and debuffs to great effect and possessing a ranged attack that can hit any enemy for moderate damage. This is all in spite of his crutches and crippled legs.
* Take this trope and add "disturbing" in the middle and it's what you get in ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' when you encounter [[spoiler:the final stalker, Lorenzo Belli. You'd think a crippled wheezing old man in a wheelchair wouldn't be scary or a threat, but then he starts dragging himself after you, scurrying on the ground like a spider as fast as you can run. Then you figure out that no matter what you can't hide from him, all you can do is run in desperation. ''Then'' you find out he can survive being blown up, and then minced in a rock grinder. '''''Then''''' you figure out if he catches you it's a [[OneHitKO One Hit Kill]]. To make matters worse, this is before he reveals his ability to de-age himself and drop the "handicapped" part altogether...]]

* Dave "[[RedBaron The One-Armed Bandit]]" Levey of Season 6's ''Series/HellsKitchen'' won the competition even after breaking his wrist in the 3rd episode. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcnmSORJJ8I Watch him]] handle multiple stations [[OneManArmy on his own.]]
** Kevin from the same season also twisted his ankle and made second place.

* [[https://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/27114444/mike-brolylegs-begum-most-extraordinary-street-fighter-competitor Mike Begum]], known as [=BrolyLegs=], is a member of the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity who was born with a rare muscular development disorder that caused the muscles in his legs and hands to not develop normally. Since he cannot use a controller with his hands, he instead uses a controller with his ''mouth''. On top of that, his condition makes it impossible for him to use two of the six buttons needed to play his favorite game, ''VideoGame/StreetFighter''. In spite of his unconventional method of playing, he is a well-known competitive ''Street Fighter'' player, especially as the character Chun-Li—all of whose moves can be performed with the buttons he ''can'' use. On one occasion, he won 2-0 against the comparatively able-bodied (and infinitely more of a SoreLoser) WebVideo/LowTierGod.

* Christopher Reeve, best known for starring in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' and its sequels, broke his neck in a horse riding accident in 1995. He became an advocate for stem cell research and even continued acting.

* This is the reason Patchouli Knowledge of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is both an IllGirl and a BadassBookworm. She suffers from asthma ''and'' anemia, not at all helped by [[{{Hikikomori}} spending more than a century in her library]], and is so frail it is much easier for her to float everywhere instead of walking, but that won't stop her from unleashing {{Beam Spam}}s that are impressive even by Gensoukyou standards.

* Richard Turner, a card mechanic (the term he prefers to "magician", though that's pretty much what he is) and fifth-degree black belt in Wado-Kai karate, all after losing much of his eyesight to scarlet fever at age 9. He remains extremely physically active into his 60s, and claims to have never missed a workout with his sensei. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwFIJyWKs1k Here he is thoroughly swindling Penn and Teller]].

* Captain Carlos Dardano of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110#Dramatization TACA Flight 110]] who landed his crippled 737 on a levee in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans despite missing an eye after a combat injury.

This trope is often seen in RealLife among people who don't accept the DreamCrushingHandicap as the final word. Of course, not everyone wants to follow this trope and be "{{inspirational|lyDisadvantaged}}". Instead, they'd rather [[IJustWantToBeNormal go about their lives]], maybe with (God forbid) a few ''accommodations''. On the bright side, at least it isn't [[DontYouDarePityMe vomit-inducing pity]]. Compare PregnantBadass.

** In Part 3, ''Stardust Crusaders'', [[MonsterOfTheWeek Stand-user of the week]] N'Doul is completely blind yet is perfectly capable of slaughtering droves of people thanks to his sound-detecting Stand, Geb.
** In Part 5, ''Golden Wind'', [[spoiler: Polnareff uses a wheelchair]]. This doesn't actually make him any weaker, in large part because his [[FightingSpirit Stand]] doesn't ''need'' legs. (And if someone knocks the chair over, his Stand helps him right it.)
** Later on, Johnny, the [=JoJo=] of Part 7, has the same problem, even more so given the time period it takes place in. This doesn't stop him from kicking ass, as well as ''participating in a country spanning horse race''.

* The protagonist in ''Film/{{Hush}}'' is Maddie, a novelist who lives in near-seclusion in the woods with only a nearby married couple as neighbors, who, one night, encounters a masked serial killer, who is hell-bent on toying with her and eventually killing her. What makes this any different from any other run of the mill horror movie? Maddie is ''completely deaf.''

* The protagonist in ''Film{{Hush}}'' is Maddie, a novelist who lives in near-seclusion in the woods with only a nearby married couple as neighbors, who, one night, encounters a masked serial killer, who is hell-bent on toying with her and eventually killing her. What makes this any different from any other run of the mill horror movie? Maddie is ''completely deaf.'' But [[Determinator she's not going to let that stop her from surviving for a second.]]

** Elle Driver is an excellent swordswoman despite having only one eye.
** The Bride is temporarily paralyzed from the waist down after waking up from her coma, but that didn't stop her from killing two rapists within the first hour of waking up.

* [[https://www.espn.com/esports/story/_/id/27114444/mike-brolylegs-begum-most-extraordinary-street-fighter-competitor Mike Begum]], known as [=BrolyLegs=], is a member of the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity who was born with a rare muscular development disorder that caused the muscles in his legs and hands to not develop normally. Since he cannot use a controller with his hands, he instead uses a controller with his ''mouth''. On top of that, his condition makes it impossible for him to use two of the six buttons needed to play the game. In spite of his unconventional method of playing, he is a well-known competitive ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' player, especially as the character Chun-Li—all of whose moves can be performed with the buttons he ''can'' use. On one occasion, he won 2-0 against the comparatively able-bodied (and infinitely more of a SoreLoser) WebVideo/LowTierGod.

* Another sporting example: Arvydas Sabonis, a Hall of Fame UsefulNotes/{{basketball}} center who had a long and immensely successful career with a couple of European clubs, the [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Portland Trail Blazers]], and the USSR and Lithuania national teams, qualified late in his career. When the Blazers were preparing to sign him in 1995, the team doctor told the general manager that Sabonis' leg X-rays would ''qualify him for a handicapped parking space''. He wound up playing seven seasons in Portland... and when he returned to Lithuania for one last playing season, he was MVP of the Euroleague.

* Captain Carlos Dardano of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110#Dramatization TACA Flight 110]] who landed his crippled 737 on a levee in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans despite missing an eye after a combat injury.

** His scoliosis was so bad that he would have qualified to participate on London Paralympics 2012. (Now imagine how Sir Richard Gloucester-Plantagenet would have done in men's fencing, wrestling and riding...)

* May have been the case with Viking raider Ivar the Boneless. His nickname has been interpreted in multiple ways--some believe he was lame in the legs, others say he had no legs, and there's even a theory that he had brittle bone disease. If any of these was the case, they didn't stop him from earning a reputation as one of the most brutal chieftains of his era, and he was renowned as both a leader and a berserker.

* Enrico Dandolo, the blind Venetian Doge who sacked the Byzantine capital of Constantinople and burned it to the ground is also one.

* Ivar the Boneless is also supposed to be one of these, he's supposed to have suffered from brittle bone disease but still was a front line leader of one of the most feared Norse invasion forces of the early Medieval Ages, despite having been carried around he still put the fear of the Norse into the enemy army on the battlefield.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_J._Armes Jay J. Armes]] A-list private investigator, and possible escapee from a RatedMForManly story by a gifted but overcaffinated twelve year old. Having lost his hands in a childhood accident with a railroad torpedo[[note]]a small, powerful firework-like explosive used as an emergency signal to train drivers[[/note]], young [[PropheticNames Julian Armas]] found himself having to relearn how to live life with simple [[HookHand hook-pincer prosthetics]]. Like any good comic book character escaped into reality, he of course grew up to do a stint in Hollywood, become an extremely successful top-notch private investigator, ''pilot helicopters'', and develop numerous SwissArmyAppendage attachments for his limbs. And yes, this includes [[ArmCannon more than one gun hand.]] He was launched into brief international fame in the 1970s when he landed his first high profile case, tracking down [[Creator/MarlonBrando Marlon Brando's]] son- who turned out to have been sent to Mexico with a band of hippies by his mother in a staged kidnapping and hidden in a cave, nearly resulting in the boy's death from pneumonia. In the years since, Armes has developed his one man business into a large investigation firm, investigated international crimes, and generally been an omnidiciplinary badass. Armes was inducted into the Investigator's Hall Of Fame in 1998, was one of the National Association Of Investigative Specialists's Top Ten Investigators of the century for the 1900s, and may have provided inspiration for a somewhat well known cartoon character by the name of WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethany_Hamilton Bethany Hamilton]] lost her left arm in a shark attack at age 13 while surfing, went back to surfing with one arm, published a book about her experiences, which was then turned into [[Film/SoulSurfer a movie]]. Later, after marrying her husband Adam Dirks, they both competed in the [[Characters/TheAmazingRace25 25th season of The Amazing Race]] where she was shown to be just as capable as her fellow contestants with two arms. They finished 3rd in the race, not due to any physical limitation, but due to a very difficult FinalExamFinale Roadblock.
* A non-human example would be [[http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150107-dwarf-elephant-beats-up-large-rival?ocid=twert this adult male Asian Elephant]], This individual has disproportionate dwarfism, resulting in having a normal sized head and body, but short stubby legs. If it were any other wild animal, this condition would be a death sentence. Despite that, not only is it managing to survive in the wild, it actually takes on other male elephants for mating rights and ''wins''. It uses its unusual size to its advantage since he can just charge ahead into rivals, while the rivals have to awkwardly stoop to do the same. Since females are generally smaller than males, he also has no problems with mating.

* Former ChampCar and Formula 1 driver Alessandro Zanardi lost both of his legs in 2003 as the result of a terrifying accident at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz. Despite such a life-changing injury, he returned to compete in motorsports, winning multiple races in the World Touring Car Championship for BMW before switching to para-cycling, winning four gold medals at the Paralympics in 2012 and 2016. Then, just to prove he had not unlearned anything from his previous profession, he proceeded to return to motorsport, winning the final race of the 2016 Italian GT Championship.
* Another motorsports badass would be Frédéric Sausset, a quadruple amputee[[note]]he had both of his leg amputated at the knee, along with his left arm at the elbow and his right hand, following a bacterial infection[[/note]] who competed in a modified LMP2 at the 2016 UsefulNotes/TwentyFourHoursOfLeMans.
* Galvarino was a Mapuche warrior from Chile that had both his hands cut off by the Spanish during the Arauco War to [[MakeAnExampleOfThem make an example of him]]. This backfired, as his mutilation only incensed his fury and that of his fellow tribesmen, so he attached a [[BladeBelowTheShoulder pair of blades to his stumps]] and personally lead his army to get revenge, killing 30 soldiers in the battle and cutting the enemy's second-in-command to ribbons. Of course, this being real life, his army were beaten by the Spanish using guns and Galvarino was re-captured, though this time the Spanish were [[WorthyOpponent impressed by his ferocity]] and offered leniency. He told them that [[FacingTheBulletsOneLiner if they let him live, he'd rip them apart with his teeth]] and they opted to [[FedToTheBeast throw him to the dogs]].
* Richard Turner, a card mechanic (the term he prefers to "magician," though that's pretty much what he is) and fifth-degree black belt in Wado-Kai karate, all after losing much of his eyesight to scarlet fever at age 9. He remains extremely physically active into his 60s, and claims to have never missed a workout with his sensei. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwFIJyWKs1k Here he is thoroughly swindling Penn and Teller]].

* [=BrolyLegs=] is a member of the UsefulNotes/FightingGameCommunity who was born with a rare muscular development disorder that caused the muscles in his legs and hands to not develop normally. Since he cannot use a controller with his hands, he instead uses a controller with his ''mouth''. In spite of his unconventional method of playing, he is a well-known competitive ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' player, on one occasion winning 2-0 against the comparatively able-bodied (and infinitely more of a SoreLoser) WebVideo/LowTierGod.

* Naruto in [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12466642/1/Legend-of-the-Blind-Ninja Legend of the Blind Ninja]] is a very capable ninja despite his loss of sight.

** Tyrion's stature certainly counts as a handicap in a world were it's mandatory for men to be big, strong and dangerous fighters. If his ability to talk, bargain or weasel himself out of dangerous situations doesn't make him badass enough, his final discovery of [[KneeCapping a useful fighting style for anyone under five feet]] certainly makes him so. That and talking a bunch of disheartened city guards into making a foray out of a city under siege.