History Main / RetiredBadAss

Just as [=Badass=]es come in many different varieties, so do retired badasses. Some are happily retired from adventuring, sports, fighting, or whatever they used to do and are content to [[HomeSweetHome live a normal life in a normal little town]], or even the simple life in {{Arcadia}}. Some have become shopkeepers who just do a little work to keep in touch with people and get by in their old age. Some get promoted within their organization to a DeskJockey supervisory role. Often, they spend all their time [[CallToAgriculture tending a field]]. Some of them never really get into retirement because every time they start to settle into it they [[TenMinuteRetirement get jolted back out]]. Maybe they have [[InHarmsWay a secret longing to get back into the game]], (whatever it may be) or regrets about the past. [[HeroicNeutral Often they're perfectly happy in their retirement]] and are pointedly ignoring events of the outside world until the evil {{Mooks}} of whatever BigBad that is looking to take over the world come in and wreck his shop, then laugh at him because, after all, what can an old man do about it? It doesn't take long for the asskickery to commence.

* Sam Axe in ''Series/BurnNotice''. He's a former... [[strike: something or other (it's not explicitly mentioned what he was)]] Navy [=SEAL=] Commander with buddies in seemingly every major US Agency. At the beginning of the show, he was making a living mooching off retired women in Miami. When his friend Michael comes back to town, however, he proves himself to be just as [=Badass=] as he ever was.

** Well, he's played by [[Creator/BruceCampbell Bruce Campell]] of all people...

* While not a conventional example, Hal from ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' can take any one of his sons in a fight and leave them ''gasping for air'' in ''seconds'' (his words). Now if you've ever seen Francis and/or Reese [[HotBlooded cut]] [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty loose]], you know this [[BumblingDad sweet, unassuming guy]] has got to be like seven kinds of [=Badass=].

* The Chief in ''TUFFPuppy'' used to be T.U.F.F.'s top agent and able to take out a legion of villains singelhandedly. He comes out of retirement in one episode to catch the Chameleon with Dudley. While things don't go very well at first, after some encouragement from Dudley, he shows he's still got enough [=Badass=] in him to get them out of a jam, then beat the stuffing out of the Chameleon.

* Billy from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. He was Ooo's previous [[TheChampion greatest hero]] before Finn, who idolized him. Among his exploits, he killed an Evil Ocean by '''punching it''', rescued a princess from the evil Fire Count, and most impressively, [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned]] [[UltimateEvil the Lich]] in amber in order to save the entire world. How does that get even more [=Badass=]? He imprisoned the Lich by ''pummeling him into the tree!'' He retired due to finding the fight against evil pointless since more always showed up. In the end, Finn and Jake convince him that fighting evil, while not a perment solution, still helps protect people, implying he might come out of retirement.

Just as [[BadAss badasses]] come in many different varieties, so do retired badasses. Some are happily retired from adventuring, sports, fighting, or whatever they used to do and are content to [[HomeSweetHome live a normal life in a normal little town]], or even the simple life in {{Arcadia}}. Some have become shopkeepers who just do a little work to keep in touch with people and get by in their old age. Some get promoted within their organization to a DeskJockey supervisory role. Often, they spend all their time [[CallToAgriculture tending a field]]. Some of them never really get into retirement because every time they start to settle into it they [[TenMinuteRetirement get jolted back out]]. Maybe they have [[InHarmsWay a secret longing to get back into the game]], (whatever it may be) or regrets about the past. [[HeroicNeutral Often they're perfectly happy in their retirement]] and are pointedly ignoring events of the outside world until the evil {{Mooks}} of whatever BigBad that is looking to take over the world come in and wreck his shop, then laugh at him because, after all, what can an old man do about it? It doesn't take long for the asskickery to commence.

* Shepherd Book of ''{{Firefly}}'' fame is a relatively kindly old preacher whose mission in life is to guide the flock he's found on the good ship ''Serenity.'' Sometimes, said flock gets in trouble, and when that happens, the same kindly old preacher starts blasting men in the knees, knocking a cop senseless with his bare hands, and slicing apart battle droids with a giant curved machete.

* Sam Axe in ''BurnNotice''. He's a former... [[strike: something or other (it's not explicitly mentioned what he was)]] Navy [=SEAL=] Commander with buddies in seemingly every major US Agency. At the beginning of the show, he was making a living mooching off retired women in Miami. When his friend Michael comes back to town, however, he proves himself to be just as BadAss as he ever was.

* While not a conventional example, Hal from ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' can take any one of his sons in a fight and leave them ''gasping for air'' in ''seconds'' (his words). Now if you've ever seen Francis and/or Reese [[HotBlooded cut]] [[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty loose]], you know this [[BumblingDad sweet, unassuming guy]] has got to be like seven kinds of BadAss.

* The Chief in ''TUFFPuppy'' used to be T.U.F.F.'s top agent and able to take out a legion of villains singelhandedly. He comes out of retirement in one episode to catch the Chameleon with Dudley. While things don't go very well at first, after some encouragement from Dudley, he shows he's still got enough BadAss in him to get them out of a jam, then beat the stuffing out of the Chameleon.

* Billy from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''. He was Ooo's previous [[TheChampion greatest hero]] before Finn, who idolized him. Among his exploits, he killed an Evil Ocean by '''punching it''', rescued a princess from the evil Fire Count, and most impressively, [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned]] [[UltimateEvil the Lich]] in amber in order to save the entire world. How does that get even more BadAss? He imprisoned the Lich by ''pummeling him into the tree!'' He retired due to finding the fight against evil pointless since more always showed up. In the end, Finn and Jake convince him that fighting evil, while not a perment solution, still helps protect people, implying he might come out of retirement.

* In general, most veterans are these as long as they're not ShellShockedVeterans

* The title character in ''AlexanderNevsky''.

One thing badasses of all types have in common is that they're magnets for trouble, and even in retirement this doesn't change. Occasionally these guys get pulled back into action because the BigBad (or his men) know his reputation and come to make trouble. Other times it's because a young ArrogantKungFuGuy wants to make a reputation by beating the old legend. Perhaps the most frequent case is that when the heroes are in trouble and need help to accomplish their goals, they will come to the RetiredBadass either for physical help or advice about their quest, or because the retired badass is a past teacher, {{mentor}}, even father figure.

** The title character himself is a RetiredBadass, and would very much like to stay that way.

* Joseph Joestar in Part 3 of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. It's worth noting that he looks quite a bit like Sean Connery in his later years, and Connery tends to play RetiredBadass character quite a bit.

** Jack himself attempts to retire [[strike:twice]] FOUR TIMES. The first time is following the first season. Jack is not retired in the true sense and listed as inactive. This is mainly due to the breakdown of his relationship with Kim, as well as suicidal thoughts following the big twist at the end of the season. Even so he's pretty quick to tell people he doesn't work for CTU anymore. Next is between seasons three and four, where he opts for a desk job in the Department of Defense. The third time is between seasons six and seven where he chooses simply not to come back to the United States. [[ButThouMust Obviously, this doesn't quite work out.]] As of Day 8, Jack is FINALLY truly retired from government work. He even tells someone this in the trailer for the season. He's living peacefully in New York City with Kim and his grandchild (guess this means you can add RetiredBadass as well). [[DeskJockey No DoD desk job]], [[HesJustHiding no running from China]] and [[WalkingTheEarth no trip to Africa]]. Needless to say since this is 24 it's not going to last long. Near the end of said trailer cue DramaticGunCock and typical CrowningMusicofAwesome that goes with nearly everything 24 related.

** At least prior to the recent ResetButton, it seems the Forgotten Realms is stuffed full of RetiredBadass characters... and then stuffed some more.

* Creator/StephenKing's ''Apt Pupil'' focuses on a Nazi general that's killed thousands of people, escapes to America and lives a quiet life in a small town.

* [[LastOfHisKind Joe Colton]] from ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation''. The last scene of the initial trailer features Colton kicking ass by shooting at Cobra mooks with an assault rifle while in the bed of a fishtailing [[CoolCar El Camino]]. Considering he's played by BruceWillis, this comes at no surprise.

* ''AHistoryOfViolence'' has some scary people who suspect ViggoMortensen's character is this rather than the HeroicBystander he claims to be after he defends his cafe from serial killers.

* Everyone in ''{{RED}}''. The acronym stands for "Retired and Extremely Dangerous".

* ''SecondhandLions'' has three lead characters, two of whom fit this trope. Having fought in dozens of wars, they got old and tired before retiring to America. With their fortune came relatives and salesmen seeking money and one young boy who breaks them from their funk.

* Done with hilariously campy style in SurfNazisMustDie. [[spoiler: A man that would be the hero in a normal action movie (the middle-aged black guy) is murdered by a group of self-styled Surf Nazis. Cue his aged mother to leave the retirement home and [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] the bastards.]]

* Done but somewhat averted in ''Lockout'' where "retired" CIA-Operative Snow is helping out a buddy who ends up dead. Snow is framed, and to regain his freedom and clear his name he gets sucked into the movie's main plotline: rescuing the president's daughter. HOWEVER, Snow takes the job in order to achieve a secondary motive, so it's all just bluster and bullshit.

* The title character in ''Alexander Nevsky''.

* RobinHobb's ''Tawny Man Trilogy'' starts with the main character being called back from his retirement from being an assasin, a spy and king's man, to serve and teach the new generation.

* Jack Random of ''Deathstalker'' by Simon Green is a professional rebel against the Empire who finally led one losing campaign too many, and [[RefusalOfTheCall disappeared into retirement as a gymnasium janitor.]] Or at least, [[MandatoryUnretirement he tried to.]]

* King Uther Pendragon of ''Merlin'', played by the same guy as Giles, has handed over most of the combat to his extremely Badass son. He spends most of his time being a ReasonableAuthorityFigure (unless magic is involved) and WellIntentionedExtremist against any magic he encounters (he genuinely believes it is evil) and by series 4 he is bed/chair bound and in a permanent bout of HeroicBSOD. Try and hurt [[PapaWolf his son or his people and he will kill you]]. He once held off his own son, who is unmatchable with a sword, refusing to attack, and took out an assassin during the 4th series bout of HeroicBSOD.

* ''[[http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ World of Warcraft]]'' has several examples. Most notably Tirion Fordring, who players first meet as a humble small-holder in the Eastern Plaguelands. After [[spoiler:the death of his son Taelan]] he reveals himself as a powerful Paladin and goes on to play a major role in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

** Ryuuken Ishida is supposed to be a doctor who turned his back on his family's quincy heritage long ago. Turns out he's not only still got the power, but he's officially carrying the Quincy Cross and, the one single time he uses his power, his abilities make his talented and powerful son look weak.
** Isshin Kurosaki voluntarily gave up his powers a long time ago but willingly comes back out of retirement once he regains his powers.

* Leatherstocking of ''ThePioneers'' fulfills this trope, and makes it OlderThanRadio.

* JonahHex is one in his DeadlyDistantFinale.

[[quoteright:350:[[{{Scamp}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lazy_dad.jpg]]]]

** Also, {{Batman}}'s majordomo Alfred. Several of his origins highlight his retired bad ass status. RAF, Special Forces... the job title he's retired from varies DependingOnTheAuthor, but they're all {{Badass}} military positions.

* The Musketeer and the Legionary of {{Batman}}'s Club of Heroes; The Musketeer is probably the greatest swordsman to ever emerge from Europe, even years out of practice and with no real interest in fighting crime anymore. The Legionary, however, is another story, having fallen from grace dramatically and becoming a fat slob in his later years. However, when he is assaulted at the Club of Heroes reunion he manages to not only land a bone shattering backhanded blow on his assailant despite suffering from 17 stab wounds, he leaves a clue for the other heroes to both indicate the killer and ensure their safety. He may have gotten sloppy, but the Legionary once stood shoulder to shoulder with (and garnered respect from) freaking ''Batman''; he is ''not'' going down without a fight.

** This can also be said of everyone who was part of the Cobra Unit in WWII. No one knows what happened to them after the war, (With the expetion of The Fury, who got crisped in space.) but The Boss brings them all back together.

* In BelisariusSeries Valentinian and Anastasius are last seen enlisting in the bodyguard of the Indian Empress Shakuntala, not to mention becoming sons-in-law of her chief counselor providing one of the best retirement packages available in the early Medieval World.

* [[BadassPreacher "Reverend"]] Ray [=McCall=] in the first ''CallOfJuarez''. A former gunslinger, he slaughtered his way across the West before pulling a HeelFaithTurn [[spoiler: after murdering his preacher brother William]]. Then his [[spoiler: other]] brother is killed, he thinks his half-Mexican nephew is the culprit, and he immediately digs up his old longcoat and revolvers for another blood bath.

** A more minor character, a krogan known only as "the Patriarch", can be found serving as TheDragon to the local crime boss in Afterlife, on Omega. Once upon a time, it was ''he'' who ran the planet, until a young asari named Aria came along and overthrew him, only leaving him alive as a symbol of what she was capable of. It's possible through a sidequest to bring him indrectly out of retirement; Aria wants him to hide from some assassins, but he can be persuaded to allow Shepard to kill them in his name, regaining some of his {{Badass}} status.

** Well, he's played by [[BruceCampbell Bruce Campell]] of all people...

* In ''ToKillAMockingbird'' the children of mild mannered lawyer Atticus Finch were unaware of his {{badass}} marksmanship, until a dangerous mad dog wanders into town and someone needs to be able to safely put it down.

->''"Just when I thought I was out they ''pull'' me back in!"''
-->-- '''Michael Corleone''', ''Film/TheGodfather 3''