History Main / TheAce

* Aldrin Pesky from ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'' combines this with JerkJock and BigBrotherBully in his attitude towards younger siblings Maggie and Pupert. He actually cares for [[YoungestChildWins Bella]], the baby of the family. He's the captain of all the high school sports teams, has at least one in-universe fangirl swooning over him at his BurgerFool job, and his teeth sparkle when he smiles. Deconstructed partly when Maggie wants to get a better part-time job than Aldrin (or at least let everyone think she has). Aldrin discovers the ruse and is FURIOUS that she would lie about her accomplishments when he worked very hard to get where he is (a later episode confirms how insanely hard his sports training routines are), but he still offers to recommend Maggie to the manager once she admits she was wrong. Usually, he's too much of an AloofBigBrother to even bother giving advice, possibly because he's TheUnfavorite in their extended family, as Uncle Jeb blatantly favors Maggie (and later Pupert) and only compliments Aldrin when he realizes that gaining muscle mass means Aldrin can do more work.
* Slickis, Ickis' famous father from ''WesternAnimation/Aaaah!RealMonsters'' is this Academy's Most Esteemed Graduate and gets treated like a celebrity when he stops by for a visit. He's a champion athlete, a talented and innovative Scarer, great at public speaking, and he's such a NiceGuy everybody loves to be around him. His relationship with [[TheResenter Ickis]] is strained at first, because [[BrokenPedestal Slickis]] [[WhenYouComingHomeDad spends more time being famous than being a Dad]] but they reconnect after Slickis reveals he wasn't always so skillful and reaffirms that he believes [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre Ickis]] can do great things.

* Slickis, Ickis' famous father from ''WesternAnimation/AaaahRealMonsters'' is this Academy's Most Esteemed Graduate and gets treated like a celebrity when he stops by for a visit. He's a champion athlete, a talented and innovative Scarer, great at public speaking, and he's such a NiceGuy everybody loves to be around him. His relationship with [[TheResenter Ickis]] is strained at first, because [[BrokenPedestal Slickis]] [[WhenYouComingHomeDad spends more time being famous than being a Dad]] but they reconnect after Slickis reveals he wasn't always so skillful and reaffirms that he believes [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre Ickis]] can do great things.

* Aldrin Pesky from ''WesternAnimation/TheBuzzOnMaggie'' combines this with Jerk Jock and Big Brother Bully in his attitude towards younger siblings Maggie and Pupert. He actually cares for [[YoungestChildWins Bella]], the baby of the family. He's captain of all the high school sports team, has at least one in-universe fangirl swooning over him at his BurgerFool job, and his teeth sparkle when he smiles. Deconstructed partly when Maggie wants to get a better part-time job than Aldrin (or at least let everyone think she has). Aldrin discovers the ruse and is FURIOUS that she would lie about her accomplishments when he worked very hard to get where he is (a later episode confirms how insanely hard his sports training routines are), but he still offers to recommend Maggie to the manager once she admits she was wrong. Usually, he's too much of an AloofBigBrother to even bother giving advice, possibly because he's TheUnfavorite in their extended family, as Uncle Jeb blatantly favors Maggie (and later Pupert) and only compliments Aldrin when he realizes that gaining muscle mass means Aldrin can do more work.

* [[PersonOfMassDestruction Gildarts]] [[BigBrotherMentor Clive]] in ''Manga/FairyTail'' is a wise LightningBruiser who's also considered pretty fun to be around by his peers. Justified in that Gildarts is 45, whereas most of the main cast is late teens to early 20s. Gildarts has had over twice as long to learn how to be awesome. After the timeskip, [[spoiler: Laxus Dreyar gets rid of his personality issues and could even rival Gildarts in fighting ability. Case in point, Makarov compared Jura's strength to Gildarts, and Laxus beat Jura one on one.]]

** And Roy. Remember that scene where Ed, Scar, Jerso and Zompano were in a futile battle to the death with philosipher-stone powered supersoldiers when Roy comes along and blows them all up with a snap of his fingers?

* An episode of ''ChinaBeach'' features a hot-shot colonel who comes in with a mustache and sunglasses, talks TheRambo out of his self-pity, goes swiming and kills a shark for dinner, becomes the grand-prize in a sex-lottery among all of the women, and then flies out on a helicopter heroically (and stupidly) standing on the skid, while a poem is spoken about how great he is. * ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':

* ''Manga/ShingekiNoKyojin'' has Rivialle and, to a lesser degree, Mikasa Ackerman.

* Teresa from ''{{Claymore}}'' is the woman every ace in this trope aspires to be. She's a demon hunter, ranked at the top of her class, the most beautiful woman in her organization by far, and virtually unbeatable even in a group of her best subordinates. For example, after breaking the rules of [[NebulousEvilOrganization the Organization]] by killing a group of bandits that were threatening to kill a child traveling with her, she is sentenced to death by beheading. In a flash of light, her comrades appear to have sliced right through her, only to find all five of them wounded and bleeding from her lightning quick counterattack. It doesn't even appear as though she'd even drawn her sword at all.
** As if they didn't learn the last time, they attempt to bring her to justice ''again'' by recruiting members of the top ten ranked warriors in [[NebulousEvilOrganization the Organization]] to seek her out and kill her. After having exhausted their capacity of demonic power, only Priscilla, the second ranked warrior puts up even a decent fight. Even after she pushes herself beyond her limit, Teresa evens the score by using only 10% of her power (a rare occurrence, considering she generally fights without using any power at all) and aptly defeating her. [[spoiler:Her death at the hands of one of the most powerful beings in the series is clearly shown to be only possible through a very cheap sucker punch after she had let her guard down.]]

* Every American football team in ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has an ace, with Sena being the ace running back for Deimon. More prominent to this trope, however, is Riku of the Seibu Wild Gunmen, who taught Sena how to run properly.
** Two more examples who fit this trope are Shin and the villainous version, [[[{{Jerkass}} Agon]]. Agon especially, since he has [[spoiler: God-Speed Impulse, which allows him to react faster than anyone, can catch up with Sena (at his average pace) after being passed by, and also stole the [[SignatureMove Devilbat Ghost]] after only seeing it]]. It is cemented by the fact that he's allowed to do whatever he wants by his school.
* [[PersonOfMassDestruction Gildarts]] [[BigBrotherMentor Clive]] in ''Manga/FairyTail'' is a wise LightningBruiser who's also considered pretty fun to be around by his peers. Justified in that Gildarts is 45, whereas most of the main cast is late teens to early 20s. Gildarts has had over twice as long to learn how to be awesome.
** After the timeskip, [[spoiler: Laxus Dreyar gets rid of his personality issues and could even rival Gildarts in fighting ability. Case in point, Makarov compared Jura's strength to Gildarts, and Laxus beat Jura one on one.]]
* Alex Louis Armstrong in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'', a HotBlooded and muscular guy who gives off BishieSparkle and is a master of alchemy and martial arts.

* {{Genshiken}} has Makoto Kousaka. Unlike the other socially awkward and mundane otaku in the show, he is an attractive, well dressed, charismatic, all around nice guy who also towers over the rest of the cast in intellect (he landed a job as a programmer after studying for one month).
** He's also the first member of Genshiken to get a girlfriend.

* It's hard to decide if ''GreatTeacherOnizuka'' is an example of TheAce or a MartyStu but damn, he's cool. Though it's balanced out by his moments of [[TheFool sheer idiocy]]:

** Onizuka is also a rare example of an Ace that's also a bona fide ButtMonkey.

* Seta Noriyasu from ''Manga/LoveHina'' fits this trope, being a comedically impossible benchmark for the YouSuck protagonist to reach after. He is better at everything than any of the other main characters are ([[DrivesLikeCrazy except anything involving safe operation of a motor vehicle]]), and about the only thing that fazes him is a MegatonPunch from Haruka or Naru and the fact that he is a high-level CloudcuckooLander.
** He may start out looking like the ace but in the {{Manga}} [[spoiler:later we see that he is way more like Keitaro then should be humanly possible, he failed to get into Tokyo U. 3 times, also was in a LoveTriangle that ended badly (Sarah's Mom, Haruka and Seta)[[note]]Sarah is not his kid. he always says the wrong thing to Haruka getting punch or taking a rocket to the face[[/note]]]]. He is good at martial arts, acts cool around anyone but his LoveInterest. [[spoiler: Keitaro takes these traits too.]]
* Chrono Harlaown from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' is a less over-the-top variant of this, since he does prove consistently more effective than both Nanoha and Fate through being WeakButSkilled. Instead of HotBlood, we have TheStoic one.
** Nanoha herself is ''known'' as the "Ace of Aces".

*** [[spoiler:Then Madara appears and proceeds to pwn everything in his path. He decimates an army, the five kages and Naruto with little to no effort, while constantly gloating about how [[FoeYay he and Hashirama are on an entirely different level than anyone else]].]] [[AwesomeEgo Although, he has been backing up these claims pretty well.]]
** The first thing Killer Bee does is own [[spoiler: [[TheScrappy Sasuke.]]]] He's still yet to lose a fight, albeit he's sometimes given a bit of help.

* Portgas D. Ace ([[PunnyName haha]]) of ''OnePiece'' is the main character's badass big brother who rips through entire marine battalions effortlessly and with oppressive amounts of style. He's suave, friendly, helpful, polite, and everyone on the crew loves him, even going so far as to wonder how he could possibly be related to Luffy. Even before getting his Devil Fruit powers, he was tough enough to beat up his little brother ''after the latter got his'' (but Luffy doesn't begrudge him at all because he's ''just that cool''). Plus, he's still a good enough guy to ask the crew to look after Luffy for him while he's gone. Interestingly subverted when he is defeated by Blackbeard in his first major fight, [[TheWorfEffect probably to show the power of Blackbeard]].
** In the end, he's really more of a BrokenAce: He wasn't quite as powerful as we thought, had ''severe'' daddy issues, was a bit too HotBlooded for his own good, and generally had problems of wondering if he was supposed to even exist.

* Kirito, the ''protagonist'' of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', definitely fits this trope. He's probably the best of the 10,000 SAO players, and only loses duels when he isn't really trying... [[spoiler: or his foe is a [[KillerGameMaster Game Master]]. And even then, he sometimes wins. Even after ''dying'', [[OnlyMostlyDead he still wins.]]]]
** The leader of the Blood Knights is also an Ace; his health has never dropped below about 70%, and he beats Kirito in a duel. [[spoiler:Subverted, since he's the Game Master mentioned above and has GodMode on.]]

* Judai of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': [[PlayingWithATrope played with]], [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], and [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructed]] every which way in Season 3 when he begins to feel that he's not a real hero [[TrueArtIsAngsty without anything to burden him]] and success always coming too easily for him. As the BigBad convinces him, [[BrokenAce his greatest weakness is that he has no weakness]].
** Also deconstructed with Ryou, who is the top student at the academy in Season One and has never lost a match (the only time he loses on-screen is when he forfeits to save his brother). When he goes to the Pro Leagues in Season Two, he suffers his first loss and has his confidence completely shattered, going into a losing streak that drives a FreakOut and eventually a FaceHeelTurn.

* Franchise/{{Batman}} is the Ace to such a degree that it's practically a super-power. He's the world's greatest detective, non-super-powered melee fighter, physicist, chemist, engineer, tactician, strategist, pilot, you name it.
** But it's balanced out by him having ''[[BrokenAce serious]]'' [[DarkAndTroubledPast issues]]. He also tends to lose badly when faced with a brand new adversary he's had no opportunity to study and [[CrazyPrepared prepare for]].

* Best Tiger of ''Guarding the Globe''. The world's greatest marksman by a ridiculous margin, he wears a blindfold so his work won't be boring. He infiltrated a bunker that only Magnattack should have been able to access. He once incapacitated ten men with one bullet (and no, they weren't standing in a line). His Guardians of the Globe teammate Knockout thinks he really is blind, and that his kung fu is so good he can somehow pass for a seeing man, and he deduced that [[spoiler:Outrun]] wasn't herself because he could [[spoiler:''hear'' the difference in how she ''shaves her armpits'']]. As he puts it, they don't call him "Good Tiger" -- he's the ''best''.
** He is, however, antisocial in the extreme, and has no life outside of being Best Tiger. The Best Tiger is ''always'' hunting.

* {{Wolverine}} would like to remind you that he's the best at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice.
** His daughter and OppositeSexClone, {{X-23}}, may be even ''better''. However she's tempered by a ''lot'' of emotional issues because of her DarkAndTroubledPast.

* [[spoiler: Mobius]] in ''Fanfic/AceCombatTheEquestrianWar'', though it's justified, since he's a ponified version of the PlayerCharacter from [[spoiler: AceCombat04]].
** The griffins have Black Star and [[spoiler: Gilda]], though the latter is more of a BrokenAce.

* In ''OurManFlint'', Derek Flint is a ludicrously competent CaptainErsatz of JamesBond, with all of the latter's traits turned UpToEleven. The Government tries to give him a code book? No need, he's designed a better one. They try to get him a plane? He'll fly his own, thanks anyway. Training? He's a master fencer, martial artist, ''and'' dancer. He can meditate so deeply that it passes for death, and wake up with no ill effects. He can speak Italian so fluently that it fools natives. He does complicated surgery with a letter opener. He can tell you ''what city a Bouillabaisse was made in'' just from tasting it once. The whole movie is like this.
** And somehow James Coburn makes it awesome instead of annoying.

* Gilderoy Lockhart of the ''HarryPotter'' series likes to maintain a public facade of TheAce, but he's really a FakeUltimateHero.

* ''ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' has Han Solo's SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute, Dash Rendar. He's a very good pilot and a very good shot, and he's ridiculously arrogant, though this does annoy some of the characters. Failing to destroy something he was shooting at actually causes a HeroicBSOD on his part, and then he shapes up a bit.
** He also appears in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear''.

* The Groolugg from ''Series/{{Angel}}'' falls into this category to some extent.
** The Immortal is the apex of the trope. [[BadAss Total badass]], [[SexGod had a threesome with Darla and Drusilla]], [[TortureTechnician then right after tortured both Angelus and Spike]], [[MartyStu climbed mount Everest several times and wrote a self-help book that is a "life-changer"]]. The Immortal is, simply put, everything Spike and Angel want to be ''only better''. And he ''always'' beats them.
*** And he also sleeps with Buffy, who spurns both Angel and Spike in the episode "The Girl in Question"...
* Starbuck from the original ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Classic}}''. But see also...
** Starbuck in the 2000s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}'' started out this way, but in a subversion, she began slipping over the course of the series due to childhood trauma, her tumultuous relationship with Apollo, and the machinations of the Cylon Leoben Conoy. By the end of season three, the character is a nervous wreck incapable of flying a simple patrol mission without endangering the fleet.

* On ''{{Cheers}}'' Sam Malone had an unseen older brother who was TheAce.
** Most of the regulars (with the notable exception of Frasier) treat Sam himself this way at least some of the time, since he's good-looking and was a professional athlete while they're ... well ... the sort of people who hang out with Cliff and Norm.
* An episode of ''ChinaBeach'' features a hot-shot colonel who comes in with a mustache and sunglasses, talks TheRambo out of his self-pity, goes swiming and kills a shark for dinner, becomes the grand-prize in a sex-lottery among all of the women, and then flies out on a helicopter heroically (and stupidly) standing on the skid, while a poem is spoken about how great he is. (Oh did I mention, this show was a ''chick-flick'' program?)
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':
** Captain Awesome in the TV show ''Series/{{Chuck}}''.

* Captain Jack Harkness, in his early ''Series/DoctorWho'' appearances.
** The Doctor became the ace to poor Craig in "The Lodger". He was better than Craig at football, and his job, and convinced his girlfriend to leave town, and talked to a cat, and had a sexy shower scene, and...

* In Series/HowIMetYourMother, Barney sees himself as this. It's true to some extent, he's pretty damn awesome. And I hear his penis is enormous. True story...
** Barney Stinson, stop making edits about yourself.
*** This isn't Barney. Though I hear that guy's awesome.
** He develops a great deal as the seasons progress, however, to the point of becoming a BrokenAce.

*** Tsukasa proves how you do such a character right. With a couple chinks in his armor you make him fun instead of a MarySue. Tendou really ''was'' as perfect in every way as he thought he was, which makes him fun sometimes, but it's also a weakness. It was also justified to some degree, as Tsukasa took on a different role in whatever world he went to. For example, the World of KamenRider Kuuga had him as a police officer. So naturally he has to be good at a large variety of things to be able to pull that off.

** And he now has tendonitis from overexercising.

** ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'' had Justin. It's difficult to find a Scrappy in that season, for [[ReplacementScrappy obvious reasons]], but Justin is a [[TeenGenius preteen genius]] who, by the end of the season, is the most experienced Ranger on the team, due to his four companions leaving. Oddly, he has a character, including a [[DarkerAndEdgier father who abandoned him because he couldn't deal with Justin's mother's death]] and [[FreudWasRight he uses Tommy as a substitute father]], but [[RealLifeWritesThePlot Jason David Frank leaving the show]] cut that plot short.

* "Rod" [=McKay=] from [[Series/StargateAtlantis "McKay & Mrs. Miller"]] is an imitation Ace Rimmer; he's Rodney [=McKay=] from an AlternateUniverse and charms everyone on Atlantis (save Rodney himself) while saving the day.
** It's subverted at the end when everyone says they prefer Rodney because Rod was overbearing and ''[[WeWantOurJerkBack too nice]]''.

** Add in holodeck programmer/writer and 20th century historian.
*** To be fair, being an ace is pretty much the human race's hat in most Star Trek incarnations, and particularly the Enterprise-D and Voyager are crewed by ridiculously capable and multitalented individuals.

* But none of them have anything on Ken Hayakawa, TheHero on KaiketsuZubat. He's TheAce to such an extent that he was codifying this trope back when it was an UnbuiltTrope.
** To put it in perspective, OnceAnEpisode, he'd say to the enemy of the week, who was always a specialist in a certain area of combat that he was the second-best user of that fighting style in Japan. Then, after being asked who was the best, he'd whistle and tip his hat. And to prove that it wasn't just empty words, he would then proceed to prove it.

** In other tales, Lugh joined the Tuatha Dé Danann because while the gods had a master smith, warrior, bard, sorcerer, and harper, they did not have among their number someone who excelled in them all ''simultaneously''.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'''s flagship {{badass}}, Dante. Mostly in [=DMC3=] and [=DMC4=]. In the first few minutes of [=DMC3=], he [[MadeOfIron takes scythe blades through the arm, leg and chest]]. He casually rips the blade from his chest without flinching, then proceeds to kick the crap out of a bunch of Mooks using only a bunch of billiard balls and a gun. [[CrowningMomentofAwesome While munching on pizza]]. Almost always has a one-liner ready for the situation at hand, while also succeeding in not being a heartless SociopathicHero too.
** And don't make me bring up acquiring Lucifer in [=DMC4=]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pWvKx1x1pk&feature=related See for yourself]]. (Bonus SuckMyRose and DoubleEntendre.)

*** Even death doesn't stop Zack, because he [[spoiler: appears to Cloud just as Sephiroth is charging for the kill and manages to give Cloud a time-stopped heroic pep talk from beyond the grave, inspiring Cloud to find the strength not only to fight on, but to win decisively in a single attack]].
*** Zack's position as TheAce is lampshaded in episode 8 of ''VideoGame/BeforeCrisis'', when Zack first shows up and works with the player character Turk. The title of that episode is "A Light That Penetrates Through the Darkness" or "A Light Even Darkness Can't Penetrate". Guess who they're referring to.
*** It even gets a bit meta; Zack is one of, if not THE most popular characters of the FFVII compilation. Possibly the entire franchise.
*** Though ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' also shows that Zack had some [[BrokenAce serious issues]] due to all of the misery the game puts him through. To Cloud and others Zack was an awesome heroic figure -- but Zack himself had HeroicSelfDeprecation in spades and died still wondering if he had managed to become a true hero.

* Tidus the "Blitz Ace" in VideoGame/FinalFantasyX. Yuna also fits this role quite well in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' as well, as demonstrated through her ChronicHeroSyndrome.
** Tidus is only really TheAce in Blitzball; he's an IdiotHero for a lot of the game.

** VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius has a few of them. Ike qualifies in his Radiant Dawn incarnation, the Black Knight is busy [[spoiler: being the best general for both Daein and Begnion ''at the same time,'']] and Bastian seems to be a man of many talents.

* [[CoolBigSis Kurugaya]] from ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' is good-looking, athletic (to the point where she can FlashStep), intelligent enough to have one of the highest scores in maths despite constantly skipping and having no bad subjects, charming, and more than able to take care of herself in a fight. This actually leaves Riki feeling a bit insecure during their route, feeling that [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy she's helping him out much more than vice versa]].

** [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] himself. Going through all his accomplishments would take all day.

* At first, Shadow appears to be this to [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]], but it's subverted pretty quickly.
** Sonic himself could be counted as one.

** On the other hand, it's been explicitly stated that Jones has no talent for magic, though how common that is isn't entirely clear.
** She's also not a robot.

* Dora of ''QuestionableContent'' has serious issues with her brother Sven due to his being an Ace.
** Sven himself has serious issues with him being an Ace. He becomes a BrokenAce when he starts to realize he doesn't really have much to his personality besides picking up hot chicks, using wacky situations to get out of uncomfortable ones and writing music he hates.

* The main character of ''[[http://tmi-comic.com/ Too Much Information]]'' is ''named'' Ace. He doesn't even have a last name. And while he does make mistakes on occasion, he seems to fall into this quite often, especially where women are concerned - practically every female in a 5-mile radius seems to automatically fall for him (including lesbians and ''ghosts''), and he had racked up 7 marriage-proposals before he turned 18. His foot-rubs are internationally renowned. At a charity Bachelor Auction, he brought in $5.000, which resulted from one woman bidding 2.500, and two others pitching in 1.250 each, while agreeing to 'share'.
** The two who are sharing? A grandmother and granddaughter. The granddaughter is a supermodel. The high bidder? [[spoiler:A vampiress who thinks he's hot]].

** The "official" Ace is [[http://www.yamara.com/yamaraclassic/index.php?date=2005-06-02 Ultima Thule]]. She's "eidolon of humanity" and as such has [[RPGMechanicsVerse all stats at the Human racial maximum]]. Since it includes Intelligence and Wisdom, she's not an adventurer (high-risk waste of time!) but a banker.

* ChuckNorris, via MemeticMutation.
** And every other MemeticBadass[=/=]MemeticSexGod.

* ProtonJon of LetsPlay/TheRunawayGuys by being the best at everything, except for luck.
** For example, in the Super Smash Bros video they did, it came to a point where all three of them were facing each other. Jon had to use a controller he wasn't used to, but still managed to beat both Chugga and NCS ''at the same time,'' while still having 2 stock out of 5 left. In the New Super Mario Bros Wii LP, while everyone else was having problems with their lives, Jon had reached 99 lives while still screwing everyone else (mostly Chugga) over.

** He ''does'' get completely incapacitated if [[WeaksauceWeakness he's so much as sprinkled with oil]], though.

** All of this, however, doesn't do him any good against a ghost shield, since he is Danny's ghost half and therefore cannot change back to human.
* Chalky Studebaker in both series of ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', incredibly smart, amazing athlete. However in both series, he's hinted at being a BrokenAce
** Outright deconstructed in one episode when he and Doug get identical results on a test. Doug knows he didn't cheat, so the only other possibility is that Chalky cheated. After spending a day chasing Chalky through three different sports and band practice he finally corners him at his house and finds out that Chalky's been so busy with all his extracurricular activities he never had time to study. Then Chalky's dad proudly shows off his son's TrophyRoom, then adds that he's got a long way to go to [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter catch up to his brother]]. Doug comments that it's a pretty big wall to fill and Chalky agrees and misses a game to re-take the test.

* Vince [=LaSalle=] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}''. T.J. was one in the early season one episodes.
** Played with in "Here Comes Mr. Perfect" with Jarad Smith, a new student who ends up [[CanonSue being the best at]] ''[[CanonSue everything]]'', though deconstructed when it's revealed that he doesn't have many friends because he's better than every other student at everything.

* Brian Boitano is presented as TheAce on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', despite never appearing on the show. According the musical number about him in ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', he has magical fire-breath and once punched out Khublai Khan.
** He does appear in the 1995 "Spirit of Christmas" short, though only to give AnAesop speech.

** Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen. He was number 1!

* {{Batman}} is the Ace to such a degree that it's practically a super-power. He's the world's greatest detective, non-super-powered melee fighter, physicist, chemist, engineer, tactician, strategist, pilot, you name it.

* From ''FanFic/TurnaboutStorm'', ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' and ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' crossover, there's the [[PosthumousCharacter murder victim]] [[OriginalCharacter Ace Swift]], an Equestrian pegasus athlete known for winning every event he's ever compited in (which lead to rumors of him cheating and using dubious methods to do so).
** Subverted. [[spoiler:He blackmailed everyone that had a chance to beat him.]]

*** And he also sleeps with Buffy...

* The Megaplayboy from DNA2 is an extremely handsome man who can swoon every woman in the world with a single smile and also has a ridiculous level of fighting skills that lets him defeat the worst enemies. There's a catch, tho: this comes from his DNA... and he ''will'' make 100 women pregnant with sons who ''will'' become megaplayboys in the future, causing a HUGE superpopulation problem. Therefore, Karin Aoi comes from the future itself to actually ''kill'' the DNA of this super special Ace...

If the Ace's talent is operating combat vehicles, then they're an AcePilot, but note that not all ace pilots are an example of the Ace. If the Ace's private life isn't nearly as great as it seems from the outside, then they're a BrokenAce. Take this too far and you risk accusations of a MarySue. If he isn't really that amazing, then see FeetOfClay or FakeUltimateHero. If his talent is due to intelligence instead of simple awesomeness, see ImpossibleGenius. In a High School setting, he's typically the BigManOnCampus.

* Goku of ''Manga/DragonBallZ'', most definitely. He also happens to be somewhat GenreSavvy (about this at least) in the Cell and Buu Sagas in that he wanted to avoid having the other Z Soldiers rely on him too much, knowing the [[CrutchCharacter drawbacks of it]].

* Goku of ''Manga/DragonBall'', most definitely. He also happens to be somewhat GenreSavvy (about this at least) in the Cell and Buu Sagas in that he wanted to avoid having the other Z Soldiers rely on him too much, knowing the [[CrutchCharacter drawbacks of it]].

* ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula'' has Shinjyo, Randoll, and Osamu. Shinjyo is a 2-time European F-3 champion, Randoll is incredibly rich and excels at every sport and endeavor he could get his hands on and Osamu had an excellent record in F-3.

* [[PersonOfMassDestruction Gildarts]] [[BigBrotherMentor Clive]] in ''Manga/FairyTail'' is a wise LightningBruiser who's also considered pretty fun to be around by his peers. Justified in that Gildarts is 45, whereas most of the main cast is late teens to early 20s. Gildarts has had over twice as long to learn how to be awesome.
** After the timeskip, [[spoiler: Laxus Dreyar gets rid of his personality issues and could even rival Gildarts in fighting ability. Case in point, Makarov compared Jura's strength to Gildarts, and Laxus beat Jura one on one.]]

** In other tales, Lugh joined the Tuatha Dé Danann because while the gods had a master smith, warrior, bard, sorcerer, and harper, tthey did not have in their number someone who excelled in them all simultaneously.

* [[PersonOfMassDestruction Gildarts]] [[BigBrotherMentor Clive]] in ''FairyTail'' is a wise LightningBruiser who's also considered pretty fun to be around by his peers. Justified in that Gildarts is 45, whereas most of the main cast is late teens to early 20s. Gildarts has had over twice as long to learn how to be awesome.