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* "I'm Rodney Mckay. Difficult takes minutes, impossible, hours."
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* [[LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes Yang Wen-Li]]: nicknamed "[[TheRedBaron The Magician]]" for his ability to emerge victorious against ridiculous odds: the first time he [[spoiler: captured Iselhorn fortress]], it was in fact a suicide mission given by superiors who wanted to get rid of him: he emerged successful from said suicide mission with insulting ease
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# TrainingFromHell: The characters might not have actually beaten anything yet, but they were put through training that by all rights shouldn't be too much harder than the supposed impossible mission.
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# TrainingFromHell: The characters might not have actually beaten anything yet, but they were put through training that by all rights shouldn't be too much harder easier than the supposed impossible mission.
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** Heck, her ''name'' alludes to this ability.
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* This is essentially the overall main plot of TheIrresponsibleCaptainTylor, both the titular character and the crew of the Soyokaze are either type 1 or type 2, or some combination of both (the series doesn't make it clear which).
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* KimPossible, full stop. "She can do the things that can't be done" is practically her tagline. She's even got a song about it.
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That line took place during the one Borleais mission (there was only one in NJO) and had nothing to do with taking the planet itself.
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** In a later book, Wedge Antilles's fleet is sent to ''fake'' an attempt to retake Borleias to draw off the Vong. He ''succeeds'' in taking the planet. One of his subordinates said this: "We'll put that in your biography. Wedge Antilles was so great he couldn't lose when he tried."
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** In the same duology of books, after setting up their base on Borleais, an enemy fleet attempts to take back a later book, temporary base they're fabricating on the moon. Wedge Antilles's and Tycho very specifically plan this operation so as to make it look like they lose the moon and run back to the planet in retreat. Due to coincidental timing by the cavalry and their BigDamnGunship, they end up destroying the entire fleet is sent to ''fake'' an attempt to retake Borleias to draw off the Vong. He ''succeeds'' in taking the planet. One of his subordinates said this: instead.
---> '''Tycho''': "We'll put that in your biography. Wedge Antilles was so great he couldn't lose when he tried."
---> '''Tycho''': "We'll put that in your biography. Wedge Antilles was so great he couldn't lose when he tried."
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-->--'''StarWars, [[XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]] motto'''
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-->'''StarWars' [[XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]] motto'''
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->"Impossible is our stock in trade, and success is what we deliver."\\
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->"Impossible is our stock in trade, and success is what we deliver."\\"
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'''The [[StarWars Rogue Squadron]] motto'''
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* JamesBond. Even moreso in the films.
* Some {{Discworld}} characters. Lu Tze is types 2 and 4 simultaneously. Granny Weatherwax is a type 2.
* Some {{Discworld}} characters. Lu Tze is types 2 and 4 simultaneously. Granny Weatherwax is a type 2.
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* [[DoctorWho The Doctor.]] If you need more explanation than that, well, just google him.
[[/folder]]
* [[DoctorWho The Doctor.]] If you need more explanation than that, well, just google him.
[[/folder]]
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* [[VorkosiganSaga The Vorkosigan Family.]] As Cordelia remarks; "The difficult we do at once. The impossible takes a little longer."
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->'''River Song:''' How impossible?
->'''The Doctor:''' ''Five'' minutes.
->'''The Doctor:''' ''Five'' minutes.
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->'''River Song:''' How ''How'' impossible?
->'''The Doctor:'''''Five'' Five minutes.
->'''The Doctor:'''
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->'''The Doctor:''' It's impossible! It can't be done! Completely impossible!
->'''River Song:''' How impossible?
->'''The Doctor:''' ''Five'' minutes.
-->--''DoctorWho''
->'''River Song:''' How impossible?
->'''The Doctor:''' ''Five'' minutes.
-->--''DoctorWho''
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** In a later book, Wedge Antilles's fleet is sent to ''fake'' an attempt to retake Borleias to draw off the Vong. He ''succeeds'' in taking the planet. One of his subordinates said this: "We'll put that in your biography. Wedge Antilles was so great he couldn't lose when he tried."
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The character hasn't just beaten the odds once. He's survived several {{Suicide Mission}}s. The UriahGambit failed. He won the LastStand. In short, the hero has repeatedly accomplished so-called {{Impossible Task}}s. And his superiors or the world at large have taken notice... and unfortunately for the poor hero, he or she is now the [[WhoYouGonnaCall go-to person]] for missions that are thought impossible for anyone else. Basically, whenever [[GodzillaThreshold Godzilla enters the scene]], this character's number is on speed dial.
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The character hasn't just beaten the odds once. He's survived several {{Suicide Mission}}s.suicide missions. The UriahGambit failed. He won the LastStand. In short, the hero has repeatedly accomplished so-called {{Impossible Task}}s. And his superiors or the world at large have taken notice... and unfortunately for the poor hero, he or she is now the [[WhoYouGonnaCall go-to person]] for missions that are thought impossible for anyone else. Basically, whenever [[GodzillaThreshold Godzilla enters the scene]], this character's number is on speed dial.
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* Played with in ''MassEffect''. Shepard, on his/her own, is a clear type two, and was selected as the first human Spectre specifically on account of being a Badass - what he/she did, the player chooses at the character creation screen. Shepard's ''squad'', on the other hand, falls into type two, especially in the second game.
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* Played with in ''MassEffect''. Shepard, on his/her own, is a clear type two, and was selected as the first human Spectre specifically on account of being a Badass - what he/she did, the player chooses at the character creation screen. Shepard's ''squad'', ''[[RagtagBunchOfMisfits squad]]'', on the other hand, falls into tends to be closer to type two, especially in one; most of them aren't as obviously Badass as Shepard when they first join, but by the second game.time the games are over, they've done enough LevelGrinding that impossible tasks are just another day's work.
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* Played with in ''MassEffect''. Shepard, on his/her own, is a clear type two, and was selected as the first human Spectre specifically on account of being a Badass - what he/she did, the player chooses at the character creation screen. Shepard's ''squad'', on the other hand, falls into type two, especially in the second game.
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Subtrope is SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. One of the reasons [[ItsUpToYou It's Up To]] the PlayerCharacter, OneManArmy, and OneRiotOneRanger in VideoGames. SaveScumming probably helps.
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Subtrope is SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. One of the reasons [[ItsUpToYou It's Up To]] the PlayerCharacter, OneManArmy, and OneRiotOneRanger in VideoGames. OneRiotOneRanger. In VideoGames, SaveScumming probably helps.
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* CiaphasCain's stock-in-trade, much to his annoyance.
[[/folder]]
[[/folder]]
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[[/folder]]
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->"Impossible is our stock in trade, and success is what we deliver."\\
'''The [[StarWars Rogue Squadron]] motto'''
'''The [[StarWars Rogue Squadron]] motto'''
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* [[XWingSeries Rogue Squadron]], and its commander Wedge Antilles in particular. One of the Rogues' mottoes is "Impossible is our stock in trade, and success is what we deliver." No matter how many Rogues die in combat, Wedge always survives, and the squadron always rebuilds.
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* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has Simon who is type 2 but partially it's self-imposed, as he often wants to go out and fight to defend the city, but is told that he can't because he is a symbol of the government and people would panic.
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* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has Simon who is type 2 but partially it's self-imposed, as he often wants to go out and fight to defend the city, city because he is one of the better fighters, but is told that he can't because he is a symbol of the government and people would panic.
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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has Simon who is type 2 but partially it's self-imposed, as he often wants to go out and fight to defend the city, but is told that he can't because he is a symbol of the government and people would panic.
[[/folder]]
* ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has Simon who is type 2 but partially it's self-imposed, as he often wants to go out and fight to defend the city, but is told that he can't because he is a symbol of the government and people would panic.
[[/folder]]
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# It's entirely undeserved or grossly blown out of proportion. Rumor and exageration may turn a simple feat into an epic accomplishment, or make them up wholecloth. This may or may not be because ThePowersThatBe enjoy seeing the character win and/or [[CosmicPlaything suffer.]]
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# [[FakeUltimateHero It's entirely undeserved or grossly blown out of proportion. proportion.]] Rumor and exageration may turn a simple feat into an epic accomplishment, or make them up wholecloth. This may or may not be because ThePowersThatBe enjoy seeing the character win and/or [[CosmicPlaything suffer.]]
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* The Prince in ''VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' wants to kill off the PC, but since he can't order an execution sends us on increasingly dangerous suicide missions.
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* The Prince in ''VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' wants to kill off the PC, but [[TheUriahGambit since he can't order an execution sends us on increasingly dangerous suicide missions.missions]].
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* MickeyMouse in "The Brave Little Taylor" whose boast that he "killed seven [flies] in one blow!" was taken out of context and he was tasked with taking out a nearby problem giant.
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* MickeyMouse in "The Brave Little Taylor" "BraveLittleTailor" whose boast that he "killed seven [flies] in one blow!" was taken out of context and he was tasked with taking out a nearby problem giant.
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Subtrope is SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. One of the reasons [[ItsUpToYou It's Up To]] the PlayerCharacter / OneManArmy in VideoGames. SaveScumming probably helps.
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Subtrope is SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. One of the reasons [[ItsUpToYou It's Up To]] the PlayerCharacter / OneManArmy PlayerCharacter, OneManArmy, and OneRiotOneRanger in VideoGames. SaveScumming probably helps.
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Click the edit button to start this new page.
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Characters like this can get this reputation a number of ways.
# SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder: The hero or heroes survive their superiors trying to kill them so many times deliberately in less important missions that when a crucial task that seems impossible actually does come up, they are the go-to group.
# The character really is that {{badass}}. They've overcome so many situations that others would have died in that they have accidentally built up a reputation for surviving anything. Nothing deliberate on the superiors part, but the odds came up and they beat them.
# TrainingFromHell: The characters might not have actually beaten anything yet, but they were put through training that by all rights shouldn't be too much harder than the supposed impossible mission.
# It's entirely undeserved or grossly blown out of proportion. Rumor and exageration may turn a simple feat into an epic accomplishment, or make them up wholecloth. This may or may not be because ThePowersThatBe enjoy seeing the character win and/or [[CosmicPlaything suffer.]]
One possible deconstruction of this trope is that the BigGood, BigBad, or some other powerful or [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] figure has been arranging things such that the characters always succeed, or at least have even odds. Once this aid is exposed, they have to face ''real'' impossible missions.
Subtrope is SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. One of the reasons [[ItsUpToYou It's Up To]] the PlayerCharacter / OneManArmy in VideoGames. SaveScumming probably helps.
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Film]]
* ''TheFifthElement:'' Korben Dallas is types 2 and 3. Helps that he's Bruce Willis, which crops up in many of his roles.
* ''DieHard:'' Nevermind anything else this overworked NYPD cop does, he ''takes out a helicopter with a police car''. Types 1 and 2 (though not intentional canon fodder, pretty much hardly ever, he's just a mook that always ends up in the wrong place at the right time, or as they say in Live Free Or Die Hard: "That's what makes you That Guy."
* John {{Rambo}} arguably meets all three criteria.
* As does [[TheChroniclesOfRiddick Riddick]].
* In ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', Alan Quartermain (Sean Connery) apparently actually hired a guy to screen visitors because of his repution for (2).
* ''MissionImpossible'' teams seem to fill this role.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* ''TheWizardOfOz'' is a subversion (at least in the cinematic version). He's got a rep for being the great and powerful wizard who can solve any problem, but he's really a fake.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Video Games]]
* Master Chief of ''{{Halo}}'' is a TrainingFromHell example who later becomes an example of number two. He starts off as just being the only supersoldier available but as the series goes on it becomes clear that even for a SPARTAN he's an exceptional fighter.
* The Prince in ''VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' wants to kill off the PC, but since he can't order an execution sends us on increasingly dangerous suicide missions.
* Deconstructed in ''{{Bioshock}}'', where [[spoiler:the protagonist was genetically ''designed'' to cut through rapture like a hot knife through butter.]] The [[RespawnPoint Vita Chambers]] help.
* The arcade mode in ''AceCombat 5'' applies this to Mobius 1, the player character of the fourth game. The mission commander explains that Mobius 1 was chosen to put down an Erusian rebellion ''by himself'' because his kill count exceeds that of ''entire squadrons''.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Webcomics]]
* The gang of ''ExterminatusNow'' are an example of SurprisinglyEliteCannonFodder. Schaefer has tried and failed to get them killed so many times on minor missions that he goes to them now if he really does have a job that needs doing against all odds.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Western Animation]]
* MickeyMouse in "The Brave Little Taylor" whose boast that he "killed seven [flies] in one blow!" was taken out of context and he was tasked with taking out a nearby problem giant.
[[/folder]]
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