History RetiredBadass / Literature

* Rather common in fantasy fiction. Many fantasy authors will return to the same setting again and again, progressing the time line, cranking out more novels, and retiring earlier heroes to give newer generations their own chance to shine. And it's particularly common in novels franchised from games like Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer 40K, where you'll have multiple authors all progressing the plot in the one setting. Sometimes it gets to the stage where you can't move for kindly old priests, world-weary old nobles, and rough-around-the-edges old innkeepers who were asskicking adventurers five or six books ago. And if the new crop of heroes ever needs a seasoned adventuring veteran to show them the ropes and give them a hook to connect with an existing storyline, they can't swing a cat without hitting at least one gruff mysterious stranger who turns out to be the famous heroic whatsisname in the flesh.
** This is cited as one of the reasons ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' was moved forward a good century! Drizzt and Elminster are just about the only two still around, and they're both very, very busy.

* Coll from the ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain''. Taran is quite surprised to learn his bald, peace-loving, pig-tending father figure is not only considered a hero, but responsible for rescuing a certain pig from the BigBad's lair. (It was a very special pig.)
* Literature/CiaphasCain '''(HERO OF THE IMPERIUM)''' is ostensibly retired in ''Cain's Last Stand'', though that does little to slow him down when the hordes of Chaos come calling to the sleepy little planet he's spending the rest of his days on.
** He ''wants'' to be this, but that darn heroic reputation of his means he keeps getting called back into service, seemingly being killed in action, only to reappear and save the day. It got to the point where the Munitorum just considers him permanently alive despite his now being dead and buried.
*** Just for added reference, Cain managed to actually ''live'' to retirement. In the [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou Warhammer]] universe.

** This is cited as one of the reasons TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms was moved forward a good century! Drizzt and Elminster are just about the only two still around, and they're both very, very busy.

* Literature/ABrothersPrice has Jerin's grandmothers, who [[AMatchMadeInStockholm "rescued"]] his grandfather from a heavily guarded castle under siege, and were knighted later on. They retired to a quiet farmlife.
* The heroine of Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''Literature/CaughtInCrystal'', a middle-aged innkeeper with two young children, is a retired swordswoman. She's dragged out of retirement when both her former employers and their enemies come looking for information about her last disastrous mission. Notably, years of being sedentary and eating rich food has left her [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome too overweight to fit into her old armor and too out-of-shape to fight]] until a few chapters (and months) of cross-country hiking and training slims her down and toughens her up again.

-->'''Raynar''': I am Jedi Thul. I have not fought for real in many years. [[BlatantLies I should be a pushover.]] [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Come get me.]]

* Creator/RobinHobb's ''Literature/TawnyMan Trilogy'' starts with the main character being called back from his retirement from being an assassin, a spy and king's man, to serve and teach the new generation.

* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': [[ActionGirl Cordelia]] [[ActionMom Vorkosigan]] retired after a legendary MamaBear incident and has been happily [[WarriorTherapist mentoring]] the younger generation ever since. She's never needed to come out of retirement, barring a few well-deserved verbal smackdowns.

* In Creator/DavidGemmell's ''Literature/{{Drenai}}'' saga, Druss the Legend -- in his forties and already retired when he fought at Skeln Pass and in his sixties when he came out of retirement again to fight at Dros Delnoch in ''Literature/{{Legend}}''. Death offers him another twenty years' life, or a glorious death, at the beginning of the novel...

* In ''Literature/SuperPowereds'', the HCP staff at Lander University is almost exclusively made up of former Heroes (the one who is stated to never having been a Hero used to work for a corporation and is ''extremely'' good at combat despite his age). This is necessary, since the program is designed to put dozens of Super students through a TrainingFromHell until only ten are left in the graduating class (only the best of the best are allowed to be given such great responsibilities), so only those who have themselves gone through the program can properly train them. Blaine Jeffries, the Dean of the HCP at Lander, is himself from the so-called "Class of Legends" and is considered by many to be one of the strongest Heroes alive due to his PowerNullifier ability. Both Coach George and his successor Professor Fletcher firmly believe that AsskickingEqualsAuthority and prove themselves to their students by thoroughly beating all of them at once.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames '': Once the war is over both Katniss and Peeta withdraw to District 12 and spend the rest of their lives in as much peace as they can find.

* ''Literature/{{Deeplight}}'': He might be old and frail now, but in his younger days Quest [[spoiler:stole the Hidden Lady's heart (which killed her), then engineered [[Gotterdammerung the Cataclym]] that killed the gods]] and was the only one to survive the mission.

* ''Literature/{{Eragon}}'' has Brom, who's living as an old storyteller in Eragon's home village.

* Oromis (and his dragon Glaedr) from ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle'' were among the oldest and wisest Dragon Riders even before the Fall. They only retired because Glaedr lost a leg and Oromis was afflicted with a magic-inhibiting, seizure-causing curse during an ambush by the Forsworn. [[HandicappedBadass Even with these disabilities]], on the rare occasion they choose to engage in combat there are very few forces capable of standing against them.

* Literature/SherlockHolmes [[SherlockScan deduced that]] [[TheWatson Watson]] was an Afghan war veteran.
* In Creator/DavidGemmell's ''Literature/{{Drenai}}'' saga, Druss the Legend -- in his forties and already retired when he fought at Skeln Pass and in his sixties when he came out of retirement again to fight at Dros Delnoch in ''Literature/{{Legend}}''. Death offers him another twenty years' life, or a glorious death, at the beginning of the novel...

* The badass who refuses to retire is played straight with Ser Barristan Selmy in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', who at the age of sixty-something is forced into retirement against his will and is so annoyed by it that he kills two heavily-armed men half his age sent to arrest him before crossing half the planet to join forces with a rival ruler, in whose service he later swims through a foul sewer into the heart of a heavily-fortified city to open the gates from inside.
** Killing the two armed men was incidental, one might note; he'd already sneered at the collective swordsmanship of ''his own elite guard'', saying he could tear through '''all four''' of them present without difficulty. Part of the reason he's such a badass is because he's more or less TheLastOfHisKind. In the Kingsguard, Selmy served with and was trained by luminaries like the Lewyn Martell, and Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning -- men that he claims ''were twice the knight he was.''
*** Although in that particular case he was probably not referring to their martial abilities (or at least not exclusively) [[KnightInShiningArmor but to their character.]]
* In ''Literature/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.
* In G. Gordon Liddy's ''The Monkey Handlers,'' Michael Stone is a lawyer by profession...and a former SEAL. He keeps "the tools of his former trade closed up in a trunk" but before he opens the trunk and averts an international terrorist plot, he warms up by kicking a motorcycle gang's ass in a bar.

* Rather common in fantasy fiction. Many fantasy authors will return to the same setting again and again, progressing the time line, cranking out more novels, and retiring earlier heroes to give newer generations their own chance to shine. And it's particularly common in novels franchised from games like Dungeons & Dragons or Warhammer 40K, where you'll have multiple authors all progressing the plot in the one setting. Sometimes it gets to the stage where you can't move for kindly old priests, world-weary old nobles, and rough-around-the-edges old innkeepers who were asskicking adventurers five or six books ago. And if the new crop of heroes ever needs a seasoned adventuring veteran to show them the ropes and give them a hook to connect with an existing storyline, they can't swing a cat without hitting at least one gruff mysterious stranger who turns out to be the famous heroic whatsisname in the flesh.
** This is cited as one of the reasons TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms was moved forward a good century! Drizzt and Elminster are just about the only two still around, and they're both very, very busy.
* Coll from the ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain''. Taran is quite surprised to learn his bald, peace-loving, pig-tending father figure is not only considered a hero, but responsible for rescuing a certain pig from the BigBad's lair. (It was a very special pig.)
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's Literature/VorkosiganSaga: [[ActionGirl Cordelia]] [[ActionMom Vorkosigan]] retired after a legendary MamaBear incident and has been happily [[WarriorTherapist mentoring]] the younger generation ever since. She's never needed to come out of retirement, barring a few well-deserved verbal smackdowns.
** Aral Vorkosigan hasn't retired; he's physically unable to. That said, he has gone from being Prime Minister and an active voice in the Council of Counts to the Viceroy of Sergyar, with Miles taking over the Council duties. With Aral, that's as close as he'll get.
** Barrayaran Armsmen tend to be this. No Count is allowed more then twenty personal musclemen [[WeAreStrugglingTogether for understandable reasons]]. Therefore these tend to be picks of the best soldiers, cops, spies or whatever that can be found in a ''whole planet'' that have done enough service to prove themselves worthy to decorate a petty aristocrat's court.

* Literature/CiaphasCain '''(HERO OF THE IMPERIUM)''' is ostensibly retired in ''Cain's Last Stand'', though that does little to slow him down when the hordes of Chaos come calling to the sleepy little planet he's spending the rest of his days on.
** He ''wants'' to be this, but that darn heroic reputation of his means he keeps getting called back into service, seemingly being killed in action, only to reappear and save the day. It got to the point where the Munitorum just considers him permanently alive despite his now being dead and buried.
*** Just for added reference, Cain managed to actually ''live'' to retirement. In the [[EverythingIsTryingToKillYou Warhammer]] universe.
* The Novel ''Path of Fury'' starts out giving the operational history of the main character, just before dropping her into retirement on a farming colony for a dozen years. That's when she becomes not so retired.
* Kvothe from ''Literature/TheNameOfTheWind'' became the world's most famous hero and retired long before he turned 30. Now he runs an inn. But probably not for long.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' Rand thinks his father Tam (later revealed as his ''adopted'' father) is a simple farmer whose handiness with a bow is simply down to a lifetime of hunting and hard outdoor work. Naturally it turns out his father was a badass warrior and infamous soldier, the second-in-command of the elite Illianer Companions and a blademaster who won great distinction in four or five major wars. Tam is forced out of retirement in Book 4 when Rand's home village comes under attack by hostile forces and by Book 11 is leading armies into battle again. Tam's badassery is slightly undone by the fact it took him eleven books and 22 years of in-universe time to work out that Rand is the Dragon Reborn (although some fans suggest he's been living in denial instead).
* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'':
** For a good chunk of the main series we hear rumors that the dead 'Old Guard' loyal to the former Emperor are lying low and waiting for a chance to strike back against the Empress. This plan reaches fruition in ''Literature/ReturnOfTheCrimsonGuard'', when literally ''an entire army'' of retired badasses -- including many characters who had previously been encountered in other books and merely thought of as fishermen, farmers or guys living by themselves in some random tower -- re-emerges to take some names and dish out some pain. In addition, there are a whole other bunch of retired badasses who arrive to fight on the side of the Empress. Seriously, this novel is this trope made manifest.
** In ''Literature/HouseOfChains'', the fourth book of the series, [[BarbarianHero Karsa Orlong]] meets Keeper, better known as [[spoiler:Urko Crust, one of Emperor Kellanved's valued Old Guard]], who has retired to a lonely tower a ways outside of Ehrlitan to collect and rebuild what amounts to dinosaur fossils. He's still got a mean punch, though, as Karsa finds out first hand.
** Book eight, ''Literature/TollTheHounds'', reintroduces the reader to [[EliteArmy the Bridgeburners]], who had previously retired to run a bar in Darujhistan at the end of the third book, ''Literature/MemoriesOfIce''. For some reason, someone has contracted the Assassins' Guild to kill them all and Picker & Co. have to spring into action in order to not only save themselves but to also find out who is behind the contract.
* The heroine of Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''Literature/CaughtInCrystal'', a middle-aged innkeeper with two young children, is a retired swordswoman. She's dragged out of retirement when both her former employers and their enemies come looking for information about her last disastrous mission. Notably, years of being sedentary and eating rich food has left her [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome too overweight to fit into her old armor and too out-of-shape to fight]] until a few chapters (and months) of cross-country hiking and training slims her down and toughens her up again.

* Jack Random of ''Literature/{{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.]]
* Twice in the works of Creator/BernardCornwell.
** Uhterd Uhtredson of ''Literature/TheSaxonStories'', narrating in first person as an old man.
** Derfel Cadarn, the narrator and hero of ''Literature/TheWarlordChronicles'', who is telling the story as an aged monk.
* In the Literature/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.
* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': Taurok stepped down as general in favor of his granddaughter because he's TheEmperor now.

* ''Literature/TheHungerGames '': Once the war is over both Katniss and Peeta withdraw to District 12 and spend the rest of their lives in as much peace as they can find.
* Prudence 'Roo' Jones starts ''Literature/HurricaneFever'' having retired from the Caribbean Intelligence Agency and devoting himself to his boat and raising his nephew Delroy, until a message from a dead friend pulls him into OneLastJob.
* ''Literature/AfterTheGoldenAge'' has The Hawk, a NonPoweredCostumedHero who is officially retired but who still keeps an eye out for criminal activity in Commerce City.
* Most of the Iron Sisters from ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'' are retired Shadowhunters. Abigail Shadowhunter, in particular, founded them because she was frustrated at becoming this, and still wanted to help in the fight against demons.
* In ''Literature/{{MARZENA}}'', Anika From Bremen is a famous writer from the future (i.e. the future after the 2030s)), and is coming out of retirement to write the book series.
* ''Literature/LesMiserables'' has Georges Pontmercy, the father of Marius Pontmercy. While he served in the French army, and under the command of Napoleon, he survived a number of incidents, having his arm splintered, showing a daredevil attitude a number of times, challenging the might of the British navy with only one small vessel, and was generally a badass of the first order. After the battle of Waterloo, Pontmercy retired to a degree that nobody would have guessed that this mild-mannered man who wept a the slightest provocation, and tended to flowers, could be such a badass - were it not for a number of visible scars.
* ''Literature/CodexAlera'' has Valiar Marcus. In this Roman-influenced society, he earned his way into the House of the Valiant after a one-man rescue operation when he [[spoiler:tracked a group of 8ft tall yetis with ice magic who kidnapped some children several miles deep into their territory and killed the horde]]. He is regarded as one of the greatest centurions in the Antillus Legions. After his tenure in those Legions, he would tell you he retired to a quiet steadholt until he was commissioned once more to serve in the First Aleran Legion. He would say this because [[spoiler:in truth, he became Fedilias, one of the best Cursors for the Crown. The Cursors are the personal messengers, spies, and assassin of the First Lord. For decades he serves the First Lord before betraying him]].
* In ''Literature/SuperPowereds'', the HCP staff at Lander University is almost exclusively made up of former Heroes (the one who is stated to never having been a Hero used to work for a corporation and is ''extremely'' good at combat despite his age). This is necessary, since the program is designed to put dozens of Super students through a TrainingFromHell until only ten are left in the graduating class (only the best of the best are allowed to be given such great responsibilities), so only those who have themselves gone through the program can properly train them. Blaine Jeffries, the Dean of the HCP at Lander, is himself from the so-called "Class of Legends" and is considered by many to be one of the strongest Heroes alive due to his PowerNullifier ability. Both Coach George and his successor Professor Fletcher firmly believe that AsskickingEqualsAuthority and prove themselves to their students by thoroughly beating all of them at once.
* ''Literature/{{Eragon}}'' has Brom, who's living as an old storyteller in Eragon's home village.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Henry Pupil Senior is an archiver working for Ataidar's royal government and, at some point in his immortal life, he endured "a thousand years of bloodshed". Quelling all the personal demons that come from such an experience might be why he's content to spend his time recording history in a tower.
* In ''Literature/ForgingHephaestus'', Fornax was one of the most badass supervillains of his day, able to go toe-to-toe with most capes and win. Only Lodestar was able to beat him in a one-on-one fight, and only after a titanic battle. After the rowdiness of his youth, Ivan Gerhardt, formerly known as Fornax, works as a corporate middle manager and does his best to preserve his secret identity. He lives alone, except for every other weekend, when his kids come to visit. They have absolutely no idea who their mild-mannered father used to be (their mother does, but she's keeping quiet). Ivan still has occasional involvement in the Guild of Villainous Reformation, but only as a representative of all retired villains. He wears a generic-looking mask, while at Guild HQ, and everyone calls him Pseudonym. Only the top brass know of his former identity, well, and his new apprentice Tori. Despite being retired for a decade, Pseudonym is still in his prime and extremely dangerous when pissed off.
* The ''Star Wars'' EU books (or whatever you call them now) have supporting character Raynar Thul, who by the later books is basically retired because of major trauma. When a squad of Mandalorian commandos storms the Jedi Temple:
-->'''Raynar''': I am Jedi Thul. I have not fought for real in many years. [[BlatantLies I should be a pushover.]] [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Come get me.]]
* Oromis (and his dragon Glaedr) from ''Literature/TheInheritanceCycle'' were among the oldest and wisest Dragon Riders even before the Fall. They only retired because Glaedr lost a leg and Oromis was afflicted with a magic-inhibiting, seizure-causing curse during an ambush by the Forsworn. [[HandicappedBadass Even with these disabilities]], on the rare occasion they choose to engage in combat there are very few forces capable of standing against them.

* In ''Literature/TheGateOfIvory'', Dorothea learns that the "Old Man" that she does ''tinaje'' for is actually the former legendary bandit and military commander, Annurian. He successfully stays in retirement until his death, in part because while all of the villagers know his identity, they also know that he's still incredibly deadly.
* ''Literature/{{Deeplight}}'': He might be old and frail now, but in his younger days Quest [[spoiler:stole the Hidden Lady's heart (which killed her), then engineered [[Gotterdammerung the Cataclym]] that killed the gods]] and was the only one to survive the mission.

* ''Literature/ATimeOfPredators'' by Joe Gores features Curt Halsted, who wants to go on Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the gang of Juvenile Delinquents who raped his wife. The local cop says he doesn't think Halsted should even TRY doing this, because he's checked him out in the records in Washington, and Halsted, not having been in uniform of any kind during WWII, has no training. But Washington wouldn't have any records of an American living in England who volunteered for the original Special Air Service after Dunkirk...

* ''Literature/ATimeofPredators'' by Joe Gores features Curt Halsted, who wants to go on Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the gang of Juvenile Delinquents who raped his wife. The local cop says he doesn't think Halsted should even TRY doing this, because he's checked him out in the records in Washington, and Halsted, not having been in uniform of any kind during WWII, has no training. But Washington wouldn't have any records of an American living in England who volunteered for the original Special Air Service after Dunkirk...

* ''Literature/ATimeofPredators'' features Curt Halsted, who wants to go on Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the gang of Juvenile Delinquents who raped his wife. The local cop says he doesn't think Halsted should even TRY doing this, because he's checked him out in the records in Washington, and apparently Halsted, not having been in uniform of any kind during WWII. But Washington wouldn't have any records of an American living in England who volunteered for the original Special Air Service after Dunkirk...

* The heroine of Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''Literature/CaughtInCrystal'', a middle-aged innkeeper with two young children, is a retired swordswoman. She's dragged out of retirement when both her former employers and their enemies come looking for information about her last disastrous mission. Notably, years of being sedentary and eating rich food has left her [[RealityEnsues too overweight to fit into her old armor and too out-of-shape to fight]] until a few chapters (and months) of cross-country hiking and training slims her down and toughens her up again.