History TookALevelInBadass / Film

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/HarryPotter http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nevillelongbottomtakesalevelinbadass.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"[[RhetoricalQuestionBlunder Why is it always you?]] [[EarnYourHappyEnding So that your character arc can be all the more cathartic.]]"]]

!!Films - Animated
* ''Disney/BigHero6''. Start with a group of highly gifted but awkward nerds who make clever gadgets. In their first real fight, they are quickly beaten. But, by the end of the movie, their teamwork is amazing and, working together, they defeat the BigBad.
* Gru from ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe''. He goes from IneffectualSympatheticVillain to PapaWolf with a BaldOfAwesome who punches out a shark and dodges a MacrossMissileMassacre.
* In ''WesternAnimation/FlushedAway'', Roddy starts out as a pampered pet rat who is frightened and repulsed by the sewer world when he first arrives there. By the end of the movie, he is a lot more relaxed and confident, stands up to the FatBastard who flushed him, puts a stop to [[BigBad The Toad's]] plan, and saves the rats living in the sewer.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'', after Tip convinces him that risks can pay off, Oh loses his cowardly streak and becomes the savior of his own people and the humans.
* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'':
** Hiccup starts as a weak workshop assistant, and levels up until he's an aerial combat tactician able to take on a dragon the size of a skyscraper and win.
** In the TV series, he learns to be a more effective and assertive leader.
** In the second movie, Hiccup not only creates a new fly suit, he also carries an flame inducing sword. Not only that, his way of communicating to dragons has improved tremendously — case in point, it presumably took Hiccup a few weeks to gain Toothless's trust, now Hiccup managed to win the affection of 10+ dragons in only a few minutes.
* Po from ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' takes a level in each film:
** The first film's plot revolves around this -- learning kung fu in order to be ready when Tai Lung attacks.
** In the sequel, although his fighting skills are still far from flawless, he kicks much more butt. Plus, he achieves Inner Peace.
** The third film has him learn how to produce chi and [[spoiler:he takes over Master Oogway's job as the BigGood and leader of Kung Fu.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'': Emmet starts out as a PinballProtagonist whose only independent idea was a double-decker couch. By the end of the film, he builds a HumongousMecha in about 5 seconds flat to stop Lord Business' army of Micromanagers.
* Simba from ''Disney/TheLionKing'' goes from a feisty young cub to [[MessianicArchetype the savior]] of the Pridelands, though it did take a BrightSlap from Rafiki and a pep-talk from his ghost dad to get him out of his HeroicBSOD.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': Megamind was a half-joke in the beginning of the movie: a super villain who always loses, can't even impress his lady hostage with his instruments of doom anymore, and isn't really evil so much as really enjoying the endless game of being the villain to an invincible hero like Metroman. But look at him in the final battle! He's not completely different - even during the battle he's hilarious - but he pulls off some really cool moves, especially for the climax of the movie.
* In ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'', the "I'll Make a Man Out of You" sequence is a perfect example of this happening to an entire army.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', [=SpongeBob=] and his friends come out of the sea and fight against [[BigBad Burger-Beard]] by becoming superheroes.
* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': Marianne starts out a PrincessClassic, running away screaming from the goblins and barely able to hold a sword steady. After seeing her [[CynicismCatalyst fiancee with another woman]], she becomes a {{Badass Princess}} who'd prefer to practice sword-fighting blindfolded than to dance. She gets good enough to single-handily break into [[EvilOverlord the Bog King's]] lair and fight him to a standstill.
* In ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'', Rapunzel starts out as a sweet but incredibly naive girl who lives in fear of breaking her darling "mother's" rules. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler:when she confronts Mother Gothel about kidnapping her as a baby]], Rapunzel stands up for herself and coldly says that Mother Gothel will never take advantage of her again, shoving Gothel away when she tries to rein Rapunzel in. [[spoiler:And when Gothel stabs Flynn and tries to kidnap Rapunzel away again, Rapunzel sets up a ''huge'' resistance, saying that she will ''never'' stop trying to escape unless Gothel lets her heal Flynn.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'', Carl Fredericksen is a 78-years grumpy, sour, etc., old man who is completely obsessed by his house, which he considers as the last remnant of his late wife, who he feels he "betrayed". He even goes as far as [[spoiler: to let the BigBad capture a rare bird he earlier swore to protect to save the same house]] (and gets a "WhatTheHellHero"). But when a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming makes him [[spoiler: realize at last that the house is nothing but a house, that his memories are what are keeping his wife alive within him, and that he never "betrayed" her]], he immediately goes from old grumpy selfish almost-{{Jerkass}} to happy and brave BadassGrandpa, recovers the energy and strength of his youth, and [[spoiler: sacrifices the remnants of his house to be able to go and save the bird.]] ''Never'' underestimate ThePowerOfLove!
** Russel also started out as an annoying, hopeless {{The Load}}, and then finds a way to [[spoiler:save Kevin, and escape from being tied in a chair, and take on three dogs in biplanes shooting darts at him, while he's hanging onto a hose attached to the house.]]

!!Films - Live Action
* This is the central theme of many, ''many'' kung-fu movies (such as ''Film/DrunkenMaster'' and ''Fearless Hyena''), in which the central character learns a new style of martial arts in order to defeat the villain. The American equivalent is the original ''Film/TheKarateKid''.
* ''Film/{{Oldboy 2003}}'' lampshades this. The philandering, perpetually-drunk thirty-year-old salaryman spends 14 years in a private prison trying to train his body to be tough. When he gets out, he wonders if all that training paid off when he gets into a fight. It turns out, [[CurbStompBattle it did]].
* Accomplishing this may, in fact, be the central thesis of ''Film/{{Wanted}}'' (whereas [[Comicbook/{{Wanted}} the comic]] was more about supervillains just being supervillains).
* [[TheChosenOne Neo]] in ''Film/TheMatrix'' has many levels of Badass [[UpgradeArtifact uploaded into his brain]], most memorably, Kung Fu. Later in the film he then takes some more when he [[HollywoodHacking hacks the system]] and starts to see everything in green.
* The FinalGirl in horror movies usually makes this change, going from scared n' sexy to fighting the monster hand to hand.
** Barbara in the Creator/TomSavini's remake of ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1990'' goes from fetal position to super-zombie hunter.
** The ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series had Laurie Strode go from a DamselInDistress in the original film to a badass ActionGirl in ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater''.
** ''Film/BehindTheMaskTheRiseOfLeslieVernon''
** ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead3''
** More than one ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' film.
** Lori Campbell in ''Film/FreddyVsJason''. Near the beginning, she faints when her boyfriend reappears, and then his friend starts telling her about Freddy Krueger. By the end, she [[KillItWithFire sets the docks on fire]], blowing both of them into the lake, then [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu decapitates Freddy]] [[Awesome/FreddyVsJason with a fucking machete]]!
** The trope is played very straight in ''Film/JasonX'', in which an android girl is given an upgrade that makes her an instant commando. She subsequently blows Jason up with a {{BFG}}.
* Clarice throughout the ''[[Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal]]'' series. Starts somewhat badass and comes out crazy-scary.
* ''Transformers''
** Between the original 80's cartoon and the 2007 film, [[DirtyCoward Starscream]] has taken a major level in badass. To prove it, we have this line as Starscream flies over Mission City, from frigging [[TriggerHappy Iron]][[TheBigGuy hide]], of all people:
--> '''Ironhide''': [[ThisIsGonnaSuck It's Starscream!]]
** The human character, Sam Witwicky, who spent the first two movies running away from these giant robots that try to blow him up or squish him (hey, you would too), suddenly has clearly had it with everything, and ''seriously'' invoked this trope. How badass has Sam become? Well if you must know...[[spoiler: HE KILLED STARSCREAM!]]
*** He even levels up his ''running away'', having learned Parkour at some point between the second and third movies.
** Megatron is pretty infamous for his BadassDecay. He spends most of the third movie as an injured, sulking cripple until [[spoiler:Sam's love interest Carly, of all people, rouses him into beating the pulp out of the BiggerBad, and he does a fine job indeed.]] ''All while still sustaining his injuries''. To be fair, he [[spoiler:shoots Sentinel Prime in the back, while the latter is busy beating up Optimus]]. This, however, gives [[spoiler:Optimus]] the chance to [[spoiler:decapitate Megatron and blow Sentinel's head off]] in the space of a few seconds.
*** This pales in comparison to what he does in ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' - [[spoiler:he manages to stay alive as a severed head, and manipulates the apparent human BigBad's faction into building him a new body. Now Galvatron, he possesses a NighInvulnerable body and nearly overpowers Optimus in one-on-one combat - all while posing as a remote-controlled drone - until Lockdown interrupts their fight. He then builds himself a new Decepticon army using all the humans' other drone Transformers, and even though he's largely SavedForTheSequel, he still comes across as far more menacing and competent than in the two previous movies (and maybe even the first)]].
** Hell, just like Starscream, Megatron has taken a level in badass between ''TransformersGeneration1'' and the [[Film/{{Transformers}} first movie]] (maybe even the [[TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen second]] too). Gone is the GeneralFailure incompetent cartoon villain commander (see the Western Animation section for more on that). This Megatron is a demonic-looking mechanical beast voiced by Creator/HugoWeaving who rips Autobots in two, [[spoiler: kills Jazz and Optimus]], treats humans like insects and doesn't hesitate to flick those pesky buggers out of the way, and is absolutely ''ruthless'' in pursuing his objectives. And if supplemental material is to be believed, he's a cannibal too.
** NEST infantry, by the third film, managed to pull out an unqualified victory in an engagement with 'Cons, instead of assisting the Autobots. In fact, the 'Bots show up to assist ''them''.
** After being a largely ineffectual Kid Appeal Character in Generation One, Bumblebee took a level in badass and is a skilled fighter who [[spoiler: kills Brawl with a shot to the chest]] after Ironhide, Ratchet, and Jazz failed to in the first movie, takes on both Rampage and Ravage in the second movie [[spoiler: and comes out on top, ripping off Rampage's arms and tearing Ravage in half]], and [[spoiler: not only takes Soundwave on in a fight, but kills him by uppercutting him through the chest with his blaster and shooting off his head.]]
* Pasha Antipov, a minor character in ''Film/DoctorZhivago,'' begins the movie as an utter wimp. He's a cuckold, a bespectacled naif, and an ineffective revolutionary. Even his ''name'' is a bit puny. But then he's hit by a bomb on the Eastern Front and drops out of the movie--only to return in an [[Main/MomentOfAwesome impossibly cool scene]] as the enigmatic "General Strelnikov," a BadassLongcoat with his own armored train.
* In the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second]] ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie, delicate but spirited DamselInDistress Elizabeth Swann has become a quite competent sword-wielding ActionGirl. This is {{handwave}}d in a throwaway line: her fiance Will Turner, the best swordsman in the series, has been teaching her for the past year. Then again, she ''is'' hanging around with pirates... Even more so when she becomes the captain of a ship, escapes from Davy Jones, and then becomes the Pirate King (King, not Queen) in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third film]]. Will was already somewhat of a badass, but [[spoiler:becoming the captain of the Flying Dutchman]] certainly counts.
* In ''Film/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', the dryads go from sissy flower ladies to [[WhenTreesAttack deadly trees]] that destroy most of the Telmarine army. Likewise, Lucy Pevensie. In ''Lion...'' she does essentially nothing. In ''Prince Caspian'' she does no more than show off her dagger with Aslan as backup standing right behind her. By the time ''Dawn Treader'' rolls around, she's throwing herself fully into close-quarter combat and beating her pirate captors unconscious with blunt objects. Granted, older sister Susan gets a similar on-screen moment of glory in ''Prince Caspian'', but it was always hinted (but never shown) that she'd done her bit at the battle at the end of the first film.
* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}''
** One of the most jarring examples would be Sarah Connor's transformation between the first two movies: She (and the actress) was a normal, happy-looking girl in the [[Film/TheTerminator first one]] (though even then, she still showed potential, as she ended up killing the T-800 despite being severely wounded), but looks like she gained about 20 lbs of muscle, as well as going from DamselInDistress to Psycho ActionGirl in the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay second]]. A decade of preparing for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt will do that to a person. Special mention goes to the scene at the end of the movie where, if not for running out of ammo, she would have destroyed the T-1000 on her own without the T-800's help. BAD. ASS. Special mention has to be given to the actress, Linda Hamilton, who in preparation for the role trained for 13 weeks under a former Israeli commando, undertook strenuous weight training, and learned how to pick locks. The famous OneHandedShotgunPump scene was added at her request because [[TheCastShowoff she had genuinely gotten strong enough to pump it with one hand]], something that even Schwarzenegger was unable to do.
** John Connor upgrades himself from fairly {{Wangst}}-ridden drifter who specializes in running away from Terminators who reluctantly gives vague radio support in ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' to ColonelBadass able to rewire AI motorbikes and shout down experienced Generals and killer androids by ''Film/TerminatorSalvation''. Quite a few levels in badassery and self-confidence gained it would seem.
* ''Film/StrawDogs'': David Sumner is an unassuming mathematician who moves to England and allows the local louts to walk all over him. When the locals try to force their way into his home, however, he decides to stand firm [[spoiler:and goes on to brutally murder them all as they break in]].
* ''Film/GalaxyQuest'': Most of the cast took a level in badass around the time they escaped from the airlock. Not only is it their first real victory, it's when they stop acting like actors and start acting like BigDamnHeroes
* As a general rule, the less someone did this in ''Film/TheDescent'', the faster she died.
* In ''Film/{{Feast}}'', when all the hero types are dead and hope is lost, the mother who lost her son (Tuffy) "levels up" and becomes Heroine 2. Then she proceeds to punch all the monsters teeth out with the butt of her gun and punch its stomach through the mouth, choking it to death. [[Main/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]]? Yes, you could say that. In ''Feast 2'' she spends much of the movie surviving, but surviving through a ''Feast'' movie is a pretty big deal.
* In ''Film/ThePeopleUnderTheStairs'', Fool was originally reluctant and a tad wimpy to go in the house is seemingly like an average kid, but when Leroy is killed and is chased several times, he willingly takes on anything that comes in his way, such as punching a dog in the face, later killing him holding a villain at gun point, punching him in the nuts and then blows the house up killing the villains, saving the day in the process.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek''
** David Marcus, Admiral Kirk's nerdy son, takes it up a few Badass levels between ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}'' and [[Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock III]]'' (see also HeroicSacrifice).
** Uhura takes multiple levels between the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries series proper]] and the films. While her snark - and the MirrorUniverse episodes - have always hinted that she's far more than a BridgeBunny, the films stop hinting pretty quickly.
** While it's not stated in dialogue, WordOfGod (and a close look at the CGI) reveal that the ''Enterprise''-E gained additional phaser arrays and torpedo tubes between ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'' and ''Film/StarTrekNemesis''.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** Luke Skywalker may have set the record for most levels in Bad Ass taken up in a single trilogy. He's a naive teenager who complains about having to clean droids at the beginning of the first movie and becomes the man who rescues a princess, nukes a Death Star, becomes an ace pilot and a celebrated war hero, amputates a number of bad guys, takes out a giant Walker with a hand grenade, survives an endless fall with the use of only one hand, gets into several lightsaber duels, demolishes Darth Vader in a fight, rescues his friends from Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett, gives the Emperor the finger, and brings his dad back to the Light.
** Anakin Skywalker takes a level in badass between Episodes II and III, becoming a full Jedi Knight ([[ImportantHaircut and losing the awful rattail]]). By the time of the original trilogy this has flip-flopped though, with him being more ruthless and physically stronger as a cyborg but less powerful with the Force (and not to mention [[BodyHorror horribly crippled]]).
** The Stormtroopers are mostly CannonFodder (at least in the visual mediums), despite their classification as elite units, and suffer from crippling [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy accuracy issues]] that usually result in them getting mowed down by the heroes. However in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', they come off as considerably more competent, using strategic position on the battlefield and generally being less goofy on the job (in fact the contrast in their performance vs. their usual appearance can be somewhat jarring since people have come to expect the Stormtroopers to be fairly ineffective). They still miss against the heroes but that's more due to PlotArmor than straight out being bad shots.
* Sgt. Powell in the first ''Film/DieHard''. Munching donuts and relegated to desk duty in the beginning, he gets a huge CrowningMomentOfAwesome at the end when he [[spoiler:shoots the final bad guy dead in the face, complete with the [[SongOfCourage Rousing Music]] playing in the background]].
* ''Film/EvilDead2'': Ash starts out as a wimpy college kid, but eventually cuts his own hand off and arms himself with a chainsaw and sawed-off shotgun, remarking, "[[ChainsawGood Groovy]]!"
* ''Franchise/{{Hellboy}}''
** Abe Sapien between the [[Film/{{Hellboy}} first]] and [[Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy second film]]. He goes from the geeky, psychic NonActionGuy to someone that carries a gun and has enough martial arts ability to at least evade and stall a troll three times his size, if not actually damaging it. Still geeky and psychic, but a bit more power behind it.
** Liz Sherman even more so. She goes from a scared, childlike woman who has no control over her powers to a fearless, SWAT-gear-wearing, room-torching, sharpshooting badass in the [[Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy second]]. Being a BPRD agent is incredibly Darwinistic; you either become a badass or you die.
* Done in ''Film/PaulBlartMallCop'' where Paul initially manages to defeat the LeParkour TotallyRadical mall robbers through large amounts of dumb luck, upon learning that his daughter is amongst the hostages he takes a massive level in badass, setting up a fair amount of traps and managing to stealthily take out the remaining goons with a combination of [[MasterOfDisguise disguises]] and using his location (IE getting them to come to the Rainforest Cafe and hiding amongst the animatronics).
* Johnny 5 went this way in ''Film/ShortCircuit 2''. After being nearly destroyed, he rebuilds himself as a crazy-ass punker robot and goes on a rampage.
* In ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', Gizmo, who has spent a good chunk of the movie being tortured by the Gremlins, decides to fight back in an homage to the ''Franchise/{{Rambo}}'' series. [[spoiler:The first order of business was to [[KillItWithFire shoot the Spider Gremlin with a flaming arrow, killing it]].]]
* ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture''
** Between the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII second]] and third films, Doc Brown ([[AbsentMindedProfessor of all characters]]) takes a level in badass. ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'' sees him toting a big bad rifle, saving (and subsequently wooing) a damsel in distress, standing up to the local gunslinger, hijacking a train and driving it off a cliff (so it can hit 88 miles per hour and travel in time, not to commit suicide).
** George [=McFly=]. With an assist in the past from his as-yet-unborn child, he goes from a mousy, cowardly junior-level worker to a highly successful writer... and along the way, Mrs. [=McFly=] gets a little spillover badassery (or at least some weight loss and athletic skills).
* Jason Tripitikas takes several levels in badass in ''Film/TheForbiddenKingdom'' after he trained with Lu Yan and the Silent Monk. It isn't enough for him to take on TheDragon (Ni Chang), but it's still a vast improvement. Then again, it's Creator/JackieChan (Lu Yan) and Creator/JetLi (Silent Monk), the two of them combined could grant a 90 year-old grandmother several levels in badass.
* In ''Film/{{Moonwalker}}'', Music/MichaelJackson mostly does shit like running through a field of flowers with some children. However, at one point, he takes a level in badass by grabbing a Tommygun and mowing down a bunch of ghetto stormtroopers. Toward the end, he takes another level in badass and turns into a ''giant robot'' and blows the shit out of a bad guy's evil lair.
* The character of Hudson in ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' goes from whiny soldier to Level A Badass with a moment of YouShallNotPass. And Ripley as well, transforming from the FinalGirl in the first film to a full ActionGirl in the second.
* Rocky Balboa, the titular character of the ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'' series of films, must always have a mandatory {{montage|s}} in the films where he trains HARD. Pushing the absolute limits of his body, will, and expectations of him...these montages always end up with Rocky gaining a new "power" and thus...a new level of his already badass status. You can even visually see his badass level go up. Set to the song "Gonna Fly Now," this TrainingMontage is one of the most famous film conventions of the modern age.
** In the [[Film/{{Rocky}} first]] he gets the dedication and conditioning necessary to "go the distance" with Apollo Creed.
** The [[Film/RockyII second]] sees Rocky gain some speed and the ability to switch his dominant fighting hand.
** The [[Film/RockyIII third]] gives Rocky a tremendous boost in speed and offense.
** The [[Film/RockyIV fourth]] gives Rocky the ability to show Russia just how awesome he is by training in the snow by pulling chains.
** The [[Film/RockyBalboa sixth]] (we'll skip the [[Film/RockyV 5th]]) sees an aged Rocky gain overwhelming power to compensate for his eroded speed due to age.
* Over the course of ''Film/{{District 9}}'', Wikus goes from sweater vest-wearing pansy to badass who single-handedly breaks out of a fortified government facility and then later chooses to ''break back in''.
* In ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'', the main character just barely flees [[spoiler:the soldiers about to execute him]], and sees a jet trail above, realising there's still civilisation intact from ZombieApocalypse. Before, he was [[BewareTheNiceOnes a wimpy bike courier boy]], but when he makes it through the HeroicBSOD caused by this realisation, he switches into utter badass mode, wreaking havoc, killing with his bare hands, performing OffscreenTeleportation and spouting {{oneliner}}s. While to us, the audience, this is a good example of CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass, Jim's friends are so surprised by his sudden acts of badassery that they think he's become Infected.
* Daphne from ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' mentions how she is sick of being the DamselInDistress and thus takes kung fu lessons to defend herself. This pays off when she defeats a masked wrestler guy, even taunting him. "Now who's the DamselInDistress?"
* In ''Film/{{Apocalypto}}'' when Jaguar Paw reaches the forest while being chased by the bad guy Mayans: [[TiredOfRunning "I am Jaguar Paw. This is my forest. And I am not afraid."]]
* Morgan Sullivan from ''Film/{{Cypher}}'' starts out the movie as a timid, cuckolded house husband who's looking to make his life a bit more interesting by becoming a corporate spy. By the end of the movie he's sat through an intensive brainwashing session without batting an [[EyeScream eyelid]], [[ElevatorEscape escaped]] from an ultra-high security data centre and blown up a small army of {{Mooks}}. [[spoiler: Subverted in the sense that he's been a badass all along and didn't know it.]]
* During ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' River Tam spent most of the action scenes she is involved passively crying or running away (with a couple of notable exceptions that she might not have quite registered as fights in the first place [[spoiler: "No power in the 'verse can stop me."]]). In the movie ''Film/{{Serenity}}'', however, she is quickly upgraded to a killing machine who defines WaifFu, and can take out roomfuls of armed assailants without breaking a sweat -- sometimes brainwashing has awesome results.
* In ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'', Giselle goes from helpless Disney Princess to [[spoiler:climbing a building and slicing a dragon's tail with a sword.]]
* In the Creator/LaurelAndHardy film ''WayOutWest'', Ollie becomes surprisingly forceful and effective at movie's end in getting the deed to a gold mine back to its rightful owner away from the couple who conned it from them earlier.
* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Westley goes from a poor farm boy to [[spoiler:Dread Pirate Roberts level of badass, immune to iocane powder]].
* Angelica Chaste, in ''AngelsDance'', starts out as a repressed mortician who thinks a doll is her baby. When she finds herself the target [[spoiler:of an aspiring hitman learning the trade by assassinating a randomly picked individual]] she gets scared...then she gets ''mad''. By the end of the movie, she's levelled-up in badass to the point that she's as much of a threat to her pursuers as they ever were to her.
* This happened to ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' of all people in ''Disney/CinderellaIIIATwistInTime''. The Prince also gets a fair amount of this, turning him from a SatelliteLoveInterest to a DeadpanSnarker with skills that rival [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid Eric]].
* ''Film/MysteryTeam''. Duncan can apparently only aim his slingshot properly in a poorly lit room.
* While [[Film/HarryPotter the film version]] of ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' hinted at the badass that Neville Longbottom would become, its only in ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart2'' that we get to see his true nature. His [[RousingSpeech speech to Voldemort]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech refusing the Dark Lord's offer of amnesty]] was as eloquently phrased as any seen on film before.
** Even before then. Just after the sacking of Severus Snape, when Harry asks that the professors buy him some time and he goes off in search of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, it's ''Neville'' that Harry puts in charge in his stead with a casual, "Hold the fort, Neville." To his credit, Neville doesn't even flinch. He just nods in acceptance of this duty.
* In ''Film/{{Help}}'', it's oddly George. After doing {{Funny Background Event}}s for most of the film, he leaps aboard a moving car towards the end of the film to rescue a kidnapped Ringo who's been [[PunkInTheTrunk stashed in the trunk]].
* In the first ''[[Film/TheMummy1999 Mummy]]'' film, Evie is a timid librarian firmly stuck in her DamselInDistress role. By ''Film/TheMummyReturns'', she has become an ActionGirl who can fight off {{Mook}}s on her own using awesome martial arts skills that she didn't know she had, as well as a few of Rick's more straightforward moves. It turns out [[spoiler:she is rediscovering her SecretLegacy as a spiritual reincarnation of an Nefertiti who was well-trained in combat]]. Her brother Jonathan too, to an extent. He is a pretty good shot with a rifle and proves it during the ambush of the cultists. He also tries to take on Anck-Su-Namun and manages to hold her off long enough for [[spoiler:Alex to revive his mother]].
* The ''Film/ElMariachi'' trilogy starts off with the main character as an ActionSurvivor in a SternChase plot. By the time of the second movie, he has a habit of going into [[BadGuyBar bad guy bars]] and shooting up the place. By the third movie, he's a legend.
* ''Film/HappyGilmore'': "Happy learned how to putt... ''uh-oh!''"
* Godzilla Junior in the second ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series. During his first two appearances in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzillaII'' and ''Film/GodzillaVsSpacegodzilla'', he was much like his [[SpiritualSuccessor Minilla]], and was [[TheScrappy actively disliked]] for it. Then along comes ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' and Junior has become a badass Teenzilla, who despite being a GentleGiant and overpowered by the titular villain, hands Destoroyah's penultimate form its ass after a long, brutal fight where he gets to demonstrate just how much of a {{determinator}} he is. Destoroyah's freaked out enough that after it's resurrection into its final form it goes after Junior first, despite the adult Godzilla having arrived. Temporarily killed, he is resurrected by Godzilla's death as the new Godzilla and, assuming that he is the Godzilla who appears in ''[[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Final Wars]]'', may now be even more badass than his dad.
* The protagonist in ''Film/LayerCake'' spends the first half of the film thinking he's absolutely on top of his game; he's repeatedly proven wrong when people turn out to have been plotting against him and playing him, resulting in his life spiralling out of control. After he decides to [[spoiler: kill his boss, who has been siphoning off his money and is about to rat him out to the police,]] he becomes much more ruthlessly efficient and starts setting up gambits of his own.
* The character ''Film/JohnnyEnglish'' is a secret agent who can be best described as a CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass...with a considerable emphasis on "moron". After a disastrous mission in Mozambique, English is sent to Tibet to undergo a special training. Not only did he take a level in badass, he acquired BallsOfSteel as well.
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** ''Film/IronMan2'':
*** Happy Hogan, of all people. After Ivan Vanko makes his grand DynamicEntry during the race that Tony forces himself into, and is about to make his finishing blow on Tony, the bodyguard, in Tony's custom limo, [[DynamicEntry comes out of nowhere]], rams ''into Vanko full force'', and manages to keep him effectively pinned against the chain-link fence for several minutes. He's shown to be decent in a fist fight, too, just not on Black Widow's level.
*** The Mk II goes from a flight test beta to the embodiment of MoreDakka. As discussed by Rhodey, this was the point.
** ''Film/IronMan3'':
*** Tony Stark, after being left in the middle of nowhere with a severely damaged armor being repaired and with an evil plan to thwart, he suffers a panic attack when he realizes he can't keep going with the suit he's so dependent on. Until he realizes that he doesn't need to have a suit of armor to be a hero, and his wits are enough to help him build a makeshift arsenal to infiltrate the bad guy's lair and discover his plan.
*** [[spoiler:Pepper]]. Holy '''SHIT''', [[spoiler:Pepper]]! After spending most of the final battle as a DamselInDistress, [[spoiler:she dodges a repulsor blast, uses Tony's knee as a jumppost to leap into the air, [[SuperStrength punches THROUGH the suit that fired said blast, pounds the suit into the ground, rips out its arc reactor]], [[GrievousHarmWithABody rips off the disabled suit's arm, bludgeons the Big Bad with it so hard that]] [[BlownAcrossTheRoom he flies back several meters]], dons the arm, kicks a high-power explosive charge at the BigBad and shoots it with the borrowed repulsor to blow him to pieces, all in the space of a few seconds]]. Tony promptly proceeds to spend the next few seconds slack-jawed - [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome and for good reason]].
---->'''[[spoiler:Pepper]]:''' Who's the hot mess now?
** Loki seems to have taken a few--possibly traumatic--levels in badass between the events of ''Film/{{Thor}}'' and ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''. While he was ostensibly the [[BigBad main antagonist]] in the former, his return in the latter is accompanied by a shiny new spear of doom, an army of alien cyborgs, and a new plan to [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds rule the Earth]]. The scariest part is that he seems pretty capable of carrying out this plan.
** Hawkeye and Black Widow start ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' as assassins and secret agents, but by the end they're straight up superheroes able to keep up with gods, monsters, and super soldiers.
** Literally forms the basis of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'''s plot, with courageous but scrawny Brooklyn kid Steve Rogers being transformed into the ultimate super-soldier: Captain America. It also emphasizes the fact that he still manages to be the same NiceGuy that he was before the super-soldier procedures when he's transformed.
** Villainous version in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. [[spoiler:HYDRA]] learned a valuable lesson from their defeat: how to fight ''smart''. [[spoiler:No more acting openly, for a start - HYDRA coiled around SHIELD's heart and subverted it from within. No more first waves of nobody {{Mooks}} - neo-Hydra is a NoNonsenseNemesis who hits you as hard as they can as soon as you become a target. Most of all, no more city-killing super-weapons: HYDRA's new toys can kill huge numbers, but they'll do so ''individually'' and primarily targeting those they have decided are threats.]]
** In ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'', [[spoiler:J.A.R.V.I.S.]], in a sense. He goes from [[spoiler:a bodiless A.I.]] to [[spoiler:a full-on Avenger when he is reborn as Vision]].
* ''Film/UnderSiege''. Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak) is TheLoad throughout most of the movie, including [[DoesntLikeGuns not liking guns]] and acting scared. However, when Chief Ryback is about to be shot to death by Doumer she pulls a BaitAndSwitchGunshot and blows Doumer away.
* Sam in ''Film/FullContact'' goes from abject coward to badass after betraying his best friend and thinking he killed him.
* Throughout ''Film/TheDarkKnightSaga'', the Gotham Police is mostly [[PoliceAreUseless an ineffective nuisance]] [[BadCopIncompetentCop riddled with corruption]]. Until the end of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' that is, when they take on Bane's army of mercenaries after months of being locked up with little more than food and water.
* ''Film/{{P2}}'': After being kidnapped by Thomas, her stalker, and failing to call the police or escape from the parking garage, Angela is driven to knock out the security cameras with an axe, escape from a locked trunk with only a crowbar, kill her kidnapper's dog with said crowbar, and steal a car and end up in a game of chicken. This isn't even counting her PlayingPossum, cuffing Thomas to the car, and finally setting him on fire with gasoline and a taser when [[CountryMatters he calls her a cunt]].
* As in the books, Gandalf the Gray from ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', already quite a powerful wizard, [[spoiler:dies in his fight with the Balrog, but is resurrected and]] comes back as Gandalf the White - master wizard, great warrior and all-round ass-kicker extraordinaire.
* North and South: The 4 main male characters definitely. They start off as dapper gentleman or scruffy goof-offs, but eventually work their way to becoming quite tough and capable, most notably in Charles who is more than badass enough to handle any number of assailants in hand-to-hand combat. Some of the ladies also show remarkable toughness. Brett yanks her own sister off a horse and threatens her with a pitchfork when she tries to get Billy executed. Semiramis comes within an inch of murdering Salem Jones. Madeline attacks Justin with a saber when he refuses to let her go.
* ''Film/{{Dredd}}''. Anderson starts out as a rookie cop in over her head, and becomes a full on badass. Dredd himself even notes the change.
** At the beginning:
-->'''Dredd:''' You ready rookie?
-->'''Anderson:''' Yes sir.
-->'''Dredd:''' You don't look ready.
** And at the end:
-->'''Dredd:''' You ready?
-->'''Anderson:''' Yeah.
-->'''Dredd:''' ''(approving)'' You look ready.
* Kitai's character-arc in ''Film/AfterEarth'' is strongly about this.
* In ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'', Mary [[spoiler:Watson]] definitely achieves this during the scene on the train [[spoiler: and afterwards when she is pushed into the river by Holmes to save her, remaining remarkably calm for someone who just survived such a fall!]]
%%* Ashburn in ''Film/TheHeat''.
%%* ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' himself.
* Kyra, sometime between ''Film/PitchBlack'' and ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick''.
* Kate from ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' goes from a naive young girl who can barely hold down a shot of whiskey, to a trash-talking, crossbow-wielding, vampire-killing badass.
* ''Film/DallasBuyersClub'' - Ron Woodroof [[TookALevelInBadass Takes A Level In]] ''[[TookALevelInBadass Intellectual]]'' [[TookALevelInBadass Badass]], jumping in just a few months or arduous research from a no-good, womanizer blue-collar hick to a healer able to save hundreds of people from [=AIDS=] during [[TheEighties the 1980s]] [[ThePlague panic]].
* ''Franchise/RoboCop'', which is about what happens when a NiceGuy is murdered and brought BackFromTheDead as a cyborg [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge bent on getting justice for it]].
* In ''Film/TheDilemma'', Ronny creates a flamethrower using a candle and cleaning solution to scare off the man Geneva's seeing.
* ''Film/RedDawn1984'' and [[Film/RedDawn2012 its remake]] feature this, particularly the original version. The protagonists start out as normal kids, but level-up rapidly.
%%* The same goes for [[spoiler: Nanahara Shuya]] in ''Film/BattleRoyale.''
%%* Anybody who survives Film/TheHungerGames can be said to have had to level up to stay alive.
* ''Film/XMen'':
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' and ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' have Iceman upgrading from student to X-Men. In the climatic battle of ''The Last Stand'', he finally goes into his full ice form. By the time of ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', he has taken several more levels, including the debut of the iconic ice slide from the comics.
** The mutant teens in ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', after their training. [[spoiler:Plus several levels for Hank after he injects himself with his serum.]]
** In ''Film/TheWolverine'', Ichirō Yashida went from a meek dying old man to [[spoiler:a foe who can almost kill Wolverine himself.]]
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'':\\\
In comparison to ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' where her only physical scenes involve weight training and her shape-changing abilities used only as a distraction to aid someone else, Mystique has developed into using some of the acrobatic fighting style that her older counterpart from the first trilogy excels at.\\\
In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', Havok lacks accuracy with his destructive powers, but shows signs of improvement by the end. In his brief scene here, he neutralizes a soldier using a non-lethal blast with little effort.
* ''{{Film/Snatch}}'': Turkish's bumbling sidekick Tommy spends a large part of the film making stupid comments and looking silly. Then Brick Top's goons bust up the arcade and try to have a go at Turkish. Tommy stares down six goons with bats and crowbars with a gun he ''knows'' won't fire, and when one of the goons attempts to call his bluff he shoves the gun in said goon's face and ''dares'' him to make a move.
* The titular protagonist in ''Film/{{Lucy}}'' covers the entire spectrum over the course of the story, starting as a helpless victim and progressing towards becoming [[spoiler: [[PhysicalGod a god-like entity]]]].
* In the movie ''Suburban Knights'', we can count Ma-Ti (from Captain Planet, not pun intended) [[spoiler:who was the only guy to fight back against Malachite using his "heart" ring, the only power everyone thought was useless, even for a cartoon show.]]
* Vlad III Dracula who was already a badass as a human, stepped it up a notch after becoming a vampire in ''Film/DraculaUntold''.
* In the [[Film/TheGiver film adaptation]], The Giver [[spoiler:stalls the Chief Elder long enough to prevent Fiona's execution]].
* Glinda from ''Film/OzTheGreatAndPowerful'', in comparison to her original book and 1939 depictions. Considering that her magic is not really meant to be used offensively, and she's a pacifist who firmly believes in ThouShallNotKill, it's amazing how she [[spoiler:overpowers Evanora and shatters her magic pendant, finally showing herself to be the powerful witch she really is.]]
--> '''Glinda''': [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Bubbles are just for show...]]
* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'':
** Eggsy when he puts all his smarts and skills with his Kingsman suit and gadgets, he becomes nearly unstoppable.
** Roxy conquered her fear of heights to the point she was able to [[spoiler:shoot down a satellite with twenty year old plus equipment from the '''stratosphere''']].
* ''Film/TheWailing'' follows [[CluelessDeputy Jong-goo]] as he goes from [[ClassicalAntiHero ineffectual anti-hero]] to someone actually capable to defend himself and his family. Some moments illustrate this change:
** At the start of the movie, a naked woman shows up at the police station in the middle of a stormy night, and Jong-goo is so terrified that he orders his deputy to look for her while he stays hidden behind his desk. At the end of the movie, he encounters [[WomanInWhite the Woman of No-name]], who he's been told is [[spoiler:a powerful evil spirit responsible for all the deaths in the village]], and while clearly scared he still stands his ground, look at her in the eye and demand answers from her.
** When he first goes to meet [[TheDreaded the Stranger]], Jong-goo is completely powerless against the latter's guard dog and is only saved when the Stranger gets back home, at which point Jong-goo just leaves without question. The second time he goes to the Stranger's cabin, Jong-goo easily kills the dog and openly threatens to do the same to the Stranger if the latter doesn't leave at once, and later [[spoiler:Jong-goo leads a mob of angry people to do just that.]]
* In ''Film/TheTerminator'', Sarah Connor is a nineteen-year-old waitress who has to be protected by BadassNormal Kyle Reese and gradually becomes an ActionSurvivor by [[spoiler:crushing the bifurcated Terminator in a hydraulic press]]. In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', Sarah Connor is a twenty-nine-year-old ripped AxCrazy [[DarkActionGirl Dark]] ActionMom.

* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': Marianne starts out a {{Princess Classic}}, running away screaming from the goblins and barely able to hold a sword steady. After seeing her [[CynicismCatalyst fiancee with another woman]], she becomes a {{Badass Princess}} who'd prefer to practice sword-fighting blindfolded than to dance. She gets good enough to single-handily break into [[EvilOverlord the Bog King's]] lair and fight him to a standstill.

** When he first goes to meet [[TheDreaded the Stranger]], Jong-goo is completely powerless against the latter's guard dog and is only saved when the Stranger gets back home, at which point Jong-goo just leaves without question. The second time he goes to the Stranger's cabin, Jong-goo easily kills the dog and openly threatens to do the same to the Stranger if the latter doesn't leave at once, and later [[spoiler:Jong-goo leads a mob of angry people to do just that.]]

* ''WesternAnimaton/StrangeMagic'': Marianne starts out a {{Princess Classic}}, running away screaming from the goblins and barely able to hold a sword steady. After seeing her [[CynicismCatalyst fiancee with another woman]], she becomes a {{Badass Princess}} who'd prefer to practice sword-fighting blindfolded than to dance. She gets good enough to single-handily break into [[EvilOverlord the Bog King's]] lair and fight him to a standstill.

* Rocky Balboa, the titular character of the ''Film/{{Rocky}}'' series of films, must always have a mandatory {{montage|s}} in the films where he trains HARD. Pushing the absolute limits of his body, will, and expectations of him...these montages always end up with Rocky gaining a new "power" and thus...a new level of his already badass status. You can even visually see his badass level go up. Set to the song "Gonna Fly Now," this TrainingMontage is one of the most famous film conventions of the modern age.
** In the 1st he gets the dedication and conditioning necessary to "go the distance" with Apollo Creed.
** The 2nd sees Rocky gain some speed and the ability to switch his dominant fighting hand.
** 3rd gives Rocky a tremendous boost in speed and offense.
** The 4th gives Rocky the ability to show Russia just how awesome he is by training in the snow by pulling chains.
** The 6th (we'll skip the 5th) sees an aged Rocky gain overwhelming power to compensate for his eroded speed due to age.

** Eggsy when he puts all his smarts and skills with his Kingsmen suit and gadgets, he becomes nearly unstoppable.

** The human character, Sam Witwicky, who spent the first two movies running away from these giant robots that try to blow him up or squish him (hey, you would too), suddenly has clearly had it with everything, and ''seriously'' invoked this trope. How BadAss has Sam become? Well if you must know...[[spoiler: HE KILLED STARSCREAM!]]

* In ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'', the main character just barely flees [[spoiler:the soldiers about to execute him]], and sees a jet trail above, realising there's still civilisation intact from ZombieApocalypse. Before, he was [[BewareTheNiceOnes a wimpy bike courier boy]], but when he makes it through the HeroicBSOD caused by this realisation, he switches into utter {{badass}}mode, wreaking havoc, killing with his bare hands, performing OffscreenTeleportation and spouting {{oneliner}}s. While to us, the audience, this is a good example of CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass, Jim's friends are so surprised by his sudden acts of badassery that they think he's become Infected.

* Angelica Chaste, in ''AngelsDance'', starts out as a repressed mortician who thinks a doll is her baby. When she finds herself the target [[spoiler:of an aspiring hitman learning the trade by assassinating a randomly picked individual]] she gets scared...then she gets ''mad''. By the end of the movie, she's levelled-up in {{Badass}} to the point that she's as much of a threat to her pursuers as they ever were to her.

* While [[Film/HarryPotter the film version]] of ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' hinted at the {{Badass}} that Neville Longbottom would become, its only in ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallowsPart2'' that we get to see his true nature. His [[RousingSpeech speech to Voldemort]] [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech refusing the Dark Lord's offer of amnesty]] was as eloquently phrased as any seen on film before.

* Godzilla Junior in the second ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' series. During his first two appearances in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzillaII'' and ''Film/GodzillaVsSpacegodzilla'', he was much like his [[SpiritualSuccessor Minilla]], and was [[TheScrappy actively disliked]] for it. Then along comes ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'' and Junior has become a {{badass}} Teenzilla, who despite being a GentleGiant and overpowered by the titular villain, hands Destoroyah's penultimate form its ass after a long, brutal fight where he gets to demonstrate just how much of a {{determinator}} he is. Destoroyah's freaked out enough that after it's resurrection into its final form it goes after Junior first, despite the adult Godzilla having arrived. Temporarily killed, he is resurrected by Godzilla's death as the new Godzilla and, assuming that he is the Godzilla who appears in ''[[Film/GodzillaFinalWars Final Wars]]'', may now be even more badass than his dad.

* Kate from ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' goes from a naive young girl who can barely hold down a shot of whiskey, to a trash-talking, crossbow-wielding, vampire-killing {{Badass}}.

** One of the most jarring examples would be Sarah Connor's transformation between the first two movies: She (and the actress) was a normal, happy-looking girl in the [[Film/TheTerminator first one]] (though even then, she still showed potential, as she ended up killing the T-800 despite being severely wounded), but looks like she gained about 20 lbs of muscle, as well as going from DamselInDistress to Psycho ActionGirl in the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDaysecond]]. A decade of preparing for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt will do that to a person. Special mention goes to the scene at the end of the movie where, if not for running out of ammo, she would have destroyed the T-1000 on her own without the T-800's help. BAD. ASS. Special mention has to be given to the actress, Linda Hamilton, who in preparation for the role trained for 13 weeks under a former Israeli commando, undertook strenuous weight training, and learned how to pick locks. The famous OneHandedShotgunPump scene was added at her request because [[TheCastShowoff she had genuinely gotten strong enough to pump it with one hand]], something that even Schwarzenegger was unable to do.

** One of the most jarring examples would be Sarah Connor's transformation between the first two movies: She (and the actress) was a normal, happy-looking girl in the [[Film/TheTerminator first one]], but looks like she gained about 20 lbs of muscle, as well as going from DamselInDistress to Psycho ActionGirl in the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDaysecond]]. A decade of preparing for TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt will do that to a person. Special mention goes to the scene at the end of the movie where, if not for running out of ammo, she would have destroyed the T-1000 on her own without the T-800's help. BAD. ASS. Special mention has to be given to the actress, Linda Hamilton, who in preparation for the role trained for 13 weeks under a former Israeli commando, undertook strenuous weight training, and learned how to pick locks. The famous OneHandedShotgunPump scene was added at her request because [[TheCastShowoff she had genuinely gotten strong enough to pump it with one hand]], something that even Schwarzenegger was unable to do.