History TookALevelInBadass / RealLife

* The British Isles, when they became an empire. Originally, they were notable for being the origin of some myths and stories, but were largely just a small country that posed no threat. Then they started stealing gold from the Spaniards to fund a fleet, and developed a Navy that would become unbeatable for years to come. They arose, formed colonies on America and became an empire, and when they severed from that, they formed TheBritishEmpire. At their peak, they were the single strongest superpower in the world. The sun never set on TheBritishEmpire, and for good reason. [[TheAtoner Then they gave it all back and became a relatively peaceful country, using their power to help its allies.]]

* Music/FrankSinatra was pretty unremarkable early in his career, being little more than the forties' equivalent of Music/JustinBieber (though obviously not as [[TookALevelInJerkass hated]]), being MrFanservice and appearing in a few musicals as the plucky young guy (though his performance was not bad by any standards). In TheFifties, noticing his career was starting to wane, he began injecting an upbeat jazz rhythm into his most well-known songs, and taking DarkerAndEdgier roles in films, such as a loose-cannon Army private in 1953's ''From Here To Eternity'' and a fresh-out-of-prison drug addict in 1955's ''The Man With The Golden Arm'' (although not remarkable today, [[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode it was highly controversial back then]]). The Music/FrankSinatra that was popular in TheFifties and TheSixties we immortalize today is a dice-playing, martini-swigging lounge-singer type, possibly with [[TheMafia a tommy gun stashed somewhere]], something none of his EstrogenBrigade would've seen coming back in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* Music/FrankSinatra was pretty unremarkable early in his career, being little more than the forties' equivalent of Music/JustinBieber (though obviously not as hated), being MrFanservice and appearing in a few musicals as the plucky young guy (though his performance was not bad by any standards). In TheFifties, noticing his career was starting to wane, he began injecting an upbeat jazz rhythm into his most well-known songs, and taking DarkerAndEdgier roles in films, such as a loose-cannon Army private in 1953's ''From Here To Eternity'' and a fresh-out-of-prison drug addict in 1955's ''The Man With The Golden Arm'' (although not remarkable today, [[UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode it was highly controversial back then]]). The Music/FrankSinatra that was popular in TheFifties and TheSixties we immortalize today is a dice-playing, martini-swigging lounge-singer type, possibly with [[TheMafia a tommy gun stashed somewhere]], something none of his EstrogenBrigade would've seen coming back in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* America took a level during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Before the war, Denmark had a larger standing army then the USA. Then America [[NukeEm split the atom]], and from there, America became one of the two superpowers that would define the rest of the 20th century.

** During WWII, AdolfHitler posted troops at the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge [[WorthyOpponent to keep anybody from messing with it.]]

* In a weather-version of this, in mid-August 2005, a tropical depression formed in the middle of the Atlantic. The next day, it died without doing anything. Nine days later, it came back, and well...the results weren't good. '''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina AT ALL.]]'''
** Not ''entirely'' true. It grew into a Category 1 hurricane, hit Florida, weakened into a depression, and then crossed into the Gulf of Mexico... Two days later, it was a Category 5 '''monster''' that was roughly the size of a large portion of the United States, [[OhCrap barreling straight for a many feet below sea level New Orleans...]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SLXYRJnYm0 Look for yourself.]]

* Japan, 1850-2000: A fractious, feudal almost non-functional archipelago, on the verge of being colonised, pretty much modernised everything it can, and became a great power, being able to treat on equal terms with the likes of the United Kingdom, the German Empire, or the United States. She also leveraged its power into an empire of its own in the Pacific. Even after losing in WWII, Japan goes from an economy in shambles to an industrial and technological power-house that dominated the computer and car-manufacturing industry. And as of 2014, it is still the third biggest economic superpower; a far cry from the backward, isolated, and unknown archipelago it was a mere 150 years ago.

** And speaking of dinosaurs, the T-Rex's bitter rival ([[SomewhereAPaleontologistIsCrying at least on-screen]]) ''Triceratops'' was the end product of a long line of ceratopsian evolution that had rather humble origins. The very first ceratopsians were quite small, mostly ranging from dog to pig-sized. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Some of them were truly strange,]] such as the bipedal ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinlong Yinlong]]'' and the possibly amphibious ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreaceratops Koreaceratops]]'' (This is a relatively recent discovery, so this may [[ScienceMarchesOn subject to change]]). However, towards the end of the Cretaceous period, the more recognizable four-legged, multiple large horned dinosaurs such as ''Triceratops'', ''Torosaurus'' and ''Styracosaurus'' began to appear (though the bipedal line was still running around around the same time as their bigger, four-legged cousins). They and hadrosaurs had largely replaced the North American and Asian sauropod dinosaurs, much as the carnosaurs had largely been replaced by tyrannosaurs and dromaeosaurs in the same areas.

* The British Army during The First World War. While it's standing army was one of the most professional forces the isles have ever produced, it was miniscule. However, with a mass recruitment drive and a realisation that the Royal Navy could not end the war quickly, the Army turned from a highly-drilled minnow to a juggernaut to equal the French and German Armies.

* Japan, 1850-1944, during which a fractious, feudal almost non-functional archipelago able to be bullied by private Portuguese, Dutch and British traders restored good government, rapidly industrialized, built a powerful army and navy which it used to assert its status a great power. As a great power, Japan was able to treat on equal terms with the likes of the United Kingdom, the German Empire, or the United States, and leveraged its power into an empire of its own in the Pacific, including, at its height, Korea, Manchuria, Taiwan, most of coastal China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Phillipines.
** Also, 1945-1991. Japan goes from a nation destroyed by firebombing and two [[NukeEm atomic weapons]] with an economy in shambles to an industrial and technological power-house that dominated the computer and car-manufacturing industry.

* Music/HenryRollins was a scrawny bullied kid, until tenth grade, when he bought a weight set, hospitalized one of those bullies, and grew up to [[http://static.rarbg.com/posters2/1/1b42d78a987a83a4c0a0beff745eb7356d34d0fb.jpg be]].
** A 404 Error! It takes a true badass to turn into an abstract Internet concept! In seriousness, he became [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins a lot of things.]]

* [[ThreateningShark Sharks.]] For a long time in their history, sharks were the {{butt monkey}}s for all manner of nastier sea-creatures. Sure, they were capable predators and numerous, but giant placoderms and mososaurs and [[AlwaysABiggerFish bigger fish]] made life for them hell. That all changed after the KT Extinction Event. Sharks filled in the gaps left behind by the now-extinct aquatic predators and exploded into numerous variant species, living in every possible environment in the ocean, and becoming it's top predators in many of those environments. It was only after the evolution of large toothed whales and dolphins like the sperm whale and orca that sharks had real competitors.

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* Two plants in the nightshade family got this after the Spanish discovery of the New World; the tomato and the potato. Both species of plant were relatively geographically isolated. The potato did not exist outside of what would be Peru and Bolivia, and the tomato was a part of the Aztec diet in Mexico. When the Conquistadores found them, they brought them to Europe, where both plant's popularity exploded. Try to imagine a world without potato chips, french fries, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, sundried tomatoes or potato cannons! The potato in particular was especially important to the industrializing Europe, as the crop's heartiness and relatively cheap price kept millions in Ireland from starving (and did starve millions when a fungus caused the Potato Famine), fed millions more throughout Europe and was among the first crops grown in Europe's African and American colonies. It [[JustForPun grew]] so popular that the potato became a subject of intense admiration. MarieAntoinette even wore a headdress made of potato flowers in appreciation of spuds everywhere. When the poster lady for the ErmineCapeEffect wears your reproductive organs as a hat, you know you've made it.

* Two plants in the nightshade family got this after the Spanish discovery of the New World; the tomato and the potato. Both species of plant were relatively geographically isolated. The potato did not exist outside of what would be Peru and Bolivia, and the tomato was a part of the Aztec diet in Mexico. When the Conquistadores found them, they brought them to Europe, where both plant's popularity exploded. Try to imagine a world without potato chips, french fries, tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, sundried tomatoes or potato cannons! The potato in particular was especially important to the industrializing Europe, as the crop's heartiness and relatively cheap price kept millions in Ireland from starving (and did starve millions when a fungus caused the Potato Famine), fed millions more throughout Europe and was among the first crops grown in Europe's African and American colonies. It [[JustForPun grew]] so popular that the potato became a subject of intense admiration. MarieAntoinette even wore a headdress made of potato flowers in appreciation of spuds everywhere. When the poster lady for the ErmireCapeEffect wears your reproductive organs as a hat, you know you've made it.

*** Well, [[IncreadiblyLamePun fuck.]]

* StevieWonder began his career as Little Stevie Wonder, recording undistinguished albums of soul and big band covers under the creative control of Berry Gordy's Motown. At the age of 21 he threatened to quit the company unless he was allowed to do things his own way; Motown gave in, and Stevie Wonder went on to record a string of innovative albums that made him one of ''the'' key stars of the 1970s.
* FrankSinatra was pretty unremarkable early in his career, being little more than the forties' equivalent of Music/JustinBieber (though obviously not as hated), being EstrogenBrigadeBait and appearing in a few musicals as the plucky young guy (though his performance was not bad by any standards). In TheFifties, noticing his career was starting to wane, he began injecting an upbeat jazz rhythm into his most well-known songs, and taking DarkerAndEdgier roles in films, such as a loose-cannon Army private in 1953's ''From Here To Eternity'' and a fresh-out-of-prison drug addict in 1955's ''The Man With The Golden Arm'' (although not remarkable today, [[HaysCode it was highly controversial back then]]). The FrankSinatra that was popular in TheFifties and TheSixties we immortalize today is a dice-playing, martini-swigging lounge-singer type, possibly with [[TheMafia a tommy gun stashed somewhere]], something none of his EstrogenBrigade would've seen coming back in [[WorldWarTwo WWII]].

* HenryRollins was a scrawny bullied kid, until tenth grade, when he bought a weight set, hospitalized one of those bullies, and grew up to [[http://static.rarbg.com/posters2/1/1b42d78a987a83a4c0a0beff745eb7356d34d0fb.jpg be]].

* America took a level during WorldWarTwo. Before the war, Denmark had a larger standing army then the USA. Then America [[NukeEm split the atom]], and from there, America became one of the two superpowers that would define the rest of the 20th century.

* [[UsefulNotes/CanucksWithChinooks Canada]] in WorldWarOne. Before entering, Canada was just some British colony overseas that no one really knew about. Afterwards, by the end of the war, German soldiers knew that if there were Canadian soldiers placed, they better prepare for an offensive attack.

* Webcomic/{{xkcd}} took a level in badass IRL when [[FoxTrot Bill Amend]] drew a guest comic for it. A well known, high profile artist drawing for YOUR webcomic gives you prestige +9000.

* Aron Ralston, upon whom [[OneHundredAndTwentySevenHours 127 Hours]] is based. He spent three days with his arm trapped under a boulder, dying, [[spoiler:then chopped his own arm off and legged it]]. He survived, obviously.
* The Supreme Court took its level with Marbury v. Madison. It went from being the least powerful branch of the U.S. government to being able to nullify the actions of any of the other two (due to vagueness of the Constitution). Having a {{Chessmaster}} in John Marshall as a Chief Justice didn't hurt either.
* Wild animals start out as tiny and very weak babies, only for them to grow up (if they survive long enough) and have things like venom, razor sharp claws and teeth, horns, antlers, tusks, fast speed, huge strength etc.
** You could say the same about humanity, for that matter.
* The Kingdom of Prussia. What started out as merely one of the Electors of the HolyRomanEmpire went and unified Germany by 1870.

* China. The country was arguably worse than Russia was through most of its existance. When Mao Tse-tung came along with his take on Communism in the late 40's, it only served to [[FromBadToWorse make things even worse]]. However, after the economic reforms by Mao's successor, in little over 60 years, it has become a global power that many believe even rivals the USA.
* The SovietUnion in 1943. Before this time, it had a heavily outdated army devastated by internal strife, a populace that was uneducated and starving and a drought of scientific and technological progress. Hitler's armed forces almost destroyed the Soviet military, but after numerous counter-attacks (the most famous being Stalingrad) and a handy Russian Winter, the Soviets steam-rolled and conquered the Germans and invaded Japanese-held Manchuria. After that, they became a scientific, economic and military superpower, for a long time the only one capable of competing with the United States and the first nation to send a man into space.

* [[EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks Sharks.]] For a long time in their history, sharks were the {{butt monkey}}s for all manner of nastier sea-creatures. Sure, they were capable predators and numerous, but giant placoderms and mososaurs and [[AlwaysABiggerFish bigger fish]] made life for them hell. That all changed after the KT Extinction Event. Sharks filled in the gaps left behind by the now-extinct aquatic predators and exploded into numerous variant species, living in every possible environment in the ocean, and becoming it's top predators in many of those environments. It was only after the evolution of large toothed whales and dolphins like the sperm whale and orca that sharks had real competitors.

* This applies to mammals as well. In the Mesozoic Era, the best they could really do was prey on young dinosaurs and other reptiles, and most of them were tiny, harmless critters that adapted to being nocturnal because of the intense competition. Their ancestors, the Synapsids, were fairly successful during the Permian period, but after the massive extinction that happened at the end made them into what could be called the "ChewToy" of the animal kingdom. But, when the non-avian dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles kicked the bucket and ushered in the Cenozoic era, the mammals [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome outcompeted every other vertebrate and became the dominant clade in the entire freakin' world]].

* The British Isles, when they became an empire. Originally, they were notable for being the origin of some myths and stories, but were largely just a small country that posed no threat. Then they started stealing gold from the Spaniards to fund a fleet, and developed a Navy that would become unbeatable for years to come. They arose, formed colonies on America and became an empire, and when they severed from that, they formed the BritishEmpire. At their peak, they were the single strongest superpower in the world. The sun never set on the British Empire, and for good reason. [[TheAtoner Then hey gave it all back and became a relatively peaceful country, using their power to help its allies.]]

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