->'''Jacob:''' Come on, Sam. It can't be any harder than blowing up a sun.\\
'''Sam:''' You know, you blow up ''one'' sun and suddenly everyone expects you to walk on water.\\
''[alien control panel lights up]''\\
'''Sam:''' Next step, parting the Red Sea!
-->-- ''Series/StargateSG1'', "[[Recap/StargateSG1S8E17ReckoningPart2 Reckoning, Part 2]]"

A sub-trope of ContinuityNod, where a character acknowledges a past SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, either their own or that of another character.

Can be used to attempt to [[BadassBoast intimidate an opponent]], or even just a minor character that is being a nuisance. If the opponent is impressive enough, this may even qualify as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome in its own right. Also likely to turn up in a DontSaySuchStupidThings speech to bolster a character's confidence by talking about the incredible feats they have accomplished in the past. Sometimes said in such an offhand manner that it almost appears that the character themselves mightn't find it all that impressive. It can also be used to lampshade the trumped-up suspense regarding the latest [[TheWorldIsAlwaysDoomed threat]]; your character can blow up a sun, so why are we all worried about the villain's new death ray?

If the character continues to reminisce on a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome long after they stop being capable of pulling off similar feats, this becomes GloryDays.

Sometimes played with if the [[BuffySpeak sun-blower-upper]] either ''doesn't'' remember the incident in question, or does but [[ButForMeItWasTuesday attaches no importance to it]].

If writers seem to think that's all the character does, it turns into {{Flanderization}}. Closely related to BadassBoast. This trope can also come into play if the character is LegendaryInTheSequel and his deeds in the previous installment are mentioned.

Contrast OnceDoneNeverForgotten, which is when the event other characters repeatedly bring up is embarrassing or shameful, and NeverLiveItDown, where it's the ''audience'' that keeps bringing the regrettable event up.

If the incident however occurred during an off-screen moment within the plot and is never actually explained to the audience it turns into the NoodleIncident.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Does not (usually) involve actual suns exploding]]. For that, see StarKilling. It also has nothing to do with destroying something that large scale out of sheer incompetence. That would be MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' uses this trope to restore the HeroicResolve of the main group of TrueCompanions prior to the FinalBattle.
* ''Manga/HajimeNoIppo'': Takamura beating up a bear. Due to his gigantic ego, Takamura himself mentions it more than other characters do.
* In ''Manga/Reborn2004'', Ryohei once punched a lion. He then gave himself the epithet "Lion Punchist" Ryohei.
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Rakan was demonstrating for Setsuna (a [[SupernaturalMartialArts Shinmei]][[FantasticFightingStyle ryuu]] [[DemonSlaying warrior]]) how to pull off a Zanmaken Ni no Tachi, a highly advanced SecretArt he'd never tried before in a style he was unfamiliar with (he maintains that he merely "[[AwesomeByAnalysis copied]]" [[MasterSwordsman Eishun]], an old traveling companion). Due to carelessness, it cut through Negi's [[DeflectorShields barrier]], several walls/buildings, a mountain-sized rock hovering outside the ([[FloatingContinent floating]]) city, plus it nicked Negi in the head, and just nearly killed him. Later in that scene, Konoka points out how impressive it is that Negi fought [[PersonOfMassDestruction such a person]] to a draw.
-->'''Negi:''' Frankly, even I'm starting to wonder how I ever managed to pull that off.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** Frieza often brags about how he can destroy planets effortlessly and how easy it was to wipe out the Saiyans without going past his first transformation. Which makes his humiliation and defeat at the hands of Goku sting all the more. Super Saiyan Goku even delivers this stinger immediately after standing still and taking one of Frieza's [[BeamSpam death beams]] [[NoSell to the face]].
-->''"You can destroy whole planets, but you can't destroy '''one man.'''"''
** Goku is well known throughout the universe as the person who defeated Frieza. It is brought up a few times by his friends, the Kais, and even by Beerus, the God of Destruction. Although for some reason Vegeta's younger brother thought Vegeta was the one who killed Frieza. He's half right since it was Trunks who cut Frieza to bits. He's also known for killing Majin Buu, which is one of the many reasons why Frieza's empire [[TheDreaded stayed away from him]]. Even Frieza is greatly [[VillainRespect impressed]] when he hears that Goku killed Buu. After fighting Beerus, the battle is often used as a point of reference by Beerus to tell people how awesome Goku is, despite the fact that Goku didn't win. Before Frieza, Buu, or Beerus, he was known as the boy who defeated the Demon King Piccolo, ''twice''.
** Among his friends and family, Future Trunks is credited as the one who killed Frieza the first time. Upon his resurrection, Frieza wants revenge on Trunks for killing him along with Goku.
** In-universe, Mr. Satan is hailed by the people of Earth as the savior who defeated Cell. It is often brought up even a decade after Cell's death.
** Gohan defeating Cell is often used to tell anyone what a badass he is or in Vegeta's case, was.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy's feat of breaking into Impel Down and charging into the war at Marineford to save his older brother made him a legend among many pirates, criminals, and marines.
** Luffy's grandfather, Garp, is revered for cornering Gold Roger several times. [[spoiler: Subverted with the actual reason he's famous - he's ashamed of what he did during the God Valley incident, so he keeps it secret. If you're wondering, he worked ''with'' Roger to take down [[TheDreaded Rocks]], and protected [[AristocratsAreEvil Celestial Dragons]] in doing so.]]
* In ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'', Kanna mentions [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu that time that Kobayashi one-shotted her father]] when Kobayashi says that [[ItMakesSenseInContext she can't eat grasshoppers]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
** The time Batman knocked out Guy Gardner with one punch gets mentioned far more than [[ExiledFromContinuity most of the Justice League International era]]. Partly because it's a OnceDoneNeverForgotten down moment for [[ButtMonkey Guy]]. It was even included as a MythologyGag in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''.
** Batman once [[ArrowCatch caught one of Speedy's arrows]]. It left such an impression on him that he would bring it up from time to time, even years later when he became Arsenal.
-->'''Arsenal''': Dick, he caught the frickin' arrow.\\
'''Nightwing''': Would you stop with that already? How many years ago was that?\\
'''Arsenal''': He didn't even turn around and he caught the frickin' arrow!
** Nobody ever let [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Batgirl]] forget the time she defeated ComicBook/LadyShiva in a duel.
** Bane's famous actions in ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' are referenced so often in ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' that it approaches a RunningGag.
--->'''Concierge:''' If you don't mind my asking, what do you bench press?\\
'''Bane:''' ...Costumed detectives, mostly.
* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': Captain America punching Hitler in the face. Lampshaded in the ''Winter Soldier: Winter Kills'' one-shot.
-->'''Bucky:''' Come on, Cap. Don't you ever wanna go out on the town? Don't you know how to have fun?\\
'''Cap:''' Of course I do. Remember that time I [[http://www.comics.pop-cult.com/A-G/images/Captain-America-1.jpg punched Hitler in the face?]] That was fun.
* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'':
** Uncle Scrooge frequently likes to boast of his past adventures, especially in stories by Creator/DonRosa, [[PromotedFanboy who grew up]] on the works of Scrooge's creator Creator/CarlBarks.
** In Rosa's "The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros", ComicBook/DonaldDuck ever so casually mentions to pals José Carioca and Panchito Pistolas about the times he found [[CityOfGold El Dorado]], the lost mines of the Incas, Atlantis, and King Solomon's Mines, the last living dinosaurs... all of this as an afterthought. He did all of that in stories by Creator/CarlBarks, but José and Panchito's awed reactions really put all of that into perspective.
* ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}'': After an encounter with a rampaging [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]], the Exiles and the resident ComicBook/AlphaFlight team repeatedly joke that [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Susan Storm]] ''never shuts up'' about the time she beat the Hulk.
* ''ComicBook/MightyAvengers'': The Sentry's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome was mentioned as a possible tactic so frequently that he rapidly got sick of it. He does not throw ''everything'' [[HurlItIntoTheSun into the Sun]]. According to [[MemeticMutation the Internet]], not only does he hurl everything into the sun, but this has become Norman Osborn's go-to solution to every problem. "Bob, throw X into the sun."
* ''ComicBook/MiniMarvels'': Hawkeye always talks about how he defeated Iron Man with just his bow and arrows when anybody gives him lip for not having powers. It gets to become sort of a running gag.
-->'''Dr. Strange:''' Yes I remember that fight, you mention it often.
* ''ComicBook/MsMarvel'': In ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2006'', [[ComicBook/SpiderWoman Jessica Drew]] tries to remind Carol of how awesome she is with the inverse of the trope name: "Remember when you stopped the sun from exploding?".
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In ''ComicBook/SpiderMansTangledWeb'' #13, a group of villains are in a BadGuyBar telling their stories of how close they got to killing Spider-Man. A stranger walks in wearing a hat and coat and shares [[http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/473818.html?thread=12066778&style=light his story.]]
** In an issue of ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan2018'', Peter is at [[BadGuyBar the Bar with No Name]] and zoned out until he overhears that the other patrons are having a trivia game about him. When they have a question about which herald of ComicBook/{{Galactus}} he defeated, Peter injects and [[ButHeSoundsHandsome (indirectly)]] gloats that it was Firelord after everyone else gets it wrong.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'': Supergirl's most notorious moment of awesome was beating the Anti-Monitor up in ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. Sure, he got a lucky shot and killed her, but she nearly kills an EldritchAbomination that had previously devoured an ''infinite'' number of ''universes''. That was not her only or last awesome moment, but it is the most memorable one. And it is often referenced InUniverse by whoever remembers the Crisis.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** Superman's most notorious Moment Of Awesome (or at least, Moment Of "What The--?") actually came from the [[Film/SupermanTheMovie 1977 film]], where he reverses time by ''reversing the Earth's orbit'' in order to prevent an earthquake that killed ComicBook/LoisLane. When anyone wants to point out how ''insane'' Superman's powers can get, though, that's what they point to. Ironically, he ''never actually spins the Earth backwards'' - he's traveling through time and it appears to spin backwards. At least that was the creators' intent.
** Another infamous example being the time ''ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'' (his younger self) towed an entire solar system of planets behind him. This feat is where the infamous "juggling planets" term came from regarding ultra-powerful characters.
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'': Rare is the appearance by frequent baddie Cheshire that doesn't mention the time she nuked the capital of {{Qurac}}.
* ''ComicBook/TheUnbeatableSquirrelGirl'': Everyone knows Squirrel Girl once defeated Doctor Doom. And it wasn't just a Doombot, either.
* ''ComicBook/{{Vixen}}'': Vixen is frequently reminded of the time she ''punched a hole in Amazo''.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** From ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen'' #12: The X-Men are being attacked by a giant swarm of sentinel robots.
-->'''Kitty:''' It's the size of a city!\\
'''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}:''' Yeah, I [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge killed a city]] one time. Funny story.
** Later, in ''Giant-Sized Astonishing X-Men'' #1, Kitty, trapped on a mlles-long bullet that would have destroyed the Earth, managed to phase the bullet through the Earth. Years later, during the first ComicBook/HellfireGala, as part of her wardrobe for the event, Kate Pryde wore a brooch consisting of a large X-shaped diamond with a silver bullet in front. Emma Frost commissioned the brooch to serve a reminder to anyone who saw it that they owe Kate for saving the Earth.
* ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'': The pilots in Rogue Squadron love talking about how they could take the Death Star. Pilots surrounded by enemy craft say that it's as crowded and hostile as the Death Star, and actually given the odds they'd prefer to be back there. People [[http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/1527/blz14.jpg go through]] an estate's defenses faster than [[HoldYourHippogriffs X-wings go through a Death Star]]. When breaking into something they say things like "Well, it's not like it's a Death Star." "Not like we're in X-Wings." Understandable, considering that it was founded by the two X-Wing pilots who survived the first one, and commanded by one of the two who proceeded to destroy the second one.\\\
While composing a mission plan, someone asks if they abort if something goes wrong. Asked to define wrong, a commando [[http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7357/swrsmr205.jpg says]] "They've sent a Death Star," obviously a flippant remark since this is set between superweapon eras. An older pilot says they'll just leave the Death Star to Wedge and Tycho, two pilots who took down the second one, while they do their job. Tycho [[http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/5770/swrsmr206.jpg says]] "Only ''one'' Death Star? Then we'll be ready to [[BigDamnHeroes save you when you need it]]."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the ''Fanfic/DevaSeries'', [[Franchise/LyricalNanoha Nanoha]] -- an expert at provoking OhCrap -- pulls off one of these completely by accident. Lotte is teasing her, and asks when she last blew out a workroom. Nanoha's casual response makes at least one student pale, knowing that none of the students would have a chance of pulling off such a feat.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'', when Badger threatens Mal, Mal retorts by pointing out that he has a personal beef with [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Adalai Niska]], [[TheEmpire Alliance Military]], as well as others far scarier than Badger himself, adding that if Badger really wants to play, [[BadassBoast he can get in line]].
* In ''Fanfic/BraveNewWorld'' (a ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' fic), Ash is [[SuperpoweredEvilSide inadver]][[RoaringRampageOfRevenge tently]] responsible for having killed five deities (including the god of ''death'') and causing a previous apocalypse. While the recently regained memories of this are quite traumatizing to him, Leo sees it as the most badass thing he's ever done and never lets him live it down.
* Many ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' fanfics, especially FixFic or {{Patchwork Fic}}s, balk at the SoLastSeason concept; if anyone, including the Outer Senshi suggest she can't handle a situation, you'll generally have someone mention they been doing just fine till now thankyouverymuch.
* ''Fanfic/UndocumentedFeatures'' has many of these, given its density of [=CMOAs=], but one stands out: [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena Utena]], Savior of Titan.
* In ''Fanfic/AndIfThatDontWork'' Asuka is constantly reminded that during her first battle she blew up a mountain. She is less than thrilled with the reminders, complaining it was covered with Angels and wasn't all that large of a mountain.
* ''Fanfic/GettingBackOnYourHooves'': It's a RunningGag that Trixie keeps hearing about the Mane Cast's various exploits and being stunned by it, and ashamed of the fact that she publicly humiliated several of them. [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle with [[BigBad Checker Monarch]], Rarity uses the fact that they beat both Nightmare Moon and Discord as a BadassBoast.]]
* In ''Fanfic/StargateEquestria: Connection'', Carter's famous action is mentioned as part of O'Neill's BadassBoast.
* ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' inverts this when Jack recalls Brainstorm's tendency to [[DidntThinkThisThrough not think things through]], like when he caused Yellowstone to erupt.
* Trixie taking an entire town hostage and personally vanishing the princess of friendship, is repeatedly brought up in ''Fanfic/WeRentTheNight''. This instantly astounds the NaiveNewComer, but the other guards are not so impressed.
* In ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'', Zim and Dib will often mention past exploits, to the confusion of the [[OriginalCharacter new characters]].
* In ''Fanfic/DreamingOfSunshine'', Kiba promises to invoke this about Shikako's second fight in the Grass Chunin Exams, where she [[spoiler:has her chakra sealed, but manages to come out on top by strangling Muku with her hair.]]
-->'''Shikako:''' "You don't need to mention it ever again."
-->'''Kiba:''' "Oh, no. This is never, ever being forgotten."
-->'''Shikako:''' "It worked."
-->'''Kiba:''' "That's why it's amazing, and why I'm going to tell this story for the rest of your life."
** WordOfGod [[https://www.fanfiction.net/topic/180237/137948546/2/Recursive-Fanfiction#138278421 says that Kiba tends to invoke this trope a lot off-screen.]]
* A couple of examples from ''Fanfic/TheRavensPlan'':
** No one is ever going to forget that Arya fed Walder Frey a pie made out of two of his grandsons and annihilated House Frey. Or fail to tell others about it (not helped by the fact that it's now in song form).
** Speaking of the Freys, Edmure's own brutal purge of them [[PeggySue post-Remembering]] is rapidly becoming this as well, especially his brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown of Black Walder Frey with a rock. In fact, it and Arya's purge are both in the same song.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Justice}}'', the Straw Hats will often casually mention their various past adventures without context, confusing the hell out of everyone from Earth who overhears them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* Three different characters in ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'' remark on Gru's theft of the moon in the first movie. Usually referring to how impressive it was or how large-scale it was.
* In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', everyone in the Valley knows that Po is the Dragon Warrior now, and they have no problem reminding him of that fact. Po himself also has a tendency to do this to other people due to his fanboy nature.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', it's mentioned that all Starfleet command cadets have to take the Kobayashi Maru test, a no-win-scenario designed to see how they deal with failure. Legendarily, James T. Kirk is the only person to have ever passed the test - by cheating. This is brought up several times throughout the film, as well as in the ExpandedUniverse and the [[Film/StarTrek2009 reboot/alternate universe movie]].
* In ''Film/PineappleExpress'', immediately after the action spectacular climax, the heroes go to a diner and talk about all the amazing things they just did.
* In ''Film/AnchormanTheLegendOfRonBurgundy'', immediately after the massive street brawl between the news teams the protagonists gather in Ron's office where they discuss just how out of control things got, including Brick killing a guy with a trident.
-->'''Ron Burgundy:''' Boy, [[MemeticMutation that escalated quickly.]]... I mean, that really got out of hand fast.\\
'''Champ Kind:''' It jumped up a notch.\\
'''Ron Burgundy:''' It did, didn't it?\\
'''Brick Tamland:''' Yeah, I stabbed a man in the heart.\\
'''Ron Burgundy:''' I saw that. Brick killed a guy. Did you throw a trident?\\
'''Brick Tamland:''' Yeah, there were horses, and a man on fire, and I killed a guy with a trident.\\
'''Ron Burgundy:''' Brick, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safehouse or a relative close by. Lay low for a while, because you're probably wanted for murder.
* Mr. Furious of ''Film/MysteryMen'', when questioning his power, is reminded of the time he lifted a bus! For a while, this makes him feel better about himself, but after a moment of self-realization, he admits that he didn't so much lift it as push it... and it was in gear... and the driver was pressing the gas...
* In ''Film/EscapeFromLA'', everybody appears to know who "Snake" Plissken is (probably the EyepatchOfPower) and how he got infamous (something about a hold-up against a city). He was supposed to be a bit taller, though. And everyone [[RunningGag thought he was dead]].
* ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}''
** After ''Sharpe's Eagle'', someone will sooner or later say words to the effect of: "Hey, you're Richard Sharpe! You took the eagle at Talavera! That was awesome!"
** Before that, and indeed quite a few times after, he gets "Aren't you the chap that saved Wellington's life?"
* In ''Film/TheBoondockSaints'', after their Air Vent fiasco, they are explaining the whole thing to Rocco over pizza and beer. Some of the actual dialogue is montaged over, but they're definitely enjoying themselves, even laying upside down on tables to help demonstrate their sheer awesome.
* Detective John [=McClane's=] [[Film/DieHard adventure in Nakatomi Plaza]] is referenced in both ''Film/DieHard2: Die Harder'' and ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance''.
* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'': When talking to Mystique, multiple characters mention that she stopped Magneto from killing the president 10 years ago.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gamebooks]]
* The main character Pip in the ''Literature/GrailQuest'' gamebooks acquired a new title with every book. By the end of the series, he was Pip the Wizard Basher, Dragon Slayer, Ghastly Kingdom Gateway Closer, Realm Saver and Chaos Tamer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', Hermione and Ron take turns listing all the incredible things Harry had done up to then in DontSaySuchStupidThings fashion after he claimed he wasn't good enough to teach them Defence Against the Dark Arts. A similar exchange occurred at the first meeting of the DA. Specifically it's his mastering of the Patronus at age 13 that seems to impress the most people, which is also referenced during his OWL exam and at his court hearing.
* The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' novel ''Immortal Coil'' features (almost) every artificial intelligence ever shown on Star Trek. One character mentions that Picard is a bit of a celebrity among A.I.s. because he defended (and helped to better define) Data's rights as a sentient being in the episode "The Measure of a Man."
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** People always bring up that time Harry [[spoiler:rode a polka-powered zombie ''T. rex'']] against an undead army [[Literature/DeadBeat during a necromantic hurricane]].
** Harry's [[Literature/SmallFavor defeat of Eldest Gruff]], [[spoiler:by asking for a donut]], apparently had the entire Summer Court laughing for months. Harry also discovered that most of the White Council, [[MagicKnight Wardens]] included, is afraid of him because of his accomplishments.
** This has made Harry a sort of LivingLegend, as pointed out in ''Literature/TurnCoat'': The White Council doesn't see Harry as a guy in way over his head who barely survives by the skin of his teeth through a combination of quick thinking, powerful friends, and luck. They see him as the guy who [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu killed the Summer Lady]], outwitted [[MagnificentBastard Nicodemus]], rides into battle [[spoiler:on the back of a zombie tyrannosaurus]], and was brave enough to challenge ''[[RankScalesWithAsskicking the entire Senior Council]]'' to a fight, and then ''actually showed up''.
** Murphy's probably getting tired of people recognizing her from the loup-garou footage that aired at the end of ''Literature/FoolMoon'' by now. Or at least, of how everyone who's not clued-in ''immediately'' remarks about how fake it looked.
* Lampshaded in the ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'' novels and ''[[Literature/SecretHistories The Spy Who Haunted Me]]'': throughout Green's series, people keep bringing up the fact that Walker used his Voice to order a corpse to sit up on the slab and answer his questions. "It was just the one time!"
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]
** In ''Literature/XWingSeries'', it's all but stated that the [[PlanetOfHats Hat]] for Tatooinians is possession of ImprobablePilotingSkills due to shooting giant rats from an airspeeder.
-->'''Nawara:''' Run up this rift valley and hit something the third of the size of an X-wing, without the benefit of a targeting computer? That's impossible.\\
'''Gavin:''' That's nothing. Back home in Beggar's Canyon...\\
'''Wedge:''' I don't think any pilot from Tatooine ever found a mission tough, especially when it involves racing through a canyon.
** Later in the series, Wedge Antilles, Corran Horn, and Gavin Darklighter have this exchange.
-->'''Wedge:''' Unseating Isard may, in fact, turn out to be impossible.\\
'''Corran:''' Gavin, this is where you're supposed to tell us that unseating her isn't tough and relate the whole thing to varminting on Tatooine.\\
'''Gavin:''' I didn't hear anyone mention a trench or canyon or womp rats. Taking a planet is beyond me.
** Wedge "Only Man to Survive Two Death Star Runs" Antilles gets this a lot. Also known as Wedge "[[SpringtimeForHitler Won a Battle He Was Trying to Lose]]" Antilles.
** Kyp Durron, who blew up multiple suns. Bit of an inversion as he was DrunkOnTheDarkSide at the time and murdered tens of ''millions'' of people on an Imperial world in the process, and it's generally treated as a ''bad'' thing. He was pretty unhappy about the one time it was used as propaganda against the Vong.
** On another occasion, Lando manages to talk down an angry mob by pointing out that the guy standing behind him with the lightsaber is Luke Skywalker, the guy who took down ''Darth Vader''. This is a borderline example, since it isn't actually true, but most of the Galaxy thinks that's what happened (and as Luke silently muses, [[ExactWords technically]] it ''is'' true, since he ''did'' defeat Vader in their last duel, he just didn't ''kill'' him). Given how many awesome things he's actually done, it's not exactly unjustified.
** At one point in the ''Literature/LegacyOfTheForce'' series, Wedge has to pick out callsigns for him and Corran before they try a DelayingAction. He picks Ganner One and Ganner Two, in homage to Jedi Knight Ganner Rhysode's "[[YouShallNotPass None Shall Pass]]" moment against the Yuuzhan Vong in ''[[Literature/NewJediOrder Traitor]]''.
** By the end of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', the characters have come to trust in Tash Arranda. In the last book her brother, feeling like TheUnFavorite, thinks about her track record, which most recently includes outwitting TheVirus and helping them escape Darth Vader himself.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** In ''Literature/{{Thud}}'', Lord Vetinari runs down some of Commander Vimes's greatest hits to explain why the troll and dwarf governments ''will'' take his word for things.
--->'''Vetinari:''' Sam Vimes once [[Literature/{{Jingo}} arrested me for treason]]. And Sam Vimes [[Literature/GuardsGuards arrested a dragon]]. Sam Vimes [[Literature/{{Jingo}} stopped a war between nations by arresting two high commands]]. He's an arresting fellow, Sam Vimes. Sam Vimes [[Literature/TheFifthElephant killed a werewolf with his bare hands]] and [[Literature/FeetOfClay carries the law with him like a lamp]]...
** In ''Literature/AHatFullOfSky'', after coming out of an argument with [[NeverMessWithGranny Granny Weatherwax]] about how to deal with the hiver, Tiffany Aching recalls some of the stories she's heard about Granny:
--->'''Tiffany:''' I've just had a blazing row with Mistress Weatherwax! They say [[Literature/{{Maskerade}} if you cut her with a knife, she wouldn't bleed until she wanted to!]] They say that [[Literature/CarpeJugulum when some vampires bit]] ''[[Literature/CarpeJugulum her]]'', [[Literature/CarpeJugulum they all started to crave tea and sweet biscuits.]] She can do anything, be anywhere! [[OhCrap And I called her an old woman!]]
* ''Literature/EyeOfTheNeedle''. Lucy Rose prevents the Needle from transmitting his information about the D-Day invasion by [[spoiler:jamming her fingers into a light socket and blowing out the power to his radio]]. This happens near the end of the book, but everyone's suitably impressed by it to keep bringing it up in the few remaining chapters (mainly because there was a simpler way to do it that didn't involve getting shocked).
* In ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', Blackwolf mentions on at least two occasions how he beat [[InvincibleHero CoreFire]] in a fight.
* ''Literature/{{DragonLance}}'': Tasslehoff Burrfoot would like to remind you that he and [[CrystalDragonJesus Paladine]] are close ''personal'' friends.
* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl''
** In ''The Opal Deception'', Opal Koboi, in the middle of her attempted mass-revenge, notes that only two people have ever beaten her, "and both of them were [[TheSmartGuy Foaly]]", a clear reference to said centaur's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome at the climax of the second book.
** There are also several points throughout the series where various characters note that [[TheBigGuy Butler]] is the only human ever to have taken on an adult troll ''hand to hand'' and won. Although if not for Holly healing him, he would have died after the first try.
** The Faeries like to remind each other on occasion not to underestimate Fowl, who once tricked them out of half a ton of gold. ''At age 11.'' It should furthermore be noted that he's the only human ever to ''keep'' that gold. ''Ever.''
* ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}''
** After ''Sharpe's Eagle'', someone will bring up the fact that Sharpe took an Imperial eagle at the battle of Talavera.
** Even more often, the fact he saved Wellington's life (in ''Sharpe's Triumph'') is brought up. On one occasion, Hogan even reels off a list of his past exploits, including destroying the powder magazine at Almeida and capturing a breach at Badajoz.
* ''Literature/AubreyMaturin''
** Despite the huge, huge list of [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome crowning moments of awesome]] that Aubrey pulls off as a captain, the one that comes up most often in-universe is his first: ''Sophie'' versus ''Cacafuego''.
* In ''Literature/TheRestaurantAtTheEndOfTheUniverse'', Ford Prefect meets a guy [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble who has been the member]] of a band who spiced their pretty insane concerts up by crashing a ship into a sun. He vividly recounts this story to the (surprisingly) unmoved musician before realizing that [[spoiler:the guy is spending a year dead for tax reasons]].
* In Mockingjay of the ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy, in preparation for making an Airtime Assault, Haymitch made everyone on the War Room remember the moments or the events done by Katniss that genuinely moved them. Most of it are the things she did on the first and second book (e.g. taking Prim's place in the reaping).
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Sam has such abysmal self-esteem that even after he single-handedly [[spoiler:kills an [[EldritchAbomination Other]]]], he continues to insist he's worthless. His friends, particularly Grenn (who saw it happen and made sure ''everyone'' knew) and Jon (his closest friend), [[DontSaySuchStupidThings keep mentioning it]] and trying to point out that for a [[TheSoCalledCoward self-professed craven, he's done some remarkably badass things]]. In fact, the new Lord Commander [[spoiler:Jon Snow]] expressly ''forbids'' Sam from calling himself a coward because of this.
* ''Literature/SpiderManSinisterSixTrilogy'': In ''Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six'', a minor villain gets into a battle with Spider-man and ends up taking a hostage. Spider-man convinces him to surrender after telling him about how the Sinister Six, some of the [[PsychoElectro deadliest]] [[MadScientist people]] [[MasterOfIllusion on]] [[ShapeShifter the]] planet, all attacked him one-by-one, then [[BossRush all at once]]. He sent them all running by mid-afternoon. Doubles as a [[AsYouKnow recap]]
* In ''Literature/TheWiseMansFear'', Kvothe references his past experience with [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Master Elodin]] after convincing [[CynicalMentor Vashet]] to be his teacher.
-->'''Vashet:''' I will admit, I've never had a student offer himself up for a vicious beating in order to prove he's worth my time.\\
'''Kvothe:''' That was nothing. Once I jumped off a roof.
* Once, Captain Michael Oversteegen of the [[Literature/HonorHarrington Royal Manticoran Navy]] took out ''four heavy cruisers'' with just one heavy cruiser under his own command in the remote star system Tiberian. And ''nobody ever forgets it.''
** Similarly, Sir Horace Harkness is legendary for the one time when he covered his C.O.'s escape from an enemy battlecruiser by persuading one of the battlecruiser's pinnacles to activate its impeller drives while the pinnace was still in the docking bay. This turned the entire battlecruiser to metallic grit.
* There's a variation in ''Literature/GarrettPI''. In book 1, Garrett's friend Morley pulls a little stunt involving a vampire and a coffin. It was a definite SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for him, and as of book 14 Garrett still hasn't stopped reminding him (and the readers) about it every once in a while; however, Garrett has his reasons to resent Morley because of that incident, so it tends to come out more like "Remember When You Blew Up A Sun... [[WithFriendsLikeThese in my face]]?"
* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', Bilbo [[RuleOfCool survives an encounter with the dragon]] by following this trope - describing all his previous [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments Of Awesome]] as riddles for Smaug to guess; which is an [[Awesome/TheHobbit awesome moment on itself]]. Unfortunately, the dragon [[spoiler:manages to guess the riddle about the Barrel-rider, at least enough to learn of Bilbo's involvement with the humans in the lake]].
* In ''Literature/CHERUBSeries'' novel ''Mad Dogs'', Sash Thompson is dismissive of our hero, James Adams, until he finds out that he was the one who burned Joseph Burroughs' car back in ''Class A''.
* In ''Literature/PaperTowns'', Radar is very fond of reminding Ben, Q, and Lacey of that time they spun around multiple times in their car, swerved off the road, nearly hit a cow, and somehow managed not to die (indeed, no one had so much of a scratch). Specifically, every five minutes. An hour after it happened.
* ''{{Literature/Worm}}'': Skitter gets a lot of this, due to her status as TheDreaded and consistent beat-downs of capes who are way out of her league. Her [[spoiler:brutal murder of Alexandria, the local equivalent to Superman [[DisSimile if Superman were secretly Brainiac]]]], gets mentioned often and is the keystone of her reputation.
* In the ''Franchise/DoctorWho'' [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]], particularly the ''[[Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures New Adventures]]'', much is made of the Doctor's hand in the destruction of the Daleks' home planet, Skaro.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' features a variation. In ''Thunder and Shadow'', Dovewing freaks out upon hearing that a group of hostile rogues have been spotted in Clan territory, because her sister Ivypool is out hunting with Fernsong and is unaware of the threat. She is quickly reassured when someone points out that if [[DarkActionGirl Ivypool]] could [[TrainingFromHell survive the]] [[{{Hell}} Dark Forest,]] [[ActionGirl she'd have no problem handling a couple of rogues.]]
* In the opening of ''Literature/TheInkBlackHeart'' from the ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels'', Robin and Strike discuss events from the very first novel, ''Literature/TheCuckoosCalling''. She tells him that she could tell immediately that he was good at what he did, just from watching him, despite his poverty and the shabby state of his office. Meanwhile, he recalls how she brought in a tray of coffee and biscuits on her first day and he couldn't figure out how she got it all, that it was like a conjuring trick.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/{{Angel}}'', both Angel and Spike are pretty smug about having personally saved the world -- although in both cases it was by ''dying''. (If Angel thought a bit harder, he'd realize he has much better examples, such as "Happy Anniversary".) Angel rarely needs to brag, however. He has a towering reputation in the demon world... with the soul and ''especially'' [[VillainCred without it]].
* One of Delenn's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments Of Awesome]] in ''Series/BabylonFive'' recalled one of Sheridan's.
-->"This is Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. Babylon 5 is under our protection. Withdraw or be destroyed."\\
"Negative. We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship."\\
"Why not? Only one Human captain has ever survived battle with a Minbari fleet. ''He'' is behind me. ''You'' are in front of me. If you value your lives, ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFvkgfBXHPA be somewhere else!]]''"
* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': PlayedForDrama late in season 4. While giving a tally of the structural damage Galactica is suffering from, Chief Tyrol mentions that slamming the ship with a planetary freefall probably didn't help, referring back to when Adama did just that in early season 3. What was an impressive maneuver then has cost them dearly now.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
** "She saved the world, a lot."
--->'''Riley:''' When I saw you stop the world from, you know, ending, I just assumed that was a big week for you. Turns out I suddenly find myself needing to know the plural of "apocalypse".
** In the first season, teachers like to reference the time she [[Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer burned down her old school's gym]].
** "It's do or die." "Hey, I've died twice."
** Defeating a Slayer is the biggest notch a vampire can have in his belt. Spike has personally killed ''two''. And not by accident or bringing weapons or a bunch of friends; he deliberately sought them out and beat them in fair fights.
* A mild example in the ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Introduction to Teaching", when Sean Garrity mentions the time Abed drove the TV studies professor out of his mind by proving that there was an answer to the question "''Series/WhosTheBoss''" despite never having been able to get past the opening credits.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E1Battlefield Battlefield]]" and "[[Recap/TheSarahJaneAdventuresS2E11E12EnemyOfTheBane Enemy of the Bane]]" (the former a ''Series/DoctorWho'' story, that latter a SeasonFinale of the spin-off ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures''), the Doctor and the Brigadier (respectively) name-check a number of the various monsters they had fought while working with UNIT.
** Sarah Jane and Rose try to outdo each other with their past adventures in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E3SchoolReunion School Reunion]]". Sarah Jane wins when she points out she's met...
--->'''Sarah Jane Smith:''' ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E1TerrorOfTheZygons The. Loch Ness. Monster!]]''\\
'''Rose Tyler:''' ''[{{beat}}]'' Seriously?
** Subverted in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace The Girl in the Fireplace]]", when Rose give a long speech along about how the bad-ass Doctor is coming to save them, referencing many of his previously amazing feats, and when he turns up he's [[spoiler:apparently]] highly intoxicated and the opposite of every impression she has just given.
--->'''Rose:''' Well look what the cat dragged in: the Oncoming Storm.\\
'''The Doctor:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Oh, you sound just like your mother!]]
** When Mickey and Jake set out to stop a Cyberman army with nothing but a blue van at the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel The Age of Steel]]", Mickey explains how he once "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays saved the whole universe with a big yellow truck]]".
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday Doomsday]]": Rose aggravates, to the point of forgetting their goal for a moment, the Cult of Skaro by telling them how the Dalek Emperor survived... [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E13ThePartingOfTheWays until she showed up, absorbed the power of the Time Vortex and reduced him and his entire army to dust in the space of a few seconds]].
** The Doctor does it "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead Forest of the Dead]]" when he tells the Vashta Nerada to look him up in the database. They retreat on the spot.
--->'''The Doctor:''' I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour The Eleventh Hour]]", the Eleventh Doctor makes his debut by saving the world in ''20 minutes'' (''without'' the TARDIS or the sonic screwdriver) by capturing a shape-shifting escapee after his Atraxi captors threatened to incinerate the entire Earth just to get him. Then, after calling the Atraxi ''back'' to Earth, the Doctor calmly tells them that Earth is not a threat, they violated laws by threatening its destruction, and every alien who tried before... Well, let's let the Doctor explain:
--->'''The Doctor:''' One more question, just one... is this world protected? Because you're not the first lot to have come here, oh there have been so many!\\
''[montage of various assorted alien threats come to Earth]''\\
'''The Doctor:''' Now what you got to ask is, what happened to ''them''?\\
''[montage of all the past Doctors, ever, ending with Eleven walking through Ten's projection]''\\
'''The Doctor:''' Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically... ''[[BadassBoast run]]''.\\
''[and they do]''
** Let's not forget the moment in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens The Pandorica Opens]]" where the Doctor, after boasting how he doesn't have a plan or weapons worth "a damn", temporarily scares off a fleet of ships of pretty much every enemy he's ever encountered by simply saying:
--->'''The Doctor:''' Tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you. And then, ''and then'', do the smart thing: [[VictoryThroughIntimidation Let somebody else try first]].
*** This is subverted almost immediately by the Doctor himself, when he snarkily comments "That ought to keep them squabbling for half an hour." A grander subversion is also afoot, since the fleet of aliens [[spoiler:are part of an alliance that's actual goal is to place the Doctor inside the Pandorica. Still, his speech did cause them to back away, either because they were genuinely terrified, or they thought they needed to act like they were to avoid triggering his suspicions. So technically, it's a DoubleSubversion.]]
*** And when the Thin Fat Gay Married Anglican Marines are talking about him in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar A Good Man Goes to War]]".
---->'''Fat One:''' Digger says he once chased the Atraxi off a planet, then called them back for a scolding!\\
'''Thin One:''' We're supposed to fight him, not praise him.
** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E1TheImpossibleAstronaut The Impossible Astronaut]]" has this exchange when Amy, River, and Rory are fretting about whether or not they should tell the Doctor that [[spoiler:they saw his future self die]].
--->'''River:''' He's interacting with his own past. It could rip a hole in the universe.\\
'''Amy:''' Yes, but he's done it before!\\
'''Rory:''' [[ItMakesSenseInContext And, in fairness, the universe did blow up.]]
** And then [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E6Extremis there's the time when]] he literally made stating "I'm alone and unarmed" a BadassBoast.
--->'''The Doctor:''' Do me a favour. The Fatality Index. Look up "[[RedBaron The Doctor]]"...\\
'''Executioner:''' You have an entry, like any other sentient being.\\
'''The Doctor:''' ...under cause of death.\\
'''Executioner:''' ''[device pinging]'' You do seem to have an impressive number of fatalities connected to you. ''[device keeps counting]'' [[OhCrap A truly remarkable record.]] ''[device clicks faster, the guards begin leaving]'' Where are you going?! He's unarmed! You are unarmed?\\
'''The Doctor:''' [[DoesNotLikeGuns Always.]]\\
'''Executioner:''' ''[device is now emitting a high pitched whine as it counts higher]'' You stand alone.\\
'''The Doctor:''' [[OneManArmy Often.]]\\
'''Executioner:''' ''[angrily]'' You're the one who should be afraid.\\
'''The Doctor:''' [[NervesOfSteel Never.]]\\
'''Executioner:''' ''[leaving; results are ''still'' coming]'' [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere Have a nice day, then.]]
** "[[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime Twice Upon a Time]]": When the Twelfth Doctor's endless [[BadassBoast Badass Boasting]] befuddles the First Doctor, Testimony shows him all the suns he will eventually blow up (in some cases, quite literally), running through all twelve of his future incarnations with heavy emphasis on the War Doctor in particular, leaving the original incarnation [[FutureMeScaresMe rightly rattled out of his mind]].
--->'''First Doctor:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Who. The Hell.]] Do you think you are?\\
'''Twelfth Doctor:''' The Doctor!\\
'''First Doctor:''' ''I'' am the Doctor. Who you are, I cannot begin to imagine.\\
'''Testimony:''' Then let us show you, Doctor. See who you will become. ''[images of the future Doctors and their adversaries appear in holograms all around]''\\
'''Twelfth Doctor:''' No n-n-no, that's not a good idea.\\
'''Testimony:''' The Doctor has walked in blood, through all of time and space. The Doctor has many names:\\
'''Davros (Hologram):''' THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!\\
'''Testimony:''' The Imp of the Pandorica.\\
'''Tenth Doctor (Hologram):''' I am the Oncoming Storm.\\
'''Testimony:''' The Shadow of the Valeyard. The Beast of Trenzalore. The Butcher of Skull Moon. The Last Tree of Garsennon. The Destroyer of Skaro. He is the Doctor... of War.\\
'''First Doctor:''' Wh-what was that?\\
'''Twelfth Doctor:''' To be fair, [[MoodWhiplash they cut out all the jokes]].
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''
** It becomes clear that the crew of Moya have developed a reputation over the seasons, as the fugitives who have avoided Peacekeeper capture for years, then as the ones who blew up a Gammak Base AND a Shadow Depository. Their reputation for badassery becomes so pronounced that at a conference between the major powers in the galaxy, when the crew of Moya shows up and takes a place at the table, hardly anyone bats an eye.
** Two different one-shot characters reveal that they have heard about Crichton's exploits and proceed to list them back to him. First, in "Suns and Lovers":
--->'''Borlik:''' You know, I heard he destroyed a Peacekeeper Gammak Base, murdered an entire Nebari battalion, even laid waste to a Shadow Depository. The guy was a devil: he raped and pillaged, he popped eyeballs--\\
'''Crichton:''' Whoa-whoa! Where do they get these stories? Let's set the facts straight. First off, there was no raping, very little pillaging, and Frau Blucher popped all the eyeballs.
** And again in "Scratch and Sniff":
--->'''Raxil:''' Two guns? I mean -- I thought you were the Great Crichton and D'Argo! I mean -- you blew up a shadow depository! I thought you'd bring pelshfer charges! And a plasma bomb! And a really big gunship! BUT NO! YOU BRING NOTHING! YOU BRING TWO LITTLE WEAPONS THAT WOULDN'T KILL A NIKNIK!\\
'''D'Argo:''' (''hesitantly'') You -- have heard of us?\\
'''Raxil:''' Yeah -- I've heard stories. But obviously they aren't worth a bucket of dren!\\
[[spoiler:Subverted, though, in that this conversation takes place during a story Crichton is telling Pilot, which is revealed to all be a fabrication at the end of the episode. In this case, Crichton was deliberately trying to invoke this trope with his fictional tale.]]
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Season 6 finds Melisandre, priestess of the Lord of Light, having a crisis of faith just as her usual adversary Davos Seaworth needs her to resurrect [[spoiler:Jon Snow]]. He gives her a pep talk involving references to the time she drank poison and lived and the time she [[ItMakesSenseInContext gave birth to a shadow demon.]]
--->'''Davos:''' I'm not asking the Lord of Light for help. I'm asking the woman who showed me miracles are possible.
** Euron Greyjoy's raid on Lannisport was seen in Season 1 and in Season 7 as the height of Greyjoy perfidy. He led a raid that utterly humiliated Tywin Lannister, destroying his fleet at anchor, killing hundreds of sailors and leaving the Westerlands free to raid until Stannis crushed them at Fair Isle.
* In ''Series/HappyDays'', the Fonz at one point recalls the episode where "I saved your brother's life once!" - "How?" - "I stopped hitting him."
* ''Series/HillStreetBlues'': "Bite off one lousy ear and you're marked for life around here!"
* ''Series/ImaginationMovers'' has "Mouse Scouts Clip Show", in which the Movers remind Warehouse Mouse of various great things he's done in the past and [[ClipShow clips of those things are shown]].
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'': In one episode, Jack [=McCoy=] participated in a plot to hide a potential defense witness (though he later regretted it and presented the evidence anyway). They never let him forget it, especially when ''he'' became the DA trying to keep his subordinates from crossing the line. Mike Cutter is particularly prone to bringing this up when [=McCoy=] tries to rein him in.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}.'' Eliot is the freaking KING of this trope. His sort-of fiancée broke it off because he was off doing awesome badass stuff. He liberated Croatia. He's not sure, but he's fairly certain a fatwa was issued against him. He almost killed a guy called 'The Butcher of Kiev' with an appetizer and, according to "The Cross my Heart Job" he once fought a guy using a Nerf sword. He was doing hinky stuff in Pakistan, too. And that's just his backstory.
%%* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': We recall a few awed mentions of Sayid snapping a man's neck with his legs.
* Any time the ''Series/MythBusters'' are about to set off a particularly big explosion, the first of these "big booms" (specifically, the cement truck from "Cement Mix-Up") is always going to be brought up, by the narrator if no one else. Same goes for any time the "big booms" of the series are brought up.
* ''Series/Numb3rs'': Colby Granger from Seasons 4-6 gets several comments referring to [[spoiler:the fact that he was a triple agent]].
* At the end of ''Series/PowerRangersWildForce''[='s=] ReunionShow "Forever Red", the series' various Red Rangers good-naturedly mock Tommy's MemeticBadass status partly by playing up their own accomplishments:
-->'''[[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Cole]]:''' Wow! So that was Tommy. He really is the greatest Ranger. (''the others snicker'') What? What'd I say?\\
'''[[Series/PowerRangersTurbo TJ]]:''' Well, I wouldn't go that far. After all, ''I'' was the one that replaced ''him''.\\
'''[[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Jason]]:''' Are you kidding me? I was the one doin' all the work while he was at the juice bar kissing on Kimberly!\\
'''[[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Carter]]:''' All right, well at least his haircut's regulation now, right?\\
'''[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Eric]]:''' Ah, my Q-Rex would eat his Dragonzord for lunch!\\
'''[[Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy Leo]]:''' I discovered new galaxies!\\
'''[[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Wes]]:''' I changed ''history''. So why does he have a fan club and I don't?\\
'''[[Series/PowerRangersInSpace Andros]]:''' Hey, I saved ''two'' worlds! What about that?\\
'''TJ:''' Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Did I ever tell you guys about [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the time I got baked]] in a [[SelfDeprecation giant pizza]]?
:: In the original script, Andros instead said: "Hey, I [[ICannotSelfTerminate killed Zordon]], top that!"
* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVDemonsAndAngels Demons and Angels]]":
-->'''Dave Lister:''' I tell you one thing: I've been to a parallel universe, I've seen time running backwards, I've played pool with planets, and I've given birth to twins, but I never thought in my entire life I'd [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome taste an edible Pot Noodle.]]
* In a ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' parody of ''Franchise/HarryPotter'', a grown-up Harry Potter asks if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is giving the students any trouble. One of the students replies that he's dead and Harry responds "Oh, yeah! That's right! I killed him! That was great, wasn't it?" and then they all share a high-five.
* ''Franchise/{{Stargate|Verse}}'':
** ''Series/StargateSG1''
*** Samantha Carter [[TropeNamer blew up a sun]] in order to destroy the massive enemy fleet which was within its system. This event is repeatedly mentioned by other characters as her SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, though by her own admission she later does ''[[SerialEscalation even crazier things]]''.
*** Depending on who's asking, Teal'c's galactic fame as the First Prime who dared to betray his master and call him a false god either elicits awed respect or teeth-grating hatred. The teeth-graters are all eventually either convinced to join his side or are killed, though.
*** SG-1 develops quite the reputation as the number of System Lords they encounter soon thereafter become ''ex''-System Lords, usually due to dying at their hands.
---->'''Kitano:''' I honour he who would kill his god, and to his brethren of the Tau'ri: the slayers of Ra, Hathor, Setesh, Heru'ur, Sokar, Cronus, and Apophis.\\
'''O'Neill:''' [[LampshadeHanging Well, somebody's been keeping score]].
** The trope, however, is deconstructed in ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', where Rodney [=McKay=] (Carter's enduring intellectual rival) once blew up [[InsistentTerminology five sixths]] of a solar system by accident. This... wasn't awesome; instead of giving them a great victory over their enemy, it cost the life of a teammate, destroyed valuable technology that could have been studied, and underscored his arrogance and fallibility. Much like Carter blowing up a sun, it's repeatedly brought up for comedic effect, albeit as a ''worst case scenario'' that's hung around [=McKay=]'s neck.
--->'''Carter''': About a year ago your brother came across an abandoned alien experiment called Project Arcturus. It was an attempt to generate zero point energy.\\
'''Jean:''' That would be virtually limitless power. What happened?\\
'''Rodney:''' A slight problem with the creation of exotic particles in the containment field--\\
'''Carter:''' He destroyed a solar system.\\
'''Jean:''' [[EmbarrassingFirstName Meredith]]!
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight In the Pale Moonlight]]" plays with this a bit using Vreenak, a very anti-Federation Romulan senator.
--->'''Vreenak:''' So, you're the Commander of Deep Space Nine, and the Emissary to the Prophets, decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor, and oh yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller Somehow I thought you'd be taller.]]\\
'''Sisko:''' Sorry to disappoint you.\\
'''Vreenak:''' To be honest, my opinion of Starfleet officers is so low that you'd have to work very hard indeed to disappoint me.
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': Archer becomes either a hero or a curse depending on who's passing on the stories, one example being his rescue of the Klingon and the prevention of a civil war in the pilot episode, and later his defeat of a Klingon that was harassing another ship. He becomes an outright living legend with the Trekverse after defeating the Xindi, an accomplishment referenced regularly in the fourth season.
* ''Series/StrangerThings'': For the rest of Season 1, the boys can't stop talking about how Eleven flipped over a van with her mind.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Does it count when someone does a BadassBoast of "I dunno, I've taken some pretty big fish", and you have to have been watching the show for years to know that those fish include the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, and TheDevil? Because if so, Dean Winchester does it towards the end of Season 6.
** Also, in "The Man Who Would Be King", Crowley's response when [[spoiler:Castiel]] tells him not to worry about the Winchesters:
--->'''Crowley''': Don't worry? What, like [[spoiler:Lucifer]] didn't worry? Or [[spoiler:Michael]]? Or [[spoiler:Lilith or Alastair or Azazel]] didn't worry? Am I [[OnlySaneMan the only game piece on the board who doesn't underestimate those two]] [[TerrorHero denim-wrapped nightmares?]]
** "Meet the New Boss":
--->'''Dean''': We want you to kill God.\\
'''Death''': What makes you think I can do that?\\
'''Dean''': Because you told me you could.
* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' has a part where right before the wizard competition, Jerry listed Alex's many world-saving achievements as his reasons as to why he thought she would win.
* In ''Series/NowhereBoys'', once Andy pushes [[spoiler:Alternate!Ellen out of the way of a careening school bus]], he gains a reputation as a hero (rather than a nerd) and the event is repeatedly mentioned to him with awe, not least by the person rescued. [[spoiler:Ironically, he was only in position to save Ellen because he was planning on jumping in front of the bus ''himself'' in a misguided effort to end the spell keeping them in the alternate reality.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* Possibly the UrExample is the Monkey God, Hanuman from Myth/HinduMythology, although in that case it is more [[ExtremeOmnivore "Remember When You Nearly Ate The Sun"]]. As a child, Hanuman was a notorious troublemaker, not helped by the fact that he was insanely powerful. He once mistook the Sun for a large fruit, flew into the heavens and tried eating the Sun God, until struck by [[BoltOfDivineRetribution the Vajra]]. He would then continue to prank and torment sages, forcing them to curse him to [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength forget his own strength]]. This worked, and Hanuman grew into a dutiful, loyal and responsible adult, albeit retaining a playful side. However, during the ''{{Literature/Ramayana}}'', the Vanara Army is trying to find someone capable of crossing the ocean in a single bound to rescue Sita. Hanuman, unaware of his power, remains quiet - until the wise Jambavan reminds him of his childhood exploits, unlocking his forgotten strength. He then effortlessly crosses the ocean, reaches Lanka, and ''kicks some Rakshasa ass''.
* ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'': Sun Wukong routinely brags about the time he single-handedly defeated the entire army of Heaven.
* ''Literature/TheBible'':
** Nearly every time God tells a prophet to send a message or warning to the Jewish people, He includes a reminder that He's "The Lord who took Israel out of bondage in Egypt."
** In The Book of Job, God responds to Job challenging His justice with an extensive list of His accomplishments, stressing just how far outside of Job's comprehension the decisions He has to make are.
-->'''God''': Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world? Speak, if you understand!
** Paul's letters talk a lot about that time Jesus came back from the dead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* A more mundane example in the ''Podcast/CoolKidsTable'' game ''Bloody Mooney''. JT did a great catch in middle school football exactly once, and now everyone expects him to be able to catch anything.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* While most wrestlers will reference something that occurred in their pro career, Wrestling/KurtAngle frequently mentions the highlight of his amateur career -- winning a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics "with a broken freakin' neck!"
* Wrestling/ChrisJericho has the night that he beat Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin and [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] in back-to-back matches, which is frequently cited as a near-impossible achievement.
* At ''Wrestling/{{R|ingOfHonor}}OH Nowhere To Run'' in 2005 Wrestling/JimmyJacobs was showered with chants of "You beat Wrestling/{{Eddie|Guerrero}}!" by the fans in reference to the fact Eddie Guerrero got disqualified in his match with Jacobs on Wrestling/WWESmackdown earlier.
* During his 2006 FaceHeelTurn, Wrestling/TheBigShow boasted that he's the only person in history to have held the WWE, Wrestling/{{WCW}}, and Wrestling/{{ECW}} titles.
* {{Enforced|trope}} by the audience of Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA New Jersey, who showered Wrestling/CarlitoColon with chants of "You beat Cena!" and [[RootingForTheEmpire "Cena Sucks!"]] when he appeared.
* Wrestling/CMPunk's moment is when he hijacked the WWE Championship in the middle of his hometown Chicago ''one hour before his contract expired''. It is by far and away one of the most shocking things to happen in recent wrestling history, and likely nothing of a similar nature will ever top it. As shown when Wrestling/{{TNA}} did poor rehash of it with Wrestling/AJStyles a mere two years later.
* Lots of people like to refer to how Wrestling/RandyOrton assaulted the [=McMahon=] family during early 2009, including punting both Vince and Shane in the head while [=RKOing=] Stephanie and kissing her unconscious body in front of her husband Wrestling/TripleH, who was handcuffed to a ring rope.
* Wrestling/TheMiz likes to brag about how he won the main event ''Wrestling/WrestleMania'', going over Wrestling/JohnCena in the process, conveniently forgetting how it was because of the Rock that it even happened at all. The funny part is that he actually doesn't remember the match due to suffering a concussion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]
* UsefulNotes/TheFACup has had several examples of this over the years.
** In the 1956 final, Manchester City's German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann suffered a serious neck injury when making a diving save with 17 minutes of the game left. With no substitutes back then, he carried on playing. Three days later, an x-ray revealed that he'd ''broken his neck''. In 2004, when he was awarded the [[UsefulNotes/BritishHonours OBE]] for his contribution to Anglo-German relations, [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII the Queen]] asked him how his neck was.
** Owing to the random nature of the draw, lower-league clubs can and do get drawn against top-level opposition. Occasionally, [[DavidVersusGoliath they win]]. The most famous was non-league Hereford United beating First Division Newcastle United in the third round in 1972. Ronnie Radford, the scorer of one of Hereford's goals, got interviewed about this every January (the month in which the third round matches are played) ''for the next four decades''.
* In international football, San Marino forward Davide Gualtieri scored against England ''after eight seconds'' in a World Cup qualifier in 1993. The fact that England went on to score seven has been long forgotten, but Gualtieri is still famous for his goal and reportedly never has to buy drinks whenever he visits Scotland!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* It has almost become trope in itself for passersby to congratulate the PlayerCharacter on their past achievements. Games that do this include ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', and ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', just to name a few.
** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has a major one, which the entire ''Lonesome Road'' DLC is built around. Ulysses is following you and leading you on a chase since you [[spoiler:built the community of]] the Divide [[spoiler:and then brought a device that activated underground nuclear warheads, destroying the whole area.]]
* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is almost built around this.
--->'''Joker:''' It'll be better than the old days, you'll see.\\
'''Shepard:''' I hope so. I died.
** Almost every story you hear from Zaeed Massani eventually comes out to this, usually consisting of him coming out as the sole survivor of ridiculous odds, but still getting his mission done. [[spoiler:This is actually a plot point, as its a clue he's a bad choice to be a Fire Team leader in the end. Choosing him ''will'' result in someone dying]].
** Garrus and James Vega can be found trying to top each others' war stories in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''.
** Remember when Commander Shepard discovered Illos/killed Saren/destroyed a Reaper/Insert-Sidequest-Here? ''[[ContinuityNod Everybody else]] [[LampshadeHanging does!]]''
--->'''Garrus:''' [[spoiler:Honestly? The Collectors killed you once, and all it did is piss you off. I can't imagine they'll stop you this time.]]
** In the third game, the time you kill a Reaper [[spoiler:using Kalros, the Mother of All Thresher Maws]] gets brought up a couple times. Apparently the video created a pretty huge swell in recruiting.
** Subverted as well (assuming [[DownloadableContent you chose to play through it, anyway]]). It's made clear that Shepard is ''[[OnceDoneNeverForgotten never]]'' going to be forgiven by the Batarians for having been forced to [[spoiler:detonate a Mass Relay to prevent the Reaper invasion, sacrificing the 300,000 Batarians who lived in the system as a result.]] Even without playing through it, though, [[spoiler:Shepard is still in hot water for working with Cerberus.]]
* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' does a variation, where it goes over all the sidequests you completed, and then shows the effects that this has on the future (ie, you saved some research data that will help out the mutants later). God help you if you [[DownerEnding didn't complete one]]. Not that even doing all of the sidequests helps, considering one forces you into a no-win scenario where either choice results in a bad ending in a very "what the hell?" sort of way. Made worse because the implied consequences of either choice are ''horrible''.
** Unless of course, you have [[spoiler:Magneto, who can free both Nightcrawler and Jean Gray.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', when Vyse has a moment or two of doubt, Captain Gilder peps him up by reminding him of some of the ludicrous things he's accomplished in the game so far such as [[spoiler:escaping from the [[TheEmpire Valuans']] [[TheAlcatraz "escape-proof" giant prison fortress]]. Twice.]]
* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeRedemption'', the hero will encounter of group of Mooks who recognize him and recount his various accomplishments in terror.
* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland: The Siege of Spinner Cay'', Guybrush encounters [[spoiler:Morgan Le Flay, a pirate hunter and long time FanGirl of him]], who enumerates all the things he had accomplished that had made him famous, like defeating the GhostPirate [=LeChuck=] in the [[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland first game]], finding the treasure of Big Whoop in [[VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge the second]] and escaping the carnival of the damned in [[VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland the third]].
* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'':
** [[{{Ouroboros}} Mender Lazarus]] loves to talk about the adventures he's had with you. Thing is, you've never met him before.
** About the 4th mission into the story-arc with Lazarus, you run into him again. He gets 3 speech-bubbles into explaining time-travel and the nature of his group, then: ".... Ah. By the look in your eyes, you knew this already. We've met before, haven't we? Sometimes I really hate time travel."
** This was implemented as random passer-by NPC's would go "Hey, there's [Character]! I heard she just busted up a 5th Column cell!" or "Did you hear about how [Character] took down those Skulls?"
--->'''Mender Lazarus:''' Ah, [Character], back for more, eh? I still tell the stories about how we teamed up against those Shivans! I never would have figured out that destroying the meteor would have been the key to succeeding, but you knew that somehow!\\
What's wrong? Don't you remember me? You look puzzled... oh my... we haven't actually MET yet, have we? That's one of the funny things with TimeTravel... for you this is our first meeting, but for me, we've met before. [[BellisariosMaxim Don't think about it too hard]], you'll only end up with a headache.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV''. Remember when you and [[ChildhoodFriend Bianca]] went on a ghost hunting quest and saved a kingdom from a curse? You'll probably never forget it if you're marrying her after the TimeSkip.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' is rife with references to the storyline and characters of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', using such to craft new stories for the sequel. One would think such would have created a trend for Creator/SquareEnix since past it they have made more ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' that are direct sequels to the others will make this trope more common, but more often than naught in the Sequels made after, Square's chosen to reboot, retcon or ignore the the original game with the characters so they can do the same thing with just a different endboss.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries''
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Raine blows up two Human Ranches over the course of the game, and when the party secures a third, Sheena and the Renegades reminds her not to blow up this one.
-->'''Raine:''' It's not like I'm doing it for fun...
** A later skit further references these exploits, while the characters telling the tale forget that Raine was using the Ranches' inbuilt self destruct systems, bringing a hilarious reaction from the others who lacked the context. And then in the sequel, another skit again calls back to the explosions, bringing Emil, Marta, and Tenebrae into the circle of characters who fear Raine for her apparently [[MadeOfExplodium Explodium]]-based abilities.
* ''VideoGame/{{Starfield}}'': If the player selects the option at character creation that gives them dynamic living parents, they will bring up some of your exploits in conversation. For instance, them seeing on the news that you stopped a bank robbery.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' uses this trope at least three times.
** One of the most memorable storylines of the original game was a long quest chain to find out about the evil black dragon Onyxia hiding in disguise in Stormwind, and fight her with the help of Lord Bolvar Fordragon. Two expansions later, Bolvar is a quest giver, and if your character completed the Onyxia quest, he addresses you familiarly.
** [=NPCs=] in a besieged town are clearly in trouble. They comfort each other with rumours that the Scarab Lord and the Hand of A'dal have come to help. Both of those are titles that used to be attainable by players for completing particularly hard and important quests or raids.
* In the Main Story of ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', underdogs Trickstar successfully manage to outcompete top tier unit fine in order to win the DD, making them Yumenosaki's representative in a prestigious idol competition. However, though the vast majority of stories occur ''after'' this point, Trickstar is still generally treated as underdogs (and do indeed lack in funding and experience compared to fine). Every now and then a character will question this, bringing up that Trickstar has, in fact, pulled off an extremely impressive feat and proven themselves serious competitors.
* ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'' is rife with references to characters' past exploits, with one example often brought up being [[spoiler:Kiryu's brief time as the fourth chairman of the Tojo Clan at the climax of ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'']]. ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza1 Yakuza Kiwami]]'', in particular, has numerous references to ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'', including mentions of the fight over the Empty Lot where the Millennium Tower now stands, Majima's stint as a fixture of Sotenbori's night life, and Kiryu's time competing in the Pocket Circuit tournament.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'': Chris's boulder-punching feat in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' has apparently become so well-known that Heisenberg, a noble in rural Europe, has heard of it.
* The Hardie Boys in ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' start out actively hostile and you have to earn their grudging respect over the course of your investigation...but do something in particular at the game's climax and they won't stop praising you for it whenever you talk to them afterwards. Even Kim, usually the StraightMan and exhausted by your shenanigans, will admit it was impressive. In fairness, [[spoiler:throwing an improvised Molotov cocktail at a heavily armed, armored, and belligerent mercenary when you're outnumbered]] takes a lot of guts and/or insanity.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''
** Remember when Phoenix killed that locked door? Lotta Hart remembers.
** From case 2 of the third game upon meeting Adrian Andrews:
-->'''Phoenix:''' I met Ms. Andrews during the Nickel Samurai case.\\
'''Maya:''' Oh yeah! [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Remember when you outsmarted that assassin to save me and bring about justice?]]\\
'''Phoenix:''' Y-Yeah... ([[LampshadeHanging Do we need to keep reminding ourselves of that case?]])
** Trucy Wright would like to remind [[VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney Apollo]] of how he used a pair of panties to score a win in court. [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain Apollo wishes she wouldn't.]]
-->'''Trucy:''' I can still remember that moment... You brandished those bloomers on high, and shouted... "Objection!"\\
'''Apollo:''' ...Here's what I want you to do, Trucy. Take that memory, gently lock it away deep in your heart, and never speak of it.
** He [[MakeTheDogTestify crossexamined a parrot once]]. This part of the reason why someone would ask him to defend an orca.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The ''[[Series/{{Firefly}} Serenity]]'' RPG describes the scene in "War Stories" where Mal beats Adlai Niska after ''being tortured to death and resuscitated by him'' as Mal succeeding at an "Incredible" skill check for Discipline. For reference, an "Incredible" check is two steps below the most difficult possible check ("Impossible").
* In ''TabletopGame/MasksANewGeneration'', character creation is a group effort, as the first time the characters met happens before the game. Each playbook has a prompt as to what happened during their first city-saving escapade the players fill in the gaps of, and as this is about teenage superheroes, any crazy things could've happened.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': "Reakk the Dragon Boinker, boinked that dragon good!"
** Zoë: I've [[spoiler:destroyed a vampire queen, crushed a demon under my foot, I'm the goddam storm breaker]] and you will not treat me like some porcelain doll who can't take the truth!
* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater''
** Used early on, when Fighter boasts to a bunch of random encounter monsters about how Black Mage nuked a forest (and the giant within it). Subverted when Black Mage tells him to shut up because he can only use the spell that did that once a day.
** Played with more later, when Black Mage tries threatening someone with it, and Fighter tells him he's being an idiot because he already used it that day.
** At one point, Black Mage encounters [[AnthropomorphicPersonification the incarnation of all his mortal evils]], which, being the only thing evil enough to represent all that, [[ShapedLikeItself is himself]]. He promptly asks himself if they're including the time he ruled Hell for ten minutes, or the time he orphaned some kid twice. He was advised to stop after that, seeing as the incarnation had, in fact, forgotten, and was getting ''stronger'' after each reminder.
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'':
** Used to good effect in a ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2008-03-23 strip]] to deter unwanted attention.
-->"My boyfriend shot down Pranger's flagship... With an antimatter grenade... That he'd been wearing for years as an epaulet."
** Later strips have had Tagon [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-04-28 pointing out indirectly that his killcount now lists two battleplates,]] although Tagon ''technically'' didn't destroy either - ''Tunguska'' annoyed a dark matter entity, and ''Morokweng'' met its end in a chain of events involving a deranged ship AI, another dark matter entity, an ancient artifact, a community for adding variety to a gate-clone population and an Intelligence op gone horribly wrong. It's just that most of this isn't common knowledge for national security reasons, mostly to avoid civil war, so public perception does most of the work for them.
--->"Check my resume."
* In ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFoxhound'', Liquid spent a lot of time telling anybody who would listen about how he curb-stomped the Cyborg Ninja during his SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. And while all those involved freely admit that it WAS, indeed, awesome, they soon grow tired of it...
* Benjamin Prester, of ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'', would like you to remember that he has [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos120.html plunged down from orbit on wings of fire.]] So don't even think that ''you'' can scare him.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Belkar is goaded by [[spoiler:the ghost/hallucination of Shojo]] into repeating his declaration that he is a "sexy shoeless god of war" (originally uttered in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0439.html this]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome context]]) as the last bit of [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in]] ManipulativeBastard. (This also saves his ass and enables a BigDamnHeroes moment, as [[spoiler:it convinced a nearby cleric to lift a curse that was [[DeusExitMachina preventing him]] from utterly annihilating some {{mooks}} and saving the day, which he proceeded to do]].
* Not quite as eyecatching as most examples found on this page, and only played for grim laugh reasons, but in ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'', the idealistic protagonist, Cale, was at one point forced to kill a child for plot advancement reasons. Two pages later, TokenEvilTeammate Richard feels the need to recall that event.
-->'''Richard:''' Remember a few moments ago when you murdered a little boy? That was rather entertaining.
* ''Webcomic/DragonTails''
** Bluey hijacks a mecha at a convention and does [[NoodleIncident something incredibly cool offscreen.]] It is never shown, but becomes a returning gag.
** After the convention, Bluey's elder brother Enigma watches a video recording of the event (with the back of the TV toward the viewer) and remarks "Bluey, you were reckless and irresponsible, but... I have to admit, that was the coolest thing I have ever seen."
** In a much later storyline, two characters talk about their project is going to be more awesome than anything else
-->"Except for what Bluey did with that mecha."\\
"Well, that's pretty much a given. No one will ever top that."
* On the "WebAnimation/{{Spill}}" podcast A Couple of Cold Ones (ACOCO), the time he threw a chair is this for Korey. Seriously, they bring it up at least once every 3 episodes.
* The fact that Jack (of ''Webcomic/TheFancyAdventuresOfJackCannon'') once got buried underground and ''punched'' his way out gets referenced a lot.
* Dan of ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'' has two: Defeating a room full of Death Knights with only a spork and chasing off a horde of ice trolls while only wearing a loin cloth[[note]]It was later suggested that the latter owed more to Dan's [[GagPenis "endowments"]] than any fearsome reputation[[/note]].
* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' Yeah, I killed a balrog again. ''[[RunningGag Again. ]]''
* One of the early story arcs for ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' involved Bob briefly gaining super powers, and he accidentally flew through a mountaintop, leaving a big hole. In any shot showing the mountain range on Generictown's horizon, that mountain with the hole is still prominently visible.
** It's mentioned much more rarely, but he also has a Congressional Medal of Honor sitting on his mantle, collecting dust, from the very second storyline.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Used back-handed by Coach Callahan in ''Literature/TalesOfMU'', when she tells the Vice-Chancellor (who is a shapeshifted greater dragon) that he has her at a disadvantage because he's killed thousands of humanoids but she's only managed to kill seven of his kind.
* The ''[[Website/ThingsOfInterest Ed Stories]]'' by Sam Hughes use this in the [[http://qntm.org/radical finale.]] Ed asks Sam to list all of his inventions that previously appeared in the story in the hopes that one of them can save the world from a ColonyDrop.
* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', lots of people have referred to the time that Chaka faced a three-on-one battle in her combat final, with tornadoes and earthquakes thrown in, and ''used a tornado as a weapon''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''
** Deconstructed: after Aang uses the [[UnstoppableRage Avatar State]] to single-handedly destroy a massive war fleet in a matter of seconds, an impressed general tries to help him master it so so he can win the war quickly. Not only does this turn out to be a bad idea (since the Avatar State also makes Aang extremely vulnerable), but Aang is horrified when he realizes just how scary and destructive that power really is.
** Later, [[spoiler:after Azula temporarily kills Aang, she lets Zuko take the credit because he was (rightfully) worried Ozai wouldn't respect him otherwise. Azula being [[MagnificentBastard Azula,]] this is part of a greater plan: if Aang turns up alive (which he does) then Zuko takes the blame for the failure to kill him.]]
** The series also has a weird subversion with Iroh. People often remember his legendary siege of Ba Sing Se, but it's just as much a mark of shame because he failed and lost his son in the process. [[spoiler:Then he goes and takes it for real ''from the Fire Nation'' in the finale. ]]
** In a flashback to a trial in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', Sokka brings up how he used his trusty boomerang to defeat a man who could firebend with his mind (Combustion Man) and how Toph discovered and perfected [[ExtraOreDinary Metalbending]] in regards to people with unique bending abilities.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' when Dib has a dream of a long and eventful life in which he saves the world multiple times. In an interview in which he looks back on all his accomplishments, he fondly recalls, "I even got to ride a moose!" The interviewer chuckles, "Ah, yes, [[NoodleIncident who could forget that day]]."
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Rainbow Dash's [[SignatureMove Sonic Rainboom]] is one of the few if not only accomplishments that gets brought up more than once. And when said character is the member of a group that has SAVED THE WORLD(twice), as well as done other heroic things, like facing a dragon, fighting changelings, saving an entire empire, this is somewhat ridiculous.
** Any time Spike is in the Crystal Empire, you can bet that the fact that he's a celebrated hero there (thanks to his role in saving the day in "The Crystal Empire") ''will'' be brought up in some capacity.
** In "No Second Prances", [[HeelFaceTurn ex-villains]] Trixie and Starlight take this route in explaining their villainous pasts to each other, casually bringing up details as you would with any other embarrassing moment.
** In "Flutter Brutter", Fluttershy's layabout brother Zephyr Breeze admits that part of his fear of failure is fueled by feeling inadequate next to the heroic accomplishments of Fluttershy and her friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''
** Done in "De Plane! De Plane!", when Candace is feeling inadequate after seeing Jeremy talk to a shapely blonde girl at a pool party:
--->'''Stacy:''' What are you worried about? You're Candace Flynn!\\
'''Candace:''' Yeah, and she's super-cool, foreign-accent, snake wrestler, high-diving, natural hottie Nicholette.\\
'''Stacy:''' Snake wrestler, whatever! You fought dinosaurs! You traveled to Mars! You've been through ''time!''
** Phineas does it again in "Summer Belongs to You". Yes, Candace, you're still technically the Queen of Mars. Later on, when Phineas is [[TenMinuteRetirement about to give up on getting the gang off a deserted island]], Isabella gives him a similar speech.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
** Mr. Burns in the season 13 episode "Hunka Hunka Burns in Love". His love interest, Gloria, is also local criminal Snake's ex-girlfriend, but Homer convinces her to give Burns a chance by listing his many wild exploits, such as [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E10Springfield running his own casino]], [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS10E21MontyCantBuyMeLove stealing the Loch Ness monster]], and ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E25WhoShotMrBurnsPartOne blocking out the sun]]'' in Springfield.
** In "The Blunder Years", Homer drinks some Yaqui tea with the family in an attempt to remember a traumatic childhood event. The following exchange takes place:
--->'''Marge:''' Well? Is anything coming back to you?\\
'''Homer:''' Ah, heh-heh. There have been so many classic Simpson moments. I remember [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E8BartTheDaredevil the time I tried to jump over Springfield Gorge]].\\
(''cut to the infamous scene; Homer cries "I'm going to make it!", but we then return to the present'')\\
'''Lisa:''' No, Dad, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall everyone's sick of that memory!]]
*** In reference to the quote above, that episode would mark the at least the ''third'' time that the scene of Homer falling down Springfield gorge was flash-backed to. It's been referenced at least twice again since then -- including in TheMovie. [[AuthorAppeal It's Matt Groening's favorite episode of all time.]]
** Another example would be people reminding Homer that he is a former astronaut. Sometimes used to mock how low he's fallen, sometimes to cheer him up. "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" recalls this only for Homer to deride it with "Eh, all we did was grow some space tomatoes and sabotage MIR." The episode then subverts this trope when Bart asks if Homer remembers nearly becoming heavyweight champ, and Homer genuinely doesn't remember because of all the fierce blows to his head.
** [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Maggie's shooting of Mr. Burns]] has been at least as frequently alluded to as Homer falling down Springfield Gorge, usually in a LampshadeHanging moment.
** The Hell's Satans, a motorcycle gang that has taken over the Simpson's home, has a minor example:
---> '''Meathook:''' I'd kill for some waffles.\\
'''Ramrod:''' [[NotHyperbole He has.]] Remember [[NoodleIncident the IHOP in Oakland]]?\\
(Both burst out into near hysterical laughter)
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''
** Eric Cartman will occasionally threaten people after the fifth season by telling him that he will make them [[spoiler:eat their parents]]. Remembering Scott Tenorman, the other kids will back him up.
** Then there's "201", where [[spoiler:Scott returns and not only seeks vengeance but reveals that that wasn't just ''his'' father he ate...]]
* Toyed with in ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin''. After Baloo's pilot's license expires and he struggles in the courses needed to get it renewed, his friends remind him of all the examples of his ImprobablePilotingSkills (such as safely landing inside a ''volcano'') to cheer him up and encourage him. And then [[CloudCuckooLander Wildcat]] mentions the embarrassing results of his pelican dive... Later, when Baloo attempts to use those same arguments on his instructor to butter him up, the instructor comments he never heard of any of the favorable examples but was ''quite'' familiar with the pelican dive. Ultimately, Baloo gets his license back when he realizes what he did wrong with the maneuver before and successfully uses it to escape an attack by Air Pirates.
* {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', where Starscream is ''constantly'' boasting about how he killed Cliffjumper in the FiveEpisodePilot. By season 3, even the other Decepticons are telling him to quit patting himself on the back. He's finally put in his place by a ''human sidekick'', who points out that she has the same on-screen body count.
-->'''Starscream:''' You do know that I vanquished Cliffjumper, don't you?\\
'''Miko:''' Big whup. ''I'' snuffed Hardshell.
[[/folder]]

----