[[SinCity http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marv.jpg]]
[[caption-width:243:[-When I need to find something out, I just go out and find somebody that knows more than me, and I go and I ask them. Sometimes I ask pretty hard.-] ]]

-->''“[[CompetenceZone Until a man is twenty-five]], he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. [[AllMonksKnowKungFu If I moved to a martial-arts monastery in China and]] [[TrainingFromHell studied real hard for ten years]]. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive If my family was wiped out by]] a Bad Guy [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge and I swore myself to revenge]]. [[TheLastDance If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, and devoted it to wiping out street crime]]. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.''\\
''Hiro used to feel this way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this was liberating. He no longer has to worry about being the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken.”''\\
--'''SnowCrash'''

The RuleOfCool personified.

A character who gets away with outright insane stunts (defusing a bomb with their teeth, conning a mob boss, [[OneManArmy getting into a firefight with the entire US army]], etc.) that would never work in real life. A Bad Ass is a fantasy figure who the audience roots for precisely because they break the WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief - or, between RefugeInAudacity and RuleOfCool, barely manage to maintain it.

Fandom is very forgiving of this, because the stunts are so cool that they don't care. In fact, it's notable that fans are more likely to tolerate a violent monster of a "hero" than a [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes befuddled, cowardly Type I Anti Hero]]. For example, in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'', Shinji and Asuka each whine just as much as the other, but Asuka was more popular with a significant portion of the fans because she had guts ([[DoubleStandard although some might say it was for a different reason]]), despite her being a complete and utter... um... Well, let's just say that she's one of the few characters in ''Evangelion'' to even come close to ''deserving'' what happens to them. (YourMileageMayVary.)

Most attempts to parody or deconstruct the {{Badass}} have turned into MisaimedFandom - no matter how nutty the character gets (like Rorschach from ''{{Watchmen}}),'' the fans just cheer on how {{Badass}} the character is. This has led to a new trope: the HeroicSociopath. Writers beware: Take it too far and either GodModeSue or JerkSue will stride OutOfTheInferno of your work.


'''{{Sub Trope}}s include:'''
* BackToBackBadasses
* BadassAdorable. Yes, really.
* BadassAngster
* BadassArmy
* BadassBack
* BadassBeard
* BadassBiker
* BadassBlink
* BadassBoast
* BadassBookworm
* BadassCape
* BadassCreed
* BadassCrew
* BadassDriver
* BadassFamily
* BadassGrandpa
* BadassInDistress
* LittleMissBadass
* BadassLongcoat
** BadassLabcoat
** BadassLongRobe
** TheCoatsAreOff
* BadassMustache
* BadassNormal
* BadassPacifist Again, yes, really.
* BadassPreacher
* BadassSpaniard
* BadassTeacher
* BadassUnintentional
* BewareTheNiceOnes
* ChuckNorris
* ColonelBadass
* CoolShades
* ClintEastwood
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass
* CrouchingScholarHiddenBadass
* CulturedBadass
* DareToBeBadass
* FingerlessGloves
* FourStarBadass
* FutureBadass
* HandicappedBadass
* HeartbrokenBadass
* HeroicSociopath
* IronWoobie [[TheWoobie You'd feel he needs a hug]], but he didn't.
* MisfitMobilizationMoment
* NeverMessWithGranny
* OneManArmy
* PopCulturedBadass
* PregnantBadass
* RatedMForManly - Badass taken BeyondTheImpossible.
* RetiredBadass
* SamuelLJackson
* SealedBadassInACan
* TestosteronePoisoning - Parodying RatedMForManly.
* TookALevelInBadass
* WorldOfBadass - Where ''everyone'' is one.

If an example can be placed in these previous tropes, please put them there.

See also: AllGirlsWantBadBoys, DarkerAndEdgier, NinetiesAntiHero, MemeticBadass.

For many outstanding examples of badassness see: {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}. For profiles of many and sunry badasses, see BadassOfTheWeek.

Considering almost ''every'' hero of ancient myth was Badass Incarnate[[{{Tradesnark}} ™]], this trope is OlderThanDirt.

----
!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* [[{{Determinator}} Killy]] from ''{{Blame}}''! is a rare [[TheStoic stoic]] version of this trope. The man has done it all, and done so without even a ''grunt of exertion''. If there happens to be a problem he can't fix with his [[WeaponOfMassDestruction G]][[WaveMotionGun B]][[WeaponOfChoice E]], [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer then it isn't a damn problem]]. [[DarkActionGirl Sanakan]] and [[TheLancer Dhomochevsky]] from the same series may also qualify, but they get less screen time than [[TheHero Killy]].
* The heroine of the anime version of WitchBlade, Masane Amada, is by default MadeofWin as a result of being the Witch Blade bearer. She slowly but surely {{Took a Level in Badass}} over the course of the show, but from the end of Episode 23 until the ending, she became totally, balls out AWESOME. Basically, her life would soon be taken by the Witch Blade, thousands of death machines were hunting her ass, and she had a bunch of EvilKnockoffs making her life WORSE. Instead of wussing out, she decided to go down in totally Badass style, by yelling, and I quote, "LET'S BLOW SOME SHIT UP!" After that, albeit with a mild bit of help from her Badass Boyfriend Takayama (he kills one eight of the bastards, bare minimum) but the remaining 7/8ths, plus ALL of the EvilKnockoff Witch Blades arrayed against her have their asses totally curbstomped. However, what makes this example totally "grown men would weep ManlyTears over the sheer awesome" is that she was willing to face her own death with such badassery and raw dignity as long as it meant her daughter would have a better world to live in, and manages to save an entire city in the process! Despite it being a DownerEnding at face value, this troper has to admit hoping that when his own death is imminent, he's able to face it in a manner most dignified and awesome.
* Ladd Russo, Claire Stanfield and Firo Prochainezo of ''{{Baccano}}!'' fit almost perfectly in Badass category, but they sure as hell aren't the only ones. [[HeroicBystander Rachel]] saves nearly six people from heavily armed terrorists with nothing but sheer grit, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Jacuzzi]] demonstrates almost insane levels of courage under pressure, [[AxeCrazy Graham]] can and probably ''will'' knock your head off with a monkey wrench, [[StuffBlowingUp Nice]] will blow up anything and everything, [[BigBad Szilard]] can take machine gun fire while barely flinching, and [[KnifeNut Chane]] can ''deflect bullets.''
* Kakashi, Gaara and Neji of ''{{Naruto}}'' In fact, most of the cast would qualify as badasses, due to the simple fact that they're ''{{ninja}}''.
** Naruto himself starts out as the PluckyComicRelief, but through the wonders of CharacterDevelopment, starts becoming a badass as well. His badassness starts reaching critical levels in Chapter 430.
*** Naruto even manages to have badasses in nearly every category.
** YourMileageMayVary though, because some of the more polarizing characters are seen by many as simply JerkAsses who won the SuperpowerLottery.
* Alucard, from ''{{Hellsing}}''. In fact, many FriendlyNeighborhoodVampires are Badasses. Then again, consider the origin of BadassDecay.
** Also from the same series: Father Alexander Anderson.
* Pretty much everyone in ''BakuretsuTenshi'', especially Jo, and to a lesser degree, Takane and Sei.
* Zaraki Kenpachi from the anime ''{{Bleach}}'' is perhaps [[HeroicSociopath the greatest example of this]], relying solely on brute force and his insanely powerful BattleAura while all others in the anime rely on magic and/or special fighting techniques. In one memorable scene, he allows an opponent he can't see or hear to stab him in the chest just so that Kenpachi can then grab him.
**In another memorable scene, he's fighting a six-armed Espada armed with six giant scythes and purportedly unbreakable skin. Well into the fight, it looks like he's on the ropes, until he [[spoiler:[[IAmNotLeftHanded DECIDES TO HOLD HIS SWORD WITH BOTH HANDS]]]]. Quickly ending the fight.
** Zaraki's 3rd seat officer Ikkaku Madarame also fits this trope. The fact that Zaraki was the one person he could find who was a bigger badass than himself is the main reason he even joined the 11th squad in the first place.
** Really, just about any of the Shinigami Captains count as badasses; there is a good reason that Ichigo is told to run if he ever encounters one.
** Hachigen Ushoda. Yeah, that [[GentleGiant big, fat Vizard]]. How BadAss is he? Well, [[spoiler:in the recent flashback arc, he one-shotted both the Captain and Lieutenant of the Ninth Squad (now turned into monsters)with binding spells. One of which was ''Level 99, without an incantation''. And, he was the only one of the Vizards to really make any progress during that fight.]]
*** If the Dattebayo sub is to be believed, Hirako Shinji actually ''calls'' him badass after he does this.
**What about Retsu Unohana? A woman so badass that she scares the crap outta entire squads AND captains with her sole MamaBear presence.
** Recent chapters has Ichigo [[spoiler:turn into an awesome hollow form and then proceed to rip his opponents arm off. And many consider his inner hollow to be badass as well]].
*** It doesn't stop there, [[spoiler:hollow Ichigo then throws Ulquiorra's severed arm back at him at enough speed to cause him serious damage, then Ichigo easily cuts his opponent in half AND stomps his head with one foot WHILE firing a cero at point-blank-range blowing Ulquiorra's head off]].
*** In a still more recent chapter, [[spoiler: Ichigo descends back into Hueco Mundo and engages the GIANT 0 Espada, Yammy Rialgo, who had most recently singlehandedly spanked Renji, Chad AND Rukia simultaenously with little to no effort. Ichigo then proceeds to effortlessly floor the colossus with a Getsuga Tenshou]].
* Makoto Shishio, one of the main villains from ''RurouniKenshin'', seems to be a combination of a Badass and a DiabolicalMastermind. The man single-handedly and effortlessly defeated (and made fools of) several of the most powerful swordsmen imaginable, despite having been burned alive and shot in the head. Hajime Saitou and Kenshin (when he sheds off his ObfuscatingStupidity) are pretty badass on their own, too.
** ObfuscatingStupidity might work for Kenshin, but hardly Saitou. The guy is a badass of the first order.
* However, in ''PeacemakerKurogane'' it is Toshizou Hijikata and Souji Okita who get to be the baddest badasses in TheShinsengumi.
* Mugen from ''SamuraiChamploo'' is very clearly a badass. He literally lives for battle, and has performed such feats as cutting a thrown toothpick in half blindfolded, defeating countless highly trained and armed [[{{Ninja}} ninjas]] barehanded, and surviving numerous experiences that would have easily killed anybody else. His badassery is to the point where after double-crossing a dangerous gang leader, he tells him, "If you're gonna send somebody to kill me, make sure it's the toughest bastard you can find." When the gang leader refuses, Mugen actually comes after HIM. Jin from the same series is also a badass, and their interactions are mainly focused on their badassery.
* ''CowboyBebop'''s Spike Spiegel is the baddest ass around, in spite of the fact that he somehow always loses his bounty.
* Broly from ''{{Dragonball}} Z'' takes this trope to absurd levels, effortlessly defeating the most powerful warriors in the universe single handedly at the same time.
** Pretty much the entire cast is made of badass. From main character Goku, all the way down to fat guy Yajirobe. Guy wasn't a joke character when he killed one of Piccolo Daimao's warriors in one blow, nor when he cut off Vegeta's tail.
* ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' makes it a main priority to showcase just how much of a badass Kenshiro is. He is a walking death machine with an almost instinctual knowledge of every pressure point on the body, which he uses to annihilate entire armies in some of the most spectacular and gruesome ways possible. Don't even get me started on his MadeOfIron qualities as well.
** The ''only'' other person who possibly outstrips Ken in this regard is his brother Raoh. A man so incredibly badass that, after he died, a [[{{SeriousBusiness}} real-life funeral was held for him]].
* Nougami Neuro from ' 'Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro' ' is an example. From the many ways he tortures his slave yako, to how he brutally tortured the new bloodline member DR.
* Ranma from [[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]], many examples of Bad Ass, including [[spoiler: punching out a Phoenix King, destroying mountains, defeating through sheer brilliance a century-plus aged SupernaturalMartialArts OldMaster despite having the strength of a child, and not being able to learn a technique simply because it requires him to complain too much. Oh and having nearly every pretty girl in a mile radius wanting to marry him.]]
* Though sadly often passed over or ignored, pretty much all of the other characters have gotten at least one BadAss moment. Genma Saotome, who otherwise is content to loaf around and [[SinsOfOurFathers make Ranma handle his problems]], proves that even he has his limits when he [[spoiler: uses his BattleAura to turn into a giant version of himself to take on Happosai]]. Soun Tendo, pretty much a wimp who normally uses his DemonHead trick to bully the more capable Ranma into taking care of his household, [[spoiler: tells an oni possessing his eldest daughter to take his body instead]]. Akane Tendo has several, but the first one this troper recalls is taking on the {{Orochi}} at Ryugenzawa. [[HotAmazon Shampoo]], in the first NonSerialMovie, [[spoiler: saves Ranma from a messy death at the hands of a martial artist using RazorFloss, then tells him to go and save her enemy Akane, despite the fact Ranma openly considers her an UnwantedSpouse]]. And those are just some examples.
* Guts from ''{{Berserk}}'' is an example (I don't think that it's possible for a character named "Guts" to not be badass). The [[MagneticPlotDevice Brand of Sacrifice]] on the back of his neck acts as a beacon for TheLegionsOfHell. He's had it for two years and counting, and he's still alive. And despite losing an eye and having to have his left arm replaced with a mechanical one after having to ''cut off the original himself'' (and that's not even counting his ''ridiculous'' number of scars), he's not going to lay down and die anytime soon. The man's nickname is "The Hundred-Man Slayer", and he earned it honestly.
** Also qualifying is the Skull Knight from the manga series. This guy has been fighting the Godhand for [[strike:years]] ''CENTURIES'', is more than a match for the Apostles himself, and can even face down a [[OneWingedAngel monstered-out]] Zodd on equal footing. [[spoiler:And anyone who can defy the Godhand themselves to save Guts and Casca from a horrible death during the Eclipse qualifies as a ''serious'' badass]]. Then there's the matter of what the Skull Knight does to [[ArtifactOfDoom Behelits]]. [[spoiler:''He '''eats''' them.'']]
* Domon Kasshu and Master Asia from ''GGundam'' - they can defeat giant mechas with their bare hands (or sash/bandana), but they reach true badass levels when they have to escape a tunnel that is covered by a a small skyscraper, they summon all their strength and just kick the building out of the way.
** Recent chapters of ''CodeGeass [[AlternateUniverse The Nightmare of Nunnally]]'' shows Zero channeling Master Asia and slaughtering Knightmares while still being hte [[MagnificentBastard magnificent]] [[ManipulativeBastard trickster]] as we know him.
* Prospective ''GetterRobo'' pilots need to prove their badassitude before being allowed anywhere near the titular mecha (unless they hijack it, which is in itself proof of their badassery). This typically involves being attacked by mafia assassins, cyborgs, oni or dinosaurs while completely unarmed, or in [[CrowningMomentofAwesome Gou's case]], a humongous mecha when all he has is an assault rifle. Then once they've proved themselves, the ''real'' action begins.
* Maki from ''{{Airmaster}}'' - built like a brick outhouse, able to defeat 90% of the series' antagonists, capable of learning from all of them so she can beat the other 10%, and [[HugeSchoolgirl female]]. Don't try to bring up her [[ParentalAbandonment past]] in front of her friends, though. You'll be pulverized.
* ''{{Akagi}}''. Breaks minds ''and'' bones with ease. Just don't fuck with him. It's even said that you should not look him in the eye if you're in a group of less than five people.
* If you have a name in ''BlackLagoon'', you will, at some point or other, be a {{badass}}. Yes, even if you're the NonActionGuy, or the twelve-year old kid. And if you're [[ActionGirl female]], odds are good [[HeroicSociopath you'll do even better]].
** That said, the scene in the "El Baile De La Muerte" arc of the manga where Roberta [[spoiler:stops one of Shenhua's blades with her ''teeth'', and then ''bites right through it'',]] deserves to be on this page.
* Jotaro Kujo, (young) Joseph Joestar, and pretty much the whole Joestar family in ''[=~Jojo's Bizarre Adventure~=]''. Jotaro is the most memorable example, who often beat his opponents with his brains more often than his fists (although he does enjoy enjoy wailing on the enemy any chance he gets).
** JoJosBizarreAdventure is arguably the most GAR anime/manga series there is. Other badasses include Dio, Stroheim, Gyro Zeppeli (or any other Zeppeli for that matter), Weather Report, and many, many more. In fact, nearly every major character has at least one CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
*** ''Per fight''
* The Major from ''{{Ghost in the Shell}}'', also an example of a [[ActionGirl female badass]].
** The brutal efficiency of the group enables any Section 9 member to be badass. Batou, however, does get the lion's share that isn't Motoko's.
* Leona from ''DominionTankPolice''. A female police officer that drives a tank and thinks it's completely viable to blow up half a city to catch a jaywalker if needed. Also Commander Britain from the same anime classifies here, having a lifetime subscription to "How to Kill" magazine and all.
* Simon and Kamina from ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' are the most GAR-badass characters ever created: thanks to Simon's massive power and Kamina's unstoppable bravado, they both manage to pull the strongest, most awesome moves ever seen in anime. Of course, for keeping Simon on the ropes throughout their whole fight and continuing to prevail even without his 'mech, Lord Genome clearly has a spot in GAR-halla too. In fact, pretty much every character that goes out with a HeroicSacrifice [[TookALevelInBadass Takes A Level In Badass]] as his last act.
** I'd say absolutely every member of the Gurren Dan. [[spoiler: Doesn't matter if you can fight or not, being a crew member of a ship/giant mecha that intends to combat a cosmic horror is simply raw badass.]]
*** In Gurren Lagann, much of the technology even operates on fuel grade badass. They call it spiral power, but what is badass if it's not going beyond the impossible?
* Vash the Stampede from ''{{Trigun}}'' acts as goofy as all hell... but this is ObfuscatingStupidity. When something draws his wrath and he puts on the ScaryShinyGlasses, all hell is about to break loose -- and if he ever gets into [[GlowingEyesOfDoom "Eyes of the Diablo" mode]], you are completely ''fucked''. One of the few TechnicalPacifist badasses. As well as Nicholas D. Wolfwood, only without the [[TechnicalPacifist pacifism]].
** And while he's more sensitive to pain than most of the other male characters, Million Knives has one hell of a macho complex, which is partly the origin of the problem. Add some steroids, [[FreudWasRight overly huge cannons 'n blades]] and a fierce hatred for humanity and you have a badasser than badass son of a bitch version of Vash. Members of the Gung-ho Guns such as Legato (the man who can slaughter a whole gang through the power of his mind ''over a food incident'' and bend a guy into two or three ''while [[spoiler: being tetraplegic and eating a steak with his chin in his plate]]'') and Elendira the Crimsonnail have their own special flavour of badassery too.
* Bean Bandit, in both ''{{Riding Bean}}'' and ''{{Gunsmith Cats}}''.
* Sesshoumaru from ''{{Inuyasha}}''. If you can shrug off having your arm ''brutally sliced off'', than you are surely a BadAss.
**Furthermore, later on in the manga he basically invades Hell with only Kohaku at his side to rescue Rin from the King of Hell. Sesshoumaru hunts the King down, slices its arm off and rescues Rin. Let me reiterate: Sesshoumaru, a daiyoukai roughly 500 years old attacks someone who is basically Satan. Then he purifies all the dead in Hell sending them to heaven. Badass? Hell yes!
* Gen Shishio of ''{{Kekkaishi}}''.
* Numerous characters from ''OnePiece'', most notably Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro.
** Actually, it's hard to name a single sympathetic character who isn't a Bad Ass Determinator to some degree.
** A true stand-out and rarity among badasses is Mr. 2 Bon Clay, who exudes absurd amounts of badassery while also being [[CampGay quite]] [[DragQueen flamboyant]].
* Akasaka is ''the'' badass in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', even if he sure took his sweet time to [[TookALevelInBadass level up]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JLmljaQPlE Just watch]].
** Just to set the record straight, the people Akasaka beats up are a group of [[spoiler: highly trained counter-intelligence mercenaries]]. Akasaka is ''that'' tough.
* ''FullmetalAlchemist'' has quite a few; Ed pulls off the most blatant feats of badassery through the series, though [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Hohenheim]] and Roy Mustang make a strong case. However, the reigning champion BadAss for the series is ''Izumi'', who routinely wallops everyone she meets even though she [[spoiler:''is missing large chunks of her internal organs.'']]
** Let's not forget Greed, who's a piece of pure Badass, and Bradley, whose seven-swords technique oozes Impossible Manga Feats. Of course, [[spoiler: they owe a lot of this to Father]]. Kimblee is one badass psychopath. Lin/Ling and Ran Fan/Lan Fan got trained since childhood to be kick-ass fighters. Sig/Sigu is Izumi's counterpart, the one and only man who can survive being her husband (heck, they routinely throw knives at each other casually while working). Riza Hawkeye is also so skilled and fierce with firearms that she terrifies her fellow soldiers ''including'' Roy. In the manga, Olivia Armstrong could easily rival with Izumi. And Alex Louis Armstrong is... well, badass in his own very peculiar way.
** And Scar. Just ''look'' at the guy and try to claim that he doesn't instill fear. If looking at him isn't scary enough, remember that he makes YourHeadASplode just by touching it.
** The scene that really sold Roy Mustang as a badass was episode 19 of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, where after getting stabbed in the his waist and having his ignition cloth gloves ripped up by Lust, he manages to cut a transmutation circle into his own skin and close up the stab wounds with the flint from a cigarette lighter, then proceeds to walk on over to Lust and blow the hell out of her and kill her.
* The ''Pokemon Adventures'' manga is full of badasses. From Giovanni (yes, THAT one, he's unbelievably awesome in the manga), to Blue, Silver and [[spoiler:''Ruby'' in the final battle]], just to name a few, right down to Mewtwo, who, despite his slight power downgrade compared to the anime, can still to use his psychic powers to split a building in two.
**Add Koga to the list. [[spoiler:When fighting Agatha's Arbok, which received strength from the markings on its stomach, Koga had his Golbat suck a large amount of blood from his arm to throw over the marks, nullifying them. Considering how vicious Golbat can be with its blood lust, and that Koga has no hesitation in ordering it to do this, it's awesome and resourceful.]]
** For ''the'' Pokemon side, there's Ash's Charizard. His EstablishingCharacterMoment in his very first official battle? Flying out of a '''pool of lava''' to hundreds of meters in the sky, and delivering his first Seismic Toss by ''effortlessly throwing his helpless opponent to the ground.''
*** How is that awesome? ''Any'' Pokemon who can learn Seismic Toss can do that.
*** Did you not hear the first part? Charizard survived '''''[[MemeticMutation THE VERY HEART OF THE VOLCANO ITSELF]]''''' before flying up and brutally throwning Blaine's Magmar into the lava while still in the air.
** Treecko and Buizel would follow in Charizard's footsteps later...the former possibly surpassing Char in awesomeness, and the WeaselMascot standing his ground very well.
* As for [[{{Digimon}} that other monster show]], the cast of ''DigimonSavers'' is probably the baddest of the badass. Both Masaru and Ikuto will fight Digimon barehanded, [[BadassLongcoat Satsuma]] is a [[BigDamnHeroes big damn hero]] and it's up for debate whether Touma is a GeniusBruiser or BadassBookworm. Even TheChick Yoshino gets one really good moment where she smashes an evil pseudo-Digimon with a barrel, and the BridgeBunnies have ''motorcycles''.
** Beelzemon from ''DigimonTamers'' also deserves a mention. Demonic appearance, black leather biker clothes, only existing creature that can control a destructive living motorcycle. He suffered no BadassDecay from his eventual HeelFaceTurn.
* ''{{Tsukihime}}'''s Nanaya Shiki. For one thing, he's an [[SuperPoweredEvilSide amoral sociopathic killer split personality]] of the protagonist, which is just cool. But then, he has insanely skilled killing abilities and instincts, ''and'' the [[EvilEye Mystic Eyes of Death Perception]], which let him kill virtually anything ''with a fruit knife''. To top it off, he easily slaughters some of the most powerful beings on the planet (who are nigh-unbeatable) while laughing, speaking poetically, and only feeling a mixture of amused enthusiasm and contempt.
** Nanaya Shiki does not actually have the [[EvilEye Mystic Eyes of Death Perception]], He is more a 'What if' Tohno Shiki, Instead of the actual one. This means he does all that running on sheer, utter, skill. Yes, He cuts through bone with only a fruit knife because he is SKILLED.
** Tohno Shiki, the protagonist, is only slightly less badass. His utter pwnage of Nrvnqsr has yet to be topped by anything, ANYTHING this troper has ever seen.
** Don't forget his freak out against Akiha. That was essentially a preview of Nanaya Shiki with the eyes, And that in itself is sheer awesome.
** There are, however, a lot of other badasses around ''Tsukihime''. Arcueid's normal badassitude is much hurt in the main story because she's regenerating from a brutal backstabbing by the aforementioned Nanaya, but it should still be remembered that this is a girl who slaughtered what amounted to the most powerful supernatural race on Earth singlehandedly. And then there's also TheOjou Akiha Tohno, whose badassitude is mostly off-camera in the original novel... but then [[http://www.findmanga.com/manga/Tsukihime/24/14 showed]] (and ''how''!) in the manga, driving the point home that the head of the Tohno might be a young girl, but she's ''not'' someone you should fuck with.
** Satsujinki, [[spoiler: who is just a possible future Tohno Shiki]]. IMO, he is even more badass than [[spoiler: his Nanaya persona]].
*** He's just way to {{GAR}} to exist, as of yet anyways. Hopefully...
* Absolutely every single character in ''VinlandSaga'' is [-GAR-] personified.
** Even Father Waribald, a priest, is pretty hard core. You'd have to be to drink an entire hall full of {{Vikings}} under the table.
* Nanoha Takamachi from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. Do not let the "MagicalGirl" part fool you. This is a lady who casually walks OutOfTheInferno, [[BarehandedBladeBlock grabs]] [[LaserBlade energy blades]] [[BarehandedBladeBlock with one unprotected hand]], and frequently [[OhCrap instills the very fear of God into her enemies]] with the sheer power she possesses. Her [[FanNickname most popular name amongst fans]] is "The White Devil" and you'd be hard-pressed not to think it as fitting while watching her in action. Not to say that Fate and the Wolkenritter aren't badass either.
** In fact, it's hard to decide if there are mages who ''aren't'' badass. Yuuno's far from being as wimpy as the stereotypical NonActionGuy. However, [[LadyOfWar Signum]] might still be the most badass of them.
** Fate is an interesting case, since she is the living proof that the tropes {{Badass}} and [[TheWoobie Woobie]] are not mutually exclusive.
* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' has tons, Takamichi, Rakan, Nagi, Kaede, Setsuna, and Mana all qualify, but the most extreme example is LittleMissBadass Evangeline, who has taken down a superpowerful demon god in one (massive) shot.
** Also Negi himself, after obtaining BlackMagic. Just read chapter 219.
** In this troper's opinion, as of the latest chapters with the fight against Rakan, not only could Negi be arguably the most badass character in Negima next to Evangeline but even comparably one of the biggest badass shounen leads out there today.
* ''CodeGeass'' has several, most notably Kallen, Toudou and, Suzaku.
** In one of the {{spinoff}} mangas, ''Zero'' himself. Instead of having MindControl powers, his suit gives him super-strength, allowing him to go toe-to-toe with Lancelot, without being inside of a Knightmare himself.
** I'm surprised [[EnsembleDarkhorse Jeremiah]] hasn't made it here yet. He just BAMF! and turned completely badass from R1 Turn 25 onwards.
** And it is a ''sin'' that this list hasn't included LadyOfWar Cornelia, who, as of the Battle of Narita, can win against Lelouch and two other Knightmare Frames, with ''both'' hands tied behind her back.
* Chiyoko from the ''{{Akira}}'' manga - she specializes in {{Foe Tossing Charge}}s and can take down a small army all by her lonesome. ''While badly wounded''.
* Yankumi from ''{{Gokusen}}'' personifies this, when she's not [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretending to be a floozy ditz]] to keep her students in the dark about the fact that she is the sole heir to the feared Ooedo Yakuza group. Single handedly takes on Yakuza gangsters, thieves and at one point [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold her entire class of punkass gakuran]]. Also takes down Man Mountain Tetsuru with two fingers straight up the nose to prove a point about strength. Combined with her tendency to [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome go into yakuza mode at the slightest and most inappropriate provocation]] she is a 24/7 badass who will surely hold all of Tokyo in her iron grip when her grandfather finally croaks.
* Asuka Langley Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' could be considered a deconstruction of the Badass, fighting fiercely and acting all {{Tsundere}} to hide her vulnerability and insecurity. FanFic usually plays hers straight or [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructs]] it after EpiphanyTherapy.
* Natsuki Kuga from ''{{Mai-HiME}}'', this trope is you. That [[BadassBiker sweet ride]] of yours certainly helps your image. Now, if you'd only come to school more than once in a while...
** Haruka fits this as well, as she gets at least one CrowningMomentOfAwesome with every incarnation she stars in. Bonus points go to her ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' anime self, who [[BadassNormal has no powers]], but is still quite intimidating.
* Mikura from MezzoDSA and MezzoForte is almost insanely badass. Just watch the bowling alley fight from episode one of Forte, and be amazed.
* ''Samurai 7's'' Kyuuzo masterfully wields two katana, wears red and black, and fits the criteria for "nosebleed-inducing male character" with his damn good looks and icy personality. Not to be confused with his mildly friendlier movie incarnation, though that Kyuuzo is just as badass.
* Manji from ''BladeOfTheImmortal''
* Bobby Margot, battleship helmsman from ''MacrossFrontier'' also deserves a mention, made even more badass by the fact that normally he acts very [[CampGay campy]], and used to be hair dresser and makeup artist.
** Ozma also is very badass in his own right.
* Kakuri from ''{{Bokko}}'' is a short, bearded warrior-monk who specifically goes out of his way to aid defenseless cities in times of war. With his strategy, wisdom and badassery he has helped countless small cities win against the odds.
* [[DefrostingIceQueen Marlene Angel]] from BlueGender most definitely qualifies. Aside from her feat of fighting the [[BigCreepyCrawlies Blue]] in or ''out'' of her HumongousMecha, at one point in the movie she kills a giant armor-plated worm by ''throwing her mecha's bayonetted rifle '''into its mouth.'''''
** [[DeadpanSnarker Dice]] also qualifies, as he built his own custom mech [[MemeticMutation in the desert...WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!]]
* Chances are, if you're at one point a main fighter in YuYuHakusho, you're a badass. Yusuke has the balls to get cocky with even those who far outclass him, and back up his smack-talk to boot. Kuwabara can survive even the most vicious beatdowns without falling, and tends to turn fights completely around despite said injuries. Hiei absolutely ''doesn't'' play around in his fights, and will cut you to shreds in ''split-split seconds'' before you can even comprehend the fact that you've been cut. The biggest badass of the heroes? The {{Bishonen}} Kurama, shockingly enough. See that cut on your face he just gave you? Too bad, because at this point, you'll be dead within seconds due to a demon plant he's sewn into your wound. Are you immortal, and don't fear death? [[spoiler:You're still not safe, for your immortal body will be tied to a tree that will paralyze you, and force you to suffer your worst fears for eternity. Chances are, at this point, Kurama ''is'' your biggest fear.]] Kurama's so badass, even ''Hiei'' fears him.
* [[TheStoic Sosuke]] from ''[[FullMetalPanic Full Metal Panic!]]''. Ok, so he has a [[HilarityEnsues hard time in]] [[RaisedByWolves a normal social setting]], but God forbid you do ''anything'' he considers a threat, ''especially'' to Kaname. He can out-negotiate pretty much anyone. He will do [[TheDeterminator anything and everything]] to save Kaname, and that is not an exaggeration. He knows and can do everything about battle, from hostage situations to first-aid, from wielding a shotgun in a hilariously cute mascot suit (''after'' kicking some ass without a weapon in said suit) to successfully taking on hordes of baddies with his bare hands. To top it all off, he pilots a [[HumongousMecha Humongous Mecha]] when he's not kicking ass with nothing but a pistol. Hell, just the fact that he can deal with the often ''extremely'' pissed off (mostly because of ''him'') Kaname on a day-to-day basis cements his place as a badass. Plus, there's also the fact that he can somehow be both {{Bishonen}} ''and'' manly ''at the same time''.
** Even Kaname herself can be called a badass. Not content with the "damsel in distress" role often dropped on her shoulders (leading her to be rescued by S?suke), despite her civilian status, she often comes up with and thinks of things that even S?suke and his comrades miss. She's always somehow involved in the counter-attack that takes place following her capture, even if it's in a non-combat role. And her status as a "Whispered" has even saved S?suke's hide a few times in battle. Plus, there's also the fact that she beats the shit out of S?suke, a ''trained mercenary'', on a regular basis because of his antics. Face it, he doesn't even fight back because she's so badass.
* Ashitaka, from ''{{Princess Mononoke}}''. {{Cursed With Awesome}} by a boar god that he killed (single-handedly). When San and Lady Eboshi are fighting for the first time in his presence, he immediately ''bends someone's katana with one hand'', [[FoeTossingCharge Foe Tossing]] [[Determinator Slow Strides]] his way through the circle of people, grabs the combatants and stuns them both (one hand each), before calmly walking away. On his way out of town, he gets shot through the lung ''and keeps walking'', then, while dripping blood, opens the door that "it takes ten men to open" (yeah...{{Cursed With Awesome}}...) and quietly leaves town, thanking the villagers as he goes.
* Fujioka in ''Minami-ke'' isn't actually a badass but is labelled one by Kana. [[spoiler: Kana's older sister, however, is a LEGENDARY BADASS]]
* We've come this far and {{Gundam}} hasn't made the list? For shame! Just to list a few...
** ''MobileSuitGundam'' has Ramba [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "This is No Zaku"]] Ral, as well as arguably the most famous Gundam badass: [[MaskPower Char Aznable]].
** ''GundamSEED'' gives us [[AcePilot Mu La Flaga]], as well as MagnificentBastard Rau Le Creuset.
** ''{{Gundam 00}}'' has all four Gundam Meisters, as well as [[SuperSoldier Soma Peries]], [[ColonelBadass Sergei Smirnov]] and [[HotBlooded GRAHAM AKER]]. Of course, villainous badass [[FanNickname "Prince Ali"]] [[PsychoForHire al]]-[[EvillyAffable Saachez]] needs to be mentioned too.
* King Gid of ToLoveRu, who despite looking four years old theatens, quite seriously, to destroy the Earth. In fact the reason he looks like he does is because he recently conquered the ''universe''. He is currently trying to pawn his thrown off to his daughter's soon-to-be husband so he can play around and chase girls.
** Yami-chan is also a certified BadAss.
* Just about every major character in KenichiTheMightiestDisciple. Except for maybe [[TheStrategist Nijima]], although even he has pulled some ridiculous stunts.
* BakiTheGrappler is filled to the brim with these, but most especially the titular characters father [[BloodKnight Yujiro Hanma]]. He stops an earthquake by puching the ground, beats up almost every single VERY BadAss martial artist in the series SIMULTANOUSLY, and beats America in Vietnam by himself barehanded as a teen, to the point America SURRENDERS to him. And this is just the anime which is nowhere NEAR where the manga is.
* [[DarkerThanBlack Hei]]: Known as the Black {{Shinigami}}. Can instantly kill you if he even ''touches'' you. Took down loads of Contractors even ''before'' he [[BadassAbnormal got superpowers]]. Wears a BadassLongcoat that is ''only'' bulletproof when he wears it, because apparently no one else is awesome enough. Can [[StealthHiBye appear and disappear]] with no warning. Has leveled an entire city block on accident. Dear lord, ''where does the awesome end?'' No wonder fans [[FanNickname call him]] "Chinese Electric {{Batman}}."
* [[TwentiethCenturyBoys Otcho]], to the extent where he sometimes seems to live in a slightly more cartoonish world than the rest of the cast.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Sergeant Rock. The man beat BATMAN in a "most badass man in comics" contest. He kills tanks with his hands. And he has no powers other than a dedication to kicking Nazi ass. His whole unit actually finds killing Nazis less physically stressful than any other activity, including eating.
* ''{{Blade}}''.
* Wolverine of the ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}''.
** Most of the X-Men maintain some degree of badass. It helps that Cyclops makes them train without their powers to functional BadassNormal skill levels. By way of a few examples...
*** Cyclops beating up six men at once with his eyes shut. Oh, and then there was the time when the X-Men were brainwashed into trying to kill him. He managed not to hurt any of them too badly...
*** Storm losing her powers and still being badass enough to lead the team for a couple of years. Including beating Cyclops in a one-on-one duel.
*** Beast can pull your arms off with his feet. He's also a BadassBookworm.
*** Nightcrawler once fought his way through several dozen superhumans without using his powers. Oh, and with a broken leg.
*** Cannonball vs Gladiator. 'Nuff said.
*** Jubilee can dropkick two men [[GroinAttack in the balls]] at once. After blowing their guns up just by thinking about it.
*** Rachel Summers fought Galactus. It was a ''draw''.
* ''ThePunisher''.
* And again with Spartans, most of the Spartans in ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]''. In fact, the narration makes a point of mentioning how badass they are. Repeatedly. It's not a TakeOurWordForIt, though; the narrator himself is one of the warriors.
* Venom and Carnage became popular among ''Comicbook/{{Spider-Man}}'' readers in the DarkAge, thanks to their {{Badass}} if not often outright psychopathic natures. Then came the even more [[WolverinePublicity insane marketing schemes]].
* Marv (pictured above) from ''SinCity'' is a walking personification of the concept. He is a [[MadeOfDiamond near invulnerable]] man who at various points in the story shrugs off multiple gunshot wounds (including one to the head), being hit by a speeding car three times ''in succession'', taking a blow to the head from a sledgehammer, massive blood loss, all while mowing down countless fully armed enemies using only his fists and whatever he can find. Even [[spoiler: taking a jolt via electric chair only prompts him to tell his executioners]], "Is that the best you can do you pansies?"
** Of course, ''Sin City'' is ''rife'' with badasses. Let's not forget Dwight [=McCarthy=], John Hartigan, Wallace, or deadly little Miho. Or Kevin and Manute for that matter.
*** Even among other Sin City badasses, Marv is considered a badass' badass
*** Basically every major male and most female characters ever written by Frank Miller.
**** He made Robin cool, by turning him into her, and making her kick ass.
* [[DonRosa Don Rosa's]] ''TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' is infamous for the bad-assedness young Scrooge pulls off. In "The Raider of Copper Hill", he fights off a small army of claim jumpers bare-handed. In "Terror of the Transvaal", after getting double-crossed and left in the African savanna by a young [[TheRival Flintheart Glomgold]], he's so mad he cows several angry wild animals on his way back to civilization. And in "King of the Klondike", Scrooge goes into an UnstoppableRage after unscrupulous businessman Soapy Slick kidnaps him, chains him up, tries to steal his claim, and to top off the KickTheDog list, makes fun of Scrooge's late mother.
* Midnighter of ''{{The Authority}}''. Add CaptainAmerica's origin to {{Batman}}'s skill and throw in Punisher's attitude, then square the result.
** What's even more impressive is that, crazy as his fighting skills are, he doesn't even have to hit you to destroy you. At one point, he basically [[TalkingYourWayOut analyzed and demolished a super-soldier's psyche]], forcing him to question his life and leave the fight a broken man.
* Various characters in ''{{Preacher}}'', especially the Saint of Killers. The special sidestory "The Good Old Boys" parodies the idea with a character who's all tough talk but no actual worth.
* Parodied by Ruben Bolling; The Impossible Squad! All members are clench-jawed hard smokin' macho sergeants and almost all of them solve things with explosives.
* How the hell did we miss {{Batman}}? Probably the original BadassNormal of superhero comics, not only does he nightly take on the psychotic criminals of Gotham City, but he is and always has been a premiere member of the JusticeLeague - with no superpowers - and unflinchingly enters battle with alien overlords, dimension-eating demons and cyborg mutants - again with no superpowers. He's on par with and widely respected by even the most godlike metas in DC's mythos, and he's managed this by simply by keeping his mental and physical fitness superbly honed, utmost dedication to his Mission, and sheer ''willpower''...
** A ''Superman/Batman'' storyline that involved Batman getting Superman's power proved what everyone already knew-- if Batman had super powers, everyone else would be obsolete.
** Batman's reputation is known even among aliens, as shown when the Sinestro Corps attemtpt to recruit him. Luckily, he managed to summarily scare the ring off before it could take him to be trained.
*** This is because he is ''the goddamm BATMAN''
* Lex Luthor tried this once in a fistfight against The Joker: "I am Lex God-damned Luthor. I raise my voice, and Satan himself is on bended knee. I am the leader of the free world, you impotent little psychotic. I've had the most powerful beings on this or any planet gunning for me for years, and you think you're going to scare me?"
**'Course, then he killed some human power batteries [[WhatMeasureIsAMook]] he was using to power his way home. SoYeah...
*** Let me guess: he laughed.
* Ogami Itto of ''{{Lone Wolf and Cub}}'' is Japan's greatest badass, although there is a justification. As the former Executioner of the Shogun, he was expected to fight for the right to get such a cushy job, presumably besting every other swordsman in Japan for the right to be "the Shogun's right hand". Consequently, when he goes rogue, no man/woman/ninja hit squad can stand against him. At one point in the series he ''literally'' fights off an entire crowd of female assassins while being ''drugged unconscious''. Despite this, the series is fantastic for trying to find new, creative ways for the bad guys to provide some challenge worthy of him. His enemies, acknowledging him as the greatest swordsman in Japan, will attempt to send, say, the greatest ''rifleman'' in Japan against him, or some such.
* Can't leave [[{{Watchmen}} Rorschach]] off list. Might get upset.
** There is also Ozymandias, who [[spoiler: effortlessly defeated aforementioned Rorschach and his ally Nite-Owl at the same time, and later ''caught a bullet with his bare hands''.]]
* ''JonSableFreelance''
* Manji, from ''Blade of the Immortal''. But then, it's kinda hard NOT to be a badass when you're infected with a parasite that will reattach your limbs and rebuild organs in order to keep a viable host.
** Manji earned his reputation for killing a hundred men ''before'' his infestation. If anything, the parasites made him ''less'' of a threat, since he couldn't be bothered to fight as hard as he used to.
* King Mob of TheInvisibles turned himself into his hero, JerryCornelius, becoming not only a successful writer and accomplished magician but a master assassin capable of killing people in every conceivable way including ''inside his mind''.
* {{Nextwave}} counts too. Even the ButtMonkey managed to make the lord of a hellish dimension wish he was dead... Using the contents of a restroom. Starting at the toilet, and finishing with the toilet brush.
* [[YTheLastMan Agent 355]]. She once won a fight with both arms broken, by ripping her opponent's throat out with her teeth.
* {{Deadpool}}, feebs! He's fought Wolverine to a standstill, and in one issue escaped from being crushed by a giant stuffed teddy bear by ''snapping both wrists and ankles'' while talking the whole time...even though talking was what was making the bear fall. He also fought {{The Incredible Hulk}} and managed to steal his blood. Also, in one of the Marvel Alternate Universes, he was commissioned to kill all mutants. At the end of the story, there were four left, and they were hiding from him in Japan. FOUR. I could go on forever on this one.
** Deadpool himself [[TalkativeLoon would indeed go on forever with it]].
* DC Comics' ''{{Frankenstein}}'' eradicated two supernatural creature infestations, dismantled a slave ring on Mars, killed a humanoid living ''universe'' and destroyed an entire invasion fleet from a ''billion years'' in the future. All of this in a limited ''four-issue'' series.
* Did anyone read the [[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica JLA]] issue where, on one of the first pages, there is a full page splash of Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner, ''before'' he TookALevelInBadAss, standing on top of a massive pile of prison escapees, in a ''super-prison,'' or at least maximum security, considering that all of the inmates were villains ''he and his team put there,'' with his uniform torn, his body beaten blood and blue, and yelling out the words (paraphrased) ''"Who the HELL stole my power ring?!"'' (That was a run-on and a half...) In other words, Kyle Rayner, an ''artist,'' took on an entire prison-full of people with a grudge against him, ''bare-handed and without his powers.'' I say that makes him pretty BadAss.
* How is Judge Dredd not on the list? The man has survived hardened criminals, robot attacks, assassination attempts, city-wide riots, multiple wars and planetary-level apocalyptic events.
* [[FantasticFour Victor Von Doom]], [[DependingOnTheWriter when he's written right]]. During the Marvel Zombies/Army of Darkness crossover, Doom was infected with TheVirus. The same virus that made every other human being in the world infected with it instantly become completely, unapologetically evil and devour their friends and family. And he just willed himself to ignore it. Why? Because he's Doctor Goddamn Doom.
* [[http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Lobo Lobo, the last Czarnian]]. Even more than being BadAss he's a HeroicSociopath. Well, very light on the "heroic", but he makes up for it with extra "sociopath".
* TheBoys are here to give you a fucking spanking.
* Deathstroke. He singlehandedly beat the crap out of the entire Justice League. He also was quite capable of stabbing The Goddamn Flash.
* We have to have ''{{Superman}}'' here, considering that most of the other comic book badasses owe their existence to him. Yes, he's aided by [[SuperpowerLottery incredible superpowers]], but many times he has gone up against opponents with equal or greater superpowers and still come out on top, not to mention that even when a foe does hit upon his [[KryptoniteFactor weakness]], he has a good chance of [[FightOffTheKryptonite beating them anyway]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* [[FanFic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40k Charles Bhephin's version of Shinji Ikari]]. Yes, ''that'' [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari.]] Don't ask, [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3886999/Shinji_and_Warhammer40k just read.]]
** We should pitch [[FanFic/ThousandShinji Academia Nut's version]] as well, but stay away from the potentially flammable ''[[FanFic/TheOpenDoor Open Door]]'' even if it does have more badasses to its name.
* Though in ''CommandAndConquer Renegade'', captain Nick Parker is a certified OneManArmy, in ''[[Fanfic/TiberiumWars Tiberium Wars]]'', he gets ''extra'' badass points. In one chapter, he brings down a Nod Avatar singlehandedly ''while flipping it the bird'', and then [[UnflinchingWalk calmly walks away from it]] after chucking a satchel full of artillery shells at its prone body.
[[/folder]]
* Mention goes to [[{{Team8}} Team 8]]'s version of Naruto (who has taken about as many levels in Badass that the canon version did in a tiny fraction of the time), and to [[Fanfic/EnemyOfMyEnemy Enemy of My Enemy]]'s [[{{Halo}} Rukth]] [[BladeOnAStick 'Kilkar]], known to his foes as "[[RedBaron The Black Sangheili]]". Of course, like S&W40K above, both fics are positively filled with badasses out the wazoo.

[[folder:Film]]
*Mal, River, Jayne, and the Operative in ''{{Serenity}}''.
*Marv from ''SinCity'', but then, there's a picture of him. Still he is so badass he should be mentioned [[strike:twice]] [[BeyondTheImpossible as many times as it takes, plus one]].
* The man with no name "Fistfull of Dollars", "For a few Dollars More" Am I the only one here who likes westerns? sniff.
** ''Spaghetti'' westerns.
* "Tombstone" Doc Holiday! Only a real man can wear that snazzy purple vest and still shoot em up while dying from TB.
* Jules Winnfield from ''PulpFiction''. SamuelLJackson has been a badass for most of his career, of course. One good example is ''Formula51'' (a.k.a ''The 51st State''), in which he wears a kilt for most of the movie, hangs out with Robert Carlyle, and beats up skinheads with a golf club.
*Zartan, from ''GIJoeTheRiseofCobra'', who [[spoiler: breaks into the Pit, with Storm Shadow and The Baroness, stabs Cover Girl through the chest and almost does the same to General Hawk,]] and promptly escapes, posing as a traveling Bedouin--all the while whistling 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow'. [[spoiler: Oh, and he successfully impersonates the President of the United States]]
*****Zartan? I think Zartan would be more like a weasel then a badass!!! Ew.
* Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes From GI Joe: RiseofCobra!!! They always get to fight at the top of buildings and bring a sword to a gun fight. And they are so very cool.
* Anton Chigurh, "the ultimate badass", from ''NoCountryForOldMen''.
* The titular character of the ''{{Terminator}}'' movies.
** And the first movie's protagonist, Kyle Reese.
** Or Sarah Connor after her [[TookALevelInBadass level-up]].
* Darth Vader, of ''StarWars''.
** The same, unfortunately, cannot be said of his prequel alter-ego Anakin, but try to look on [[strike:the bright]] TheDarkSide of it.
** The other Sith Lords of the series also qualify, with [[MagnificentBastard Darth Sidious]], [[NobleDemon Count Dooku]] and in particular Darth Maul each having plenty of Badass moments.
** On the Jedi side, there's Mace Windu ([[SamuelLJackson Sam Jackson]] again), at least until [[spoiler: Anakin takes off his hand]]. After that ... probably not.
** There is also Kyle Katarn, As displayed in Jedi Academy, Kyle would use grapple attacks on Jaden like putting him in a head lock then throwing, or holding him with one hand and punching him with the other. During a lightsaber duel.
** Heck, Star Wars has too many badasses to list. The most notable of which include Han, Vader, Lando, Luke, Chewbacca, and Boba Fett.
*** Fett only became truly awesome due to the fans. In the movies, he has a pretty ignominious fate.
** And if you think they're badass in the movies, you must not have seen [[StarWarsCloneWars the old Clone Wars cartoon]], where ''everyone'' except battle droids is, and those who already were go beyond all reason. Grievous makes his first appearance by stomping a jedi to death and continuing to almost destroy a number of other jedi. Until they are saved by a troop of clone troopers who are themselves badass enough to drive Grievous off as well as performing a number of other such feats in the series. Asajj Ventress battles an entire arena full of monstrous gladiators without breaking a sweat. Shaak Ti fights several dozens of Magnaguards at once just after it has been established that they're badass, too. Yoda is even more Yoda than elsewhere. The list goes on, but the biggest badass is probably Mace Windu. I'm not even going to try to explain it, you need to see it for yourself.
** Yoda is pretty damn badass in the prequels as well. He takes on a master Sith, and wins. Despite being several hundred years older than his opponent and being in such bad shape he has to use a cane to walk around. Also, he is about 1,5 meters shorter than said opponent, and possibly suffering from mild dementia.
* Riddick, of ''TheChroniclesOfRiddick'' and ''Pitch Black''.
** Riddick is so Badass he can actually physically transform a fragile tin teacup into a weapon able to penetrate a human sternum.
* Xander Cage, of ''XXX''. In fact, just about every action movie role played by The Rock or Vin Diesel.
* Beatrix Kiddo, a.k.a. Black Mamba, a.k.a. The Bride in ''KillBill''.
* The odious Captain [[SignificantAnagram Vidal]] from ''[[PansLabyrinth Pan's Labyrinth]]''. Despite being a [[CompleteMonster total and unrelenting bastard]], he leads from the front, never even flinches as his men are mowed down around him, beats at least one man to death with a wine bottle, fights off the effects of heavy sedatives, and, in one particularly painful-looking scene, stitches up his own face with a needle and thread.
**I actually disagree -- Vidal is no more a badass than the shark from Jaws is a badass, or the titular Perfect Storm -- the man is barely human, and would be more of a force of nature than a badass.
*** Mercedes, on the other hand, qualifies; the sheer courage taken to stand in Vidal's presence knowing what he would do to her if he were to ever find out that she was a rebel proves she has more balls than a christmas tree. Not to mention her [[CrowningMomentofAwesome Crowning moment of Face Slashing Awesome]] where she uses a knife she had very wisely kept about her person at all times to escape imminent [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] and then stabs Vidal more than a few times with it . . . though not quite enough, unfortunately.
* Doug Gordon, Captain of the Gotengo, from ''{{Godzilla}}: Final Wars'': "Listen, kid, there are two things you don't know about Earth. One is me; the other is Godzilla." This, to an alien who's [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt just destroyed human civilization]]. Then he comes up against two heavily-armed aliens with [[KatanasAreJustBetter just a katana]]...and ''puts down the katana'' by sticking it into a stone pillar. He's also got a BadassLongcoat and BadassMustache to boot.
**Heck, even his SMILE is badass - it scared me when he tried to smile at a pretty lady, and probably made more than one little kid wet his pants.
** And when passing his fellows, who have just been tied up by a really long firefight, acknowledges them in passing by muttering, "I thought I told you to get to the ship?"
** We'd be lying if we didn't say {{Godzilla}} himself is badass, damn it.
* Vasquez, in ''Film/{{Alien}}s''.
** For that matter, most of the marines in the same film. ([[spoiler: With the notable exception of Lieutenant Gorman, the guy in charge.]]).
***Although he does redeem himself.
* Lieutenant Ellen Ripley throughout the entire ''Film/Alien'' series, but especially in the climactic fight in ''Aliens'': "[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Get away from her, you]] ''[[[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome bitch]].''"
* Captain Barbossa in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean.''
** Agreed. He was a true badass, whereas Jack was more of a lucky trickster. Of course, Elizabeth turned into a budding little badass too.
* As of ''EvilDead 2'', and even more so in ''[[EvilDead Army Of Darkness]]'', BruceCampbell's character Ashley Williams is equal parts {{Badass}} and {{Jerkass}}. At one point, he [[RuleOfCool replaces his left hand with a chainsaw]]. Note that these movies lead to an apparent Law of Story: If you replace the lead of a horror movie with a Bad Ass, it becomes an action movie.
** "Groovy!"
* SeanConnery. Always. Exhibit A: JamesBond. Exhibit B: ''TheRock''. Exhibit C: ''TheUntouchables''. Exhibit D: ''The Wind and the Lion.''
** Exception: ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade''.
*** Professor Henry Jones: ''I suddenly remembered my Charlemagne. Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky.'' EXCEPTION DENIED.
** Zardoz, bitches.
* On that note, JamesBond.
* Chow Yun-Fat in just about any movie made by John Woo.
* Every single one of the Spartans in ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]'' fitted this, but in particular King Leonidas. Considering TheSpartanWay was the real life training method used in Sparta of Ancient Greece, anybody who survived would ''have'' to have been a BadAss.
* Chev Chelios from ''Crank''. The entire movie revolves around the fact that if he stops doing absolute feats of badassery for more than a few minutes, he will literally keel over dead from poison. Really, just Jason Statham in all his roles.
* Any character portrayed by, or [[BruceLeeClone based on]], Bruce Lee (who was truly a badass in RealLife).
** Not so much the latter. Bruce Lee was very agile, but not as skilled a martial artist as the movies let on.
*** You're kidding, right? This is the guy who the camera men had to ask to slow down because he was moving too fast for the camera!
**** That's just above mentioned agility. As cool as martial arts look, and as trained as Bruce Lee was, a single guy with a gun could easily defeat him.
* River Tam turns badass in the ''{{Firefly}}'' movie ''Serenity''. She also had some badass moments during the series as well, such as taking out three of Niska's men with her eyes closed during Mal's rescue in "War Stories".
** Heck, Mal, Book, and Zoe are pretty badass in that one as well. Ripping a torture device out of your chest shortly after dying and stabbing {{The Dragon}} of the villain with it? Badass defined.
** Not to mention The Operative, who fights both Mal and Inara to a standstill in the Companion Training Hall and gives Mal a hell of a fight on Mr. Universe's moon in the movie's final showdown.
** Jayne Cobb, "Shiny! Let's be bad guys!"
* Clint Eastwood in almost every movie he was in including and before ''Unforgiven''.
* ''Planet Terror'' ({{Robert Rodriguez}}'s half of the ''{{Grindhouse}}'' double feature) takes the insane stunts aspect of {{Badass}} to the limit, especially in the characters of El Wray (especially when he fights his way through an army of The Infected with a pair of butterfly knives) and, later, Cherry Darling, who loses her leg to a zombie and has it replaced with various weapons, including an M-16 assault rifle with attached grenade launcher, and even a minigun!
** Hey, don't forget the three women in ''Death Proof''! Especially the driver. They managed to turn the initial psychopathic badass into a snivelling grease stain on the highway. Hooray, ladies!
* Nearly everyone in {{Dog Soldiers}}, Spoon and Sarge especially. Spoon, for example, fistfights a werewolf - and ''almost wins''.
** To hell with "almost", he ''is'' winning until a second werewolf shows up.
*** That is if you consider, 'constantly stabbing and whacking something that can't die' winning.
*** He could have. Remember, they can be killed, but it takes a long time to actually do so.
** And then we have his last words, "I hope I give you the shits you fucking wimp!"
* By the same director as DogSoldiers we have TheDescent -- this guy must like badasses, because again in this film almost everybody is one. If one considers that the ENTIRE CAST IS FEMALE, this becomes a wonderful thing -- there really aren't enough women on this list. The story is: six extreme sportswomen go into a cave, and find themselves trapped when Juno reveals she lead them deliberately into an unexplored cave (read: Death Trap.) They soon realise that They Are Not Alone. It's fortunate then, that Juno is a raging, mother-frikking badass, who breaks all sorts of tropes by overpowering the people-eating humanoid cave monster that attacks her and killing it with an ice pick. She then goes on a rampage of destruction with so many CrowningMomentsOfAwesome that it actually left this troper ''feeling sorry for the cannibals''. She is matched only by Sarah, who after finding out her [[spoiler: dead husband cheated on her and granting her best friend's request for ICannotSelfTerminate,]] primally kills the cave people in such charming manners as shoving her thumbs in through their eyes and biting out their throats. LEGENDARY.
** Right after the [[spoiler:ICannotSelfTerminate]], when a crawler is literally on top of Sarah without knowing she's there and her face remains completely emotionless, it's actually a little freaky in it's badassery. Normal people don't behave like that! Of course, she is [[spoiler:crazy.]]
** Besides the obvious two, there's also Sam, who didn't do much in the way of BadAss for most of the film, but went out hanging from the ceiling, climbing onto a fighting crawler's back in midair and stabbing its ass off the cave roof, ''all with her fucking throat slashed''.
* Because Neil Marshall doesn't just like his badasses, he loves them, ''{{Doomsday}}''. Bloody ''Doomsday''. The movie itself and damn near everyone in it. Have you SEEN [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaiA9ksZGS0 this car chase]]? It's insane.
* Minor league compared to some of these others, but Mel Gibson's character, the titular ''Maverick'' in the 1994 film, steps up to several moments of badassery. Near the beginning of the film, he's approached by several aggressive men with melee weapons: he responds by handing his coat and gun-belt, gun included, to a bystander. He then requests to be shot if it looks like he's losing on the grounds that he wouldn't deserve to live if he lets incompetents like them defeat him. Of course he wins.
** That's because the whole fight was staged - he paid them to lose beforehand. Badass averted.
*** Badass reclaimed with his scary [[GunFu quickdraw]] skills in the poker game later.
**** It's interesting to note that the original ''Maverick'' TV series was meant as an inversion of the westerns of the time; the Maverick boys were skilled at poker and good brawlers, but were not particularly fast guns. They relied more on guile than on muscle. The movie remained more or less true to this ideal.
** Okay, why use ''Maverick'' as an example for Mel Gibson when you have: Mad Frikkin' Max. ''Braveheart''. ''Lethal Weapon''.
*** Porter in ''Payback''. Both versions.
* Toshiro Mifune in most of his films, especially when he plays {{Ronin}} characters. Subverted in ''{{Rashomon}}''.
** Even the shoe company executive he plays in ''Tengoku to jigoku'' (AKA ''High and Low'') is a badass. When colleagues try to persuade him that they should make cheap, fashionable shoes, he responds by tearing up their shoddy sample with his bare hands.
*The masterful and quiet Kyuuzo, from the movie ''{{Seven Samurai}}''. In his first scene he coolly cuts down an arrogant challenger with a single sword stroke. He also, at one point, volunteers to steal a gun from the bandits during the night, and comes back the next morning unharmed and successful, although a little tired. As his starry-eyed admirer Katsushiro said, "It was like he had just gone on a picnic!"
* John [=McClane=], from the ''DieHard'' movies. In fact, most of Bruce Willis's roles qualify. John [=McClane=] has in fact gotten more and more badass with each film, going from "Everyman in extreme situations triumphs against improbable odds" to "middle-aged-man power fantasy."
* In the movie ''Shoot 'Em Up'', in which Clive Owen's character, Mr. Smith, kills hundreds of people while skydiving, having sex, and delivering a woman's baby (although not all at the same time). Oh, and eating carrots, too.
**And he also kills people with carrots.
* Who can forget most of Jean Reno roles in films? He is usually portrayed as a high profile mercenary with just over-the-top competence.
** In his French-language movies he's most often a cop; still utterly {{Badass}}, though.
* The character of Zatoichi, played by Shintaro Katsu in 26 films and 100 television episodes, certainly qualifies. Not only is he a fantastically skilled swordsman, he's also ''blind''. About once a movie they have some spectacular set-piece in order to show just how very badass he is. For example, from the very first film of the series: Zatoichi, kneeling on the floor, reaches up and takes a lit candle from a stand. He balances it in his hand for a moment, tosses it up in the air, then whips out his sword and resheathes it in an instant. The candle falls to the floor. It's been cut in half lengthwise. The wick in both halves is still burning.
** The newer iteration, played by Takeshi Kitano, is also nine kinds of awesome.
* Aragorn and Boromir from ''{{Lord Of The Rings}}'': The latter was so tough he actually managed to get hit by 4-6 {{annoying arrows}} by the end of the first movie and still had enough strength to pretty much single-handedly take out an entire division of Uruk-Hai, while the former managed to hold off wave after wave of Uruk-Hai near the end of the second film.
** Annoying arrows? From Boromir's expression, the very first hit alone was lethal. [[{{Determinator}} He just decided not to die yet]].
** This troper made Boromir a ''bigger'' Badass when playing battle for middle earth: he was the only man on the ground defending the walls of Gondor from endless onslaughts of uruk hai. He had archer support on the wall, but even so, this was the man who ''all'' the enemy attacks focused on. He carried on fighting after being hit by a stray shot form a trebuchet from his own side. Later, Boromir gained two groups of defensive spearmen, and those units dealt literally 'hundreds' of enemies. Oh, and not one of them ever died.
* El Mariachi from the titular film, ''Desperado'' and ''OnceUponATimeInMexico'' is one of the best examples of such.
** Another example is Agent Sands from the third movie, who develops a DisabilitySuperpower after getting his eyes gouged out by Dr. Guevara, proceeding to take out no fewer than five people, including his ex Ajedrez.
* Charles Bronson was a badass [[OldMaster even in old age]]. In his later movies (''Death Wish 4'' for example) even though Bronson was in his 60s or 70s, he still manages to defeat bad guys half his age. In RealLife, he was mining coal at the age of ten.
* Snake Plissken from ''EscapeFromNewYork & LA''
* Ricky from ''The Story of Ricky'' (aka Riki-Oh, aka Lik Wong), takes this to ludicrous levels for live action. There are really too many things to mention, but how about the time he is being tortured by the bad guys? They fill his mouth with razorblades, tape up his mouth and then beat him round the head. Then, when they take the tape off, he says nothing, merely spits the razorblades into his questioners face. He is also, strangely for the trope, a genuine, kind-hearted hero.
**Some bad guys are pretty BadAss too, even though they get their asses handed to them by Ricky; of particular note is Oscar, who, after realizing just how outclassed he is, ''slashes open his gut, grabs his intestines and tries to strangle Ricky with them''.
* Bill "The Butcher" Cutting from ''Gangs of New York'' may very well be this trope incarnate. The reason he has a glass eye is because in a brutal battle against his rival and fellow BadAss Priest Vallon, he couldn't look him in the eye while the Priest gave what Bill called "the finest beating he ever took". In order to compensate, he ''cut out the eye that looked away'' and sent it to Vallon in wrapping paper. What's more at one point he gets shot in a theater, then proceeds to torture the man who did it (and takes his vest as a souvenir).
* Every character with a name in the film ''Hero''... Until the end. Lame.
* Sam Gerard in ''U. S. Marshalls''. Say what you will, a man bold enough to wear chicken suit in public is badass.
* ''John {{Rambo}}'' is a classical example of a one man army getting more badass with every movie of the series.
* Quite a bit of the main cast from [[TwentyEightDaysLater 28 Days Later]]. Selena in particular is better off here than among BadassNormal characters, as the only ones who are anything other than normal are psychotically infected [[OurZombiesAreDifferent pseudo-zombies]]. Major West is just a big, angry [[MamaBear male Mama Bear]].
* Buddy from ''SixStringSamurai''.
* Burt Gummer from the various ''{{Tremors}}'' movies.
* [[{{Scarface}} Tony "You fuck with me, YOU FUCKIN' WITH THE BEST!" Montana]].
* Though [[IronMan Tony Stark]] needs a suit of BadAss to do his feats of ''physical'' BadAss-ness, the fact that he's able to construct a suit powered by [[BadassBookworm a miniaturized reactor that thirty years of research hasn't been able to shrink down, using science and engineering that a fully equipped team of engineers in a state of the art laboratory all agree ''does not exist yet'']] [[MemeticMutation in a CAVE, with a box of SCRAPS]], pretty much defines how much of a complete BadAss he is.
* Tony Jaa. Seriously.
* [[TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]]. Supergenius WickedCultured AffablyEvil [[MagnificentBastard Magnifient and]] ManipulativeBastard HeroicSociopath . . . the list just ''never ends''!
* Pretty much everyone in ''Wanted'', but definitely the best examples belong to the most unassuming of the cast - Wesley Gibson, played by [=James McAvoy=] ("What the f*** have you done with your life?"), and Sloan, played by Morgan Freeman.
*Yulaw, from ''The One''. He travels through dimensions killing alternate versions of himself in order to become more powerful.
* Scott the cameraman from ''Quarantine'' killed one of the Infected [who had already taken down a cop and a firemen without trouble] that jumped out unexpectedly near him - using the ''camera''. Apart from this, he was solid as a rock all through the movie, handling the situation in general far calmer than anyone else in the building. Also Angela, for realising what the government was doing "quarantining," the residents and continuously heading towards the danger in order to get footage as evidence of what was really happening.
* The [[CharacterTitle titular character]] of ''IpMan''. Bruce Lee's master, mind.
* Preston, the main character of {{Equilibrium}}, fits this in spades. His entire fighting style is designed around the premise that if you pull off cool enough poses while pulling the triggers of two pistols, you can clear rooms full of opponents armed with assault rifles without even suffering a scratch. His badass level is such that, in one scene, he uses this style (the famed GunKata) to kill a dozen men in the defense of a [[PetTheDog puppy dog he rescued earlier]].
* Tran from ''TropicThunder''. He is only a child, and yet he runs a large drug compound, has a cool tatoo all over his chest, can take Jack Black tackling him head on, and can expertly wield an RPG ([[RoleplayingGame not that kind]]) that is a third taller than him.
*Marshal Rooster Cogburn from TrueGrit western is known as the meanest guy around, shooting bad guys just like that. "Most people around here have heard of Rooster Cogburn, and some people live to regret it". Bonus points: EyepatchOfPower.
* Frank Martin of ''TheTransporter'' series.
* "Popeye" Doyle in ''TheFrenchConnection''. The man ''chases an el train in a car''.
* Bud White, played by Russell Crowe, in ''L.A. Confidential.'' At one point, he's confronted with a snarky lawyer who refuses to give him the information he wants. "Don't pull that 'good cop, bad cop' crap; I practically invented it", quips the lawyer. Bud's response? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L7UDkPAO5I Throw him out the window.]]
* Sulu from the new ''StarTrek'': The man has a retractable ''[[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]'', knows martial arts as well as fencing and can use them in tandem, oh, and he can quite competently fly a starship.
* SweetSweetbacksBaadasssssSong. The word BadAss is in the title!
* BillyJack.
* Kamen Rider Ichigo in the reboot of the first KamenRider series in the movie Kamen Rider the First. Was especially badass from the getgo during the time when Ichigo was still the hopper during his first infiltration mission. He did a lot of Sam Fischer sneaking but when the jig was up, he beat up the guards without so much as breaking a sweat as breaking out of his stride. He just stood there and then proceeded to disable 3 guards while looking the other way. Then he kicks one of them into the glass pane to "open" it and proceeds to rip an iron bar out of the door to get in. Then he punches THROUGH the ground and destroys his target before jumping off the building and landing harmlessly below with glass shattering around him like dust. And then he walks calmly away. Badass.
*This Troper is quite surprised Tyler Durden isn't already on this list [[spoiler: even if he isn't real...]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Sent up in Terry Pratchett's ''[[{{Discworld}} The Truth]]'', where one of the villains carries a wallet which says "Not A Very Nice Person At All." That said, Vimes is a badass.
**Speaking of His Grace, the Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel Vimes of the Ankh - Morpork City Watch: in ''The Fifth Elephant'' he went to Uberwald on a diplomatic mission while at home the City Watch dissolved without his or Carrot's leadership. What did the city's criminal world do? They laid so low as to be non - existant because they knew that when Vimes came back he would be ''pissed'' and would take it out on them.
***In ''Jingo'' he arrested ''two'' armies (one of which was his own) and their commanding officers by holding that at crossbow point with only a few hundred D'regs at best.
**** Of course, it probably helped that the D'regs are the Baddest Asses you can find in the entire Discworld.
***All of ''Night Watch'' too, but especially when he decides that the forces of ''Time and History'' would have to fight against Vimes, because he was not going to give up without a fight.
***''Or'' Vimes' psyche in ''Thud!'' where a 'quasi - demonic immortal ''thing'' of pure vengeance' loses to Vimes' Inner Watchman.
***And pretty much anything else Vimes ever does. Ever.
** And don't forget [[BadassGrandpa Genghiz Cohen]]. Cohen the Barbarian. A very, very old barbarian. Think about how one manages to become a very old barbarian when you're a BarbarianHero 24/7.
*** No love for ''[[Discworld/TheLastHero]]''? The Silver Horde has finally managed to do something crazy enough that even they can't survive it. Valkyries turn up to take them to Valhalla. They ''mug the Valkyries and steal their horses.''
**The town of Badass on the other hand is anything but. (It's named after a donkey with a nasty attitude, not the awesome exploits of its people).
***It's Granny Weatherwax's hometown, what do you mean she's not BadAss?
**** Granny Weatherwax could give lessons in being badass. After a few months of living with her, a ''kitten'' took down Nanny Ogg's lecherous cat [[MagnificentBastard Greebo]], a serious badass in his own right.
**** How much of a badass is Greebo, you ask? He doesn't just molest female cats (although a lot of it may be consensual) he goes after wolves and at least one she-bear. He's also killed two vampires at current date. The generally accepted wisdom by the people in the series is that it would take a direct meteorite strike just to slow him down.
** Many of Pratchett's characters count. Death's granddaughter [[BadassBookworm Susan]] for one. Tiffany Aching for another. She took on the entire Fairy realm with a ''[[FryingPanOfDoom frying pan]]'' at the age of nine. And the Feegles, too. They got kicked out of the netherworld for being too rowdy. Even Rincewind is a {{Badass}} ''coward''. Whereas his Luggage is just straightforward {{Badass}}.
*** You forgot Lord Vetinari, arguably the most badass of them all. A MagnificentBastard XanatosGambit wielding BADASS.
*** And Darktan, a talking rat who, after getting caught in a trap and getting so close to dying that he saw the Grim Squeaker, promptly pulled himself back together and got down to some serious being the leader and giving inspirational speeches. ''In which he smeared blood from his open wounds on the foreheads of his underlings.'' And he, in conjunction with fellow badass rodent Hamnpork, also managed to take out a terrier much larger than him... with a GroinAttack.
*** Kirsty from the ''Johnny Maxwell Trilogy'', though she generally only gets to use this against people who keep pointing their guns after Johnny's done talking to them.
** From Prachett's ''Nation'' adolescent badass Mau who drives off a shark just by ''yelling'' at it. Thiss is after saving someone from being drowned, twice, and almost being out of air.
* Many characters from Neal Stephenson's ''SnowCrash'', especially Raven, as described in the page-quote above. Representing the defense in Tell vs Show, I thought I'd elaborate: Raven is a giant Aleut. His weapon of choice is a glass knife with an edge a single molecule wide. He has a hydrogen bomb in his motorcycle's sidecar, rigged to go off the moment it stops receiving Raven's vitals. Oh, and he has a tattoo on his forehead: POOR IMPULSE CONTROL.
** Not mentioned above: he can hurl spears cut from bamboo ''through bulletproof vests''.
** And don't forget that he surfed from Russia to the Alaskan Aleut Islands in his handmade one-man sea kayak, not the part of Russia you can see from Alaska either.
* Conan, from the various ''ConanTheBarbarian'' publications and movies, is one the oldest and most well-known badasses in modern American culture. In addition to serving as the inspiration of many other badass characters (including ''Sin City'''s Marv and ''Korgoth of Barbaria'', who is an obvious parody of Conan), the original stories by Robert E. Howard also make a point of demonstrating formidable cunning alongside [[MadeOfIron near-indestructability]] and the strength to kill absolutely anything he encounters. This is true about every one of Howard's heroes.
** "Abolutely anything'' includes at least one demon-god. In a straight out, no-magic-items-helping-him toe to toe fight.
* Pick an [[OlderThanDirt ancient hero]] from mythology. Any ancient hero:
** [[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]]. And Enkidu, for that matter. Not just bad asses -- the first recorded bad asses ''[[OlderThanDirt ever]]''.
** Beowulf tore Grendel's arm off ''with his bare hands'', and later wields a sword made by (and for) ''the giants''. And then he broke the sword by swinging it too hard. If we believe his boasting, he also swam for five days in chainmail and carrying a sword, and killed nine sea monsters during the last night.
*** And when he was an old man he killed a fragging dragon with only one other person helping him (even if he died too) so he qualifies as a BadassGrandpa as well.
** Samson from the "Tanakh" (the Old Testament, to Jews) is one of the greatest examples of a true Badass. He was an angry, unstoppable man who over the course of his life had performed such feats as pulling apart an enraged lion with his bare hands, killing an entire army with a donkey's jawbone, and tearing down an entire building after having his eyes gouged out.
*** Incidentally, and as the name suggests, Brock Samson from TheVentureBrothers is based off of Samson.
**David is pretty badass, too. Sure he killed Goliath, but he also killed Goliath's giant brothers, and got his start as a shepherd... who killed lions and bears on a day to day basis. Later on, before he became the King of Israel after Saul's death, the Israelites sang his praises saying that he had "slain his ten thousands."
*** And he's got a Special Operations unit of sorts, called "David's Mighty Men," each of which are definitely badasses. Leading the Thirty were the Three, who each had done individual badass things (like killing 300 men in a single battle) but gained the most fame from breaking through the Philistine lines just to get David some water from his father's well. The Thirty had some stand-outs, like Benaiah, who is casually described as having slain a lion in a pit on a snowy day, and killing two "lion-like" heroes of Moab, and a seven and a half foot tall Egyptian, disarmed and then killed with his own weapon.
*** Back when Saul was still king, David had a little thing going with Saul's daughter Michal. Saul was already by this point pretty jealous of David, and Saul demanded that before David could marry Michal, he had to bring him 100 foreskins, which is, um, what gets removed in circumcision, of Philistine soldiers. Saul did this because he wanted David dead and figured the Philistine soldiers would make an end of him. Wrong. Just to prove to Saul and everybody else how badass he was, David went out, kicked some Philistine ass, and brought back '''200''' foreskins.
**** And let's not forget that Benaiah was also the personal hitman of Solomon, David's son, and, according to Jewish tradition, the greatest king of all time. Just reading Kings, it seems every chapter has Solomon sending Benaiah out to cap some enemy or other.
***** Benaiah, equipped with a bottle of wine, a piece of wool, and a magic ring, single-handedly captured Asmodeus, the ''king of the demons,'' so Solomon could put him to work building the Temple.
** Cuchulainn, the Irish mythological hero/pimp is an all around Badass. Some of his feats defy logic and he has examples of an UnstoppableRage that are OlderThanDirt. Seen ''300''? Where the 300 guys fight millions of guys, and they lose? When Cuchulainn did that sort of thing, he won. And he didn't have 299 guys behind him. That was all Cuchulainn, baby.
*** The above troper forgot to mention that in his death throes, he tied himself to a rock to remain upright, and his enemies refused to believe he was dead until a bird landed on him.
** And before Cuchulainn, there was Fionn mac Cumhaill. Ireland's version of King Arthur, complete with his own band of Bad Asses, the Fianna.
** Coming in from China, the Eight Immortals who, according to legend, founded a kung fu style had a number of stories about how BadAss they were. For example, one got so drunk that he passed out and got ''mauled by a tiger'' for a while before waking up and punching the tiger to death.
** Hercules from Greece is tough enough that the gods kick him off Argo because the epic adventure of the age apparently wouldn't be challenging enough for him. Instead he goes off to perform his Twelve Labors, during which he kills an invulnerable monster, holds up the sky for a while, frees Prometheus, steals the guard dog from Hades, and even mucks out some stables...by redirecting the course of a river.
** Diomedes, despite not being half-divine like most Greek heroes, wounded ''two gods in a day''. Athena drove his chariot while he speared Ares, chasing the ''god of war'' off the battlefield. Then, he threw a rock which two ordinary men couldn't even ''lift'' at Aeneas, the son of Aphrodite, and when Aphrodite appeared to heal Aeneas, he attacked her too. And he survived all of this!
* Roland Deschain, of Stephen King's ''TheDarkTower'' novels. In the events before the first novel, [[spoiler:Roland shot and killed every man, woman and child in Tull, while they were trying to kill him. 58-1 odds should qualify.]] And he only shows himself to be more so as the series progresses. Of course, the ka-tet he gathers starts to work their way to his level as well...
* Another Roland, from the OlderThanPrint epic poem, ''The Song of Roland'', is certainly a BadAss. The Battle of Roncevaux Pass is a testament to this, as Roland and the other legendary Twelve Peers (considered the greatest warriors of their time) led an army of 20,000 men against an ambush of 100,000-150,000 men. While the other warriors hesitated against this onslaught, Roland showed absolutely no fear or hesitation, even refusing help for the sake of battle and honor. He does eventually call for assistance, not in the expectation of rescue, but hoping that the others will bury their dead bodies and take revenge. In the end, through sheer badassery, Roland manages to be victorious, but unfortunately, he is mortally wounded in the process. Thus, after bludgeoning a thief to death for trying to steal his legendary sword, Roland dies holding his sword and his olifant.
* Túrin Turambar from ''TheSilmarillion'' was the greatest Badass human ever seen by man. Even though he's just a BadassNormal compared with the elves, he was so goddamn powerful he single-handedly managed to slay Glaurung the dragon, when not even an entire army could do the job!
** Considering that his father Hurin's last battle involved [[YouShallNotPass holding off an entire army so his allies could escape]], fighting until his axe ''melted in his hands'', and then continuing to fight until buried under the bodies of his enemies, it's pretty clear that in Middle Earth [[LamarckWasRight badassery is genetic]].
** Killing ''seventy trolls'' in that battle, too. He was finally weighed down by the ''chopped-off arms'' of Orcs he'd killed, still clinging to them. And THEN, once he's been taken to Morgoth's fortress, he defies Morgoth to his face (despite the fact that "all but the bravest" would sink into despair just ''meeting Morgoth's eyes'') and refuses to tell the location of the hidden city of Gondolin despite twenty-eight years of cursed imprisonment watching the truly screwed-over-ness of his family.
** It certainly is: Turin's cousin Tuor organised the resistance to the Siege of Gondolin, the escape tunnel through rock "like to forged steel", hurled a traitor from the walls, and killed a bunch of Balrogs (they were all over the place, like flies). For Karmic compensation for his Badassitude, he not only bedded an elf but became one himself. Yes, he was so Badass he leveled himself up an entire species.
** Just about all of the Elven High kings were incredibly badass. They are so strong that they're only killed By Gothmog, Sauron, or, in one case, Morgoth himself.
*** Yep, Fingolfin gets serious Badass points for riding to Angband (Morgoth's fortress) ALONE, in such a fury that none of the bad guys dared to get close, and some of them mistook him for Orome (a Vala, i.e. ''a god''), then beating on Morgoth's door to challenge him. When Morgoth finally comes out (as a tremendous armored giant who towered over Fingolfin) Fingolfin chops him a bunch of times, and when Morgoth finally ''steps on him'' Fingolfin cuts his foot open with a wound that never healed afterwards...
** In addition Ecthelion, the person who killed Gothmog was also quite badass. After getting both of his arms disabled while fighting he procedes to leap at Gothmog (the Lord of the Balrogs) and stab him through the chest with the spike that was on his helm. This is after having fought non stop for hours against orcs, trolls, dragons, and even other Balrogs.
** Speaking of Balrog-slayers, there's also Glorfindel who fought and killed one at the cost of his own life. Then, after resurrecting in the Undying Lands, as elves are wont to do, decided he wasn't done being a Bad Ass yet and hopping a boat and sailed back over to Middle Earth where he amused himself making the Nazgul flee from him in terror.
** Fëanor was pretty badass too. Fought a couple of Balrogs. After having rebelled against, oh, pretty much all the gods to go fighting another.
** There's also the oft-overlooked Mirkwood Elves. Without the aid of a Ring of Power, they still managed to defend their realm against the forces of Sauron for centuries.
** Finrod Felagund, who broke the chains binding him and killed a werewolf with his bare hands.
** Huan, the legendary hound, was big enough for an elven princess to ride, and was subjected to a prophecy where the strongest werewolf ever born would be the end of him. and let's not forget his feats. Walking into Sauron's land, he killed several werewolves before Sauron sent out a werewolf specifically bred to fight Huan. Huan killed it, then Sauron himself came out. Yes, THAT Sauron, ''BigBad'' of Lord of the Rings. Huan beat him too. The same evil that the heroes of LOTR tried to keep from achieving full power. Huan eventually met his end when the father of all werewolves swallowed a silmaril and killed him. Yes he didn't die until he was killed by a werewolf who was in mortal pain from the very light of the trees. ''Badass'' indeed.
***Killed by a werewolf, furthermore, who was the mightiest wolf ever to walk the earth - more powerful even than Sauron-in-wolf-form. And who had a poisonous bite, too.
** Speaking of Finrod and Huan: what, no mention of Beren and Lúthien yet?
** An honorable mention goes to Bullroarer Took, an ancestor of Bilbo Baggins who was able to ride a warhorse (he was a hobbit, who're normally half the size of the average human). He won a battle against an army of goblins by decapitating their cheif. With a ''[[DropTheHammer club]]''. An invented the game of golf at the same time when it landed in a rabbit warren.
** Denethor from the ''LordOfTheRings'' also qualifies strongly, despite of his breakdown at the end. Consider - whereas Saruman was quickly corrupted by the use of Palantír to spy Sauron's activities, Denethor stood strong, never sparing slightest thought of turning on his ideals. Thus Sauron had to take alternate strategy, and destroy his hopes, instead. Also, he strongly implies that if everything is lost, and Minas Tirith falls, Sauron will come personally to mock him...and then he'll open his personal can of whoopass over him. Of course this is before Faramir falls, which is the final straw of his breakdown from badassery.
** How can you not mention Sam Gamgee who manages to beat a freakin' ''demi-goddess spider'' by himself then has the psychic moxie to not only refuse the Ring's temptation but '''''laugh at it'''''!
* Karsa Orlong from Steven Erikson's ''MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', a giant barbarian warrior, is immensely Badass, beating the shit out of pretty much everyone and everything he faces, almost without breaking a sweat. In ''HouseOfChains'', he holds his own against [[spoiler:Icarium, a feared warrior whose rage has destroyed entire civilizations,]] and slays [[spoiler:not one but ''two'' of the dreaded Deragoth, the ancient Hounds of Darkness]].
** Another Badass character from ''MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' is Anomander Rake, who battles against terrible demons and entire cadres of enemy High Mages. In ''MemoriesOfIce'', Rake singlehandedly takes on a horde of [[spoiler:three hundred thousand (300,000) Tenescowri warriors (although, to be fair to the Tenescowri, Rake flies, so they can't really fight back)]].
* Molly Millions, of William Gibson's ''Sprawl'' series. A female badass armed with implanted razorblades beneath her fingernails.
* Richard Cypher in ''TheSwordOfTruth'' books two, four and especially six. He rips out an enemy's spine out trough the poor man's stomach. While inflicted with the Plague. And severely wounded. And when the enemy was using the series' titular Magical Sword.
** And then there's Chase, a man who, [[BadassNormal despite no magical ability]], more than holds his own in every situation he's thrust into. Before the series, his ''day job'' included fighting off demonic hell hounds from the underworld.
* Murtagh of the InheritanceCycle. In addition to being the second most powerful character in the entire series, he is one of only a few who has the gall to actually call the DesignatedHero Eragon out, and even [[spoiler: defeats him handily in a climatic battle at the end of ''Eldest.'']] In the next book, he even [[spoiler: fights over a dozen elves and a dragon at once, and manages to stalemate them, despite that elves are naturally stronger than humans.]] Additional badassery is guanteed when he [[ScrewYouElves becomes the first character in the Cycle to insult the elves.]] It isn't very surprising that he's one of the most popular characters in the series, and even some of the people who actually hate the books like him.
* There's Grettir, the strongest man Iceland (and probably the world) has ever seen, who killed not one, but two GHOSTS, one of which was the height of a small house. Before that, his sheer badassery impressed numerous kings around europe. After he was killed in a mix of incredibly heavy poisoning, arson and tens of people raiding a cottage he was staying in, his brother sailed all the way to Istanbul just to avenge him.
** Second in is Guðlaugur Ormstunga, a man who chopped a guy in half length-wise and walked up to the king of Norway with a heavy case of parasites bleeding from his leg, just to prove he's that badass.
* Let's not forget Mark E Rodgers's Samurai Cat, Miaowara Tomokato. 'What a stud!'.
* Two Words: [[ASongOfIceAndFire Sandor Clegane]].
* BernardCornwell's historical novels always feature a badass as the lead character. The most famous of these is Richard Sharpe, who once disarmed a master swordsman by ''impaling himself on the other guy's blade''. And then hacked him apart.
* Come on, how can you guys forget Lan Mandragoran from 'TheWheelofTime' series? He's not only got the long hair and horrible background of most bad asses, but he is also a blade master who teaches the main character of the entire series to wield a blade.
** That's hardly what's so badass about him. It's the fact that he somehow manages to both be bigger and meaner and more bitter than Rand Al'Thor, even when the latter toughs it on fighting the hordes of darkness through excruciating pain and in the face of the inevitable fate of having to die to save the world. Hell, Lan even manages to get one of the [[DoesNotLikeMen shrewy]] [[WitchSpecies Aes Sedai]] somewhat under control and marries her, and for the Wheel of Time setting that's saying something. Even in the prologue novel to the series he mentions how it's "impossible for one man to defeat six in a straight fight", and then goes on to do just that.
*** Then there's Rand's childhood friends Mat and Perrin, one of which is a [[BadAss Badass]] [[LovableRogue Lovable Rogue]] [[SimpleStaff Simple Staff ''Master'']], the other of which is a [[BadAss Badass]] Blacksmith who is somewhat [[MadeOfIron bone hard]]. And then there's Logain, and most everyone of the Warders... In fact, the Wheel of Time world seems pretty thick with badasses. Somehow though, they seem repressed at times, and often find themselves under many a verbal barrage from the Aes Sedai. This might have something to do with the latter being the sole highest authority and users of magic in the lands though, a fact that has [[StrawFeminist foreseeable social and political repercussions...]]
*** This is a universe so over flowing with BadAss that it contains a magical horn, which when blown summons past BadAsses back from the dead. CrowningMusicofAwesome indeed.
* Felix, from John Steakey's ''Armour''. A man who 1: Is the only survivor of a mission on a bug world where he (in scout rather than standard armor) drops an atomic (involuntary) suicide bomber into the bug base, 2: Is therefore listed as dead, and is accidentally sent on every single mission, and 3: Survives them all. A reasonable level of badass if anything is.
** The reason he's such a BadAss is because whenever he gets shoved into a combat situation, which is all the time, he is bladder-clenchingly afraid to die -- ''so he doesn't''. Which kind of makes him a BadAss who is CursedWithAwesome.
* Thomas Covenant, anyone? Convinced that he's hallucinating the magical world just before his death, he gives himself the title The Unbeliever. He then proceeds to, whether by destiny, luck, or epic rage, pretty much destroy everything dumb enough to stand in his way.
** There are a lot of badasses in The Land - like the Giants, who are basically gentle poets and utterly loveable people who believe that laughter is more important than life in some ways, but who can become unstoppable killing machines when pressed. The Bloodguard are basically a collection of the most badass members of a badass tribe, who have effectively ceased to age and no longer need sleep because of their oath to serve the Lords. But this troper has long since decided that Lord Mhoram is the most badass individual in the entire universe (and certainly the most loveable character in the entire series), as while he's easily one of the most perceptive, sensitive, and understanding people Covenant ever meets - and considers himself utterly unworthy of the responsibility that has been thrust on him - he still manages to completely defeat a demon-possessed evil magic wielding giant more or less single handed by sheer willpower.
* [[{{Redwall}} Martin the Warrior]] and his more popular chosen ones, particularly Matthias and Mariel. Sure, what they do should by all rights be impossible, but they do it in a way that looks plausible to at least the twelve-year-old target audience and still manage to be cute and furry while they do it. See the Battleblade Dance. The Badger Lords are less cute, but even more Badass (at least, much more logically so).
* On the subject of cute, fuzzy badasses, we have [[WatershipDown Bigwig and General Woundwort]]. Not to mention Blackavar, who became one of the most competent fighters in Hazel's group even though Woundwort had imprisoned him and ripped his ears off.
* Reepicheep from TheChroniclesOfNarnia.
*In his {{Mistborn}} series, Brandon Sanderson has plenty of badasses to go around in the form of Mistborn (and now you know the reasoning behind the title of the series). The Mistborn's feats include defeating a {{Dragon}} that no one ever had before, downing a purported [[BigBad god]], taking out cadres of [[EliteMooks soldiers trained specifically to fight them]], and slaughtering or mentally dominating troops of inhuman beasts.
**Don't forget non-mistborn badasses, such as [[BadassBookworm Sazed]], who is normally a polite and kindly scholar but can use Feruchemy to enhance all of his physical abilities to superhuman levels when he needs to fight, and on the evil side of things, the Inquisitors (who have a lot of the same powers as a mistborn, but get them in a different way).
* Socrates, as written by his disciple, Plato. Sure, the guy probably couldn't throw a punch to save his life, but getting into an argument with him was like a chimp getting into the ring with King Kong.
** Couldn't throw a punch, nothing. The man was an Athenian war hero. He fought alongside Spartans and acquitted himself well. Brains, brawn, and eloquence, in one betogaed package.
* Caine from Matthew Stover's ''{{Heroes Die}}'' and sequels is one of Overworld's deadliest assassins. Stover writes him more realistically than most badasses, pointing out that he's not the ''best'' fighter, he has plenty of weaknesses, is far from invincible, and a lot of the shit that goes on around him is either out of his league or impractical to solve just by beating it into submission. Despite that, he routinely manages to pull off stunts that would put Beowulf to shame. He continues doing this [[spoiler: even after [[HandicappedBadass the injuries he receives at the end of the first book leave him partially crippled]]]].
* The BadassBookworm from the novel RedStormRising, USAF Lt. Michael Edwards. Goes from being a weatherman at the main USAF base in Iceland, whose only claim to marital fame is being a marathon runner, to killing multiple hardcore {{Badass}} Soviet paratroopers with just a combat knife. Not to mention marching half-way around Iceland with the island crawling with Soviet goons, including several [[BigDamnGunship "Hind" helicopters]], while keeping [=NATO=] informed of the situation in Iceland.
** What, you can mention Tom Clancy and not mention John Clark/John Kelly? Read almsot any book with im in it, particularly WithoutRemorse.
* Richard Seaton from Doc Smith's ''Skylark'' series. His handgun fires tactical nukes. Plus, he designed a spaceship 1000 kilometers in diameter in 8 hours. (Badass architecture!)
* Logen Ninefingers in ''The First Law'' trilogy. They sing songs about how he mixes his enemies blood with his beer.
* Most characters written by DavidGemmell.
** Druss. The. Fucking. Legend. Here is a man whose wife was kidnapped while Druss was nothing but a large and gruff farmer. In response, Druss took up the axe and carved his way through two continents to get said wife back. Which he did. Then he accidentally broke the jaw of his nation's Olympic-equivalent fighting champion, who was over 10 years younger than him, took his place and proceeded to kick the shit out of absolutely everyone he fought. Then he fought his way through a desert and a metric fuckton of enemies from two different armies. Then he helps another badass defeat an evil monastery containing one of the deadliest swordsmen who've ever lived. Then, when he should be seriously considering ''dying of old age'', he participates in the largest siege in the history of his nation. And it takes over 10,000 Nadir to kill him. ''Bad''. ''Fucking''. ''Ass''.
** And then there's Skilgannon the Damned...
** Waylander deserves special mention during his latter books, when even as a [[BadassNormal Badass Normal]] those more powerful and magically endowed than him fear him - calling him an effing Elemental of Death. Also, in the last parts, he managed to kill an Ancient all-powerful immortal god through sheer badassery [[spoiler: and while in his death throes, even manage to defeat a band of healthy bandits from harming his wife... resulting in a [[ResetButtonEnding sorta-happy-ending]].]]
** Also the author used the word Rigante as an interchangeable word for Badass, so that's a given. The chant [[ThisisSparta "We are Rigante" = "We are Badass".]]
* [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Mara Jade]].
** While her badassery starts to diminish after she becomes a mother, the [[MamaBear moments]] she gets are what gained her [[{{Starscream}} this troper's]] undying respect.
*** You'll find she's consistently badass when she's written [[CharacterDerailment in character]], which a lot of the NewJediOrder and all the LegacyOfTheForce authors are apperently incapable of pulling off.
* A very old example. Odysseus from Homer's ''Odyssey''. This is a man who 'defeats' the witch Circe by having sex with her (no, seriously). A man who goes to Hades (hell) itself, talks to the ghosts of his mother and many of his friends and then comes back to the land of the living. A man who, after 20 years away, kills 108 men, all in their prime, who are in his house and trying to steal his wife. He also did a hell of a lot of other things, including coming up with the legendary Trojan Horse. Not bad for a character from a 3000 year old story.
* From WarriorCats, we have Scourge [[spoiler: he killed the BigBad with one blow]], Tigerstar [[spoiler: not even death can keep him from revenge]], and several others.
** Most characters that are shown fighting regularly later on, when the fights gradually morph from cats rolling around and scratching each other, into what can best be described as "Cat-Fu". Especially noticeable are Lionblaze, who comes out of fights drenched in blood (none of it his), and even Firestar, who, since ''The Darkest Hour'', has never fought less than two opponents at the same time.
** Thistleclaw. Sure, he was one hell of a {{Jerkass}}, but that doesn't change the fact that he [[spoiler:chased off a dog single pawed]].
* RangersApprentice: Halt.
* No love for the pulps? DocSavage personified the CrazyPrepared BadAssNormal before Batman. The guy killed a polar bear - by breaking its neck with a full nelson after beating it into submission with his bare hands.
* ''TheDresdenFiles'' has [[WorldOfBadass way too many to list]]. But special mention goes to:
** Morgan, who ''nuked'' a CosmicHorror and got within inches of killing the Red King.
** Ebenezar [=McCoy=], wielder of the ColonyDrop.
** The Merlin, who held off an entire army of vampires, demons, and Outsiders with a single ward.
** Michael Carpenter, the Fist of God, who went into battle against a FallenAngel or three DualWielding holy swords.
** [[LittleMissBadass The Archive]], who held off ''eight'' Denarians with almost no resources or warning without breaking a sweat.
** Gentleman Johnny Marcone, who ripped [[NighInvulnerability Nicodemus]] in half with [[MoreDakka a Kalashnikov]].
** Karrin Murphy, who is, well, [[ActionGirl herself]], and once took a chainsaw to an ogre's knee.
** Charity Carpenter, a MamaBear so devoted she [[spoiler:''raided the castle of the goddamn Winter Queen''.]]
** Jared Kincaid, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast known as the Hellhound]], who killed two Fallen ''with the same bullet''.
** And, of course, Harry himself, because how many people can say they've [[CrazyAwesome ridden a zombie polka-powered Tyrannosaurus into battle against a hoard of zombies and ghosts]]?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''TheUnit''. But, on a team of badass Special Forces operators, Sergeant Major [[strike:David Palmer]] Jonas Blane is the biggest and baddest of them all.
* Jack Bauer of ''[[TwentyFour 24]]''.
** Tony Almeida and Bill Buchanan deserved to be mentioned as well.
** As does Aaron Pierce.
* Vaughan Rice of ''Series/{{Ultraviolet}}''
* Mr. Chapel from ''VengeanceUnlimited'' certainly qualifies: He will do anything and everything ([[TechnicalPacifist except use guns]]) to give the bad guy his.
* The {{WWE}}'s Stone Cold Steve Austin beat his boss up, poured beer on him, filled his prize Corvette with mixed concrete, and pulled various other stunts, with no lasting ill-effect on his career prospects, despite attempts at GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity. He would also beat up teams of four, five, or more wrestlers on a weekly basis. His template has since been followed by many other top {{face}}s (though with considerably less success).
** There are of course other ProfessionalWrestling BadAss templates, such as 'The American BadAss' Undertaker. It's a common theme, with again varying degrees of success.
* Tendou Souji from ''KamenRiderKabuto'', who frequently displays confidence beyond the point of arrogance; to be fair, this rather unappealing trait is the reason his Zecter ([[TransformationTrinket henshin device]]) picked him as Kabuto in the first place.
** Most of the past 3 decades of ''Kamen Rider'' protagonists fit this mold, especially the original, Hongo Takeshi, the precursor to Tendou Kamen Rider Stronger, and the titular character of ''Kamen Rider Hibiki''.
** Probably the biggest badass out of any of Shotaro Ishinomori's works, however, is Ken Hayakawa, of ''Kaisetsu Zubat''.
* A non-warrior example from the new series of ''DoctorWho'', Mr. Saxon, the Master, cheerfully gasses a dozen or so key governmental figures, makes fun of the US President before having him vaporised, and then dances to a pop song as he ends the world, all the while being a rather MagnificentBastard.
** Please, the Master was a {{Badass}} before John Simm. Watch "Logopolis" and Anthony Ainley's Master's class in [[MagnificentBastard Magnificent Bastardry]], especially the part where he [[spoiler: holds the universe for ransom and oh yeah - ''kills the Doctor''.]]
** Then again... considering that the Ninth Doctor was able to make Daleks RETREAT when he yells at them,and possibly wiped out HIS ENTIRE RACE in the Great Time War to end said war, and also wears that battered leather jacket with the very, very short (if any) hair, I'd personally surrender as fast as I can if I found myself facing him.
*** BadAss essentially sums up every role Christopher Eccleston has ever played.
** In the episode "Forest Of The Dead", the Tenth Doctor reminds the advancing Vashta Nerada ([[LivingShadow shadow predators]] who can render victims StrippedToTheBone in a matter of milliseconds) that they're in the largest library in the universe, then tells them to look up "The Doctor". They do. Then they immediately back off.
** [[CrowningMoment/DoctorWho Ace once beat the crap out of a Dalek with a baseball bat. That is all.]]
** 4 Daleks weren't even phased by the prospect of facing 3 million Cybermen (for good reason) but physically backed off when the heard the Docter was around. Even though Daleks can't even feel fear.
* On ''{{Alias}}'', anyone whose last name is Bristow or Derevko.
** Also on ''{{Alias}}'', Anna Espinoza, Kelly Peyton, and Renee Rienne
* On ''{{Chuck}}'', Agent John Casey is badass to the point of hilarity.
* Future!Hiro, HRG, Niki's alter ego Jessica, Sylar, and Claire in ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.
* Buffy Summers, Faith Lehane and Kendra Young on ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** BadAss is the second half of any Slayer's job description, right after "slaying vampires".
* Mal, Zoe and Jayne on ''{{Firefly}}'', as well as River during the [[BigDamnHeroes big damn rescue]] in "War Stories." Shepherd Book takes on extra points as, unlike the others, he [[TechnicalPacifist doesn't shoot to kill.]]
* Weevil on ''VeronicaMars''. For the first season, at least. This culminates in the second season, where he kills the guy who stole his biker gang by tasering him and taping the drugs he was carrying to the underside of the guy's bike, knowing that when he reported back to the crime family who owns the drugs that they would search the bike and "deal" with him - thereby leaving him in the clear.
* While they might look young, cute and vulnerable and act like slightly pansyish [[TheWoobie woobies]], you ''do not'' want to mess with ''{{Supernatural}}'''s Sam and Dean. Just ask Meg [[spoiler: (still exorcised back to hell by Dean even after she told him their father was still alive)]], Gordon [[spoiler: (beheaded with barbed wire by Sam after he took a bite out of Dean)]] or the Crossroads Demon [[spoiler: (shot in the head with a bullet from The Colt by Sam after she told him there was no way of saving Dean)]].
** And that's just when Sam has his big brother around. When [[spoiler:Dean is killed off by the Trickster (he gets better, for a while)]] in season 3 Sam [[spoiler:shuts down emotionally and]] becomes even more badass than normal and we are treated to a montage that culminates in him cutting off his shirt, removing a bullet from his abdomen and stitching himself back up, alone, without drugs, in a seedy motel room. This troper is a little worried about what Sam will do in Season 4 to [[spoiler:rescue his brother from hell.]]
*** Castiel's also been getting his fair share of total badass moments since he came on the scene in season 4.
* Most of the characters have had their moments on ''{{Lost}}'', but Mr. Eko and Sayid are badasses pretty much all the time.
** Mikhail "Patchy" Bakunin from the third season of Lost. [[spoiler: He is zapped by the sonar fence, only to come back a few episodes later. In the finale, he is shot in the chest with a harpoon gun, then comes back to life minutes later, only to die while blowing open an underwater window with a grenade.]]
* [[StargateSG1 Teal'c]]. That is all.
**[[WarriorPoet I concur.]]
** Ronon Dex is the StargateAtlantis equivalent of Teal'c, and just as badass, if not ''more''.
**''About'' as badass, maybe. Not ''more.''
*** But he's hotter, so maybe that evens it up.
**** It does not. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kFtLZqZDts He is the Man]]
**Let's not forget Bratac, still kicking ass at over 130 years of age.
** While we're on the topic of ''{{Stargate}}'' badasses, I would like to put Sam Carter up for honorable mention. And Jack O'Neill. And Daniel Jackson. Actually, can we just say that most SG teams are made up of badass?
*** Honourable Mention!? Sam Carter BLOWS UP STARS! She is THE ''Stargate Universe Badass''
* Dr. House from ''{{House}}'' and Dr. Cox from ''{{Scrubs}}'' are as badass as doctors can get.
** Well, [[BlackJack not]] [[TheAdventuresOfDoctorMcNinja quite]].
** ''Scrubs'', however, definitely has [[AlmightyJanitor the most badass janitor in the universe]].
** Clearly you've never heard of Lu-Tze of Discworld fame.
** Let's not forget [[AxCrazy Hooch]]
* Titus Pullo, and to a somewhat lesser extent, Lucius Vorenus, from ''{{Rome}}.'' [[spoiler:Two great examples are how they casually kill ''all'' the brigands who stole the eagle in the pilot "The Stolen Eagle," and how Pullo killed or maimed half the roughnecks in a gambling den and then survived brutal ancient Roman brain surgery. Then of course there's the episode where the two of them kill an entire rabble of gladiators.]] And let's not forget the sequence where Pullo and his gang confront a rival gang. The rival gang leader calls for parley. [[spoiler: Pullo apparently accepts, taking the man's hand. Then he pulls him towards him and bites the man's tongue out before throwing an axe into someone's chest and charging whilst screaming. He later relates the story of him doing this in the manner of someone telling an afterdinner anecdote.]]
* [[TheSarahConnorChronicles Cameron]], and to a lesser extent, Derek Reese.
** And to a greater extent, Sarah Connor.
* Hawkins of {{Jericho}}, who once frightened a man into giving up information by pretending he was going to be inflicting torture that would somehow involve Drano and knees.
* Surprisingly, Olive Snook turned out to be ''{{Pushing Daisies}}''' resident {{Badass}}. Surprising, because she's also TheDitz, usually manic, and less than five feet tall.
** Ned proved himself to be quite badass on a couple of occasions, especially his sword fight in "The Fun In Funeral".
* Michael in BurnNotice. Sure, he can kill you with one of his eyebrows. But he can also manipulate you into fashioning the noose around your own neck.
** Sam Axe, too. Not only is he played by ''Bruce Campbell'', but he's more than capable of keeping up with Michael and being a hell of a ColdSniper.
** How can anyone mention Sam without including Fiona Glennane?
* Pretty much the entire cast of the UK drama ''Spooks'', but in particular Harry Pearce, Roz Myers and [[spoiler: Lucas North]], qualify as badass. [[spoiler: If only they didn't have a tendency to get killed off so much.]]
* [[RedDwarf Ace Rimmer]]... what a guy.
** Heck, [[EvenTheGuysWantHim everybody loves him!]] What a guy...
* Elliot, Christian Kane's character in {{Leverage}}. The man held off three goons and a guy attacking him with meat cleavers using ''a saucepan, a whisk, and HORS D'OUEVRES!'' If that is not BadAss, I don't know what is!
* Tyr Anasazi in '{{Andromeda}}'.
* How have we gone this far without recognising the badass that is [[LifeOnMars Gene Hunt]]?
* [[{{NCIS}} Leroy. Jethro. Gibbs.]]
** Admittedly, though, all the others have turns at this role - Abby repeatedly shocking a bad guy in season three while wearing a court suit and yelling at him, Tony beating up a guy with a knife despite being tied to a chair, and Ziva shooting and knife-throwing her way through episode after episode. Even McGee sometimes gets into the act.
* Worf from ''StarTrek: Deep Space Nine''. He got a badass uprade during the series, from defeating many Klingon Warriors all with a mek'leth in 'Way of the Warrior', to 'Call to Arms' where he faced 20 Jem'Hadar (who are also Badass Super Soldiers) in a consecuitive match, and killed them all until he was too tired and injured to even stand, much less fight. The First even said "I cannot beat this man, I can merely kill him."
**StarTrek should not be mentioned on this page without mentioning Captain James T. Kirk. The man was hardcore.
*** Likewise, [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Captain Benjamin Lafayette Sisko]] spent most of his series either punching [[AliensAndMonsters aliens in the junk]], [[StuffBlowingUp flying around wrecking shit]], or calling BS on [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien alien gods]]. He even managed a CrowningMomentOfAwesome or two [[CharacterDerailment after the writers made him]] CrystalDragonJesus.
* Fonzie from ''HappyDays'' was the probably the closest thing you could get to {{Badass}} in a 1970's show imitating the 1950's. But still, he won every fight he was in, and always had a girl on each arm.
* Paul Ballard from {{Dollhouse}}. He takes down three Russian mafia toughs ''after'' being shot, then a few days later, while ''still in stitches'' takes down four scurity guys, even after they taser him. And his fight with the other cast badass, Boyd should be the stuff of legends.
* [[TheWire Omar comin'!]]
* In series 5 of RedDwarf, they gave Lister a BadAssUpgrade. He also had some badass moments in series 7.
** Even Rimmer (that's Arnold Judas Rimmer, not Ace), cosmic butt-monkey and all around failure, gets a baddass moment in the finale of season 6. In a story where they meet their future selves (all of whom are jerkified versions of themselves), whom then open fire on the "current" crew killing Cat, Lister and Kryten - Rimmer takes a gun and blows the time machine to hell as Starbug is blowing up around him. Prior to this point Rimmer was a coward who was afraid of his own shadow, despite being virtually indestructible as a hard light hologram.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* About every sentient being from the ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' universe. We got ridiculously ballsy [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guard]], the [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman Power Armoured]] [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]], the [[AmazonBrigade Sisters of Battle]], the [[DemonicInvaders demonically-enhanced]] forces of Chaos, the [[BloodKnight war-loving]] [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orks]], the ninja space elf Eldar, the battlesuited gunslinging Tau, the unkillable beyond-ancient robot Necron and the various other factions. One can say that just about every combat personnel, as well as some non-combat personnel from the universe is pretty badass.
** But not least Inquisitor Eisenhorn Who while being "questioned" not only bites off his interrogators lip off WITH HIS TEETH he also manages to make sexual innuendos about his female siblings. He then proceeds to kill him, his employers, three uber beasts, and a chaos space marine. in just the first of three books too!
*** The Cadian Kasrkin deserve a special mention. Basically, these are lightly augmented humans, not wearing power armour or equipped with very powerful weapons, but they, unlike most Imperial citizens, aren't intimated by an Inquisitor, aren't afraid of full on body tackling a ticked off Daemon and fight it even if they know it's going to kill them.
* The original, fantasy ''Warhammer'' has it's fair share, as well. The ''Army Book'' for each faction featured a supposedly, but not always, BadAss quote on the back cover. The Skaven, of all armies, actually gained the most {{Badass}} of them all with just two words. '''Kill, kill!'''
* [[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=128949 Radha, Heir to Keld]] from ''MagicTheGathering''. "Run home, cur. I've already taken your master's head. Don't make me thrash you with it."
** Sadly somewhat undercut by her actual ''card'' representation, though. That said, badasses of all persuasions aren't hard to come by in the Magic multiverse.
* In ''{{Exalted}}'', there is actually a badassery stat - Conviction. The example given in the 2nd edition core book states that someone with Conviction 5 (maximum possible for most people) would be capable of enduring a century of horrible torment, and unflinchingly inflict the same upon others.
** This troper is under the belief that Conviction is actually the {{Determinator}} stat. ''Essence'' is the closest thing to a Badass stat, given that it often adds automatic successes to rolls and suchlike.
* In ''7th Sea'' there is Roary Finnegan, founder of the drunken bare-knuckled boxing school that bears his name. The GM secrets on him in the Avalon sourcebook say it best: [[spoiler: "Roary has no secrets. He really can kick anyone's butt."]]
* {{Scion}}, which is {{Exalted's}} spiritual cousin, also seems to be of the mind that the players should be laughably Badass. By the end of Hero (low level), player characters can hit enemies with cars. By the end of Demigod (Mid leve), they can hit them with houses. By the end of God, it is permitted in system for a character to hit an enemy with a mountain. In fact, ThisTroper is a little confused why the system hasn't put out damage numbers for things like Nuclear Weapons and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Hydroelectric Dams.]]
* While most PCs in DungeonsAndDragons qualify (especially [[BadassNormal Martial characters in 4th edition]]), the cake has to go to the Valenar elves of {{Eberron}}, who are [[OurElvesAreBetter better]]. As in, "sociopathic Klingon rider of Rohan vietcong vikings with scimitars" better. When a massive war broke out, not only did they sieze themselves a small nation, but one group accepted mercenary service to Cyre by ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome killing a Karrnathi general, then sending his skull to the Cyran queen with "We accept" engraved on it in Elven]]''.
** The most badass PC I've ever been graced to be the DM of, managed to kill the ruler of ''[[TheEmpire The Empire]]'' with a single arrow. To make that even more badass, he did it from a mile away. Through ''A foot of steel''. On a natural 12.
*** The most badass PC I've ever played with created a move called "the Falcon Punch", which does 30d6+65 damage. And he's level 12. Admittedly, it required playing Bard, and multiclassing to Rogue, Ranger, and Warlock. However, another PC by the same guy has his at-will as his most powerful attack.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* [[{{Halo}} "The cable. I'm going to cut it."]] Note that this was said on a station where the cable was the only thing holding it above a giant storm... on a gas giant. And that Keith David ([[SaintsRow Julius]], [[MassEffect Captain Anderson]]) said this.
* PrincessWaltz, anyone? These are RoyalsThatActuallyDoSomething, namely, kicking ungodly levels of ass! Heck, even a lot of non royals get to be badass. Best part.......this is an HGAME!
* [[PlayerCharacter Your character]] from any shooter. ANY shooter. FPS, third person, whatever. Prove me wrong. Games of other genres take the trope and run with it far more often than not as well, so we should probably restrict examples to particularly badass badasses, or aversions/subversions.
* TalesOfVesperia. [[DeadpanSnarker Yuri]] [[VigilanteMan Lowell]]. [[NiceHat That]] [[BloodKnight is]] [[ChaoticGood all]].
* Archer from ''FateStayNight'', the man they invented the word 'GAR' for. In case you're wondering, it's from the phrase "[[EvenTheGuysWantHim I'm Gay for ARcher]]" when someone misspelled it and wrote "I'm gar for Archer". It has since mutated into a term meaning roughly "Badass to the nth power".
** Most of the servants, and a fair few of the non-servants too, also fall into one or more of the subcategories above. Pretty much all of the people in the show's character sheet has one or more badass tags associated with them.
* Many of the player characters of the various {{First Person Shooter}}s, and shooters in general. The space marine from ''{{Doom}}'' especially. He destroys TheLegionsOfHell singlehandedly for crying out loud...
** The titular character of ''MaxPayne''.
** Duke Nukem from the ''Duke Nukem'' series is a humorous parody of a badass.
** ''SeriousSam'', from the series of the same name, most certainly qualifies. Although no more empowered than a ''seriously'' over-armed human, he defeats whole armies of aliens, a [[BossBattle boss]] 50 times as tall as him (Ugh-Zan III from ''First Encounter'') and a deity (Kulkukan from ''Second Encounter''). He can't quite resist poking fun at the Duke either.
** [[BadassBookworm Gordon Freeman]] from ''{{Half-Life}}'', despite having one of the thickest pairs of NerdGlasses in recent fiction.
* Gideon Wyeth of ''Advent Rising''. After aliens destroy (almost all of) his species, he brings the war to the genocidal aliens by dual wielding [[strike:guns]] rocket launchers, going hand-to-hand with creatures twice his size, bullet-timing every time he dodges, and using phenomenal cosmic powers to kill any enemy that gets in his way.
** Oh, and as an epilogue, he fights an acknowledged demigod boss and sucks it down a black hole ''that he created''.
* Kratos of the ''GodOfWar'' series is a walking epitome of this trope - a brutal monster of a man, seemingly without a conscience, the heights of his penchant for depraved execution defy easy description. But he's such a badass that [[HeroicSociopath the player can't help but root for him]], and admittedly most of the Greek heroes were jerks anyways (to say nothing of the gods, who double-cross and jerk Kratos around through both games).
* On the topic of Spartans, there's also the Master Chief from the ''{{Halo}}'' series, whose feats include disarming a bomb on a space station and ''throwing it back'' at the enemy ship that placed it there, and surviving a fall from several kilometers in the air at super-sonic speed, as well as his counterpart among the Covenant forces, the Arbiter.
** In addition, the man who was there for both the first bullet and the last bullet of the war, Sergeant Avery Johnson.
*** And Sergeant Reynolds, but just because he's voiced by Nathan Fillion.
**** Lord Hood for 2 reasons. He has lord in his name, and he's voice by Ron Perlman. You know, Hellboy, Slade, and Fallout's badass narrator.
* Ramiro Cruz in ''Total Overdose'' is a habitual criminal with the ability to gun down small armies of thugs, soldiers and luchadors as the story demands. He single-handedly wipes out a Mexican drug cartel, the army of a Latin-American dictator, and then shoots his way through the Mexican border to save his brother and his love interest.
* Dante and his brother Vergil, from the ''DevilMayCry'' series. If defeating the King of Hell, as well as an usurper of the power needed to defeat said King of Hell, doesn't count as badass for you, probably nothing is. Their father Sparda was probably even more of a badass, reportedly going singlehanded against TheLegionsOfHell that were his former allies and saving humanity from extinction. Unfortunately, this took place in the backstory, as he is currently somehow dead, and it is unclear exactly how accurate the account is. Lady is also quite the BadassNormal, while Nero was RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap ([[MakeUpYourMindScrappy or not?]]) entirely on Badassery.
* Luca Blight, one of the main antagonists from ''SuikodenII'', is an [[CompleteMonster absolutely evil and psychopathic]] example of a badass. One of the more memorable scenes of the game involves him battling (and dominating) an entire army of magically powered warriors by himself [[BadassNormal using nothing but brute force]] and a small weapon augmentation. Keep in mind, he does this ''after'' he has been riddled with arrows.
** Oh, and while covered in arrows, and fighting the strongest ''eighteen'' warriors of the opposing army (At least one of whom is endowed with the power of one of the fundamental forces of existence) singlehandedly, he loudly proclaims how wonderfully evil he is, and that he slaughtered men personally by the hundred and that it took thousands to kill him. As an entire division of an army is devoted solely to his death, and are barely doing it, he still needs to proclaim how murderously badass he is. Then, as a final "screw you", he dies laughing.
* Incredibly, Mickey Mouse, in ''KingdomHearts 2''; he is a caring pacifist and a nice guy, much like the personality you're accustomed to him having... but when the time comes, he shows an amazing Yoda-style swordmanship that leaves even the main character with his mouth hanging. The fact he is wearing a BadassLongcoat is only the icing on the cake.
** Sora himself is also quite Badass, even though he's actually quite a nice kid out of battle. When you think about it, he must have put down thousands of NightmareFuel-embodiments in his not-too-long "career." Literally - at one point in Kingdom Hearts 2, he faces down a literal ''army'' of TheHeartless one thousand strong. And proceeds to ''kick their asses''. If that's not Badass, this troper doesn't know what is.
**And you forgot Axel? For shame. Just look at all of Chain of Memories. Especially this dialogue between Axel and [[spoiler: Vexen]] in [[spoiler: Twilight Town]].
-->[[spoiler: '''Vexen''']]''':'''[[spoiler: No! Please don't! I... I don't want to-]]
-->'''Axel:'''[[spoiler: ''Goodbye'' *Snaps fingers, destroying Vexan with a burst of fire*]]
-->If that isn't Badass, that I don't know what is.
* The feats of Ryu Hayabusa from the ''NinjaGaiden'' series defy common belief. These include defeating everything from giant dragons, to entire fully armed platoons, to even demon gods, being agile enough to practically be able to fly, and being proficiently deadly with every single weapon imaginable (and some that aren't even weapons).
* Samus Aran, from the ''{{Metroid}}'' series, is a bounty hunter that has eliminated whole planets singlehandedly. This character has taken out flying dragons, well-armed and armored enemies by the score, is fast and can roll into a basketball-sized Morph Ball to get into tight places. The arm cannon on the armor suit worn fires a variety of both energy beams and projectiles, when in ball form it drops bombs of various kinds, and can execute enemies by simply jumping through them (the infamous Screw Attack). It doesn't hurt either, that Samus Aran, under all that armor, [[SamusIsAGirl is a FEMALE badass]]. Not to mention that, until Prime 3, some members of the Galactic Federation treat her like a legend, with one of them not even believing she exists and comparing her to the likes of Santa Claus and Bigfoot.
** Probably because whenever she has a confrontation, there is usually no one left alive, be them a Space Pirate or a lowly bug... it can be understandable how this makes it hard to have any sort of record of her existance.
* Keldorn Firecam of ''Baldur's Gate 2''. Sixty-something, but still covered in armour and swinging a two-handed sword whilst singing the praises of his rocking-out god. If you get right down to it, though, most of the characters eventually become Badasses by the series' final instalment. Even "innocent little Imoen" has enough magical power to wipe out small armies by the events of Throne of Bhaal. The protagonist of the games automatically qualifies as soon as you learn of their heritage, given that they're [[spoiler: the child of the old God of Murder]] of all things.
** Oh, come on, there has to be a special mention of Minsc, the huge barbarian ranger. Almost certainly the only badass in the history of the universe to own a pet hamster called Boo. Which he thinks talks to him, and comes from space.
--->'''[=Minsc=]:''' Evil, meet my sword. SWORD! MEET EVIL!
** Meanwhile Sarevok, the BigBad of the first game, is so badass that even his [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn]] in ''ThroneOfBhaal'' doesn't make him any less awesome. Of course, [[spoiler:coming BackFromTheDead ''twice'']] can do that for a man's reputation.
* In a series rife with badasses, Sanger Zonvolt of ''SuperRobotWars'' holds a special spot in the hearts of fans. His trademark weapon is a BFS that's known to slice battleships in two, and upon receiving a SuperRobot with broken equipment, uses it as his only weapon, even when the built-in parts are capable of being repaired. During an offscreen fight with a not-quite-evil not-quite-clone, their combined badassery causes them to ''accidentally'' blow an opening into an underground shelter that was designed to survive an alien apocalypse. They then proceed to destroy all of the bosses your characters had been fighting in a single blow.
** It doesnt end there, when a baddie in OGS:Gaiden decides to use a cheap trick by taking away his Trademark weapon, he was in for a rude surprise as Zengar proceeds to beat his enemies to death with his shoulder lasers, rocket punch and slicing repeatedly with his weaker guardian sword. And those things can punch through barriers without problems. Although he goes back to slicing things up with the BFS.
*** Cue the [[IncrediblyLamePun ZenGAR]]
* There's usually at least an attempt at one in every ''FinalFantasy'' game; Kain, The RivalTurnedEvil, or rather the [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Rival Turned Evil Then Turned Good Then Evil Then Maybe He's Really Good This Time]] in ''FFIV'', Gilgamesh as a humorous, AffablyEvil version in ''FFV'', various in ''FFVI'' but especially Shadow and General Leo, ''FFVII'' had Barret, Cid, Vincent, and of course Sephiroth, ''FFVIII'' had Seifer, who faced off against the entire party of heroes without blinking and sliced a Guardian Force in half by pointing his weapon at it, ''IX'' had Amarant, and probably the best example of a good old fashioned badass would be Auron from ''FFX''. He's a mysterious [[BringMyRedJacket crimson]]-BadassLongcoat-wearing sake-jug-toting [[CoolShades bespectacled]] grizzly [[CoolOldGuy middle-aged]] {{Ronin}} with a {{BFS}} who rambles [[MrExposition exposition]] in a quiet growly voice and keeps his arm in a sling apparently for the hell of it (or samurai fashion sense). And [[spoiler:he's really dead]]. Badass, all the way.
** In ''AdventChildren'', everyone becomes a badass. And everyone who was a badass before it doubles in badassedness. Two words: motorcycle swordfight. And that's not even getting started on the Bahamut scene, where Vincent calmly jumps onto a bigger-than-skycrapers model of Bahamut and calmly ''shoots it in the face,'' or Cid, who ''stabs a spear through its skull'' and is one of the first characters to ''actually cause it to visibly flinch.''
*** And, of course, all these insanely badass scenes are surpassed by the final fight, where Cloud does things such as jumping upwards from a sheer wall [[DualWielding with a sword in each hand]] and start slicing apart car-sized falling chunks of a building one-handed in mid-air, and all these feats merely serve to just barely keep up with Sephiroth (who in the above case had made the top of the building collapse on both of them by just posing in front of it, and ''then turned around and sliced the entire avalanche of giant debris in half with a single swing''). If it were anyone else than Sephiroth in this fight, the RuleOfCool couldn't possibly over it.
** In ''Crisis Core'' there is Zack Fair, the man who, surrounded by a whole army, ''charges them'' and proceeds to thoroughly kick their assess. [[spoiler: Of course he dies after taking more than ten bullets in the chest]], still he managed to take down countless men armed with granades, machine guns and rocket launchers and several helicopters. [[spoiler: And he has enough strength left to say goodbye to Cloud, too.]]
** ''FinalFantasyXI'' has a couple badasses of its own. Zeid is the [[ScaryBlackMan Big Scary Galka]] who not only oozes badassitude, but [[spoiler:beat the goddamn Shadow Lord in the Crystal War.]] Ragelise also fits pretty damn well, as he's the only [=FFXI=] character that could possibly be considered for ''DynastyWarriors'', for crying out loud! Well, okay, Zazarg would fit too, since he can send Orcs into low orbit.
** And let's not forget FinalFantasy's UrExample of a {{Badass}}: [[BigBad Emperor Mateus]] from ''FinalFantasyII''. When you finally do battle with him, the battle is pathetically easy. Seems to be quite a disappointment...until you find out [[ILetYouWin why]]. His reasoning? So that he could [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning die]] and go to Hell. And then '''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome TAKE IT OVER]]'''. If that isn't badass, this troper doesn't know what is.
** Lightning from FinalFantasyXIII has already been established as this by the trailers alone. It's not even chiefly because of the way she slaughters dozens of Mooks with improbable acrobatics, it's more the determined yet coolly unconcerned expression she wears all the while.
* Solid Snake and Big Boss/Naked Snake in the ''MetalGearSolid'' series.
** Big Boss was, in turn, taught everything he knew by The (original) Boss, who spent most of [[ActionGirl her]] time on-screen beating the living hell out of him and intimidating the brutal psychopath she's supposedly working for.
*** Did we mention she fought in World War II non-stop after her C-section on D-day?
** Come to think of it, nearly EVERY major character of the Metal Gear Solid series could be considered badass to varying extents.
* Agent 47 from the ''{{Hitman}}'' series is a quintessential [[TheStoic Stoic]] BadAss both in the game and in the film (despite the film trying desperately to appeal to both fans of the video game and everybody else who watches the film).
* All of the protagonists of the ''GrandTheftAuto'' series, although somewhat small hat compared to the superhuman ones here. By the end of each game, each has [[OneManArmy killed hundreds to thousands of people]], assassinated a few crime bosses along with good numbers of their underlings and survived entanglements with SWAT teams, the FBI and the US Army.
** The cake goes to GTAIV protagonist Niko Bellic. You know what I mean.
* Sol Badguy from ''GuiltyGear'' has an attitude exemplary of this trope. No one would be able to have such a lazy-looking fighting style if they weren't badass enough to pull it off.
** The whole cast can qualify in some way or another. From Bridget the crossdresser with a yo-yo all the way to the invincible ancient vampire assassin Slayer. Seriously, when you beat him, he just lays there looking like a cross between bored and amused, and his instant kill involves punching you out of the galaxy.
* ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' confirms it: Lucario is the most badass ''{{Pokemon}}'' ever.
** But pales in comparison to Meta Knight.
*** They actually have a match in Subspace Emissary where you can play as either character! Later on, they meet up with Snake(and further proves Lucario's awesomeness when he ''removes Snake's box with Snake in it'').
** But neither comes up to the level of badass of the almighty Captain Falcon, who PILOTS A SPEEDING HOVERCAR THROUGH HUNDREDS OF PLANT MEN BEFORE JUMPING A HUNDRED FEET INTO THE AIR TO KNOCK OUT A GIANT ROBOT WITH ONE PUNCH... and then land like a fucking bird.
*** Eh, YourMileageMayVary with [[http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/comic051.html Captain Falcon]]
** Just about the entire cast each get a CrowningMomentOfAwesome to argue for their BadAss status.
* ''MetalSlug''. Taking on giant tanks while rescuing prisoners of war, single-handedly, with a pistol. How much more badass can you get ?
* The upcoming ''Far Cry 2'' seems aimed at Deconstructing this trope; While your player character's high fighting ability gains him no small amount of notoriety as he racks up the kill count, it also results in the civilians becoming increasingly afraid of and reluctant to interact with him. Given that, if you can trust the previews, the player character gets malaria at the start and the civilians are the only ones who can help him, it seems StupidityIsTheOnlyOption.
* Quite a few of the cast of ''ResidentEvil''. Particularly Albert Wesker.
* Any ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' prosecutor not named Winston Payne or Klavier Gavin...especially Godot.
** A special mention should be made just for Manfred von Karma because his voice still causes nightmares for some fans even years after the first game.
* Zetta of ''MakaiKingdom'' who's title is...wait for it..."Bad-ass Freaking Overlord". No kidding.
** Of course, one can't mention MakaiKingdom without throwing in ''{{Disgaea}}'', featuring Laharl and Etna a.k.a. Hell's Most Destructive [[CuteShotaroBoy Shota]]-[[LittleMissBadass Loli]] Duo.
* James Earl Cash of ''Manhunt'' is another uber example. A convicted serial killer chosen by a snuff film director (voiced by Brian Cox, the original Hannibal Lector) to hunt packs of insane gangs? {{Badass}} with a capital B.
* Ashley Riot from ''VagrantStory''. By the game's end, he's a literal OneManArmy.
* The resident {{Badass}} of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series is Ganondorf, who, depending on the specific game, can either be a MagnificentBastard, an EvilOverlord, or a {{Berserker}}. In some games, he even borders on UltimateEvil territory.
** The ''Twilight Princess'' version of Link definitely qualifies as a Badass, both due to his victory pose, and the fact that he's wrestling and subduing charging goats ''barehanded'' within five minutes of starting the game. He also has sword techniques that vary from impaling enemies into the ground, killing them while drawing his sword, and ''flipping over the top of his enemy to get in their back and attacking at the same time''.
*** In fact, just about all versions of Link count. Each one has stormed fortresses of evil over and over again.
*** See also, Link from ZeldaManga.
** Midna arguably qualifies, too. Think she's just an adorable, three-foot-tall imp? Ponder, for a minute, that this adorable, three-foot-tall imp can levitate huge chunks of cement, repel equally huge boar monsters with minimal help, ''and'' kill one of the game's major villains in the blink of an eye - all of this using only ''[[PrehensileHair her hair!]]''
* Many characters in ''{{Killer7}}'' fit this trope, but it is Dan Smith who personifies it.
* Marcus Fenix from ''GearsOfWar''. Marcus is known for chainsawing locusts, killing General RAAM who was equally badass and known for curbstomps and watching a Corpser melt. Marcus also beats a Locust in a chainsaw duel, ramming the Lancer blade through the grub's pelvis and upward. He eats the guys who eat nails for breakfast...for breakfast.
* K' of ''TheKingofFighters''. Sunglasses that can kill (literally) and let's not forget the thumbs down disapproval of his foe before obliterating him with a massive explosion out of nowhere.
* Kim Kaphwan of ''FatalFury''. Kim's history of enforcing justice goes a very long way. From beasting against badasses like Geese Howard and Rugal Bernstein and on. Kim likes to kick the crap out of evil spouting 'Aku wa Yurasan' and spamming hiki-kick infinites. Kim Kaphwan also made it his duty to reform all of Korea, one kick at a time. This master practitioner of Tae-Kwon Do is a badass to the core.
* Kain from the ''LegacyOfKain'' games, especially in ''Defiance,'' where he [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu beats the snot out of a Lovecraftian horror]] which may or may not be a god.
**Also Raziel, who was selected as one of EGM's Top Ten Most Badass Undead in a recent issue.
*** Keep in mind, when Kain beats up the [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Lovecraftian horror,]] he is wielding a sword [[spoiler: that is made from the unholy fusion of the Blood Reaver and Raziel's soul.]] That's right folks, the BadAss MagnificentBastard master of ScrewDestiny end up wielding [[spoiler: his most loyal lieutenant, who is a BadAss second only to Kain.]] It's no wonder Kain's enemies are so scared of him in Blood Omen 2.
* Akuma from the StreetFighter saga definitely classifies as one of the biggest badasses ever. While his portrayal in the animated serieses sucked (same goes for the series as a whole though too), in the games and the canon story he's just the biggest badass in the whole friggin' universe. The calm, composed manner in which he walks up to someone, kills him and keeps walking like nothing happened is just... Well, it just is.
** The very first time you meet him, in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, he establishes himself by killing Bison (usually the final boss), [[BaitAndSwitchBoss taking his place]], and then proceeding to [[PerfectRunFinalBoss own you six ways from Sunday]].
**Oro from Street Fighter III. He is immortal and just because he is bored due to his exceeding the greatest martial arts skills possible reduces himself to using one arm. He is later seen carrying a massive boulder on which Ryu is training.
* The Green Beret from {{Commandos}} has a backstory involving not one but two occasions where he single-handedly takes out eleven or more enemy soldiers armed only with a knife. In the game you can do much better.
* The protagonist from ''ShadowOfTheColossus''. He takes out no fewer than sixteen skyscraper-sized Colossi with nothing but a sword, some arrows, and a horse.
* ''MegaMan'' has several badasses, at least one per series, usually.
** [[Game/MegaMan Classic]]: Proto Man certainly qualifies. Bass started out as a calm badass, but then went psychotic and obsessed with defeating MegaMan.
** ''[[MegaManX X]]'': [[MyHeroZero Zero]], obviously, getting many a CrowningMomentOfAwesome throughout the X and Zero series. Vile also happens to be one, especially in Maverick Hunter X.
** ''[[MegaManZero Zero]]'': Zero, as mentioned, and even more here. Fefnir comes close.
** ''[[MegaManZX ZX]]'': Prometheus, being the resident PsychoForHire, comes off as a massive badass.
** ''[[MegaManBattleNetwork Battle Network]]'': Once again, Protoman and Bass, among others...
** ''[[MegaManStarForce Star Force]]'': Omega-Xis, certainly, which makes the episode of the anime where he temporarily becomes a gentleman rather...[[WeWantOurJerkBack awkward]]. Bly as well, just because he completely subverted the PowerOfFriendship.
*** In Star Force, as well as the later Battle Network games, Mega Man himself when he acquires/learns to control the latest super ability, and proceeds to destroy the nearest baddy. Example: The Cybeast forms in BN6 and the Zerker/Ninja/Saurian forms in Star Force 2.
* Frank West of ''DeadRising'' is a OneManArmy that has fought his way though endless hordes of zombies with only his fists and whatever he can find in the shopping mall, while protecting and escorting (stupid) survivors, defeating psychos (including a MonsterClown, a Vietnam veteran with a machete, and Kent), while also [[spoiler:stopping the plans of a bastard who is retaliating against a government cover-up, fighting off the Special Forces and the local raincoat cult, and finally defeating the special forces commander GoodOldFisticuffs style (and that's no easy task).]] And he's still taking photos like the IntrepidReporter he is. That's dedication. And it also takes balls of steel... Which he seems to have, since [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything since all the female zombies seem to be going straight for them all the time.]] I know the man has supposedly covered wars, but he's never fired at a person before the incident either, let alone a zombie.
* Yuri Volte Hyuga from ''ShadowHearts'' [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu talks trash to]] [[CosmicHorror ancient gods of destruction]]. Then kicks their asses.
* The Commando (Nick Parker, codenamed "Havoc") in the ''CommandAndConquer'' games. By extension, any of his equivalents in the spin-offs or sequels: Tanya (also a ThirdPersonSeductress) in Red Alert (and Red Alert 2), Boris in Red Alert 2, Colonel Burton in Generals. Jarman Kell is, arguably, a Badass, but he's really more of a ColdSniper.
* Quite a few of the characters in both Vampire the Masquerade games, especially the latter. Nines Rodrigues does a textbook demonstration around 6:30 in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo7PujSnBgo
* [[{{Castlevania}} The Belmonts]] are a [[BadassFamily family of badasses]]. {{Moviebob}} put it best: "He's gonna fight ''vampires'' with a motherfucking ''[[WhipItGood whip]]''! How nuts is this? Hunter Thompson didn't see shit like this!"
* Altair is lauded as [[WMG.GrandUnifyingGuesses the biggest kill-stealer in history]], to say nothing of what he actually does in [[AssassinsCreed his game]].
** He sounds even MORE badass in the Japanese translation, his seiyu being [[TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]] and all.
*[[WarioLand Wario]]. He's usually not able to die in his games, which means he sets himself on fire, becomes flattened, turns into a vampire, a zombie...then laughs about it and continues on his way, breaking stone with his shoulder.
** The designers of ''Warioland Shake! / The Shake Dimension'' went on to say that as a short, fat man with a whole bunch of disgusting habits, Wario is essentially so uncool that he wraps around the scale into a total BadAss.
*Pretty much everyone in ''SoulCalibur'', especially Ivy and the Toshiro Mifune-ish [[{{Samurai}} Mitsurugi]].
* {{Kirby}}. Now hold on a sec. He is indeed a pink, small ExtremeOmnivore, but he's also [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu ass-whooped]] an EldritchAbomination, fought galaxy-threatning forces pretty much entirely on his own, and completely destroyed at least 3 gigantic battleships... one with ''a single blow''. Meta Knight certainly has the style, but RealMenWearPink, and Kirby '''''is''''' pink!
* While the Boss in SaintsRow is a badass, his loyal sidekick Johnny Gat is also a badass as much as he is. A guy who [[BloodKnight relishes in violence and racking up a body count]], he considers picking up the firing range bill as treating his girlfriend well.
* ''WildArms2'' has its breathtaking badasses, some of whom are downright [[FanService studmuffins]].
** Brad Evans is the game's quintessential [[TheStoic stoic]] BadAss. Though fearsome with his BFG the heavy Arm, he's also a patient longsuffering NiceGuy [[spoiler:with a penchant for volunteering to be the SacrificialLamb or HeroicSacrifice, though he doesn't actually die in any of these attempts]]. Brad is quite masculine, but patiently sensitive, with a very noticeable touch of StraightGay HoYay in his relationship with Billy Pilder.
** The Cocytus Ptolomea is a [[EvilIsSexy studly]] badass who fights with his ImprobableWeapon, a giant handheld windmill-like weapon with three rotating metal blades. A WellIntentionedExtremist, Ptolomea is also an AntiVillain or AffablyEvil, depending on whom you ask.
** Lord Blazer [[spoiler:in the body of Ashley Winchester]]. So totally.
* ''BreathOfFire III'' had a variety. Rei, Garr, Balio, Sunder...not to mention some of the musclebound enemies to fight. Then there's Ryu, who even as a young whelp could leave a terrible path of destruction and charred corpses in his wake.
** Particularly notable among those "musclebound enemies" are the Dodai of the InevitableTournament. For the unknowing, the Dodai are men that hold up platforms for fighters in the Ring of Fire battlefield who take MadeOfIron to new levels... by doing their job while standing in ''lava''! If you need further proof of their toughness, try targeting them instead of your opponents. They have a huge amount of HP, roughly 10x that of your opponents, and grants you enough experience to jump several levels should you beat them, even if you're already overleveled.
* ''Xenogears'':
** Id. Goodness gracious.
** Grahf. Grossly overpowered.
** Ricardo Banderas (Rico), the seven-foot-tall JerkWithAHeartOfGold and [[FanService ripped muscles]].
* ''ChronoCross'':
** Lynx. 'Nuff said.
** ZOAH, who is not only extremely badass as a fighter, but his very ([[ShirtlessScene lack of]]) outfit and [[FanService fluidly animated muscles]] [[StupidSexyFlanders can easily give a player]] FoeYay [[spoiler:(or HoYay, depending on whether the FaceHeelTurn has happened yet)]].
** Zappa. [[spoiler:Surprisingly badass when he becomes playable.]]
* Isaac Clarke from ''DeadSpace''. The man is an engineer, and he takes on a crazy scientist, a ship full of nightmarish aliens (who assembled their bodies using '''parts of human corpses''') and the CosmicHorror controlling them...all using '''[[ImprovisedWeapon construction tools]]'''.
* Many, MANY characters from FireEmblem. For example...
** Ike. If anything, [[SuperSmashBros Brawl]] '''understated''' his power. Consider the fact that he was nerfed in Radiant Dawn...and yet he can STILL clear entire maps by himself.
** [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor N]][[MagnificentBastard a]][[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder e]][[EleventhHourSuperpower s]][[ManipulativeBastard a]][[HalfHumanHybrid l]][[AntiHero a]]. That is all.
** Volke. So incredibly [[HeroicSociopath sociopathic]] that when he is told that the man he had been working under for the past 10 years or so was dead (said man even [[spoiler: crippled himself]] for Volke's sake), his reaction is a deadpan "Well. That is a problem. You're [[spoiler: Greil's son]], right? You'll do."
** Oswin. When [[PhysicalGod Hector]] threatens to kill him if he doesn't give him information, his response is a calm "Do as you must." '''''He doesn't even blink.'''''
** Hector himself is no slouch in the badass department, either. The first time we see him in Eliwood's story, he and his group gets accosted by a local guard who tries to keep them from helping Eliwood fight bandits. Hector's response is essentially "screw that!" and he kills the guard with one hit, public relations be damned. [[GameBreaker He only gets better from there.]]
** [[StraightArrow Innes]]. [[http://serenesforest.net/fe8/support/026.html This]] is all that needs to be said. Though even he pales in comparison to...
** Shinon. His [[EstablishingCharacterMoment very first scene]] in Path of Radiance has him saving the life of Ike's sister and his apprentice by killing the man holding an axe above their head ''with a single shot right between his eyes''. Capping matters is the fact that he's too far away at the time for said man to even see him. He gets another moment similar to this in Radiant Dawn, where he breaks the rope of a noose with a single arrow. And this doesn't even come close to his skill at [[DeadpanSnarker deadpan snarking]].
--> Gatrie: Ihaveanewgirlfriend!
--> Shinon: A new girlfriend? Is she blind or something?
** Then there's Largo, a LargeHam berserker who apparently managed to pin two tigers at once.
** Heck. Most characters in Path of Radiance. Except possibly for most of the casters (each one a SquishyWizard to the core). And Reyson (who doesn't fight, and is a major prick).
** Empress Sanaki from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. She basically mocks her enemies by looking weak, but she comes attached with the fact that she is virtually impossible to hit, the fact that she's still a [[ChildMage little kid]] (13 in Radiant Dawn, 10 in Path of Radiance), and the fact that she will drop A BIG FREAKING SUN on your head if you piss her off. While she may not act it, and the game may seem to try and direct the player's thoughts elsewhere, Sanaki is a badass through and through what with how much raw badass magic she has.
** Nephenee. It dawned on this troper that she is essentially a farm girl with a southern drawl who was given a blade on a stick, held captive by Daein, and then procceeded to kick more ass than I knew a soilder class was capable of. Then again, it probably helps that her class itself was previously the [[Mook]] class, but was oh so very ascended in Path of Radiance. It also helps that in Radiant Dawn, she can promote to Sentinel rank and wield the strongest spear in the game.
** Soren in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn is capable of being one of the most broken characters in the game, next to Gatrie and Ike. Looking at his strength stat, he is capable of doing more damage with a staff than some characters do with their weapons. At the same time, he can dodge like he's not even there and wipe out legions of soldiers with one hit each. It is not unheard of for Soren to max out all of his stats, including defense, by level 17 of his final class.
** Haar. Essentially a FLYING TANK. Massive DEF, STR, and Move. Not to mention Stun. Adding to the badassery is the fact that he has ONE EYE.
* ''{{Lugaru}}'s'' Turner. His family was murdered, so what did he do? He ''systematically killed absolutely everyone related to the massacre, AND their families'', up to and including the Alpha Wolf, who has his status for the simple reason that he's the ''biggest BadAss out there.'' Apparently not.
** Not to mention how Turner can launch enemies hard enough to ''crack stone'', with just one paw.
*** And then survive hits hard enough to do the same thing.
* Flint, the dad from {{Mother 3}}. After [[spoiler:His wife and one of his sons are apparently killed by the Mecha-Drago,]] he single-handedly beats the tar out of the same fire-breathing, cyborg T-Rex, using nothing but a piece of wood as a weapon. The man is the video-game equivalent of [[{{MemeticBadass}} Chuck Norris]]. It helps that he looks like Chuck Norris as well.
** Too bad you only get to [[{{ATasteOfPower}} use him in the beginning.]]
** Flint becomes even more of a bad-ass in the final chapter when [[spoiler:he jumps in front of Lucas and eats two back-to-back shots one of the most powerful attacks in the game, PK Love Omega, before he collapses to the ground.]] He then gets back up a few minutes later as if nothing happened.
* ''MassEffect'' is pretty replete with them; just about everyone on Shepard's party can become an army-crushing terror at the higher levels, even [[SpoonyBard Kaiden]].
**Worth special mention is the ''entire'' turian species. ''Every'' single turian is a trained soldier, having spent at least a year training and a year serving in the Hierarchy's military, which is generally considered the most disciplined and well-trained army in the galaxy. In other words, every turian you meet, from the shopkeepers to the scientists to that Jersey-accented mechanic on Noveria could probably break a man over his knee if he was so inclined.
* [[DynastyWarriors Lu Bu has entered the battlefield.]]
* The various player characters from ''AceCombat''. While we do not know how well they would do outside their cockpits and they usually [[DudeWheresMyRespect start as nobody grunts]], they rapidly become [[OneManArmy One Man Air Forces]] who gather the fear of their enemies and admiration of their allies. Various other aces are also badass, such as Yellow 13 who already has 64 kills when he first appears.
* Palolo II from ''BatenKaitos Origins''. Just...Palolo II. On top of being second only to Guillo in [[DeadpanSnarker wit]] (but that's only because ''no one'' beats Guillo in that area), at one point in the game he holds off the enemy [[HopelessBossFight your party just lost to]] with his '''bare hands'''. And returns without a scratch.
* Kiryu Kazuma, the Dragon of Dojima from the ''Yakuza'' series. A hard-as-nails brawler and former yakuza boss, this guy has taken down entire syndicates with little more than his bare hands. And when his adoptive daughter Haruka is in danger, not even tigers are enough to stop him.
* [[{{Prototype}} Alex Mercer]].
* The scorpion in ''DeadlyCreatures''. No, not [[MortalKombat that Scorpion]], ''an actual scorpion''.
* [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic and Shadow.]] Nothing more needs to be said, really.
** Sonic gets even crazier during his bout with [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthrophy]] in ''SonicUnleashed''. Any EldritchAbomination enhanced foe foolish enough to get near the Werehog ''will'' be savagely (and/or stylishly) beaten to death.
* [[BackyardSports Pete Wheeler]]'s super speed makes him kick ass in every game. Yes, he has been in every game of the series. And it's always his super speed that does the job. Not being a great hitter/thrower/shooter/whatever, this way Pete is made {{Badass}}. Pete peaked in 2004 when he got Badass theme music and Badass skateboarding tricks.
* [[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Revan.]] Even though the game begins with his having died. It's complicated and doesn't bear explaining here, but suffice to say, by the end you'll know he was BadAss indeed.
* [[DeusEx J.C. Denton]]: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOr8dln2c5k "Sticks and stones."]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgOKduU05t4 "You have 10 seconds to beat it before I add you to the list of NSF casualties."]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1V_0Ltp4WGs "You're gonna burn, alright."]]
* Almost everyone in ''SengokuBasara'' finds his or her own way to be badass. You see.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Well... when we first met him, he had a few [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20030117 sharp moves]] but [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040510 a long way to go]]... and while he's had his [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060306 moments]], he might not be there quite [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071214 yet]]... but [[GirlGenius Gilgamesh Wulfenbach]] is certainly [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071121 starting]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071126 to]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071203 aim]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080229 in]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080303 this]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080305 direction]]. Might get it from his [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040806 dad]].
*** ''Still aiming?!'' [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090522 The bullet's already on its way!]]
**Not that we should forget [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040714 Othar Tryggvassen (Gentleman Adventurer!)]], of course. Or the [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060719 Jaegerkin]]. Heck, the whole dang series is [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060505 crawling]] with [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040811 these]] [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070402 guys]], up to and including the heroine, [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040618 Agatha]]. Oh yeah, and there's a guy who can douse hell-raising fury in an instant... [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070117 with pie]].
*** There is even a [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040813 badass]][[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20081119 NANNY]]. Who wears black leather.
*** Oh, she's no nanny ... she's a killing machine whom Klaus Wulfenbach repurposed into a babysitter. Threaten her kids and she will rip you to shreds.
* Kevyn from ''SchlockMercenary'' kills shielded tanks and shoots down warships from time to time with antimatter grenades. ''That he wears on his shoulders.'' And explosives are "[[MadScientist Just]] [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist a]] [[BadassBookworm hobby.]]"
** The title character himself is NighInvulnerable and apt to triple-wield overcharged {{BFG}}s, two of which are [[SawedOffShotgun sawed-off]] ''[[SawedOffShotgun multicannons]].'' Which he's also used to fly on several different occasions. Oh, and he recently escaped LaserGuidedAmnesia by storing copies of the memories ''[[EyeScream in his eye]].'' Being TheBlob has its advantages.
** Pretty much ''all'' of Tagon's Toughs earn their name. And then there's [[AGodAmI Petey]]...
* Take a look at what the paladin O-Chul does in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0542.html This]] OrderOfTheStick strip and tell me that he's not badass. This is apparently a regular occurrance for him, and yes, that is an acid-breathing shark. Based on the number of attacks/round he gets in a strip, he is at least level 16, a higher level than at least one of the PCs. Word of God claims he has a constitution score in the mid 20s, when most characters would be lucky to get their primary stats into the low 20s without falling into CripplingOverSpecialization .
*The titular character of ''{{Dr McNinja}}'', who took out evil [=Ronald McDonald=] with a mime ninja rocket launcher, punched out a giant crazed lumberjack, captured and now rides a trained velociraptor, beat up Death himself, and recently punched Dracula in the face.
**Gordito, [=Dr. McNinja=]'s sidekick, as well. A tween who grew a [[BadassMustache massive mustache]] through sheer force of will, he killed a clone of Ben Franklin's Zombie, killed several flying magical sharks of doom summoned by a ghost wizard, and proved he was more cunning and quick-thinking than the woman who trained both the Good Doctor and Gordito himself when he saved her son from {{Dracula}}'s last minute cheap shot aimed at him. Oh, and when he was first informed of his new status as sidekick, this is what he had to say:
--->'''Gordito''':"I don't kick. I shoot people. That makes them ''die''."
**And Dan [=McNinja=], the hero's father- The moment that his [[BadassMustache mustache]] was revealed, hordes of {{ninja}}s bowed down to him in homage, crowning him their leader. Also of note is how he escaped an attack of ninja drug abusing teenagers -- he ''[[ManOnFire lit himself on fire]]''. Because if you're on fire, [[IncendiaryExponent ninjas cannot catch you]].
*** Do not mess with The Mother [=McNinja=]. Trust us. [[MamaBear Just don't.]]
* Luna from DominicDeegan spelled it out pretty literally, after foiling a mafia boss trying to move in and run the place: [[http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2006-10-29 Go ahead...look at it. Admire it. Fear it. I am a bad ass woman.]]
** Miranda Deegan is an archmage with a nigh-infinite knowledge of arcane magic; Donovan Deegan is an awesome musician and master swordsman; Dominic, of course, has incredible intellect, an amazing ability to think several steps ahead, and has ''never thrown a single punch'' throughout the length of the comic; hell, the Deegan family is turning into a BadassFamily...[[spoiler: And Luna is marrying ''in to'' the family!]]
* ''{{Misfile}}''. While angels Rumisiel and Vashiel both have their moments, the real BadAss is the human [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Kamikaze Kate]]. She just is that scary, even when she isn't [[OurGhostsAreDifferent possessed by the vengeance seeking spirit]] of her dead sister. Hell, especially when she isn't.
* [[http://xkcd.com/72/ Black Hat Man]] from {{xkcd}}. Especially in [[http://xkcd.com/322/ this comic.]]
* [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20031221 Bun-Bun]] and [[http://sluggy.com/daily.php?date=030613 Riff]] from ''SluggyFreelance'' often take on this role, as do [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=041121 Torg]] and [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=981011 Zoe]] on occasion.
*The ''MSPaintAdventures'' series ''Problem Sleuth'' has the titular hard-boiled detective, who is unique from his teammates in that he does all of his ''own'' asskicking throughout the story instead of creating replicas of himself. His fighting technique, "Sleuth Diplomacy" basically [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=000877 runs]] [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=000993 on]] [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001026 the]] [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001708 Badassery]] [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001732 of]] [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001736 the]] [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=4&p=001756 character]]. This is the guy who saves the entire [[spoiler: imaginary]] world and defeats the FinalBoss DMK once and for all through ''sheer virtue of his charisma alone''. He's pretty much the series' version of [[TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]].
* Richard from LookingForGroup.
* Mell Kelly of ''{{Narbonic}}'', especially if you ever let her near weaponry. Or explosives. Or killer robots. Or that law degree.
* ''SkinHorse'' has more than one. U.N.I.T.Y. is an unstoppable zombie killing machine. But everyone was shocked when the one who kicked werewolf ass was Tip. Yes, [[CrossDresser that]] [[TheCasanova Tip.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''AeonFlux''
* Brock Sampson from ''TheVentureBrothers'' is the epitome of brutality and machismo. Over the course of the show, he is seen maintaining a vicious death-grip on a man while being shot with at least 20 tranquilizer darts and run over by a van, killing two men with his rectum, and tearing out a man's eyeballs and making him dance like a marionette with his optic nerves (these are only a few instances).
** All while protecting charges that he'd rather throw off a cliff.
--> '''Brock Samson:''' Now, Hank, touch your throat. That tube you feel is your trachea. Think of it as your handle. That thing your thumb is on is your carotid artery. Think of it as your button. I want you to grab the handle, push the button. Can you repeat that, Hank?
-->'''Hank Venture:''' [gasping] Grab the handle, push the button.
-->'''Brock Samson:''' Let go of your own throat, Hank.
* The main character from ''KorgothOfBarbaria'', Korgoth, is an almost stereotypical example of a badass.
* Leela from {{Futurama}}
* There's a pretty good number of badass ''{{Transformers}}'':
** Pretty much ''anyone'' from ''BeastWars'' at some point, including Dinobot and Depth Charge pretty much constantly.
** The Dinobots from G1, especially in the comics. They're vicious, savage, completely out of control, and on the side of the ''good guys''.
** The 2007 LiveActionAdaptation is pretty much ''built'' on robot badassery.
** Megatron in ''[[TransformersAnimated Animated]]'' can beat all of the Autobots single-handedly and is one of the few version of the character to actually ''punish'' [[TheStarscream Starscream]] for his betrayal.
*** In the same vein, Animated Optimus Prime is pretty badass too. He fights this Megatron solo, which takes ball bearings in itself, and once entered an Autobot ship that had been captured and rescued all four captured Elite Guard bots, beating five Decepticons, all of which were combat-ready and willing. He also spends his free time being one of Detroit's superheroes and the leader of the other four heroes.
* Toph Bei Fong, the ass kicking, rock throwing, boulder smashing, smack talking metalbender from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' [[CuteBruiser certainly counts.]]
** As does Iroh, especially after [[spoiler:breaking out of his prison cell.]] There's also Piandao, even though he's only been in one episode (in fact it's AllThereInTheManual that he ''[[OneManArmy beat 100 soldiers in a battle by himself]]'').
**As of the GrandFinale, Aang, [[spoiler:especially in the Avatar State, and even more so when we consider that he didn't even kill his opponent]], definitely qualifies.
** [[BadassGrandpa Bumi, Jeong Jeong, and Pakku.]] 'Nuff said.
** [[MaskPower The Blue Spirit]].
**How about Azula, Sokka, Katara, Mai, Suki, Ozai and... screw it, let's just say pretty much the whole cast has a least one badass moment?
* Tai Lung in ''KungFuPanda''. Nowhere is that more true than when he escapes his prison: 1000 guards, giant crossbows, a holding cell a mile underground and personal restraints specifically designed to neutralize his kung fu abilities; the warders didn't have a chance.
** This becomes even more evident when you learn, [[AllThereIntheManual as revealed in the Art of Kung Fu Panda]], that a) the prison was built specifically for him, and him alone (after the creators decided this would [[RuleofCool build him up into even more of a threat]]) and b) he learned his signature nerve-paralyzation move from the very restraints holding him prisoner.
* Quite a few characters in ''JusticeLeague'', but Aquaman deserves special mention...Yes, we just called Aquaman badass. Yes, we mean that dude who [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway swims fast and talks to fish]]... look, the guy took out two tanks with his ''bare hands'', okay?
**And ''hands'' can only be plural in his first appearance - he ''cuts off his own hand'' to escape a trap in order to save his child. The replacement is a hook... that can actually be [[GrapplingHookPistol launched]].
**The Question, in the same show, once tried to kill Luthor with his tie, and, while in a hospital bed, defeated a government supersoldier using a bedpan.
** Green Arrow as well. With the [[ExecutiveMeddling Bat Embargo]], Green Arrow filled the teams roll of BadassNormal quite well.
** Of course, anyone not expecting moment upon momment of Badassery in JusticeLeagueUnlimited with the opening scene of Green Arrow beating up robbers and talking smack to Green Lantern (homage to the Green Lantern Green Arrow comics?) they only had to wait five minutes for the revamped, Rock Opera theme song, which disabused that notion in spades.
** Hawkgirl ("Less Talking, More Hitting") and her Big Honking Mace.
*Darkwolf the prehistoric Batman with an big axe from FireAndIce.
* ''SamuraiJack''
* All the main characters of ''TeenTitans'' fit this trope at one point or another, but the creators paid special attention to making Robin as BadAss as possible, to the point where he hits the bad guys just as hard as his superpowered comrades.
** And Slade trounces them all in Badassitude. How badass is he? He's voiced by Ron Perlman; he's ''that'' badass.
* Coop from {{Megas XLR}} simultaneously subverts AND supports every fat character trope there is, while throwing a fair bit of [[RefugeInAudacity audacity]] and [[AffectionateParody affection]] into the mix. Coop is loving Deconstruction of the hot-blooded [[SuperRobot Super Robot]] pilot. A deconstruction because he regularly fights and promptly destroys many thinly disguised icons in anime, and pop culture in general...but the very fact he's a fat guy and the protagonist is unusual in itself. Loving because he also embodies everything that makes hot-blooded, screaming heroism so awesome. And it's that quirky mix of his purpose, his appearance, and his personality that make him badass.
** That and he has a cockpit decked out like a [[DuesExMachina Dues Ex Machina keyboard]]!
* The ''SwatKats''
* [[BigBad Tombstone]] and [[AxeCrazy Venom]] from TheSpectacularSpiderMan consistently count, though most villains and Spidey himself get plenty of moments on that show.
* Look at the 2003 version of [[{{TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles}} The Shredder]], then, look at 1987's version, what's the difference?
** Hell, the Turtles themselves!
** Also, Bishop.
* Scrooge McDuck [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge tore apart a steamboat with his bare hands]] (Let's just say there are ways to break bad news to someone, and there's ''backhandedly informing someone about the death of his mother and then mocking him about it''. [[http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/5224/1166240517193.jpg Which one do you think the arc's villain picked?]]). And that's just ''one'' story. Just off the top of my head, there was the time he kicked the ass of an entire savanna ecosystem (culminating in his outroaring a lion and riding it back to town!)
** And his nephew Donald Duck is no slouch either, mind you...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* [[HiroshiFujioka Segata Sanshiro]] was a ridiculously badass martial artist created to be the Sega Saturn's mascot in Japanese commercials. He kicked people's asses for having social lives instead of being hardcore gamers, including an instance where he took out an entire nightclub for the aforementioned reason. Other feats of badassery include turning a Soccer net on its side rather than stopping the incoming ball, dropping his baseball bat in a batting cage in favor of kicking the ball, throwing a man with such force that he exploded upon hitting the ground, and making children cry by revealing that he's the one hiding behind a Santa Claus mask. When the Sega Saturn stepped down to make way for the Dreamcast, Sanshiro went out with a bang - literally. He redirected a missile with his bare hands, rode it into space, and died in a glorious explosion while shouting his catchphrase: "Sega Saturn... SHIROOOOOOO!" (You must play Sega Saturn!)
** He was also played by the man who portrayed the original KamenRider who, as previously mentioned, was a total badass.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In DrawWithMe, not only [[spoiler: does the boy try to break through the the unbreakable glass, but he loses his hand as a result. The badass part? The girl then cuts her own arm off for him to use to draw!]]
* A ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' example would be Bryan Calvert. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Perhaps his best moment]] is when he ''dropkicks'' an attacker off a roof. Shotgun toting, agressive and incredibly blunt, Calvert is not somebody to be messed with. ([[BerserkButton And god forbid if you ever harm his girlfriend...]])
* Mecha Sonic, the BigBad of ''SuperMarioBrosZ'', definitely qualifies as this, especially in Episode 6 where he singlehandedly gives the Mario crew, the Axem Rangers and the Koopa Bros one of the most epic fights of the series so far.
** And now we also have Captain [[PunnyName Basilisx]], the first truly original character in the series, who hands ''Mario'' his ass in record time. And he does so in a pitch-black armored [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky]] shell with WolverineClaws on his hands after [[TakenForGranite petrifying]] the rest of the team just by ''looking'' at them.
* [[RedVsBlue Agent Washington]] became badass around the time he took down a Hornet solo in less than a minute. Nothing he has done since then has changed this, only added to it. Notable points are taking on the Meta with a chain gun and everything he does from episode 15 onward.
* [[LessThanThreeComics LessThanThree Comics]] has two examples. One: The Shadow, a teenager who fights crime on the streets of LA. His natural healing factor allows for such badass stunts as diving through the windshield of an oncoming car, forcing it to crash, and sending himself and the driver 20 feet through the air, and then standing back up to threaten the driver with more grievous bodily harm. Two: Firestorm, the Brat Pack's Lancer, during a fight with Gauss, one of the <3-Verse's top villains, found his body trapped in an oxygenless environment. He cut himself open, and used the oxygen in his blood to melt through his bindings, before throwing a fireball at Gauss. All to prove he was ten times the hero his dad was. No mean feat, considering his dad was a 'Nam vet, and was a founding member of the <3-Verse's Avengers equivalent. Not to mention [[spoiler: his alter ego, the Pumpkin King, who teams up with the Shadow on a regular basis]].
* Oran is the best representative from ''BrokenSaints'' for this bill, although Kamimura has his moments.
* Every single member of Team Kimba, at [[SuperheroSchool Whateley Academy]] in the WhateleyUniverse. But especially Tennyo. At Halloween, she was targeted by killer cyborgs who shot off her leg with a Vulcan Cannon. [[IGotBetter She survived.]] She smashed them into pieces, and followed that up by taking on a fleet of Syndicate dropships. She wrecked two of them before anyone gave her any backup. And that's ''nothing'' compared to what she did at Christmas break.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Real Life]]
* [[TheContributors These people]].
* Theodore Roosevelt's life was pretty much a nonstop tale of badassery. One event that [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome particularly stands out]] is an assassination attempt made in 1912, when he was shot in the chest by a deranged saloonkeeper. Instead of going to the hospital he proceeded to give a 90-minute speech at a political rally. Oh, yes, and when he wasn't doing that president thing he was a martial-arts master known for challenging visitors to the White House to a friendly judo bout.
* [[http://www.badassoftheweek.com/hayha.html Simo Häyhä]], a Finnish sniper who racked up five hundred and forty-two kills during the Winter War, ''without using a scope'', and another ''two hundred'' kills with a Suomi submachinegun. How big of a badass was he? He was fighting the Soviet army in the dead of winter and ''they'' nicknamed ''him'' "White Death".
**You know you've earned a reputation for badassery among the enemy when they start calling in artillery strikes on you and you alone.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzing_Norgay Tenzing Norgay Sherpa]]. One of the first two people to set foot on the top of Mt. Everest. He spent his whole life climbing and anything he didn't know about climbing wouldn't have been worth knowing. Even Sherpas think he was a badass climber. That is pretty badass.
** "Oh man, I wanna climb the Everest! But, like, everyone's done that... I know! I'll climb it ''[[CrazyAwesome without oxygen]]''!" Ladies and gentlemen, Reinhold Messner.
*Thomas Cochrane, 10th earl of Dundonald. Kicked off his career (as a British naval officer in the Napoleonic era) by capturing a spanish frigate six times the size of his own vessel (the doctor gets an honorable mention: He steered the ship) he then went on to shut down the coastal trade on the southern coast of france, put together the archtypical fire ship attack at the Aix Roads, and (after switching to the navy of Chile) led 240 men to liberate the entire nation of Peru. As a full admiral in his 70s he applied for a command during the Crimean War but was turned down because the british government were afraid he'd sail to St Petersburg and conquer Russia. Just about every fictional captain from then on, from HoratioHornblower to James T. Kirk, owes something to him.
** Richard Sharpe (Bernard Cornwell's Napoleonic-era hero) is one of the most badass men ever written. When he shared a book with Cochrane, he was simply and effortlessly out-badassed. That's how badass Cochrane was.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill Fighting Jack Churchill]]. Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill was an English soldier who served in WWII armed with a bow, arrows and a claymore (the huge sword, not the explosive).
** [[http://www.wwiihistorymagazine.com/2005/july/col-profiles.html The Other Wiki doesn't do his badassery nearly so much justice as this article.]] This is one of the few men in history who could've gone through World War Two ''without'' being armed at all.
* Discounting his role in the Watergate scandal, G. Gordon Liddy stayed quite busy being a badass. When he was a kid he was afraid of lightning, so one day he "killed the fear" by climbing a tree during a severe thunderstorm. Later in life he became known for an interesting parlor trick involving his arm and a lighter; a movie re-enactment can be seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0yIa8Aiwt0 here]]. (starts at 1:30).
* Antonio "Minotauro" Nogueira. Quoth wikipedia: "He was run over by a truck when he was nine, and fell into a coma for 25 days. During this time he lost a rib and part of his liver and had to be hospitalized for eleven months. As a result of the accident he has a large scar, including a noticeable indentation, on his lower back." Went to to become an MMA champion with a 31-4-1 record. Hell, a bunch of MMA fighters could qualify.
*[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marshal,_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke]]. A man of legendary badassery, he was charging into battle at the front of armies, killing fully-armored knights well into his seventies. When men spoke of mighty warriors in the 12th and 13th centuries, they simply had to say "THE Marshall" and everyone knew who they were talking about.
* [[http://www.cracked.com/article_16497_p2.html Alexis Goggins]]. Saved her mom by taking six bullets from the estranged boyfriend. Including a couple to the head. Said hi to the GrimReaper, then told him she still had some s*** to do. [[spoiler: Was in grade one at the time.]] You go, girl.
* [[http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html Cracked's List of 5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy.]]
* Pavlov's House. Twenty-odd soviet soldiers held out behind enemy lines for longer than any country other than the Soviet Union. They only left the building in between nazi attacks to remove enemy dead, refusing the nazis cover.
* Many types of animals are badass:
** Elephants
** [[EverythingIsWorseWithBears Bears]]
** [[EverythingIsEvenWorseWithSharks Sharks]]
** [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaurs]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c81bcjyfn6U Honey badgers]].
** Tigers
** [[BigBadassWolf Wolves]]
** Wolverines
*** Hell, if starving enough, these little bastards have been known to kill prey as large as a moose.
** Piranhas
** Mantis Shrimp
** The Signal Crayfish. It takes twenty-four hours in a bucket of concentrated crayfish poison to kill one.
** Hippos. Really. Even Steve Irwin avoided tangling with them.
** Most fighting dogs, such as dobermans, which were bred to be the ideal protectors and attackers.
*** Steve Irwin nothing. Crocodiles, lions, and any other animal smart enough to stay away from their ferocious jaws know not to tangle with these extraordinarily territorial herbivores.
**African Honey Badgers. Just...African Honey Badgers. Forget wolverines, african honey badgers have been named one of the most fearless animals in the Guinness Book of World Records, and that reputation is well deserved. They are fierce omnivores who regularly kill highly venomous snakes such as Puff Adders (whose species are responsible for more fatalities than any African snake), porcupines, scorpians, young gazelle, and even crocodiles up to one meter in size! In fact, in a 2002 documentary, one african honey badger steals a meal out of a puff adder's mouth and casually eats it in front of the hissing snake. After the meal, Kleinman eats the puff adder too! In another case, shown on an episode of Animal Planet, an old female honey badger that was nearly toothless and had one blind eye was attacked by a leopard. It took the leopard about one hour to kill the honey badger. They've even been known to bite off the testicles of lions! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3pua7f9mLI&NR=1
*** They should just take the supermutant Wolverine, and rename him Honey Badger.
** [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1165930/Barry-giant-sea-worm-discovered-aquarium-staff-mysterious-attacks-coral-reef.html Barry, the four-feet-long polychaete worm]] with jaws tough enough to eat coral and the strength to break a 20-pound fishing line. When they tried to catch it with hooked bait? She swallowed the hooks. Not to mention she's so poisonous, just touching her renders you numb for life.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo4KcsBN--A&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eyoutube%2Ecom%2Fuser%2FNationalGeographic&feature=player_profilepage#t=64 Any animal who is protecting their young.]]
** [[http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8350000/8350972.stm Mushroom coral]]. They eat jellyfish around the same size as them.
* Honda Tadakatsu, the mightiest general of the Tokugawa clan. Amongst his achievements is that he has been around since the era of Okehazama to Sekigahara, accompanying Ieyasu in about 55 battles, and NEVER get wounded from it. He is so {{Badass}} that he is considered Ieyasu's luxury and Ieyasu would've bitten the dust very quickly if it wasn't for Tadakatsu. He also possesses a {{Badass}} [[BladeOnAStick spear named Tombogiri]], a spear so sharp that a dragonfly would get cut in two if it passes by the spear's blade... while he's not even swinging it.
** The almighty Uesugi Kenshin near the same time period, who is so feared and respected on the battlefield that friend and foe alike nicknamed him the 'God of War'; He was, in fact, pretty much the only person who actually managed to outright ''defeat'' Oda Nobunaga in an actual field battle at Tedorigawa (and so badly that Nobunaga reportedly, by one account, actually was ready to surrender if Kenshin marched onto Kyoto), and his CrowningMomentOfAwesome remains at the Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima against his rival Takeda Shingen, where Kenshin rides through ''the entire battlefield'' and into the Takeda camp all by himself to strike at Shingen with nothing but himself, his horse and his blade.
**While Shingen defended himself with an ''iron fan''.
*** In ''Furin Kazan'', Kenshin (played by Gackt) accentuates this by declaring himself to be the Avatar of Bishamonten -- openly and ''in public'' in front of all his retainers. This in itself takes a certain amount of balls.
* When German state police spectaculary failed to end a hostage situation during the 1972 olympic games in Munich, German federal police responded by creating its first counter-terrorism unit. Four years later, their very first mission was a hostage situation in a plane on an African airport (which is often considered as one of the most dangerous and dificult situations). They shot all four hijackers with only one officer and one hostage wounded. In the next 30 years and over 1,500 missions they had to fire their weapons only four more times.
**When they first competed in a SWAT-unit championship in 2005, they won all eight contests in a row.
**In 2005, german federal police Bundesgrenzschutz (B''GS'') was renamed to Bundespolizei. Gruppe 9 (unit 9) was the only one badass enough to keep its old designation.
***In fact they were so badass, that Japanese manga creators named [[GhostInTheShell another counter-terrorism unit]] after them.
*[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphey Audie Murphy]], a highly decorated American soldier who served in the European Theater during World War II. Among other things, he earned the Medal of Honor. We'll let the Citation for his Medal of Honor speak for his actions:
**Second Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by six tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to a prepared position in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, one of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire, which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machine gun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from three sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad that was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued his single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way back to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack, which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.
** In the 60's, he was addicted to the insomnia medication Placidyl to treat his PTSD. When he realized his addiction, he locked himself in a motel room for a week and suffered withdrawal symptoms, quitting cold turkey.
** And did we mention that he joined the military at '''''16 YEARS OLD!!!!'''''
** He was #1 on the above list of "5 Real-Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy". [[IncendiaryExponent Flaming M-10, anyone?]]
* While we're on the subject of the Second World War, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny Otto Skorzeny]] deserves mention as well. His service record alone should speak for himself, with many a CrowningMomentofAwesome, but among his crowning moments was saving Benito Mussolini, who was under heavily armed watch, without firing a single shot.
* Cassius Clay. No, not the boxer later known as Mohammed Ali. The original Cassius Clay was a 19th century Southern aristocrat and landowner who abhorred slavery with burning hatred - a concept hard to swallow in itself. His badassness aside from fervently defending a cause all his peers detested was manifested in his survival of an assassination attempt in 1843, where he was shot point blank during a speech, after which he proceeded to cut off the attacker's ear, nose and eye off with his Bowie knife - the knife's scabbard had saved his life. When he had reached the age of 92, three men broke into his home with intent to rob and kill him - only one of the assailants survived to tell the tale, and Clay died peacefully a year later.
* Scottish baggage handler John Smeaton. In June of 2007, when Al-Queida attacked Glasgow airport, this civilian responded by attacking the terrorist (whose body was mostly on fire) WITH HIS BARE HANDS (okay, he kicked the guy a lot too.), cussing him out according to Wikipedia. Then, later in a television interview, he publicly threatened Al-Queida if they ever returned to Scotland. By the way, the terrorist died from his burns and injuries.
** And he said something along the lines of 'Don't come to Glasgow, we'll set about ye' (Which they will!).
* An inconspicuous little white mushroom with the formal name of ''Amanita bisporigera'' is considered one of the most toxic mushrooms in the world and responsible for more mushroom poisoning deaths than any other. Even half a small cap has enough amanitoxin to kill a healthy, adult human if not treated. Making it worse, symptoms don't appear for 12-24 hours after you've eaten it, by which time it's likely too late for treatment. It will destroy your liver and kidney function, cause vomiting and cramps, delirium and convulsions with death in a few days. It's called the '''Destroying Angel''', possibly the most BadAss name for any living organism, and completely descriptive.
*GeorgeWashington: he had countless hats shot off of his head, and horses shot out from under him, without ever taking a bullet himself.[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA And he was made of radiation.]]
*[[LandDownunder Ned Kelly]]. While wearing a homemade suit of armour weighing 40kg, he kept firing his rifle despite having his left arm disabled (asking one of his teammates to help reload); when finally taken down, he had ''twenty-eight'' gunshot wounds. '''Twenty-eight'''. And survived long enough to be hanged.
*Mahatma Gandhi. Yes, a small bald man with a white robe and glasses. One that, in the very eloquent words of another fellow troper, defied injustice at every turn, took his beatings for it, and came back for more. A man who specifically targeted injustices in order to defy them, and to hell with the consequences. A man who likened colonial prison to a bridal suite. A man who, in short, fought injustice at every turn and with at least some success, while still adhering completely to his pacifist ideals. Even if the guy didn't raise his hands to shoot people, he was a subtle yet very emotionally strong BadAss, and not even the bashing and hatred coming from tropers who keep CompletelyMissingThePoint will change that.
** The way I understand it, his first name was actually Mohandas, and Mahatma is a title that translates to something along the lines of "Person So Awesome We Had To Invent A New Word Just To Describe His Awesomeness." Or "Enlightened One." Either way, it's the Indian version of being a "The Great" and one of the NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast.
*[[BadassPreacher Martin Luther King Jr.]]
* It should also be noted that neither Gandhi nor King would've gotten very far without the {{Pacifist}} equivalent of a BadassArmy pushing them forward: the Indian Independence movement and the CivilRightsMovement, respectively.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zog_of_Albania King Zog of Albania]]. Not only pushed Albania into the twentieth century after coming back from exile, pissing a lot of people off, but also pulled out a gun on some schmucks who tried to shoot him during his visit in Vienna. Quoting TheOtherWiki: "This is the only occasion in modern history when a Head of State has personally exchanged fire with potential assassins." WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome?
* [[http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/thelife/news/story?id=4603073 "That's wearing your badassness right on your face."]] Agreed. Gerry Cheevers took ''that'' many hits to the head and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerry_Cheevers seems to have suffered no ill effects]], now nearly 30 years removed from his playing days. With the advances in research as to the dangers of professional sports, that's absolutely unbelievable.
** On the subject of NHL badassery, [[http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3342832 Patrick]] [[http://scores.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280415015 Thoresen]]. Yes, he only missed ''one'' game after [[GroinAttack nearly losing a nut to a hockey puck.]]
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Forssmann Dr. Werner Forssmann,]] according to TheOtherWiki:
-->"In 1929, while working in Eberswalde, he performed the first human cardiac catheterization. He ignored his department chief and tied his assistant to an operating table. Then, he anesthetized his own lower arm and inserted a cannula into his antecubital vein, threading it 65 cm all the way to his heart. Afterwards, he walked some distance to the X-ray department to photograph the catheter which was now lying in his right auricle."
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans-Ulrich_Rudel Hans-Ulrich Rudel]] - The World War II German Stuka pilot so badass, Stalin himself put a 100,000 ruble bounty on his head. No one ever got to collect it.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_kirby Jack Kirby]]. Yes, JackKirby. He proved his badassery when he once scared the shit out of mob that was threatening WillEisner. And if Eisner would not stop him he would for sure send this mob to hospital.
[[/folder]]

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