Badass Creed - Television Tropes & Idioms

"Come and take them!" 2500 years later, still badass.

Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember
Nothing is true.
Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember
Everything is permitted.
We work in the dark to serve the light. We are assassins.
Nothing is true. Everything is permitted.
— The titular Assassin's Creed

Sometimes, the badass doesn't need a longcoat, or a motorcycle, or a pair of glasses. Sometimes, you just need the right words. Maybe you're a badass who's part of an order of badasses with similar goals. Or maybe you're a lone badass, and you've come up with a credo that explains who you are to others. Either way, you've got a Badass Creed.

See also In The Name Of The Moon. If it only gets said once, it's probably a Badass Boast instead. Saying it to reinforce your goal or similar can have the same effect as a Theme Music Powerup, and can precede or punctuate a Crowning Moment Of Awesome.

Examples

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Comic Books

The Green Lantern Corps Oath:
"In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might
Beware my power-- Green Lantern's light!"
- And, for comparison's sake, the Sinestro Corps Oath:
  "In blackest day, in brightest night,
  Beware your fears made into light
  Let those who try to stop what's right
  Burn like his power— Sinestro's might!"
  - Except when Sinestro himself says it, then it's Burn like MY power...
- Perhaps even more badass, the Red Lanterns' oath
  "With blood and rage of crimson red
  Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead
  Together with our hellish hate
  We burn you all— that is your fate!"
- The Power of Love takes a Level in Badass with the Star Sapphire Corps:
  "For hearts long lost and full of fright,
  For those alone in blackest night,
  Accept our ring and join our fight,
  Love Conquers All— with violet light!"
- Here's the Blue Lanterns:
  "In fearful day, in raging night,
  With strong hearts full our souls ignite,
  When all seem lost in the War of Light,
  Look to the stars-- for hope burns bright!"
- We haven't heard the oath of the Orange Lanterns yet, but what it's sole full-time member says is plenty Badass and ominous:
  "Mine."
  - The DC Wiki offers a fuller oath:
  "This power is mine, this is my light.
  Be it in bright of day, or black of night.
  I lay claim to all that falls within my sight.
  To take what I want, that is my right!"
- The Indigo Tribe's is in Fictionary but it still sounds poetically badass:
  "Tor lorek san bor nakka mur.
  Natromo faan tornek wot ur.
  Ter Lantern ker lo Abin Sur
  Taan lek lek nok-- formorrow Sur!"
- And with the Blackest Night, we now have a creed for the Black Lanterns:
  "The blackest night falls from the skies,
  The darkness grows, as all light dies,
  We crave your hearts and your demise,
  By my black hand— the dead shall rise!"
- Predating even the Green Lantern Corps is the ever ominous:
  No man escapes the Manhunters!
  - Combine them and you get
  "No Lantern escapes The Alpha Lanterns!"
- So naturally, the Alpha Lanterns have their own:
  "In days of peace, in nights of war,
  Obey the laws forever more,
  Misconduct must be answered for,
  Swear us the Chosen - the Alpha Corps!"
- Some Green Lanterns have their own version of the creed, such as
  - Plant Alien Medphyll:
    "In forest dark or glade beferned,
    No blade of grass shall go unturned.
    Let those that have the daylight spurned,
    tread not where this green lamp has burned."
  - Jack T. Chance:
    You who are wicked, evil, and mean -
    I'm the nastiest creep you've ever seen!
    Come one, come all; put up a fight;
    I'll pound your butts with Green Lantern's light.
    Yowza.
  - lop+ fan Rot Lop Fan, whose species is blind and have no concept of light:
    "In loudest din or hush profound
    My ears catch evil's slightest sound.
    Let those who toll out evil's knell
    Beware my power— the F-Sharp Bell!"
  - Kho, member of a genocidal race turned good and too Badass for a last name:
    "Against dishonor and traitor's flight
    I stand beside my clan to fight.
    With dying breath I claw and bite
    Beware my power— Green Lantern's Light!"
  - Sodam Yat, a Daxamite (basically, Superman with a weakness to lead instead of kryptonite) combines the GL and Sinestro oaths as the last suviving GL (and from the sounds of it, the last surviving Lantern of any colour) in the 30th century:
    In brightest day, through Blackest Night!
    No other Corps shall spread its light!
    Let those who try to stop what's right,
    Burn like my power— Green Lantern's light!
  - Duck Dodgers (no, really):
    In blackest day or brightest night
    Watermelon, cantaloupe, yadda yadda
    Erm...superstitious and cowardly lot
    With liberty and justice for all!
  - Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, whose oath was more poetic in its simplicity:
    And I will shed my light over dark evil,
    For the dark things cannot stand the light,
    The light of the Green Lantern!
  - and many others.
- Keep in mind that the topmost was originally just Hal Jordan's creed. The rings recharged by putting it inside a green lantern for a given amount of time. Hal's poem was just a handy way of measuring said time. Later, the entirety (mostly) of the corps took it up since Jordan was just so awesome. (It's since been changed to be the standard Corps oath, written long before Jordan came along. Still used to keep time, though.)
Wolverine's "I'm the best there is at what I do." (Despite evidence to the contrary.)
- Well, no, he is the best there is at what he does. It's just that he doesn't tell people what he does.
  - It's never outright stated, but it is implied that "what he does" is kill people. Which, if you think about the primary reason most other hero teams keep him around (i.e. he's willing to cross the line and take a life when the others aren't), it puts his creed in a new light. Rather than a boast of ability, it's more of a somber statement; by his own admission, the only thing he's really good at is being a cold-blooded killer.
  - "And now I'm better at whatever it is Wolverine does!"
  - Perhaps what he does is get subjected to The Worf Effect. He's certainly very good at that.
  - "You're wrong, lil' darlin'. There's something I can do real good. The real thing I do best. I don't give up. Ever."
Batman: "I am the night!"
- The Diniverse version was particularly Badass. "I am vengeance! I am the night! I. Am. BATMAN!!"
- "I'm the goddam Batman!"
Superman:
Dreams save us. Dreams lift us up and transform us. And on my soul, I swear -- until my dream of a world where dignity, honor and justice becomes the reality we all share -- I'll never stop fighting. Ever.
Midnighter of The Authority starts a lot of fights with a variant on his "I've already fought this battle a million times" speech. Parodied in that he's started to simply hand out cards with the speech written on it, rather than take the time and effort to go through with it.
Darkseid has officially reached this level of badass creed in Final Crisis #5.
Darkseid: I. Am. The. New. God. All is one in Darkseid. This mighty body is my church. When I command your surrender, I speak with three billion voices... When I make a fist to crush your resistance, it is with three billion hands! When I stare into your eyes and shatter your dreams, and break your heart, it is with six billion eyes! Nothing like Darkseid has ever come among you: nothing will again, I will take you to a hell without exit or end, and there I will murder your souls! And make you crawl and beg! And DIE! DIE! DIE FOR DARKSEID!
- The fact that he's speaking through the billions of people infected by the Anti-Life Equation only makes it that much more badass.
- He got this earlier in the JLA book Rock of Ages.
Announcer On your knees for the Master!
The hour has come! HE has come!
Who is byond good and evil?
Who is the prophet of Anti-Life?
Who is the Rock and the Chain and the Lightning?
All powerful! All unforgiving! All conquering!
WHO IS YOUR NEW GOD NOW AND FOREVER?
Darkseid: Darkseid is.
Judge Dredd, I am the Law!
"With great power comes great responsibility" counts, right?
Matt Wagner's "Grendels" have this Oath of Obedience (taking at least one riff from one of the other Badass Creeds on this page):
"With Orion's sword the hunter arose and conquered the world with fury and grace
In him was I born, in him shall I die, in him shall I lose name, station and face
Death over weakness, death over despair, death over personal gain
Death over dishonor, death over undeath, death over the fire with no flame
All this I pledge thee O Grendel, Great Khan, to serve and protect over death's endless tide
With your word in my heart, your eyes in my face and your tooth in my hand, by my side"
Vivat Grendel!
The Flash: "My name is Jay Garrick/Barry Allen/Wally West/Bart Allen. Who am I? I'm the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive."
No mercy! No limits! NO ONE GETS OUT ALIVE!
The Wreckers from Transformers: Wreck and Rule!.
Usagi Yojimbo: "A Ninja's duty in life is death!"
I think this counts: "Avengers Assemble!"
Perhaps a trifle informal, but still: "Not even in the face of Armageddon. Never Compromise."
- That one was more of a Badass Boast, though.
  - "Never compromise" was his creed, though; the Armageddon gets tacked on when... well, when it's Armageddon. For all intents and purposes.
"I am the Iron Fist. I stand before the unstoppable hordes...and I hold them back. That's what I do. What I've always done. I am the Iron Fist. I hold back the storm...When nothing else can."
Jesse Custer learned his from his father, cribbed from John Wayne;
John Custer: Don't take no shit off fools. Judge a person by what's in 'em, not how they look. An' you do the right thing. Be one of the good guys. 'Cause there's way too many of the bad.
Frank Drake of the Nightstalkers distills the entirety of Silver Age Superhero philosophy into four words. Do good. Fight evil.
Rorshach: There is good and there is evil. Evil must be punished. Even in the face of Armageddon, I will not compromise this.

Fan Fic

In the Daria Expanded Universe Fan Fic series ' Tales of the Ringbearers ', The Ringbearer's Creed:
We are the Ringbearers
We are the light that drives back the darkness
We are the wall that no evil can breach
We are the staff and the sword that shall defend life
We are the fire that will light the way to tomorrow
Our Rings are Forever. We are Forever.
- Not to be outdone, those who wear the corrupted versions of the Rings - the Ringwraiths - have their own creed, which is infinitely more Bad Ass:
Our enemies fall, from low and high
To salted earth, through burning sky
And all shall know our Ringwraith's cry
Let Vengeance Ring - and all hope die!
The Epic Tiberium Wars Fan Fic has this from a Mammoth Tank crewman:
Yea verily, though I charge through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for I am driving a house-sized mass of "fuck you."
From Chapter 35 of Diashi Prime's Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Fan Fic "Endless Waltz" comes what will become the Oaths of the Twilight Paladins:
"I stand between the Light and the Darkness, between the Innocent and the Monstrous, between the Just and the Vile. I dwell at the edge of Darkness, that others may live in the Light. I am a Twilight Paladin. As such, I hereby take these oathsï¿½
"Upon my honor, upon my soul, upon my magic and my hope for redemption, I swear to never again kill a thinking being.
"Upon my honor, upon my soul, upon my magic and my hope for redemption, I swear to seek and serve justice to the limit of my capacity and the best of my understanding.
"Lastly, I swear my magic, my skills, and my life to your defense and your service."
Chapter 12 of CSS.Stravag's "Legend Of The Jokers Wild Revised" has this:
"I am the Archangel of Solace, bound forever to those who wish not to go quietly into the night. I will not rest until it is assured that Existence is not damned to annihilation in the days of Ragnarok. So is my duty written, so shall it be."
Shadow Crystal Mage's Takamachi Nanoha of 2814 has the Wolkenritter Oath, ~~though so far only in the omake material and polls~~ finally appearing in chapter 15:
“In days of peace, in times of war,
Protect our Queen forever more!
The five Clouds stand, we are her Knights!
To guard Hayate, our delight!”
- Also, an altered Red Lantern Oath:
"With Blood and Rage of crimson red,
Ripped from a Corpse so freshly dead.
Together with my hellish hate,
I swear none other shall share my fate!"
- Recently, Nanoha's transformation aria has taken a Level in Badass:
"I am the one who has been given a mission. Under the contract, release these powers. The winds are in the sky, the stars are in the heavens, the light is in my hands and the power is in my heart! And I shall shed my light over dark evil, for the dark things cannot stand the light, the light of the Green Lantern! Raging Heart Emerald Excelion, Set Up!"
*pose*
"Magical Girl Green Lantern, Zenryoku Zenkai! Ready for action!"

Film

Dragonheart(known as the Old Code):
A Knight is sworn to Valor.
His Heart knows only Virtue.
His Blade Defends the Helpless.
His Strength Upholds the Weak.
His Word speaks only Truth.
His Wrath Undoes the Wicked!
Pulp Fiction: "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyrannies of evil men..." However, Jules chose it just because it sounds cool, and he's still trying to figure out whether he's the man described in it.
The Thirteenth Warrior:
Lo, there do I see my father
Lo, there do I see my mother and my sisters and my brothers
Lo, there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning
Lo, they do call to me
They bid me take my place among them
In the halls of Valhalla
Where the brave
May live
Forever
300 used the actual Spartan creed of: "Come home with this shield or upon it."
- To explain, dead soldiers were carried home on their shields, and victorious ones would carry their shields back, but cowards who ran from battle would throw their heavy shields away.
  - US Army Rangers have a variant while in training: "With the [Ranger] Tab, or on a slab."
In his last film role John Wayne's character is a gunfighter with this creed. "I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same of them!"
The Code of the Jedi...
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force.
- ... and of the Sith.
  Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
  Through passion, I gain strength.
  Through strength, I gain power.
  Through power, I gain victory.
  Through victory, my chains are broken.
  The Force shall free me.
  - The members of the Rebel Alliance get to crib from the Continental Congress for the Declaration of Rebellion:
  We, the Rebel Alliance, do therefore in the nameï¿½and by the authorityï¿½of the free beings of the Galaxy, solemnly publish and declare our intentions:
  To fight and oppose you and your forces, by any and all means at our disposal;
  To refuse any Imperial law contrary to the rights of free beings;
  To bring about your destruction and the destruction of the Galactic Empire;
  To make forever free all beings in the galaxy.
  To these ends, we pledge our property, our honor, and our lives.
"By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged!" Though typically played for comedy (rightfully, as the catchphrase of a cheesy TV show), it's used very well during a certain dramatic point in the movie.
- Also, "Never give up! Never. Surrender!!" could qualify.
In the crime thriller The Boondock Saints, the main characters would give a little prayer before executing a mafioso:
"And Shepherds we shall be
For thee, my Lord, for thee.
Power hath descended forth from Thy hand
Our feet may swiftly carry out Thy command.
So we shall flow a river forth to Thee
And teeming with souls shall it ever be.
In Nomine Patri, Et Fili, Et Spiritus Sancti."
- In addition, the movie's Dragon combines his prayer with a Luke I Am Your Father, and a Heel Face Turn:
  "And when I raise my flashing sword
  And my hand takes hold in judgment,
  I will take vengeance upon mine enemies
  And I will repay those who hate me.
  O Lord, raise me to Thy right hand
  And count me among Thy saints."
- "Whosoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he man."
  "Destroy that which is evil. So that which is good may flourish."
  "And I shall count thee among my favored sheep. And you shall have the protection of all the angels in heaven."
  "Never shall innocent blood be shed. Yet the blood of the wicked shall flow like a river. The three shall spread their blackened wings and be the vengeful striking hammer of God."
- Rocco comes back from beyond the grave in the sequel to give the brothers an awesomely epic ode to manliness:
  Connor MacManus, Murphy MacManus: Slï¿½inte
  Murphy MacManus: You know, he was sort of a badass though, wasn't he?
  Connor MacManus: Shades of Eastwood. Charlie Bronson.
  Rocco: Duke Fucking Wayne!
  Connor MacManus, Murphy MacManus: Duke Fucking WAYNE!
  Rocco: Men build things, then we die. It's in our fucking DNA! THAT'S WHAT WE DO!
  Murphy MacManus: And when it all falls down?
  Rocco: We build it right back up again.
  Connor MacManus: But this time bigger. BETTER!
  Rocco:(gestures to Boston skyline) Look! Look what we can do. Look how fuckin' beautiful we are. You think the men that built all this had it easy?
  Murphy MacManus: Hard men!
  Connor MacManus: Doing hard shit!
  Rocco: And that gives me a hard on... But not in a gay way or anything like that.
  Murphy MacManus: No, 'course not.
  Connor MacManus: Yeah it goes without sayin'
  Rocco: I am so sick of all of this self help, twelve step, leftover hippie generation bullshit! There's two kinds of people in this world when you boil it all down. You've got your 'talkers' and you've got your 'doers'. Most people are just talkers, all they got is talk. But when all is set and done, it's the doers who change this world. And when they do that, they change us. And that's why we never forget them...So which one are you? Do you just talk about it or do you stand up and do something about it? Because believe you me, all the rest of it is just coffee house bullshit.
  Connor MacManus: Now they don't want you to do anything, right? Just sit there. Don't drink.
  Murphy MacManus: Don't smoke. Don't drive fast.
  Connor MacManus, Murphy MacManus, Rocco: Kiss my ass!
  Rocco: Fuck it! Do it all I say! Do you think Duke Wayne spent all of his time talking about his feelings with a fuckin' therapist?
  Connor MacManus: There's no fucking way he did!
  Rocco: John Wayne died with five pounds of undigested red meat in his ass. Now that's a man! Real men hide their feelings. Why?
  Connor MacManus, Murphy MacManus, Rocco: Because it's none of your fuckin' business!
  Rocco: Men do not cry. Men do not pout. Men jack you in the fuckin' jaw and say...
  Detective Greenly: Thanks for comin' out.
From the Robocop series, a set of Prime Directives that for all intents and purposes acts like a Badass Creed:
Serve the public trust. Protect the innocent. Uphold the law.
- Break glass.
- Never attack an OCP officer, remember?
"Nut up or shut up."
Does the opening song from At World's End count? Probably not the first couple of lines, but...
The king and his men, stole the queen from her bed,
And bound her in her bones.
The seas be ours, and by the powers
Where we will, we'll roam.
Yo, ho, altogether,
Hoist the colors high.
Heave, ho, thieves and beggars,
Never shall we die
- I think the first couple of lines do count, seeing as they describe the brethren court bound a goddess and took control of the sea.
Short Circuit has a more humorous one:
"Los Locos kick your ass!"
"Los Locos kick your face!"
"Los Locos kick your balls into ou-ter SPAAAAAACE!"
This one:
Anonymity is your name,
Silence your native tongue.
You're no longer part of the System.
You're above the System.
Over it.
Beyond it.
We are "Them."
We are "They."
We are the Men In Black.
Crimson Tide has one, sorta.
Ramsey: You're aware of the name of this ship [sic], aren't you Mister COB?
Walters: Very aware, sir!
Ramsey: It bears a proud name, doesn't it Mister COB?
Walters: Very proud, sir!
Ramsey: It represents fine people!
Walters: Very fine people, sir!
Ramsey: Who live in a fine, outstanding state!
Walters: Outstanding, sir!
Ramsey: In the greatest country in the entire world!
Walters: In the entire world, sir!
Ramsey: And what is that name, Mister COB?
Walters: Alabama, sir!
Ramsey: And what do we say?
Ramsey/Walters: Go Bama!
Crew: Roll Tide!
The Beast Of War. Sitting in a dead tank in the middle of Afghanistan, with a grenade in his hand:
Daskal: Out of commission, become a pillbox. Out of ammo, become a bunker. Out of time, become heroes.
''O Lord, bless this Thy hand grenade that with it Thou mayest blow Thine enemies to tiny bits, in Thy mercy.''
From Tall Tales: "Protect the land, defend the defenseless, and never spit in front of women or children." * spits*

Literature

The catchphrase of the Audubon Ballroom, "Shall we dance?" Though, admittedly, you could say just about anything and it would be baddass if you happen to do it while charging head-on into a squad of super soldiers with guns akimbo.
- "Sneer and be damned," indeed! Though Victor Cachat never actually says it out loud, and, again, anything said while in the process of turning super-solders into blood pudding is almost guaranteed to be badass.
Djan Seriy Anaplian, Matter:
"Firing, not admiring"
The Gunslinger's Creed:
I do not aim with my hand;
He who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.
I do not shoot with my hand;
He who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.
I do not kill with my gun;
He who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.
The Aiel from The Wheel Of Time: "Till shade is gone, Till water is gone, Into the Shadow with teeth bared, Screaming defiance with the last breath, To spit in Sightblinder's eye on the last day."
- And the Borderlanders stole the Bushido quote below: Death is lighter than a feather, Duty heavier than a mountain
- "Strike where the enemy believes you will not, from an unexpected direction, in unexpected strength, at an unexpected time. Surprise is the key to victory, and speed is the key to surprise. For the soldier, speed is life." —Comadrin
A Song Of Ice And Fire: The oath of the Night's Watch.
Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.
- Similarly, when a man of the Night's Watch dies, he is eulogized by the others ending with the phrase: "And now his watch is ended."
- Also, the motto of the Faceless Men: Valar morghulis; valar dohaeris. (All men must die; all men must serve.)
- And Arya's "Fear cuts deeper than swords."
- The various houses all have their own mottoes of this nature. The exception of this is House Stark, whose creed is not a self-aggrandizing boast but nonetheless probably the coolest one: Winter Is Coming.
  - In addition to their official motto, the Lannisters also have the unofficial, and arguably cooler, "A Lannister always pays his/her debts."
Dune: "I will not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
- And from the movie, more of an entertaining psycho creed from the mentats... It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains. The stains become a warning. It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains. The stains become a warning...
  - Googling the phrase "teeth acquire stains" turns up various coffee-related parodies of this.
Several examples Discworld:
- Subverted in The Last Hero, with the creed (suggested by Rincewind) for the expedition to stop Cohen the Barbarian being Morituri Nolumus Mori, translated from Latin to English it reads as "We who are about to die don't want to."
- The Nac Mac Feegle in The Wee Free Men: "Nae king, nae queen, nae laird, nae master. WE WILLNA BE FOOLED AGAIN!" In fact, the Feegle have several Badass Creeds, and a habit of shouting them all out at once in a confused mess.
- La Resistance in Night Watch: "Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably Priced Love! And a hard-boiled egg!"
- The Assassin's Guild motto: "Nil mortifi, sine lucre" (No killing, without payment).
- Granny Weatherwax in Maskerade: "Right. Let's do some good."
- Death in Reaper Man: There is no hope but us. There is no mercy but us. There is no justice. There is just us.
- The City Watch motto: "Fabricati diem, pvnc".
  - The Watch oath is pretty basass as well, for all it's Hello Insert Name Here-ishness:
  I, [recruit's name], do solemnly swear by [recruit's deity of choice] to uphold the Laws and Ordinances of the city of Ankh-Morpork, serve the public trust, and defend the subjects of His/Her [delete whichever is inappropriate] Majesty [name of reigning monarch] without fear, favour, or thought of personal safety; to pursue evil-doers and protect the innocent, laying down my life if necessary in the cause of said duty, so help me [aforesaid deity]. Gods Save the King/Queen [delete which is inappropriate].
- The fearsome dwarfish warcry in Feet Of Clay: T'dr'duzk b'hazg t't! (Today is a good day for someone else to die!)
- The millennia-old messenger golem Anghammarad remembers a Bad Ass version of the A-M Post Office motto from the dawn of time: "Neither Deluge Nor Ice Storm Nor The Black Silence Of The Netherhells Shall Stay These Messengers About Their Sacred Business. Do Not Ask Us About Sabre-Tooth Tigers, Tar Pits, Big Green Things With Teeth Or The Goddess Czol."
  - Based on the inscription from Herodotus on the New York Post Office (which isn't an official motto): "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".
- Tiffany Aching in Wintersmith: "This I choose to do. If there is a price, this I choose to pay. If it is my death, then I choose to die. Where this takes me, there I choose to go. I choose. This I choose to do."
  - "there will be a reckoning" if you hear this line, you can run, but it won't due you any good
The Iron Code of Druss the Legend:
Never violate a woman, nor harm a child.
Do not lie, cheat or steal.
These things are for lesser men.
Protect the weak against the evil strong.
And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil.
Never back away from an enemy. Either fight or surrender.
It is not enough to say "I will not be evil." Evil must be fought wherever it is found.
Also from David Gemmell, The Nadir Chant:
Nadir We,
Youth Born,
Blood Letters,
Axe Weilders,
Victors Still.
The song of the hawks in The Once and Future King:
Life is blood, shed and offered.
The eagle's eye can face this dree.
To beasts of chase the lie is proffered:
Timor Mortis (the fear of death) Conturbat Me.

The beast of foot sings Holdfast only,
For flesh is bruckle and foot is slee.
Strength to the strong and the lordly and lonely.
Timor Mortis Exsultat Me.

Shame to the slothful and woe to the weak one,
Death to the dreadful who turn to flee.
Blood to the tearing, the talon'd, the beaked one.
Timor Mortis are We.
From the Second Apocalypse, the battle-song of the Men of the Tusk.
A' warring we have come.
A' reaving we shall work.
And when the day is done,
In our eyes the gods shall lurk!
- Also, a theme throughout the series is various characters giving their definition of warfare. "War is strength." "War is intellect." etc. Kellhus eventually settles on "War is conviction."
The creed of the Raven, from both the Chronicles of the Raven and the Legends of the Raven
"Kill but never murder."
From Young Wizards:
- The Wizard's Oath:
  In Life's name and for Life's sake, I say that I will use the Art for nothing but the service of that Life. I will guard growth and ease pain. I will fight to preserve what grows and lives well in its own way; and I will change no object or creature unless its growth and life, or that of the system of which it is part, are threatened. To these ends, in the practice of my Art, I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so — till Universe's end.
- The meditation of the Feline Worldgate Team:
  I will meet the cruel and the cowardly today, liars and the envious, the uncaring and unknowing: they will be all around. But their numbers and their carelessness do not mean I have to be like them. For my own part, I know my job; my commission comes from Those Who Are. My paw raised is Their paw on the neck of the Serpent, now and always. I shall walk through Their worlds as do the Powers that Be, seeing and knowing with Them and for Them, tending Their worlds as if they were mine: for so indeed they are. Silently shall I strive to go my way, as They do, doing my work unseen; the light needs no reminding by me of good deeds done by night. And in this long progress through all that is, though I will know doubt and fear in the strange places where I must walk, I will put these both aside, as the Oath requires, and hold myself to my work ... for if They and I together cannot mend what is marred, who canï¿½? And having done my work aright, though I may know weariness at day's end, come awakening I shall rise up and say again, with Them, as if surprised, "behold, the world is made new ... !"
- And when the Cat-Wizard in question is feeling particularly cynical:
  I will meet the terminally clueless today, idiots, and those with hairballs for brains, and those whose ears need a good shredding before you can even get their attention. I do not have to be like them, even though I would dearly love to hit them hard enough to make the empty places in their heads echo ...
The code of The Three Musketeers, which only appears twice in the original story: "One for all and all for one!"
Conan the Barbarian.
- "I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content." From The Queen of the Black Coast.
- "Conan, what is best in life?" "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women." From the movie.
  - From Genghis Khan.
The Rohirrim get a few, which makes sense:
''Arise, arise, Riders of Theoden!
Fell deeds awake, fire and slaughter!
spear shall be shaken, shield be splintered,
a sword-day, a red day, ere the sun rises!
Ride now, ride now! Ride to Gondor!''
Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!
''Out of dark, out of doubt, to the day's rising
I rode, singing in the sun, sword unsheathing.
To hope's end I rode, and to heart's breaking,
now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red nightfall.''
- Don't forget Sam in Minas Morgul:
  Though here at jouney's end I lie
  In darkness buried deep
  Beyond all towers strong and high,
  Beyond all mountains steep.
  Above all shadows rides the Sun,
  And stars forever dwell
  I will not say this day is done,
  Nor bid the stars farewell.
From David Weber's Hells Gate series:
"Chunika/Chanaka s'hari, Halian. Sho warak."
- Translated, it means "I am your son/daughter, Halian. I remember." Anytime a Calirath says this, they're about to make a Heroic Sacrifice, and they're not letting anyone talk them out of it.
The Clan MacKenzie's battle chant from S. M. Stirling's Emberverse:
We are the point!
We are the edge!
We are the wolves
That Hecate fed!
We are the bow!
We are the shaft!
We are the bolts
That Hecate cast!
- Not as poetic but to the point and definitely badass, the warcry of House Gervais:
  Face Gervais, face Death!
- Also the Bearkillers battle cry, "Hakke Palla!", translated from the Finnish: "Cut them down!"
From 1984:
WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
"I Am that I Am."
- Psalms 144:1-2 "Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight: My goodness, and my fortress: my high tower, and my deliverer: my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
From W. E. Henley: Invictus
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
From L'Engle's A Swiftly Tilting Planet:
Here and now in this fateful hour,
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And the fire with all the strength it hath,
And the lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their steepness,
And the earth with its starkness,
All these I place
By God's almighty help and gracee
Between myself and the powers of darkness!
- Incidentally, this is not originally L'Engle's work: it is only a part of (at least blatantly adapted from) an Irish prayer usually attributed to St. Patrick, known as the "Lorica" or "St. Patrick's Breastplate".
From Mack Bolan (the Executioner) "Live Large"
Also, from the first Super Bolan novel, Stony Man Doctrine: "The Mind and the Sword are one. If the mind is right, the sword is right"
Dragonlance The oath of the Knights of Solamnia:
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
My Honor Is My Life
The Road of Kings a poem written by Robert E Howard that tells things from Conan's perspective after he becomes king of Aquilonia.
Gleaming shell of an outworn lie, fable of Right Divine.
You gained your crowns by heritage, but Blood was the price of mine.
The throne that I won by blood and sweat, by Crom, I will not sell
For promise of valleys filled with gold or threat of the Halls of Hell!
When I was a fighting man, the kettle-drums they beat.
The people scattered gold dust before my horse's feet.
But now I am a great king; the people hound my track,
With poison in my wine cup, and daggers at my back.
What do I know of cultured ways; the gilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land, and bred in the open sky?
The subtle tongue, the sophist guile; they fail when the broadswords sing.
Rush in and die, dogs — I was a man before I was a king!
The First Horn (Heavy Infantry) form Richard Schwartz's series Das Geheimnis von Askir (translated):
Who are we?
The first horn of the bull!
What are we?
Steadfast!
Where do we stand?
On the ground from which we will not retreat!
Where do we go?
To the gods, with Askir, the emperor, our honour and our duty!
The Draka
Service to the State. Glory to the Race.
The Night Angel Trilogy
Life is nothing in itself. Itï¿½s a place marker that proves whoï¿½s winning, and we are the winners. We are always the winners. There is nothing but the winning. Even winning means nothing. We win because itï¿½s an insult to lose. - Durzo Blint
From The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler
...down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. The detective in this kind of story must be such a man. He is the hero; he is everything. He must be a complete man and a common man and yet an unusual man. He must be be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor—by instinct, by inevitability, without thought of it, and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man in his world and a good enough man for any world.
Tennyson, "Sir Gallahad":
My good blade carves the casques of men,
My tough lance thrusteth sure,
My strength is as the strength of ten,
Becasue my heart is pure.
The Sparrow: "We are many. They are few."

Manga & Anime

Every time Roger Smith powers up the Big O, the internal display flashes the message "Cast in the name of God, ye not guilty".
The titular Devil Hunter Yohko
"I hold no enmity against those coerced into evil, but to those vile beings who toy with the hearts and souls of men, since the time of ancient gods, we have been your destroyers! Now the 108th Devil Hunter Yohko is here!"
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann: "Go Beyond The Impossible and kick reason to the curb! That's the Gurren-dan way!"
"Do the impossible
See the invisible
Touch the untouchable
Break the unbreakable!
RAW RAW FIGHT THE POWER!"
- "Who the hell do you think I am?"
- The entirety of Dai Gurren-dan in the beginning of the final episode, each one contributing a line, with the entire ensemble joining in during the last few lines:
  "Even when trapped by karma's cycle..."
  "...The feelings that were left behind will open the door!"
  "Even if the Infinite Universe were to go against us..."
  "...our burning blood will cut through fate!"
  "We'll break through the heavens and dimensions!"
  "We'll show you our path by force!"
  "Tengen Toppa... Gurren Lagann!"
  "JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!"
  - The fact that they say that standing on top of a galaxy, on fire, helps a bit.
- Similarly, Episode 8. "If there's a wall in our way, we smash it down! If there isn't a path, we carve it out ourselves! The magma of our souls burns with a mighty flame! Super Ultra Combining, Gurren Lagann! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?
  - Bonus points because one of them was dead and had badassed himself back to life in order to deliver this speech.
  - Not to mention that a nearby volcano spontaneously exploded right after they finished their speech, like if saying "Word."
Archer, from ''Fate Stay Night:
I am the bone of my sword.
Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unknown to death.
Nor known to life.
Have withstood pain to create many weapons.
Yet, those hands will never hold anything.
So as I pray, Unlimited Blade Works.
- Then there's the literal translation as opposed to the official Engrish:
  His body is made out of swords.
  His blood is of iron and his heart of glass.
  He survived through countless battles.
  Not even once retreating,
  Not even once being understood.
  He was always alone.
  Intoxicated with victory in a hill of swords.
  Thus, his life has no meaning.
  That body was, certainly made out of swords.
- Later adopted by Shirou:
  "I am the bone of my sword.
  Steel is my body, and fire is my blood.
  I have created over a thousand blades.
  Unaware of loss.
  Nor aware of gain.
  Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival.
  I have no regrets, this is the only path.
  My whole life was Unlimited Blade Works."
- And finally, used by Kotomine as a similar spell invocation:
  "I will kill. I will let live. I will harm and heal. None will escape me. None will escape my sight.
  Be crushed.
  I welcome those who have grown old and those who have lost.
  Devote yourself to me, learn from me, and obey me.
  Rest. Do not forget song, do not forget prayer, and do not forget me.
  I am light and relieve you of all your burdens.
  Do not pretend. Retribution for forgiveness, betrayal for trust, despair for hope, darkness for light, dark death for the living.
  Relief is in my hands. I will add oil to your sins and leave a mark.
  Eternal life is given through death.
  — Ask for forgiveness here. I, the incarnation, will swear.
  — Kyrie eleison".
The creed of the Lovelace family from Black Lagoon:
Una bendici?or los vivos, una rama de flor por los muertos.
Con una espada por la justicia, un castigo de muerte para los malvados.
As?legaremos en el altar de los santos.
- Roughly:
A blessing for the living, a bunch of flowers for the dead.
With a sword of justice, a punishment of death for the wicked.
Thus shall we arrive at the altar of the saints.
- Also, Roberta's oath as the Bloodhound of Florencia:
"In the name of Santa Maria, a hammer blow of righteousness to all injustice."
A chapter-length example from the Hellsing manga:
We ask o' thee: Whit art thou?
We are Iscariot, the Zealot Judas!
In that case, Iscariot, we ask o' thee: Whit dost thou hold in thy right hand?
Daggers and poisons!
In that case, Iscariot, we ask o' thee: Whit dost thou hold in thy left hand?
Thirty silver pieces and a rope!
In that case, Iscariot, whit art thou?
As apostles, yet not as apostles.
As adherents, yet not as adherents.
As believers, yet not as believers.
As traitors, yet not as traitors.
We are disciples of death, the Death Disciple Group,
Only bowing and praying forgiveness of the Lord;
Only bowing and defeating the enemies of the Lord.
Wielding our dagger in the night and poisoning the evening meal,
We are assassins; the Assassin Judas.
When the time comes, we shall cast our thirty silver pieces at the altar
And hang thy head from our rope.
Thereby we shall fall to Hell in cabal.
Lined up in square formation, we seek to do battle with the 745926 demons of Hell.
APOCALYPSE NOW!
- As Major said in his legendary speech:
  Gentlemen, I love war!..
- Or even the creed of Helsing themselves
  In the name of god ...
Busou Renkin gives us a badass creed for a rather pathetic organization, the L.X.E. In call-and-response form, as it's also the sign-countersign password:
"From the earth?"
"A base metal."
"From the sky?"
"Fire."
"From my veins?"
"Hot blood."
"The fate of the world..."
* Dramatic pose* "Is on my back!"
- Tokiko Tsumura has one as her catchphrase.
"I'll splatter your guts!"
Justin Law has one that gets recited before his Law Abiding Silver Gun attack:
"We, the people of the city of death, beseech you, our God, as Christ is just
Oh God, let me be an instrument of your peace
I am a pillar of justice
A blade of faith
In the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit
"Law Abiding Silver Gun"
Sanji has these from time to time... at least when he's in battle.
"God makes the food, and the Devil makes the spices... looks like this meal was too hot for you."
How did we miss the titular creed from Noir?
"Noir. It is the name of an ancient fate. Two maidens who govern death. The peace of the newly born, their black hands protect. Noir. It is the name of an ancient fate. Two maidens who govern death. To the depths of Hell's fire, their black souls lure the lost children. Noir. It is the name of an ancient fate. Two maidens who govern death. To ward the darkness from the nursing babes, their black robes serve as shields."
- ...Wait, so do Noir like kids or don't they?
Saiyuki used an interesting one in the promos and trailers of the English dub, taken from the Chin Yisou episodes. It's an explanation of "muichimotsu," "hold nothing," and something Sanzo's master taught him.
If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha. If you meet your father, kill your father. Free of everything you are bound by nothing, live the life that is given to you.
In Bleach, most Soul Reapers have one or two words, followed by their Zanpaktou's name, as their shikai command. Captain Kyoraku Shunsui has a four-line poem.
Flower Wind Rage and
Flower God Roar,
Heavenly Wind Rage and
Heavenly Demon Sneer
- There's also one chant that Soul Reapers say before going into battle that has fallen out of style, but Renji has everyone do it when Ichigo's group invades Las Noches:
As we approach the crucial battleground ... Believe... that our blades will not shatter! Believe... that our resolve will not weaken! Though our paths may diverge, our iron hearts willl remain together! Swear... that though the land itself should break asunder... we will... come back here... ALIVE!!
- Two members of the 11th Division, the division known as the most bloodthirsty and combative, gave a glimpse into 11th Division sparring rules. saying them together. "The loser goes to get the booze, and the winner takes a break while waiting. If you hold back, I'll kill you!"
They're only badass if they mean it. In Rurouni Kenshin, Saitoh Hajime has one of these:
Aku Soku Zan ("Swift Death to Evil.")
The hero Sasha of manga Seikon No Qwaser has several, but the one in chapter 15 is special! Written in Gratuitous RUSSIAN and maybe even a Shout Out to Unlimited Blade Works above:
My Heart is metal
My body is black steel
Responding to the calling
The echoing in my hear in nothing except your heartbeat
As my hearts trembles
Black steel and spilt blood surge together
They are my sword of flesh blood
Engraved by the stigma, the proof of a warrior
The Wolkenritter from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, after their resurrection.
Signum: We are the the guardian knights who gather before our mistress, she of the night sky.
Shamal: As long as our mistress exists, our souls will never extinguish.
Zafira: As long as we have life in our bodies, we will stand by each other.
Vita: We will always exist before our mistress, Queen of the Night Sky, Yagami Hayate.
VICTORY GOES.....TO THOSE WITH COURAGE!!!
Captain Harlock's declaration in Arcadia Of My Youth:
"We will never surrender. We will never beg aid from others. And we will never fight under any other flag than this!"
In The Name Of The Moon, I shall punish you!
The Devil Bats of Eyeshield 21 keep it simple. "WE'RE GONNA KILL 'EM...! YA-HA!"
- And the White Knights have the much more subtle, "Glory on the kingdom!"
From the Sakura Taisen theme
[Sakura] "We will fight for justice!"
[Maria] "Even ifï»¿ we have to risk our lives for the sake of this war!"
[Kanna] "We will stand our ground!"
[Iris] "Someday, this imperial capital ..."
[Kouran] "Till the day the evil disappears ..."
[Sumire] "We will continue to fight in this war!"
[All] "We are the Imperial Flower Attack Group
{Gaiking} legend of Daiku-Maryu gives us few, most memorable one:
[Daiya] "You don't get it do you? You dont win because you strong. The ones [[Determinator who don't give up]] win in the end! That's why in the end the winners... Are we!!"

Not giving up part doubles as Arc Words to be later used by Nouza.

When D'Eon de Beaumont is possessed by his deceased, secret agent sister Lia (it is a long story), she tends to drop some variant of this little gem from her inital post-mortem appearance:
Lia: Deliver my soul.
Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men.
In the beginning was the Word; deliver my soul.
The Lord brings my soul out of trouble.
He cuts off my enemies, and destroys all those that afflict my soul.
In the name of that truth and loyalty, I shall take my vengeance.
For the world and for the people, Daitarn 3 is here to smash evil ambitions. If you do not fear the shine of the Sun, then come and bring it!
Domon Kasshu has one that he says every time he is about to use a Finishing Move. The most famous one is the one he uses to unleash Shining Finger.
This hand of mine glows with an awesome power!
Its burning grip tells me to defeat you.
Take This! My love! My anger! And all of my sorrow!
SHINING FINGER SWORD!!!
Go! Go! GO!

Music

Heather Alexander's March of Cambreadth
Midnight mare and blood-red roan/Fight to keep these lands your own
Sound the horn and call the cry/How many of them can we make die?
The Switch and the Spur by The Raconteurs
Any poor souls, who trespass against us
Whether it be beast or man
Will suffer the bite, or be stung dead on sight
By those who inhabit this land
For theirs is the power and this is their kingdom
As sure as the sun does burn
So enter this path, but heed these four words:
You shall never return
"Sophia" by the Cruxshadows
Do not injustice to another
Defend the weak and innocent
Let truth and honor always guide you
Let courage find a life within
Stand up when no-one else is willing
Act not in hatred or in spite
Be to this world as a perfect knight
Even if it means your life
The Impossible Dream:
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
- In fact, the whole song is his Badass Creed.
  - As are the opening and the finale.
  - One might say the whole musical is.
It loses its rhyme in translation to English, but there's an old children's rhyme for the holiday of Hannukah:
We have come to expel darkness.
In our hands are light and flame.
Every one of us is a small light.
And all of us are a firm light.
Fight darkness, drive back blackness!
Fight for the cause of the light!
- It would do to remember that this holiday has its origins in an Israelite jihad to push the Assyrian Greeks from Israel and de-Hellenize the Jews. Nowadays people just think it's Jewish Christmas.
The electronic dance song "Stop the Revolution" by D. Ramirez and Meat Katie:
You cannot restrain or tame an idea with idle threats.
Once it has crept into the mind, the mouth will not bite the tongue to keep it in silence.
The sheer promise of bondage and whips will not be enough to apprehend a thought as it travels from ear to misinformed ear.
We will protest, because you cannot tell a concept not to raise its fist in anger!
You cannot censor that which only exists in theory!
You cannot tell anarchy to stop in its tracks, when its feet only exist in the minds of the oppressed!
There is a force out there, greater than the media, greater than right or left, greater than empty lies or promises!
You can try all night to stop the noise... but you'll never stop the Revolution.
"Prisoner of Our Time", "Branded and Exiled", "Chains and Leather"... Like many old school metal bands, Running Wild had many of these on it's earlier releases. Here's a example from "Branded and Exiled":
Many relocated all across the land
Together we've got the power in our hands
We are strong enough to fight mendacious laws
We've got the wrath, 'cause we are
Branded and exiled
Together, we can stand the night!
Branded and exiled
Together, we can stand the night!
The Incredible String Band — My Name is Death
I am the question that cannot be answered,
I am the lover that cannot be lost,
Yet small are the gifts of my servant; the soldier,
For time is my offspring; pray, what is my name?
My name is Death.
- Justifying note: Far from being a harsh metal song, this is a rather unsettling Folk song.
Victory Song — Ensiferum
Ei urhot kaukaisen pohjolan
Uhan eess?aipuneet
J?een pauhaa kansi taivahan
Veri valuu maahan lumiseen
Moni n??i saa en?huomista
Moni j?heit?aipaamaan
J?ipolville j?maa rauhaisa
Voiton laulut soi ainiaan
Translated:
The warriors of the north
Stood strong against aggression
Again the thunder rumbles
Blood stains the snow
Many will not see tomorrow
Many will be missed
But the land remains safe for our children
And songs of victory will sound forever
- For that matter, most Finnish marching music; The Jaeger March, The Pori Regiment's march, just to name a few.
The Show Must Go On, by Queen.
The Show must go on!
The Show must go on! Yeah,yeah!
Ooh! Inside my heart is breaking!
My make-up may be flaking...
But my smile, still, stays on!
Yeah! oh oh oh
My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies,
Fairy tales of yesterday, will grow but never die,
I can fly, my friends!
The Show must go on! Yeah!
The Show must go on!
I'll face it with a grin!
I'm never giving in!
On with the show!
I'll top the bill!
I'll overkill!
I have to find the will to carry on!
On with the,
On with the show!
The Show must go on.

And the kicker? Brian May wrote this for Freddie Mercury, when people questioned if he could 'go on', considering his health was failing because of his battle with AIDS. Acording to The Other Wiki, May wasn't sure that Freddie would be able to sing the song, his health was so bad. Freddies response? He took a swig of vodka and said 'I'll fucking do it, darling!'. May says he considers this one of Mercury's best performances.'Scuse me, I have something in my eye..

Also from that same album(Freddie went out Badass!), the song "Innuendo". The whole song was a Badass Creed, like "Show Must Go On". Just the first verse:
While the sun hangs in the sky and the desert has sand,
While the waves crash from the sea to meet the land,
While there's the wind and the stars and the rainbow,
'Til the mountains crumble into the plains,
Yeah, we'll keep on trying,
Tread that fine line
Yeah, we'll keep on trying,
Just passing our time.

The Fire Dawn, by Oh Sleeper, exudes this trope. IN SPADES!
Stand up, we'll be more than kings.
Show no mercy when the gates swing.
I've said it before but without accepting that my body
Was the only thing keeping me from living.
I wouldn't even let the surgeon touch me.
Though facing death, I dined on flesh...
But now I live to fight out-numbered.
I live to fight out-numbered at the fire dawn to live in rebellious honor.
I'll stand, you'll see me over all of your fallen.
I'll be knee-deep, knee-deep in a sea of their organs.
Send me all of hell and I'll face them,
I'll face them one on one-thousand.
Most, if not all, Professional Wrestling Theme Music.
Enter Shikari's Badass Creed in "Juggernauts" also acts as a complete Crowning Moment of Awesome:
We'll do what we've always done
Shut our eyes and hope for the best...
NO! We're gonna face this
And step out onto the tracks
Stare it right in the face
THOU SHALL NOT PASS!

Professional Wrestling

Speaking of which...
- I am the Game and I Am...THAT. DAMN. GOOD.
- I am best at what I do.
- Straight edge means I'm better than you.
- What'cha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you?!
- Bret Hart: The best there is. The best there was. The best there ever will be.
- Matt Hardy: I am Matt Hardy and I will not die.
- Diamond Dallas Page: It's not about how many times you knock me down. It's about how many times DDP gets back up.
- The Undertaker: You WILL Rest. In. Peace.

Tabletop Games

Warhammer 40000 has dozens of these, but the Emperor speaking of the creation of the Astartes stands above all others:
They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them, and in the furnace of war forge them. They will be of iron will and steely muscle. In great armour shall I clad them and with the mightiest guns will they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease, no sickness will blight them. They will have tactics, strategies and machines so that no foe can best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity.
They are my Space Marines and they shall know no fear.
- Also by the Emperor
  None are beyond my reach. None are above my wrath.
- The Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter:
  "Never Forgive! Never Forget!"
  "Repent, for tomorrow you die!"
- Or this:
  "What is the terror of death?"
  "That we die, our work incomplete."
  "What is the joy of life?"
  "To die, knowing our task is done."
- Iron Hands:
  "The flesh is weak!"
- Ultramarines:
  "Courage and honor!"
- The Soul Drinkers:
  "Purity through hate. Dignity through rage. Let the fire within light the fires without."
  "Cold and Fast!"
- The battle-prayer of the Grey Knights:
  I am the Hammer.
  I am the Hate.
  I am the tip of the Spear wielded in His hands!
  I am the Hammer!
  I am the Hate!
  I am the woes of Daemonkind!
  I am the Hammer!
  I am the Hate!
  I am the END!
  - Don't forget the Six Hundred and Sixty Six Words of the Canticles of Absolution. Including "Nothing shall escape our cleansing fire/Not daemon or spawn or renegade/For we are mankind's divine blade."
  - Justicar Alaric has his way with words too:
    "We do not know what our chances of survival are, so we fight as if they were zero. We do not know what we are facing, so we fight as if it was the dark gods themselves. No one will remember us now and we may never be buried beneath Titan, so we will build our own memorial here. The Chapter might lose us and the Imperium might never know we existed, but the Enemy — the Enemy will know. The Enemy will remember. We will hurt it so badly that it will never forget us until the stars burn out and the Emperor vanquishes it at the end of time. When Chaos is dying, its last thought will be of us. That is our memorial — carved into the heart of Chaos. We cannot lose, Grey Knights. We have already won."
- The Blood Raven Oath is one of the best:
  My armour is Contempt
  My shield is Disgust
  My sword is Hatred
  In the Emperor's Name
  Let none survive
- The White Scars' Assault Hymn:
  Walls of Stone, Walls of Iron,
  Fall down all the same.
  They may delay, but never prevent
  The hail of death and pain.
- The Salamanders battle-cry:
  Into the fires of battle!
  Unto the anvil of war!
- The Raven Guard is quite restrained, simply stating "Vinctorus aut Mortis" as their creed (Victory or Death).
- Black Templars:
  No Pity! No Remorse! No Fear!
- "None can stand in our way, for we are the Space Marines."
- We are the Space Marines! The Emperors' chosen warriors! For every one of us that falls in battle, ONE THOUSAND ENEMIES SHALL DIE!"
- Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka got in a pretty good one, too:
  "I'm da hand of Gork and Mork, dey sent me to rouse up da boyz to crush and kill 'cos da boyz forgot what dere 're for. I woz one of da boyz till da godz smashed me in da 'ead an' I 'membered dat Orks is meant to conquer and make slaves of everything they don't kill. I'm da profit of da Waaagh an' whole worlds burn in my boot prints. I'm death to anyfing dat walks, where I go nothin' stands in my way. I iz more cunnin' than a Grot an' more killy dan a Dread. I'm Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka an' I speak wiv da word of da gods. We iz gonna stomp da 'ooniverse flat an' kill anyfing that fights back. We iz gonna do this coz' we're Orks an' we was made to fight an' win."
  (Graffiti on Warlord Titan wreckage, found by Dark Angels at Westerisle, Piscina IV.)
- Legio Ignatum has a notable one:
  "The enemies of man shall die. By my hand they will be broken.
- The different Temples of the Officio Assassinorum ("A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn") don't need huge paragraphs to terrify.
  Dictatus Vindicare: "Exitus Actas Probat - the Outcome Justifies the Deed."
  Dictatus Culexus: "That which is unknown and unseen always commands the greatest fear."
  Dictatus Callidus: "To assume the shape of the accursed and deliver death from the purity within you."
  Dictatus Eversor: "Fear me, for I am your apocalypse."
- Also for the Officio Assassinorum, not the creed, but still badass sounding: "Ask not for whom they seek, lest it be thyself."
  - Or their motto, "Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind."
- The Inquisition. Three words: "Innocentia Nihil Probat."
  - Or, for those of you who don't speak High Gothic, "Innocence Proves Nothing".
  - BURN THE HERETIC! KILL THE MUTANT! PURGE THE UNCLEAN!
- The ordinary human mooks of the Imperial Guard also get one in Dawn of War: Winter Assault
  We die standing.
  - The fluff has dozens for the Guard -
  We are the Imperial Guard. We are are the Hammer of the Emperor, by the virtue of fighting wars as unforgivingly as a Hammer strike to the face.
- As of their fifth edition codex, even the most common of redshirts—the Cadian army—get their own;
  "We are Cadians. We bar the gates to hell! If they are flung open, it is we who will slam them shut."
- Your foe is well equipped, well-trained, battle-hardened. He believes his gods are on his side. Let him believe what he will. We have the tanks on ours.
  - To each of us falls a task. And all the Emperor requires of us Guardsmen is that we stand in line, and we die fighting. It is what we do best: we die standing.
  For ever hero commemorated, a thousand martyrs die unmourned and unremembered.
  MORE MEN! MORE TANKS!
- What, no love for Chaos? Here:
  "This is our galaxy. Ours to corrupt. Ours to enslave. The gods will not be denied their prize."
  - And here:
  Hate shall be our weapon.
  Impurity shall be our armor.
  Immortality shall be our reward.
  - Chaos in a nutshell: SANITY IS FOR THE WEAK!
  - Or here:
  "BLESSED BE THE AXE THAT MAIMS AND THE BLOOD IT BRINGS! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE OF KHORNE!"
  - And the fan-made parody for the Slaaneshi cultists: "PORN FOR THE PORN GOD!"
  - Black Legion:
  "Kill for the living, Kill for the dead."
  - That was their slogan even when they were the Luna Wolves.
  - Iron Warriors:
  "IRON WITHIN, IRON WITHOUT!"
  - Thousand Sons:
  "All is dust."
  - Night Lords:
  "We have come for you!"
  - and of course Kharn's mantra: KILL! MAIM! BURN!
- Said of, as opposed to by, the Tyranids, doubling as both a Badass Creed and scary as fuck:
  They are coming! I feel them scratching inside my mind, scratching, screaming, running, so many- so, so many voices. They're coming for us - flesh, body and soul!"
- Tau heroes have come up with plenty, but the best is from Commander ~~Sha dow Tsundere~~ Shadowsun:
  To follow any path other than the Tau'va is to doom us all. Only together and with courage and discipline shall we stand victorious. Fight with fire and courage and nothing can stand against us.
- The Space Wolves Ragnar Blackmane gives one that best sums up the Chapter:
  We may be few, and our enemies many, yet so long as there remains one of us still fighting, one who still rages in the name of justice and truth, then by the Allfather, the galaxy shall yet know hope.
- The Eldar battlecry:
  Blood runs. Anger rises. Death wakes. War calls!
- How can you forget CREEEEEEEEEED!
Don't forget Warhammer Fantasy - it has its moments too. From WF Battle rulebook, we have this quote by a Greater Deamon of Khorne (unfortunately, from memory, so may be incorrect): "There are countless worlds in the Void [...] But I have chosen this world to conquer, and by Khorne, I'll do so even if it takes a thousand years!"
- And, of course, Khorne's other followers- BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!
Every one of the Pentacle Orders from Mage: the Awakening gets a Badass Creed. To whit:
- The Adamantine Arrow: "Existence Is War. Enlightenment Is Honour. Adaptability Is Strength. The Supernal Is The Self. Service Is Mastery."
- The Free Council: "Democracy seeks the truth; hierarchy fosters the Lie. Humanity is magical; human works have arcane secrets. Destroy the followers of the Lie."
- The Guardians of the Veil: "Paradoxes strengthen the Abyss as punishment answers pride. Sins for a just end grant Wisdom to the Awakened. Merit must guide the Fallen World."
  - Those are just the Exoteric Tenets that other Mages are allowed to know about. Their Esoteric Tenets, the secret mottos of the Order, are significantly more frightening. To whit: All Thrones Are False Thrones, All Souls are Flawed. There Is a Secret Hierarchy of Souls. The Heiromagus Will Fulfill the Diamond Wheel
- The Mysterium: "Knowledge is power. Knowledge must be preserved. Knowledge has a price."
- The Silver Ladder: "The Awakened are one Nation. Imperium is the right of humanity. The Silver Ladder is the path to victory. The Sleepers follow."
- While the Pentacle hope to Awaken humanity to higher truth, the Seers of the Throne wish humanity to stay Sleeping while hoarding higher truths for themselves: "True Power Requires Obedience. True Power Requires Sacrifice. True Power Requires Vigilance. True Power Requires Discipline. True Power Requires Understanding. True Power Requires Courage."
In Traveller: Interstellar Wars the Vilani "Legion of the Frontier" has the motto, "We are here to die."
Warhammer's Grimgor Ironhide has a pretty good one:
I'm gonna stomp em to dust. I'm gonna burn all der cities and towns. I'm gonna roast em up inna big fire. I'm gonna grind der bones and jump up an down on the rest of da bits. An den, I'm gonna get really mean.
- The Shadow Elves have the fairly restrained:
Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is forgiven.

Television

Babylon 5 brings us The Ranger Oath:

"We are Rangers.
We walk in the dark places no others will enter.
We stand on the bridge, and no one may pass.
We live for the One - we die for the One."

In the Spinoff Legend of the Rangers, one ranger starship captain amends the above creed to end, "We Live for the one, we die for the one...but we don't die stupidly."
- Also, let's not the PSI Corps and their motto: "The Corps is Mother, the Corps is Father."

Star Trek: Any Klingon, any time, anywhere: "Today is a good day to die."
- Also, not really a creed, but — when a Klingon dies in battle, other Klingons roar at the heavens to warn the dead that a true Klingon warrior is coming.
- The Jem'Haddar battle cry is pretty Bad Ass:
"I am First [name of Jem'Hadar First], and I am dead. As of this moment, we are all dead. We go into battle to reclaim our lives. This we do gladly, for we are Jem'Hadar. Remember: Victory is Life!"
- And then Miles O'Brien turns to his men and says:
I am Chief Miles Edward O'Brien. I am very much alive and I intend to stay that way.
- While not designed to intimidate as such, the opening narration detailing the mission of the Enterprise (and Starfleet in general) is pretty Bad Ass:
"Space... the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before."
- The Borg's introductory speech, while not exactly Bad Ass in the traditional sense, is intimidating just in its sheer matter-of-factness:
''"We are the Borg. You will be assimilated; resistance is futile. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us."
- And now they've kicked it up a notch in the Expanded Universe "We are the Borg. You will be annihilated. Your biological and technological distinctiveness have become irrelevant. Resistance is futile...but welcome."
- And then you have this version.... (What?)
"We are the Canadian Borg. Resistance would be impolite. Please wait to be assimilated. Pour l'assimilation en francais, veuillez appuyer sur deux."
Firefly: Possibly the motto of the Serenity Valley soldiers: "When you can't run, you walk. When you can't walk, you crawl. And when you can't do that, you find someone to carry you."
- "I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
- "I aim to misbehave." (Only said once, but it was memorable.)
- And the theme song: "Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me."
- "Also, I can kill you with my brain."
Battlestar Galactica: "What do we do now, Captain?" Starbuck: "Same thing we always do: fight 'em till we can't."
- "What do you hear?" "Nothing but the rain" (The sound of the debris of enemy craft hitting the hull)
Jaffa rebels: "I die free."
Doctor Who: From both the novels during the hiatus era and "Girl in the Fireplace".
Doctor: "Even monsters have nightmares."
Scared Little Girl: "What of?"
Doctor: "Me!"
The Brunnen-G battle hymn in Lexx probably qualifies:
Yo Way Yo
Home Va Ya Ray
Yo Way Rah
Jerhume Brunnen-G
Fighters of the fight
For their home and their heart
We fighters will win or die
Forever we are Brunnen-G
The titular Kamen Rider Stronger proves just how badass he is every time he shows up on screen with his creed.
"The heavens call!
The earth cries out!
The crowds roar!
All calling on me to strike back against evil!
now listen up, villains!
I am the warrior of justice!
The Kamen Rider...Stronger!"
The Dalek creed, from Terry Nation fluff:
Destroy without mercy!
Attack without fear!
Live without conscience!
Exterminate without pity!
KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!
The Daleks are supreme! The Daleks are supreme! The Daleks are supreme!
The overhead announcement on a ship of Sontaran troops: "Battlestations... Rejoice."
Parodied on Hey Dude! Mr. Ernst tries to psych Jake up for a fight by telling him to remember the Ernst family motto. "We like math?" Mr. Ernst then tells him it's: "An Ernst never backs down!" To which Jake tells him he's never heard of that one before.

Video Games

The creed of the Grey Wardens in Dragon Age Origins: "In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice."
- While that is awesome, it's more of a motto than a creed. The words spoken at the Joining seem more applicable.
Join us brothers and sisters.
Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant.
Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn.
And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
And that one day we shall join you.
Mass Effect 2 brings us this creed from Shepard himself:
We have to give everything....even if that means our lives. We will stop at nothing! We will fight for the lost!
- Thane also has his own.
  Amonkira. Lord of Hunters. Grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness.
  - Though, really, it's more of a Badass Prayer.
The eponymous Assassin's Creed: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."
- This was in fact the actual creed of the historical Hashashin sect, led by Hassan al-Sabbah, from the name of which we get the word "assassin".
- It is expanded in the sequel, in the scene where Ezio is formally sworn into the ranks of the Assassins. It sounds even cooler that way, once you know exactly what it means.
Machiavelli: "Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember:"
Ezio: "Nothing is true."
Machiavelli: "Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember:"
Ezio: "Everything is permitted."
Machiavelli: "We work in the dark to serve the light. We are assassins."
All: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."
While most of the cast in Team Fortress 2 carry a Badass Boast in their "Meet the..." videos, the Sniper has a code. "Professionals have standards. Be polite, be efficient, have a plan to kill everyone you meet."
- "Have a plan to kill everyone you meet," became the official slogan for US Marine India Company's Forward Operations Center, out of Fallujah, Iraq.
Kim Kaphwan would like to remind you that evil is UNFORGIVABLE.
Too Human, in a sendup to the Klingon example above:
Berserker: It's a good day to die!
Soldier: You always say that.
Berserker: It always is.
Richter Belmont from Castlevania: "I'm a Belmont. That's my job."
Halo 2. The Elites, chanted as a call/response series:
"When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath."
"According to our station, all without exception."
"On the blood of our fathers. On the blood of our sons. We swore to uphold the Covenant."
"Even to our dying breath!"
"Those who would break this oath are heretics, worth of neither pity nor mercy. Even now they use our Lord's creations to broadcast their lies."
"We shall grind them into dust—"
"—And continue our march to glorious salvation!"
- There's one for the Spartans too:
"Spartans never die. They just go to Hell and regroup."
Swords, not words!
"Jump on your swords while you can, villainy, for I won't be as gentle!."
"Nothing is pointless! And the reason is... because I'm the President of the United States of America!"
The Knights of the Ebon Blade seem to have a couple; "Suffer well" among others.
- "Harness your hate. Make it useful."
- Not to mention Varok Saurfang, also from World Of Warcraft.
"I am he who watches they. I am the fist of retribution. That which does quell the recalcitrant. Dare you defy the Warchief? Dare you face my merciless judgement?"
- The Horde in general has: "Lok'Tar Ogar! Blood and Thunder! My life for the Horde!", although the entire creed is rarely ever spoken in its entirety, except during a quest to grant the Taunka membership in World Of Warcraft..
  - Lok'tar Ogar translates as Victory or Death!
From Beyond Good And Evil, the code of Carlson & Peeters... kinda. While it does contain such statements of solidarity and strength as "W.W.T.A.O.: We Work Together As One!," the book's designated mouthpiece, Double H, seems to have... trouble separating the genuinely awesome from the mundane, treating both with equal gravitas.
Reversal from Hitman 2, and possibly Real Life: "I don't know anything, I didn't see anything, I wasn't there, and if I was there I was asleep." A reversal because, rather than pointing out that people should be afraid of the speaker, it's pointing out that he should be afraid of other people.
The Brotherhood of Nod in Command And Conquer has plenty, being a Army loyal to Kane, the most prominent being:
Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
Peace through Power. (Sometimes combined with the previous one)
You can't kill the Messiah. (Kane's personal motto.)
- And, in one scene from Tiberian Sun:
  Slavik: In the name of Kane!
  Army of Nod Troops: Kane lives in death!
  Slavik: In the name of Kane!
  Army: Kane lives in death!
  Slavik: In the name of Kane!
  Army: Kane lives in-
  Kane: KANE... LIVES!
Prototype's Blackwatch:
"WHEN WE HUNT WE KILL. NO ONE IS SAFE, NOTHING IS SACRED. WE ARE BLACKWATCH, WE ARE THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE. WE WILL BURN OUR OWN TO HOLD THE REDLINE, IT IS THE LAST LINE TO EVER HOLD."
I am the white void. I am the cold steel. I am the just sword. With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction. I am Hakumen. The end has come!
- The N.O.L. has their own:
"Dispatched in mankind's darkest hour, we are knights of the blue flame!"
- Several characters use one during their Astral Finishes. For Example:
  - Nu-13's
Oh silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond, heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way! Lay waste.
- Tsubaki's
White feathers for innocence. Black feathers for darkest sin. We are the message endeavors of God, come to deliver righteous justice! Let sinners be punished. Let justice be done!
- Mu-12's
This world was created by the hands of the Gods. Every thing is false. Everything is a lie! The final days have come. And now, LET EVERYTHING BE DESTROYED!!!
The Bonus Boss of Super Mario RPG:
I am matter.
I am antimatter.
I can see your past.
I can see your future.
I consume time...
And I will consume you!
Devil May Cry 4 with Dante when he receives Lucifer.
First I whip it out! Then I thrust it! With great force! Every angle...! It penetrates! Until...! With great strength! I... ram it in! In the end... We are all satisfied... And you are set free!
- Also some kind of an oath (of Holy Knights of the Order of the Sword?) from "Shall Never Surrender":
My honoured brethren
we come together
to unite as one
against those that are damned
we show no mercy
for we have none.
Our enemies shall fall
as we apprize to claim our fate
now and forever
we'll be together
in love and hate.
Here's one in Tales Of Destiny 2, said by Judas:
Majiwara zarishi inochi ni, ima mo tarasaren setsuna no kiseki/Instant miracles are not brought to mix with life now
Toki wo hete...Koko ni yuugou seshi mirai he no taidou!/Time passes... Unite here and rise to the future!
GISHOU KEN!! * mask breaks, revealing Leon Magnus*
Boku wa... kako wo tachikiru. Chire!/I cut off the past... Scatter!
MAJIN RENGOKUSATSU!!!/INFERNAL SUFFERING!!!
My name is Ultima... I am power both ancient and unrivaled... I do not bleed, for I am but strength given form... Feeble creatures of flesh... Your time is nigh!
- Or, as we used to know it, "My name is Atma... I am pure energy... and as ancient as the cosmos. Feeble creatures, GO!"
The title character of Mega Man Zero gives us this little gem, said at the end of the fourth and final game (of the series):
Zero: "I never cared about justice, and I don't ever recall calling myself a hero... I have always only fought for the people that I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears before me, I will destroy it!"
In Modern Warfare 2, Captain Price gives an epicly poetic-awesome speech in response to General Shepherd betraying him & Soap:
"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that's a luxury. Not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take...inventory. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sand and the rocks here, stained with thousands of years of warfare...They will remember us. For this. Because out of all our vast array of nightmares, this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward like a breath exhaled from the Earth. With vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight: We. Will. Kill him."
The only line not chosen by the player, from the Demifiend/Hitoshura from Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne in Digital Devil Saga. "Death's vastness holds no peace. I come at the end of the long road. Neither human, nor devil... all bends to my will."
"We will be reborn in the cold womb of the ocean"
Planescape Torment has Dak'kon with this:
* Know* that when death comes for you,
* know* that I shall meet its blade with mine.
* Know* that when all dies around you,
* Know* I shall live for your sake.
[[((Tekken}} Devil Jin]] starts every fight with "Kyoufu o oshiete yarou." ("I will teach you how to fear.")
Sanger Zonvolt would like to remind you that HE IS THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!
I am the hope of the universe, the sworn protector of the planet Earth! I am the answer to all beings everywhere in pain who cry out for help! I ... am called Goku! And I AM A SUPER SAIYAN!!!!

Western Animation

For the Royalty!
- Or the variation "For the glory of the colony!"
Kim Possible met the Sumo Ninja from So the Drama:
I am strong like the mountain. I am swift like the wind. I am vengeance!
- Kim and Ron themselves have pretty bad-ass creeds.
  Kim: I can do Anything.
  Possible clan: Anything's possible for a Possible.
  Ron: Never be normal!
"One shall stand, one shall fall." Optimus Prime versus Megatron. More than just a one-liner, it has been cropping up in the new movies as well as video games.
- It was used first in the original Transformers movie (in the 1980s), at the beginning of the final battle between Megatron and Optimus Prime, and the one who died was Prime. To anyone for whom this was a pivotal moment in Transformers, and perhaps storytelling in general, the phrase retains the capacity to terrify the hell out of you. Its use in the 2007 Transformers movie was especially effective for creating actual tension.
Darkwing Duck has two. One is his introduction speech, with variations on "I am the terror that flaps in the night...I am Darkwing Duck.", and the other is far more badass "Lets Get Dangerous"
sengoku musou gives us a little badass gem by ranmaru mori: "My body is a sword, and this place i stand in is a burial ground. Let those who wish to die step forth!"
Arguably, the opening sequence lyrics of W.I.T.C.H.

Webcomics

Marena, Keychain Of Creation, explaining her situation to another Exalt:
"We are Exalted. I have been singled out and empowered by the gods. Specifically, by Luna. Endowed with the power to change my own form, and the responsibility to protect the entire world from its enemies. All Exalted are stronger, tougher, even smarter than any normal human. If we will it so, we do not even bleed. Even the greatest sickness gives me only chills, and the most grievous wounds are healed in mere days. Mortal men and women are bound by society, by culture, by destiny. We are not. It is not my place to follow the normal rules of conduct. It is my place to decide what is right or wrong. That has been granted to me by my goddess, Luna. The Moon. In short, in being Exalted, I have divine endorsement to do whatever I please."
Penny Arcade did a short story called the Lookouts, which had a Badass-in-Training Creed in the form of the Lookout's motto:
"The Eyrewood reaches top to toe,
And through this wood we all must go.
Let Winter freeze, and Summer burn.
What men must know, a boy must learn."
- Their credo is concise but also awesome: "May We Die in the Forest".
From the FBI agents in Sinfest
Every move you make
Every breath you take
Every law you break...
I'll be watching you

Web Original

SCP Foundation: "We Secure. We Contain. We Protect."
Protectors Of The Plot Continuum: "Do not meddle in the affairs of assassins, for we are heavily armed and quick to anger. And not noticeably subtle."

Real Life — Military

British SAS: "Who dares, wins."
- The DC comic book Hitman by Garth Ennis actually used Who Dares Wins as the title of one of its trade paperbacks, where a squad of British SAS soldiers is hired to kill the titular character and his friend (because of a friendly fire incident in the Gulf War).
- This creed has been parodied multiple times, notably in the title of a staff training video from The Office.
U.S. Marines: "This is my rifle. There are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My rifle, without me is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than any enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me."
- "Semper Fi!", which is shortened from "Semper Fidelis", which is Latin for "Always Faithful".
- "Forgiveness is between them and God. It's our job to arrange the meeting."
- "Once A Marine, Always A Marine."
- "To err is human; to forgive, divine. Neither is Marine Corps policy."
- "On bended knee is not a tradition of our Corps".
- "No better friend, no worse enemy."
- From 1st Recon: "Swift, silent, deadly."
- The Marines also have the more light hearted, "This is my rifle/ This is my gun./ One is for killing/ The other's for fun." Three guesses what the "gun" is.
- "Warrior by day, lover by night, drunkard by choice, Marine by the grace of God."
- "If the Army and the Navy ever gaze on Heaven's scenes, they will find the streets are guarded by United States Marines." Boy, these guys have a lot of creeds.
  - That one gets bonus points for being a lyric in the Marine Corps Hymn.
US Navy Operations Specialist motto: "In God We Trust, All Others We Track"
- The Office of Naval Research has a wing devoted to bringing railguns◊ out of the realm of science fiction. Their motto? Velocitas Eradico. Translation? Speed Destroys.
US Army: "I am an American Soldier. I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. ^*
^{These four sentences are known as the "Warrior Ethos" and are often quoted by themselves as a separate creed unto itself.}
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American Soldier." (Hooah)^*
^{See also: this commercial.}
- The Army motto, from the seal— "This we'll defend."
- Army Infantry: "I am the Infantry. I am my country's strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight — wherever, whenever. I carry America's faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be — the best trained soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country's trust. Always I fight on — through the foe, to the objective, to triumph over all. If necessary, I fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, for I am mentally tough,physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
- US Army Combat Arms training: "Men? We're not men, we're animals, and you made us this way! We don't eat; we don't sleep; all we do is dress-right-dress-right-dress! Straight between the second and third ribs — kill!" Also said in response to being called 'soldiers' or 'ladies'.
- US 11th Armored Cavalry Division: Allons "We Go"
- US 2nd ACR: Toujour Pret "Always Ready."
- US Army Combat Engineers: Essayons! translates to "Let us try".
- US Army Special Forces (the "Green Berets"): De oppresso liber ("From Oppression We Will Liberate Them").
- US Army 10th Mountain Division: Climb to Glory. Nowadays, their specialty is airborne assault.
US Coast Guard: I am America's maritime guardian. I serve the citizens of the United States. I will protect them. I will defend them. I will save them. I am their shield. For them I am always ready. I live the Coast Guard core values. I am a guardian. We are the United States Coast Guard.
- More to the point, considering what they do: "You have to go out. You don't have to come back."
US Army Rangers: "Rangers Lead The Way!"
- Then there is the slogan of the 75th Ranger Regiment: Sua Sponte, translates as "Of Their Own Accord"
The U.S. Air Force has the Airman's creed: I am an American Airman. I am a warrior. I have answered my nation's call. I am an American Airman. My mission is to fly, fight, and win. I am faithful to a proud heritage, A tradition of honor, And a legacy of valor. I am an American Airman, Guardian of freedom and justice, My nation's sword and shield, Its sentry and avenger. I defend my country with my life. I am an American Airman; Wingman, leader, warrior. I will never leave an airman behind, I will never falter, And I will not fail.
- How was it that Pararescue didn't get a mention with theirs: "So That Others May Live."
US National Security Agency unofficial motto: "In God we Trust. All Others we monitor."
- CIA's counterintelligence division has a variant — "In God we trust, all others we polygraph."
There's the very first one that the United States Army ever used; "Don't Tread On Me."
Soviet and then Russian Marines: "Where we are, there's victory."
- Also "We're few in number, but we wear telnyashkas!" (telnyashka being a striped sailor shirt)
Soviet and then Russian Airborne Forces: "Nobody but us!"
Soviet war cry at WWII: "For the Motherland! For Stalin!"
William III's slogan of the Glorious Revolution of 1689 (in England) - "For the Protestant Religion and the Liberty of England I Will Maintain."
The code of bushido practiced by the samurai of ancient Japan.
"Death is lighter than a feather. Duty is heavier than a mountain."
- Please note that Bushido as it is understood now was fabricated by the idle samurai caste of the (relatively civil-war free) Tokugawa shogunate as an ideal to stick to, because some of these guys (not unreasonably) concluded that samurai as a class had gone soft.
Informally, various US special operations units have had their personnel adopt this adaptation of a well-known psalm:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for I am the baddest motherfucker in the whole damn valley.
At the entrance to a SR-71 base in Kadena, Japan:
Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.
Canada's Black Watch uses the classic "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit" ("No one provokes me with impunity")
- It's worth noting that this is because the Black Watch are a Scots regiment, and this is the motto of Scotland itself - most frequently rendered as "Wha daur meddle wi' me?"
  - This particular Badass Creed is inscribed around the edge of Scottish-issue pound coins, along with various others from the other nations making up the UK on their respective versions.
While we're on the topic of the Canadian Military, let us not forget the motto of the Canadian Forces' Intelligence Branch: E Tenebris Lux (From the Darkness, Light).
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding): "Fortune Favours The Brave". Considering this regiment was so Badass that the Duke, himself no slacker in the Badass rankings, once said of them "I don't know what effect these men will have upon the enemy, but, by God, they frighten me", it's safe to say they were seriously fucking Badass.
617 Squadron. The Dambusters. Squadron Motto: "Aprï¿½s Moi Le Dï¿½luge" (After Me the Flood).
The French Foreign Legion: "You are in the Legion to die and we will send you where you can die."
- Also La Legion meurt, elle ne se rend pas ("The Legion dies, it does not surrender")
Mossad: "Through misdirection, thou shalt do war."
The Badass Boast "Come and take them" of Leonidas at Thermopylae, when asked to give up his weapons, is currently the Badass Creed of the Greek First Army Corps, and is also the motto of United States Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT).
In a similar vein, the epitaph above a World War I trench where the Devonshire Regiment fought a particularly fierce battle, and which was subsequently used as a mass grave for them:
The Devonshires held this trench.
The Devonshires hold it still.
Sri Lankan Special Forces - "Determined, Dared and Done"
The Dahomey Amazons, an all-female army that kicked ass for almost three centuries:
"We are men not women.
Those coming back from war without having conquered must die.
If we beat a retreat our life is at the king's mercy.
Whatever town is to be attacked we must overcome it or we bury ourselves in its ruins.
[Current ruler] is the king of kings.''
As long as he lives we have nothing to fear."
The 1st Sount Ranger Regiment, the Philippine Army's primary special forces unit, has a very blunt and simple motto: "We Strike". It has better impact in Filipino, though.
- Its airborne equivalent, the The 1st Special Forces Regiment (Airborne), has "Strike Anywhere". Philippine special forces men are apparently men of few words.
The official motto of the The Parachute Regiment (1st Battalion) in the British army is simply "Ready For Anything".
The Rats of Tobruk, the Australian soldiers who held Tobruk for eight months against Rommel during WW 2: No surrender.
101st Airborne: "NUTS!"
- For context, this was the reply by Anthony Mc Auliffe, commander of the 101st regiment guarding Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in WWII, to the German commander Heinrich Freiherr von Lï¿½ttwitz when he sent a communique requesting the town surrender.
  - The Germans then had to ask for a translation for this reply of: "Nuts," to which the Americans told them it meant "Go to hell!"
USAF 7th Bomb Wing:Moris Ab Alto (translated: Death From Above)
The US army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment AKA "The Night Stalkers" has two creeds that can be considered badass: "Night Stalkers Don't Quit" and Death Waits in in the Dark.
The Royal Gurkha Rifles- "Better to die than be a coward". Bad. Fucking. Ass.
- So badass their battle cry (Gurkhali AYO!= the Gurkhas Are Upon You!) was taken by Tolkien for the Dwarves, and Star Trek borrowed their name for "Sergeant" (Jemadar) for the Jem'Hadar.
Inspired by the Maori, the New Zealand Army got a Haka composed specifically for them. Tu Taua a Tumatauenga.
The battle cry of the Almogavars, a group of Spanish mercenaries that were around during the 13th and 14th centuries, which translated as: Listen! listen! Wake up, O iron! Help us God!...Just seeing us coming the villages are already ablaze. Just seeing us passing the crows are wiping their beaks. War and plunder, there are no greater pleasures. Forward Almogavars! Let them call the gravediggers! The voice of the somatent is calling us to war. Weariness, rains, snow and heat we shall endure. And if sleep overtakes us, we will use the earth as our bed. And if we get hungry, we shall eat raw meat. Wake up, O iron! Forward! Fast as the lightning let us fall over their camp! Forward Almogavars! Let us go there to make flesh, the wild beasts are hungry!
In Finland there was "One Finn stands for ten Russians!" which was in wide use during the second world war. Famously featured on Unknown Soldier.
- Hilarious In H Indsight, as the Russian invasion of Finland was stalled by excessive casualties. 2.5 Russians died for every fallen Finn.
- Even more badass is The J?r March, written by one of the J?rs in WWI. Goes something like this:
  - ->Deep is our blow, our wrath invincible/we have no mercy, no homeland/Our fortunes are at the tip of our swords/our hearts may not give in/Our war cry rings, enchanting the country/which is severing its chains/Our defiance may not tire/until the nation of Finland are free. [1] <- The song in question with english lyrics on it.
The motto of the Royal Marines is wonderfully simple and understated: "Per Mare, Per Terram." By Sea, By Land. Referring to where you will be fucked up from.
"One Shot, One Kill" - Almost every Sniper who has ever lived works to uphold this policy.
The Austrian Jagdkommando: "Numquam Retro" (Never back)
The Paris Fire Brigade (a French army unit, so it does belong here) motto: Sauver ou pï¿½rir. Save or perish.

Real Life — Civilian

"The Mountie always gets his man."
- Also, "One riot, one Mountie".
  - And that one was either appropriated from or by the Texas Rangers: "One riot, one Ranger." Given the structure of the phrase, this one is more inclined to believe the latter was the original.
NASA: Failure is not an option.
- Parodied with Adam Savage's motto, "Failure is always an option".
  - Because if "failure" means "blowing stuff up," they not only do it a lot, they like doing it.
  - Well for them failure means something blowing up, in a way it's not supposed to instead of the way there trying to make it blow up.
The United States Postal Service: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
- Three thousand years ago, this was the motto of the courier service of the Persian Empire.
  - "They say neither snow nor sleet will stop the Postman. Who the hell do you think gets him to his rounds?? New. York. City. F—-in'. Transit. Going YOUR way."
- "Come hell or high water, the mail must go through!" Certainly not official, but much more badass.
While the mottos of Canada and most of the provinces are sweeping and boastful (Canada: "A Mari Usque Ad Mare", rendered in English as "From Sea to Shining Sea"; British Columbia: "Splendor Sine Occasu", best translated as "Splendor Undiminished") Qu?c's motto is the chilling "Je me souviens": "I Remember".
- Leading to one of the other Canadian mottos: "Get over it already."
- Chilling? Oh, come on. It's short for Je me souviens que n?ous le lys, je cro?sous la rose — I remember that, born under the lily, I grow under the rose. It has flowers in it for Pete's sake.
  - The flowers are allegorical; the lily and rose represent France (fleur-de-lis) and Britain (Tudor rose) respectively. It's an appeal for Quebecois not to forget their heritage (and that those English-speakers are nothing but a bunch of foreign interlopers).
  - According to The Other Wiki, the lily and rose version of the motto is a Ret Con.
- Which is reminiscent of the former Confederate boast "The South Shall Rise Again." and the less known Yankee rejoiner: And the North will slap you down - Again!
The Mafia, on the topic of assassination - "Only blood can wash away blood."
Never say die, say kill!
The code of combat between masters of Irish stick-fighting includes the standard stuff - never back down, announce the name of your clan without fear, and so on - but the real chilling line is how a shillelagh fighter explains his intent to avoid mortal injury.
The only fear I have is the fear of killing you.
"No friend is left behind", a Finnish saying.
- This is especially followed in the rich circles in Finland. Golden handshakes? Check! Humongous bonuses? Check! Spent a hundred grand on your friend's party's/business's support? Check!
The Irish National Anthem, "Amhrï¿½n na bFhian" ("A Soldier's Song")has some kickass moments, like in the chorus: "Tonight we man the breach / For Ireland's cause, live or die / 'Mid cannon's roar and rifle's peal / We'll sing a soldier's song".
''Gott zur Ehr, dem Nï¿½chsten zur Wehr." Traditional motto of german firefighters, meaning: "To the glory of God and the protection of our neighbours"
"Tsuyoku naritai!" is Japanese for "I want to become stronger", something Eliezer Yudkowsky considers a motto for aspiring rationalists.
Tsuyoku naritai is Japanese. Tsuyoku is "strong"; naru is "becoming" and the form naritai is "want to become". Together it means "I want to become stronger" and it expresses a sentiment embodied more intensely in Japanese works than in any Western literature I've read. You might say it when expressing your determination to become a professional Go player - or after you lose an important match, but you haven't given up - or after you win an important match, but you're not a ninth-dan player yet - or after you've become the greatest Go player of all time, but you still think you can do better. That is tsuyoku naritai, the will to transcendence.
A simple, yet poigniant one for actors since at least the time of William Shakespeare: The Show Must Go On.
- "Damn You!"
It is also a Pretentious Latin Motto, but the motto of the New South Wales Police Force is culpam poena premit comes, which translates to "Punishment closely follows guilt," also quite accurately translated as "Vengeance follows guilt swiftly."
"We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us."
The Habsburgs used for centuries the A.E.I.O.U acronym as a motto, first introduced in the 15th century. There were several interpretations but most of them as badass as anything: 1) "Alles Erdreich ist Oesterreich untertan" (German: All the world is subject to Austria), 2) "Austria est imperio optime unita" (Latin: Austria is the empire best united), 3) "Austria erit in orbe ultima" (Latin: Austria will be the last [surviving] in the world), 4) "Austriae est imperare orbi universo" (Latin: It is Austria's destiny to rule the whole world).
"Somerville girls can take care of themselves." The unofficial motto of Somerville College, Oxford University. 'Somerville girls' include the first female Prime Ministers of India (Indira Gandhi) and Britain (Margaret Thatcher)(both of whom were 'wartime' P Ms), the first-ever Indian woman lawyer (in 1892!), and several Nobel-winners, that's a deliberately-massive understatement.

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