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"I don't want help! I don't want to be the damsel in distress! I want to be the hero! ... I'm tired of being the lovable idiot, stuck in the tree while his friends fight for their lives! Don't you understand? If I can't do this on my own, then what good am I?"
Jaune Arc, RWBY, "Jaunedice, Part 2"

Like I Just Want to Be Special, I Just Want to Have Friends and I Just Want to Be Normal, I Just Want to Be Badass describes one of those wishes that consumers of media like to have fulfilled by the works they consume. Typically, males are somewhat more prone to harbor this wish. A tentative explanation for this could be the fact that badassery goes hand in hand with many cultures' standards of masculinity.

In order to fulfill this wish, the creator of a work will usually create a viewpoint character and, over the course of the story, make the character badass. This allows the audience to identify with the viewpoint character and as such experience badassery by proxy. Another way by which the author can fulfill this wish of the audience is to take a character that has already established his badassery and give the character a trait which the intended audience will identify with. Additionally, a writer can take a characterization with already-established badass credentials and remove non-badass elements in order to highlight the badassery.

On the other hand, this trope can be used in conjunction with Be Yourself, as we see a hero try to emulate more macho role models and fail miserably at imitating their machismo. At that point, they give up in despair and focus on what they can do, convinced that they are nothing special even as they learn some new knowledge or skills no one around thinks is important. However, when they are called upon to do what they have to for others, they find that those things they've learned have made them a near invincible Badass Bookworm who saves the day while the macho characters look on in astonishment.

An Escapist Character targeted towards the male demographic will often be a product of this desire.

This trope can, in Fanfic, lead to the creation of a Marty Stu. It is also strongly connected to a Power Fantasy (being a means by which this wish is fulfilled).

This trope is very prone to being deconstructed. A possible reason for this is that producers are usually not particularly badass and as such may regard this particular wish of the audience as immature or naive. This, of course, is merely a speculation. However, whole industries are built on playing this trope straight and allowing the audience to fulfill its badassery fantasies by proxy.

This can be akin to hanging a sign on your head saying, "Am looking for Deal with the Devil, apply within." Or an invitation for Training from Hell. It's hard to tell the difference at first...

Arguably, video games in general have a strong element of this as their appeal. Many FPS games do at least in part avert or subvert this, however. During some action games, there is a level where the game radically changes pace and becomes something different. For instance, an action game will toss in a stealth level where the player character is stripped of all their weapons. These levels are subversions of this trope and gain their impact from the sudden loss of power the player character has experienced. Survival Horror games often rely on averting this to generate fear in the player. Feeling powerful and competent is not conducive to feeling scared, frightened, alone and weak.

This trope applies in two circumstances. The first is that a character in the work is motivated by the trope (the in-universe version). The other is that the work engages with (fulfilling, parodying, or being to some extent motivated and/or changed by) its viewers Wanting To Be Badass (the meta-version). There is often considerable overlap between the two types; if this wish was not prevalent in viewers, they would probably react differently to characters motivated by the wish. The latter is so commonplace that only examples of playing with or subverting this expectation should be listed.

Denying the fulfillment of this wish (i.e. averting or subverting the trope) can result in fans thinking the character is not badass enough for them.

See also; Wish-Fulfillment, I Just Want to Have Friends, I Just Want to Be Beautiful, I Just Want to Be Special, I Just Want to Be Normal. Also heavily overlaps with I Want to Be a Real Man given that the concepts of badass and manly are frequently interconnected. Arguably the cause of the Power Fantasy.

Compare/Contrast the Distaff Counterpart.

Again, please remember that neither Wish-Fulfillment nor the fulfillment of any specific wish (including this one) is a bad thing. If reality matched our fantasies, we would not need to create fiction.


Examples of a character with this trait, or of the work playing with this expectation of the audience:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • Isidro in Berserk is like this: even though he works a lot better as a Fragile Speedster with short blades and throwing rocks, he idolizes Guts (a Lightning Bruiser) and his BFS. This leads to problems, as he always insists on fighting like Guts instead of focusing on his true strengths like evasion, an accurate throw, and quick wits. Because his wish to be badass causes problems, there is at least a certain element of deconstruction at work here. Guts himself is possibly the most badass character in all of fiction, but it's a sure bet that no one who followed the series actually wants to be him.
  • Most Humongous Mecha protagonists feel this way before becoming pilots, often crossing over with Ascended Fanboy. So much that Shinji Ikari was notable for not wanting to.
  • Impmon from Digimon Tamers does NOT enjoy being a Harmless Villain. This eventually ends up being deconstructed, as the lengths he goes to to become badass drive him crazy with power, causing him to become a REAL villain and go on a murderous rampage. He's appropriately horrified when he snaps out of it.
  • Nice Guy Matsuda in Death Note doesn't flinch when the NPA tells its officers that if anyone wants to investigate Kira in the midst of him targeting cops, they'll have to make their own squad and do it because everyone else is quitting out of fear—he jumps at the chance to join the task force and is giddy with excitement at the idea of catching the bad guy. As time goes on, no matter how badly the rest of the team treats him, he only wants to be useful and help catch Kira, and his Adorkable enthusiasm and bravery never falters. This only makes it all the more heartbreaking when he finally does get his most important moment, and it's shooting Light in the final episode before he can quickly write down Near's name in the notebook. Light tries to use his own father's death as a tool to manipulate Matsuda into joining his side and killing everyone else to avenge his sacrifice, and when Matsuda doesn't fall for it, Light tries one last time to write Near's name; Matsuda shoots him a few more times to stop him, and finally has to be held back by the rest of the squad before he can put his last bullet in between Light's eyes. He's been the heart of the group for years, smiling and cracking jokes, the only one who's been able to see from both sides of the Kira conflict, and he's reduced to murderous rage and inconsolable grief by the end.
  • Kosuna of Desert Punk just wants to be the #1 Action Girl in the Great Kanto Desert, and becomes an apprentice handyman to Kanta to do so. She then spends the rest of the series learning that survival in the desert involves a lot of grunt work, trickery and that doing your job right means using your gun as little as possible.
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi: Negi Springfield definitely qualifies. Already a hard-working prodigal mage at the age of 10, his quest for power increases after many of his students become his mischievous followers, making him constantly worried for their safety. It doesn't help that he's surrounded by a lot of powerful people such as his more combat-trained pupils (Setsuna, Mana, Kaede, Ku Fei), his father's friends (Jack Rakan, Alberio Imma, Takamichi), and his former enemy (Evangeline), some of whom are game-breakingly powerful. Oh, and his father? An incredibly powerful war hero who is practically worshipped across the Magic World. That's a lot of hurdles to jump over. It's no surprise then that he would push himself to incredible extremes, even learning Evangeline's Dark Magic. He's definitely not your standard shounen hero.
  • Durarara!!: Mikado definitely qualifies because he wants to change something. It's what led him to create Dollars. Later on, you actually see that he has been badass all along.
  • Asago from Tokyo Crazy Paradise so very desperately wants to be a badass to match Ryuji, her husband-to-be, but she is always overshadowed by Tsukasa or runs into inhuman monsters. She gets tougher by the end of the series.
  • The Lyrical Nanoha series has a few examples.
    • Teana Lanster during Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS was a deconstruction of this. She was so desperate at being a badass as quickly as possible that her reckless actions placed both her and her teammates at risk. While she did eventually Take a Level in Badass, she didn't do so until she let go of this mindset and concentrated on refining the skills and talents she had at a more sensible pace.
    • Einhart Stratos in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid is a straighter example. Driven by the Genetic Memory of her ancestor, she is in a constant quest to become strong enough to protect everyone she cares about. This drive of hers only became more intense when she met and trained with the old cast of Nanoha, as she realized just how far she still has to go before she could reach their level.
    • Vivio is just like Einhart in that regard, although fighting is more of a hobby for her than a compulsive drive. She wants to be strong enough to one day be able to protect those that gave her the chance to have a normal life, especially her Nanoha-mama.
    • Rinne from ViVid Strike! is another deconstruction. Due to her history with being bullied, she has an almost pathological need to be the strongest there is to keep anything else from being taken from her. This ends up alienating her from everyone around her and would ultimately cause her to drive away her childhood friend Fuka. And unlike most examples, she actually hates martial arts.
  • Baki the Grappler: "If one is born as a male, at least once in his life he will dream of becoming the strongest man alive. Grappler is the martial artist who aims to become the strongest in the world!"
  • In Chrono Crusade, this was one of the major motivations of Joshua, whose Blessed with Suck Healing Hands powers confined him to his bed. After being disappointed by a suggestion from Father Remington to go through Training from Hell to grow strong, Aion offered him a Deal with the Devil to gain immense power through a pair of demon horns. It worked, but also turned him insane and allowed Aion to kidnap him and use his powers for his plans. This kicks off the main plot of the series when his sister makes her own Deal with the Devil to be able to rescue him.
  • Pokémon: The Series: Several Pokémon have shown that this is their primary motivation. Often this is simply shown by them wishing to become their very powerful final form. Others have shown they just want to be better.
  • Sword Warrior Yamatonokami Yasusada of Touken Ranbu - Hanamaru just wants to be stronger. However, it isn't this wish that's the problem, it's why - he wants to become stronger to protect his previous master, Okita Souji. The problem? Okita died centuries before Yamatonokami (Okita's sword) was turned human by his current master, the one he should be trying to protect. He is also probably the least manly, most Moe example on this page.
  • In Cardfight!! Vanguard, the protagonist, Aichi Sendou wants to win the respect of his rival, Toshiki Kai by becoming good at the titular card game. It gets heavily deconstructed when he awakens the Psychic Powers known as Psyqualia, which make him strong but also make him Drunk on the Dark Side the more he uses them.
  • Usopp of One Piece has this as his primary goal. He has stated his personal mission to be becoming "a brave warrior of the sea", and he has definitely worked to meet that goal ever since the Arlong Arc. By Water 7/Enies Lobby, and definitely by the time-skip, he has completely managed to Take a Level in Badass.
    • Most characters in the story, like Luffy, strive to become the next Pirate King. Others have entirely different goals that fit this trope. Zoro, for example, wants to replace Mihawk as the world's strongest swordsman.
  • Saitama of One-Punch Man was originally a straight example. He is currently an inversion - he doesn't have this trope as his motivation because he's the most badass in his series and it's boring. Genos is also this but a straight example all the way (including getting the aforementioned Saitama to be his teacher) for the sake of getting revenge on a rival cyborg.
  • After the death of his mother, the titular protagonist of Ringing Bell decides he wants to be a wolf. The problem? He's a lamb. Chirin thought that being a sheep is boring and that sheep are just a bunch of cowards - he wanted to be tough and powerful as a wolf. In the end, Chirin does become extremely strong however he lost everything in his quest to become powerful. He's not accepted by other sheep, he took revenge on his mentor, and he's not a wolf.

    Comic Books 
  • In Kick-Ass, two characters become superheroes: the title character because he wants to help people... and in a straighter version of this trope, Big Daddy because he was frustrated with his marriage and thought his life was boring. He even creates a fake Back Story to enhance his new identity.
  • This is the basic idea of Wanted, both the original comic and the movie adaptation. The protagonist is a loser guy who becomes a badass when he finds out he has a badass gene inherited from a father he never knew. The comic book (but not the movie) also attempts to deconstruct this trope by scolding the reader for identifying with the main character, who's essentially a violent sociopath. Perhaps not coincidentally, Wanted was written by Mark Millar, the same guy who also wrote Kick-Ass.

    Fan Works 
  • Boldores and Boomsticks: Casey is awed by Team RWBY's physical feats and asks them to train her to be like them.
  • Demon King Daimao fanfic Keena & the Defendants of Constan Academy has this happen to usual Damsel in Distress Keena, who not only wants friends (due to the remaining characters being Put on a Bus) but also wants to find herself useful in combat. Turns out she actually is skilled in combat. Chapter 6 reveals that she actually has trained and learned to fight but never got the opportunity to do so.
  • In Pursuit of a Single Ideal: Illya really, really wants to be a Magical Girl because she wants to know how it's like to be as powerful as the magical girls she sees on TV. Unfortunately, she's a Wrong Genre Savvy in a Magical Girl Genre Deconstruction story, and only starts realizing when her brother Shirou is torn to pieces and Mind Raped by one of the "monsters of the week".
  • Megami no Hanabira: Sara wants to be badass for someone other than herself: her girlfriend Kaede got hurt protecting her from a demon, and Sara wants to learn to protect herself so Kaede doesn't have to push herself too far for her.
  • In The Night Unfurls, this desire is portrayed in a simple, positive manner.
    • After being rescued by Kyril, Sanakan and Hugh ask him to help them become stronger. They would then become his apprentices to spar and train hard, Taking a Level in Badass in the end, with more than enough power to murder dozens of greenskins and bandits.
    • This trope is how Lily felt back when she was rescued by Kyril from her Prison Rape. She hated herself for being powerless, and thus wanted to train under the Hunter, to prove herself worthy. Her hard work pays off in the end, and as of now, Lily is glad to possess the skills needed to defend the weak.
  • Cyril, the bellringer mouse from the Redwall fic The Urthblood Saga has as his life's ambition to become a warrior someday, resenting his status as a lowly abbey novice and feeling as if his elders will always treat him like a child. While he becomes somewhat less enthusiastic about the idea and more accepting of his place after his younger brother Cyrus just barely survives being wounded by a visiting soldier, he still has it as his ultimate goal.

    Films — Animation 
  • In Tangled, Flynn Rider modeled himself on a fictional character, an adventurer, The Charmer, and rich enough that he could do anything and go anywhere. Which explains Flynn's career as a thief.
  • In How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup wants to be acknowledged and respected by his village, as well as his father and the girl he crushes on. He does achieve all of this, but not in the way he expected.
  • Po Ping, the title character of Kung Fu Panda has spent most of his life wishing to be a legendary kung fu master like his idols, the Furious Five. That wish ends up being granted inadvertently and he's forced to grow into the role of being a badass, but ultimately succeeds.
  • In Toy Story That Time Forgot, Trixie laments the fact that Bonnie plays her as anything but a dinosaur, so when the Battlesaurs offer her to join them, she accepts without hesitation. Later on, after defusing the conflict with them by tricking Bonnie and Mason into playing with the toys (via convincing Reptillus to turn off the Optimum X), she's learned to appreciate her Master of All role.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • In Condorman, comic book writer Woodrow Wilkins insists on everything he writes being as realistic as possible. Therefore, he attempts to build and test all of the gadgets that his titular superhero will utilize. This dogged insistence on verisimilitude leads him to jump at the chance to go on a real spy mission, which leads him straight into a Defector from Commie Land plot and forces him to finally grow up a bit.
  • The Court Jester: Hawkins' first scene establishes that he desperately wants to be a soldier in the Black Fox's group of freedom fighters, but he gets relegated to baby-sitting the infant heir to the throne.
  • The protagonist of Kung Fu Hustle has been trying to be one since he was bullied as a boy by older kids. In his mind, this means to join the baddest gang in China. He finally gets his wish, but only after a Heel–Face Turn and a pummelling by the Beast "unblocks his chi", resulting in him becoming the greatest kung-fu master in history.
  • A subplot in Scooby-Doo: Monsters Unleashed is Shaggy and Scooby tired of being The Load of the gang and trying to be real detectives,
  • Deconstructed in Triad Election: Jet believes being feared by everyone is what will get him noticed in the Hong Kong underworld, many of which include assassinations from Chairman Lok of the Wo Shing Wo. Unfortunately, it's the only thing he's good for; it's implied Jet has been in hiding for so long because of all the hits he's been doing for Lok, making it unlikely for him to climb the ladder and be a legitimate candidate for Chairman in the future (which Lok promises), let alone a promotion. Lampshaded by one of the "Uncles" of Wo Shing in the climax of the sequel, who's never heard of this lowly foot soldier.
  • Kylo Ren from Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a villainous example. He models himself after Darth Vader, his grandfather, and considers himself his successor, but secretly feels inadequate due to his (relatively) weak Force powers and struggles with the "temptation" of returning to the light side. Eventually, he kills Han Solo, his father, believing this will give him the clarity he needs and prove his resolve to both himself and his master, Supreme Leader Snoke. It doesn't.
  • The Opening Narration of Goodfellas.
    "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster. To me being a gangster was better than being President of the United States."
  • In the cult Super Team parody Mystery Men, Mr. Furious wants so very much to be a dangerous '90s Anti-Hero with Super-Strength but he's too much of a Nice Guy to properly harness his powers.
  • Deadpool 2: after getting his first taste of murder thanks to Wade's advice, Dopinder becomes desperate to become a mercenary like him, however he is basically brushed off when Deadpool and Weasel set about assembling X-Force. He is absolutely pissed when he sees he got passed over in favor of Peter. He ends up getting his wish at the end of the film, though.
  • West Side Story (2021): Unlike the stage version and 1961 film, Chino is not a member of the Sharks. However, he wants to join out of a desire to help protect the Puerto Rican community from the Jets' bigotry. He also thinks that being someone who stands up to injustice, like Bernardo does, will make María respect him. However, when the rumble ends up becoming an all-out brawl, Chino is only clutching Bernardo's dead body, clearly terrified of the violence happening around him.

    Literature 
  • Paul in Duumvirate. His best friends are Transhuman badasses, and he desperately wants to keep up.
  • Junior Jedi Knights: The second half of the series features a boy named Uldir Lochett, who wants to be a Jedi despite only being mildly Force-sensitive, and has an inflated view of his own importance and destiny (although he does get some Character Development).
  • Nevere Burvelle, the protagonist of The Soldier Son by Robin Hobb, is this. He's raised to be an Officer and a Gentleman, goes through Training from Hell... and in the end is thwarted by magic that makes him grossly obese. He grows into something quite non-traditional, but clearly not the badass he (and his dad) expected. Thus, Nevere is a subversion (or, if it's his Wanting To Be Badass that causes his being thwarted, he is a deconstruction) of the trope.
    • Nevare never had much of a choice. As the second son, he was (by religious doctrine) always meant to be the soldier of the family. The ending of the first book, however, shows that he was well on his way to being badass and the potential was solidified even more throughout the rest of the series, thanks to his Trainer From Hell.
  • The Witch of Knightcharm: The protagonist Emily really wants to be a powerful witch that fights evil magicians and protects innocents, but as she learns early on, just because she wants that and spends her time fantasizing about being that doesn't mean she's actually all that tough. When she later decides to 'defect' to an evil Wizarding School, she tells herself that her main motive is to undermine the school from within and thus make up for her past failures, but she has to admit she's also hoping the school's Training from Hell will help her become strong enough to actually fight villains.

    Live-Action TV 

    Music 

    Video Games 
  • This is the reason Hammer from Xenogears eventually turns evil. In the end, he's practically the only one on your team who isn't superpowered in some way, and this weighs heavily upon him.
  • Deconstructed in both Mass Effect 1 and 2 by both Corporal Jenkins and Conrad Verner. In the case of Jenkins, he has a highly romanticized image of what it means to be a soldier, and when he actually goes on the first major mission in the game, he's gunned down and killed in minutes. In the case of Conrad Verner, he's more played for laughs and is a Take That! of the players.
  • Carver from Dragon Age II. He suffers from a massive inferiority complex due to his twin sister having magic, and his older sibling either also being a Mage or just a better fighter than he is. Much of his interactions with the other party members revolve around him (rather unsuccessfully) trying to prove he can be more than just Hawke's kid brother. Depending on the player's choices, these issues can get either better or worse as the story progresses.
  • This is the defining trait of the Chaos Hero from Shin Megami Tensei I; having been bullied and abused all his life, he just wants to gain enough power to stand on his own and not have to rely on anyone, even if he has to sacrifice his humanity to get there. This is a core principle of the chaos alignment - survival of the strongest.
  • The Kingdom Hearts series has Riku, who swung this way in his younger days. He just wanted to be strong enough to protect his friends. Ten years later, growing dreams of glory and adventure made him swing more towards I Just Want to Be Special.
    • Terra of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep so desperately wishes for this that it makes him very easy to manipulate by Master Xehanort, and as a result causes several tragic moments throughout the game. Incidentally, he directly interacts with young Riku.
  • Deconstructed in Spec Ops: The Line. In a similar vein to the aforementioned Cloud Strife above, Capt. Martin Walker, the Player Character, is told by Col. John Konrad who is actually personification of his own guilt over actions he's undertaken because of this need that trying to feed this desire through fiction is pathetic and delusional. Many of the relevant lines of dialog are implicitly aimed at the player as much as at Martin.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Ross, Amelia, and Ewan from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones are three youngsters who join an army of badasses with zero fighting experience themselves. All three of them begin very weak physically, and express a desire to better themselves. It's a rather known fact among the fandom that if you choose to train them, they become blessed with Magikarp Power and end up as freaking powerhouses. In short, Ross, Amelia, and Ewan are three cases of "I Just Want to Be Badass" who more than get their wish.
    • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and its sequel Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn has Reyson, one of the very beautiful and very frail princes of the heron tribe. In his support conversations with the protagonist Ike, Reyson reveals that he at times despised himself for his inability to fight after the human nation Begnion massacred the heron tribe and all but destroyed their home, Serenes Forest. He was jealous of his caretaker, the immensely powerful king of the Hawk laguz tribe, Tibarn, and tried to toughen himself up by force so that he'd be able to one day take revenge on humans...only to make himself sick in the process. He mostly came to terms with his status as a Non-Action Guy, seeing as he is able to help out through singing his magical galdrs, which do things like heal allies, cure them of harmful conditions, and grant them Extra Turns.
  • In MapleStory, Evan struggles to live up to the legacy left by his predecessor, Freud, and suffers from constant self-doubt because of it. This isn't helped by Luminous' biting criticism of him. In the end, he does officially succeed Freud as the leader of the Legends and is one of the strongest adventurers in all of Maple World.
  • Ewan Mac Leod from the Nancy Drew game “The Silent Spy”. He worked as a liaison agent for Cathedral, a branch of MI-5 in Glasgow, and in his conversations with Nancy before The Reveal that he betrayed Cathedral by agreeing to work for Revenant, he subtly indicated that he envied those who ran the rails of society and didn’t just take care of those rails, like he did. In Nancy’s closing letter, she noted that Ewan felt small and Revenant took advantage because he practically had a sign over his head suggesting that he was ready for a Deal with the Devil.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: Miles "Tails" Prower, per his Image Song. Originally a bully victim, meeting Sonic and joining him in his adventures helped him break out of his shell, but he still retained some of his timidness, always living in his idol's shadow. By Sonic Adventure he was thrust into a situation that made him realized he couldn't keep depending on Sonic forever, leading to him single-handedly taking Eggman on for the first time and saving the city from him.
  • Rather than succumb to Internalized Categorism, Razputin of Psychonauts decided to deal with his family's anti-psychic resentment by running off to join his favorite psychic espionage organization, where his psychic abilities would be much more appreciated. The trouble is that, while he turns out to be unusually suited for the role, he's also Just a Kid whose talents far outstrip his emotional maturity. This makes him dangerously impatient to get to the "fun" parts of psychic spy-work and leads to a Thrill-Driven Chronic Hero Syndrome that, among other things, makes him an ideal Unwitting Pawn for the Big Bad in Psychonauts 2.
  • Silver Falls Gaiden: Deathly Delusion Destroyers and Ruby River focuses on the entire town of Silver Falls teaming up to search for the protagonist's missing husband. While most simply want to help out of the goodness of their hearts (given that Silver Falls is deep in Lovecraft Country, they know the importance of banding together), a couple of them have secondary motives. Georgia was hospitalized and too injured during the events of 3 Down Stars to do anything, and feels guilty about being useless. She's all healed up and ready to fight 3 weeks later. Similarly, Slim also feels guilty for not being to help in Galaxy Bound Curse due to being too drunk. However, he's just as uselessly drunk as before. Given that the search involves exploring a dense forest teeming with Lovecraftian monstrosities, Slim would be more of a liability than help. The protagonist gently, but firmly tells him to go back into town and sober up over some coffee.

    Visual Novels 
  • In Double Homework, Dennis, through his manipulations, wants to be good with girls, something that he is decidedly not.

    Web Animation 
  • RWBY: Jaune is motivated by the desire to be a great hero just like his father and grandfather, as he can't bear to be just a "nobody". This leads to him enrolling in Beacon Academy, despite his distinctly lackluster fighting skills or appetite for combat. He forges his transcripts to get into the elite school, and has to receive extra training from his team-mate Pyrrha to catch up to the other students, who have been training for years. Pyrrha once says that she's never met anyone with more drive to better themselves than Jaune.

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • In Thalia's Musings, Thalia speculates that this is her sister Calliope's reason for dating Ares, the Pantheon's resident Dumb Muscle. That, and Ares is hot.
  • The Art of Manliness recognizes and deconstructs this trope. It gives advice to men about what it means to be masculine/badass while deflating some of the more immature ideas some have about being manly.

    Western Animation 
  • Tuffy Smurf of The Smurfs (1981) wants to be just like Hefty Smurf and will prove himself to be like him constantly by doing some daring things that usually put the other Smurfs in danger.
  • Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender is revealed to be this when, in a season three episode, he admits to feeling incredibly weak and unimportant alongside the others in the group.
  • Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is motivated by this, most commonly demonstrated by her desire to join the Wonderbolts, an elite team of fliers. This is despite the fact that she's part of a group that is regularly called upon to save the world, and the filly Scootaloo wants to be just like her when she grows up.
  • Pulverizer in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012). He originally wanted to be a ninja like the turtles, but he sucks so bad at it that he can't even do a decent move right and was also too lazy to train in order to improve his skills or physique. He did get to join the Foot Clan though, who promptly use him as Cannon Fodder, and then he thought he could be like the turtles by dousing himself with mutagen, only to end up turning into a horrible blob monster. So in a way, he did get what he wanted.

    Real Life 
  • Military recruiters have a tendency to use this to their advantage. It's why so many military ads, all around the world, dare people to become badasses by playing on this tendency. To be fair, most soldiers who undergo the Training from Hell required of the more elite special forces certainly do qualify as badasses.
  • Some people who take up sports have this trope in their mindset by proving to others how much of a badass they are through competition. This is especially prominent in sports like MMA or boxing, where one gets to prove their badass creds by defeating another in combat.
  • This is a prevalent attitude behind people who are derisively called a "mall ninja" — a person who claims to be an expert on weaponry, often to the point of disdaining popular weapons and preferring expensive and exotic ones along with equally expensive accessories. The mall ninja likes to brag about their supposed expertise, but often exposes their ignorance in discussions, sometimes making improbable claims about their experience or weapon use. Those really flashy-looking swords and exotic-looking weapons that you see in mall stores are a frequent source of such weapons, hence the term "mall ninja". Essentially, the mall ninja wants to make people think they're a weapons expert and/or a badass warrior by talking about weapons, but shows themself to be little more than someone who secretly wants to look cool and nothing else.

 
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Garnet and Pearl reconcile

After spending a few episodes with Garnet being angry at Pearl for abusing their fusion as Sardonyx, the two gems reconcile, with each of them complimenting one another.

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