History TookALevelInBadass / ComicBooks

** Thanks to [[CosmicRetcon the Super Genesis Wave]] from ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', ''all the Freedom Fighters'' have taken levels of badass. Sonic has obtained his grinding skills and his Homing Attack, him and Tails can perform the tag-team Spin Attack from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 Episode II'', Rotor's now a GeniusBruiser, capable of flinging Badniks with ease,, Antoine can now ''Spin Attack''. With ''his sword'' and Sally has [[BladeBelowTheShoulder energy blades on her gloves.]] Bunnie? Well, she got back her mechanical limbs, something she lost prior. Even Big the Cat has gotten a real boost up, not only getting a Spin Attack of his own, but also being declared ''the'' strongest character in the series, stopping Silver Sonic in Spin Attack mode with his bare hands and tossing him away and lifting a car and tossing it away as if you were just tossing a chair pillow to the side.

** Several Decepticons are upgraded in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' to make them bulkier and more powerful. Soundwave, Rumble and Ravage are some of the few along with the Constructicons. This is downplayed with Frenzy though, as while he's been given better armor and had his sonic scream upgraded, [[RealityEnsues the atmosphere of Cybertron is thinner than earth]] so his main attack is less effective.

* An issue of ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'' from the 1980s once listed a bunch of corny [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] characters that should never be mentioned again because they could not possibly work in modern comics. Creator/GrantMorrison has since made them all awesome.
* Although the process was aided by her [[spoiler:gaining vampiric powers]], Pearl Jones from ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'' comes under this trope. After being victimized by a coven of "traditional" vampires, [[spoiler:and turned into a vampire by Skinner Sweet on a whim]], she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against her tormentors, and becomes a ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend to her chosen man, who is a retired SemperFi/Marine and no pushover in his own right.
* For the last several years, DC has been trying awfully hard to shake the famous notion that ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' put forth about ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} that he's useless outside of his ability to talk to fish. A lot of his appearances try a bit too hard to show off what a rugged badass he is to the point that he may as well have a neon sign over his sign reading "Do you guys think I'm badass yet? Guys? Please?" Although comic book readers know that he's come a long way since his ''Super Friends'' incarnation, the mainstream was unfortunately yet to care or notice; you could still catch the stock "Aquaman is useless" joke from time to time. However, the outstanding success of the [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse DCEU]] [[Film/{{Aquaman}} film adaptation]] of the character in 2018 has quelled much of that, embracing the quirkier elements of the character to win the public over at what a thrilling badass hero he is.
* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Dick Grayson as Robin]] is about the only character seen as a bigger joke than ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} to the general public. He has come from far from being a DistressedDude who Batman would constantly need to rescue. As ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} he’s generally a SupportingLeader whenever he appears outside his own series, this includes leading the ComicBook/TeenTitans, [[ComicBook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders The Outsiders]] and the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}. [[TakingUpTheMantle He has even been Batman twice.]]
** Jason Todd (Robin II), when he became the second Red Hood, deserves a mention as well.
** Tim Drake (ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} III), started out with the least crimefighting applicable skills out of all the Robins prior to his training and leveled up by training with ComicBook/LadyShiva to become a HyperCompetentSidekick. By the time he took on the identity of ComicBook/RedRobin when his former title was taken from him he was among the most dangerous and competent non-powered heroes in the DCU due to his analytical mind, connections and staff fighting skills.
* Speaking of Batman villains, Black Mask was a D-list villain (Batman sent "Batgirl" (ComicBook/{{Huntress}}) to defeat him in [[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man’s Land]]), then came "War Games"; at the end of that mini series, Black Mask became crime lord of Gotham City.
* ComicBook/BuckyBarnes -- just compare his depictions before Brubaker's run on Cap to Brubaker's depiction of the character. Just how many levels of badass did Bucky take? He ''[[LegacyCharacter became]]'' Captain America.
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Convergence}} Convergence Booster Gold #2]]'', Booster Gold was dying due to leaving pieces of himself through time and Rip Hunter had an idea. [[spoiler:He took Pre-ComicBook/ZeroHour Blue Beetle, Pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Michelle Carter and ComicBook/New52 Booster Gold to Vanishing Point in an attempt to save the dying Booster. He had New 52 Booster take dying Booster into a secret room and leave him to be merged with the time stream. When he emerged he was the new Waverider. Booster, Waverider and Rip Hunter were then instrumental in saving and restoring the multiverse at the conclusion of Convergence]].
* For a long time, the Purple Man was just another gaudily-dressed CListFodder villain who would turn up every 5 years or so to get his ass handed to him by ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}. Then the writers realized what a guy with his level of MindControl powers could really do. Cue a year-long storyline, in which the Purple Man secretly took over a Fortune 500 company (whose chairman was the father of Daredevil's girlfriend), used its resources to wage a campaign against Daredevil, framed the chairman for his crimes (eventually [[DrivenToSuicide driving him to suicide]]), broke up Daredevil's relationship, and mind controlled four of Daredevil's toughest enemies into trying to kill him all at once. A toned-down preview of what ComicBook/TheKingpin would later do in "[[ComicBook/DaredevilBornAgain Born Again]]." The Purple Man was never a joke in any Marvel book again.
** He was also a dangerous opponent to Nate Grey in ''ComicBook/XMan'', casually controlling the resources of Flagsmasher's ULTIMATUM and manipulating circumstances to force the development of Nate's potential as a RealityWarper, who he hoped to have on his leash, all from behind the scenes... then he made the mistake of revealing himself and trying to take direct control of Nate. This did not go as planned, for the simple reason that, as Nate ominously put it, [[MindOverMatter "My body's only vulnerable until my mind decides otherwise."]] Cue NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. However, the side-effects of this included effectively destroying the life Nate had made for himself up to that point, which isn't insignificant.
** Before that, he was an AdaptationalBadass in ''WesternAnimation/XMen'', as a VillainWithGoodPublicity (and good makeup to hide his purple skin) who was mind-controlling the X-Terminators as his personal army. Using his real name instead of ever calling himself "The Purple Man" helped a lot, too, when it came to being taken seriously. (When your ''real'' last name is ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Killgrave]],'' you don't ''need'' a villain handle!)
** As UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age of comic|Books}}s started, the [[PowerPerversionPotential more unsavory uses]] of his power become kosher to mention, and he took a level in ''creepy'', as well. When Creator/BrianMichaelBendis created ComicBook/JessicaJones, her backstory was that she'd been a teenage superhero. Who naively confronted Killgrave and instantly got hit by his powers. And kidnapped for eight months. [[MindRape And forced to watch him having sex with other girls and being told to wish it was her in their place.]] [[FromBadToWorse Or being forced to beg him to have sex with her until she cried.]] Needless to say, this left her with... issues.

* ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesThor'' sees Thor gain the Power Cosmic and while it destroyed the Destroyer Arm he's been sporting since ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', it also regenerated the lost arm it replaced as well as the eye he lost during ''War''.

* Snow White, in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', certainly qualifies. She started out as a helpless, hunted girl, [[spoiler: spent years as a sex slave for seven perverted dwarfs,]] and eventually became one of the most badass people in a comic full of them. [[spoiler: The first indication that the times, they were a-changin' was when she learned swordplay from her husband...and went on a RoaringRampageofRevenge against the dwarfs, nearly setting off a human-dwarf war.]]
* Sue Storm/Invisible Woman from ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' is the poster girl of this trope. (Literally-- [[TookALevelInBadass See the top level page]].). Originally the Invisible ''Girl'', she was very meek, and her power was only personal invisibility. She was ''so'' useless (not many [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/TDd0_9EvbII/AAAAAAAAHho/JTH1nqUrsAU/s1600/FF016_29.jpg opportunities]] [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/S37khyE7DZI/AAAAAAAAGv8/QimAq-rx6bg/s1600-h/FF012_28.jpg for stealth]] came along), the best her writers could say in response to ''constant'' fan outcry against TheLoad (even ''[[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/S1elnHzGnmI/AAAAAAAAGnc/a1LWSjvKx0M/s1600-h/FF011_12.jpg in-universe]]'') was, "Sue pulls her own weight, even if you refuse to acknowledge her contributions only because she doesn't fight aggressively enough for you". It got so bad that a comic had them ''address the complaints in-universe.'' Her force field power was added (less than two years after her introduction), and she gradually became better and more versatile with it, especially under Creator/JohnByrne. More dramatic was the shift from her original meek personality to her current confident one, which her new choice of codename signifies. These days, Doctor Doom himself considers her the ''strongest'' of the Comicbook/FantasticFour. When she believes that the Super Skrull has abducted her child, The Thing has to remind her that it's the Fantastic Four and not the Fantastic One because she's already beating the tar out of the Super Skrull.
** The main point where this became truly noticeable was, you guessed it, her name change. The reason for this was the culmination of quite a few arcs: after another time-traveling stint, her, Reed and their kid, Franklin, damn nearly ended up in the hands of [[{{Satan}} Mephisto]], and the arc immediately after had a Dr. Doom fallback destroy their entire home apartment building. The proceeding arc was the biggest reason: where the Psycho-Man kidnapped Sue and turned her into Malice, a BrainwashedAndCrazy evil version of her using her force field powers with incredible strength, including substitutes of gravity crushing attacks and the ability to cut off a person's air supply with those powers. It took the rest of the FF with some assistance from ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} to snap her out of that, and when they went to capture the Psycho-Man, he ended up capturing them and subjecting Sue to incredibly traumatizing MindRape, where she believed that her incompetence caused the death of her family, which she retaliated by killing the Psycho-Man with his own mind-raping devices. At the very end of that arc, she replaced the "Girl" part with "Woman" to reflect on the fact that all those events killed the innocence in her.
* Grunge of the newly rebooted ''ComicBook/{{Gen 13}}'' series is a slightly different example. He starts out as your more-than-average nerd with genius IQ and photographic memory. And the first name... Percy. So he starts working out, hides his book smarts and his photographic memory, starts using his middle name, trains in martial arts and starts skateboarding. And turns into a stereotypical 'stupid' musclebound frat boy slacker by the start of the series when we first see him. And then he gets superpowers.
* In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis Aftermath: Run!'', the Human Flame gets tired of being a joke villain and decides to take so many levels in badass that he will never have to run away again. [[spoiler: He takes too many of them and ends as a monster so big, that he cannot move under his own weight.]]
** More a subversion. The Human Flame desperately wants to be a badass, but as hero and villain alike both note, he's really just a selfish, dimwitted slob and most of the carnage he causes is out of stupidity, not real supervillainous skill. He probably kills more people by accident than some of Batman's rogues have on purpose.

* Seems to be standard for a character when they're managed by Creator/GeoffJohns. The revamping of throwaway Franchise/GreenLantern villain Black Hand is a prime example, with his pivotal role in the ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' series.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} by Creator/BrianMichaelBendis with ComicBook/TheHood: he was becoming more powerful and getting NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, but was also making the link between him and the source of his powers, [[DimensionLord Dormammu]], stronger. When it was strong enough, the demon turned him into his slave.
* ComicBook/IllyanaRasputin. Aka Magik I. Originally a normal six year old girl, she winds up ruling Limbo, which is for all intents and purposes a duplicate of Hell as a teenager. And that was in her backstory. One wonders how scary she could have been had she not been killed off in the mid-90s. And now shes back, more powerful, more manipulative and with much few morals.
* In the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' book (the one written by Greg Pak), Bruce Banner took a level in Badass. Proving he's not as useless as people think he is.
** For that matter, the members of the Intelligencia all took one. The members? Red Ghost, ComicBook/{{MODOK}}, Leader, Mad Thinker, and Wizard. The fact that these guys (who apart from the Leader, have become jokes in recent times) have become credible threats and being able of capturing Doom, Black Panther, Hank Pym, Beast and Reed Richards is nothing short of impressive.
* ComicBook/IronMan. Extremis. Which would be good enough on its own, but then he got the Bleeding Edge armor. [[spoiler: And if I read what just happened in ''Invincible Iron Man'' correctly, he's just taken a whole other level by upgrading his armor with some dwarven/Asgardian magic.]]
** Oh, you know, Iron Man's armor power doubles every 18 months. Look at ''Armor Wars''. One chapter before last, the big bad easily beats him. Last chapter, he builds a new armor and easily beats the villain. Or look at the modular armor's debut (destroys a robot which previously defeated a dozen armors). But Iron Man stays at the same power level compared to Hulk or Thor.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Anthony Davis was a second-rate CListFodder supervillain known as the Ringer, who was humiliated by Franchise/SpiderMan before being [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremoniously murdered]] along with 17 other supervillains by the villain-killing Scourge. A later {{retcon}} would reveal that Davis was NotQuiteDead when he was found by a group of agents from the technological terrorist group A.I.M., who were investigating the site of the massacre to steal the technology of the dead villains. He got better when A.I.M. turned him into a cyborg with advanced laser weapons and teleportation powers. Now calling himself Strikeback, Davis proved to be a much better fighter than he ever was as the Ringer, defeating the Vulture, Stegron, Boomerang and Swarm one after another when he reappeared in the Franchise/SpiderMan comics.

* If one character from the Marvel Universe is more entitled to being the poster boy/girl for this trope than Susan, It's [[ComicBook/{{Nova}} Richard "Nova: the Human Rocket" Rider]]. Nova spent most of his time being one or Marvel's poster boy for brash, reckless and inexperienced rookies trying to show off in front of the big leaguers and tending to get in the way. Then came Annihilation. And with it enough raw power to drive him insane without special training and mental shielding with help from the Nova Corps' Worldmind. And the Annihilation War itself had given Rider experience, a much more serious attitude after witnessing the horrors of the Annihilation wave, and a whole lot of respect after he managed to end the entire Annihilation War by ripping Annihilus inside-out in retaliation for what he did to the rest of the Nova Corps. Oh and immediately prior to that he managed to survive a massive omni-directional blast from an enraged '''Galactus''' at near ''point blank range''. A blast which was so powerful it encompassed and destroyed more than 3 Solar Systems. Since then Steven Rogers has made him a member of the Secret Avengers, and Nova become the defacto commander-in-chief for any organized resistance against major interstellar conflicts, with even the biggest and baddest that space has to offer deferring to him. Needless to say, barring his ComicBook/MarvelAdventures counterpart (which put him in the Avengers), Richard was never portrayed as a childish attention grabbing wannabe ever again.
* Marvel Comics villain The Orb. Originally a petty thief with a gigantic eyeball for a head and a Z-list joke even by that era's standards. Come ComicBook/OriginalSin, he ends up fusing with one of the Watcher's stolen eyes and with it, gains immeasurable power and knowledge. He shifts his agenda from petty theft to being a silent catalyst for chaos and anarchy, using his knowledge and powers to subliminally "nudge" people into performing their darker desires. He also becomes strong enough to take on both Dr. Strange (albeit a severely depowered Strange) and Baron Mordo (at full power) at the same time.

* Zigzagged with Dr. Destiny in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. While he's a much greater threat in his appearances there than in the early days of his enmity with the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, he also underwent SanitySlippage and TookALevelInJerkass.
* In the ''Villains United'' and ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' comics, former Franchise/{{Batman}} whipping boy Catman has graduated to a capable threat, fighting the Caped Crusader to a standstill in one issue.
** Just to give you an idea how big the change was, the last time we saw Catman before ''Villains United'' was ''Archer's Quest'' where he was a fat slab doing grunt work for [[spoiler: the Shade.]] First scene with him in ''Villains United'' has him, very fit, leading a pride of lions and telling the Secret Society of Super Villains where they could put their recruitment drive.
*** This is more a case of RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. When he first showed up in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}, Catman was a skilled fighter who took on Batman and nearly won. Later writers just made him more and more pathetic (the crowning example would be ''Franchise/GreenLantern 80-Page Giant'' #1, in which he is captured by [[PluckyComicRelief G'Nort]]. A ''ringless'' G'Nort).

* Joke character Hammerhead from ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' got this treatment, as part of becoming TheDragon for BigBad Mr. Negative. He got a reinforced skeleton (made out of canonical NightmareFuel[[note]]that is, it actually gives Spidey nightmares... despite the fact that he never actually saw it[[/note]]) and strength and durability upgrades including a Kevlar throat. The very first thing he does is utterly stomp Spidey. As Peter is lying on the floor [[spoiler:''with a dislocated jaw'']], he says "[[LampshadeHanging Why aren't you a joke anymore?]]"
** Spider-Man writer Fred Van Lente has been doing this in general with a few F-list villains, taking them and making them into genuinely capable threats. The best example is the Spot, who is developed by Van Lente into a mute killer who's been driven insane by his being trapped in an alternate dimension and who can now only communicate by writing in his own incomprehensible language of dots. We also see just how legitimately terrifying the powers of even the lowliest super-villains can be. More recently, Van Lente has been writing [[ADayInTheLimelight background stories]] featuring some of the classic Lee/Ditko/Romita villains in the new ''Web of Spider-Man'' series that began in late 2009.
*** The Spot always had what should have been extremely dangerous abilities. He was just too stupid to use them effectively.
*** In their first encounter, the Spot beats Spider-Man badly. In their next encounter, Spidey knows what to expect and has the endurance to take his "only" normal human level hits until the Spot has used his powers too much and has given an open spot for him to attack. Thus he is only defeated by his overconfidence.
*** This predated Fred Van Lente's work. The first definitive example of the modern age of Spider-Man comics was Scorpion, formerly an incredibly dim C-List villain ''at best'', becoming the new Venom and thus gaining not only knowledge and experience of how best to fight Spider-Man, but also getting a considerable physical boost despite already being physically (if not mentally) capable of going toe-to-toe with Spidey.
*** After a pretty successful stint as ComicBook/{{Venom}} (see ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' and ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers''), he is back as the Scorpion in an even MORE powerful scorpion suit. Spidey still bests him, but he certainly has the powers to be a threat these days.
* Spider-Man's writing team is making all his classic villains either take a level in badass or be replaced by stronger and more dangerous counterparts (Vulture, Rhino). ComicBook/DoctorOctopus took control over all of New York's technology with his last appearance, Chameleon (written by, already mentioned above, Fred Van Lente) returned to his original ways, becoming a perfect -- and dangerous -- impersonator and assassin. Electro can now turn into lightning and [[spoiler: destroyed the Daily Bugle building]], Sandman can make multiple copies of himself ([[spoiler:some of them are murderous]]), Mysterio [[spoiler: took control over the [[strike:Mafia]] Maggia with his tricks]]. Not so classic White Rabbit has been turned from a complete joke into a dangerous drug dealer and crazy killer and together with the Spot and a bunch of CListFodder villains -- Scorcher, Speed Demon, Bloodshed, Squid, Lightmaster, and Answer -- almost destroyed Mr. Negative's criminal empire and defeated his immortal servants and Hammerhead (they lost only because [[spoiler: Negative brainwashed Spider-Man and sent him to fight them]]).
** During Peter David's run on ''Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man'' (shortly before ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''), he put Betty Brant through this trope. The highlight has to be saving Flash and Spidey from [[TheWormThatWalks Arrow]] using a shotgun with silver bullets ([[CrazyPrepared she's a Daily Bugle reporter]]).
* Spider-Man is all about taking a level in badass. That's essentially what happened to Peter Parker from the very start!
** And in ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'', after losing his spider-sense and having to learn how to fight without it (Spider-Fu), it has returned and now Spider-Man is even more dangerous! Baddies beware.
** He's done this multiple times over the course of his career as he has grown from a raw teen hero into a mature adult one. He's added tools, refined his webshooters, even gotten training from ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (who had pointed out to him that relying on instinct in a fight isn't always a good idea.)
* Although never exactly weak, ComicBook/NormanOsborn went from being Spider-Man's enemy (who Spider-Man constantly defeated) the Green Goblin, to being the man who [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied killed Gwen Stacy]], to being the one behind ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' to taking over the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse in ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.
* Mary Jane Watson started off as just a flirtatious, free-spirited love interest for Spider-Man. As time went on, she became his main love interest, and was strong enough that she once beat one of his enemies up with a baseball bat and hardly ever gets captured; she seems well able to defend herself from villains and even rescued Spider-Man when she needed to.
* Also, Spidey's one-time girlfriend Betty Brant. After the murder of her husband Ned Leeds, she went from one nervous breakdown to another, was brainwashed by a cult for a while, and in general, was a DamselInDistress. Eventually, after a long absence from the comic, she came back [[ActionGirl packing heat and knowing martial arts]], intent on finding answers to the reasons behind Ned's death. Even Spidey was shocked at the change she had underwent.
* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** In several storylines -set before and after the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''-, Supergirl was trained by Franchise/{{Superman}} or Franchise/WonderWoman and learnt some style of martial arts.
** Supergirl increased her badassery in the ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline when she got a [[Franchise/GreenLantern Red Lantern Ring]]. Lantern Rings are the most powerful weapons in the universe, and Red Rings are fueled by their bearer's fury. And Supergirl is a headstrong, HotBlooded ''Kryptonian''.
** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', Kara spends several weeks in Paradise Island being trained by Franchise/WonderWoman.
** In ''ComicBook/GothamCityGarage'', [[ComicBook/NewGods Big Barda]] trains Kara after the latter joins the biker gang.
** In ''ComicBook/Trinity2008'' Kara becomes a highly-trained government agent Interceptor in an alternate reality.
* Volstagg the Voluminous from ''ComicBook/{{Thor}}'', one of the legendary Warriors Three, is an unusual case. Naturally just being a native of [[WorldOfBadass Asgard]] would make you badass by default, but Volstagg originally was the least badass Asgardian around. Despite his constant bragging of his prowess and his past exploits, he somehow managed to either avoid battle or get taken out by a mook in the first round. Essentially he became the Asgardian equivalent of [[Theatre/HenryIVPart1 Falstaff]], more inclined to [[BigEater attack a leg of mutton]] than a foe of Asgard. You could often find him after a battle bragging about how great a strategic move his [[DirtyCoward running away from the fight as usual]] ''really'' was. This lasted until Walt Simonson's run of the book, in which Volstagg was able to prove that, even if he was hugely obese and past his prime, he was still more than capable of dispatching any number of foes, especially [[PapaWolf if his family were endangered]]. Subsequent writers have continued this trend, transforming him from a joke character to one of Asgard's staunchest and most capable defenders. In his youth he was known as the Lion of Asgard and recognized as a great warrior, so this may be more a case of ''regaining'' some levels of badass. Most recently, after a horribly traumatising experience when he took half-a-dozen Light Elf children, refugees from Malekith's devastation of their realm, into his care. They promptly got burned alive in his arms. Cue a violent RoaringRampageOfRevenge and a major HeroicBSOD. Then, he found the hammer of the Ultimate Thor, one full of the rage and pain of a dead universe. This transformed him into 'the War Thor', who ''almost'' '''''destroyed''''' ''Muspelheim''. ''Singlehandedly''.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:
** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'':
*** Before being captured by Weapon X, Nightcrawler was just a timid teenager that wet his pants. In just some months there he turned into a brutal soldier, killing several agents while trying to escape from the facility.
*** Storm leads how to control the wind enough to fly. But she still needs to learn how to land.
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Defenders were introduced as mere delusional superhero wannabes with no powers. Later on they all get powers and become actual supervillains, with the exception of Valkyrie, who joins the Ultimates. Then she kicks the crap out of ComicBook/{{Venom}} and nearly ''cuts him in half with a sword'' and gives a few A-list villains like ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'' a run for their money.
* DC crossover ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'' Nero offers to grant wishes in exchange for souls and makes this deal available to the villains first. Many of them use this opportunity to take levels in badass. For example, Blockbuster, a big dumb guy, wished to be a GeniusBruiser and eventually ended up as the crimelord of Bludhaven in the Nightwing title years later.

* ''ComicBook/XMan'': Nate Grey began as pretty badass, with vast PsychicPowers thanks to his being created as a LivingWeapon in the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' reality to destroy Apocalypse. However, those powers weren't entirely reliable, and he was incredibly inexperienced with them. Despite this, he still effortlessly flattened Holocaust, and beat Apocalypse to a pulp, leaving him on a plate for AoA!Magneto. When he hopped over to the mainstream reality, his powers were estimated as being equivalent to those of the Dark Phoenix and he lived in constant, justified, fear of accidentally [[RealityWarper rewriting reality in his sleep]]. As time went by, he got stronger and stronger, even though his powers were killing him and switching on and off at random, subconsciously resurrecting both Maddie Pryor and, briefly, Music/AoA!Gwen Stacy and finally, himself through sheer force of will. Then, he finally got the genetic flaw fixed and becoming powerful enough to treat the Multiverse as his personal step-ladder, step outside of time and take on the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men minus the Sentry (who had disappeared after Nate confronted him about their apparent past together, having apparently teamed up to fight Galactus) while politely lecturing them on why their powers wouldn't work on him before [[BatmanGambit apparently throwing the fight]]. Norman Osborn, a man known for underestimating his enemies if anything, considered him capable of going toe to toe with the Sentry.
** When he later returned in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'', with his powers restored (and boosted), he effortlessly imprisoned Apocalypse and kept Magneto on a psychic leash, before casually mopping the floor with entire teams of X-Men (including his mother, mentioned above, Psylocke, Storm, and Iceman), crushing Legion in psychic combat in approximately five seconds, and later taking on ''all'' of the X-Men, plus Apocalypse and Magneto, while carrying on a conversation with Jean in his head, and ''then'' creating the ComicBook/AgeOfXMan.
* ''ComicBook/JeanGrey'' from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is arguably just as good a candidate as Susan and Nova, and probably isn't considered such because everyone's forgotten that she started out much the same way as Susan, with limited telekinesis. As time went by, her telekinesis got stronger, she developed telepathy and began to become more powerful. The Chris Claremont got his hands on her, ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' happened and even after her resurrection, Jean was an incredibly powerful psychic, only possibly exceeded by her 'children' ComicBook/RachelSummers and [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]], before dying (again) and becoming the White Phoenix of the Crown, capable of holding the entire universe in her hands. Even following her resurrection and loss of the Phoenix (or more accurately, telling it quite firmly to take a hike and leave her alone), she's still one of Marvel's most powerful psychics, going toe to toe with Cassandra Nova and being one of the very people even approximately in the same weight class as her son, Nate, when he's back at his full strength.
* ComicBook/{{Storm}} from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is an interesting example; she started off as a fairly strong Claremont Woman, but a bit unsure of herself. After some time with the team and a radical makeover in Japan, however, she became less an African ProperLady and more of an ethnic ActionGirl. She still used SpockSpeak, however, and continues to do so to this day. Also, when it comes to her {{claustrophobia}}, finding herself in an enclosed space went from "instantly paralyzed by post-traumatic flashbacks to her parents' death" to "really uncomfortable, but the desire to get the hell out makes her all the more motivated to get the job done."
** ComicBook/KittyPryde. Hints of her ability were dropped from day one, but few who read her of late would believe the {{Genki|Girl}} TeenGenius TagalongKid of a DamselInDistress she once was... scratch that, the CharacterDevelopment was well done enough that she remains wholly recognizable.
** It happens with anyone from ''X-Men'', perhaps due to the 'school' theme. When a character is first introduced, he or she will be able to use his or her power in its most basic, obvious form (shoot EyeBeams, make stuff fly around, etc.) but as they get better and better at using it, power and proficiency will increase, as well as the ability to ''make the RequiredSecondaryPowers work for you.'' Next thing you know, the girl who can walk through walls is ''standing on air''[[labelnote:*]]It's never explained why an [[{{Intangibility}} Intangible Man]] doesn't fall through the floor, but you can use the ability to do so even if not on an actual floor. "Down" is what you make of it, as the floor wasn't what was holding you up before you stepped off of it. By pretending she's on stairs, Kitty can even walk into the air.[[/labelnote]] while threatening to make an intangible object tangible while ''inside your skull,'' or the guy who can [[AnIcePerson make ice]] proves what a person who truly has control over water and temperature can do.[[note]]And his greatest feats are not his maximum potential, which is said to be on par with Phoenix.[[/note]] If anyone's existed longer than ten years, you'll barely recognize them in their first appearances. Even Nightcrawler once had a much shorter range, ran out of energy for teleporting quicker, and taking passengers was an extremely dangerous and extremely agonizing strain.
* ComicBook/XMen villain ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} debuted in an early ComicBook/XFactor arc as a fairly generic mutant terrorist with inconsistent powers and [[ThirdPersonPerson an annoying tendency to refer to himself in the third person]]. He's also defeated pretty easily. Cut to ''X-Factor'' Vol. 1 #18-19, the big man returns with a beefier physique, a more intimidating demeanor, and [[EliteMooks an elite mutant guard]] known as the Horsemen of Apocalypse. Add in some backstory and the creation of Archangel, and the rest is history.
* The ComicBook/XMen[=/=]ComicBook/NewMutants[=/=]ComicBook/XFactor[=/=]ComicBook/{{Excalibur}}[=/=]ComicBook/XFactor (again)/Comicbook/XForce[=/=]ComicBook/XFactor (for a third time) character Wolfsbane seems to have this intermittently, from [[spoiler: killing someone and beating up Feral in the original ''X-Factor'' series]] to [[spoiler: eating her father and clawing up Mortis' throat (with an accompanying SHRRIP! sound effect) in ''X-Force'']], and now she's [[spoiler: been given some Asgardian powers to help her survive the Asgardian wolf baby in her stomach]]. She tends to veer wildly between taking this trope to heart and being TheWoobie.
** Fellow New Mutant member Cypher underwent some severe level-up after coming BackFromTheDead. Originally, his mutant power was "read and understand any language", meaning he was simply an {{Omniglot}} when he died in the 80s. Revived in the 2000s, we learn that "language" includes "body language", meaning he can predict his opponents' moves and actually held off all his old teammates single-handedly. It also includes computer language, making him an imminently skilled hacker and programmer, as well as letting him "read" the structure of a building and discover the easiest way to destroy it.
*** Cypher could do the computer language thing prior to his death - but it's much more impressive now. Cypher just debuted a decade or so too early.
* Yorick in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' starts as an inept loser who's often beaten up by women (including his sister) but with the help of some traumatic incidents, and training by Agent 355, becomes more adept at defending himself. Subverted also in one scene when a non-action character suddenly whips out a sword in an apparent elevation to Badass, only to be easily defeated by the more experienced villain.

* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** In several storylines -set before and after the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''-, Supergirl was trained by Franchise/{{Superman}} or Franchise/WonderWoman and learnt some style of martial arts.
** Supergirl increased her badassery in the ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline when she got a [[Franchise/GreenLantern Red Lantern Ring]]. Lantern Rings are the most powerful weapons in the universe, and Red Rings are fueled by their bearer's fury. And Supergirl is a headstrong, HotBlooded ''Kryptonian''.
** In ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', Kara spends several weeks in Paradise Island being trained by Franchise/WonderWoman.
** In ''ComicBook/GothamCityGarage'', [[ComicBook/NewGods Big Barda]] trains Kara after the latter joins the biker gang.
** In ''ComicBook/Trinity2008'' Kara becomes a highly-trained government agent Interceptor in an alternate reality.
* If one character from the Marvel Universe is more entitled to being the poster boy/girl for this trope than Susan, It's [[ComicBook/{{Nova}} Richard "Nova: the Human Rocket" Rider]]. Nova spent most of his time being one or Marvel's poster boy for brash, reckless and inexperienced rookies trying to show off in front of the big leaguers and tending to get in the way. Then came Annihilation. And with it enough raw power to drive him insane without special training and mental shielding with help from the Nova Corps' Worldmind. And the Annihilation War itself had given Rider experience, a much more serious attitude after witnessing the horrors of the Annihilation wave, and a whole lot of respect after he managed to end the entire Annihilation War by ripping Annihilus inside-out in retaliation for what he did to the rest of the Nova Corps. Oh and immediately prior to that he managed to survive a massive omni-directional blast from an enraged '''Galactus''' at near ''point blank range''. A blast which was so powerful it encompassed and destroyed more than 3 Solar Systems. Since then Steven Rogers has made him a member of the Secret Avengers, and Nova become the defacto commander-in-chief for any organized resistance against major interstellar conflicts, with even the biggest and baddest that space has to offer deferring to him. Needless to say, barring his ComicBook/MarvelAdventures counterpart (which put him in the Avengers), Richard was never portrayed as a childish attention grabbing wannabe ever again.
* ''ComicBook/JeanGrey'' is arguably just as good a candidate as Susan and Nova, and probably isn't considered such because everyone's forgotten that she started out much the same way as Susan, with limited telekinesis. As time went by, her telekinesis got stronger, she developed telepathy and began to become more powerful. The Chris Claremont got his hands on her, ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' happened and even after her resurrection, Jean was an incredibly powerful psychic, only possibly exceeded by her 'children' ComicBook/RachelSummers and [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]], before dying (again) and becoming the White Phoenix of the Crown, capable of holding the entire universe in her hands. Even following her resurrection and loss of the Phoenix (or more accurately, telling it quite firmly to take a hike and leave her alone), she's still one of Marvel's most powerful psychics, going toe to toe with Cassandra Nova and being one of the very people even approximately in the same weight class as her son, Nate, when he's back at his full strength.
* ''ComicBook/XMan'': Nate Grey began as pretty badass, with vast PsychicPowers thanks to his being created as a LivingWeapon in the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' reality to destroy Apocalypse. However, those powers weren't entirely reliable, and he was incredibly inexperienced with them. Despite this, he still effortlessly flattened Holocaust, and beat Apocalypse to a pulp, leaving him on a plate for AoA!Magneto. When he hopped over to the mainstream reality, his powers were estimated as being equivalent to those of the Dark Phoenix and he lived in constant, justified, fear of accidentally [[RealityWarper rewriting reality in his sleep]]. As time went by, he got stronger and stronger, even though his powers were killing him and switching on and off at random, subconsciously resurrecting both Maddie Pryor and, briefly, Music/AoA!Gwen Stacy and finally, himself through sheer force of will. Then, he finally got the genetic flaw fixed and becoming powerful enough to treat the Multiverse as his personal step-ladder, step outside of time and take on the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men minus the Sentry (who had disappeared after Nate confronted him about their apparent past together, having apparently teamed up to fight Galactus) while politely lecturing them on why their powers wouldn't work on him before [[BatmanGambit apparently throwing the fight]]. Norman Osborn, a man known for underestimating his enemies if anything, considered him capable of going toe to toe with the Sentry.
** When he later returned in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'', with his powers restored (and boosted), he effortlessly imprisoned Apocalypse and kept Magneto on a psychic leash, before casually mopping the floor with entire teams of X-Men (including his mother, mentioned above, Psylocke, Storm, and Iceman), crushing Legion in psychic combat in approximately five seconds, and later taking on ''all'' of the X-Men, plus Apocalypse and Magneto, while carrying on a conversation with Jean in his head, and ''then'' creating the ComicBook/AgeOfXMan.
* Joke character Hammerhead from ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' got this treatment, as part of becoming TheDragon for BigBad Mr. Negative. He got a reinforced skeleton (made out of canonical NightmareFuel[[note]]that is, it actually gives Spidey nightmares... despite the fact that he never actually saw it[[/note]]) and strength and durability upgrades including a Kevlar throat. The very first thing he does is utterly stomp Spidey. As Peter is lying on the floor [[spoiler:''with a dislocated jaw'']], he says "[[LampshadeHanging Why aren't you a joke anymore?]]"
** Spider-Man writer Fred Van Lente has been doing this in general with a few F-list villains, taking them and making them into genuinely capable threats. The best example is the Spot, who is developed by Van Lente into a mute killer who's been driven insane by his being trapped in an alternate dimension and who can now only communicate by writing in his own incomprehensible language of dots. We also see just how legitimately terrifying the powers of even the lowliest super-villains can be. More recently, Van Lente has been writing [[ADayInTheLimelight background stories]] featuring some of the classic Lee/Ditko/Romita villains in the new ''Web of Spider-Man'' series that began in late 2009.
*** The Spot always had what should have been extremely dangerous abilities. He was just too stupid to use them effectively.
*** In their first encounter, the Spot beats Spider-Man badly. In their next encounter, Spidey knows what to expect and has the endurance to take his "only" normal human level hits until the Spot has used his powers too much and has given an open spot for him to attack. Thus he is only defeated by his overconfidence.
*** This predated Fred Van Lente's work. The first definitive example of the modern age of Spider-Man comics was Scorpion, formerly an incredibly dim C-List villain ''at best'', becoming the new Venom and thus gaining not only knowledge and experience of how best to fight Spider-Man, but also getting a considerable physical boost despite already being physically (if not mentally) capable of going toe-to-toe with Spidey.
*** After a pretty successful stint as ComicBook/{{Venom}} (see ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' and ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers''), he is back as the Scorpion in an even MORE powerful scorpion suit. Spidey still bests him, but he certainly has the powers to be a threat these days.
* Spider-Man's writing team is making all his classic villains either take a level in badass or be replaced by stronger and more dangerous counterparts (Vulture, Rhino). ComicBook/DoctorOctopus took control over all of New York's technology with his last appearance, Chameleon (written by, already mentioned above, Fred Van Lente) returned to his original ways, becoming a perfect -- and dangerous -- impersonator and assassin. Electro can now turn into lightning and [[spoiler: destroyed the Daily Bugle building]], Sandman can make multiple copies of himself ([[spoiler:some of them are murderous]]), Mysterio [[spoiler: took control over the [[strike:Mafia]] Maggia with his tricks]]. Not so classic White Rabbit has been turned from a complete joke into a dangerous drug dealer and crazy killer and together with the Spot and a bunch of CListFodder villains -- Scorcher, Speed Demon, Bloodshed, Squid, Lightmaster, and Answer -- almost destroyed Mr. Negative's criminal empire and defeated his immortal servants and Hammerhead (they lost only because [[spoiler: Negative brainwashed Spider-Man and sent him to fight them]]).
** During Peter David's run on ''Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man'' (shortly before ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''), he put Betty Brant through this trope. The highlight has to be saving Flash and Spidey from [[TheWormThatWalks Arrow]] using a shotgun with silver bullets ([[CrazyPrepared she's a Daily Bugle reporter]]).
* Spider-Man is all about taking a level in badass. That's essentially what happened to Peter Parker from the very start!
** And in ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'', after losing his spider-sense and having to learn how to fight without it (Spider-Fu), it has returned and now Spider-Man is even more dangerous! Baddies beware.
** He's done this multiple times over the course of his career as he has grown from a raw teen hero into a mature adult one. He's added tools, refined his webshooters, even gotten training from ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (who had pointed out to him that relying on instinct in a fight isn't always a good idea.)
* Although never exactly weak, ComicBook/NormanOsborn went from being Spider-Man's enemy (who Spider-Man constantly defeated) the Green Goblin, to being the man who [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied killed Gwen Stacy]], to being the one behind ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' to taking over the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse in ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.
* Mary Jane Watson started off as just a flirtatious, free-spirited love interest for Spider-Man. As time went on, she became his main love interest, and was strong enough that she once beat one of his enemies up with a baseball bat and hardly ever gets captured; she seems well able to defend herself from villains and even rescued Spider-Man when she needed to.
* Also, Spidey's one-time girlfriend Betty Brant. After the murder of her husband Ned Leeds, she went from one nervous breakdown to another, was brainwashed by a cult for a while, and in general, was a DamselInDistress. Eventually, after a long absence from the comic, she came back [[ActionGirl packing heat and knowing martial arts]], intent on finding answers to the reasons behind Ned's death. Even Spidey was shocked at the change she had underwent.

* ComicBook/{{Storm}} from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is an interesting example; she started off as a fairly strong Claremont Woman, but a bit unsure of herself. After some time with the team and a radical makeover in Japan, however, she became less an African ProperLady and more of an ethnic ActionGirl. She still used SpockSpeak, however, and continues to do so to this day. Also, when it comes to her {{claustrophobia}}, finding herself in an enclosed space went from "instantly paralyzed by post-traumatic flashbacks to her parents' death" to "really uncomfortable, but the desire to get the hell out makes her all the more motivated to get the job done."
** ComicBook/KittyPryde. Hints of her ability were dropped from day one, but few who read her of late would believe the {{Genki|Girl}} TeenGenius TagalongKid of a DamselInDistress she once was... scratch that, the CharacterDevelopment was well done enough that she remains wholly recognizable.
** It happens with anyone from ''X-Men'', perhaps due to the 'school' theme. When a character is first introduced, he or she will be able to use his or her power in its most basic, obvious form (shoot EyeBeams, make stuff fly around, etc.) but as they get better and better at using it, power and proficiency will increase, as well as the ability to ''make the RequiredSecondaryPowers work for you.'' Next thing you know, the girl who can walk through walls is ''standing on air''[[labelnote:*]]It's never explained why an [[{{Intangibility}} Intangible Man]] doesn't fall through the floor, but you can use the ability to do so even if not on an actual floor. "Down" is what you make of it, as the floor wasn't what was holding you up before you stepped off of it. By pretending she's on stairs, Kitty can even walk into the air.[[/labelnote]] while threatening to make an intangible object tangible while ''inside your skull,'' or the guy who can [[AnIcePerson make ice]] proves what a person who truly has control over water and temperature can do.[[note]]And his greatest feats are not his maximum potential, which is said to be on par with Phoenix.[[/note]] If anyone's existed longer than ten years, you'll barely recognize them in their first appearances. Even Nightcrawler once had a much shorter range, ran out of energy for teleporting quicker, and taking passengers was an extremely dangerous and extremely agonizing strain.
* In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Antoine D'Coolette used to oscillate between [[MilesGloriosus cowardly, uppity jerk]] and {{Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey|s}}. Then about 45 issues in, he [[ThePowerOfLove fell in love with Bunnie Rabbot]]. He proceeded [[TheSoCalledCoward to grow a backbone]], becoming a competent swordsman, leading up to his survival in the Anti-Mobius dimension (from which Anti-Sonic, below, came). One can actually track each time he takes up a level in badass over the series, up to his current level. Now he's a respected leader and fighter, and [[BetaCouple Bunnie's husband]].
** There were signs of Antoine's improvement were as early as Issue 23, which both had the first hints at romance between him and Bunnie, and Antoine both showing bravery and generally behaving a lot better. His capability in combat was already starting to be established by this time, as in the very next number, not only does he fight as well as Patch/Evil Antoine, who didn't have the cowardly personality, he also easily dispatches Boomer/Evil Rotor.
*** Of course, far be it from Sonic to [[NeverLiveItDown let him live it down]]:[[note]]This exchange is from Sonic #204.[[/note]]
---->'''Sonic:''' Remember your old yellow streak?\\
'''Antoine:''' Oui. I recall it all too well.\\
'''Sonic:''' Because I totally could bring it up right now.\\
'''Antoine:''' I know.\\
'''Sonic:''' I've got a list.\\
'''Antoine:''' Stop eet.
** Evil Sonic, Sonic's EvilTwin ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin duh]]), is nothing more than a minor pest, at best. He spends his time either playing underling for more powerful villains, or behaving like a glorified thug. However, when the new writer comes into the comic, Evil Sonic gets jacked up on chaos energy, gets a makeover, changes his name to "Scourge", and proceeds to kick his threat level up a notch. It doesn't stop there, however -- after a few "inspiring" words from Sonic, he returns to his home dimension, applies himself, and conquers his own version of "Moebius" in a matter of DAYS.
** Amy Rose went from a young, innocent DamselInDistress in the Sonic CD issue to a mallet-swinging [[TookALevelInBadass force to be reckoned with]] by the Sonic Adventure arc (which went hand-in-hand with similar development [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure in the game itself]]). While she was previously repeatedly rejected a Freedom Fighter status, she eventually proved herself after single-handedly turning the tide in a handful of battles and is now essentially in the same capability tier as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
** Thanks to [[CosmicRetcon the Super Genesis Wave]] from ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsCollide'', ''all the Freedom Fighters'' have taken levels of badass. Sonic has obtained his grinding skills and his Homing Attack, him and Tails can perform the tag-team Spin Attack from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 Episode II'', Rotor's now a GeniusBruiser, capable of flinging Badniks with ease,, Antoine can now ''Spin Attack''. With ''his sword'' and Sally has [[BladeBelowTheShoulder energy blades on her gloves.]] Bunnie? Well, she got back her mechanical limbs, something she lost prior. Even Big the Cat has gotten a real boost up, not only getting a Spin Attack of his own, but also being declared ''the'' strongest character in the series, stopping Silver Sonic in Spin Attack mode with his bare hands and tossing him away and lifting a car and tossing it away as if you were just tossing a chair pillow to the side.
* Yorick in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' starts as an inept loser who's often beaten up by women (including his sister) but with the help of some traumatic incidents, and training by Agent 355, becomes more adept at defending himself. Subverted also in one scene when a non-action character suddenly whips out a sword in an apparent elevation to Badass, only to be easily defeated by the more experienced villain.
* Lawrence Dobson from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' received a Level of Badass in the ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' comic books.
* In the ''Villains United'' and ''ComicBook/SecretSix'' comics, former Franchise/{{Batman}} whipping boy Catman has graduated to a capable threat, fighting the Caped Crusader to a standstill in one issue.
** Just to give you an idea how big the change was, the last time we saw Catman before ''Villains United'' was ''Archer's Quest'' where he was a fat slab doing grunt work for [[spoiler: the Shade.]] First scene with him in ''Villains United'' has him, very fit, leading a pride of lions and telling the Secret Society of Super Villains where they could put their recruitment drive.
*** This is more a case of RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. When he first showed up in UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|OfComicBooks}}, Catman was a skilled fighter who took on Batman and nearly won. Later writers just made him more and more pathetic (the crowning example would be ''Franchise/GreenLantern 80-Page Giant'' #1, in which he is captured by [[PluckyComicRelief G'Nort]]. A ''ringless'' G'Nort).
* Speaking of Batman villains, Black Mask was a D-list villain (Batman sent "Batgirl" (ComicBook/{{Huntress}}) to defeat him in [[ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man’s Land]]), then came "War Games"; at the end of that mini series, Black Mask became crime lord of Gotham City.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Anthony Davis was a second-rate CListFodder supervillain known as the Ringer, who was humiliated by Franchise/SpiderMan before being [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremoniously murdered]] along with 17 other supervillains by the villain-killing Scourge. A later {{retcon}} would reveal that Davis was NotQuiteDead when he was found by a group of agents from the technological terrorist group A.I.M., who were investigating the site of the massacre to steal the technology of the dead villains. He got better when A.I.M. turned him into a cyborg with advanced laser weapons and teleportation powers. Now calling himself Strikeback, Davis proved to be a much better fighter than he ever was as the Ringer, defeating the Vulture, Stegron, Boomerang and Swarm one after another when he reappeared in the Franchise/SpiderMan comics.
* The 1st volume of French comic ''Dungeon'' revolves around initially helpless and cowardly lead character Herbert the duck Taking a Level in Badass over and over again. By the end, he has a magic sword he's one Great Deed away from being able to wield, that, if touched by another, will turn him into one of its previous bearers to defend itself -- unfortunately, not all of them are awesome, and it can be exploited by forcing him to cycle through forms too quickly to actually react -- can't be killed by normal means because [[SoulJar his heart was first removed, then eaten by a Bewmew]] -- granting it a soul, and the now-sapient... blob-thingy now acts as his loyal servant and bodyguard in thanks -- and is a master of the stick and the feather -- since he's a duck and ''covered'' with feathers, this means he can dismember and eviscerate opponents completely unarmed.
* An issue of ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'' from the 1980s once listed a bunch of corny [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] characters that should never be mentioned again because they could not possibly work in modern comics. Creator/GrantMorrison has since made them all awesome.
* In the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' book (the one written by Greg Pak), Bruce Banner took a level in Badass. Proving he's not as useless as people think he is.
** For that matter, the members of the Intelligencia all took one. The members? Red Ghost, ComicBook/{{MODOK}}, Leader, Mad Thinker, and Wizard. The fact that these guys (who apart from the Leader, have become jokes in recent times) have become credible threats and being able of capturing Doom, Black Panther, Hank Pym, Beast and Reed Richards is nothing short of impressive.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:
** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'':
*** Before being captured by Weapon X, Nightcrawler was just a timid teenager that wet his pants. In just some months there he turned into a brutal soldier, killing several agents while trying to escape from the facility.
*** Storm leads how to control the wind enough to fly. But she still needs to learn how to land.
** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Defenders were introduced as mere delusional superhero wannabes with no powers. Later on they all get powers and become actual supervillains, with the exception of Valkyrie, who joins the Ultimates. Then she kicks the crap out of ComicBook/{{Venom}} and nearly ''cuts him in half with a sword'' and gives a few A-list villains like ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'' a run for their money.
* In ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis Aftermath: Run!'', the Human Flame gets tired of being a joke villain and decides to take so many levels in badass that he will never have to run away again. [[spoiler: He takes too many of them and ends as a monster so big, that he cannot move under his own weight.]]
** More a subversion. The Human Flame desperately wants to be a badass, but as hero and villain alike both note, he's really just a selfish, dimwitted slob and most of the carnage he causes is out of stupidity, not real supervillainous skill. He probably kills more people by accident than some of Batman's rogues have on purpose.

* The ComicBook/NewMutants[=/=]ComicBook/XFactor[=/=]ComicBook/{{Excalibur}}[=/=]ComicBook/XMen[=/=]ComicBook/XFactor (again)/Comicbook/XForce[=/=]ComicBook/XFactor (for a third time) character Wolfsbane seems to have this intermittently, from [[spoiler: killing someone and beating up Feral in the original ''X-Factor'' series]] to [[spoiler: eating her father and clawing up Mortis' throat (with an accompanying SHRRIP! sound effect) in ''X-Force'']], and now she's [[spoiler: been given some Asgardian powers to help her survive the Asgardian wolf baby in her stomach]]. She tends to veer wildly between taking this trope to heart and being TheWoobie.
** Fellow New Mutant member Cypher underwent some severe level-up after coming BackFromTheDead. Originally, his mutant power was "read and understand any language", meaning he was simply an {{Omniglot}} when he died in the 80s. Revived in the 2000s, we learn that "language" includes "body language", meaning he can predict his opponents' moves and actually held off all his old teammates single-handedly. It also includes computer language, making him an imminently skilled hacker and programmer, as well as letting him "read" the structure of a building and discover the easiest way to destroy it.
*** Cypher could do the computer language thing prior to his death - but it's much more impressive now. Cypher just debuted a decade or so too early.
* Quackerjack in the 2010 ''ComicBook/DarkwingDuck'' comic. In [[WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck the actual series]], he was a rather goofy, silly villain. Now he's blowing up buildings, ripping up robots for [[BerserkButton mentioning Negaduck]], and generally taking control of the Fearsome [[strike: Five]] Four.
** In the same vein, you also have Gosalyn and Launchpad. At the end of the first storyline, [[spoiler:Gosalyn has control of the Gizmoduck suit, becoming Gosmoduck, and Launchpad is given Quackwerks by Scrooge [=McDuck=], giving him a literal army of robots at his disposal.]]
* For a long time, the Purple Man was just another gaudily-dressed CListFodder villain who would turn up every 5 years or so to get his ass handed to him by ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}. Then the writers realized what a guy with his level of MindControl powers could really do. Cue a year-long storyline, in which the Purple Man secretly took over a Fortune 500 company (whose chairman was the father of Daredevil's girlfriend), used its resources to wage a campaign against Daredevil, framed the chairman for his crimes (eventually [[DrivenToSuicide driving him to suicide]]), broke up Daredevil's relationship, and mind controlled four of Daredevil's toughest enemies into trying to kill him all at once. A toned-down preview of what ComicBook/TheKingpin would later do in "[[ComicBook/DaredevilBornAgain Born Again]]." The Purple Man was never a joke in any Marvel book again.
** He was also a dangerous opponent to Nate Grey in ''ComicBook/XMan'', casually controlling the resources of Flagsmasher's ULTIMATUM and manipulating circumstances to force the development of Nate's potential as a RealityWarper, who he hoped to have on his leash, all from behind the scenes... then he made the mistake of revealing himself and trying to take direct control of Nate. This did not go as planned, for the simple reason that, as Nate ominously put it, [[MindOverMatter "My body's only vulnerable until my mind decides otherwise."]] Cue NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. However, the side-effects of this included effectively destroying the life Nate had made for himself up to that point, which isn't insignificant.
** Before that, he was an AdaptationalBadass in ''WesternAnimation/XMen'', as a VillainWithGoodPublicity (and good makeup to hide his purple skin) who was mind-controlling the X-Terminators as his personal army. Using his real name instead of ever calling himself "The Purple Man" helped a lot, too, when it came to being taken seriously. (When your ''real'' last name is ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Killgrave]],'' you don't ''need'' a villain handle!)
** As UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age of comic|Books}}s started, the [[PowerPerversionPotential more unsavory uses]] of his power become kosher to mention, and he took a level in ''creepy'', as well. When Creator/BrianMichaelBendis created ComicBook/JessicaJones, her backstory was that she'd been a teenage superhero. Who naively confronted Killgrave and instantly got hit by his powers. And kidnapped for eight months. [[MindRape And forced to watch him having sex with other girls and being told to wish it was her in their place.]] [[FromBadToWorse Or being forced to beg him to have sex with her until she cried.]] Needless to say, this left her with... issues.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Dick Grayson as Robin]] is about the only character seen as a bigger joke than ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} to the general public. He has come from far from being a DistressedDude who Batman would constantly need to rescue. As ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} he’s generally a SupportingLeader whenever he appears outside his own series, this includes leading the ComicBook/TeenTitans, [[ComicBook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders The Outsiders]] and the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}. [[TakingUpTheMantle He has even been Batman twice.]]
** Jason Todd (Robin II), when he became the second Red Hood, deserves a mention as well.
** Tim Drake (ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} III), started out with the least crimefighting applicable skills out of all the Robins prior to his training and leveled up by training with ComicBook/LadyShiva to become a HyperCompetentSidekick. By the time he took on the identity of ComicBook/RedRobin when his former title was taken from him he was among the most dangerous and competent non-powered heroes in the DCU due to his analytical mind, connections and staff fighting skills.
* ComicBook/XMen villain ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} debuted in an early ComicBook/XFactor arc as a fairly generic mutant terrorist with inconsistent powers and [[ThirdPersonPerson an annoying tendency to refer to himself in the third person]]. He's also defeated pretty easily. Cut to ''X-Factor'' vol. 1 #18-19, the big man returns with a beefier physique, a more intimidating demeanor, and [[EliteMooks an elite mutant guard]] known as the Horsemen of Apocalypse. Add in some backstory and the creation of Archangel, and the rest is history.
* ComicBook/BuckyBarnes - just compare his depictions before Brubaker's run on Cap to Brubaker's depiction of the character. Just how many levels of badass did Bucky take? He ''[[LegacyCharacter became]]'' Captain America.
* DC crossover ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'' Nero offers to grant wishes in exchange for souls and makes this deal available to the villains first. Many of them use this opportunity to take levels in badass. For example, Blockbuster, a big dumb guy, wished to be a GeniusBruiser and eventually ended up as the crimelord of Bludhaven in the Nightwing title years later.
* For the last several years, DC has been trying awfully hard to shake the famous notion that ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' put forth about ComicBook/{{Aquaman}} that he's useless outside of his ability to talk to fish. A lot of his appearances try a bit too hard to show off what a rugged badass he is to the point that he may as well have a neon sign over his sign reading "Do you guys think I'm badass yet? Guys? Please?" Although comic book readers know that he's come a long way since his ''Super Friends'' incarnation, the mainstream was unfortunately yet to care or notice; you could still catch the stock "Aquaman is useless" joke from time to time. However, the outstanding success of the [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse DCEU]] [[Film/{{Aquaman}} film adaptation]] of the character in 2018 has quelled much of that, embracing the quirkier elements of the character to win the public over at what a thrilling badass hero he is.
* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': With a dose of ConservationOfNinjutsu; the rank-and-file changelings are a lot more competent this time around than they were in the show, ''especially'' in issue #2.

* Several characters gradually become stronger over the events of Fleetway's ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''. Amy is the most obvious example, with her transition from girly DamselInDistress to a [[ImprobableAimingSkills crack shot]] AdaptationalBadass and [[NumberTwo second in command]] of the Freedom Fighters. Tails also undergoes development from whiny coward to active contributing member to the Freedom Fighters' efforts as well, most notably after Sonic gets stranded in the Special Zone. Additionally, Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis start out as regular Mobian critters that are just there to be captured by Robotnik's forces, but formally join the team later in an active capacity.
* ComicBook/IllyanaRasputin. Aka Magik I. Originally a normal six year old girl, she winds up ruling Limbo, which is for all intents and purposes a duplicate of Hell as a teenager. And that was in her backstory. One wonders how scary she could have been had she not been killed off in the mid-90s. And now shes back, more powerful, more manipulative and with much few morals.
* Snow White, in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'', certainly qualifies. She started out as a helpless, hunted girl, [[spoiler: spent years as a sex slave for seven perverted dwarfs,]] and eventually became one of the most badass people in a comic full of them. [[spoiler: The first indication that the times, they were a-changin' was when she learned swordplay from her husband...and went on a RoaringRampageofRevenge against the dwarfs, nearly setting off a human-dwarf war.]]
* The [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW IDW continuity]] of Franchise/{{Transformers}} had a number of characters take a few levels in their stories.
** [[spoiler: Shockwave, once a good-hearted but weak senator becomes one almost tragically when he is disfigured and his mind warped to become devoid of emotions, becoming the ruthlessly deadly cyclops we know and love.]]
** Devastator combines this with AdaptationalBadass. His debut in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersAllHailMegatron'' established him as powerful, but Omega Supreme took him down easily. After the Constructicons get an upgrade [[spoiler: and Prowl is brought in to forcibly replace the deceased Scrapper]] Devastator is even more powerful than ever defeating Superion and going toe-to-toe with Monstructor who's own debut had him tear Omega apart.
** Several Decepticons are upgraded in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersRobotsInDisguise'' to make them bulkier and more powerful. Soundwave, Rumble and Ravage are some of the few along with the Constructicons. This is downplayed with Frenzy though, as while he's been given better armor and had his sonic scream upgraded, [[RealityEnsues the atmosphere of Cybertron is thinner than earth]] so his main attack is less effective.
** Superion even takes one in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersCombinerWars''. Whilst he was originally made by Megatron's hasty combiner experiments, and was powerful, but none too smart. Though he put up a good fight, Devastator wasted him. However, after extensive repairs by Wheeljack and the Enigma of Combination (as well as Alpha Bravo brought on to replace a severely damaged member and Powerglide joining the team to serve as a weapon), Superion returns to form. He's smarter and better armored, with his debut fight against Menasor ending in a smash victory.
* ''ComicBook/KickAss'':
** In Volume 1, Kick-Ass was absolutely pathetic in a fight. In Volume 2, he receives TrainingFromHell from Hit-Girl and learns how to actually fight. Heck, during his team-up with Doctor Gravity, he effortlessly beats the tar out of two hoods (something he couldn't do in the first issue of the series), and this is before Hit-Girl's training! In Volume 3, he holds his own against six thugs, two of whom were holding guns to his head at the start. Though he eventually loses, he points out his one mistake immediately after the fact, implying that he was ''capable'' of taking them on a good day.
** [[spoiler:Averted and [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in Volume 2. Before killing Colonel Stars, Red Mist says [[Franchise/{{Batman}} he was going to travel the world and learn martial arts]]... until he remembered he was rich and could just ''[[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney pay]]'' other people to do his fighting for him. That and his trainers were swindling him, with a 'task' ripped off ''Film/BatmanBegins'' because it looked cool]].
* In ''[[ComicBook/{{Convergence}} Convergence Booster Gold #2]]'', Booster Gold was dying due to leaving pieces of himself through time and Rip Hunter had an idea. [[spoiler:He took Pre-ComicBook/ZeroHour Blue Beetle, Pre-ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}} Michelle Carter and ComicBook/New52 Booster Gold to Vanishing Point in an attempt to save the dying Booster. He had New 52 Booster take dying Booster into a secret room and leave him to be merged with the time stream. When he emerged he was the new Waverider. Booster, Waverider and Rip Hunter were then instrumental in saving and restoring the multiverse at the conclusion of Convergence]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'', an early villain, Muller, falls to his apparent death in a crocodile filled death trap, loses both arms while fighting them off, and becomes the series' bigger bad after taking a level, becoming a near unstoppable menace.
* Scrooge [=McDuck=] doesn't just gain ''one'' level during the course of his life in ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'' - he gains twelve. In fact, he gets so badass that people all over the globe have heard of him and his exploits; in fact, he scares away ''Wyatt Earp'', the legendary gunslinger, by simply standing beside him. Every Chapter has a third part in which the raw badassery of Scrooge shows just how he defeated his adversaries and became the richest duck in the world, including destroying an entire steamboat alone, unarmed, and ''while chained down''. [[BerserkButton Never mock Scrooge's family.]]
* Volstagg the Voluminous from ''ComicBook/{{Thor}}'', one of the legendary Warriors Three, is an unusual case. Naturally just being a native of [[WorldOfBadass Asgard]] would make you badass by default, but Volstagg originally was the least badass Asgardian around. Despite his constant bragging of his prowess and his past exploits, he somehow managed to either avoid battle or get taken out by a mook in the first round. Essentially he became the Asgardian equivalent of [[Theatre/HenryIVPart1 Falstaff]], more inclined to [[BigEater attack a leg of mutton]] than a foe of Asgard. You could often find him after a battle bragging about how great a strategic move his [[DirtyCoward running away from the fight as usual]] ''really'' was. This lasted until Walt Simonson's run of the book, in which Volstagg was able to prove that, even if he was hugely obese and past his prime, he was still more than capable of dispatching any number of foes, especially [[PapaWolf if his family were endangered]]. Subsequent writers have continued this trend, transforming him from a joke character to one of Asgard's staunchest and most capable defenders. In his youth he was known as the Lion of Asgard and recognized as a great warrior, so this may be more a case of ''regaining'' some levels of badass. Most recently, after a horribly traumatising experience when he took half-a-dozen Light Elf children, refugees from Malekith's devastation of their realm, into his care. They promptly got burned alive in his arms. Cue a violent RoaringRampageOfRevenge and a major HeroicBSOD. Then, he found the hammer of the Ultimate Thor, one full of the rage and pain of a dead universe. This transformed him into 'the War Thor', who ''almost'' '''''destroyed''''' ''Muspelheim''. ''Singlehandedly''.
* At the beginning of the ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' series, Paperinik finds that his usual kit of goofy weapons and tools are largely useless against an invading armada of inter-stellar aliens. When he stumbles on the [=151st=] floor of Ducklair Tower, he finds that the resident AI, One, is more than willing to supply him with the necessary weapons and gear necessary to combat not only aliens, but also rogue time-travelers, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt high-level space-time anomalies]], [[AIIsACrapshoot malevolent AIs]], suicide terrorists... in short, his competence level goes up significantly.

* Although the process was aided by her [[spoiler:gaining vampiric powers]], Pearl Jones from ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'' comes under this trope. After being victimized by a coven of "traditional" vampires, [[spoiler:and turned into a vampire by Skinner Sweet on a whim]], she goes on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against her tormentors, and becomes a ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend to her chosen man, who is a retired SemperFi/Marine and no pushover in his own right.

* ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesThor'' sees Thor gain the Power Cosmic and while it destroyed the Destroyer Arm he's been sporting since ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', it also regenerated the lost arm it replaced as well as the eye he lost during ''War''.

* Volstagg the Voluminous from ''ComicBook/{{Thor}}'', one of the legendary Warriors Three, is an unusual case. Naturally just being a native of [[WorldOfBadass Asgard]] would make you badass by default, but Volstagg originally was the least badass Asgardian around. Despite his constant bragging of his prowess and his past exploits, he somehow managed to either avoid battle or get taken out by a mook in the first round. Essentially he became the Asgardian equivalent of [[Theatre/HenryIVPart1 Falstaff]], more inclined to [[BigEater attack a leg of mutton]] than a foe of Asgard. You could often find him after a battle bragging about how great a strategic move his [[DirtyCoward running away from the fight as usual]] ''really'' was. This lasted until Walt Simonson's run of the book, in which Volstagg was able to prove that, even if he was hugely obese and past his prime, he was still more than capable of dispatching any number of foes, especially [[PapaWolf if his family were endangered]]. Subsequent writers have continued this trend, transforming him from a joke character to one of Asgard's staunchest and most capable defenders. In his youth he was known as the Lion of Asgard and recognized as a great warrior, so this may be more a case of ''regaining'' some levels of badass.

* Zigzagged with Dr. Destiny in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. While he's a much greater than in his appearances there than in the early days of his enmity with the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, he also underwent SanitySlippage and TookALevelInJerkass.

* Sue Storm/Invisible Woman from ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' is the poster girl of this trope. (Literally-- [[TookALevelInBadass See the top level page]].). Originally the Invisible ''Girl'', she was very meek, and her power was only personal invisibility. She was ''so'' useless (not many [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/TDd0_9EvbII/AAAAAAAAHho/JTH1nqUrsAU/s1600/FF016_29.jpg opportunities]] [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/S37khyE7DZI/AAAAAAAAGv8/QimAq-rx6bg/s1600-h/FF012_28.jpg for stealth]] came along), the best her writers could say in response to ''constant'' fan outcry against TheLoad (even ''[[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rLV-ZuNPwJ4/S1elnHzGnmI/AAAAAAAAGnc/a1LWSjvKx0M/s1600-h/FF011_12.jpg in-universe]]'') was, "Sue pulls her own weight, even if you refuse to acknowledge her contributions only because she doesn't fight aggressively enough for you". It got so bad that a comic had them ''address the complaints in-universe.'' Her force field power was added (less than two years after her introduction), and she gradually became better and more versatile with it, especially under Creator/JohnByrne. More dramatic was the shift from her original meek personality to her current confident one, which her new choice of codename signifies. These days, Doctor Doom himself considers her the ''strongest'' of the Comicbook/FantasticFour. When she believes that the Super Skrull has abducted her child, The Thing has to remind her that it's the Fantastic Four and not the Fantastic One because she's already beating the tar out of the Super Skrull.
** The main point where this became truly noticeable was, you guessed it, her name change. The reason for this was the culmination of quite a few arcs: after another time-traveling stint, her, Reed and their kid, Franklin, damn nearly ended up in the hands of [[{{Satan}} Mephisto]], and the arc immediately after had a Dr. Doom fallback destroy their entire home apartment building. The proceeding arc was the biggest reason: where the Psycho-Man kidnapped Sue and turned her into Malice, a BrainwashedAndCrazy evil version of her using her force field powers with incredible strength, including substitutes of gravity crushing attacks and the ability to cut off a person's air supply with those powers. It took the rest of the FF with some assistance from Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} to snap her out of that, and when they went to capture the Psycho-Man, he ended up capturing them and subjecting Sue to incredibly traumatizing MindRape, where she believed that her incompetence caused the death of her family, which she retaliated by killing the Psycho-Man with his own mind-raping devices. At the very end of that arc, she replaced the "Girl" part with "Woman" to reflect on the fact that all those events killed the innocence in her.

** Supergirl increased her badassery in the ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline when she got a [[Franchise/GreenLantern Red Lantern Ring]]. Lantern Rings are the most powerful weapons in the universe, and Red Rings are fueled by their bearer's fury. And Supergirl is a headstrong, HotBlooded ''Kryptonian''.
** In ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'', Kara spends several weeks in Paradise Island being trained by Franchise/WonderWoman.

* ''ComicBook/JeanGrey'' is arguably just as good a candidate as Susan and Nova, and probably isn't considered such because everyone's forgotten that she started out much the same way as Susan, with limited telekinesis. As time went by, her telekinesis got stronger, she developed telepathy and began to become more powerful. The Chris Claremont got his hands on her, ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' happened and even after her resurrection, Jean was an incredibly powerful psychic, only possibly exceeded by her 'children' Comicbook/RachelSummers and [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]], before dying (again) and becoming the White Phoenix of the Crown, capable of holding the entire universe in her hands. Even following her resurrection and loss of the Phoenix (or more accurately, telling it quite firmly to take a hike and leave her alone), she's still one of Marvel's most powerful psychics, going toe to toe with Cassandra Nova and being one of the very people even approximately in the same weight class as her son, Nate, when he's back at his full strength.

* Joke character Hammerhead from ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' got this treatment, as part of becoming TheDragon for BigBad Mr. Negative. He got a reinforced skeleton (made out of canonical NightmareFuel[[note]]that is, it actually gives Spidey nightmares... despite the fact that he never actually saw it[[/note]]) and strength and durability upgrades including a Kevlar throat. The very first thing he does is utterly stomp Spidey. As Peter is lying on the floor [[spoiler:''with a dislocated jaw'']], he says "[[LampshadeHanging Why aren't you a joke anymore?]]"

*** After a pretty successful stint as Comicbook/{{Venom}} (see ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'' and ''ComicBook/DarkAvengers''), he is back as the Scorpion in an even MORE powerful scorpion suit. Spidey still bests him, but he certainly has the powers to be a threat these days.

** During Peter David's run on ''Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man'' (shortly before ''Comicbook/OneMoreDay''), he put Betty Brant through this trope. The highlight has to be saving Flash and Spidey from [[TheWormThatWalks Arrow]] using a shotgun with silver bullets ([[CrazyPrepared she's a Daily Bugle reporter]]).

** And in ''Comicbook/SpiderIsland'', after losing his spider-sense and having to learn how to fight without it (Spider-Fu), it has returned and now Spider-Man is even more dangerous! Baddies beware.

* Although never exactly weak, ComicBook/NormanOsborn went from being Spider-Man's enemy (who Spider-Man constantly defeated) the Green Goblin, to being the man who [[Comicbook/TheNightGwenStacyDied killed Gwen Stacy]], to being the one behind ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' to taking over the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse in ''Comicbook/DarkReign''.

* Grunge of the newly rebooted ''Comicbook/{{Gen 13}}'' series is a slightly different example. He starts out as your more-than-average nerd with genius IQ and photographic memory. And the first name... Percy. So he starts working out, hides his book smarts and his photographic memory, starts using his middle name, trains in martial arts and starts skateboarding. And turns into a stereotypical 'stupid' musclebound frat boy slacker by the start of the series when we first see him. And then he gets superpowers.
* ComicBook/{{Storm}} from ''Comicbook/XMen'' is an interesting example; she started off as a fairly strong Claremont Woman, but a bit unsure of herself. After some time with the team and a radical makeover in Japan, however, she became less an African ProperLady and more of an ethnic ActionGirl. She still used SpockSpeak, however, and continues to do so to this day. Also, when it comes to her {{claustrophobia}}, finding herself in an enclosed space went from "instantly paralyzed by post-traumatic flashbacks to her parents' death" to "really uncomfortable, but the desire to get the hell out makes her all the more motivated to get the job done."

* In ''ComicBook/ArchieComicsSonicTheHedgehog'', Antoine D'Coolette used to oscillate between [[MilesGloriosus cowardly, uppity jerk]] and {{Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey|s}}. Then about 45 issues in, he [[ThePowerOfLove fell in love with Bunnie Rabbot]]. He proceeded [[TheSoCalledCoward to grow a backbone]], becoming a competent swordsman, leading up to his survival in the Anti-Mobius dimension (from which Anti-Sonic, below, came). One can actually track each time he takes up a level in badass over the series, up to his current level. Now he's a respected leader and fighter, and [[BetaCouple Bunnie's husband]].

* Yorick in ''Comicbook/YTheLastMan'' starts as an inept loser who's often beaten up by women (including his sister) but with the help of some traumatic incidents, and training by Agent 355, becomes more adept at defending himself. Subverted also in one scene when a non-action character suddenly whips out a sword in an apparent elevation to Badass, only to be easily defeated by the more experienced villain.

* Speaking of Batman villains, Black Mask was a D-list villain (Batman sent "Batgirl" (ComicBook/{{Huntress}}) to defeat him in [[Comicbook/BatmanNoMansLand No Man’s Land]]), then came "War Games"; at the end of that mini series, Black Mask became crime lord of Gotham City.

* In the ''Comicbook/IncredibleHulk'' book (the one written by Greg Pak), Bruce Banner took a level in Badass. Proving he's not as useless as people think he is.

* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel
** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen''

** ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'': The Defenders were introduced as mere delusional superhero wannabes with no powers. Later on they all get powers and become actual supervillains, with the exception of Valkyrie, who joins the Ultimates. Then she kicks the crap out of Comicbook/{{Venom}} and nearly ''cuts him in half with a sword'' and gives a few A-list villains like ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'' a run for their money.
* In ''Comicbook/FinalCrisis Aftermath: Run!'', the Human Flame gets tired of being a joke villain and decides to take so many levels in badass that he will never have to run away again. [[spoiler: He takes too many of them and ends as a monster so big, that he cannot move under his own weight.]]

* For a long time, the Purple Man was just another gaudily-dressed CListFodder villain who would turn up every 5 years or so to get his ass handed to him by Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}. Then the writers realized what a guy with his level of MindControl powers could really do. Cue a year-long storyline, in which the Purple Man secretly took over a Fortune 500 company (whose chairman was the father of Daredevil's girlfriend), used its resources to wage a campaign against Daredevil, framed the chairman for his crimes (eventually [[DrivenToSuicide driving him to suicide]]), broke up Daredevil's relationship, and mind controlled four of Daredevil's toughest enemies into trying to kill him all at once. A toned-down preview of what ComicBook/TheKingpin would later do in "[[Comicbook/DaredevilBornAgain Born Again]]." The Purple Man was never a joke in any Marvel book again.

* [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Dick Grayson as Robin]] is about the only character seen as a bigger joke than Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} to the general public. He has come from far from being a DistressedDude who Batman would constantly need to rescue. As ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} he’s generally a SupportingLeader whenever he appears outside his own series, this includes leading the ComicBook/TeenTitans, [[ComicBook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders The Outsiders]] and the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}. [[TakingUpTheMantle He has even been Batman twice.]]

* ComicBook/XMen villain ComicBook/{{Apocalypse}} debuted in an early Comicbook/XFactor arc as a fairly generic mutant terrorist with inconsistent powers and [[ThirdPersonPerson an annoying tendency to refer to himself in the third person]]. He's also defeated pretty easily. Cut to ''X-Factor'' vol. 1 #18-19, the big man returns with a beefier physique, a more intimidating demeanor, and [[EliteMooks an elite mutant guard]] known as the Horsemen of Apocalypse. Add in some backstory and the creation of Archangel, and the rest is history.

* For the last several years, DC has been trying awfully hard to shake the famous notion that ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' put forth about Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} that he's useless outside of his ability to talk to fish. A lot of his appearances try a bit too hard to show off what a rugged badass he is to the point that he may as well have a neon sign over his sign reading "Do you guys think I'm badass yet? Guys? Please?" Although comic book readers know that he's come a long way since his ''Super Friends'' incarnation, the mainstream was unfortunately yet to care or notice; you could still catch the stock "Aquaman is useless" joke from time to time. However, the outstanding success of the [[Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse DCEU]] [[Film/{{Aquaman}} film adaptation]] of the character in 2018 has quelled much of that, embracing the quirkier elements of the character to win the public over at what a thrilling badass hero he is.

* The [[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW IDW continuity]] of {{Franchise/Transformers}} had a number of characters take a few levels in their stories.

* ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesThor'' sees Thor gain the Power Cosmic and while it destroyed the Destroyer Arm he's been sporting since ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', it also regained the lost arm it replaced as well as the eye he lost during ''War''.

* Zigzagged with Dr. Destiny in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. While he's a much greater than in his appearances there than in the early days of his enmity with the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, he also underwent SanitySlippable and TookALevelInJerkass.
* ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesThor'' sees Thor gain the Power Cosmic and while it destroyed the Destroyer Arm he's been sporting since ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', it regained the lost arm it's replaced as well as the eye he lost during ''War''.

* Zigzagged with Dr. Destiny in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. While he's a much greater than in his appearances there than in the early days of his enmity with the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, he also underwent lost what remained of his sanity and TookALevelInJerkass.

* In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'' comic book ([[Creator/ArchieComics Archie version]]), Antoine D'Coolette used to oscillate between [[MilesGloriosus cowardly, uppity jerk]] and {{Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey|s}}. Then about 45 issues in, he [[ThePowerOfLove fell in love with Bunnie Rabbot]]. He proceeded [[TheSoCalledCoward to grow a backbone]], becoming a competent swordsman, leading up to his survival in the Anti-Mobius dimension (from which Anti-Sonic, below, came). One can actually track each time he takes up a level in badass over the series, up to his current level. Now he's a respected leader and fighter, and [[BetaCouple Bunnie's husband]].

** As UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age of comic|Books}}s started, the [[PowerPerversionPotential more unsavory uses]] of his power become kosher to mention, and he took a level in ''creepy'', as well. When BrianMichaelBendis created ComicBook/JessicaJones, her backstory was that she'd been a teenage superhero. Who naively confronted Killgrave and instantly got hit by his powers. And kidnapped for eight months. [[MindRape And forced to watch him having sex with other girls and being told to wish it was her in their place.]] [[FromBadToWorse Or being forced to beg him to have sex with her until she cried.]] Needless to say, this left her with... issues.

* For the last several years, DC has been trying awfully hard to shake the famous notion that ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' put forth about Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} that he's useless outside of his ability to talk to fish. A lot of his appearances try a bit too hard to show off what a rugged badass he is to the point that he may as well have a neon sign over his sign reading "Do you guys think I'm badass yet? Guys? Please?" Although comic book readers know that he's come a long way since his ''Super Friends'' incarnation, the mainstream was unfortunately yet to care or notice; you could still catch the stock "Aquaman is useless" joke from time to time. However, the outstanding success of the Franchise/{{DCEU}} [[Film/{{Aquaman}} film adaptation]] of the character in 2018 has quelled much of that, embracing the quirkier elements of the character to win the public over at what a thrilling badass hero he is.

* Volstagg the Voluminous from ''ComicBook/{{Thor}}'', one of the legendary Warriors Three, is an unusual case. Naturally just being a native of [[WorldOfBadass Asgard]] would make you badass by default, but Volstagg originally was the least badass Asgardian around. Despite his constant bragging of his prowess and his past exploits, he somehow managed to either avoid battle or get taken out by a mook in the first round. Essentially he became the Asgardian equivalent of [[Theater/HenryIVPart1 Falstaff]], more inclined to [[BigEater attack a leg of mutton]] than a foe of Asgard. You could often find him after a battle bragging about how great a strategic move his [[DirtyCoward running away from the fight as usual]] ''really'' was. This lasted until Walt Simonson's run of the book, in which Volstagg was able to prove that, even if he was hugely obese and past his prime, he was still more than capable of dispatching any number of foes, especially [[PapaWolf if his family were endangered]]. Subsequent writers have continued this trend, transforming him from a joke character to one of Asgard's staunchest and most capable defenders. In his youth he was known as the Lion of Asgard and recognized as a great warrior, so this may be more a case of ''regaining'' some levels of badass.

-->'''Sonic:''' Remember your old yellow streak?\\

** Amy Rose went from a young, innocent DamselInDistress in the Sonic CD issue to a mallet-swinging [[TookALevelInBadass force to be reckoned with]] by the Sonic Adventure arc. While she was previously repeatedly rejected a Freedom Fighter status, she eventually proved herself after single-handedly turning the tide in a handful of battles and is now essentially in the same capability tier as Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

* In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog'' comic book ([[Franchise/ArchieComics Archie version]]), Antoine D'Coolette used to oscillate between [[MilesGloriosus cowardly, uppity jerk]] and {{Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey|s}}. Then about 45 issues in, he [[ThePowerOfLove fell in love with Bunnie Rabbot]]. He proceeded [[TheSoCalledCoward to grow a backbone]], becoming a competent swordsman, leading up to his survival in the Anti-Mobius dimension (from which Anti-Sonic, below, came). One can actually track each time he takes up a level in badass over the series, up to his current level. Now he's a respected leader and fighter, and [[BetaCouple Bunnie's husband]].

* Valkyrie from ComicBook/UltimateMarvel. She started out as a delusional superhero wannabe. Then she kicks the crap out of Comicbook/{{Venom}} and nearly ''cuts him in half with a sword'' and gives a few A-list villains like ''ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'' a run for their money.
** Same thing with the other "Ultimate Defenders" who started out powerless and now all have powers.
*** This is really less taking a level in badass, and more Jeph Loeb forgetting he was writing in the UltimateUniverse.

* For the last several years, DC has been trying awfully hard to shake the famous notion that ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'' put forth about Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} that he's useless outside of his ability to talk to fish. A lot of his appearances try a bit too hard to show off what a rugged badass he is to the point that he may as well have a neon sign over his sign reading "Do you guys think I'm badass yet? Guys? Please?" Although comic book readers know that he's come a long way since his ''Super Friends'' incarnation, the mainstream has unfortunately yet to care or notice; you can still catch the stock "Aquaman is useless" joke from time to time.

* ''ComicBook/JeanGrey'' is arguably just as good a candidate as Susan and Nova, and probably isn't considered such because everyone's forgotten that she started out much the same way as Susan, with limited telekinesis. As time went by, her telekinesis got stronger, she developed telepathy and began to become more powerful. The Chris Claremont got his hands on her, ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' happened and even after her resurrection, Jean was an incredibly powerful psychic, only possibly exceeded by her 'children' ''Comicbook/RachelSummers'' and Nate Grey, before dying (again) and becoming the White Phoenix of the Crown, capable of holding the entire universe in her hands.
* ''ComicBook/XMan'': Nate Grey began as pretty badass, with vast PsychicPowers thanks to his being created as a LivingWeapon in the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' reality to destroy Apocalypse. When he hopped over to the mainstream reality, his powers were estimated as being equivalent to those of the Dark Phoenix and he lived in constant fear of accidentally [[RealityWarper rewriting reality in his sleep]]. As time went by, he got stronger and stronger, even though his powers were killing him and switching on and off at random, subconsciously resurrecting both Maddie Pryor and, briefly, Music/AoA!Gwen Stacy and finally, himself through sheer force of will. Then, he finally got the genetic flaw fixed and becoming powerful enough to treat the Multiverse as his personal step-ladder, step outside of time and take on the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men minus the Sentry (who had disappeared after Nate confronted him about their apparent past together, having apparently teamed up to fight Galactus) while politely lecturing them on why their powers wouldn't work on him before [[BatmanGambit apparently throwing the fight]]. Norman Osborn, a man known for underestimating his enemies if anything, considered him capable of going toe to toe with the Sentry.
** When he later returned in ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen2018'', with his powers restored (and boosted), he effortlessly imprisoned Apocalypse and kept Magneto on a psychic leash, before casually mopping the floor with entire teams of X-Men (including his mother, mentioned above, Psylocke, Storm, and Iceman), crushing Legion in psychic combat in approximately five seconds, and later taking on ''all'' of the X-Men, plus Apocalypse and Magneto, while carrying on a conversation with Jean in his head.
* Joke character Hammerhead from ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' got this treatment, as part of becoming TheDragon for BigBad Mr. Negative. He got a reinforced skeleton (made out of canonical NightmareFuel[[note]]that is, it actually gives Spidey nightmares...despite the fact that he never actually saw it[[/note]]) and strength and durability upgrades including a Kevlar throat. The very first thing he does is utterly stomp Spidey. As Peter is lying on the floor [[spoiler:''with a dislocated jaw'']], he says "[[LampshadeHanging Why aren't you a joke anymore?]]"

-->-- '''Sue Richards, Invisible ''Woman''''' in the 2000s, ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''

* Seems to be standard for a character when they're managed by Creator/GeoffJohns. The revamping of throwaway Franchise/GreenLantern villain Black Hand being a prime example.

* Several characters gradually become stronger over the events of Fleetway's ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''. Amy is the most obvious example, with her transition from girly DamselInDistress to a [[ImprobablyAimingSkills crack shot]] AdaptationalBadass and [[NumberTwo second in command]] of the Freedom Fighters. Tails also undergoes development from whiny coward to active contributing member to the Freedom Fighters' efforts as well, most notably after Sonic gets stranded in the Special Zone. Additionally, Johnny Lightfoot and Porker Lewis start out as regular Mobian critters that are just there to be captured by Robotnik's forces, but formally join the team later in an active capacity.

* Happens Slower than usual in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'', but brutally obvious if one re-reads the comic a bit. Amy is the most obvious example, with her transition from girly to outright dangerous AdaptationalBadass and second in command of the Freedom Fighters, however Johnny Lightfoot, Shorty the Squirrel and even, to a limited extent, Porker Lewis. Johnny, Shorty and Porker began as cute, clothes-less little Mobians, and eventually gained rather badass outfits in Shorty cause his Cybernik armour, and in Johnny and Amy's case, a combat staff and a repeating crossbow.

* Snow White, in ''{{ComicBook/Fables}}'', certainly qualifies. She started out as a helpless, hunted girl, [[spoiler: spent years as a sex slave for seven perverted dwarfs,]] and eventually became one of the most badass people in a comic full of them. [[spoiler: The first indication that the times, they were a-changin' was when she learned swordplay from her husband...and went on a RoaringRampageofRevenge against the dwarfs, nearly setting off a human-dwarf war.]]

** Jason Todd, when he became the second Red Hood, deserves a mention as well.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Anthony Davis was a second-rate CListFodder supervillain known as the Ringer, who was humiliated by Franchise/SpiderMan before being [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremoniously murdered]] along with 17 other supervillains by the villain-killing Scourge. A later {{retcon}} would reveal that Davis was NotQuiteDead when he was found by a group of agents from the technological terrorist group A.I.M., who were investigating the site of the massacre to steal the technology of the dead villains. He got better when A.I.M. turned him into a cyborg with advanced laser weapons and teleportation powers. Now calling himself Strikeback, Davis proved to be a much better fighter than he ever was as the Ringer, defeating the Vulture, Stegron, Boomerang and Swarm one after another when he reappeared in the {{Spider-Man}} comics.