History Creator / JeanClaudeVanDamme

* AmazonChaser: As mentioned below, his third wife is a former bodybuilder.

* ArchEnemy: Reputedly had a feud with StevenSeagal, which came to a head when Seagal (falsely) claimed Van Damme had lied about his achievements in martial arts. According to SylvesterStallone, this came to a head at a party at his Miami home in 1997, when Van Damme offered to fight Seagal, who fled to a nightclub, and then fled again when Jean-Claude chased him to the local trying to end the thing.

* ArchEnemy: Reputedly had a feud with StevenSeagal, which came to a head when Seagal (falsely) claimed Van Damme had lied about his achievements in martial arts. According to SylvesterStallone, this came to a head at a party at his Miami home in 1997, when Van Damme offered to fight Seagal, who fled to a nightclub, and then fled from it when Jean-Claude went to the local to chase him.

Starting with couple minor roles in ''Breakin''', ''Monaco Forever'' and ''Street of the Damned'', his first major role in movies was Ivan, the champion of the villains in ''Film/NoRetreatNoSurrender''. He later found his StarMakingRole in ''Film/{{Bloodsport}}'', which highlighted his legitimate martial arts skills along with his flexibility (a man being able to do full leg splits is fairly rare). Reputedly had a feud with StevenSeagal, which came to a head when Seagal (falsely) claimed Van Damme had lied about his achievements in martial arts. According to SylvesterStallone, this came to a head at a party at his Miami home in 1997, when Van Damme offered to fight Seagal, who fled to a nightclub.

** He was offered a role in the first ''Film/TheExpendables'', but he refused.
*** After seeing the film he regretted the decision, so he appeared in the second one.

* ''Film/SuddenDeath'' (1995) -- [[DieHardOnAnX Die Hard in a hockey stadium]], notable for being filmed almost entirely within the Mellon Center (with the building's huge retractable dome used as part of a plot point), as well as being the debut of the Pittsburgh Penguins' mascot, Iceburgh.

His early films tended to recycle certain plot elements, like his character unknowingly having a twin brother or attending a martial arts competition for the sake of fallen friend.

* GratuitousEnglish: Particularly prone to this trope in his French-language interviews due to his propensity to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeswitching codeswitching]], which only compounds his CloudCuckoolander reputation among [[FrenchJerk the guys]] who primarily know him as "that funny Belgian who delivers {{IceCreamKoan}}s in Frenglish". Most famously, using the word [[MemeticMutation "aware"]] to convey the idea of self-awareness (maybe).
--> "Tu regardes à l'intérieur de toi et tu deviens[note]]you look inside of yourself and you become[[/note]] ''aware of your own body''!"

* [[GenderBenderName Gender Bender Middle Name]]: Camille is a unisex name in the French language, although it does tend to be more frequently used on men in somewhat traditional social circles. He himself finds it feels "''old-fashioned'', like the smell of a piece of Provence furniture."

--> "Tu regardes à l'intérieur de toi et tu deviens [[note]]you look inside of yourself and you become[[/note]] aware of your own body!"
--> "Manger des cacahuètes[[note]]''Eating salted peanuts''[[/note]], ''it's a really strong feeling''."

* GratuitousEnglish: Particularly fond of this trope in his French-language interviews due to his propensity to code-switching, which only serves to compound his CloudCuckoolander reputation among [[FrenchJerk the guys]] who primarily know him as "that funny Belgian who delivers {{IceCreamKoan}}s in Frenglish". Most famously, using the word [[MemeticMutation "aware"]] for "self-awareness" (maybe).
--> "Marcel Proust, oui. Un peu comme moi. Longtemps il s'est couché ''aware''."[[note]]Marcel Proust, yes. A bit like me. [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext For a long time he went to bed aware.]][[/note]]

* GratuitousEnglish: Particularly fond of this trope in his French-language interviews, which only serves to compound his CloudCuckoolander reputation. Most notably, using the word [[MemeticMutation "aware"]] for "self-awareness" (maybe).
--> "Marcel Proust, oui. Un peu comme moi. Longtemps il s'est couché ''aware''."[[note]]Marcel Proust, yeah, a bit like me. [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext For a long time he went to bed aware.]][[/note]]
--> " J'ai perdu le touch, j'avais plus le feeling de la vie... [...]La drogue, c'est comme quand tu close your eyes et que tu traverses la rue..." [[note]]"I lost touch, I no longer had a feel for life. Drugs are like when you close your eyes and cross the road."[[/note]]

* BadassGrandpa: Fifty-three years young and still capable of pulling off [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FIvfx5J10#t=57 something like this]]

* MrFanservice

* AdamWesting: He plays himself in an episode of ''Series/LasVegas''...and gets KilledOffForReal!

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Much like Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger, he is also fairly well known for his thick Belgian accent.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: He was originally set to portray the first ''Film/{{Predator}}'', when the original intention with the character was supposed to be quick and ninja-like. He was not very happy with the working conditions (hot suit in hot conditions) and the fact his face would never been seen led him to leave and be recast.

* ''Film/UniversalSoldier: The Return'' (1999)

* ''InHell'' (2003) -- An American gets sent to a Russian prison for killing his wife's murderer. Directed by Hong Kong director Ringo Lam, it's one of the few films where Van Damme's fight scenes are few but also actually quite realistic.

* ''Film/UniversalSoldier: Regeneration'' (2009)

* ''Film/UniversalSoldier: Day of Reckoning'' (2012)

Starting with couple minor roles in ''Breakin''', ''Monaco Forever'' and ''Street of the Damned'', his first major role in movies was Ivan, the champion of the villains in ''Film/NoRetreatNoSurrender''. He later found his StarMakingRole in ''Film/{{Bloodsport}}'', which highlighted his legitimate martial arts skills along with his flexibility (a man being able to do full leg splits is fairly rare).

* ''Film/UniversalSoldier'' (1992) -- He is pitted against DolphLundgren. And it's awesome.

* ''The Quest'' (1996) -- He also directed it. The movie wasn't a hit and didn't get very good reviews but it was praised for featuring actual martial artists and (more or less realistic) fighting styles across the world.

* ''Film/TheQuest'' (1996) -- He also directed it. The movie wasn't a hit and didn't get very good reviews but it was praised for featuring actual martial artists and fighting styles across the world.

*** But he appeared in the second one, so not all was lost.

* ''The Quest'' (1996) -- He also directed it. The movie wasn't a hit and didn't get very good reviews but it was praised for featuring actual martial artists and fighting styles across the world.

Starting with couple minor roles in ''Breakin''', ''Monaco Forever'' and ''Street of the Damned'', his first major role in movies was Ivan, the champion of the villains in ''No Retreat, No Surrender''. He later found his StarMakingRole in ''Film/{{Bloodsport}}'', which highlighted his legitimate martial arts skills along with his flexibility (a man being able to do full leg splits is fairly rare).

** ''{{JCVD}}'' is a feature-length version of the trope.

* CaptainErsatz: Johnny Cage from ''MortalKombat'' games is modeled after him.

** [[DoubleTeam Benkakan nahmburz.]]

* AmicablyDivorced: He and his ex-wife remain close best friends, and he has promised that if she ever needs him, he'll be there to protect her. Aww...

* ''Film/DesertHeat'' (1999) -- An ex-soldier off to visit a friend gets shot by bad guys and his bike stolen. [[BigTroubleInLittleChina Son of a bitch must pay]].

* ''{{JCVD}}'' (2007) -- A [[SelfDeprecation self deprecating parody]]. His most critically praised film.

[[Film/StreetFighter http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vandamn_9754.jpg]]
[[caption-width:240:[[OhCrap Prepare yourself for a]] {{groin attack}}.]]

->''I love challenges. If you don't have any and can do whatever you want, then it's probably time to die.''

Jean-Claude Van Damme (born Jean-Claude [[EmbarrassingMiddleName Camille]] François Van Varenberg) is a Belgian martial artist, best known for his ActionHero films. Nicknamed "The Muscles from Brussels," he was a hot darling during the advent of 80s and early 90's SummerBlockbuster action films, before JackieChan and JetLi took center stage in America.