History Main / HistoricalBadassUpgrade

Maybe a king, who was known for very little else but diplomacy, gets to be a war hero instead. Maybe Mohandas Gandhi [[CompletelyMissingThePoint gets to fight]] [[EverythingsWorseWithBears grizzlies]]. Maybe a pope [[VampireHunter hunted vampires in his spare time]].

* William Wallace in ''{{Braveheart}}'' (possibly).
* LeonardoDaVinci (post mortem), Buckingham and Cardinal Richelieu in the 2011 film adaptation of ''[[Film/TheThreeMusketeers2011 The Three Musketeers]]''.

* Most of the cast from ''DynastyWarriors'', ''SamuraiWarriors'' and ''SengokuBasara''. Granted, some of those ancient warriors were actually pretty {{badass}} on their own...

* ''IrregularWebcomic'': Sir IsaacNewton is portrayed as a [[Series/DoctorWho Time Lord]], and gathers various scientists from history to fix the time stream.
* The clone of Ben Franklin from ''[[WebComic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Dr McNinja]]''.

* ''RobotChicken'' does this frequently:
** A quick sketch has BenjaminFranklin practicing his bojutsu in a forest before triumphantly proclaiming, "[[PatrioticFervor For America]]!"

** One sketch consisted of a TagTeam match (in the vein of {{WWE}}, no less) with Ben Franklin and (in BigDamnHeroes fashion) Gandhi vs. the Wright Brothers.
** Another was a parody of ''Film/ThreeHundred'' called ''1776''. It was a ''very'' loose retelling of the story of the Declaration of Independence.

[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/abe_lincoln_croped_8884.jpg]]

->''"So, all in all, just a normal day in the life of LeonardoDaVinci. Turn lead into gold, paint the most famous portrait of all time, and invent the first hang glider. And I bet it’s not even 9 AM."''
-->'''TheAgonyBooth''' [[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Hudson_Hawk_1991.aspx?Page=2 recap]] of ''HudsonHawk''.

->''"So, all in all, just a normal day in the life of Leonardo Da Vinci. Turn lead into gold, paint the most famous portrait of all time, and invent the first hang glider. And I bet it’s not even 9 AM."''

* The clone of Ben Franklin from ''DrMcNinja''.

* Most of the cast from ''DynastyWarriors'', ''SamuraiWarriors'' and ''SengokuBasara''. Granted, some of those ancient warriors were actually pretty badass on their own....

* ''{{UHF}}'''s "Gandhi II".

* {{Cracked}}.com and TheodoreRoosevelt.

** Arguably, [[MadScientist Nikola [[NikolaTesla Tesla]] as well.

** Arguably, [[MadScientist Nikola Tesla]] as well.

Compare HistoricalHeroUpgrade, HistoricalVillainUpgrade. KungFuJesus is a subtrope. See also BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy for a possible justification of this trope.

** A DreamSequence of GeorgeWBush involved him in a lightsaber duel against AbrahamLincoln.

* LeonardoDaVinci (post mortem), Buckingham and Cardinal Richelieu in the 2011 film adaptation of ''Film/TheThreeMusketeers''.

* LeonardoDaVinci (post mortem), Buckingham and Cardinal Richelieu in the 2011 film adaptation of ''TheThreeMusketeers''.

* ''IrregularWebcomic!'': Sir IsaacNewton is portrayed as a [[Series/DoctorWho Time Lord]], and gathers various scientists from history to fix the time stream.

** A DreamSequence of George Bush (which?) involved him in a lightsaber duel against AbrahamLincoln.

Sometimes Hollywood wants to do a movie about a historical figure, but the writers fear [[ViewersAreMorons that the audience won't pay attention to the film]] without a copious amount of {{Badass}}ery and StuffBlowingUp. So, what to do?

Give the historical figure in question a Historical Badass Upgrade.

A Historical Badass Upgrade is when a historical figure is portrayed as more badass than he was in RealLife. Maybe a king who is known for very little else but diplomacy gets to be a war hero. Maybe Mohandas Gandhi [[CompletelyMissingThePoint gets to fight]] [[EverythingsWorseWithBears grizzlies]]. Maybe a pope [[VampireHunter hunted vampires in his spare time]]. Whatever the case may be, it's more or less history bowing down to the RuleOfCool.

* ''IrregularWebcomic!'': Sir IsaacNewton is portrayed as a [[DoctorWho Time Lord]], and gathers various scientists from history to fix the time stream.

Examples:

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]
* ''RobotChicken'' does this frequently:
** A quick sketch has BenjaminFranklin practicing his bojutsu in a forest before triumphantly proclaiming, "[[PatrioticFervor For America]]!"
** A DreamSequence of George Bush (which?) involved him in a lightsaber duel against AbrahamLincoln.
** One sketch consisted of a TagTeam match (in the vein of {{WWE}}, no less) with Ben Franklin and (in BigDamnHeroes fashion) Gandhi vs. the Wright Brothers.
** Another was a parody of ''Film/ThreeHundred'' called ''1776''. It was a ''very'' loose retelling of the story of the Declaration of Independence.

* ''{{Escaflowne}}'': [[spoiler:Sir Isaac Newton]] is an alchemist who uses the power of Atlantis.

[[AC: WebOriginal]]
* {{Cracked}}.com and TheodoreRoosevelt.
* ''IrregularWebcomic!'': Sir IsaacNewton is portrayed as a [[DoctorWho Time Lord]], and gathers various scientists from history to fix the time stream.
* The clone of Ben Franklin from ''DrMcNinja''.

Sometimes Hollywood wants to do a movie about a historical figure, but they fear [[ViewersAreMorons that the audience won't pay attention to the film]] without a copious amount of {{Badass}}ery and StuffBlowingUp. So, what to do?

Give the historical figure in question a HistoricalBadassUpgrade.

A HistoricalBadassUpgrade is when a historical figure is portrayed as more {{Badass}} than s/he was in RealLife. Maybe a king who is known for very little else but diplomacy gets to be a war hero. Maybe Gandhi [[CompletelyMissingThePoint gets to fight]] [[EverythingsWorseWithBears grizzlies]]. Maybe a Pope [[VampireHunter hunted vampires in his spare time]]. Whatever the case may be, it's more or less history bowing down to the RuleOfCool.

* RobotChicken does this frequently:

** A DreamSequence of George Bush involved him in a lightsaber duel against AbrahamLincoln.
** One sketch consisted of a TagTeam match (in the vein of {{WWE}}, no less) with BenFranklin & (in BigDamnHeroes fashion) Gandhi vs. TheWrightBrothers.
** Another was a parody of {{300}} called ''1776''. It was a ''very'' loose retelling of the story of the Declaration of Independence.

* Most of the cast from DynastyWarriors, SamuraiWarriors and SengokuBasara. Granted, some of those ancient warriors were actually pretty Badass on their own....
* {{Escaflowne}}: [[spoiler: Isaac Newton]] is an alchemist who uses the power of Atlantis.

* Cracked.com and TeddyRoosevelt.
* IrregularWebcomic!: SirIssacNewton is portrayed as a [[DoctorWho Time Lord]], and gathers various scientists from history to fix the time stream.
* The clone of BenFranklin from DrMcNinja.

* {{UHF}}'s "Gandhi II."
* William Wallace in {{Braveheart}} (possibly).
* LeonardoDaVinci (post mortem), Buckingham and Cardinal Richelieu in the 2011 film adaptaion of TheThreeMusketeers.

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC: Web Original]]

[[AC: Film]]