History Main / HistoricalBadassUpgrade

* ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'': While many of the main characters were generals and war leaders, the romance heightens everything and turns many historical figures into FourStarBadass front-line warriors who single-handedly turn the tides of battles with their fierce fighting prowess. Some commanders are also given more brilliance than historical records document. While Zhuge Liang is remembered as a talented strategist, the Romance turns him into an supernaturally gifted commander, giving him credit for a number of strategies not specifically attributed to him by history, as well as actual magical powers.

* Most of the cast of ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'', ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' and ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' build on the already considerable Historical Badass Upgrade of the original ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', turning the generals and politicians into OneManArmy wrecking balls who single-handedly defeat hundreds of common soldiers.

* Almost any historical figure who appears in the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' franchise gets this, often along with either a [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade hero]] or [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade villain]] upgrade. "Almost" any because some, like [[YoungConqueror Cesare Borgia]] and [[LadyOfWar Caterina Sforza]], actually were that badass and didn't need the upgrade, but some others did. Among other things, Leonardo da Vinci actually ''succeeded'' in building a flying machine.

* UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla was undoubtedly a major influence on the MadScientist trope, but what a lot of people either forget or choose to ignore is that after he got bored of ''sane'' science, his career bombed. Media depicting Tesla often give UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison (who, in all fairness, was by no means a particularly nice guy in RealLife) a HistoricalVillainUpgrade and posit some kind of grand conspiracy to suppress Tesla's discoveries, when in reality his attempts at creating a DeathRay or WeatherControlMachine or whatever else he was hoping to build that week just plain didn't work. Additionally, Edison didn't actually have a rivalry with Tesla; his rivalry was with George Westinghouse, whom Tesla worked for at various points, and Tesla's own accounts generally spoke of Edison neutrally at worst. He did some important early work on the physics of radar and may have been the first person to file a patent on a VTOL aircraft, but neither would actually be built until decades later with the actual nut-and-bolts engineering being done by someone else.

* UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla was undoubtedly a major influence on the MadScientist trope, but what a lot of people either forget or choose to ignore is that after he got bored of ''sane'' science, his career bombed. Media depicting Tesla often give UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison (who, in all fairness, was by no means a particularly nice guy in RealLife) a HistoricalVillainUpgrade and posit some kind of grand conspiracy to suppress Tesla's discoveries, when in reality his attempts at creating a DeathRay or WeatherControlMachine or whatever else he was hoping to build that week just plain didn't work. He did some important early work on the physics of radar and may have been the first person to file a patent on a VTOL aircraft, but neither would actually be built until decades later with the actual nut-and-bolts engineering being done by someone else.

** ''Literature/TheFireNeverDies'': Almost every single Red Army general fits this to a degree, being largely composed of veteran union organizers. The only exceptions were Leon Bronstein, Charles Whittlesley, and Omar Bradley, all of whom were accomplished commanders IOTL.

* UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla was undoubtedly a major influence on the MadScientist trope, but what a lot of people either forget or choose to ignore is that after he got bored of ''sane'' science, his career totally bombed. Media depicting Tesla often give UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison (who, in all fairness, was by no means a particularly nice guy in RealLife) a HistoricalVillainUpgrade and posit some kind of grand conspiracy to suppress Tesla's discoveries, when in reality his attempts at creating a DeathRay or WeatherControlMachine or whatever else he was hoping to build that week just plain didn't work. He did some important early work on the physics of radar and may have been the first person to file a patent on a VTOL aircraft, but neither would actually be built until decades later with the actual nut-and-bolts engineering being done by someone else.
* General UsefulNotes/GeorgeSPatton has often been portrayed as a highly badass American general, a lover of general Nazi-asskicking and getting his hands dirty, and is simultaneously given a HistoricalBeautyUpdate in regards to his height and appearance. All of this was mainly due to the film ''Film/{{Patton}}'' and to his very much real attitude of an all-American tough guy; however, despite being portrayed as youthful, tall, booming-voiced, and tough, he was actually fairly advanced in years and appearance when the War came around. He didn't enjoy public speaking due to his short height and raspy, very much non-booming voice, and he never actively went out in the field to get his hands dirty in combat, partly due to poor physical health. A good commander he was, Franchise/{{Rambo}} he wasn't.[[note]]''In his youth'', Patton was indeed quite the badass, fighting on the front lines of the [[UsefulNotes/TheMexicanRevolution Pancho Villa Expedition]] and UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, as well as being an Olympic athlete and MasterSwordsman who barely missed out on the Bronze medal in the 1912 Modern Pentathlon. It's just that fiction acts as if he didn't physically decline in the 25 years after UsefulNotes/WW1, in addition to making him more physically attractive and charismatic.[[/note]]

* OlderThanFeudalism: [[DavidVsGoliath Goliath]] in Literature/TheBible is described as a mammoth six cubits and a span (9'9" or 2.97 metres). In the Dead Sea scrolls (the oldest version of the story we have) he's a still impressive but much more plausible four cubits and a span (6'9", or 2.10 metres). Note that the tallest human whose size is reliably documented, Robert Wadlow, was 2.72 metres (8'11").

* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': Basically every historical person shown fighting is given a healthy dose of this due to the stylized combat. Marcus Crassus, however, is also portrayed as a tyrannical MagnificentBastard. In real life, Crassus (by many estimates the richest person who ever lived) is believed to have simply bought his way to the top and eventually got himself killed in what is generally considered an ill-advised quest for military glory.

* The ancient Spartans are often depicted as top-of-the-top of soldierly skill, but their actual track record in combat was a lot more lackluster. While having an edge over most other Greeks, their training methods were at best AwesomeButImpractical, their [[CripplingOverspecialization over-reliance on heavy infantry]] came back to bite them on multiple occasions, and at least some of their biggest victories can be attributed to enemy blunders or to having for a change cared to look at the bigger picture beyond immediate soldiering. Curiously however, they were already on the receiving end of Badass Upgrade in their own times (by other Greeks to boot), so a writer trying to avoid it faces a weight of tradition to overcome.

* ''Film/AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter''.

* In {{WebVideo/Jreg}}'s ''Centricide'', the spirits of Kim Il Sung, Creator/AynRand, Julius Evola, UsefulNotes/CheGuevara joined forces and went on to [[ItMakesSenseInContext possess YouTuber Greg Guevara and make him become the embodiment of anti-centrism]], forming Jreg[[note]]An [[FunWithAcronyms acronym]] of Juche, Randian, Evola, and Guevara[[/note]]. Together, they led a group of extremists of various kinds in their quest to eradicate centrism in the Centricide.

* UsefulNotes/QinShiHuangdi in ''Film/{{Hero}}'', as befitting a character in the {{wuxia}} genre.

*** And another featuring Dubya's imagination had him as superhero Captain Texas.

* UsefulNotes/QinShiHuangdi in ''Film/{{Hero}}'', as befitting a character in the wuxia genre.

* OlderThanFeudalism: [[DavidVsGoliath Goliath]] in Literature/TheBible is described as six cubits and a span (9'9" or 2.97 metres). In the Dead Sea scrolls (the oldest version of the story we have) he's a still impressive but much more plausible four cubits and a span (6'9", or 2.10 metres). Note that the tallest human whose size is reliably documented, Robert Wadlow, was 2.72 metres.

** The historic Jack Rackham was a raging alcoholic pirate captain who met his end from being too drunk to help fight off attackers. The show gives him a completely different character as a brainy DragonInChief NonActionGuy who is an ineffective fighter but devious.

* In {{WebVideo/Jreg}}'s ''Centricide'', the spirits of Kim Il Sung, Creator/AynRand, Julius Evola, UsefulNotes/CheGuevara and went on to [[ItMakesSenseInContext possess YouTube Greg Guevara and became the embodiment of anti-centrism]], forming Jreg[[note]]An [[FunWithAcronyms acronym]] of Juche, Randian, Evola, and Guevara[[/note]]. Together, they led the Extremists in their quest to eradicate centrism in the Centricide.

* For a given definition of "historical", UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLife are frequent recipients of this treatment. On the whole, extinct creatures are often thought of as always being more badass compared to modern animals due to the larger, more unusual, and more dangerous animals being more frequently portrayed in media or better preserved in the fossil record.
** [[RaptorAttack Raptors]] are often portrayed as being able to take down prey hundreds of times their size, such as healthy adult hadrosaurs, ceratopsians, or even sauropods. In reality, it's ''extremely'' unlikely they'd have been able to manage such a feat even in a best-case scenario; most species would have preferred small to mid-sized herbivores depending on the species' size.[[note]]And if you're wondering about the pack-hunting thing, there is no hard evidence for it in most raptor genera; even the ones that have been argued for such remain controversial.[[/note]]

** Wooly mammoths themselves are often assumed to be much larger than African bush elephants and with massive tusks. In reality, wooly mammoths were smaller than bush elephants and closer in size to Asian elephants. There were larger mammoth species, but they lived in warmer climates and were most likely hairless. The tusks also grew during the whole life of the mammoth, like they do in elephants, so only the very old would have the great tusks they are often pictured with. As for American mastodons, they are often confused with wooly mammoths, but they were even smaller and there isn't evidence that they were fully covered in hair like they are traditionally depicted to be.
* The ancient Spartans are often depicted as top-of-the-top of soldierly skill, but their actual track record in combat was a lot more lackluster. While having an edge over other Greeks, their training methods were at best AwesomeButImpractical, and at least some of their biggest victories can be attributed to enemy blunders or to having for a change cared to look at the bigger bicture beyond immediate soldiering. Curiously however, they were already on the receiving end of Badass Upgrade in their own times (by other Greeks to boot), so a writer trying to avoid it faces a weight of tradition to overcome.

* There was a pair of advertisings during the 2007 elections in Argentina, where a guy casually mentions that he is not even aware which party he voted for, that he simply took the first one he saw. In the first one, Manuel Belgrano runs to him, does a flying karate kick and a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, and then reties his topknot and leaves with "Saludo a la bandera" in the background. In the other, José de San Martín stomps the guy with a cavalry charge, gives another NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, and then leaves, but not before [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kicking him while he's down]]. Belgrano and San Martín are both national heroes of Argentina, from the 19th century wars of independence. Both advertisements end by saying "There are people who gave their lives for this country. This sunday, vote with responsibility".

** Blue Suede Heartstrings is based on Music/ElvisPresley, one of the most famous rockstars of his time. They are musicians who are also former soldiers who served during World War II. However, while Elvis continues to be remembered as an influential figure in the development of both rock-and-roll and modern rock, he's also remembered for his degrading career and obesity in his later years, ending with a rather UndignifiedDeath. By contrast, Blue would meet [[BigGood Luminiferous]] during a very low point in his life while he was still relatively young. The [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre pep-talk]] he received from Luminiferous motivated Blue to quit his job as a career musician and travel around the world, doing good deeds until he [[DeityOfHumanOrigin became an Alicorn god of Music and Humility]] (something he sees as ironic due to his religious background).

* ''Film/JurassicPark'': Many of the dinosaurs and recreated animals in this franchise are subjected to this trope, most notably the theropods. The ''Velociraptor'' is an intelligent and social killer, a far cry from the solo hunting, turkey-sized and not outright stupid but rather simple-minded ambush hunter, the ''Spinosaurus'' can now apparently kill large and dangerous prey such as tyranosaurs when its anatomy is clearly that of a pisciverous water-lover, and ''Compsognathus'' is no-longer a solitary, cat-like predator of small prey and now a sort of land-piranha with toxic saliva. Zig-zagged in the Dilophosaur's case, as she is shrank, but armed with toxic spraying powers and a menacing frill on her neck. Ironically, the ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex'' itself is something of an AdaptationalWimp, as she retains most of the real animal's power, she is slightly handicapped with terrible eyesight, when real tyranosaurs had excellent vision.

* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': Basically every historical person shown fighting is given a healthy dose of this due to the stylized combat. Marcus Crassus, however, is also portrayed as a tyrannical MagnificentBastard. In real life, Crassus (by many estimates the richest person who ever lived) is believed to have simply bought his way to the top and eventually got himself killed in an ill-advised quest for military glory.

* Almost any historical figure who appears in the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' franchise gets this, as well as either a [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade hero]] or [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade villain]] upgrade. "Almost" any because some, like [[YoungConqueror Cesare Borgia]] and [[LadyOfWar Caterina Sforza]], actually were that badass and didn't need the upgrade, but some others did. Among other things, Leonardo da Vinci actually ''succeeded'' in building a flying machine.

* In {{WebVideo/Jreg}}'s ''Centricide'', the spirits of Kim Il Sung, Creator/AynRand, Julius Evola, UsefulNotes/CheGuevara and went on to [[ItMakesSenseInContext possess Greg Guevara and became the embodiment of anti-centrism]], forming Jreg[[note]]An [[FunWithAcronyms acronym]] of Juche, Randian, Evola, and Guevara[[/note]]. Together, they led the Extremists in their quest to eradicate centrism in the Centricide.

* Jebediah Springfield, eponymous founder of Springfield in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. Pop history holds that he killed a bear with his bare hands, but evidence suggests it was the other way around. It's also said that he tamed a buffalo, but by his own confession, it was already tame; he merely shot it. His presence at the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga has been questioned. [[spoiler:It turns out he was a murderous pirate, and while he was a brawler, his involvement in the American Revolution is probably a post-hoc interpolation, since he was called Hans Sprungfeld until 1795. According to the same episode, he actually died of disease]].

* Mayor Dewey ''tried'' to do this in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' with his ancestor William Dewey, but he wrote him as so over-the-top that he was a total MarySue — he gave his ''ordinary human'' ancestor the power to ''grow 50 feet tall at will'', entirely to invoke this trope. Pearl, [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld who was actually there for the events the play covers]], rewrote the whole thing to be more historically accurate and less absurd.

KungFuJesus is a subtrope.

** Wooly mammoths themselves are often assumed to be much larger than African bush elephants and with massive tusks. In reality, wooly mammoths were smaller than bush elephants and closer in size to Asian elephants. There were larger mammoth species, but they lived in warmer climates and were most likely hairless. The tusks also grew during the whole life of the mammoth, like they do in elephants, so only the very old would have the great tusks they are often pictured with. As for American mastodons, they are often confused with wooly mammoths, but they were even smaller and there isn't even evidence that they were fully covered in hair like they are traditionally depicted to be.

* In {{WebVideo/Jreg}}'s ''Centricide'', the spirits of Kim Il Sung, Che Guevara, Julius Evola, and Ayn Rand went on to [[ItMakesSenseInContext possess Greg Guevara and became the embodiment of anti-centrism]], forming Jreg. Together, they led the Extremists in their quest to eradicate centrism in the Centricide.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'': Many of the dinosaurs and recreated animals in this franchise are subjected to this trope, most notably the theropods. The ''Velociraptor'' is an intelligent and social killer, a far cry from the solo hunting, turkey-sized and not outright stupid but rather simple-minded ambush hunter, the ''Spinosaurus'' can now apparently kill large and dangerous prey such as tyranosaurs when its anatomy is clearly that of a pisciverous water-lover, and ''Compsognathus'' is no-longer a solitary, cat-like predator of small prey and now a sort of land-piranha with toxic saliva. Zig-zagged in the Dilophosaur's case, as she is shrank, but armed with toxic spraying powers and a menacing frill on her neck. Ironically, the ''TyrannosaurusRex'' itself is something of an AdaptationalWimp, as she retains most of the real animal's power, she is slightly handicapped with terrible eyesight, when real tyranosaurs had excellent vision.

* ''Film/JurassicPark'': Many of the dinosaurs and recreated animals in this franchise are subjected to this trope, most notably the theropods. The ''Velociraptor'' is an intelligent and social killer, a far cry from the solo hunting, turkey-sized and not outright stupid but rather simple-minded ambush hunter, the ''Spinosaurus'' can now apparently kill large and dangerous prey such as tyranosaurs when it's anatomy is clearly that of a pisciverous water-lover,and ''Compsognathus'' is no-longer a solitary, cat-like predator of small prey and now a sort of land-pirhana with toxic saliva. Zig-zagged in the Dilophosaur's case, as she is shrank, but armed with toxic spraying powers and a menacing frill on her neck. Ironically, the ''TyrannosaurusRex'' itself is something of an AdaptationalWimp, as she retains most of the real animal's power, she is slightly handicapped with terrible eyesight, when real tyranosaurs had excellent vision.

* Mayor Dewey ''tried'' to do this in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' with his ancestor William Dewey, but he wrote him as so over-the-top that he was a total MarySue — he gave his ''ordinary human'' ancestor the power to ''grow 50 feet tall at will'', entirely to invoke this trope. Pearl, who was actually there for the events the play covers, rewrote the whole thing to be more historically accurate and less absurd.