History TookALevelInBadass / AnimeAndManga

** Actually, it's not the first time she drinks blood (Sir Hellsing forced her to drink a few drop of her own blood): Bernadette is the first man she drains completely, soul included, and he offered it to her - mix a Badass Normal with a vampire, you get...?

* Tetsuo Shima in ''{{Akira}}'' goes from an inferiority-complexed nube in a biker gang to an almost god-like psychic in about an hour into the film, capable of exploding peoples' heads, leveling bridges, surviving a satellite laser canon (and destroying it in the vacuum of space), and damn near absorbing a city into himself. Heck, at the end he is implied to be God in a new universe of his creation. However, topping all that is he never manages to defeat his BadassNormal friend Kaneda.

** Yellow is the [[MostTriumphantExample poster girl]] for {{Badass}} [[LevelGrinding Grinding]], and you'd be hard pressed to argue otherwise. If one counts backstory, however, Sapphire's the runner-up. [[spoiler:Even though he was a hard badass back then - born and raised by Norman, who wouldn't be? - Ruby locked away his inner badass after [[{{Awesome/PokemonSpecial}} repulsing a Salamence with three unevolved Pokemon]] and frightening the poor docile girl to tears, eventually going in the [[TookALevelInJerkass opposite direction]] for the next five years. As a result of his demonstration of masterwork and bravery, coupled with her own shame over her reaction and the injury he sustained as a result, she disappeared into the wild, ground herself into an ActionGirl, developed CharlesAtlasSuperpower and never looked back.]]

** Let's not forget Rua who up until now was just Ruka's Moral Support, but recently badassed his way into [[spoiler:Signer status so hard spoiler:the Crimson Dragon made up a new mark for him]].

** Amazingly, Team Rocket of all people seem to have nailed this trope perfectly in the new Pokémon Best Wishes Series. They've gone from being the [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkeys]] of the entire show to competent and intimidating villains who manage to escape with style every time a plan is foiled.
*** [[spoiler: To elaborate: Right on the second episode of ''Best Wishes'', Jessie captures a Woobat off-screen. Later, they capture Pikachu and Iris's Axew, but Ash calls his new Pidove, to which Jessie calls Woobat. Cue NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. And even after Pikachu and Axew are freed, Jessie makes Woobat cheap-shot them while Pikachu is preparing a Thundershock. If it wasn't for Oshawott's BigDamnHeroes moment, they would have won, and instead of blasting off, they SmokeOut, leaving Pikachu and Axew all beat up and in dire need of medical care. I mean, ''damn'']]!
*** [[spoiler: To record, the last time they blasted off, Jessie and James were wearing their white duds. Ever since their promotion, they have bailed of their own accord when it hit the fan, rather than getting launched Smash Bros. style. And now they have gone ''several episodes'' '''without showing up to fight Ash''', and engaging in their own, criminal operation B-plot that they're '''being successful at'''. Whatever the bone Giovanni gave them was, they really want to prove they're worth it by any means necessary]].

* Once Ellis from ElCazadorDeLaBruja gains dominance over her witch powers--meaning she can call them forth at will and control them--it's a whole new ballgame. Especially for fat formerly-transvestite bounty hunters.

** Lets not forget Leo who up till now was just Luna's Moral Support but recently badassed his way into Signer status so hard the crimsion dragon made up a new mark for him

** In GX, we have Manjyoume, after he returns to Duel Academy and has his black [[{{BadassLongcoat}} jacket]] and the Ojama deck. Also, Hell Kaiser Ryo.

* Tenma and Nina in ''{{Monster}}'', who are promptly de-{{woobie}}fied by their gun training and [[DarkerAndEdgier grim]] [[TheFettered determination]].

** Arguably, Shuhei Hisagi qualifies as well. While a seemingly-cool character, he hadn't won a single fight in canon before the recent Fake Karakura Town arc, where he reveals his shikai, imparting his MartialPacifist words of wisdom while he utterly wrecks his opponent, coming to a head in the most recent chapter where he [[spoiler: kills Tosen by impaling him in the head with his zanpakuto, then releasing it ''in his fucking skull.'']]

* When [[GentleGiant Chad]] realizes that he's [[CantCatchUp fallen far behind Ichigo]] and [[DeadpanSnarker Uryuu]] loses his Quincy abilites, they each go through their own TrainingFromHell. The end result turns two people who'd be lucky to fight a lieutenant and win into powerful fighters, each roughly on par with Ichigo without his mask. They both shred through their respective opponents in the Hueco Mundo arc...until they meet the Espada at least. But hey, they were each more than a match for a Privaron.

*** Actually, Shinji is not that much of a spineless wuss, even in the original series (he does stand up to Asuka sometimes - would you?) and is shown throwing tantrums too. It is however made explicit that, when confronted with a bad situation, he usually distances himself from it. However, [[learning that his mom was killed in the Eva, that Misato's boyfriend died and she does care, that Toji died, that Asuka went catatonic, that Rei got wiped blank and his father really hates him]] may allow one to indulge in some introspection, or go stir-crazy.

** Arguably, Sh?hei Hisagi qualifies as well. While a seemingly-cool character, he hadn't won a single fight in canon before the recent Fake Karakura Town arc, where he reveals his shikai, imparting his MartialPacifist words of wisdom while he utterly wrecks his opponent, coming to a head in the most recent chapter where he [[spoiler: kills Tosen by impaling him in the head with his zanpakuto, then releasing it ''in his fucking skull.'']]

** In GX, we have Manjyoume, after he returns to Duel Academy and has his black [[{{BadassLongcoat}} jacket]] and the Ojama deck. Also, Hell Kaiser Ryo.
* In {{Bleach}}, lots of characters take levels in badass. For instance, Renji vows to save Rukia during the Soul Society arc, then promptly trains himself Bankai. He may have lost the resulting fight with Byakuya (having an AwesomeButImpractical Bankai didn't really help), but he still proved to be a very formidable opponent to him.
** Ichigo took about FIVE levels in badass over the course of a single day (though said day occurred over hundreds of chapters, and he did spend some time in a Year Inside One Hour Outside type space). It is almost comical in retrospect, as he started the day as being inferior to the seventh-most powerful Espada, and ended the day by making [[AGodAmI Aizen]] look weak.

** In GX, we have Manjyoume, after he returns to Duel Academy and has his black [[{{BadassLongcoat}} jacket]] and the Ojama deck. Also, Hell Kaiser Ryu.

*** Actually, Shinji is not that much of a spineless wuss, even in the original serie (he does stand up to Asuka sometimes - would you?) and is shown throwing tantrums too. It is however made explicit that, when confronted with a bad situation, he usually distances himself from it. However, [[learning that his mom was killed in the Eva, that Misato's boyfriend died and she does care, that Toji died, that Asuka went catatonic, that Rei got wiped blank and his father really hates him]] may allow one to indulge in some introspection, or go stir-crazy.

* Amazingly, Team Rocket of all people seem to have nailed this trope perfectly in the new Pokémon Best Wishes Series. They've gone from being the [[ButtMonkey Butt Monkeys]] of the entire show to competent and intimidating villains who manage to escape with style every time a plan is foiled.
** [[spoiler: To elaborate: Right on the second episode of ''Best Wishes'', Jessie captures a Woobat off-screen. Later, they capture Pikachu and Iris's Axew, but Ash calls his new Pidove, to which Jessie calls Woobat. Cue NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. And even after Pikachu and Axew are freed, Jessie makes Woobat cheap-shot them while Pikachu is preparing a Thundershock. If it wasn't for Oshawott's BigDamnHeroes moment, they would have won, and instead of blasting off, they SmokeOut, leaving Pikachu and Axew all beat up and in dire need of medical care. I mean, ''damn'']]!
** [[spoiler: To record, the last time they blasted off, Jessie and James were wearing their white duds. Ever since their promotion, they have bailed of their own accord when it hit the fan, rather than getting launched Smash Bros. style. And now they have gone ''several episodes'' '''without showing up to fight Ash''', and engaging in their own, criminal operation B-plot that they're '''being successful at'''. Whatever the bone Giovanni gave them was, they really want to prove they're worth it by any means necessary]].
** Not to mention James did this all ''without any Pokemon''.

* Ash Ketchum picked up one of these during the Sinnoh arc of ''[[{{Anime/ptitlei015gc004kw4}} Pokémon]]'', hitting his stride after his second battle with Fantina.
** He may have done that much earlier, when he passed the baton of being new to training Pokémon to May (and she did the same for Dawn).
*** There's also Ash's Chimchar. At first it looked like a pretty weak Pokemon. Then it evolved into Monferno, then into ''Infernape'', its final form. It seemed like a (literal) ButtMonkey at first, but due to its status as the DP era's [[TheWoobie woobie,]] it's grown to be one of the most powerful Pokemon on Ash's team.

* In {{Bleach}}, lots of characters take levels in badass. For instance, Renji vows to save Rukia during the Soul Society arc, then promptly trains himself Bankai. He may have lost the resulting fight with Byakuya (having an AwesomeButImpractical Bankai didn't really help), but he still proved to be a very formidable opponent to him.

** [[spoiler: To elaborate: Right on the second episode of ''Best Wishes'', Jessie captures a Koromori off-screen. Later, they capture Pikachu and Iris's Kibago, but Ash calls his new Mamepato, to which Jessie calls Koromori. Cue NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. And even after Pikachu and Kibago are freed, Jessie makes Koromori cheap-shot them while Pikachu is preparing a Thundershock. If it wasn't for Mijumaru's BigDamnHeroes moment, they would have won, and instead of blasting off, they SmokeOut, leaving Pikachu and Kibago all beat up and in dire need of medical care. I mean, ''damn'']]!

** Not to mention James did this all ''without any pokemon''.

[[spoiler: --->'''Janine''':"I’m ''not'' here to play around! Hand over my boyfriend, or I will give you a makeover the world will ''not'' forget!"]]

[[spoiler:-->'''Janine''':"I’m ''not'' here to play around! Hand over my boyfriend, or I will give you a makeover the world will ''not'' forget!"]]

* Tsukune from [[RosarioToVampire Rosario+Vampire]] started the series as your typical loser harem lead, but then Moka injected him with vampire blood to save his life and he gained temporary vampire powers, which was repeated in later encounters with monsters. After a while, the constant injections turned him into a mindless ghoul, though he was saved by having that form sealed up. Since then, he has been able to call upon his ghoul powers at will, and with training from Moka, has undeniably become a full-time badass. [[AdaptationDecay Except in the anime.]]

** In GX, we have Manjyoume, after he returns to Duel Academy and has his black [[{{BadassLongcoat}} jacket]] and the Ojama deck. Also, Hell Kaiser Ryu.

* In the second season of ''{{Gundam 00}}'', [[spoiler: Saji Crossroad goes from OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent to Celestial Being's [[TagalongKid Tag Along Guy]] and then to [[BashBrothers Setsuna's partner]] and [[SixthRanger pilot of the 00-Raiser]]. His girlfriend Louise Halevy, crippled in season 1 and taken in by the A-Laws, becomes a BrokenBird DarkActionGirl. And Setsuna himself pretty much ''lives'' to take levels in badass, to the point of becoming ''The Ultimate Innovator'' almost at the end of the series. And that Patrick's HeelFaceTurn actually made him [[EvilIsDumb stronger]] than he ever was... enough to survive an HeroicSacridfice and [[EarnYourHappyEnding earning his and Kati's happy ending]].]]

*** Actually, Shinji is not that much of a spineless wuss, even in the original serie (he does stand up to Asuka sometimes - would you?) and is shown throwing tantrums too. It is however made explicit that, when confronted with a bad situation, he usually distances himself from it. However, [[learning that his mom was killed in the Eva, that Misato's boyfriend died and she does care, that Toji died, that Asuka went catatonic, that Rei got wiped blank and his father really hates him]] may allow one to indulge in some introspection, or go stir-crazy.

*** Actually, Shinji is not that much of a spineless wuss, even in the original serie (he does stand up to Asuka sometimes - would you?) and is shown throwing tantrums too. It is however made explicit that, when confronted with a bad situation, he usually distances himself from it. However, learning that his mom was killed in the Eva, that Misato's boyfriend died and she does care, that Toji died, that Asuka went catatonic, that Rei got wiped blank and his father really hates him may allow one to indulge in some introspection, or go stir-crazy.

** Although he's still generally the passive and despondent teen we all know and love(or hate), Shinji has also generally had a much more forward and direct personality. [[spoiler: Being more forward in bringing Rei out of her shell, taking more chances in the battle against Ramiel, rampaging around the Geofront after the Unit-03 incident, and even confronting his father in a more direct manner.]] So far anyways...

** Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru's former minion, recently [[spoiler: took some of his master's remains into his own body, and as a result took on some of the old snake's powers. Specifically, Impure World Resurrection, the power to revive a dead person as a loyal servant. Which he then used on several fallen Akatsuki members, bringing five of the most dangerous individuals on the planet under his total control and almost instantly catapulting himself from 'tough but manageable' to 'one of the most powerful people in the series'.]]

*** It seems suggested that he simply gained back levels he had lost. At first, he was angsty and ill, but before the dragon fight, he gained his self-confidence back, and by the end he had been physically healed as well. Tifa also spoke of the strength [[{{Nakama}} the lot of them]] had felt near the end of the game and how they had already lost it, except that, near the end of the movie, Cloud had regained it.

* [[spoiler:[[NotSoHarmless Matsuda]] [[LetsGetDangerous shooting Light]]]] in the last episode of ''DeathNote'' deconstructs this trope ''{{Evangelion}}''-style: the viewer is too stunned by how sad everything is to pay much attention to [[spoiler:how fucking cool the resident ButtMonkey just became]].