History TookALevelInBadass / AnimeAndManga

** Frieza comes back and decides to take a trick out of the heroes' book and train for the first time in his life, taking several thousand levels of badass in the process and becomes able to match the now god-level Goku blow-for-blow. [[FromBadToWorse And then he transforms]]

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}''

* ''Manga/{{Ryuuroden}}'': [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/ryuuroden/v01/c002/3.html Here]] is Shiro at the start of the manga in the bottom panel. And [[http://www.mangahere.com/manga/ryuuroden/v20/c076/31.html there's]] Shiro about sixty chapters later. At first a normal kid [[TrappedInAnotherWorld sent]] [[FishOutOfTemporalWater to the realm of]] ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' who barely manages to escape several kidnap attempts, to a badass martial arts expert. [[SincerityMode Well done, Shiro. Well done.]]

* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''

* ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'': China is not known to be the biggest badass around, him being the resident ReallySevenHundredYearsOld [[ImmortalImmaturity Immortal]] ButtMonkey; however, the anime (and once in the webcomic) give him a moment of [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome beating the crap out of both]] [[SeriousBusiness Germany]] and [[PerpetualFrowner Japan]] (despite the former having a ''gun'' and the latter weilding a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]) singlehandedly using only his [[FryingPanOfDoom Wok of Doom]]. This promoted him to BadassAdorable ''and'' CuteBruiser.

* As ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' completed its [[GenreShift transformation]] into a fighting {{shounen}}, the ([[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters many]]) characters went and plundered the badass warehouse:

* In ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'', after about 9 volumes of absolute fail and Tsuna being the physical [[ThisLoserIsYou Embodiment of Suck]], No-Good Tsuna finally took ''multiple'' levels in badass. This was due to the unveiling of his [[TranquilFury Hyper Dying Will Mode]], in which he becomes a calm, cool, level-headed fighter that can do things from [[IncendiaryExponent lighting his hands on fire]] to ''flying''. It gets even better in the Future Arc, where [[spoiler:after receiving a MindScrew, courtesy of the [[MindRape Vongola Boss Right of Passage]] accompanied by the claustrophobia and lack of air of TYL!Hibari's hedgehog dome, Tsuna gets another level in badass]]. ''Everyone'' took one when they [[spoiler:put on those [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes Impossibly Cool Battle Suits]].]]

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''

* In ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'', Greed is easily taken down by [[spoiler:Wrath/King Bradley]]. However, [[spoiler:once he's resurrected in Ling's body, he's able to (somewhat) hold his own against Wrath, presumably by at least partially drawing on Ling's combat skills]].

* ''{{Manga/Hunter X Hunter}}'': Leorio was pretty cool already but he was definitely on the lower side of the power scale. [[spoiler: At the Phantom Troupe arc he has barely learned Nen, the power which the guys with high PowerLevels use to fight. After the arc he was PutOnABus until later. Suddenly in the most recent arc [[TheBusCameBack he returns]] and how: He publicly calls out Ging for refusing to visit his hospitalized son. Words don't seem to have an effect, [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu so he flips him off and sends him flying with an uppercut, courtesy of his brand new Nen ability.]] In-universe it's acknowledged as awesome enough for a standing ovation and enough votes for him to take over as hunter chairman to rocket him from an unknown to third place.]]

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''

* Buchi from ''Manga/MekkoRarekko'', takes a level in badass after seeing his best friend Taishou tortured a lot. We should note that Taishou along with Buchi were made into [[SexSlave sex slaves]] by Amanuma, who is basically a total {{Jerkass}}. Buchi tackles Amanuma out of anger knocking him down and when he sees his smartphone, he smashes it until it's destroyed.

** [[spoiler:Viral]] in a total [[EvilIsDumb inversion]] of GoodIsDumb, makes a HeelFaceTurn that changes him from a heavily DiminishingVillainThreat and IneffectualSympatheticVillain, to a guy that who in his first fight along with Simon [[spoiler:''destroys a fleet of enemies by the sheer force of their combined awesomeness'']].

* In Season 2 of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', [[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. Setsuna himself ''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 HeroicSacrifice and [[EarnYourHappyEnding earning his and Kati's happy ending]]. That, and Patrick actually managed to kill something in Episode 23 of Season 2, a feat the Ace Pilot of the former Advanced European Union had never carried out on-screen. Graham Aker, on the other hand, is actually a subversion of this trope, as he already was badass but got turned into a revenge-seeking pissed-off MS pilot. (So Saji and Graham switch around.) To some degree, Allelujah does this at least twice: First time is actually in Episode 25 of the first season, when Allelujah and Hallelujah merge together for a while, only to have that ability taken away by killing Hallelujah, but letting Allelujah survive (it doesn't make much sense, since they're two minds in one body), and the second time when Setsuna resurrects Hallelujah by healing Allelujah's brain with an overflow of GN Particles. The two minds fuse again and kick ass for a second time against Healing Care. They make a return in the movie and put on a good show, buying Setsuna enough time to complete his mission.]]

** In [[Manga/GoldenWind part 5]] this happens to a MonsterOfTheWeek of all people. During the fight on the train, Pesci is introduced as an {{Adorkable}} CowardlyLion who is pretty much being babysitted by his partner, Prosciutto. As the fight goes on, he gradually starts learning from his partner's advice and becomes more and more determined to win, eventually scoring a NearVillainVictory.

* In the manga adaptation of ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' (titled ''Manga/DaiNoDaibouken/Dai's Great Adventure''), the title character Dai's meek sidekick Pop goes from a total loser to one of the most heroic characters in the series.

** He took an even bigger level of badass around the end of the Buu saga. Though he didn't get to defeat Buu, he was effortlessly destroying him with his bare hands. Not a single [[KiAttacks Ki]] blast left his hands.

--->'''Buu:''' "So, hotshot, you want to fight Majin Buu?"
--->'''Gohan:''' ''(smiling coldly)'' "Fight you? No. I want to kill you."

*** And now we have [[NeutralFemale White]] aiming for third. [[spoiler:After she repaired herself from the [[HeroicBSOD fatal error]] at the Nimbasa Ferris Wheel, it's safe to say she realized that not only is something ''much bigger'' than BW Rentals going on, but as long as she's traveling with Black she's going to be [[DistressedDamsel damsel bait]] for Team Plasma. As a result, she's taken a small squad of Pokemon (including a last-minute donation of Brave by Black) onto the Battle Subway for training, with plans to stay on the train until she feels she can handle the stress. If they are anywhere ''near'' the cheesiness [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard of the games counterpart]], then Team Plasma better hope the experience breaks her further or ''[[GeniusDitz Black]]'' will be the least of their worries... and if the two join forces after that and Ghetsis is still running the show, well, '''''HELL'''''.]]

*** Androids #17 and #18 are powerful enough to deal with Goku's Super Saiyan Blue form.

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'', [[TheHero Jonathan Joestar]] starts off as a SpoiledSweet getting constantly overshadowed by his recently adopted brother in every way possible. At one points, [[BigBad Dio Brando]] CrossesTheLineTwice and pulls Jojo's heroic trigger. Not only he knocks down Dio in a very satisfying fashion, the boy grows up 7 years later and becomes very masculine and, eventually, the only person strong enough to challenge his arch-enemy, who has been turned into one of the most powerful vampires in 1880s.
** [[spoiler:His alternate universe counterpart,]] Johnny Joestar from part 7 gets hit with it even more - at the start of the story he is sad and pathetic shadow of his former self, bound to a wheelchair and [[ParentalNeglect abandoned by his father]]. Over the course of the story he grows from whiny spoiled brat to a badass, who can hold his own against tough opponents, gets [[HeartIsAnAwesomePower power to shoot his fingernails]], [[spoiler:which later evolves into creating portals into pocket dimension, and then - into spinning every cell in enemy's body until both their body and soul is completely destroyed]], gets his legs to work again and even [[spoiler:gains his father's respect.]]
** At the start of part 4, Koichi was just a [[TagalongKid meek fifteen year old kid without any superpowers]]. In the narrative he himself states, that readers don't need to remember his name, because he isn't important. However, this changes after he gets his stand. He keeps his timid personality most of the time, but whenever someone manages to really piss him off, [[LetsGetDangerous he goes full badass]] and proceeds to beat his opponent - and since it's part 4, he usually beats them both physically and [[DefeatMeansFriendship psychologically]]. On top of that,[[spoiler:his stand evolves, each time becoming faster and gaining new abilities]].
** Emporio Alnino in Part 6 doesn't have much in the way of a powerful combat ability, or anything real impressive. But, [[spoiler:he gains Weather Report as a stand, and is the one to kill [[BigBad Enrico Pucci]], which Jotaro (resident badass of the series who can ''stop time'') and Jolyne (daughter of said resident badass) couldn't do.]]

->''"I think I'm catching the 'I-can't-do-this-or-go-there' Disease."''
-->-- '''Usopp''' at various pre-timeskip points, ''Manga/OnePiece''

->''"It's true, I'm slipping. I used to lie a lot more often. Now, I can actually do these things."''
-->-- '''Usopp''' post-timeskip, ''Manga/OnePiece''

* Being a series about a hero school, ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' is going to show the development of the students. This particular class also ends up getting thrown into unexpected battles that force them to toughen up fast, forcing the trope on them out of a simple need to survive against rising villainy. Keep in mind, this class still hasn't completed its first year yet. Midoriya, the main character, has the most prominent of these given he started school with a gifted quirk he didn't fully understand. His first major level-up was when he developed Full Cowl: the ability to use his quirk to enhance himself without breaking himself every time, allowing him to really stand with the rest of the class as an equal. The second was Full Cowl: Shoot Style, switching from punching attacks to kicking attacks to better develop both his power and an identity to call his own.

*** After the mess in Whole Cake Island, the world has acknowledged Luffy's sheer prowess, as they noted that [[spoiler: Luffy actually got out of an Emperor's turf ''alive'', managed to destroy Big Mom's castle, even nearly assassinating Big Mom herself (the only notable assassination of a Yonko before that was Whitebeard himself) [[note]] The previous incidents was less Luffy's planning and more his allies' plan as well as dumb luck[[/note]], and having a 5600+ strong crew consisting of notable infamous pirates who will be ready to help him at the drop of his hat.]] [[spoiler: All this led to Luffy's bounty '''tripling''' to '''1.5 Billion Berries''', the highest bounty ever seen in this series, as well as the News Journal unofficially crowning Luffy as the '''FIFTH EMPEROR'''.]]

* ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}''
** Ash Ketchum picked up one of these during the Hoenn and Battle Frontier arc, then again in the Sinnoh arc of ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'', really hitting his stride during the latter after his second battle with Fantina.
** Also worth noting the transition from BW and XY. Ash proceeds [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome taking on (and successfully taming) a rampaging semi-legendary Pokemon with just only his Pikachu and Froakie]] in the second episode of the XY season.
** Also, by the Battle Frontier season, May had become a really, ''really'' skilled Coordinator.

** Amazingly, the Team Rocket trio of all people seem to have nailed this trope perfectly in the new ''Best Wishes'' series. They've gone from being the {{Butt Monkey}}s of the entire show to competent and intimidating villains who manage to escape with style every time a plan is foiled. Right on the 2nd 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. After Pikachu and Axew are freed, Jessie makes Woobat cheap-shot them while Pikachu is preparing a Thunderbolt. 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''! As of the Kalos saga, they returned to their comical former selves, though still remain more resilient and NotSoHarmless than beforehand.
** Meowth and Wobuffet spent most of the previous seasons as {{Non Action Guy}}s, being fairly ineffectual battlers and acting as brains or comic relief near exclusively. As of ''Best Wishes'' while still primarily in this function, they show more advanced skills and take physical part more often. Wobuffet can now counter even some of the most powerful of Ash's Pokemon, while Meowth's Fury Swipes have become more powerful and even versatile in different strategies (he once used them to ''block'' Hidden Attack). This is among the traits that has seemingly been kept even after the team became clownish again.
** During the Sinnoh era, Jessie became a competent Pokemon coordinator and even won several contests without cheating (compared to Hoenn where she failed miserably). Similarly James and Meowth got their HiddenDepths expanded upon. It has been a recurring plot focussince then that the trio [[CutLexLuthorACheck are formidable in many areas that aren't villainy]], as proved in many episodes where they are pit against the heroes while [[GoKartingWithBowser off the clock.]]
** Madame Muchmoney, who in her first appearance was a fat, spoiled rich snob. In her second appearance, she's been wandering the wilderness (in an attempt to find her missing Snubbull) and has gained incredible muscle and strength from it.
** [[TheDitz Bianca.]] Before the Clubsplosion, she had lost five times without a single victory. However, she defeated Trip by [[HoistByHisOwnPetard using Emboar's Fling to throw Conkeldurr's stone pillars back at it,]] and defeated Georgia in round 2 before losing in the semifinals. She also obtained 8 badges and made it to the Vertress Conference, where she defeated her opponent in the preliminaries round.
** Misty's Psyduck in the Kanto reunion episodes of ''Sun and Moon''. Before, Psyduck was a total idiot, only able to do a trickle with its Water Gun attack and its powerful Psychic moves only come about because of headaches. When she brings him out again, his Water Gun is a ''lot'' more powerful and he can use his Psychic powers with ease, though he's hit with a DelayedReaction (Misty told him to use Confusion, but only remembered it when he landed on his head... then it took him a little bit longer to remember the fall on his head.)

* In ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', this and CharacterDevelopment is a given to all of the protagonists in their own respective arcs, but special mention to [[FriendToAllLivingThings Yellow]] must be given. She initially just tries to run away from battles, endangers herself when trying to protect others, doesn't know her own Pokemon's move sets very well, doesn't know what evolution is, ''cries'' when her Rattata does so (initially thinking it was gone forever), etc, etc. By the end of the arc, she's fighting ''Lance'' (who is much of a [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard cheating bastard as his game counterpart]]) of all people all by herself, her first strategy involving surfing on ''lava'' to create a ''tornado'' to suck him into it, and when that fails and her arm gets broken, she tries even harder and ends up simply blowing him away (albeit with some backup) with a ''massive'' burst of energy.
** Yellow is the 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.]]
** And now we have [[NeutralFemale White]] aiming for third. [[spoiler:After she repaired herself from the [[HeroicBSOD fatal error]] at the Nimbasa Ferris Wheel, it's safe to say she realized that not only is something ''much bigger'' than BW Rentals going on, but as long as she's traveling with Black she's going to be [[DistressedDamsel damsel bait]] for Team Plasma. As a result, she's taken a small squad of Pokemon (including a last-minute donation of Brave by Black) onto the Battle Subway for training, with plans to stay on the train until she feels she can handle the stress. If they are anywhere ''near'' the cheesiness [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard of the games counterpart]], then Team Plasma better hope the experience breaks her further or ''[[GeniusDitz Black]]'' will be the least of their worries... and if the two join forces after that and Ghetsis is still running the show, well, '''''HELL'''''.]]

** Also worth noting the transition from BW and XY. Ash proceeds [[AwesomeMoment taking on (and succesfully taming) a rampaging semi-legendary Pokemon with just only his Pikachu and Froakie]] in the second episode of the XY season.

** Mimi Tachikawa took a level in this after she finished her TenMinuteRetirement in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''. While initially a prissy valleygirl who was the most fearful of the...[[RoadApples unpleasent attacks]]... of some digimon she takes a level of this in episode 44 when she stares down a squad of some of these unpleasent attack digimon, ''[[MomentOfAwesome grabs one of their projectiles and THROWS IT BACK!!]]''

** Only in the original game, unfortunately. In the Fate route Shirou still seems rather pathetic at the end of the series despite changing that attitude about halfway through the story. In Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel, on the other hand, he racks up a laundry list of [[MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]] and arguably becomes even more badass than Archer at his best thanks to his unstoppable {{Determinator}} status.

* ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'': China is not known to be the biggest badass around, him being the resident ReallySevenHundredYearsOld [[ImmortalImmaturity Immortal]] ButtMonkey; however, the anime (and once in the webcomic) give him a moment of [[MomentOfAwesome beating the crap out of both]] [[SeriousBusiness Germany]] and [[PerpetualFrowner Japan]] (despite the former having a ''gun'' and the latter weilding a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]) singlehandedly using only his [[FryingPanOfDoom Wok of Doom]]. This promoted him to BadassAdorable ''and'' CuteBruiser.

** A more traditional example (and arguably a far more EPIC one) would be Mamoru. When the series starts, Mamoru is a grade school kid whose only claim to fame is his ability to fly and purify Zonder cores; he's very much the TagalongKid for the first few dozen episodes, as demonstrated in episode 4 when he tried to purify a Zonder on his own and almost got himself killed. Shortly after the Primevals make their appearance, however, Mamoru discovers that he's an alien (something we've known since the first episode) and gets a powerup from Galeon that allows him to purify Primeval cores as well as Zonder cores. Not long after that, the little tyke starts racking up [[MomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments Of Awesome]] almost as fast as Guy. This list includes, but is by no means limited to:

* In Anime/YuGiOh, [[Anime/YuGiOhGX GX]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds 5D's]], several characters (mainly main characters) do this. Most notably, however, are Yugi (not Atem) and Jonouchi. Yugi winds up being able to defeat Atem, despite never actually getting to play in any of the more important duels. And Jonouchi... doesn't really need an explanation, but it is still provided: He starts out with no dueling skills at all, tries beating Yugi with a deck consisting of 40 Normal Monsters and nothing else, fails, gets a bit of advice, and manages to defeat Mai, Rex, Weevil, Mako, Esper Roba, one of Dartz' Motorcycle-riding Henchmen, and Odion (though this hardly counts as it wound up being "whoever get up first wins"). Also, Seto in Season 4: "If at first you don't succeed, blast it again with your BLUE-EYES WHITE DRAGON!"

* This trope is ''the'' major theme in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE''. As the series is divided into three separate generations, it's only natural that the original protagonists grow from simple, traditional Gundam pilots into real badasses. For example, AGE-1 pilot Flit Asuno eventually becomes a Vice Admiral and base commander for the Earth Federation, then retires into a BadassGrandpa and mentor to his grandson Kio. Likewise, AGE-2 pilot Asemu Asuno grows up to become the [[BadassNormal "Super Pilot"]] of the Federation (complete with the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast badass monicker]] [[RedBaron White Devil]]), then goes MIA to become [[LovableRogue Captain Ash]], leader of the [[SpacePirates Bisidian space pirates]]. Now to see what Kio becomes...

* Kazuma of ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma'', in the backstory. Exiled a few years ago for getting his ass handed to him by his little cousin, by the present time he's become the most badass character in the show, handily defeating anyone and everyone (including his dad) without breaking a sweat. Turns out his exile was the best thing to happen to him, since [[BlackSheep he lacked]] his family's [[PlayingWithFire flair for fire]]. Instead, he found his [[BlowYouAway talent for the wind]].

** And how about [[spoiler:Keiichi Maebara]] toward the end of the second season? Granted, he went the inspirational leader route rather than the ass-kicking one, but he did it with such panache that I almost expected him to bust out a pair of distinctive [[CoolShades pointy orange sunglasses]] and scream "[[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann GATTAI!]]"

** All of the Forwards advance by two PowerLevels on the mage ranking scale by the end of ''[=StrikerS=]'': Teana, Subaru, and Erio go from B to AA, and Caro, from C+ to A+. By ''[=ViVid=]'', Teana is ''[[TheAce S Ranked]]''.

** After the original Visual Novel he's apparently even ''more'' badass without having to give in to his Nanaya side. [[AllThereInTheManual He's apparently killed three Dead Apostle Ancestors since then.]] [[spoiler:His Nanaya side is actually the thing that scares him the most because he's afraid it's merely an unstoppable [[strike:killing]] murdering psychopath.]]

** All of the Forwards advance by two PowerLevels on the mage ranking scale by the end of ''[=StrikerS=]'': Teana, Subaru, and Erio go from B to AA, and Caro, from C+ to A+. By ''[=ViVid=]'', Teana is ''S-Ranked''.