History TookALevelInBadass / FanWorks

** Terrordactyl counts as a meta example, at least where the geological time scale is concerned. According to him, ''[[GiantFlyer Pteranodons]]'' were in fact [[GentleGiant rather nice creatures]] who didn't want to partake in the Late Cretaceous warfare - [[spoiler:and were easily massacred at the claws of the [[ReligionOfEvil dictatorial]] ''[[StockDinosaurs Deinonychus]]'' [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal division.]]]] Cut to the present day, and a certain [[ItMakesSenseInContext genetically engineered]] PteroSoarer taking down entire [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal roving ravenous raptor regiments]] without breaking a sweat.

* In ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheGaleforces'', this happens to virtually '''ALL''' of the Supers who have been bought BackFromTheDead at some point or another. Stratogale, Splashdown, and Thunderhead, all of whom died thanks to the humble CapeSnag, return to the story's current timeframe in ways that are both epic and well-earned, with Apogee and later Macroburst and Phylange following soon after. And as for [[TheIncredibles the original Super family,]] who are already a BadassFamily as is, a NoodleIncident or two before the beginning of the story has apparently made them even more BadAss.

* In ''Fanfic/RiseOfTheGaleforces'', this happens to virtually '''ALL''' of the Supers who have been bought BackFromTheDead at some point or another. Stratogale, Splashdown, and Thunderhead, all of whom died thanks to the humble CapeSnag, return to the story's current timeframe in ways that are both epic and well-earned, with Apogee and later Macroburst and Phylange following soon after. And as for [[TheIncredibles the original Super family,]] who are already a BadassFamily as is, a couple of {{Noodle Incidents}} before the beginning of the story have apparently made them even more BadAss.

* '''''Everyone''''' did in {{Fanfic/MagicaMadokaVeneficusPuella}}. All of the weapons can be spammed without hesitation. All the characters have enhanced strength and reinforced body structures. Oh, and [[spoiler:Homura's a potential goddess.]]

* In the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' fic FanFic/{{Entropy}} has a few canon characters reach up a few levels, namely Amy who pretty much pwns a demoness early in the story while [[spoiler: naked]], but the one who takes the cake and pretty much eats all of it, is Agent Bazooka, also called Bazza who is [[TheReveal revealed]] to be [[spoiler: [[YamatoNadeshiko Vanilla the Rabbit!]]]] of all people! [[ActionGirl One]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown example]] [[{{BFG}} isn't]] [[CrazyAwesome enough]] [[BewareOfTheNiceOnes to]] [[FreeFallFight describe]] [[MamaBear her.]]

* ''DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'' is all about Neville Longbottom, and the DA, levelling up in Badass to the point where they're able to stand up to, and fight, Death Eaters on a nearly-equal-to-equal basis.

* A very interesting ''inversion'' of this trope comes from the ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/NobodyDies NGE: Nobody Dies]].'' Shinji Ikari [[Fanfic/ThousandShinji is no]] [[Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K stranger to]] [[SuperRobotWarsAlpha Taking Levels]] [[RebuildOfEvangelion In Badass]], but ''Nobody Dies'' Shinji could be more accurately described as having Lost A Level In Suck; thanks to Yui surviving the backstory, Shinji has grown up into a well-adjusted and ''perfectly normal'' teenager, with none of the numerous neuroses that plagued him in canon but also none of the ungodly self-confidence or super-powers other fanfics tend to give him when doing this. It makes for a very interesting take on Shinji's character to see him stick up for [[ShrinkingViolet Asuka]] and trade verbal jabs with his classmates when he's not smiting Angels with an Eva-scale {{BFS}} or a WaveMotionGun. Then again, when you're the walking embodiment of YouSuck, even becoming an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent is a big step in the right direction.

* ''[[ShinjiAndWarhammer40K Shinji & Warhammer40K]]'' ''tried'' to invert this trope in a manner similar to ''FanFic/NobodyDies'' but the author wound up overshooting the target and turned Shinji into a very straight (and very '''''EPIC''''') example of this trope instead (Case in point, there's nothing ordinary about an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent with his own gang and the universal respect and adoration of ''his entire hometown'').

* In ''[[Fanfic/{{Ptitle0028gzjm}} Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', due to YearInsideHourOutside training and applied phlebotinum, Kyon keeps taking level after level in {{Badass}}. It's nearing MemeticBadass status within the story itself.

* Takato Matsuki from the ''TamersForeverSeries'' becomes easily the strongest of the Tamers, leading to extreme jealousy from Rika
** Jeri also grows from being TheCutie into a true ActionGirl
** And If you thought TK TookALevelInBadass in Adventure 02 just look at him now

* Takato Matsuki from the ''TamersForeverSeries'' becomes easily the strongest of the Tamers, leading to extreme jealousy from Rika

** It is interesting to note than even [[spoiler:Trian Aeducan]] seems to have gone through this after his memorable BreakTheHaughty several months-long period of [[spoiler:being presumed dead after having his death faked against his will (and basically forced into being roomies with Gorim.]]

* ''TheSunSoul'' takes this idea and turns it UpToEleven... for Pokemon. No really, the author manages to take something as innocent as Pokemon and upgrade it into a grim, gruesome, and nightmare-inducing retelling, without going overboard on the crazy. Each character is leaps and bounds ahead of their original counterparts in terms of sheer badassery and so far the story has consisted mostly of adventure, mixed with politics and romance, with plenty of action and AnyoneCanDie added in.

** It is interesting to note than even [[spoiler:Trian Aeducan]] seems to have gone through this after his memorable BreakTheHaughty several months-long period of [[spoiler:being presumed dead after having his death faked against his will 9and basically forced into being roomies with Gorim.]]

** It is interesting to note than even [[spoiler:Trian Aeducan]] seems to have gone through this after his memorable BreakTheHaughty several months-long period of [[spoiler:being presumed dead after having his death faked against his will.]]

** Theron Mahariel and Gwenith Cousland can still qualify as BadassNormal members, but it is unlikely that the story will end without them also getting some sort of powerup. One might say it is required, considering what happened in the latest chapters ([[spoiler:The Archdemon became smarter and more self-aware, possibly able and mentally coherent enough to use blood magic).

** Theron Mahariel and Gwenith Cousland can still qualify as BadassNormal members, but it is unlikely that the story will end without them also getting some sort of powerup. One might say it is required, considering what happened in the latest chapters ([[spoiler:The Archdemon became smarter and more self-aware, possibly able and mentally coherent enough to use blood magic)

* Matthew Streika, once the living embodiment of the IdiotBall carrying WideEyedIdealist, now has taken some levels in badass. He threw himself in the way of TheBrute's attack, got some nifty magic, and kicked a lot of ass. Shuuji followed in Chapter 2, reducing [[SmugSnake Medraut]] [[SingleStrokeBattle to a quivering wreck.]] Even little Alina, who in the first Canon was an annoying BrattyHalfPint, became so much more BadAss as a Biological Superpowered Magical Weapon. Alina's adoptive little sister, Alexandra "Lexie" Ivanov, starts out only able to summon little lizards and heal people...and she is a ShoutOut to FinalFantasy's Summoner Class...wait, what's she summoning now, a bigger lizard? Nope, you're dead, Adrian. What's that sound? Its the world taking a fear shit: [[OhCrap She just summoned Dragon Emperor Andreclav]]

* ''DumbledoresArmyAndTheYearOfDarkness'' is all about Neville Longbottom, and the DA, levelling up in Badass to the point where they're able to stand up to, and fight, Death Eaters on a nearly-equal-to-equal basis.

* In at least two Harry Potter fanfics, Harry is subjected to this. In "Harry gets Motivated", he asks Professor Moody to mind control him into relentlessly forcing himself to study to exclusion of everything except whatever Harry has to do to stay mentally and physically healthy, and to protect himself from Voldemort. This fic ends with Harry [[spoiler: draining his bank account to further his studies, refilling it by attacking a giant vault in Malfoy Manor with his new skills, and eventually killing Voldemort so as to ensure he can study uninterrupted.]] Another example is "In Cold Blood", wherein Harry is asked by Gringotts to work as a freelancer assassinating Death Eaters for them. The goblins have a magical method that allows them to transplant knowledge from prisoners, so that Harry can fight well beyond the level of his targets. The fic is rather vague about how much knowledge of what Harry gains: all it states is that the first donor is a skilled enough torturer to keep a man on the edge of death for six months, and that after Harry gains the torturer's skill a "seemingly endless" number of donors file in after him, with "everything Harry could possibly use" against his victims.