History TookALevelInBadass / MarvelUniverse

* ComicBook/{{Storm}} from ''ComicBook/XMen'' is an interesting example; she started off as a fairly strong Claremont Woman, but a bit unsure of herself. After some time with the team and a radical makeover in Japan, however, she became less an African ProperLady and more of an ethnic ActionGirl. She still used SpockSpeak, however, and continues to do so to this day. Also, when it comes to her {{claustrophobia}}, finding herself in an enclosed space went from "instantly paralyzed by post-traumatic flashbacks to her parents' death" to "really uncomfortable, but the desire to get the hell out makes her all the more motivated to get the job done."

** As UsefulNotes/{{the Dark Age of comic|Books}}s started, the [[PowerPerversionPotential more unsavory uses]] of his power become kosher to mention, and he took a level in ''creepy'', as well. When Creator/BrianMichaelBendis created ComicBook/JessicaJones, her backstory was that she'd been a teenage superhero. Who naively confronted Killgrave and instantly got hit by his powers. And kidnapped for eight months. [[MindRape And forced to watch him having sex with other girls and being told to wish it was her in their place.]] [[FromBadToWorse Or being forced to beg him to have sex with her until she cried.]] Needless to say, this left her with... issues.

* For a long time, the Purple Man was just another gaudily-dressed CListFodder villain who would turn up every 5 years or so to get his ass handed to him by ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}. Then the writers realized what a guy with his level of MindControl powers could really do. Cue a year-long storyline, in which the Purple Man secretly took over a Fortune 500 company (whose chairman was the father of Daredevil's girlfriend), used its resources to wage a campaign against Daredevil, framed the chairman for his crimes (eventually [[DrivenToSuicide driving him to suicide]]), broke up Daredevil's relationship, and mind controlled four of Daredevil's toughest enemies into trying to kill him all at once. A toned-down preview of what ComicBook/TheKingpin would later do in "[[ComicBook/DaredevilBornAgain Born Again]]." The Purple Man was never a joke in any Marvel book again.

* In the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, Anthony Davis was a second-rate CListFodder supervillain known as the Ringer, who was humiliated by Franchise/SpiderMan before being [[DroppedABridgeOnHim unceremoniously murdered]] along with 17 other supervillains by the villain-killing Scourge. A later {{retcon}} would reveal that Davis was NotQuiteDead when he was found by a group of agents from the technological terrorist group A.I.M., who were investigating the site of the massacre to steal the technology of the dead villains. He got better when A.I.M. turned him into a cyborg with advanced laser weapons and teleportation powers. Now calling himself Strikeback, Davis proved to be a much better fighter than he ever was as the Ringer, defeating the Vulture, Stegron, Boomerang and Swarm one after another when he reappeared in the Franchise/SpiderMan comics.

* Joke character Hammerhead from ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' got this treatment, as part of becoming TheDragon for BigBad Mr. Negative. He got a reinforced skeleton (made out of canonical NightmareFuel[[note]]that is, it actually gives Spidey nightmares... despite the fact that he never actually saw it[[/note]]) and strength and durability upgrades including a Kevlar throat. The very first thing he does is utterly stomp Spidey. As Peter is lying on the floor [[spoiler:''with a dislocated jaw'']], he says "[[LampshadeHanging Why aren't you a joke anymore?]]"

* Spider-Man's writing team is making all his classic villains either take a level in badass or be replaced by stronger and more dangerous counterparts (Vulture, Rhino). ComicBook/DoctorOctopus took control over all of New York's technology with his last appearance, Chameleon (written by, already mentioned above, Fred Van Lente) returned to his original ways, becoming a perfect -- and dangerous -- impersonator and assassin. Electro can now turn into lightning and [[spoiler: destroyed the Daily Bugle building]], Sandman can make multiple copies of himself ([[spoiler:some of them are murderous]]), Mysterio [[spoiler: took control over the [[strike:Mafia]] Maggia with his tricks]]. Not so classic White Rabbit has been turned from a complete joke into a dangerous drug dealer and crazy killer and together with the Spot and a bunch of CListFodder villains -- Scorcher, Speed Demon, Bloodshed, Squid, Lightmaster, and Answer -- almost destroyed Mr. Negative's criminal empire and defeated his immortal servants and Hammerhead (they lost only because [[spoiler: Negative brainwashed Spider-Man and sent him to fight them]]).
* Spider-Man is all about taking a level in badass. That's essentially what happened to Peter Parker from the very start!
** And in ''ComicBook/SpiderIsland'', after losing his spider-sense and having to learn how to fight without it (Spider-Fu), it has returned and now Spider-Man is even more dangerous! Baddies beware.
** He's done this multiple times over the course of his career as he has grown from a raw teen hero into a mature adult one. He's added tools, refined his webshooters, even gotten training from ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (who had pointed out to him that relying on instinct in a fight isn't always a good idea).
* Although never exactly weak, ComicBook/NormanOsborn went from being Spider-Man's enemy (who Spider-Man constantly defeated) the Green Goblin, to being the man who [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied killed Gwen Stacy]], to being the one behind ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', to taking over the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse in ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.
* Mary Jane Watson started off as just a flirtatious, free-spirited love interest for Spider-Man. As time went on, she became his main love interest, and was strong enough that she once beat one of his enemies up with a baseball bat and hardly ever gets captured; she seems well able to defend herself from villains and even rescued Spider-Man when she needed to.
* Also, Spidey's one-time girlfriend Betty Brant. After the murder of her husband Ned Leeds, she went from one nervous breakdown to another, was brainwashed by a cult for a while, and in general, was a DamselInDistress. Eventually, after a long absence from the comic, she came back [[ActionGirl packing heat and knowing martial arts]], intent on finding answers to the reasons behind Ned's death. Even Spidey was shocked at the change she had underwent. During Peter David's run on ''Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man'' (shortly before ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''), the highlight has to be Betty saving Flash and Spidey from [[TheWormThatWalks Arrow]] using a shotgun with silver bullets ([[CrazyPrepared she's a Daily Bugle reporter]]).

* The ComicBook/SquadronSupreme are usually below most Avengers teams in power level. But in ComicBook/HeroesReborn2021, the Squadron are all-powerful PhysicalGods who [[CurbstompBattle easily beat]] the likes of Galactus, Thanos, the Celestials, Knull the Symbiote god, Mangog and etc. using mostly brute force.

* If one character from the Marvel Universe is more entitled to being the poster boy/girl for this trope than Susan, It's [[ComicBook/{{Nova}} Richard "Nova: the Human Rocket" Rider]]. Nova spent most of his time being one or Marvel's poster boy for brash, reckless and inexperienced rookies trying to show off in front of the big leaguers and tending to get in the way. Then came Annihilation. And with it enough raw power to drive him insane without special training and mental shielding with help from the Nova Corps' Worldmind. And the Annihilation War itself had given Rider experience, a much more serious attitude after witnessing the horrors of the Annihilation wave, and a whole lot of respect after he managed to end the entire Annihilation War by ripping Annihilus inside-out in retaliation for what he did to the rest of the Nova Corps. Oh and immediately prior to that he managed to survive a massive omni-directional blast from an enraged '''Galactus''' at near ''point blank range''. A blast which was so powerful it encompassed and destroyed more than 3 Solar Systems. Since then Steven Rogers has made him a member of the Secret Avengers, and Nova become the defacto commander-in-chief for any organized resistance against major interstellar conflicts, with even the biggest and baddest that space has to offer deferring to him. Needless to say, barring his ComicBook/MarvelAdventures counterpart (which put him in the Avengers), Richard was never portrayed as a childish attention grabbing wannabe ever again.

** During Peter David's run on ''Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man'' (shortly before ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay''), he put Betty Brant through this trope. The highlight has to be saving Flash and Spidey from [[TheWormThatWalks Arrow]] using a shotgun with silver bullets ([[CrazyPrepared she's a Daily Bugle reporter]]).

** He's done this multiple times over the course of his career as he has grown from a raw teen hero into a mature adult one. He's added tools, refined his webshooters, even gotten training from ComicBook/CaptainAmerica (who had pointed out to him that relying on instinct in a fight isn't always a good idea.)
* Although never exactly weak, ComicBook/NormanOsborn went from being Spider-Man's enemy (who Spider-Man constantly defeated) the Green Goblin, to being the man who [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied killed Gwen Stacy]], to being the one behind ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'' to taking over the entire Franchise/MarvelUniverse in ''ComicBook/DarkReign''.

* Also, Spidey's one-time girlfriend Betty Brant. After the murder of her husband Ned Leeds, she went from one nervous breakdown to another, was brainwashed by a cult for a while, and in general, was a DamselInDistress. Eventually, after a long absence from the comic, she came back [[ActionGirl packing heat and knowing martial arts]], intent on finding answers to the reasons behind Ned's death. Even Spidey was shocked at the change she had underwent.

*** However, ''all'' of the badass goes away when he's up against someone who can no-sell his mind control powers and he doesn't have an army of mooks backing him up. Doctor Doom, Captain America, DareDevil, the Punisher, and Thor can all resist him through willpower alone. Deadpool's healing factor contributes to his scatter-brained personality, so Killgrave power's literally cannot get a "grip" on Deadpool's brain. Spider-Man's spider-sense starts setting off alarms so much that Killgrave simply can't get through the interference.

** Before that, he was an AdaptationalBadass in ''WesternAnimation/XMen'', as a VillainWithGoodPublicity (and good makeup to hide his purple skin) who was mind-controlling the X-Terminators as his personal army. Using his real name instead of ever calling himself "The Purple Man" helped a lot, too, when it came to being taken seriously. (When your ''real'' last name is ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Killgrave]],'' you don't ''need'' a villain handle!)

* Volstagg the Voluminous from ''ComicBook/{{Thor}}'', one of the legendary Warriors Three, is an unusual case. Naturally just being a native of [[WorldOfBadass Asgard]] would make you badass by default, but Volstagg originally was the least badass Asgardian around. Despite his constant bragging of his prowess and his past exploits, he somehow managed to either avoid battle or get taken out by a mook in the first round. Essentially he became the Asgardian equivalent of [[Theatre/HenryIVPart1 Falstaff]], more inclined to [[BigEater attack a leg of mutton]] than a foe of Asgard. You could often find him after a battle bragging about how great a strategic move his [[DirtyCoward running away from the fight as usual]] ''really'' was. This lasted until Walt Simonson's run of the book, in which Volstagg was able to prove that, even if he was hugely obese and past his prime, he was still more than capable of dispatching any number of foes, especially [[PapaWolf if his family were endangered]]. Subsequent writers have continued this trend, transforming him from a joke character to one of Asgard's staunchest and most capable defenders. In his youth he was known as the Lion of Asgard and recognized as a great warrior, so this may be more a case of ''regaining'' some levels of badass. Most recently, after a horribly traumatising experience when he took half-a-dozen Light Elf children, refugees from Malekith's devastation of their realm, into his care. They promptly got burned alive in his arms. Cue a violent RoaringRampageOfRevenge and a major HeroicBSOD. Then, he found the hammer of the Ultimate Thor, one full of the rage and pain of a dead universe. This transformed him into 'the War Thor', who ''almost'' '''''destroyed''''' ''Muspelheim''. ''Singlehandedly''.

* In the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' book (the one written by Greg Pak), Bruce Banner took a level in Badass. Proving he's not as useless as people think he is.

* ComicBook/{{Magik}}. Originally a normal six year old girl, she winds up ruling Limbo, which is for all intents and purposes a duplicate of Hell as a teenager. And that was in her backstory. One wonders how scary she could have been had she not been killed off in the mid-90s. And now shes back, more powerful, more manipulative and with much few morals.

* ComicBook/IronMan. Extremis. Which would be good enough on its own, but then he got the Bleeding Edge armor. [[spoiler: And if I read what just happened in ''Invincible Iron Man'' correctly, he's just taken a whole other level by upgrading his armor with some dwarven/Asgardian magic.]]
** Oh, you know, Iron Man's armor power doubles every 18 months. Look at ''Armor Wars''. One chapter before last, the big bad easily beats him. Last chapter, he builds a new armor and easily beats the villain. Or look at the modular armor's debut (destroys a robot which previously defeated a dozen armors). But Iron Man stays at the same power level compared to Hulk or Thor.

* ''ComicBook/XMan'': Nate Grey began as pretty badass, with vast PsychicPowers thanks to his being created as a LivingWeapon in the ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' reality to destroy Apocalypse. However, those powers weren't entirely reliable, and he was incredibly inexperienced with them. Despite this, he still effortlessly flattened Holocaust, and beat Apocalypse to a pulp, leaving him on a plate for AoA!Magneto. When he hopped over to the mainstream reality, his powers were estimated as being equivalent to those of the Dark Phoenix and he lived in constant, justified, fear of accidentally [[RealityWarper rewriting reality in his sleep]]. As time went by, he got stronger and stronger, even though his powers were killing him and switching on and off at random, subconsciously resurrecting both Maddie Pryor and, briefly, Music/AoA!Gwen Stacy and finally, himself through sheer force of will. Then, he finally got the genetic flaw fixed and becoming powerful enough to treat the Multiverse as his personal step-ladder, step outside of time and take on the Dark Avengers and Dark X-Men minus the Sentry (who had disappeared after Nate confronted him about their apparent past together, having apparently teamed up to fight Galactus) while politely lecturing them on why their powers wouldn't work on him before [[BatmanGambit apparently throwing the fight]]. Norman Osborn, a man known for underestimating his enemies if anything, considered him capable of going toe to toe with the Sentry.

* ''ComicBook/DonnyCatesThor'' sees Thor gain the Power Cosmic and while it destroyed the Destroyer Arm he's been sporting since ''ComicBook/WarOfTheRealms'', it also regenerated the lost arm it replaced as well as the eye he lost during ''War''.

* ComicBook/IllyanaRasputin. Aka Magik I. Originally a normal six year old girl, she winds up ruling Limbo, which is for all intents and purposes a duplicate of Hell as a teenager. And that was in her backstory. One wonders how scary she could have been had she not been killed off in the mid-90s. And now shes back, more powerful, more manipulative and with much few morals.

*** Cypher could do the computer language thing prior to his death - but it's much more impressive now. Cypher just debuted a decade or so too early.

*** Cypher could do the computer language thing prior to his death - but it's much more impressive now. Cypher just debuted a decade or so too early.
* Yorick in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' starts as an inept loser who's often beaten up by women (including his sister) but with the help of some traumatic incidents, and training by Agent 355, becomes more adept at defending himself. Subverted also in one scene when a non-action character suddenly whips out a sword in an apparent elevation to Badass, only to be easily defeated by the more experienced villain.