History TookALevelInBadass / WesternAnimation

* In ''WesternAniamtion/TheOwlHouse'', Luz starts From a 14 years old Muggle who couldn't even pull down a lever due to her "weak nerd arms" and ran from a single (albeit large) abomination without any combat-based spells to counter it, to a human that can casts spells by drawing glyphs and can Bridal Carry Amity with ease. In "Young Blood, Old Souls" she uses her glyphs to devastating effect, trapping Warden Wrath in ice, subduing all the guards in the Conformatorium, using a Fire glyph to incinerate Emperor Belos' worm-beast, actually using another ice glyph to pierce his mask and even threatens Kikimiora with burning her alive to get Eda free.

** Spike as well. In Season 4, his fire breath was shown to be more powerful than it was previously portrayed-- in "Equestria Games", he used it to quickly melt a huge chunk of falling ice before it could land on the stadium below. Then he got ''[[FlyingFirepower wings]]'' in the Season 8 episode "The Molt Down", and made a [[SuperPersistentPredator Roc]] back off with a single fire blast to the face shortly thereafter.

*** Avatar Aang. When first met, he is a scared boy who, from his perspective, just learned he was to be the Savior of the World and must leave home from the only man he knew as a father. Now the world is in danger and so he shirks his responsibilities. Less than a year later, he is a fully competent Avatar, Master of All the Elements. Even without using the Avatar State, he can hold his own against a super-powered Phoenix King Ozai. When he finally activates the Avatar State, it is a no holds contest.

** Spike as well. In Season 4, his fire breath was shown to be more powerful than it was previously portrayed-- in "Equestria Games", he used it to quickly melt a huge chunk of falling ice before it could land on the stadium below. Then he got ''wings'' in the Season 8 episode "The Molt Down", and made a [[SuperPersistentPredator Roc]] back off with a single fire blast to the face shortly thereafter.

* Don't expect [[ContestedSequel the show's haters]] to admit it, but [[WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}} Ben Tennyson]] ''did'' took some level in badass in ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''; in the original show, he was a 10-year old immature kid with a very limited control on his powers, who would easily make himself look ridiculous or ending up in distress when the Omnitrix stopped working. In ''Alien Force'', he has grown up into a responsible leader, has much better control over the Omnitrix, and is a competent fighter even without the Omnitrix, as well as much more skilled at using his aliens. As a side effect however, it resulted in some of his allies and enemies, especially [[RedemptionDemotion Kevin 11]] and [[ArchEnemy Vilgax]], to suffer VillainDecay. Presumably because of fans' reaction, Ben then TookALevelInDumbass in season 3 due to a fail attempt to make him more like his original series' self.
** Although Kevin isn't a villain anymore in Alien Force.

** Shaggy himself has one in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' when Scooby is kidnapped.

** King Sombra's two appearances really showcase how much stronger the Mane Six have gotten over the course of the series. His first appearance had them running in sheer terror from him, unable to even come close to harming him, hiding behind a barrier while desperately trying to find a MacGuffin to stop him, and he ''still'' would have beaten them if not for one final desperate move from Spike, Shining Armor, and Princess Cadance. His second appearance ends with the Mane Six doing a confident UnflinchingWalk toward him, ''with no {{Mac Guffin}}s at all'', [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Twilight effortlessly swatting his blasts away with her horn]], and ultimately [[KilledOffForReal killing him off for real]] in a single shot using ''just ThePowerOfFriendship alone''.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' does this to the [[spoiler:Pakleds]]. When they first appeared in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode [[spoiler:"Samaritan Snare"]], they are only able to hold the ''Enterprise''-D at bay by threatening Geordi La Forge, whom they took as a hostage of sorts. When they come back in the episode "No Small Parts", they're able to create monstrosities out of various ship pieces, nearly tearing the USS ''Cerritos'' apart if not for the arrival of [[spoiler: The USS ''Titan'']]

* In ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'', Ahsoka Tano starts off as a scruffy young Padawan learner who is always the one asking questions and learning lessons. By the time of the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'', Ahsoka is an experienced former Jedi who is one of the founders of the Rebel Alliance, is powerful enough to [[spoiler:go toe-to-toe with Darth Vader (who benefits from AdaptationalBadass making him the second-strongest Force user in the galaxy short of [[BigBad the Emperor himself]]) in single combat]], and ends the series by [[spoiler:being one of only ''two'' Old Republic-era Jedi to live long enough to see the Empire burn[[note]]the other being a minor character named Naq Med who appeared in a young adult novel named ''Force Collector'', in case you're wondering[[/note]]]].

* Harold in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Island'' was a lanky geek who was constantly abused by his teammates, particularly the local JerkAss Duncan. In the second season, he is much more helpful to his team, saves the entire cast from drowing, and eventually gets his revenge on Duncan (by [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome punching his lights out]]).

* Played for laughs in the ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' MadeForTVMovie, ''Abra-Catastrophe!'', where Cosmo briefly helps Timmy combat an all-powerful Denzel Crocker after watching an 11-second workout video and gaining Hulk Hogan pecs. Played straight in the same movie, with [[EvilOverlord Crocker]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' shows Callum. At the beginning of the first season, he was an ordinary boy who was struggling to finish his second spell and had to be rescued several times by Rayla. Towards the end of the second season, he is a true magician [[SwordAndSorcerer who can assist Rayla in combat]].

* In the Disney short ''Disney/LambertTheSheepishLion'', Lambert is a lion that is always hiding behind his sheep mommy when the other sheep tease him. [[BerserkButton Up until a wolf tried to eat his mom]].

** This carries over into the final sequel ''Disney/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves'', where she holds her own against the Forty Thieves, all of which are at least twice her size.

* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroesOtherHeroes'' has K.O., Enid, and Rad literally taking levels in badass throughout the series. K.O. in particular starts out as level ''0'' (making him one of the weakest characters) and come the series finale "Thank you for Watching the Show" [[spoiler:he's becomes a level '''100''' Hero at age 35+, making him possibly the most powerful Hero in the world.]]

* Ofdensen in ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'', starting with the season 1 finale. Because sometimes a LizLemonJob requires you to kick some ass.

*** This has been taken to even higher levels (if possible) in [[WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime Prime]], where he's now a [[TheJuggernaut nth unstable]] sadist with a bit of a GodComplex.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' shows Callum. At the beginning of the first season, he was an ordinary boy who was struggling to finish his second spell and had to be rescued several times by Rayla. Towards the end of the second season, he is a true magician [[SwordAndSocerer who can assist Rayla in combat]].

** Hell, [[Franchise/MyLittlePony the whole franchise]] got this treatment around 2010. While [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTVSpecials the 80s pilot specials]] and [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyTheMovie the 1986 movie]] [[OlderThanTheyThink were no slouches in the badassery department]], the series got progressively more [[TastesLikeDiabetes diabetes-inducing]] after the movie. And then, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyG3 after it got as non-threatening as you could get]], suddenly ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic this show]]'' comes onto the scene and takes the Internet by surprise just from how [[Awesome/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic awesome]] it could get. '''[[SerialEscalation And it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.]]'''

*** And who can forget Spike Witwicky? The TokenHuman companion of the Autobots who starts in Season 1 and 2 as a young lad trying his best to help the good 'bots but getting into big trouble more often than not, goes from DamselInDistress and almost ButtMonkey status, to (in the animated movie, and then Season 3 onwards) reaching peak adulthood, marrying Carly and being a father to Daniel, being an active (and effective) agent in the war against the Decepticons, to ultimately ''becoming a Transformer himself and saving the whole universe.'' Yep. And, [[PapaWolf woe betide any Decepticon threatening Daniel's life, for he will stop at nothing to save his son]]. Not even the universe's fate has a higher priority than this man's child.

*** And who can forget Spike Witwicky? The TokenHuman companion of the Autobots who starts in Season 1 and 2 as a young lad trying his best to help the good 'bots but getting into big trouble more often than not, goes from DamselInDistress and almost ButtMonkey status, to in Season 3 reaching peak adulthood, marrying Carly and being a father to Daniel, being an active (and effective) agent on the war against the Decepticons, to ultimately ''becoming a Transformer himself and saving the whole universe.'' Yep. And, [[PapaWolf woe betide any Decepticon threatening Daniel's life, for he will stop at nothing to save his son]]. Not even the whole universe's continued existence has a higher priority than this man's child.

*** And who can forget Spike Witwicky? The TokenHuman companion of the Autobots who starts in Season 1 and 2 as a young lad trying his best to help the good 'bots but getting into big trouble more often than not, to reaching peak adulthood, marrying Carly and being a father to Daniel, being an active agent on the war against the Decepticons, to ultimately ''becoming a Transformer himself and saving the whole universe.'' Yep. And, [[PapaWolf woe betide any Decepticon threatening Daniel's life, for he will stop at nothing to save his son]]. Not even the whole universe's continued existence has a higher priority than this man's child.

*** More recent incarnations of Megatron have themselves become [[MagnificentBastard far more intelligent]] and dangerous in their skills and motives to the point where it feels they don't need an army to win. Perhaps the most notable of them is the Animated Megatron, who is so much of a threat that he considers the Autobots as little more than pests for most of the time (even going so far as to not acknowledge them by name).

** Heidi Tuner after she abanbons the victim mentality and dumps Cartman, even ignoring his suicide threats that originally kept her from leaving him.