Adaptational Badass in Animated Films.
- Aladdin gives basically everyone this treatment. Aladdin goes from being a lazy kid who's maybe a little clever to a Guile Hero with Le Parkour abilities to rival Altair and in the Final Battle fights a Scaled Up Jafar armed only with a scimitar. The Princess goes from being a beautiful, but otherwise flat, Love Interest to a Rebellious Princess who impresses Aladdin by being smart and fun, as well as pretty. Then there's Jafar himself, who is a Composite Character of an evil sorcerer and an Obstructive Bureaucrat vizier who wasn't the Big Bad. He now is the Big Bad who uses every bit of both magical and political power he has. (The Genie is an exception. He is a kinder, more individualized character who is not more powerful then his story counterpart; the Genie from the story could have easily done the same things and never mentioned the three rules the one in the movie did.)
- The Angry Birds Movie: The Bad Piggies. In earlier Angry Birds media, they were used almost exclusively for comic relief. And while it's still the case, in this movie, not only is their leader smart enough to trick most of the birds, but the pigs actually attempts to fight back when the birds try to reclaim their eggs.
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns does this to Batman wearing the Exo-Suit in the Final Battle against Superman. In the comic Batman focused on using every tool he had to weaken and injure Supes as much as possible before resorting to his powered Batsuit and only got one punch in before Superman overpowered him, and he was forced to exploit the Kryptonite Factor with Green Arrow's help. In the animated version, Batman makes effective use
of the Exo-Suit matching Supes blow for blow with enhanced strength, actually making him break out the Heat Vision, unlike the comic where it's implied Clark was going easy on him. - The titular Beast from Beauty and the Beast wasn't the hairy Lightning Bruiser that he is presented as in the Disney version. In the animated version, Beast fights off a wolf pack and curb-stomps Gaston, the best hunter in the land. In the book, the Beast wasn't nearly as badass as he almost dies due to a broken heart.
- Catwoman: Hunted: While in the comics Catwoman is a Badass Normal, she's not a particularly deadly fighter amongst Badass Normals, even in Batman's Rogues Gallery, but in this film, she takes on several super-villains that are considered much stronger or better fighters than her in the comics, and all in the same night with limited assistance from Batwoman.
- Deathstroke: Knights & Dragons:
- Jericho's Psychic Powers are expanded far beyond his usual Body Surf abilities. The Hive Queen outright compares him to a nuclear bomb, and he's key to Hive's plan.
- Deathstroke's Healing Factor is amped up to Wolverine levels, hence the Disabled in the Adaptation of Slade already missing his eye before what happened to Joey as he'd originally lost it as part of the aftermath of that event and if he'd been lost there like it the comic, it'd have regenerated not long after it happened.
- Despite the Adaptational Angst Upgrade, Cloud Strife is much stronger in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children than he was in the original FFVII, being able to defeat the Remnants of Sephiroth, Bahamut SIN, and Sephiroth himself solo. In the original game, it took all of The Team just to beat Sephiroth, who was an immortal Physical God at that point.
- Toothless of How to Train Your Dragon went from a tiny green dragon which could fit on Hiccup's shoulder in the book series to a Night Fury, described as "the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself", and the dragon every viking fears most — rather, the only dragon vikings fear in the film adaptation.
- Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame changed from The Ingenue in the original story to an Action Girl in the Disney animated version. Claude Frollo also counts because in the original book he wasn't a combatant. Quasimodo is much stronger as well, being able to rip stone pillars down.
- JLA Adventures: Trapped In Time sees Dawnstar get some impressive light powers to fill out her comic's powerset, which was limited to tracking and flight. Then the Time Trapper, who was always a major powerhouse, gets treated like a Lovecraftian horror here. It's a Shout-Out to the Paul Levitz/Keith Giffen Legion run where he was in his Entropy Personified incarnation.
- In the original Jungle Book novel, Shere Khan was portrayed as being crippled due to a leg deformity he received during birth and was a rather pathetic Smug Snake to boot. In the Disney adaptation, however, Khan is portrayed as a menacing, bloodthirsty, yet hammy and whimsical predator who is feared by everyone in the Indian jungle and is constantly determined to kill Mowgli for being a human. In the sequel, however, he is flat out menacing.
- And in the Soviet animated adaptation, Shere Khan is a scary villain from his very first appearance. Though it goes both ways, as Shere Khan is a lot more cunning and manipulative in the book.
- This seems to make the anthropomorphic transition as well, if TaleSpin is of any evidence. In this adaptation, he is a ruthless and extremely savvy businessman (er, businesstiger) that could easily have Baloo hunted down and crushed if not for his moral code. Also, in the original he was afraid of guns. In TaleSpin, his reaction to a stray bullet shattering a champagne glass that he's holding is to sigh in annoyance.
- Bekka in Justice League: Gods and Monsters. In the mainstream DC universe, she is a scientist with emotion controlling powers that rarely, if ever, fought. In this movie, she is this universe's own Wonder Woman and just as capable as Diana of Themyscira. While seemingly lacking her original powers, she makes up for it with her impressive martial skills, superhuman strength, flight and a Cool Sword that can cut through nearly everything.
- In The Killing Joke, the Joker's circus troupe fled at the mere sight of the Batmobile pulling up. In the animated version, they actually put up a fight before Batman first confronts the Joker.
- The Sea Witch from Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid was just a plot device to teach the titular mermaid a cautionary lesson. In Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989) the Sea Witch aka Ursula is a badass evil octopus lady who took down King Triton and nearly conquered the entire sea... before she got impaled.
- For that matter, The Little Mermaid herself gets this as well. In Anderson's original story the Mermaid (named Ariel in the Disney movie) was a much more demure character, while she does save the prince from drowning like the animated movie she spends the rest of the story a Broken Bird as her prince doesn't love her and she commits suicide and turns into sea foam. In the 1989 movie Ariel saving the prince (Eric) from the shipwreck is expanded into a big action scene and later in the movie, she saves him again from the Sea Witch by pulling Ursula's hair making her kill her own henchmen in the process which is way more badass than anything the original mermaid did. There's also the prince himself, who's useless and heartless in Anderson's book while in the Disney movie he's heroic, actually loves the little mermaid and kills the Sea Witch in her One-Winged Angel form.
- Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge gives this treatment to Scorpion himself (not too surprising given he's in the title). Yes, Scorpion is obviously no pushover in the games being a burning ninja skeleton and all, but he's not unbeatable having frequently gotten his undead ass kicked by the likes of Raiden, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Kung Lao, Jade and his nemesis Sub-Zero. In the animated film, before he even gets Hellfire he rampages against the Lin Kuei who massacred his clan and only loses when Sub-Zero shows up. Even after dying and going to Netherrealm, Scorpion breaks free of his chains, kills his torturer Moloch and goes on another rampage against thousands of demons and even pushes Quan-Chi around. When Scorpion does get his iconic abilities, he breezes his way through the Mortal Kombat tournament racking up a bigger body count than Liu, Sonya and Johnny combined. After killing Sub-Zero and learning it was actually Quan-Chi who killed his family, Scorpion steps in to help Liu Kang by killing Goro himself. If that wasn't enough, he then overpowers Shang Tsung and gets his revenge by killing Quan-Chi. Unfortunately, this does kinda take the victory away from the Earthrelam heroes barring the Sequel Hook.
- Shrek:
- Puss in Boots in the original tale was a Guile Hero and pragmatist, in Shrek 2 and his solo movies he's literally the cat version of Zorro being a Master Swordsmen and adventurer.
- The classical princesses in Shrek the Third Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella all of whom are non-fighters or damsels in their original stories form a Amazon Brigade with Fiona and her mother.
- The Gingerbread Man whose single claim to fame is running away from people and getting eaten by a fox in his original story is turned into a badass adventurer in his own right with Shrek Forever After making him an outright spear-wielding gladiator.
- Puss in Boots along with Adaptational Villainy gives this treatment to Jack and Jill, rather than being just of couple of klutzes who fall down a hill, they’re a hulking Outlaw Couple packing heat. The same movie does this to Humpty Dumpy, in his original nursery rhyme he’s merely a dumb egg man who falls off a wall and breaks apart whilst in the film he’s a Evil Genius and The Chessmaster who’s been manipulating events the whole time.
- Puss in Boots: The Last Wish gives this treatment to Jack Horner and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Jack Horner rather than just being a kid who sticks his thumb in a pie is instead a Super Mob Boss with a Crazy-Prepared arsenal of magical items who’s so goddamn evil he makes Tony Montana look nice. Goldilocks and the Three Bears for their part are The Family That Slays Together rather than being just a rude girl who barged into someone else’s home and a peaceful bear family respectively.
- Ralph Breaks the Internet similar to Shrek The Third does this to the Disney Princesses * with the likes of Cinderella breaking her slipper to use as a shank, Aurora using her sewing to save Ralph and Snow using poisoned apples to great effect in the same scene, despite said ladies (especially Snow and Aurora) being simple Princess Classic in their respective films.
- In Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs , the Magic Mirror can control trees and use them to attack. He also serves as the final serious threat of the movie.
- Leon S. Kennedy in the Resident Evil CG movies Degeneration, Damnation and Vendetta . True, Leon is very skilled and competent in the games but the CG movies essentially turn him into the superhuman love child of John Wick and Lara Croft, Leon can take on entire countries filled with zombies and Lickers all by himself, fight and tank blows from two Tyrants + two Mutated antagonists... and win. Leon even shows up Chris Redfield who is the main character of the franchise.
- In the original book of Sleeping Beauty, there was a minor villain known as The Evil Fairy. When the book was adapted into a film, that minor baddie was morphed into Maleficent, one of the most badass Disney villains to date.
- The Prince (named Philip in the film) doesn't do much in the original story besides kiss (and in the older versions of the story bone) an unconscious princess. In the film Philip is easily one of the most badass Disney princes period, as he fights and kills Maleficent with a Cool Sword and shield, albeit he gets some help from the three good fairies.
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse gives this treatment to almost everyone but here are the most notable examples:
- Spider-Gwen, while by no means a weakling, isn't very strong or particularly competent in the comics (especially compared to other Spider-Women). She gets all her moves from watching kung-fu movies, relies upon her superpowers to get by in a fight, and struggles against fully combat-trained opponents. One Big Bad even admonishes Gwen for not knowing how to throw a punch. Spider-Verse Gwen, however, is a different story, being a very skilled and graceful fighter, which makes sense given it's shown she does ballet. This Gwen Stacy even takes down Scorpion and saves adult Peter Parker from Doc Ock, feats that comic Gwen would struggle to replicate.
- Spider-Ham is a Joke Character in the comics and only gets a few cool moments, but otherwise falls short of his more serious Spider counterparts. In the movie, Spider-Ham uses Cartoon Physics and Hyperspace Mallet to full effect to curb stomp Scorpion, and may possibly be the most powerful member of the Spider-Gang in spite of his absurdity.
- Noir Spider-Man is cool in the comics but his strength is inferior to mainline Spider-Man and others. In the movie, Noir Spidey easily takes on half the Rogues Gallery with just 1940s-era Good Old Fisticuffs and his origin is tweaked to make him a Private Detective who fights Nazis on a daily basis, whereas in the comic he's just a reporter who doesn't get to punch a single Nazi. Although, the 2020 Spider-Man Noir series, would fix this having a Nazi fighting, nicer tempered Noir Spidey, very likely influenced by the animated film version.
- Peni Parker in the comics was really only a physical threat when inside her Humongous Mecha. Here, however, she finishes off Scorpion after he destroys her suit. With one of said suit's broken arms.
- Aunt May is a frail old lady in the comics. In Spider-Verse she beats up freaking Tombstone with a baseball bat. She's also directly involved in assisting her universe's Spider-Man, being basically the Alfred to her version of Peter and later Miles.
- The Prowler is a mostly tech-based bruiser in the comics who isn't nearly as formidable as other villains, while in the film he's an unabashed Lightning Bruiser strong enough to give Spider-Man trouble and so fast Miles has to go invisible to avoid him.
- But Kingpin takes home the gold for this one. While Wilson Fisk in the comics is pretty much Stout Strength par excellence and usually gives Daredevil a rough time, he still gets wrecked by Spider-Man in a serious battle and is nowhere near the rest of Spidey's villains in terms of raw power. In this incarnation however, Kingpin is nothing short of a titan of strength. At the start of the movie, he beats Spider-Man to death with his bare hands and then at the climax is able to dominate Miles in a fight, lift cars, smash through buildings and survive massive falls from great heights.
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse gives this treatment to the Spot. In the comics, Spot is a C-list villain at best who gets an ounce of credibility in the Supervillain community because his powers make him an useful getaway guy, and once a blue moon he can occasionally prove to be a Not-So-Harmless Villain. Even so, his first appearance had him flee from Spider-Man after taking a single punch, and afterwards he mostly serves as a minion to more competent villains or punching bag for superheroes. In the movie, he starts off like that, even being dismissed as a Villain of the Week by all the Spider-people, but as the movie progresses and he gets a handle of his powers he evolves into a borderline multiversal Eldritch Abomination and Miles' Archenemy.
- Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay:
- Waller labels Bronze Tiger as the best martial artist on the planet, which if true, would put him far above his comics version, who is undeniably near the top, but doesn't quite reach the heights of Black Canary, Cassandra Cain, or his former ally Lady Shiva.
- Most incarnations of Copperhead are treated as jokes these days outside of the female versions, and even before that he was just a guy in a suit barring his brief mutation. This version is heavily modified and fittingly more of a threat, possessing greater fighting strength and acid shooters in his mouth. This version can even match Killer Frost of all people in a fight for a prolonged period.
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie:
- Princess Peach is the most obvious example, getting Xenafication from Damsel in Distress to Action Girl. She's introduced easily clearing an obstacle course that Mario himself struggles with, and in the Final Battle, she has a Damsel out of Distress segment during her forced wedding with Bowser where she uses an Ice Flower to freeze Bowser and take a horde of enemies by herself before being knocked out by a explosion. While many games have Peach be able to keep up with the Mario brothers, she's still often in need of rescuing and rarely the one who actually leads the charge. Additionally, Peach's soft-spoken, kindhearted, and feminine Girly Girl (with a tomboy streak) personality from the games is significantly altered, with her being given Daisy's Tomboy Princess traits instead.
- Toad is usually The Load, but in the movie he's much more capable and brave, being a Guile Hero that even helps in the fight against Bowser during the climax.
- Koopa Troopas and Dry Bones are far more badass and intimidating than they ever were in the games. The Koopa Troopas can not only attack all at once unlike the games, but in the Rainbow Road segment they channel the War Boys from Mad Max: Fury Road. Likewise, the Dry Bones act like modern swarming fast zombies rather than the usual Zombie Gait of the games.
- Banzai Bill (referred to as the Bomber Bill in this adaptation), in addition to being twice as fast as he is in the games, explodes with the force of a nuke, causing a dimensional rift that sucks Bowser's castle to Earth.
- Superman: Red Son:
- The Green Lantern Corps, in the comic are basically a Red Shirt Army as their constructs are easily destroyed by Russian Superman, who steamrolls them. In the animated film on the other hand, they collectively overpower Supes and even trap him in a unbreakable green cube which they shrink. They only lose when Wonder Woman steps in to free Superman.
- Speaking of which in the same scene Wonder Woman is able to catch Superman’s punch implying she’s stronger than him. Whereas in the comic Diana got curb stomped same as the Lanterns when she tried to stop him, though admittedly she was explicitly weakened due to breaking her own lasso.
- Superior Man aka Bizzaro (created by Lex Luthor) actually puts up a real against Superman in a extended battle before suffering a Super-Power Meltdown. Though this version removes the Heroic Sacrifice he performed in the comics.
- Lex in the Final Battle of the comic helps Superman beat Brainiac by tinkering from the sidelines. In the animated version Lex gets into Powered Armor and actually fights Brainiac alongside Supes.
- Rapunzel from Tangled, in the original tale all she did was lift people up with her super long hair, and get pregnant with twins later. In the Disney version she kicks ass with a frying pan and can swing around and lasso things with her hair. And that’s not even getting into how badass Rapunzel becomes in her show.
- Technically, you could say everyone in Tangled, since the original story doesn't really have any sort of "action." Gothel is a sort of weird example — she becomes more badass by becoming less powerful, going from a witch in the fairy tale to a knife-wielding badass (she knows a spell to retain her youth and is also implied to be able to fly — which is seen in only one scene — but otherwise she never uses magic in the whole film).
- Treasure Island (1988): Played for Laughs.
- In the book, Jim Hawkins is a classic Kid Hero who got through the whole ordeal only with brains and bravery. Here, simply doing gymnastics every morning made him into a martial arts master with Super-Strength, capable of beating pirates four times his own size to a pulp within seconds. He's also a fan of More Dakka when he has an opportunity.
- Dr. Livesey, already a Combat Medic in the book, was given Implausible Fencing Powers. During the stockade assault, he's able to defeat three burly pirates Dual Wielding cutlasses at once with a single flimsy rapier used in left hand, while using his right one to casually sniff a flower.
- Captain Smollett is a complete joke, but he's also Made of Iron and shrugs off (literally) being repeatedly crushed by a log wall.
- Treasure Planet, thanks in large part to being a Sci-Fi update to Treasure Island, does this to several characters from the original novel.
- Jim Hawkins was a traditional Kid Hero in the book, being guile and sneaky to survive, he only kills Israel Hands in self-defense and avoids swashbuckling in general. In Treasure Planet, Jim is a Le Parkour, Sky Surfing badass who's handy with a Ray Gun, kicks Scoop (a spider alien pirate) into outer space, and achieves more in minutes than his literary counterpart could in multiple chapters.
- Long John Silver was at best a Handicapped Badass in the book who relied on his men in battle, and used his wits more than his sword or flintlock. In Treasure Planet, Silver is a Cyborg who has all manner of tools and gadgets in his robotic arm and can turn his prosthetic leg into a laser cannon. He also retains his guile from the book.
- Mr Arrow was a useless drunk in the original book who was hardly mourned when he died. In Treasure Planet, Arrow (reimagined as an alien rock monster) is an extremely competent officer who is highly respected and his death is treated as a tragedy. This characterization of Arrow is akin to other adaptations e.g Muppet Treasure Island where Arrow is competent, heroic, and is Spared By Adaptation.
- For the most part the Disney Winnie the Pooh films are as silly and laid back as the novels, and the characters thus so as well. The occasional Disney work however amps up the stakes and shows one of the characters being genuinely competent in a real adventure:
- In The Tigger Movie, Tigger has this trope epitomised via the Whoop-de-Dooper Loop-de-Looper Alley-Ooper Bounce, a super powered Cartoon Physics bounce that springs him around like a pinball with enough charge to dislodge a large boulder. Later on in the film, the group get caught in an avalanche, a peril far greater and real than anything they were ever put through before, and Tigger has to perform a Heroic Sacrifice to save them all. Roo, in turn, finally masters the bounce to rescue Tigger.
- Piglet's Big Movie does this to, you guessed it, Piglet. Already something of a Cowardly Lion, Piglet is made the unsung hero in several retellings of the original stories. He also saves Pooh after he nearly falls down a ravine.
