Examples from the movie go here.
The books
- In book 1, the gang's first self-appointed mission: saving a cat from a tree. While they stumble through it as haphazardly as you could imagine and terrify the cat the whole way, they do succeed in getting it out of the tree.
- They succeed in their second mission of breaking the 200 dogs out of the pound. It's just as crazy as the cat rescue and they don't get the heroic recognition they wanted, but knowing the dogs will go out to live better lives is what motivates the gang to stay together.
- In book 2, the gang's rescue of the 10,000 chickens trapped at Sunnyside Farm. Thanks to Legs's careful planning, they're much more competent this time around.
- Mr. Shark gets two Big Damn Heroes moments, first by using his disguise as a mother hen to distract the guards and save Mr. Piranha from being eaten, and later using the same disguise to lead the chickens out of the farm after Mr. Snake scared them and they refused to move.
- With the guards closing the door, about to trap the gang and the chickens, Mr. Snake has Mr. Wolf throw him at one of the guards to get the door back open. More than just making up for eating the chickens, Mr. Snake guarantees their freedom, proving he can be a hero after all.Mr. Snake: Let's play a game. Whoever opens the door first doesn't get bit by a venomous snake.
(The guard opens the door.)
Mr. Snake: You win.
- Agent Fox's introduction in book 3. She effortlessly takes out Marmalade's henchmen and cuts the rope holding Mr. Shark, freeing him and saving Mr. Wolf and Mr. Snake in the process.
- Mr. Wolf dodging lasers on the motorcycle by driving up the tunnel wall, an impressive feat for someone who's never ridden a motorcycle before.
- In book 5, Mr. Wolf shows his dedication to being a real hero by almost performing a Heroic Sacrifice. With Mr. Piranha accidentally trapped in his space suit and filling it with his toxic gas, Mr. Wolf intends to fly himself into Marmalade's Cute-Zilla Ray, hoping the gas will cause an explosion to destroy the ray. But as they enter the beam, they spot a window leading into Marmalade's station and break in, taking Marmalade out with Mr. Piranha's toxic gas. Then Mr. Wolf broadcasts himself and the gang to the whole planet proudly turning off the Cute-Zilla Ray, finally shedding their "bad guy" image from the public and becoming beloved heroes.Mr. Wolf: I want to tell you that we have just put the evil Dr. Marmalade out of business up here on the Moon. And it is my very great pleasure to give you back peace on Earth!
- Mr. Snake outwitting Marmalade in book 6. With all of his friends captured and the escape pod primed and ready to go, he could've easily made his escape. Instead, he sets off the escape pod to distract Marmalade, buying him enough time to find one of the alien robots and ambush him. Mr. Snake manages to overpower him and throw him into space, saving his friends.
- In book 10, Mr. Snake, thought to have died, is revealed to have survived and absorbed all of the superpowers Marmalade had stolen from the Bad Guys. But rather than using the powers to destroy Marmalade and the invading aliens, he talks the army down into turning against Marmalade, pointing out that just because one of them is evil doesn't mean all of them have to be. Before he can even finish the speech, two aliens trap Marmalade in a jar and thank him for empowering them to liberate themselves.
- In book 14, Mr. Wolf's team is in Underlord Onsàáy's universe, consisting of giant buildings with sticky honey floors. They have to get to the doorway to the next universe at the basement of the building they enter, but they're on the 95th floor, and each floor is filled with countless bee minions they have to fight. Then Mr. Wolf notices a hole in the wall and realizes something...Mr. Wolf: We have to split up.
Agent Kitty Kat: But...
Mr. Wolf: Two things.
Agent Kitty Kat: What?
Mr. Wolf: First thing — do you trust me?
Agent Kitty Kat: Yeah. I do. But what's the second thing?
Mr. Wolf: Do you think this building would be sticky on the outside, too?
(Cue Mr. Wolf grabbing Agent Fox and running down the side of the building.) - In book 15, Mr. Wolf taps into one of his former "bad guy" skills, lockpicking, to save Agent Fox and Agent Shortfuse from Drillaärgh.
- Mr. Piranha finally taps into his skills as the Oracle while conscious to save Agent Kitty Kat from Mr. Snake's corruptive power.
Miscellaneous
- The success of The Bad Guys is a huge one for the books' author, Aaron Blabey. Following a failed acting career, working dissatisfying day jobs, and publishing several children's books with limited success, he was struggling to provide to his wife and two children. In 2014, he gave himself an ultimatum: if he couldn't make his next ideas successful, he'd give up on his creative dreams and instead pursue a permanent desk job. In one day, he spun together the ideas for The Bad Guys, Thelma the Unicorn, and Pig the Pug. While the latter two children's books experienced strong success and got sequels, The Bad Guys was a global runaway success, allowing Blabey to continue doing what he loves for a living.
