"Yes, at first you were nothing but a helpless coward. But, what exactly are you? Now that I look again, your personality is one brimming with confidence."
— Risotto to Doppio, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo
Something in Vivienne's character changes. Gone are the friendly eyes and smiling mouth, and in their place something... harder. Sharpened. Vivienne goes quiet the way she used to when someone had pissed her off enough, but now there's a dangerous edge to it. Mark forces himself to not back away, his zoologist mind registering not an old friend but a wild, unpredictable animal that can very easily kill a man with a flick of a finger. It's like seeing an old friend get shipped off to war overseas and when they come back, nothing is ever the same again. The Vivienne Graham of old wouldn't have hurt a fly. This Vivienne Graham has killed.
"You’ve all had difficulties on this journey, but you’ve never been alone before, not like this. You never knew that weight. and Lucretia lived with it, along with all the other challenges that this world threw at her, every day for a year – and she was different after that, in a way that made the rest of you proud. She never volunteered to stay back with the ship again. She spent less time chronicling your journey and more time participating in it. She became fierce and confident and decisive. She wouldn’t go on to found the Bureau of Balance for decades still, but this, this horrible, lonely year… this is when Lucretia became Madame Director."
— Griffin McElroy's narration of The Adventure Zone
"Why aren't you a joke anymore?"
— Spider-Man to second-string villain Hammerhead after just getting beat up by him, The Amazing Spider-Man
"So, you like, kill things now? 'Cause last time I saw you, you just kind of fainted in front of them."
— Cordelia re Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Angel
He begins with the man he is now: Joe Spork, who did not murder his friend but is accused of it, and of things more desperate and vile which are not his fault; who shares his bed with Polly Cradle, and means to make that matter. He rolls his shoulders, sets his jaw and goes on.
He is the man who was taken by monsters, and tortured, and is not dead.
He is the man who knows that innocence is not a shield, and that keeping your head down does not mean you will be safe.
He is the man who was set up by an old woman in the name of love and a better world, and who watched her die to save him.
He is the man who will look after her dog.
He is the man who charged a loaded gun and a sword with nothing more than his anger.
Oh yes, and his father was trouble too, and his grandmother before that.
A slow, satisfied grin moves across his face. Mad Dog Joe. White Knuckle Joe. Run-Amok Joe.
Crazy Joe.
It was as if the galaxy had conspired to make sense of my disjointed, fractured, bizarre life. I had been a wastrel Ketran gamer. I had been a survivor of mass destruction. I had been a Z-spaceship captain. I had been a helpless captive, forced to be a new type of gamer. I had evolved into something the galaxy had never seen before, a melding of many technologies, the minds of many civilizations, all flowing in and through a matrix of music. And now that strange resume seemed to match perfectly with a job that needed doing. I would be a peacemaker. And more: I would foster the growth and advancement of species. I would teach them the ways of peace. The massacre of my own people by the Capasins would not be repeated on any other world. Not so long as l was present!
—Toomin AKA the Ellimist, Animorphs - The Ellimist Chronicles
These suits always did remind me of you, Father — the skin of a born survivor. And now I'm ready to fight at your side. Mother doesn't stand a chance.
—Eleanor Lamb, Bioshock 2
Being weak is nothing to be ashamed of... Staying weak is!!
—Fuegoleon Vermillion, Black Clover
Okay, It's Ma-Ti and-HOLY CRAP Look at that! Ma-Ti is friggin' leading an army of animals with his ring!
— Atop the Fourth Wall, on the cover of Captain Planet and the Planeteers #3
"Matt Smith is lovely and all, but he'd snap like a twig. Eccleston, on the other hand, could Glasgow kiss you into the next century without using a time machine."
This time, no one will catch me!
—Tawna, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Iris: I'm sorry. Ash? Ash Ketchum? We're talking about the same Ash, right? He caught, tamed, and evolved fully one of the strongest dragon types in the entire Kalos region? The same Ash who I once witnessed choke on air for a solid ten seconds because he was talking about pokémon with too much enthusiasm?! The Ash who once described a flock of pidove as 'good fluffy boys'?! That Ash?!
Meowth: Yeah, twoip really cleaned his act up in Kalos…
Male Researcher: I hear you were able to deactivate Atlas. You're stronger than any of the troops out there.
Serah: I just... I've always been protected by others, and I knew that had to change.
Researcher: Well, that's good to hear. Resolve can sometimes be a powerful weapon.
Serah: I just... I've always been protected by others, and I knew that had to change.
Researcher: Well, that's good to hear. Resolve can sometimes be a powerful weapon.
"For too many years, humanity was on the backfoot. Reacting to threats, rather than preventing them. Rest of the galaxy was bigger than us. Stronger than us. We were mice, hiding in the shadows, hoping the giants would not see us. No more. Humanity is no longer on the defense. We are the giants now."
— The intro to the Infinity mode of Halo 4
"He went from zero to hero!"
— The Muses about Hercules, Hercules
Captain Marvel reeled back from the punches delivered by Ibac and the Acrobat. They actually hurt. That was incredible.
Ibac, certainly, had the power to injure him. He was about as close to a Shazam-powered being as his evil patron could make him. But he seemed more powerful this time. At least Cap's equal, seemingly... possibly more. The Acrobat had been no more than a human criminal, one of Captain Marvel, Jr.'s foes, who turned into a crazed killer beneath the full moon. Now, here he was, surviving unaided in outer space and trading punches with the World's Mightiest Mortal himself.
Ibac, certainly, had the power to injure him. He was about as close to a Shazam-powered being as his evil patron could make him. But he seemed more powerful this time. At least Cap's equal, seemingly... possibly more. The Acrobat had been no more than a human criminal, one of Captain Marvel, Jr.'s foes, who turned into a crazed killer beneath the full moon. Now, here he was, surviving unaided in outer space and trading punches with the World's Mightiest Mortal himself.
Hiccup in Httyd: Cannot hold up a shield, trips over his own two feet, the embarrassment of Berk.
Hiccup in Httyd 3: Walks trough fire looking like an avenging mythical dragon lord down on earth to seek revenge on those that harmed his subjects.
— This commentary
about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III from the How to Train Your Dragon animated franchise
about Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III from the How to Train Your Dragon animated franchiseI will not stand idly by! When Hyrule is threatened, we all must answer the call!
— Princess Zelda, Hyrule Warriors
"I don't even know who Needy Lesnicky is anymore. I'm a different person now. A person who uses curse words and kicks orderlies and sees things that aren't there. A very bad, very damaged person... But sometimes change can be good! For instance, most occult scholars don't know this, but if you're bitten by a demon, and you live, you just might absorb some of the demon's abilities... You might get lucky for once in your miserable life!"
—Needy Lesnicky, Jennifer's Body
"Danny-boy, you've changed considerably... into a badass, if I may!"
— Curtis Blackburn, Killer7
"I haven't slept for days now. I've been gathering things, working, studying, reading, running around like a lunatic, going everywhere I could to find what I was looking for. I've been cramming for this confrontation with you...and with her. I'm so loaded on uppers, I have to wear lead weights on my belt to keep my feet on the floor." "Oh dear." "You bet your ass, 'Oh dear.'" The demon regarded her with open curiosity. Gwen had pulled her strawberry blonde hair back in a tight bun,. She wore a tight-fitting black sweater, black slacks, and black shoes. "You're not at all the way I remember you, or the way Morgan described you. You were a cream puff." "Cream puffs get stale fast."
"Well, it seems like Garrus has finally worked that stick out of his butt, but now he's trying to beat guys to death with it."
And leading the procession was Barry himself. Even from a distance he was easy to recognize. I'd seen more than enough of that jowly, self-righteous face when he had been glaring at me through the bars of a cage, not to mention disappearing beneath the wings of ravenous Deleters. Something had changed about him, though. There was something new and confident about the way he carried himself.
It just figures. You used to be the loser with no PSI. Now you have more than me.
— Mook NPC to Alinivar, Mother: Cognitive Dissonance
"It is true, I'm slipping. Earlier, I only used to lie... Now, I can actually do those things..."
— Usopp, One Piece
Can I just say that I love being high level? We used to run away from goblins! Regular goblins, not even evil high priest goblins!
— Haley Starshine, The Order of the Stick page 1052
Generally, when Disney has brought characters like Cinderella out of mothballs after decades in storage, they don't act the same way they used to due to changes in society. In 1950 Cinderella could just sit around, cry, and have animals and Fairy Godmothers do all her work for her, and nobody would think that was a bad lesson to pass on. In Cinderella III she fully takes charge, organizes her rodent army, and pulls herself out of Tremaine's latest trap. "Steal MY Godmother's wand? NOT ON MY WATCH, %#$@!"
Harriet: You think you can take us? We're the best Huntsmen in Atlas.
Ruby: You were. Then you trained us.
—RWBY
Fanty: Do you know that girl?
Malcolm Reynolds: ....I really don't.
Malcolm Reynolds: ....I really don't.
— Serenity, Maidenhead bar fight scene
Freeman: This... doesn't make any sense! The Pakleds aren't this powerful!
Ransom: I... thought they were kind of a joke!
Boimler: Yeah, you guys aren't wrong. Pakleds would fake distress calls so they can steal technology from anyone who'd show up to help, but... I'm detecting weapons from over thirty different species!
Freeman: Augh... looks like they aren't a joke anymore!
Ransom: I... thought they were kind of a joke!
Boimler: Yeah, you guys aren't wrong. Pakleds would fake distress calls so they can steal technology from anyone who'd show up to help, but... I'm detecting weapons from over thirty different species!
Freeman: Augh... looks like they aren't a joke anymore!
— Star Trek: Lower Decks, "No Small Parts"
"Picard is not used to seeing an unsatisfactory rating on a member of his crew, after all his ship is a refuge for the best of the best. I would have loved for somebody to have mentioned that back in season one when this bunch of misfits were always making daft mistakes."
— Doc Oho on Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Hollow Pursuits"
on Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Hollow Pursuits""Reg Barclay, who has been a recurring guest star in the show's final years, gets to take part in the celebration, and I credit them the subtle gesture: Reg asks everyone's attention and makes a toast, which shows that he has, over the years, managed to grow from the awkward, bumbling genius into a more self-assured man...now more capable of socializing without discomfort. Congratulations, Reg: You got more character growth as a minor recurring character than Chakotay and Harry combined."
— SFDebris on Star Trek: Voyager, "Endgame"
"I strike fear into the hearts of all who oppose me. The only thing that could possibly make me less frightening is if someone made three movies about my childhood, pointing out how much of a retarded, non-threatening pussy I used to be."
— Darth Vader in this parody of Episode IV
parody of Episode IV"I think that's the coolest thing I've ever done in my life."
— Lars, after saving Padparadscha, Steven Universe
"Arise, Rodimus Prime."
— Optimus Prime, as the Matrix of Leadership transforms Hot Rod into Rodimus Prime, The Transformers: The Movie
Kowalski: How did you say you knew this guy again, Bucky?
Bucky: Believe it or not, I used to save him from getting his butt kicked three times a week on our way home from Saint Mary's Youth Club. (Captain America stomps several Nazi soldiers) Lucky for us, he's kinda filled out a bit since then.
How quickly you have grown. Not so long ago, you were a frightened child, and now you triumph where armed knights fail. You take the lives of men and wipe your blade clean to make it ready for the next killing. It is almost a pity that you have to die.
—Leroi on David, The Book of Lost Things
It was funny how, just when you thought you knew yourself through and through, you stumbled on a new kind of strength, a fresh reserve of power inside you that you never knew you had, and all at once you found yourself burning a little brighter and hotter than you ever had before.
Eliot thought Quentin would have understood.
Yeesh, Tari! Where'd you get all that attitude?
—Sofia to Tari, Meta Runner
"So then, Wolf, I am no longer a weakling sheep. Instead of fangs, I have horns which are just as sharp. My hooves are harder than the rock, and it's become my nature to fight without fear of death."
—Chirin, Ringing Bell
