Badass tropes - now on: Action Girl

I'd like to soft split it show how it's badass though. So, it'll most likely be either Badass contrasting with some other trait or Badass, and a trait/prop that is used to highlight how badass they are. I'd rather lump the Badass Stereotype By Country thing off on its own.

I vote keep for the first six. I vote keep for a lot of these, but shouldn't we take some of them off this list? Almighty Janitor is a trope, but only sometimes is it a badass trope.

EDIT: Also, I vote we add Badass Furry to the possible cut list, as that one seems like the least tropeable to me.

edited 7th Jan '12 6:52:15 AM by Jimmmyman10

Keep on the first group.

Keep on first group.

Also keep on first group.

I went ahead and moved them all to keep. Here's next group:

• Action Hero: He kicks ass.
• Action Survivor: An everyday guy with no Action Hero qualities, who is actually FORCED TO BE A BADASS.
• Adaptational Badass: Maybe they weren't so badass in the manga or the TV show, but they really started cracking skulls in the anime and movies!
• Ambadassador: They represent their hometown or home country, and they plan to export an ass whooping to those who mess with them.
• Agent Peacock: Rule of Glamorous meets Rule of Cool in a girly male who kicks butt.

I say keep Action Hero,Action Survivor and Agent Peacock, Cut Ambadassasor or change to something like "Send The Badass To Negotiate", and possibly rename Adaptational Badass, because every time I see it I think it's a character that becomes badass over time (like a duplicate of Action Survivor) but it's when a character in a former installment wasn't a badass and in a remake or adaptation they make them a badass.

edited 7th Jan '12 4:49:35 PM by NoirGrimoir

I actually think Ambadassador should be kept as a "contrast" (although that name is a pain to spell). Vote keep on Action Hero, Action Survivor, and Agent Peacock, possible TRS on Adaptational Badass.

I really don't think it is a contrast. Why wouldn't an ambassador be a badass? There's nothing inherent in being an ambassador that means they usually aren't cool or badass, IMO.

For the sake of argument, I'll note that an ambassador is supposed to be a diplomat, not a fighter.

Precisely. Other leadership roles may have Authority Equals Asskicking implied, but "ambassador" doesn't.

They aren't expected to be badasses but neither is there any particular reason they are expected to not be badasses. There's nothing about being an ambassador that says they shouldn't be badass. To me, it's just "Ambassador that happens to also be badass".

edited 7th Jan '12 6:28:22 PM by NoirGrimoir

Like Arha said, "diplomat, not a fighter". I'd certainly think that a normal ambassador is actively "non-badass".

Yeah, same here. Vote possible change name on Adaptational Badass, and keep on the others.

A normal ambassador is expected not to kick people's asses, but they aren't expected to not be able to kick peoples' asses. Especially in fantasy and scifi, ambassadors usually are badasses in more cases than not. In fact they are usually badasses who are appointed to the position because as badasses they'll be more respected.

Confusing Double Negative aside, I'd say that this is not true for real life and settings that relate closely to it. In fantasy, certainly an ambassador might be selected deliberately for his badassery, but that's a case of a difference between fantasy and real life.

Agree that most ambassadors are not chosen because they're more-than-competent in a physical fight. They're chosen because they're persuasive, charismatic, tactful, diplomatic, or other things along those lines. Not because they're badass.

^ But then, does the image deliberately contrast the idea of being a badass? Or is it no more meaningful than 'a plumber who is a badass' or whatever.

So do we go by the real life implications or the media expectation for ambassadors to be chosen for their skills/powers?

Well considering these are tropes and this is media, I say the media expectation.

But like I said, I think we should change this into something like "Pick the badass to be the ambassador," because in media that tends to be what's going on.

I could live with that.

Makes sense to me.

I don't think there really is a media expectation going on - if there's any specific expectation, it's probably the opposite. The in-universe trope of picking an ambassador for his/her badassery would be more like a subtrope of Asskicking Equals Authority then the current version of Ambadassador, which I maintain is a trope.

"Badass despite being an ambassador" makes no sense. An ambassador being badass might be surprising but there is nothing inherent in being an ambassador that means they are unlikely to be badass, like say Pregnant Badass or Badass Adorable, and neither is it a specific character type.

Agree on Action Hero and Ageant Peacock. I could go either way with Ambadassador in all honesty. That he's supposed to be a negotiator implies he's supposed to talk first, not fight (implying contrast). However, in many instances of fiction I've seen, it's the heroes, or their mentor, doing the negotiating so it gets used a lot as simply a character that is doing some negotiating while being a badass (making it character+trait). I could also see the concept of "send the big badass to negotiate because he'll be able to intimidate the opposition into giving us what we want" type of thing.

I would question Action Survivor though. Badass is supposed to be a trait, isn't it? Why then are we using it to describe a character that is passive in nature, and not defined by their ability to kick ass?

Kind of agree with you there. I don't think there's anything wrong with Action Survivor as a trope, but I don't really know if it deserves to be on the Badass list.

edited 8th Jan '12 5:46:34 AM by NoirGrimoir