History AdaptationalBadass / AnimeAndManga

*** Ash Ketchum himself tends to be 10x more heroic and badass in the movies than he is in the show. One of the best examples of this trope for Ash is in ''Anime/PokemonRangerAndTheTempleOfTheSea'' where he [[BigDamnHeroes saves the day]], becomes literal King of the Sea and gets a GoldenSuperMode to boot.

*** Greninja is already among the most powerful starter Pokémon (especially if it has [[ConfusionFu Protean]]), but Ash's Greninja outright gets a SuperMode exclusive to it that makes it even more powerful. Though this form was eventually [[CanonImmigrant carried over]] to the games, {{downplaying}} this.

** First is [[spoiler: Dracula himself. Now while Count Dracula was always pretty badass being a shapeshifting DaywalkingVampire, he still was vulnerable to conventional holy weapons and in the end got killed by two [[BadassNormal Badass Normals]] armed with knives. In ''Hellsing'' on the other hand Dracula better known as {{Alucard}} is one of the most powerful depictions of him ''ever'' (rivalled only by the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' version) being a HumanoidAbomination who can regenerate FromASingleCell, NoSell all regular Vampire weaknesses and has thousands of souls inside him as a army. He even comes back from getting metaphysically wiped from reality. Also doubles as HistoricalBadassUpgrade since Dracula/Alucard is actually UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler.]]

*** All [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]] are this in the anime. In the games, while certainly stronger than the average Mon, a player will a decent team will be able to defeat one without too much difficulty. In the anime, they're regularly portrayed as being nigh-unstoppable, with simply being able to hold one's own against a Legendary being considered a massive feat, let alone defeating one.

** First is [[spoiler: Dracula himself. Now while Count Dracula was always pretty badass being shapeshifting DaywalkingVampire, he still was vulnerable to conventional holy weapons and in the end got killed by two [[BadassNormal Badass Normals]] armed with knives. In ''Hellsing'' on the other hand Dracula better known as {{Alucard}} is one of the most powerful depictions of him ''ever'' (rivalled only by the ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}'' version) being a HumanoidAbomination who can regenerate FromASingleCell, NoSell all regular Vampire weaknesses and has thousands of souls inside him as a army. He even comes back from getting metaphysically wiped from reality. Also doubles as HistoricalBadassUpgrade since Dracula/Alucard is actually UsefulNotes/VladTheImpaler.]]

* Quite appropriately for a show notorious for BigDamnMovie, the ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' movies all inevitably turn the main cast of four normal 10 year olds and a RobotBuddy into total badasses who willingly face terrifying enemies and odds to save the timestream/the world/a foreign world/whatever. It’s even a meme in the Japanese internet fanbase how inevitable this and AdaptationalNiceGuy is. It’s especially egregious with Nobita, the ThisLoserIsYou main protagonist and basically the Japanese counterpart of [[Franchise/{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]], who, even with his patheticness being downplayed in newer reboots, is still a wimpy, cowardly, lazy, somewhat selfish, unmotivated kid explicitly below average in every area, yet in the movies is a total hidden badass of a KidHero who will bravely stare genocidal plant aliens or dinosaurs in the face and gladly risk his life for his new friend of the movie.

** Luffy for example, has his strength taken up many notches like in [[Anime/TheGiantMechanicalSoldierOfKarakuriCastle Movie 7]] where he [[https://youtu.be/IkpwnR-z8k8?t=113 buzzsaws through an entire castle]] ''with his rubber body''. In ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'' Luffy manages to defeat Zephyr the man ''who trained the Admirals'' (Aolkiji, Kizaru and Akainu) and countless other marines in a fist fight during the FinalBattle. In the Wano anime, Luffy puts up a better fight against Kaido surviving his BreathWeapon and even briefly matches Kaido’s “Thunder Bagua” mace attack before being overpowered, in the manga he was one-shot in the blink of a eye. Also later on in Udon Prison, anime Luffy is able to NoSell getting shot with [[KryptoniteFactor Seastone]] bullets using his Haki whilst in the manga Luffy still had to DodgeTheBullet.
** Zoro sometimes gets this in the anime and movies compared to the manga (where he's already super strong) but the most blatant example is [[Anime/TheCursedHolySword Movie 5]] where Zoro is made absurdly badass. The whole plot revolves him, he defeats Sanji and then at the end Zoro is the one to defeat the BigBad not Luffy who is pretty much turned into a DecoyProtagonist as a result. Also in the anime (i.e {{Filler}}) Zoro can cut steel and iron early on (in the Warship Island arc) while in the manga it took until Zoro’s fight with Mr 1 in Alabasta for him to learn to do so. In the Wano anime, Zoro using a Haki-enhanced Mutoryu (No Sword Style) [[TornadoMove Dragon Twister]] is able to destroy a whole house and Kyoshiro’s {{Mooks}} with one arm and with his KillingIntent make several more goons faint in a manner similar to Conquer’s Haki [[spoiler: which Zoro only gets later on]], none of which happened in the manga. [[spoiler: The anime version of the Onigashima raid even has Zoro explicitly knock a few mooks out with Conquer‘s Haki despite not even displaying the power to do so in the manga at that point.]]
** Sanji also gets this in the anime and movies despite being a well-established badsss in the manga, but the Soccer featurette in particular has ''[[https://youtu.be/RCmjjRcpoLM?t=154 Sanji kick a ball around the freaking globe]]'' to get the winning goal... a feat Sanji isn't capable of in the canon. Also in the anime of Whole Cake Island Sanji not only fights Charlotte Daifuku and Oven ''simultaneously'', but in the Wano anime even overwhelms X-Drake in combat most of which was not present (or at least shown) in the manga. Sanji also happily uses [[KiManipulation Armament Haki]] more frequently and visibly in the Wano anime than the manga using it to deflect bullets and easily block X-Drake’s claw attack.
** Chopper while incredibly strong in his own right is never strong enough to get a lick at the BigBad in the manga, in ''Anime/OnePieceFilmStrongWorld'' however he's the first Straw Hat to [[https://youtu.be/B940TfojT5s?t=21 successfully damage]] Shiki the Golden Lion while Luffy, Zoro and Sanji (The Monster Trio) couldn't even touch him the whole fight.

** In the ''Anime/OnePieceFilmGold'' short special, Franky [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYyGzUSDNuk equals Luffy in a sumo match]] despite Luffy's strength far exceeding Franky's own in the canon. Luffy was even forced to use Gear 3 on Franky, before Nami stopped both of them.
** Speaking of which Nami herself gets a moment like this in ''Anime/OnePieceFilmZ'' where she briefly [[https://pa1.narvii.com/6428/f20a46307eb3422427d247819739dcb705927a5d_hq.gif holds her own]] against Ain a trained Ex-Marine who fights Zoro twice later in the movie. This makes Nami more of an ActionGirl than a DamselInDistress like she is more than often than not depicted as in previous movies and the manga.
** Brook gets a massive example of this in Whole Cake Island, in the manga when he fights Big Mom he is completely overwhelmed but in the anime Brook lasts longer against her than [[SuperMode Gear 4]] Luffy does.
** ''Anime/OnePieceStampede'' does this to [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters loads of chracters]] besides the Straw Hats with: Smoker equaling Sabo in a fight, Urouge managing to briefly overpower Luffy, Buggy helping taking down the BigBad Douglas Bullet and Jewerly Bonnie ''almost'' doing the same earlier [[FountainOfYouth with her power]]. Among the crew Luffy defeats Douglas Bullet who's as strong as [[NumberTwo Rayleigh]] (albeit with help), Zoro cuts one of Fujitora's meteroites in half and latter matches Crocodile in a fight, Sanji equals Rob Lucci in a fight (even making him use his SuperMode), Nami takes out Sentomaru and dozen other Marines [[ShockAndAwe with Zeus]] and even Usopp cripples Bullet's HumongousMecha with one of his Pop Greens.
** The already unadulterated badass Kozuki Oden gets this in Episode 963. In the manga Oden has a brief [[BladeLock clash]] with Whitebeard when the latter arrives on Wano’s beach and that’s it. In the anime [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RrHdoLXkFHQ he has an entire fight]] with Newgate and even briefly matches Whitebeard’s Earthquake punch with his Two-Sword style before being overwhelmed (and even then he [[MadeOfIron recovers faster]] than Akainu did when he ate one in Marineford). In the manga it’s shown Oden was [[OvershadowedByAwesome well below]] Whitebeard and Roger in power, while in the anime the gap is smaller.

*** Akainu was able to bring Whitebeard down to one knee in the anime, this is counterproductive as while Akainu might be a HeroKiller, the idea in the manga was that even [[WorfHadTheFlu at his weakest]] Whitebeard '''never gave in'''. Though admittedly the [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools scene is still amazing]] in the anime with Whitebeard's HeroicSecondWind ([[spoiler:remembering Ace]]) and Akainu's OhCrap face when Whitebeard suddenly grabs him.
*** Hordy Jones in the FinalBattle of Fishman Island puts up a [[https://media.giphy.com/media/oy9dml1FjJwNW/200.gif much greater fight]] against Luffy pulling off a FlashStep and giving Luffy more of a challenge, in manga Hordy only manages to bite Luffy once and is [[OneHitKill one-shot]] by Luffy's Red Hawk. TheWorfEffect for Hordy was intentional in the manga to show how strong Luffy and crew had become.
*** Caesar Clown everybody's favorite MadScientist is able to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVM0tUtqMGs stalemate]] Luffy's Grizzly Magnum in the anime, [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwsIKuihMBzxUJgecfZ8j0nMx4pk-EuRTbKw&usqp=CAU in the manga]] [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSFyRpPHV4Jcgj0ty_UXe1VJtaOVv-Sjn93Bg&usqp=CAU he gets wrecked]] instantly.
*** Charlotte Cracker, in the manga he just used his infinite biscuit creating powers to counter and overwhelm Gear 4 Luffy, in the anime Cracker is strong enough to fight [[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/876373664345319053/4C66EC980813674EC6C53899B454ABC437CB7C7B/ Gear 4 Luffy with just his sword]].
*** In Wano, Batman ([[ComicBook/{{Batman}} no not that Batman]]) like most Gifters is a ridiculous looking, glorified [[{{Mooks}} Mook]] whose knock off Devil Fruit power is a complete joke compared to heroes. In the manga he failed to touch Luffy, Zoro and Tsuru with his bow and arrow skills. In the anime Batman actually successfully fights Luffy, blocking the latter’s Haki-coated punch with his own Haki and forces Luffy back which is very impressive.
*** Also in the Wano anime there’s Page One, in the manga we really didn’t get to see much of his [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Spinosaurus abilities]] he just got kicked around by Sanji and only landed one good hit in before the fight was off-paneled. In the anime [[https://media1.tenor.com/images/b8634cafd11e77f616bf65c20e2dc63e/tenor.gif?itemid=16652179 he’s a hell of a match for Sanji]] even with the [[HenshinHero Raid Suit]], tough enough to recover from a mighty kick that put him [[CraterPower in a crater]].
*** Fujin from the [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Orochi Oniwabanshu]] is a pretty underwhelming and silly {{Ninja}}, Zoro bests him effortlessly in the manga. In the anime Fujin is much more powerful having BlowYouAway powers (fitting given the god he’s named after) matches Zoro’s sword RazorWind with his own, sends him flying back with a kick and even uses Haki on his katanas giving Zoro an actual fight before being cut down.
*** Big Mom is already ungodly strong in the manga though she’s still pretty lumbering being a mix of MightyGlacier and TheJuggernaut with movements matching her size. In the Wano anime, Big Mom is portrayed as an outright LightningBruiser. As seen in her [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pD9_XWEi_CE extended fight]] with Kaido where she makes [[InASingleBound great leaps]], staggers Kaido with a punch, matches his [[SignatureAttack Thunder Bagua]] with her own SwordBeam and even partakes in some AirJousting with him.

* ''Anime/RuneSoldierLouie'': Jeanie's fighting ability changes drastically between whether you're reading the manga, or watching the anime. In the manga version, Louie [[OneHitKO lays her out]] [[http://www.kivmanga.com/Rune_Soldier_Louie_-_Req_by_Valdimir/001.005/11/ with one punch]], when they first meet in chapter 1. Whereas in the anime, she's a much better fighter. When she and Louie fight in episode 12, not only does she outlast him, ''she'' knocks ''him'' out (seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh5Ex0SOf0E from 13:23-16:57).]]

* In the [[Anime/TheSnowQueen2005 2005 anime]] of ''Literature/TheSnowQueen'', the title character is a full LadyOfWar and she fights the Devil and prevails over him many times.
* The ''Anime/SonicX'' anime did this with Shadow the Hedgehog. He's already incredibly powerful in [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog the video game series]], but not terribly so. In the anime? He's practically TheJuggernaut in that very few characters are even capable of slowing him down, even Sonic himself. He also spends most of the third season as a OneManArmy against the mooks of that season's BigBad.
* The 2020 ''LightNovel/SorcerousStabberOrphen'' anime gave a major upgrade to the abilities of the titular character, Orphen. In the 1998 anime, Orphen was a skilled sorcerer but his fighting skills could best be described as being that of a LongRangeFighter who blasted his enemies with magic from a distance. And he did struggle in magical fights against some of his contemporaries in the Tower of Fangs like Flameheart and older, more experienced mages like [=McGregor=] who once studied in the Tower. In the 2020 anime, Orphen's magic is much faster and more versatile and his hand-to-hand abilities have gotten much better to the point where he's able to go OneManArmy and beat down multiple wizards in Childman's Bloody August hunting party. In fights against opponents who are roughly comparable to Flameheart and [=McGregor=] such as Hydrant and Uoar Curlaine, Orphen does significantly better. Even though Hydrant had a bit of an edge in magic over Orphen, Orphen didn't let that stop him in the least and proceeded to ''beat the shit out of Hydrant with his bare hands''. And in the fight against Uoar Curlaine, the older, more experienced sorcerer didn't even get in a single hit on Orphen before Orphen topples him in one blow.
* Analyser from ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato''. 3-foot-tall LovableSexManiac in the anime, ''over 20-foot-tall HumongousMecha'' in the 2010 movie.

** In the ''Manga/YuGiOhGX'' manga, Manjoume - the ButtMonkey and heavily subjected to TheWorfEffect - becomes a certified [[TheStoic Stoic]] badass, beating InvincibleHero ''Judai'' in a tournament. Sure, he gets curbstomped by [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Kaiser Ryo]] in his next duel, but he certainly gets ''much'' more respect than his anime counterpart.

*** All [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokémon]] is this in the anime.

** Zoro sometimes gets this in the anime and movies compared to the manga (where he's already super strong) but the most blatant example is [[Anime/TheCursedHolySword Movie 5]] where Zoro is made absurdly badass. The whole plot revolves him, he defeats Sanji and then at the end Zoro is the one to defeat the BigBad not Luffy who is pretty much turned into a DecoyProtagonist as a result. Also in the anime (i.e {{Filler}}) Zoro can cut steel and iron early on (in the Warship Island arc) while in the manga it took until Zoro’s fight with Mr 1 in Alabasta for him to learn to do so. In the Wano anime, Zoro using a Haki-enhanced Mutoryu (No Sword Style) [[TornadoMove Dragon Twister]] is able to destroy a whole house and Kyoshiro’s {{Mooks}} with one arm and with his KillingIntent make several more goons faint in a manner similar to Conquer’s Haki [[spoiler: which Zoro only gets later on]], none of which happened in the manga. [[spoiler: The anime version of the Onigashima raid even has Zoro explicitly knock a few mooks out with Conquer‘s Haki despite not even displaying the power to do so in the manga yet.]]

* The ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' franchise has Gotsumon. Several series, which are AU to each other, have the little guy as a {{Recurrer}} with the same or similar personality and voice portrayal. Each version tends to be badder than the last. ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''? A cute little guy who'd rather party than fight, his death (along with that of his partner, Pumpkinmon) was used to show how much of a BadBoss the arc's villain was. ''Anime/DigimonFrontier''? His tiny little pebble attack has grown into the ability to create ''giant boulders'' and he is able to hold off enemy enforcers who, according to their stats (type, level, element, etc.), should stomp him like a bug without even knowing they'd done so. He can now become Meteormon, a PaletteSwap who surprises everyone by being ultra-powerful. ''Anime/DigimonSavers''[=/=]''[[Anime/DigimonSavers Digimon Data Squad]]''? let's make him bad again, but ''good'' at it! He bedevils the team for the entirety of their first extended stay in the digital world, then becomes Meteormon. They laugh at his dramatic, LargeHam-moment-prefaced transformation into ''himself, but with lighter coloring'' for all of two seconds before he starts wiping the floor with them.

** ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime.
*** In most of the video games, a Mewtwo is vastly superior to a Mew of the same Level in practically all areas[[note]]After the special defense / special attack split, Mewtwo has a stat total of 680 with all stats but special defense and defense over 100 (both defense stats are 90). Notably, Mewtwo has a Special Attack of 154 and a Speed of 130, making it good at attacking first and hitting hard. Mew just has 100 in all its stats, for a total of 600, making it a jack of all trades but master of none. Before the special stat got split, this was even more imbalanced, since Mewtwo's Special was 154, giving Mewtwo a total of 610 to Mew's 500...the only stat Mew had even a slight advantage was Defense, which is coincidentally the one stat that's not going to be used going up against a special-attacking Mewtwo.[[/note]]; however, in ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', Mew was powerful enough to fight Mewtwo to a standstill.
*** Mewtwo (at least the one from ''Mewtwo Strikes Back'') is this trope in his own right, despite already being a powerful {{Olympus Mon|s}} in the original games. He gets upgraded from "merely" being really strong to being capable of [[ApocalypseHow wiping out all life on Earth outside of his island stronghold]]. And the heroes (with Mew's help) didn't ''stop'' Mewtwo, they just [[HeelFaceTurn persuaded him that it was wrong]].

*** Greninja is already among the most powerful starter Pokémon (especially if it has [[ConfusionFu Protean]]), but Ash's Greninja outright gets a SuperMode exclusive to it that makes it even more powerful.

** Zoro sometimes gets this in the anime and movies compared to the manga (where he's already super strong) but the most blatant example is [[Anime/TheCursedHolySword Movie 5]] where Zoro is made absurdly badass. The whole plot revolves him, he defeats Sanji and then at the end Zoro is the one to defeat the BigBad not Luffy who is pretty much turned into a DecoyProtagonist as a result. Also in the anime (i.e {{Filler}}) Zoro can cut steel and iron early on (in the Warship Island arc) while in the manga it took until Zoro’s fight with Mr 1 in Alabasta for him to learn to do so. In the Wano anime, Zoro using a Haki-enhanced Mutoryu (No Sword Style) [[TornadoMove Dragon Twister]] is able to destroy a whole house and Kyoshiro’s {{Mooks}} with one arm and with his KillingIntent make several more goons faint in a manner similar to Conquer’s Haki [[spoiler: which Zoro only gets later on]], none of which happened in the manga.

* Quite appropriately for a show notorious for BigDamnMovie, the ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' movies all inevitably turn the main cast of four normal 10 year olds and a RobotBuddy into total badasses who willingly face terrifying enemies and odds to save the timestream/the world/a foreign world/whatever. It’s even a meme in the Japanese internet fanbase how inevitable this and AdaptationalKindness is. It’s especially egregious with Nobita, the ThisLoserIsYou main protagonist and basically the Japanese counterpart of [[ComicBook/{{Peanuts}} Charlie Brown]], who, even with his patheticness being downplayed in newer reboots, is still a wimpy, cowardly, lazy, unmotivated kid explicitly below average in every area, yet in the movies is a total hidden badass of a KidHero who will bravely stare genocidal plant aliens or dinosaurs in the face.

* Quite appropriately for a show notorious for BigDamnMovie, the ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'' movies all inevitably turn the main cast of four normal 10 year olds and a RobotBuddy into total badasses who willingly face terrifying enemies and odds to save the timestream/the world/a foreign world/whatever. It’s even a meme in the Japanese internet fanbase how inevitable this and AdaptationalKindness is. It’s especially egregious with Nobita, the ThisLoserIsYou main protagonist, who in the main series is explicitly below average in every area, but in the movies he’s a total hidden badass KidHero.

** Wargreymon began its life as a PowerupLetdown for Metalgreymon, and was widely reviled for being relatively weak for it's level, having the lowest possible lifespan and even having an abnormally high after battle injury rate. Overtime, as a result of animated adaptations, his flaws tend to be glossed over, lending him a needed air of competence.

*** Most of the Gym Leaders. In the games and anime, their job is to, well, [[{{Jobber}} job]] to the main characters. In this manga, they're so strong that it's generally accepted that only an extreme badass can beat them all [[note]]In this 'verse, you don't need any badges to actually compete in the League, but having all 8 badges mean you can skip the preliminaries. This incentive guarantees plenty of challengers[[/note]]. Furthermore, being a Gym Leader also means that your side job is to protect your region from things such as, you know, various terrorist groups. So yeah, expect to see a lot more ass-whooping coming from these guys.

** Brook gets a massive example of this in Whole Cake Island, in the manga when he fights Big Mom he is completely overwhelmed but in the anime [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EY3EFpOCXeI Brook lasts longer]] against her than [[SuperMode Gear 4]] Luffy does.

* Barda in the ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' books was a pretty competent warrior able to hold his ground against a Vraal which is a born and bred killing machine and get [[ConvenientlyTimedAttackFromBehind a sneak attack]] on a [[VoluntaryShapeshifter Ol]] among other things. ''[[Anime/DeltoraQuest The Deltora Quest anime]]'' however turns Barda into an outright superhuman MasterSwordsmen capable of [[https://youtu.be/dmUcmfHG0SI?t=895 single handedly killing an Ak-Baba]] which is a beast that can ''kill Dragons'' in the books, and in the manga version Barda even lifts a huge boulder in another display of SuperStrength something he couldn't do in the books. TheHero Lief is also more combat-wise in the anime than he was in the books killing multiple monsters and villains whereas in the orignal series he only really killed one big monster (Gellick). [[JunglePrincess Jasmine]] on the otherhand gets AdaptationalWimp being more [[{{Chickification}} girly]] in the contrast to the books where she is an unabashed ActionGirl.

** Brook gets a massive example of this in Whole Cake Island, in the manga when he fights Big Mom he is completely overwhelmed but in the anime [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iOkyAotIWtI Brook lasts longer]] against her than [[SuperMode Gear 4]] Luffy does.

** Small moment but in [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tReUZicJtqE the Enies Lobby anime Usopp is shown taking out Shu the dude who]] [[WreckedWeapon rusted]] Zoro's [[CoolSword Yubashiri Katana]]. In essence, Usopp the weak LovableCoward literally rescued Zoro the badass in that moment. Sadly the scene does not exist in the manga.

* In ''Anime/MyHime'' and ''Anime/MaiOtome'', a few characters' power levels vary based on which series and media they appear in.

* ''Anime/RuneSoldierLouie'': [[AmazonianBeauty Jeanie's]] fighting ability changes drastically between whether you're reading the manga, or watching the anime. In the manga version, Louie [[OneHitKO lays her out]] [[http://www.kivmanga.com/Rune_Soldier_Louie_-_Req_by_Valdimir/001.005/11/ with one punch]], when they first meet in chapter 1. Whereas in the anime, she's a much better fighter. When she and Louie fight in episode 12, not only does she outlast him, ''she'' knocks ''him'' out (seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh5Ex0SOf0E from 13:23-16:57).]]