History AdaptationalBadass / LiveActionFilms

** The Pevensie siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are seriously badass compared to the books. Not that they were wimps by any stretch in C.S Lewis's original work, they being pacifistic kid heroes just fought battles infrequently and in some books (like ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'') not at all, instead relying on Aslan to save the day. In the films however, Peter and Edmund give Aragorn a run for his money in the badass OneManArmy MasterSwordsman department as well as showing hand to hand combat skills they didn't display in the book. Edmund in particular not only personally foils the White Witch Jadis's resurrection with a sneak attack in ''Film/PrinceCaspian'' but in the ''Film/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' he's the one who saves the day by killing the BigBad Sea Serpent with Peter's CoolSword Rhindon, neither of which happened in the books. By the same token Caspian is made to be more of an action hero, enaging in several fights in his movie and the sequel unlike the books where he either just fled to safety or resolved matters non-violently.
** Susan deserves her own special mention. Due to the StayInTheKitchen ValuesDissonance of the books Susan didn't get involved with in any of the battles like Peter and Edmund did and is too "tender hearted" to hurt anyone, she only uses her bow and arrow to fight once in ''Prince Caspian'' to startle a Telmarine who was going to drown Trumpkin by shooting an arrow at his helmet. In contrast to the films, ''especially'' the second one where Susan gets involved in the action alongside her brothers and racks up a large Telmarine body count with her own [[ImprobableAimingSkills incredible]] [[MasterArcher archery skills]], including at one point ''throwing one of her arrows'' into mook's torso to kill him. To a lesser extent Lucy gets this in ''Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' as she fights slavers who attack her, Edmund and Caspian in Doorn, unlike the book where she and the others got captured immediately.
** Eustace get this upon turning into a dragon in ''Voyage of the Dawn Treader''. In the book version, he is only transformed for a brief peroid before Aslan cures him and due to it being a DespairEventHorizon for him, he didn't do anything particuarly cool as a dragon just flying around and lighting a campfire with his dragon's breath. In the film Eustace's time as a dragon is expanded and he helps the ''Dawn Treader'' go faster by pulling it along with his tail while flying and he actually helps out in the FinalBattle as both a dragon and a human (once Aslan changes him back).

** Reepicheep the talking mouse, while fearless in the books is more of a silly character like Trumpkin who doesn't do any real fighting and whose main role is in the story is being TheHeart who inspires others into bravery. In the films he still provides moral support and comedic relief, but also shows real badassery taking down scores of men himself with his tiny sword. His hammy moments from both the ''Prince Caspian'' and ''Dawn Treader'' books are toned down and he's cooler and more sauve in the films as a result.
** Miraz the antagionist of ''Prince Caspian'' gets a great deal of this. In the book he was the usual DirtyCoward monarch who got manipulated by his more competent subordinates and most embarrassingly he knocks himself out during his duel with Peter by tripping over a tussock. In the film Miraz is made to be geuinely threating displaying a calculating cold bloodedness, [[VillainousValour not even showing fear]] when his nephew Caspian holds a sword to his throat and when a goddamn minotaur climbs to his balcony to kill him Miraz just pushes the beast off. He also puts up a better fight againist Peter, almost killing him in their duel.

*** Zigzagged with Bloodsport; he lacks the teleporting guns from the comics, having instead a MorphWeapon. But in the film, on top [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome of putting Superman in the ICU with a Kryptonite bullet]] similar to the comics, he's got more extreme hand to hand combat abilities able to kill a man with single blow [[spoiler: and is also able to out-marksman Peacemaker and go OneManArmy on a horde of Starro controlled zombies, none of which has comic Bloodsport pulled off.]]

* Every time the ComicBook/FantasticFour has been made into a film, ComicBook/DoctorDoom is shown with actual superpowers as opposed to a man wearing PoweredArmor. [[Film/TheFantasticFour The 1994 film]] depicted Doom as a {{cyborg}} and both ''Film/FantasticFourDuology'' and [[Film/FantasticFour2015 2015 reboot]] take after ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'' in showing Doom gaining powers from [[AdaptationOriginConnection the same accident that the Four did]].

** Depending on the movie, Bond himself may count. Fleming's books (at least, the early ones) tend to be less splashy affairs than the movies, and Bond often gets his ass handed to him by the villain and/or his henchmen. Meanwhile, some of the movies (espeically the modern ones) portray him as a MadeOfIron OneManArmy who can mow down ''dozens'' of mooks without stopping for a breath (only for a smoke).

** Sonya, Jax and Kano get this thanks to AdaptationalSuperpowerChange. In the games Kano and Jax have [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetics]] with former having a metal eye that can shoot a laser and the latter has [[ArtificialLimbs bulky metal arms]]. In Sonya's case, she has special gauntlets that can shoot [[EnergyRingAttack pink energy rings]] but is otherwise a BadassNormal. In the movie, due to the [[VictorGainsLosersPowers arcana]] subplot, Sonya, Jax and Kano gain genuine superpowers with Kano getting an actual EyeBeam, Jax [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext growing high-tec metal arms out of spindly little prosthetics]] and Sonya can shoot the pink ring [[BlastingTime blasts]] from her bare hands.

* Raoul De Changy in ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'' as in the book and especially the stage show Raoul was a bit of a fop, he only managed to graze the Phantom with his pistol and even Raoul's petite girlfriend Christine could physically overpower him ''twice'' in the book. In the film however Raoul is a MasterSwordsman who [[CurbStompBattle kicks the Phantom's ass]] in their duel at the graveyard and when Raoul falls into the Phantom's trap at the end, he gets himself free while in book Raoul would've died without the Persian and Christine's aid.

* Will Graham gets in the ''Film/RedDragon'' film. In [[Literature/RedDragon the Thomas Harris book]], Will is more of a realistic subversion of the cool detective, being largely a NonActionGuy whose sole (off-page) moment of real action: shooting Garrett Jacob Hobbs while the latter was murdering his own family, [[{{Deconstruction}} psychologically scarred him]] to point of needing intensive psychotherapy. Will's "capture" of Hannibal Lecter in the book wasn't a splashy affair, with Will just realising Lecter is the killer he's hunting after picking up clues in the doctor's office and going to make the phone call -- at which Lecter sneaks up behind Will and slashes him with a knife almost disemboweling him and the FBI are the ones who save the day. In the film Graham is more traditionally badass, as when Lecter suprise stabs him, Will manages to stay concious long enough to subdue the doctor stabbing Lecter right back with some nearby arrows and shooting him a few times for good measure (impressive given how much of an InvincibleVillain Hannibal is usually portrayed as). A similar occurance happens during the climax [[spoiler: when Francis Dolarhyde in the TwistEnding attacks Will and his family at their house. In the book, Dolarhyde takes Will completely by surprise, overpowerng him and disfiguring him with a knife -- forcing Will's wife Molly to have be a ActionMom and kill the sonofabitch herself. In the film, Dolarhyde takes his stepson Willy hostage and Will exploits Francis's childhood truama to make him let the boy go and he manages to wound Dolarhyde despite getting cut up himself. While Molly is the one who finishes off Dolarhyde like in the book, it's clear Will did the heavy lifting in this version.]]
** This hardly [[OlderThanTheyThink the first adaptation]] to give Will this treatment however. In 1986's ''Film/{{Manhunter}}'', Will is a grizzled CowboyCop and all around loose cannon who kicks far more ass than he did on the page. Take for example the moment when ImmoralJournalist Freddy Lounds bugs Will as he's leaving the station, in the book he just ingores him and in the 2002 film shoves him away, but in the 80s film Will actually judo throws Freddy onto a car (breaking the windscreen) telling Lounds in no uncertain terms to fuck off. [[spoiler: In the climax, Will is the one who kills Dolarhyde, unlike the book and 2002 film.]] ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' would make Will TruerToTheText, greatly downplaying the ActionHero elements to his character.

*** We finally get a live-action taste of how unstoppable Vader is in ''Film/RogueOne'' where Vader massacres a squadron of poor Rebels in a '''single minute''', this also serves as FridgeHorror if you reflect upon the original trilogy and realize Vader could've shred Luke to pieces in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' [[IamNotLeftHanded if he wanted too]], while he likely could have bested Obi-Wan very easily if hadn't been so overtly cautious with him in ''A New Hope''.

*** Pretty much '''everyone''' with the sole [[AdaptationalWimp exception of Frodo]] gets Adaptational Badass, however the standout when it comes to this trope is clearly Legolas Greenleaf. Sure in the books he kills a Fellbeast but otherwise there's no suggestion Legolas is stronger than Aragorn or Gimli, in the movies however Legolas just makes his companions look incompetent by comparison with his "[[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Leggy Moments]]" i.e [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaGZnLyCPXw surfboarding on a shield down a staircase while firing arrows and then hurtling the shield into a orc's chest]] or [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=132WIdxvgdo taking down a pack of Haradrim and massive Oliphaunt (a giant freaking elephant) by himself]] like a ''One Elf Army''.
*** Arwen, while not to same extent as Legolas still gets a big case on this in ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'' where becomes an ActionGirl. In the book all she really does is meet and fall in love with Aragon [[SatelliteLoveInterest and get married to him]] after the War of the Ring is won, in the film due to Glorfindel getting AdaptedOut ([[WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings again]]) to cut down on the number of characters, Arwen takes his role racing againist the Nazgûl to get the dying Frodo to Rivendell. She's the one who summons the torrent of water to wash the Ringwraiths away in this version. ''Film/TheTwoTowers'' was originally go the extra step further of having Arwen take part in the Battle of Helms Deep too, but Peter Jackson fearing he'd strayed too far from the books, cut her role out of it.

*** The Witch King of Angmar gets this in the [[ReCut extended version]] of ''Film/TheReturnOfTheKing''. In the book he is incredibly strong and deadly, but it's still left ambigous if the Witch King can actually take on CameBackStrong Gandalf the White, since their brief standoff is interrupted when Pippin gets Gandalf's attenion and he leaves the battle to deal with Denethor. The extended film instead provides a straight anwser with the Witch King [[TheWorfEffect easily knocking Gandalf off Shadowfax and breaking his staff]], while it succeeded in conveying the Witch King as a threat, since he is beaten the exact same way as in the book (stabbed in the leg by Merry and then killed Éowyn) it did make Gandalf [[AdaptationalWimp seem like a pushover]].

*** Beleive it or not '''Sauron''' himself gets this to a degree. To explain while he is undeniably immesely powerful and god-like in the books, it's specifically his dark magical power that makes Sauron TheDreaded BigBad that he is, not his phyiscal might. In fact when actually forced into a phyiscal fight, such as againist Huan the wolfhound in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Sauron actually gets his dark lord ass ''handed to him''. In the films however, Sauron as seen in the opening flashback to ''Fellowship of the Ring'' can personally crush and send flying the allied armies of men and elves [[PersonOfMassDestruction all by himself]] with his just his mace -- which is likely a result of [[CompositeCharacter compositing]] his character with his master Morgoth who was described as a giant armoured figure who wielded a mace. Similar to Sauron's depiction in the film. On the other hand, as recounted in the book it took combined might of Gil-galad and Elendil to defeat Sauron, whereas in the film Isildur is able to beat Sauron alone by cutting the ring off his finger.
*** While Frodo does get AdaptationalWimp overall, ''Return of King'' did give him one epic moment of this during the climax at Mount Doom. In the book when he finally gets there and is about to toss the Ring into the fire, he gives into the influence of the Ring and claims it as his own. Its Gollum [[NiceJobFixingItVillain who unintentionally saves the day]] by biting Frodo's finger off making Frodo collapse in pain and Gollum while is celebrating his victory, he falls backwards into the fire unmaking the Ring. In the film largely the same happens, except Frodo recovers from Gollum's attack and wrestles with him at the edge, pushing him along with the Ring into the fire himself and accomplishing his journey in a roundabout way.

** Kitty Pryde, one of the relatively weaker X-Men, gets a good dose of this in the films. In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', she defeats The Juggernaut single-handedly and in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', she has the power to send Wolverine's conscious back in time, which saves the world and the timeline. Though in the latter case, this is due to [[CompositeCharacter combining]] her character and [[AdaptationalSuperpowerChange powers]] with ComicBook/RachelSummers, who is AdaptedOut of the story.

* Unlike in the comics where she was an old, paralyzed and blind psychic, Cassandra Webb in ''Film/MadameWeb2024'' is a paramedic. Once her precognitive powers kick in, [[spoiler:she's able to keep up with the much stronger and faster Ezekiel via her anticipating all his moves]]. {{Downplayed|Trope}}, however, in that the [[spoiler:Spider Tribe leader she seeks out in Peru]] seems confused she hasn't developed enhanced strength and agility like Ezekiel.

** ''Film/BladeTrinity'' did this in regards to [[ComicBook/TheTombOfDracula Marvel's Dracula]], who was vulnerable to sunlight and all the typical vampire weaknesses like crosses, holy water, garlic and the like. Here he is a Daywalker just like Blade himself and the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent typical weaknesses don't do anything]] and it takes [[spoiler:an artificial virus to actually kill him at the end]]. In all fairness, Dracula was a DaywalkingVampire too in [[Literature/{{Dracula}} the Bram Stoker novel]], something which Drake points out in the movie and being based on him, so this trope only applies to the Marvel version.

** ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars'' sees Godzilla as a [[OneManArmy One Kaiju Army]], with only [[spoiler:Monster X/Keiser Ghidorah and an upgrade Gigan giving him real trouble.]]

** Susan deserves her own special mention. Due to the StayInTheKitchen ValuesDissonance of the books Susan didn't get involved with in any of the battles like Peter and Edmund did and is too "tender hearted" to hurt anyone, she only uses her [[ArcherArchetype bow and arrow]] to fight once in ''Prince Caspian'' to startle a Telmarine who was going to drown Trumpkin by shooting an arrow at his helmet. In contrast to the films, ''especially'' the second one where Susan gets involved in the action alongside her brothers and racks up a large Telmarine body count with her own [[ImprobableAimingSkills incredible]] [[MasterArcher archery skills]], including at one point ''throwing one of her arrows'' into mook's torso to kill him. To a lesser extent Lucy gets this in ''Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' as she fights slavers who attack her, Edmund and Caspian in Doorn, unlike the book where she and the others got captured immediately.

* ''Film/LesMiserables2012'' gives this treatment to InspectorJavert as while Javert was ruthless in [[Literature/{{LesMiserables}} the book]], he was only really a threat to the [[SuperStrength superhuman]] Jean Valjean due to his position and posse of police officers at his command. This is seen in the chapter where [[DelicateAndSickly Fantine]] dies of shock thanks to Javert arresting Valjean at her sickbed, enraged Valjean easily breaks free of Javert’s grip and with verbal intimation makes the inspector [[PaperTiger retreat]] across the room in fear, allowing Valjean to make a promise to Fantine’s lifeless body before surrendering. In the same scene in the movie Javert duels Valjean [[SwordFight with a sword]], forcing the latter to flee the scene. This doubles for some versions of the [[Theatre/LesMiserables Musical]] where Valjean overpowers Javert during the confrontation like the book, whilst in the movie Javert is easily a match for Valjean.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}''

** Starscream was considerably more badass than almost all of his previous incarnations in the first live-action film, where he holds his own against Ironhide and Ratchet, easily destroys military aircraft, and is one of the few Decepticons to survive the movie. However, this was inverted in the sequels, to the point where he became one of the most pathetic of the Decepticons, although given that he was beaten up both by Optimus and Megatron, this is somewhat understandable.

* The [[Film/BloodAndChocolate2007 the film adaptation]] of ''Literature/BloodAndChocolate'' does this to Aiden. In the book he's not especially athletic or badass, although he does manage to [[spoiler:shoot two werewolves]] (the second time he [[spoiler:hits the wrong werewolf]] and he's freaking out). Here he was raised to be a tough survivalist by his ex-military dad and he's more of an ActionSurvivor, bordering on ActionHero, taking out multiple werewolves with guns, knives or even just a silver pendant and a long drop.

** In ''Film/JusticeLeague2017'', [[spoiler: Franchise/{{Superman}} qualifies, to the point that everyone else is pretty much an AdaptationalWimp by comparison. While neither Aquaman or Wonder Woman are supposed to be quite as strong as him, they are normally able to at least fight him toe to toe. In ''Justice League'', when he is resurrected and unaware of himself he easily overpowers both of them and Cyborg at the same time. He also handily tosses Steppenwolf around with little trouble, where in other adaptations any of the ComicBook/NewGods are able to stand up to or beat him. Similarly, while Superman is usually portrayed as being just slower than the Flash, in the movie he's as fast or even faster at times (though it should be noted that this Flash is much less experienced with his powers).]] [[note]][[spoiler:A possible explanation to this was that he was brought back to life with the use of [[LightningCanDoAnything lightning caused from Barry tapping into his Speed Force]] and a Mother Box to bring him back, granting him a broader use of his powers and allowing him to reach his maximum use of his potential.]][[/note]]

* Every time the Franchise/FantasticFour has been made into a film, ComicBook/DoctorDoom is shown with actual superpowers as opposed to a man wearing PoweredArmor. [[Film/TheFantasticFour The 1994 film]] depicted Doom as a {{cyborg}} and both ''Film/FantasticFourDuology'' and [[Film/FantasticFour2015 2015 reboot]] take after ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'' in showing Doom gaining powers from [[AdaptationOriginConnection the same accident that the Four did]].

* ''Franchise/{{Hellboy}}'':
** In the ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' comics, [[GasMaskMooks Kroenen]] was a third-rate EvilGenius. In ''Film/Hellboy2004'', he's a DualWielding, ClockworkCreature {{Ghostapo}} who's nigh-unkillable and serves as TheDragon to [[BigBad Rasputin]].

* Wilhelmina Murray and Alan Quatermain, the two central characters of ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', get this in [[Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen the film adaptation]]. In the comic, Mina's major gimmick was that of a tough, reserved FemmeFatale with a mysterious DarkAndTroubledPast (with the fact that she was really [[Literature/{{Dracula}} Mina Harker]] left hidden from the reader at first), and Quatermain was a burnout ex-adventurer trying to kick his crippling opium addiction. In the film, Mina (who's called "Mina Harker" from the get-go) has vampiric abilities from her past encounter with The Count, and Quatermain is a badass GreatWhiteHunter played by Creator/SeanConnery.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics, General Zod was one of Krypton's top military advisors, but often relied more on his planning skills than doing actual fighting. The character's film portrayals have helped make him a much bigger threat. ''Film/SupermanII'' portrayed Zod as a charismatic leader that took full advantage of the fact that the gained powers from Earth's yellow sun; as displayed in the film's fight scenes. It proved to be so successful that it was integrated into the comics and became a key factor in every subsequent adaptation that featured Zod, not to mention several other Kryptonian villains. There's also the aforementioned ''Man of Steel''.

* Pretty much every non-powered hero in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' becomes [[MadeOfIron a lot tougher]] and [[CharlesAtlasSuperPower a lot stronger]] in the movie version of ''Film/{{Watchmen}}''. The film also removes a lot of the deconstruction of super-heroes that intentionally made them seem a bit ridiculous.

** Quicksilver is one of the fastest characters in the Marvel comics universe, but he has limitations on just how fast, and is generally well under the speed of sound. In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Hank mistakes him for a teleporter, and fans have noted that Peter's SuperSpeed and power set (he's capable of redirecting bullets with ease and shattering glass by vibrating his hands) are closer to Franchise/TheFlash, who explicitly has a speed advantage over Quicksilver in inter-company crossover stories. Even more so in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' because he rescues ''all'' of Xavier's students from an explosion in only a ''fraction of a second''. Maximoff is one of the most powerful mutants in the whole X-Men film franchise.

*** This version of Franchise/{{Godzilla}} proves himself to be one of the most powerful ones yet; he [[spoiler:kills Ghidorah with the Nuclear Pulse (an ability that, [[Film/Godzilla2000 barring its use against Orga]], was originally only a sidearm at best), and in an epic case of SparedByTheAdaptation, survives the Oxygen Destroyer ([[Film/{{Gojira}} the weapon that killed the original Godzilla]]) and safely utilizes [[Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah Burning Godzilla]] as a SuperMode (as opposed to it being a SuperpowerMeltdown that kills him) -- and keep in mind, these killed two different Godzillas in two different movie; this Godzilla survived ''both'' in the ''same movie'']].

*** King Ghidorah was a badass already, but this version is not only the largest version in any live-action film, but is capable of generating a cataclysmic storm simply by ''being awake'', casually lifting Godzilla all the way into the skies, [[spoiler:[[NoSell no-selling]] the Oxygen Destroyer]], and just straight-up beating Godzilla in a 1v1. In particular, he has an ''incredible'' HealingFactor to the point where [[spoiler:it takes being completely atomized to kill him]], and even then [[spoiler:his remains retain enough conciousness to become a menace come ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'']]. Also, whereas every Ghidorah since the original except the ''Rebirth'' incarnation has been TheDragon to someone else, this Ghidorah is [[BigBad the one giving the orders to other monsters]].

* The eponymous ''Film/{{Blade}}'' himself actually got this in his film portrayal. In the early comics Blade was initially more of a BadassNormal VampireHunter whose mom was bitten by a vampire giving him heightened senses, but in the film he's an outright {{Dhampyr}} who has all the pros of being a vampire and none of the cons. Thanks to the massive success of the movies, comic Blade was bitten by ComicBook/{{Morbius}} and thus [[CanonImmigrant gained]] all the [[HybridPower abilities]] he had on screen.

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries''

** ''Film/XMenDarkPhoenix'': The D’bari in ''ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga'' are a harmless LittleGreenMen-esque race who are [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide decimated]] along with their galaxy by [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Dark Phoenix]]. The SoleSurvivor of their species, Vuk, has a human disguise and some PoweredArmor, but besides that is a minor villain. In the movie, the D’bari are [[GalacticConqueror world conquering]] [[VoluntaryShapeshifter shape shifting]], [[{{Telepathy}} telepathic]] [[AliensAreBastards evil aliens]] who’s leader, a [[GenderFlip Gender Flipped]] Vuk, can take on the entire X-Men, overpower Magneto and even hold her own against Jean with her own PsychicPowers. It’s more than likely filmmakers [[CompositeCharacter combined]] the D’bari with the Skrulls who are generally that fearsome in the comics, but whom Fox didn’t have the rights to.
** ''Film/NewMutants'':
*** Dani Moonstar in the comics has [[MasterOfIllusion illusionary powers]] being able to create images that trick and scare opponents, but not actually hurt them. In the film [[spoiler: she’s a RealityWarper who can actually summon a Kaiju-sized demon bear and other horrors that can kill people and destroy an entire school]]. On the other hand Dani’s hand to hand combat and weapon handling skills are missing in the film.

** Dejah Thoris in the novels had a stronger will and spirit than your average DistressedDamsel, but was still a DistressedDamsel nonetheless. The film version keeps the book version's ProudWarriorRaceGirl attitude but adds the fighting skills to back it up, making her a full-on LadyOfWar.

** ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'': The book version of Fransisco Scaramanga has fairly good gun skills, but is basically an upper mid-tier thug who only ended up on Bond's radar through (good or bad, depending on your perspective) luck in assignment choices and execution. The film version is a genuinely terrifying assassin with ImprobableAimingSkills whose claim to be "The Deadliest Man In The World" is less hot air and more a fairly nuanced description of his capabilities.