History BadassNormal / WebOriginal

* The WebOriginal/{{Metaverse}} distinguishes itself from other superhero universes (outside of being live action) by featuring unpowered heroes as the majority as opposed to the looked down upon minority. That isn't to say that sci-fi in anyway takes a back seat; giant monsters and alternate dimensions are anything but scarce.

** On the villain side, there's [[spoiler:Saint, Dragon's nemesis]].

* ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'': Most PPC Agents are ordinary [[PunyEarthlings humans]] who get the job done just through whatever training they received, experience, and sometimes luck. "Normal" is rather a relative term in the PPC, though, given that [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover they can recruit from every continuum that's ever been written]] (except the [[PersonaNonGrata quarantined]] ones); nonhuman characters include [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings elves]], [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons dragons]], [[Literature/{{Redwall}} furries]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime dinosaurs]], [[Literature/{{Animorphs}} aliens]] [[Franchise/StarWars of various]] [[Franchise/StarTrek types]], and [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy a superintelligent shade of the colour blue]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': Most competent Foundation personnel. Several staff members are (with the marked exception of Dr. Kain and [[BodySurf Dr. Bright]]) humans without paranormal abilities, but they can take down or capture dangerous abnormal objects, and in some cases kill {{Reality Warper}}s.

* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'' has a few characters who have not unlocked a Semblance or if they ''had'' unlocked a Semblance, one that has no combat use, and yet manage to stay toe to toe with the more powerful members. A prominent example is Roman Torchwick, a person who had never unlocked his Semblance, who held on his own against [[TheHero Ruby Rose]] and were it not for [[spoiler:getting devoured by a Grimm]], he would have beaten her. Then there's Arthur Watts who ''also'' hadn't unlocked his Semblance and managing to get the upper hand with [[GeneralRipper General Ironwood]] were it not for his own [[TheDeterminator Semblance]].
** Perhaps most impressively is [[spoiler:Mercury Black, who has no Semblance and yet gave [[TheAce Pyrrha]] and [[TheBerserker Yang]] a run for their money in a fight.]]

* WebOriginal/JusticeWing has many examples:

* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'' has a few characters who have not unlocked a [[StockSuperpowers Semblance]] or if they ''had'' unlocked a Semblance, one that has no combat use, and yet manage to stay toe to toe with the more powerful members. A prominent example is Roman Torchwick, a person who had never unlocked his Semblance, who held on his own against [[TheHero Ruby Rose]] and were it not for [[spoiler:getting devoured by a Grimm]], he would have beaten her. Then there's Arthur Watts who ''also'' hadn't unlocked his Semblance and managing to get the upper hand with [[GeneralRipper General Ironwood]] were it not for his own [[TheDeterminator Semblance]].

* ''{{WebAnimation/RWBY}}'' has a few characters who have not unlocked a [[StockSuperpowers Semblance]] or if they ''had'' unlocked a Semblance, one that has no combat use, and yet manage to stay toe to toe with the more powerful members. A prominent example is Roman Torchwick, a person who had never unlocked his Semblance, who held on his own against [[TheHero Ruby Rose]] and were it not for [[spoiler:getting devoured by a Grimm]], he would have beaten her. Then there's Arthur Watts who ''also'' hadn't unlocked his Semblance and managing to get the upper hand with [[GeneralRipper General Ironwood]] were it not for his own [[TheDeterminator Semblance]].
** Perhaps most impressively is [[spoiler:Mercury Black, who has no Semblance and yet gave [[TheAce Pyrrha]] and [[TheBerserker Yang]] a run for their money in a fight.]]

* In ''WebVideo/CarmillaTheSeries'', humans have been shown repeatedly to be absolutely no match for vampires in a standup fight. Enter Sherman Hollis, Laura's dad, who has formulated a pepper spray that works on vampires. [[spoiler:In his first appearance he drives off the vampirized Danny Lawrence, who physically overpowers Carmilla Karnstein as much as Carmilla overpowered her when she was human.]]
* WebVideo/HeroHouse has several examples, which is unsurprising, as it features the entire Batfamily, and several of their rogues.
* In the ''WebVideo/NatOneProductions'' story-line, ''The Last Stage'', each of the main characters is really nothing more than a RedShirt. Despite this, they successfully tackle a surprising number of lethally dangerous paranormal enemies. [[spoiler: That's not to say there aren't casualties...]]
* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', several heroes and villains have no special or magical powers and yet they've shown their skills many times against stronger opponents.
* Several staff members of the Wiki/SCPFoundation are (with the marked exception of Dr. Kain and [[BodySurf Dr. Bright]]) humans without paranormal abilities, but they can take down or capture dangerous abnormal objects, and in some cases kill {{Reality Warper}}s. Special mention goes to [[RedShirt D-14134]], which managed to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu destroy a]] '''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Keter]]'''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu -class SCP]]. Even more special mention to Researcher Talloran who destroyed an ''[[EldritchAbomination Apollyon]]'' class SCP after being tortured by it for millions of years.

* ''Podcast/RedPandaAdventures:''
** Outside of the Red Panda's use of hypnosis, neither he nor his sidekick the Flying Squirrel have any significant superpowers to speak of. Their success as crimefighters and superheroes comes from constant training, cunning minds, and gadgets that allow for feats ranging from {{Wall Crawl}}ing to resisting and countering magical attack. They can reliably handle anything that isn't a flat out {{Kaiju}}.
** The Red Panda also has a network of agents, men and women who act as his eyes and ears and have fought alongside him both figuratively and literally. In the book "The Android Assassins", several of them are the first line of defense against Captain Clockwork's robot army and, during World War II, many of those same agents formed a unit that gained a reputation for doing impossible things behind enemy lines and, for much of that time, any superhero help they got was either incidental or the acts of an amnesiac Red Panda.
* The forum [=RP=] ''[[http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/index.php?showtopic=5145 Insane Cafe 3: The Curse of the Haunted Hotel]]'' has a a group of characters known as the "Pelvanida Group". They are a group of [[BadassBookworm scientists]] and soldiers who kill a group of very powerful mages with nothing more than a shitload of guns and explosives.
* Most [[WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum PPC Agents]] are ordinary [[PunyEarthlings humans]] who get the job done just through whatever training they received, experience, and sometimes luck. "Normal" is rather a relative term in the PPC, though, given that [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover they can recruit from every continuum that's ever been written]] (except the [[PersonaNonGrata quarantined]] ones); nonhuman characters include [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings elves]], [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons dragons]], [[Literature/{{Redwall}} furries]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLandBeforeTime dinosaurs]], [[Literature/{{Animorphs}} aliens]] [[Franchise/StarWars of various]] [[Franchise/StarTrek types]], and [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy a superintelligent shade of the colour blue]].
* Literature/WhateleyUniverse

* In ''Roleplay/DarwinsSoldiers'' The nonpowered heroes (villains) usually put up a decent fight against the augmented villains (heroes). They sometimes win. Trinity deserves a special mention. A normal human, she simultaneously fights someone with [[SuperStrength robotic arms]], someone with [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinetic powers]], and someone with not one but ''two'' PsychicPowers: [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]], and [[ShockAndAwe electrokinesis]]. Oh yeah, she ''beats them all at the same time''.
* Any analytical player with the Villager role in ''Roleplay/ComicFuryWerewolf'' arguably counts. If they catch the Werewolves, they almost certainly do. If they '''consistently''' catch the Werewolves, they '''''definitely''''' do. As such, Ranger used to be one, but later lost his touch.
* ''Roleplay/MarvelsRPG'' has rules for making your character one of these.
* The {{WebOriginal/Metaverse}} distinguishes itself from other superhero universes (outside of being live action) by featuring unpowered heroes as the majority as opposed to the looked down upon minority. That isn't to say that sci-fi in anyway takes a back seat; giant monsters and alternate dimensions are anything but scarce.
* In ''Roleplay/EquestriaChronicles'', earth ponies hold their own against [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic magical unicorns and flying pegasi]].
* ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'' occasionally has this dynamic:
** "Franchise/{{Batman}} vs. Franchise/{{Spiderman}}". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:loses. Batman has quite famously beaten superhuman opponents before, but this was with extensive research and tailoring his load-out to specially counter it. Under standard ''Death Battle'' conditions, fighters go in with no prior knowledge and iconic, standard equipment. Against an opponent who is even stronger, tougher and faster than a peak-condition human, who can also nullify his stealth and is just as clever as he is, Batman simply can't make up the difference in raw power.]]
** "[[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]] vs. [[VideoGame/SoulSeries Nightmare]]". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:wins. The given reason? It wouldn't at all be hyperbole to say that in his stories, Guts slaughters demonic entities far more terrifying and powerful than Nightmare on an almost ''daily'' basis, triumphing out of sheer dumb luck, ferocity and/or unstoppable willpower. [[ButForMeItWasTuesday A duel against Nightmare really would be just your average manga chapter for him]].]]
** "[[VideoGame/MetalGear Solid Snake]]" vs. [[VideoGame/SplinterCell Sam Fisher]]". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:loses. Sam has his Navy SEAL and Green Beret training, and he has superior technology and weapons. However, Snake is not only ''also'' trained by US SF, but is also cloned from the greatest soldier to have ever lived ''and'' has performance-enhancing nanomachines coursing through his veins. Combined with Snake's more... [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} unorthodox]] [[LethalJokeItem tactics]], and he manages to cinch it.]]
** "[[Franchise/DragonBall Hercule Satan]] vs. [[Franchise/StreetFighter Dan Hibiki]]". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:wins. Hercule is OvershadowedByAwesome by the DBZ cast but can hold his own very well against other humans, while Dan is a joke even among normal humans. Hercule's feats are also far more impressive than Dan's, whose KiManipulation is inept. With this huge difference in competence, it was only a matter of time before Mr Satan finished off Dan ([[AccidentalMurder albeit accidentally]])]]
** "[[WebAnimation/{{RWBY}} Yang Xiao Long]] vs. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockhart]]". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:loses. It is true that Tifa is more experienced, and she also possesses a [[SheFu flowing and versatile martial art style]] that counters Yang's [[UnskilledButStrong comparatively straightforward berserker punching]]. However, Yang's Semblance lets her greatly surpass Tifa's strength, and her Aura allows her to stand up to the worst Tifa can throw at her. With Tifa in turn being effectually a GlassCannon, Yang's victory was only a matter of time and taking enough whacks.]]
* On Website/NotAlwaysRight, there are a few of these. One of the better ones was a [[https://notalwaysright.com/needs-to-press-paws/29017 middle aged lady]] in a pet shop who foiled a robbery/assault on the clerk so quickly that they had to play the security footage in slow-motion to figure out how she did it. And she didn't say a word after, just bought her cat food and walked out.

* Diath in WebVideo/DiceCameraAction holds his own against vampires and giants despite being the only non-magic party member.
* Washington in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', especially compared to the other Freelancers. He has no A.I. or any armor enhancement but is able to fight on equal grounds with the others.
* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Compared to his friends, Dylan is very lacking in special powers, but as Keela points out in "An Unofficial Tournament", he makes up for it with his wit and determination.
** Betty has no inherit special powers, especially when you look at her WickedWitch sister, Melinda. However, Betty can still fight among the best of 'em.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** At the start of the series, Jaune Arc has no special weapon, no previous combat training, no nifty Semblance; just a sword and a shield and [[AttackAttackAttack sheer determination]]. [[spoiler:Until he upgraded his weapons in Volume 4 and unlocked his Semblance in Volume 5.]]
** [[BreakoutVillain Roman]] [[TheHeavy Torchwick]], is one for the villains, being a stylish criminal mastermind. By comparison to most other characters in the show. Roman never discovered his Semblance but is nonetheless deadly enough to both keep up with Blake and Sun and outright beat Ruby in a one-on-one fight using only his wits, skill, and a bit of Dust.
** In Volume 5, Vernal is able to thoroughly curbstomp Weiss in a fight just through sheer skill and being a CombatPragmatist, without even using her Maiden powers. [[spoiler:Which is a good thing because Vernal never had the powers to begin with.]]
** In Volume 6, [[spoiler:it is revealed that Mercury had his Semblance stolen from him by his father and he had to train especially hard to fight without it. This is the same guy who held his own against Pyrrha and Yang ''while holding back''.]]
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': Most competent Foundation personnel. For example, one of the archaeological digs for SCP-140 went horribly, ''horribly'' wrong, and the ''doctor in charge of the site'' sacrificed his life to stop whatever the Hell was down there.
** SCP-1983 is a house where the interior is an alternate dimension full of malevolent shadow entities. The Foundation sent a team of heavily armed and highly trained agents and they were massacred. The Foundation then sent in a BoxedCrook numbered D-14134 for a suicidal recon mission. Long story short, D-14134, in the manner of some badass AntiHero protagonist of a survival horror video game, actually managed to ''[[DyingMomentOfAwesome fight his way down into the creatures' nest and destroy them at the source, neutralising the SCP at the cost of his life]]''.
** SCP-3999 details how a thirty-something low-level researcher named James Talloran was placed in a CosmicHorrorStory by an insane Apollyon-class RealityWarper and subjected to ''three million years'' of MindScrew torture straight from your worst nightmare. Not only did Talloran keep in sanity intact, but he eventually found a way to get reality back under control, gave the entity a humiliating speech and then destroyed it [[HeroicSacrifice and himself]] to get reality back to normal again.

** "[[Franchise/DragonBall Hercule Satan]] vs. [[Franchise/StreetFighter Dan Hibiki]]". In this case, the Badass Normal [[spoiler:wins. Hercule is OvershadowedByAwesome by the DBZ cast but can hold his own very well against other humans, while Dan is a joke even among normal humans. Hercule's feats are also far more impressive than Dan's, whose KiAttacks are inept. With this huge difference in competence, it was only a matter of time before Mr Satan finished off Dan ([[AccidentalMurder albeit accidentally]])]]

* The ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' featured several, including [[TheGunslinger Ballistic]], [[TrickArrow Longbow]], and Battlecat.