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* The BigBad of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} Hard Corps'', Colonel Bahamut is a [[FallenHero Disgraced war hero]] who plans to take over the world by using Alien DNA. Perhaps the best example of the Colonel's badassness is the [[MultipleEndings path]] where he fights the player while wearing a [[RightHandOfDoom gigantic claw arm]].

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* The BigBad of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} Hard Corps'', ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'', Colonel Bahamut is a [[FallenHero Disgraced war hero]] who plans to take over the world by using Alien DNA. Perhaps the best example of the Colonel's badassness is the [[MultipleEndings path]] where he fights the player while wearing a [[RightHandOfDoom gigantic claw arm]].

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* Colonel Relius Clover of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. Puppeteer extraordinary and is one of the people that is quite possibly the closest one that can be said to be Hazama's superior other than the Imperator. And he's a gigantic scum.
** ''Chronophantasma'' includes Colonel Kagura Mutsuki, who's not only the leader of the highest clan amongst the NOL Duodecim... but also a surprisingly pleasant dude. To fill in the badass part, he {{Curb Stomp|Battle}}s Ragna and fights Noel/Mu-12 on equal terms.

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* ''Franchise/BlazBlue'':
**
Colonel Relius Clover of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. Puppeteer extraordinary Clover, puppeteer extraordinare and is one of the people that is quite possibly the closest one that person who can be said to be Hazama's superior other than the Imperator. And he's He's a gigantic scum.
scumbag.
** ''Chronophantasma'' includes ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma Chronophantasma]]'' introduces Colonel Kagura Mutsuki, who's not only the leader of the highest clan amongst the NOL Duodecim... but also a surprisingly pleasant dude. To fill in the badass part, he {{Curb Stomp|Battle}}s [[CurbStompBattle curb-stomps]] Ragna and fights Noel/Mu-12 on equal terms.
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If they were promoted because they're strong, it's Asskicking Leads To Leadership.


* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'': Colonel Tendon Cobar and Colonel Mael Radec are with the bad guys, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking but they're both badass enough to show you how they've earned their ranks]]. Templar, while promoted to colonel in ''Killzone 2'', doesn't quite make the cut.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'': Colonel Tendon Cobar and Colonel Mael Radec are with the bad guys, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership but they're both badass enough to show you how they've earned their ranks]]. Templar, while promoted to colonel in ''Killzone 2'', doesn't quite make the cut.
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* Col. Sawyer from ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict''. While we never see him in the field, in that scene where he is shot by [[ColdSniper sniper]] (who misses by a few inches), he is just too [[TheStoic stoic]]. And he is fluent in French, too.
** And the ExpansionPack gives us Soviet [[UsefulNotes/CommonRanks Polkovnik]] Orlovsky.
* The lieutenant colonels in the second ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' were {{Ace Pilot}}s, without exceptions. Colonel Halcyon, however, acts more as a commander rather than a pilot.
** There's Colonel Blair himself, from [=WC3=] and [=WC4=]. Having killed the most "ace" [[MegaNeko Kilrathi]] pilots in the entire three-decade war, and defeating [[TheDragon Prince Thrakhath]], ''twice'' (the second time when Blair's fighter is weighed down with the [[EarthShatteringKaboom Temblor Device]], which also halved his missile loadout), is one way of earning badass points. He later gets promoted to FourStarBadass
* Col. Corazon Santiago from ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': military genius, knows how to run a police state properly, and hot to boot.
** Also leader of a faction, and if played right, the entire world. Still, [[JustTheFirstCitizen never promotes herself above colonel]].
** In the first of the novelizations by Michael Ely (one of the writers for the game), Santiago personally leads an elite unit of her Myrmidons to storm the UN Headquarters (the Peacekeepers' home base), which has been under Spartan siege for days. Not only does this seal the base's fate, but she also ends up personally [[spoiler:killing Pravin Lal's son in revenge for him killing her son]].
* Colonel from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' and his Net Navi counterpart in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' are both pretty awesome.
** It's required for the former, seeing as his {{Rival}} is the resident badass...
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'':
** Colonel Burton, the U.S.' [[RPGElements hero unit]] in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer Generals]]'' and ''Zero Hour'' kills enemy soldiers (and aircraft [[GoodBadBugs due to a bug in earlier versions]]) stealthily with his knife, sets demolition charges - he can destroy a base at once with remotes, one at a time with timed ones, and in one case, destroyed a chemical lab with one without even getting close by creating an avalanche -, [[InvisibilityCloak is hard to see]], and totes '''the''' most powerful bullet-based weapon of the game, able to kill ''even tanks''.
** Though he was only a captain during ''Renegade'', Nick "Havoc" Parker was ultimately promoted to colonel before his retirement, in spite of his antics on the battlefield.
* Col. Jade Curtiss from ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss''. He starts out approximately 45 levels ahead of the other characters, is far stronger physically than most other black mages, and is 35 years old. In a JRPG. Still kicks the ass of a God-General after getting sealed down to the level of the rest of your party.
** Even when Jade gets hit with a Fon Slot Seal, he doesn't lose any of his awesomeness. In fact, it's by traveling with the party that he can learn the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Meteor Storm]] spell. And Indignation.
** He's also the ultimate DeadpanSnarker, and almost completely unflappable, something shown time and time again as a contrast to the other characters. His badassery isn't just in fighting, it's also in the fact that he can stand in the middle of a raging volcano and appears not to sweat. Although that could just be the ConvectionSchmonvection in effect.
* [[PsychoElectro Col. Volgin]] of the GRU from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater''. Yes, he's evil. Doesn't detract one bit from his badassitude.
** Also from ''VideoGame/MetalGear'', we have Col. Roy Campbell. Even when he [[RetiredBadass retires]], Snake not only continues to respect him, he even refers to him as "Colonel"... over Campbell's explicit objections. And in the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''? He gave ''orders'' to Solid Snake.
* ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' has Heidern. He's only appeared in four of the games, and he's a freaking ''god.'' Imagine what happens when you give a character similar to [[Franchise/StreetFighter Guile]] absurd priority in attacks, the ability suck the life out of his opponents and give it to himself, and [[BadassNormal has no "magical" justification for his abilities]]. SNK developers worried people might think he was an alien or a wizard. His adopted daughter Leona takes after him quite well (and replaces him after '95). He clearly takes a few cues from the Colonel from ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar''.
** Technically, Ralf (who's under his command) holds the rank of Colonel as well.
* Rolento from ''VideoGame/FinalFight'' (who later appears in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'') is quite badass, and also inspired by the Colonel from ''Fist of the North Star''.
* Col. Hoffman from ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', at least in the sequel. Prior to that, he was more of a GeneralRipper type, at least toward Marcus, until Marcus redeemed himself.
** Colonel Loomis from the prequel game ''Judgment'' is not a great leader, [[BadBoss opting to conduct a show trial in the middle of a pitched battle]], however, when the Locust invade the courthouse, he's more than willing to head to the front himself, even fighting alongside the trial's defendants against a GiantSpider.
* Maybe to appeal to players' potential {{Munchkin}} desires and knowledge of this trope - you are referred to as 'Colonel' for your military rank in ''VideoGame/EndWar''.
* ''VideoGame/XCom''
** The abilities of soldiers in the Creator/MicroProse games generally improve as they survive more missions, as does their rank depending on the number of soldiers. The rank of colonel is the second-highest in ''[[VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense UFO Defense]]'', next to the commander, which you can only get one of at any time. The rank is mostly tied to morale boosts (and losses if a high-ranking soldier gets killed), but to reach Colonel rank, a soldier has to have been through a truckload of missions where they've acted and most likely improved their skills.
** In the reboot, ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', soldiers are promoted based on their experience gain, and gain stat boosts and abilities unlocked as they do so. Colonel is ''the'' highest rank attainable, and marks an operative with the highest stats and most abilities within their class. Hell, Colonel-level abilities alone are only not game-breaking because it takes so long to get to them. And unlike in the older games, promotions aren't restricted by a hierarchy system, so [[BadassArmy all 70 spots of your barracks can be occupied by Colonels]].
* Subverted by Captain Price from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', who displays the amount of sheer badassitude commonly seen only in colonels, yet is still inexplicably a "mere" captain. [[spoiler:Had he not been held prisoner by the Russians for five years, though, he may have well been promoted to colonel by ''MW 2''.]]
* Colonel Hyuga from the original ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' is playable only briefly, but manages to annihilate a squadron of thugs due to his souped-up stats. He then proceeds to save an old man and befriend a child.
* Another chance for the player to pick up this trope: if you play as the United Earth Federation officer in ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander Forged Alliance'', you're referred to only as the colonel, having been promoted from Major in between the original game and the expansion. The more informal Cybrans only have two ranks that anyone ever hears about, so their player is always just commander, and the Aeon player is either Knight of the Illuminate or the Champion of the Princess, depending on where they are in the storyline. Both Cybran and Aeon players remain every bit as badass as their UEF counterpart, though.
* Colonel Augustus Autumn, ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. Autumn is not a particularly strong opponent (he is only slightly more durable than the average human, and his only armor is his ''trench coat''), and he doesn't often appear during the game. This would make you think he doesn't qualify for this trope... until you realize that the troops under his command -- which form the power-armored, plasma-rifle-wielding striking arm of the Enclave -- were so loyal to him that they, to a man, ''defected with him'' when he mutinied against the President. The. President. ''The leader of the Enclave.'' Either Autumn either has some very impressive leadership skills or everyone ''really'' hates bureaucrats.
** Additionally, he somehow survives a dose of radiation that [[spoiler:kills you no matter how many anti-rad meds you take.]]
*** Just before [[spoiler:he falls on the floor, you can see him injecting something into his arm]], maybe it's some kind of super-duper high-tech Enclave Rad-X?
* Colonel Cassandra Moore in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''. She's the commander of the garrison at Hoover Dam, within spitting distance of a massive enemy troop buildup on the east side of the dam. GeneralRipper-esque, ball-busting, credentials in the form of four campaigns against the Brotherhood of Steel during the NCR's war with them.
** She's also an ex-{{Ranger}} for added badass points.
* Col. Randall Moore from ''VideoGame/UniverseAtWar: Earth Assault'', although he gets promoted to General by the second mission. It takes a lot of badass to be a powerful hero unit when everyone else in your species is CannonFodder or, even worse, resources for the alien invaders.
* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'': Colonel Tendon Cobar and Colonel Mael Radec are with the bad guys, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking but they're both badass enough to show you how they've earned their ranks]]. Templar, while promoted to colonel in ''Killzone 2'', doesn't quite make the cut.
* [[DragonInChief Sergei Vladimir]] from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheUmbrellaChronicles'', [[FormerRegimePersonnel former Soviet]] colonel and head of Umbrella Corporation's field-oriented Red Umbrella Division. Strangely, he's somewhat AffablyEvil and usually lets his bodyguards do most of the actual fighting, but even that doesn't diminish his badassery. The man pulls a gun on [[BigBad Wesker]] without flinching, transforms into a monster to try and save his employer's company, and has so much [[LargeHam presence]] that his badass status is ''never'' in doubt. No one does UndyingLoyalty quite like Sergei.
* In ''VideoGame/JustCause2'', you get to take down various colonels who carry good firepower and are MadeOfIron enough to shrug off bullets to anywhere except [[BoomHeadshot the face]].
* ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon'' gives us a USAF Colonel for the protagonist and a Russian Colonel for the antagonist.
* Colonel Relius Clover of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. Puppeteer extraordinary and is one of the people that is quite possibly the closest one that can be said to be Hazama's superior other than the Imperator. And he's a gigantic scum.
** ''Chronophantasma'' includes Colonel Kagura Mutsuki, who's not only the leader of the highest clan amongst the NOL Duodecim... but also a surprisingly pleasant dude. To fill in the badass part, he {{Curb Stomp|Battle}}s Ragna and fights Noel/Mu-12 on equal terms.
* Colonel Sanger Zonvolt of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' fame. Pilot of a giant mech, a German samurai and all-round badass. What's not to like about this guy?
* Lt. Colonel Burns of ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'' is a massive dude with cybernetics up the wazoo touting a big ol' minigun as his main weapon.
* The BigBad of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} Hard Corps'', Colonel Bahamut is a [[FallenHero Disgraced war hero]] who plans to take over the world by using Alien DNA. Perhaps the best example of the Colonel's badassness is the [[MultipleEndings path]] where he fights the player while wearing a [[RightHandOfDoom gigantic claw arm]].
** A younger version of him is the star of the prequel ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising''.
* Jax from the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series fits this trope to a tee, despite being a Major.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the rank of "Legate" fills a niche that resembles Colonel (in the regard of "highest ranked line officer"). Legate Rikke fits the bill of [[ColonelBadass Legate Badass]], and if you side with the Empire in the civil war, you eventually are promoted to Legate as well.
* Pit, as of ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' is the Captain of the Guard for Palutena, and he leads the charge against all of her enemies (and he even points out at one point that he's an officer, not just an enlisted man). The sheer number of foes he rips through (including the top generals of the Forces of Nature and [[spoiler: [[EveryoneHatesHades Hades, the god of the underworld himself]]]]) cements his badass credentials as well.
* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'', Elma was a Colonel of the [[OneWorldOrder Coalition]] forces prior to Earth's destruction. Her combat prowess is nigh-legendary, and the [=BLADEs=] that served under her back then still address her by the title out of respect.
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII'' has Kurt Irving, leader of the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Nameless Squadron]].
** He also ends up becoming the highest ranking soldier in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' where he leads the party in one stage.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel III'' has Colonel Neithardt, who was promoted between ''II'' and ''III'' and is the TheAce of the strongest army of the empire, the [[BadassArmy Fourth Armored Division]].
* Colonel Moscardó, a major character in ''VideoGame/COD2SpanishCivilWarMod''. Defiantly refuses to surrender the Alcazar despite the enemy having an overwhelming advantage and threatening to murder his son held in their captivity.

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