History Main / ColonelBadass

*** Though pretty much everything that came out of his mouth proved he was a badass, he famously said this about being surrounded during the Korean War:

* In order to make it to colonel in the Imperial Guard of {{Warhammer 40000}}, hefty portions of this trope are required.
** Commissars are more badass still (generally), with the absolute KING of this trope being Commissar Sebastian J. Yarrick. He lost an arm in battle with an Ork Warboss and retorted by * decapitating the Warboss* , only "allowing himself the luxury of passing out" after the battle was won. He then had the Warboss's Power Klaw converted into a prosthetic for his own missing arm, powered (presumably) by the sheer badass he radiates. The Orks have immortalized him in fearful legends, believing that he cannot be killed and that a single glance from him brings death. On hearing the latter part of this legend, Yarrick decided that if the Orks believed he had an evil eye, the by the Emperor he would HAVE an evil eye. He then proceeded to PLUCK OUT HIS OWN EYE AND HAVE IT REPLACED WITH A LASER. The short version? This man makes * Orks* wet themselves. HOLY SHIT.

* Colonel Rhumbus in ''Spies Like Us''. He knocks out his own squad of [[ConservationOfNinjutsu elite ninja soldiers]] and then takes our heroes through [[TrainingFromHell accelerated GLG20 training]]. His salutes are so snappy that you can ''hear'' his gloved hand [[AudibleSharpness cutting through the air]].

* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' features Jack O'Neill, possibly the UrExample, Samantha Carter, and Cameron Mitchell. ''{{Stargate Atlantis}}'' gives us John Sheppard.

* Commander Anderson, United States Navy SEALs, played by Michael "[[TheTerminator Kyle Reese]]" Biehn, in ''TheRock''.

** And of course 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.

* Soldiers in [[XCom X-Com: Ufo Defense]] gain improved abilities such as strength, speed and accuracy as a result of promotions, rather than being promoted for their abilities. The rank of colonel is the second highest in the game, next to the commander which you can only get one of at any time.
** Not actually true; rank only counts for morale. Although it is based on experience, being a colonel is the result of being a BadAss, not the cause.
*** Annoyingly enough, it's actually the result of being a BadAss right before enough soldiers are hired, as promotions are based on the number of troops you have. So it's quite common for mildly decent soldiers to become high officers because they were the best of the small early pool, only to be outclassed by the newer recruits who then can't be promoted. In nearly all my games, the biggest badasses are Squaddies (the lowest veteran rank) because of this (combined with the high survival rates of officers due to the morale hits when they die).

* Lt.Col. Jihl Nabaat from ''FinalFantasyXIII'', anyone?
** What? Precisely how is she a badass? The one (1) time she goes into the field, she has around 20 PSICOM mooks covering her and never actually fights Sazh or Vanille, who just unceremoniously let themselves get captured. Her next appearance is having a hissy fit on board the Palamecia because she can't decide what colour to set the alert status to, and then she gets one-hit-ganked by Barthandelus warming up. Not badass in the slightest.

** And after getting sent to two different concentration camps and escaping both times, he returned to Britain ready to go back to the battlefield. Unfortunately, the war ended before he got there, and that pissed him off. Apparently, he ''wasn't done killing'' yet.
*** Concentration camps? I think you mean prisoner of war camps.
*** Nope, ''concentration camps''. He ended up in [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachsenhausen_concentration_camp#Notable_inmates_and_victims_during_German_period Sachsenhausen]], in the high security wing for prominent political prisoners. After escaping he got recaptured and sent back, then the 'Prominente' got transferred to Dachau.

* Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yonatan_Netanyahu Jonathan Netanyahu]] of the Israeli Defense Forces, who, among other things, led the ground team during the Entebbe Airport Raid to rescue the hostages of an Air France flight. He [[HeroicSacrifice died in the attempt]] (and was the ''only'' military Israeli casualty of the raid; every last one of his men came out completely unharmed) and is a national hero in Israel.
** Not completely unharmed - one of the Israeli commandos under his command was paralyzed from the waist-down for the rest of his life. But no other deaths, and no permanent injuries besides that.

* Lieutenant Commander [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dalzel-Job Patrick Dalzel-Job]]. His rank equates closer to Major, but nevertheless his Naval Intelligence Commando unit (basically British Navy SEALs) stormed German targets four days after D-Day and disabled a German destroyer at port (with its whole crew compliment) and then captured the town of Bremen. His boss was IanFleming, and many consider him one of the models for JamesBond.

* Col. NickFury in the MarvelUniverse. His {{Badass}}ery is compounded in the UltimateMarvel universe [[spoiler:and the ''IronMan'' film]] by his portrayal as SamuelLJackson.

* Arnold Schwarzenegger's character John Matrix takes this trope to an utter extreme in the movie ''{{Commando}}''. Although his character is a retired Special Forces colonel, Arnie still manages to kick enough ass for several movies.

* Col. Benjamin Martin in ''The Patriot''. Single-handedly killed an entire platoon of Redcoats, including at least three with a tomahawk. Colonel Tavington is an EvilBrit version, kicking the butts of Mel Gibson's rag tag Rebel militia.
* Commander Rourke in ''Atlantis: The Lost Empire ''

* James Bond holds the rank of commander in the Royal Navy.
* Lt. Col. Barnsby (played by Harrison Ford) in ''Force 10 from Navarone''.
* In ''IronMan'' Tony Stark's buddy is Air Force Lt. Colonel James Rhodes. Also known as the War Machine and sometimes, Iron Man.
* ''Completely'' averted (as to be expected) in the film ''{{Spaceballs}}'', in the figure of Colonel Sandurz. Whassa matter, Colonel Sandurz ... [[IncrediblyLamePun CHICKEN????]]

* Colonel Miles Quaritch of ''[[{{Film/Avatar}} Avatar]]''. He's the [[GeneralRipper villain]], but that doesn't stop him from modding his [[AMechByAnyOtherName AMP suit]] with a gigantic ''combat knife'', or running out into Pandora's toxic atmosphere, guns blazing, without bothering to put a gas mask on. In one instance, it takes him about 11 seconds to react to the fact that he is, in fact, ''on fire. Quaritch is in fact, so BadAss he inspires major RootingForTheEmpire, especially compared to the [[OurElvesAreBetter Elf-ier than thou]] [[MarySue wonderfulness]] of the Na'vi.

* Colonel Douglas Mortimer in ''For a Few Dollars More''.

* Col. Benjamin Martin in ''The Patriot''. Single-handedly killed an entire platoon of Redcoats, including at least three with a tomahawk.
** Colonel Tavington is one EvilBrit ColonelBadass in ''The Patriot,'' kicking the butts of Mel Gibson's rag tag Rebel militia. Being [[DracoInLeatherPants Lucius In Leather Pants]] only adds to his Major Badosity.

* [[{{Clue}} Colonel Mustard]], in the library, with the candlestick... Oh, wait...

* Lt.Col. Frank Slade from ''ScentOfAWoman''. I mean, how much more BadAss can you be than doing the tango with a beautiful stranger who's waiting on her boyfriend; driving a Ferrari BLIND; and completely and utterly owning snobby schoolmasters?
** Not to mention he's played by Al Pacino, that totally doubles his badassitude.

* Thoroughly averted in ''DoctorStrangelove'': Group Captain (RAF for Colonel) Mandrake is a bit of a wimp and fails to properly stand up for himself when around other domineering American officers, while US Army Colonel "Bat" Guano does not even understand his own mission and is instead obsessed with eliminating "preverts."

* Colonel Miles Quaritch of ''[[{{Film/Avatar}} Avatar]]''. Cameron basically took the incompetent Lieutenant Gorman from ''Film/{{Alien}}s'', then made an officer who was the exact opposite. He's the [[GeneralRipper villain]], but that doesn't stop him from modding his [[AMechByAnyOtherName AMP suit]] with a gigantic ''combat knife'', or running out into Pandora's toxic atmosphere, guns blazing, without bothering to put a gas mask on. In one instance, it takes him about 11 seconds to realize that he is, in fact, ON FIRE. (Or, rather, although he no doubt realizes it from the start, it takes him 11 seconds to ''care''. He's got more important things to think about. Like kicking ass.)
** Colonel Miles Quaritch [[CiaphasCain THE HERO OF OUR IMPERIUM]]. We will [[MemeticMutation nevar forget]] his [[strike: jingoism]] heroism.
** Quaritch is in fact, so BadAss he inspires major RootingForTheEmpire, especially compared to the [[OurElvesAreBetter Elf-ier than thou]] [[MarySue wonderfulness]] of the Na'vi.

** The only time you will root for a bona-fide Nazi and not feel bad.

* In ''IndianaJones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' we learn Indy attained the rank of colonel during World War II while working as an agent for the OSS(the precursor to the CIA).
** Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko most definitely counts too.

* In TopGun the soft-spoken, gruffly avuncular Commander Mike "Viper" Metcalf and the foul-mouthed, quick-tempered, cigar-chomping Commander Tom "Stinger" Jordan provide contrasting, but equally classic, examples of this trope.

** Which is why I prefer the original version!
** It's not so much that he's begging for it back it's more that he's asking it back nicely or else he'll have to hunt them down himself.

* TheBible gives us "one little boy named David," who, despite the children's songs and stories, makes a good two-thirds of the {{Badass}} index {{Older Than Dirt}}. Between his [[DavidversusGoliath Trope Namer]] victory over Goliath and his {{Awesome Moment of Crowning}}, David was Israel's undisputed Colonel Badass. Said Awesome Moment also promoted David to {{Four Star Badass}}.
* How did we get this far without mentioning {{Discworld}}'s {{Commander Samuel Vimes}}?

* GailSimone's run on ''WonderWoman'' turned former PluckyComicRelief character Etta Candy into a DeadpanSnarker Lieutenant colonel who is also a BadassNormal, as well as one of Wondy's "[[BloodSisters sisters]]" and very dear friends.

* Colonel Alexander, played by LEE MARVIN, the only man who could possibly give Chuck Norris orders in ''TheDeltaForce''.

** Among the Imperial Guard, there is a man by the name of Ursarkar Creed. He's a colonel with the ability to allow a single unit that couldn't normally outflank the opponent's forces to do just that, thanks to his tactical genius. Exactly how this rule failed to distinguish between different sizes of vehicles, so that [[MemeticMutation using a mountain-sized mecha as a scouting unit is a perfectly viable option]], I'll never know. I can only guess that the person responsible for sneaking such an overpowered ability into what was otherwise a well-balanced, well-edited codex must have been some kind of [[MagnificentBastard tactical geniu]] - hey, wait a minute... [[MaryTzu CREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED]]!

* In the [[RedsWithRockets Soviet]] and [[RussiansWithRustingRockets Russian military]], the equivalent of the [[FourStarBadass four-star general rank]] is called General-Colonel. Not to mention that all three ranks from OF-3 to OF-5 are known as "TheCaptain" (in three grades).
Russians like this trope.

* Commander Anderson, United States Navy SEALs, played by Michael "[[TheTerminator Kyle Reese]]" Biehn, in ''TheRock''.

* Col. Mace in the Sontaran episode of ''DoctorWho'': ''"You '''WILL''' face me, sir!"''

* Lieutenant Commander [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dalzel-Job Patrick Dalzel-Job]]. His rank equates closer to Major, but nevertheless his Naval Intelligence Commando unit (basically British Navy SEALs) stormed German targets four days after D-Day and disabled a German destroyer at port (with it's whole crew compliment) and then captured the town of Bremen. His boss was IanFleming, and many consider him one of the models for JamesBond.

* Col. Roy Mustang from ''FullmetalAlchemist'' ([[spoiler:he beats even the [[PuttingOnTheReich Führer]], in the first anime. In the manga/Brotherhood he BURNS HIS OWN WOUNDS SHUT in order to go take down Lust.]]).

* In the [[RedsWithRockets Soviet]] and [[RussiansWithRustingRockets Russian military]], the equivalent of the [[FourStarBadass four-star general rank]] is called General-Colonel. Not to mention that all three ranks from OF-3 to OF-5 are known as "TheCaptain" (in three grades). SoYeah, Russians like this trope.