History Main / ColonelBadass

** Etta wasn't the first such character in the WW mythos; Phillip Darnel (the USAAF colonel Diana Prince was secretary to) started out as a colonel with nerves of steel before getting promoted in the original run, and ComicBook/SteveTrevor was eventually promoted to colonel

* To some, Colonel Oliver North of Iran-Contra fame.

** Commander [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wedge Antilles]]: A fighter pilot who flew against both Death Stars and rose to become the leader of Rogue Squadron, the Alliance's best fighter squadron. Instrumental in the retaking of Coruscant from the Empire, the negotiating of a cure for the Krytos disease, the taking of Thyferra, the capture of a Super Star Destroyer, the death of Ysanne Isard (twice!), and the campaign against Warlord Zsinj. Then he finally accepted promotion to [[FourStarBadass General]]. (Weirdly, he was never a colonel, even though, depending on the source, colonel is a half-notch above commander.)

* [[Manga/RoseOfVersailles Oscar de Jarjeyes]] holds the rank of colonel as commander of the Royal Guards.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

%%[[folder:Film — Animated]]
%%* Commander Rourke in ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', [[BunnyEarsLawyer Nobuo Iwasaki]] and [[HonorBeforeReason Samachi Nomura]] are very competent colonels although the former doesn't show it unless he's forced to act.
* Colonel Blitzer, Head of Warfare in ''WebVideo/CoyleCommand''.

* ''[[http://sosshinsei.proboards.com/index.cgi Suzumiya Haruhi no Yaku-Asobi]]'' has Colonel [[ButNotTooForeign Harriet Isuzu]], an alternate Haruhi who works for a [[TheMultiverse multi-dimensional]] paramilitary law enforcement agency that monitors sliding. Possible subversion in that soldiers from her home dimension's military look down on said agency and thus smugly refer to her as 'agent'. Her rival from the intelligence department, Colonel Sascha [[SignificantAnagram Sakisa]] also counts, being quite TheTrickster.
* [[PuttingOnTheReich Standartenführer]] Rhianna von [[MeaningfulName Adolph]] from ''Roleplay/OpenBlue'' is a [[StepfordSmiler constantly smiling]] KnifeNut who is in charge of the special operations division of Sirene's intelligence agency. She is also TheCaptain of ''two'' ships.
%%* Colonel Thomas Knowlton in ''Webcomic/TheDreamer''.

[[caption-width-right:350:''This'' Colonel [[UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken doesn't fry chicken]]. [[PlayingWithFire He fries]] ''[[RussianReversal you]]''.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''This'' Colonel [[UsefulNotes/KentuckyFriedChicken doesn't fry chicken]]. [[PlayingWithFire He fries]] ''[[PlayingWithFire you]]''.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:You just pissed off the chief. It would be wise to ''run''.]]

* ''ComicBook/BuckDanny'' has been a colonel for years now despite having been a pilot ever since the 1940s (blame ComicBookTime for that one), pretty much so he can still fly.

This man is a professional, MarriedToTheJob, and mission accomplishment is the entire purpose of his existence. He tends to be fairly young for a colonel, likely because he climbed the ranks rapidly after an outstanding performance in an earlier war or campaign as junior officer. When he's got full command of hundreds or thousands of troops, chances are he won't do much fighting himself on a day to day basis, because he's too busy managing the battlefield with a level of competence that prevents the enemy from ever gaining the initiative in the first place. If it ever comes down to it, though, his personal weapon will likely be a high caliber handgun - and while it won't be drawn often, it'll rarely miss when it is. Many have tried to kill this man, many of them extremely deadly in their own right, all of them have failed.

Imagine TheCaptain, but instead of a ship at sea or in the [[SpaceIsAnOcean stars]], s/he has a large contingent of ground troops. Still the most kickass guy around, powerful leader, outranks everyone else in TheSquad, you know the type. Chances are, he is gonna be a colonel. (which is pronounced "kernel" by the way)

* Colonal Mustard from ''TabletopGame/{{Clue}}'': he's either a murderer or among a group of people who caught one. Then there is his BadassBeard.

* In the Narnia fanfic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7364661/1/King-Edmund-s-Crusade King Edmund's Crusade]] the Colonels are not only the badass fighters of the armies, but also the field commanders and the leaders of the elite bodyguard units. The senior commanders (below the Four Pevensie Monarchs themselves) are the Marshals - but two of them are explicitly more administrators than fighters. Col Elikolani (a sarcastic, flirtatious black panther) is a brutal fighter far more suited for war than Marshal Altaica (a rather effeminate and cowardly tiger). Marshal Nicodemus of the wolves is no slouch, but Col Rapine is a walking legend.

* Col. Benjamin Martin in ''Film/ThePatriot''. Single-handedly killed a platoon of Redcoats, including at least three with a tomahawk. Colonel Tavington is an EvilBrit version, kicking the butts of Creator/MelGibson's rag tag Rebel militia.

* Colonel Min Se-hoon, the InspectorJavert character in the Korean film ''Film/TheSuspect''. His introductory scene involves him dropping one of his men out of a plane without a parachute in order to save another man's life, then coolly picking up a spare chute, diving after the falling guy, catching him in mid air, slapping him back to life when they hit the ground, then swaggering away [[SmokingIsCool smoking a cigarette]]. He then puts on a leather jacket and shades and spends the rest of the film ripping apart a secret government conspiracy while simultaneously hunting down a North Korean master assassin.

* in Terry Mancour's ''Literature/TheSpellmongerSeries'', Bold Asgus, Commander of the Orohan's band. He oozes command and confidence. Proficient with almost all weapons, he is a one man wave of death on the field of battle. The man launched himself onto a troll, and killed it with one hit. [[UpToEleven then he dismounted into a double decapitation of nearby Mooks]]
* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'''s Sam Vimes may be the Commander of the City Watch, and even a Duke, but despite the protests of both his wife and the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, refuses to delegate the street jobs to his subordinates, being happiest when walking the streets in cardboard-soled boots in the rain or chasing a dangerous criminal. He abhors the politics he's forced to participate in, and still basically sees the world like a beat copper.

* Admiral Jane Roland and [[spoiler: eventually Laurence himself after his promotion to admiral in the final book]] in''Literature/{{Temeraire}}''. Jane casually breaks swords in people's chests, wins massive air battles on the back of her ''acid-spitting dragon'' and generally impresses everyone she meets. Technically, Temeraire himself also counts in book 5.

** Commander [[ComicBook/XWingSeries Wedge Antilles]]: A fighter pilot who flew against both Death Stars and rose to become the leader of Rogue Squadron, the Alliance's best fighter squadron. Instrumental in the retaking of Coruscant from the Empire, the negotiating of a cure for the Krytos disease, the taking of Thyferra, the capture of a Super Star Destroyer, the death of Ysanne Isard (twice!), and the campaign against Warlord Zsinj. Then he finally accepted promotion to [[FourStarBadass General]]. (Weirdly, he was never a colonel, even though, depending on source, colonel is a half-notch above commander.)
** Commander [[Literature/OutboundFlight Mitth'raw'nuruodo]]: A member of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet, Thrawn was born a commoner and gained status through military service, becoming a merit adoptive of the Eight Ruling Family and further becoming a trial-born. He was the youngest ever Force Commander in the Expansionary Fleet, using brilliant and undeniably effective but underhanded tactics, often involving preemptive strikes, that were seen as [[MartialPacifist morally bankrupt to his people]]. Some time after the events of ''Outbound Flight'' he was exiled and wound up in Imperial service, where he ''very'' quickly rose through the ranks until becoming one of the thirteen secret Grand Admirals.

** Before he [[DefectorFromDecadence defected]] to the Rebel Alliance, Soontir Fel was a Baron-Colonel. His badassery is unquestionable; after Vader's death Baron Soontir Fel was perceived as the best pilot in the Empire, bar none (and without Vader around, rumors started spreading that Vader's only edge was in his [[AceCustom expensive custom starfighters]]). He lost that rank when he joined Rogue Squadron, but it may be assumed that he got it back, [[EasilyForgiven and more]], in the Empire of the Hand after Thrawn had him kidnapped and brought there.
** Other real colonels (okay, lieutenant colonels are among them) would be Jaina Solo ([[spoiler:being a member of Rogue Squadron at the age of sixteen, seriously kicking around numerous Yuuzhan Vong, later on being in command of Rogue Squadron just to be court-martialed by her own twin brother whom she later on kills in a duel after he turned out to have become a Sith]]), her brother Jacen Solo ([[spoiler:became head of the secret police of the Galactic Alliance, tortured Boba Fett's daghter to death, became a Sith Lord, made himself joined head of state and later on sole head of state of the Galactic Alliance, set half of Kashyyyk on fire, killed his aunt Mara etc. until his sister finally got him]]), and Jagged Fel ([[spoiler:who (nearly) manages to keep up with Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron, two extremely talented Jedi pilots using a battle meld, and displays various feats of general badassery until he finally becomes the Imperial head of state]]).

* Colonel Rosa Klebb of the Soviet SMERSH in Creator/IanFleming's ''Literature/FromRussiaWithLove''. In [[Film/FromRussiaWithLove the film version]] she defects to the terrorist organization SPECTRE and fails to kill James Bond with a poison tipped dart in her shoe but [[spoiler: she is still a Russian agent and succeeds in poisoning Bond and almost killing him with the shoe dart at the end of the book.]]

** There's an unnamed Soviet colonel who only shows up in a single scene, in charge of a tank division [[FieldPromotion after his general was killed in an air attack]]. Although his narrative role is to [[MrExposition provide the perspective of a Soviet mid-ranking officer]] (the POV character, Alekseyev, is a FourStarBadass, through whom we see the big picture), the colonel proves to be extremely competent at commanding his division, nearly forcing a breakthrough and stymied only by the NATO defenders' resilience and [[ExecutiveMeddling Soviet high command's insistence that only Moscow can move the strategic reserves]]. He is last seen as the survivor of an artillery barrage on his headquarters, surrounded by the wounded ,and ''still calmly giving orders to his division.''

* The Colonel (technically, Lieutenant-Colonel) in Creator/GeorgeMacDonaldFraser's ''Literature/McAuslan'' stories, based on a real commander of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders. He is quiet, unassuming, looks like a vulture, and walks with a limp (his leg having been broken by the Japanese as a [=PoW=]). He's over retirement age, and has served with the battalion since 1914, wounded at Passchendaele and captured at Singapore. But he is highly respected, a FatherToHisMen, [[DefiantToTheEnd "looked the Japanese in the eye on the Moulmein Railway and said 'no'"]], and at eighty went into the streets of Belfast with a patrol from his old regiment, just to see what things were like for the new generation.

** Colonel Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in his [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E5TheWebOfFear first serial]], before he was promoted to [[TheBrigadier Brigadier]].

* Taken UpToEleven in the BBC ''Series/EdgeOfDarkness'', where all the spooks seems to be colonels.

** Greatjon Umber, Robb's right hand in Season 1 is a a formidable and proud bannerman of House Stark, who fought for Robb in the War of the Five Kings. Despite sometimes standing up against Robb when disagreeing with his decisions, he is fiercely loyal to the Starks of Winterfell, and is in fact the first lord to propose crowning Robb the King of the North.

** Thai Colonel Patano in "Déjà Vu". It's made clear that the only reason Harm isn't dead is because Patano never had the intention to kill him.

** Her successor Rachel Dalton, while not actually a Colonel (Captain upon introduction, promoted to Major at the end of the episode), displays some serious badass cred in the season two opener, using an anti-tank rocket to blast through a Somali blockade about midway through the episode and generally keeping up effortlessly with Scott and Stonebridge on the battlefield until their extraction arrives. As a bonus, she initially appears to be little more than a junior beaurocrat until she finds said rocket launcher in the enemy's weapons cache.
*** From Shadow Warfare onward, Colonel Philip Locke takes the reigns of leadership from Dalton after she has made questionable decisions during the course of the season and becomes the official leader after her untimely death. Colonel Phillip Locke is a 30 year veteran of the British Army and served in every conflict Britain was involved in during that time. Stonebridge is clearly impressed that Locke is involved in their mission. Locke then proves his reputation correct when he singlehandly saves Major Dalton from a hitman. When the team are ambushed at an airport, Locke's response is to go on the offensive and kill everything (until getting attacked from behind). Later, when forced to dig his own grave, he instead kills the men guarding him, and nearly escaped on his own. And even while wounded and being tortured, and offered the name of the man who killed his son, he still won't give up NATO secrets.
* Nate Taylor from ''Series/TerraNova'', played by none other than Stephen Lang. Due to strange time dilations, he had to spend 118 days alone in the Cretaceous Period, and doesn't even have any visible scars. And he still goes toe to toe with carnivorous dinosaurs to protect his people.

* Elite Agent Rotor in ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG''. In addition to taking command whenever the team takes to the skies, he also happens to be an AcePilot, have a taste for classical music, and let's just say you don't want to be on the wrong side when you start hearing that classical music. His second-in-command Elite Agent Cabin is quite tough as well.

** Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken, Commander of the 2nd Catachan Infantry Regiment. He was badass enough to begin with, being from the DeathWorld of Catachan, known for producing some of the toughest soldiers in the Imperium. Then he was attacked by a Miral land shark that tore off his arm. Instead of dying like a lesser man would, he killed the beast with his his "fang"-pattern combat knife and walked 30 miles to safety(some sources claim he tore the beast's throat out ''with his teeth'', but that may be exaggeration). He then had his arm replaced with a bionic one, and continued commanding his men. Since then he's survived multiple life-threatening injuries and his body is riddled with bionics, making him as much a machine as a man. He's as tough as a space marine and can destroy tanks with his bare hands (mechanical hands, but still, that's impressive).

*** The Canonesses, leaders of the Sisters of Battle, arguably one up the Space Marine captains because they do the same things -- only they aren't genetically modified, hormonally modified, chemically modified, all-powerful superhumans... they're just biologically ordinary humans (one of the weakest races in the galaxy) females who happen to be that damn good essentially through skill alone.

** The Tau Empire's Shas'o (lit. "Commander") are this to a man ([[GenderIsNoObject or woman]]). Even ignoring the named characters such as [[TheConqueror Farsight]] or [[TheSneakyGuy Shadowsun]], the rank structure of the Tau requires every Fire Caste soldier begin as a lowly shas'la. After four years of service, they earn the right to take on a Trial of Fire which, depending upon their sept, may be a live-action training mission of some description, a highly realistic simulation, or a real live mission of vital importance. If the soldier is successful, he graduates to shas'ui ([[SergeantRock sergeant]]). After another four years, and another, more difficult Trial of Fire, he may attain the rank of shas'vre (lieutenant); then another four years of service and another Trial to become a shas'el or "sub-commander". Shas'el may lead Hunter Cadres, but to become shas'o he has to complete the cycle one more time. Every single shas'o has ''at minimum'' 16 years experience, in everything from footslogging to battlesuit combat; he has passed four of the nastiest, most realistic tests his superiors can imagine; he is equipped with [[MiniMecha a Crisis battlesuit]] and the best technology the Empire can provide; and as if that isn't enough he is [[BodyguardingABadass accompanied by a squad of handpicked shas'vre]].

** 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

** 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, she also ends up personally [[spoiler:killing Pravin Lal's son in revenge for him killing her son]].

** 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 he battlefield.

** 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.

* 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.

*** 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?

* Maxima of ''Webcomic/GrrlPower'' is an Colonel in the US Air Force, [[HeroesRUs Arc-SWAT's]] field commander, and the strongest (heroic) superhuman in the setting.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill's'' Cotton Hill. The guy took ''fiddy'' bullets to the back while lost at sea, managed to survive an ambush by an island full of Japanese troops, then proceeded to kill all of them with a piece of one of his deceased friends even though both his shins were blown off by machine gun fire; thus completes his famous deed of having killed ''fiddy'' men during WWII.

** Cotton is more of a subversion. True, he lost his shins, but his story...just ''doesn't'' add up. He mentioned Fatty was killed by sharks...yet he then mentions he used Fatty to beat the life out of the Japanese. Also, he claims to fought in both Munich and Okinawa in just mere days of each other. He's more a SmallNameBigEgo than anything.
*** As Hank pointed out to Peggy, even though Cotton is fond of exaggerating his accomplishments he is ''still'' the greatest war hero Arlen had ever seen. Cotton was awarded a Medal of Honor, after all, and we know he was in the 77th Division which fought in Guam, Okinawa and the Phillipines, all of which have been cited by Cotton as locations he fought at.

* Colonel K, the superior to WesternAnimation/DangerMouse, has many accomplishments to his credit (piano throwing, climbing Mt. Everest on a pogo stick, etc.), and his mission orders are iron clad. It gets subverted sometimes as he can be as addled as DM's assistant Penfold.

* Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain commanded the 20th Maine during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, and was in charge of the Union left flank at the Battle of Gettysburg, day two. He is best known for calling "BAYONETS!" and ordering a charge downhill into the Confederate lines when his men ran out of ammo. It worked. The Union won. Later [[RankUp promoted to Brigadier General]] in recognition of his competence and badassery--[[FourStarBadass which he persisted in nevertheless]].
* Colonel John S. Mosby of the Confederate Army earned the nickname "The Gray Ghost" for his ability to conduct daring cavalry raids deep behind Union lines and then simply melt away into the civilian population. Even as the war dragged on and much of Northern Virginia fell into Union hands, that area would still be known as "Mosby's Confederacy" as he would continue to conduct operations there with near complete impunity. Despite being seriously wounded twice, Mosby survived the war and lived until 1916 at the age of 82.

* Colonel Rick Rescorla - Served in Africa with the British Army, joined the US army in the mid-1960's and served in Vietnam, one of the hero's of the Battle of Ia Drang. He led the evacuations of both World Trade Center attacks, and was killed on 9/11 going back in with three subordinates to attempt to save the last 2 missing employees of Morgan Stanley, for whom he was the Head of Security at the World Trade Centre. He succeeded in getting the other 2700 employees safely out, singing "Men of Harlech" over a megaphone in the process.
* Lt. Colonel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dutton_Frost John Frost]] was the British Army's go to guy for impossible airborne missions. After proving himself by stealing a German radar station from occupied France, Frost went on to perform similarly daring missions in North Africa and Sicily. However his SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome came during the Battle of Arnhem as part of Operation Market Garden where he was tasked with securing the Arnhem Bridge. Although ultimately doomed by the poorly conceived operation, John Frost and a small force of some 400 lightly armed paratroopers managed to penetrate German lines and seize the north end of the bridge where he held out against a German SS Panzer division for 4 days until finally being forced to surrender due to lack of ammunition. Lt. Col. Frost was later depicted in a movie and Arnhem Bridge was renamed in his honor. He finished his military career as a Field-Marshal and commander-in-chief of British armed forces.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lloyd_L._Burke Lloyd L. Burke]] received the Medal of Honor in the Korean war for his actions at Hill 200. He was on his way home when he heard his platoon was pinned down so he went back to them. After assessing the situation he stormed a Chinese trench with a pistol and a hand grenade. After using those up, he got out and grabbed a Browning 1919, ignored the shrapnel that shredded his hand, wrapped his jacket around the hot barrel, wrapped the ammunition belt around his body, lifted the 31 pound machine gun (normally used on a tripod), and proceeded to storm the trench again. He was only a Lieutenant at the time, but he achieved the rank of Colonel before he retired, so he counts.

* Lieutenant Colonel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_U._D._Page John U. D. Page]], an artillery officer who served in the Korean War and recieved the Medal of Honor for his actions. In just 12 days of combat service, he singlehandedly took out an enemy MG nest, commanded tanks while also acting as a tank machine gunner , performed an aerial attack with hand grenades in an unarmed observation plane, and saved an ambushed logistics regiment from their Chinese attackers. In this last action, he was eventually killed, but not before taking at least 16 enemy soldiers with him.
* Colonel [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Aldrin Buzz Aldrin]] (USAF), the second man to land on the Moon (but not the highest ranked officer to ever walk on the Moon - that's Alan Shepard or Charles Duke), and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUFO8AGMwic effective silencer of Moon landing hoax advocates]]. Other Colonels who've landed on the Moon include David Scott and James Irwin - the rest are divided between Navy Captains and civilians.
* Lt. Colonel [[https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%8C,_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%92%D1%8F%D1%87%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 Anatoly Lebed']]. 29 years of service, first as a [[ItsRainingMen paratrooper]] in Afghanistan, then entered an officers school, flew a helicopter there, first as a tech, then as a pilot until his retirement. But as he couldn't imagine himself as anyone but soldier, when Chechen war started he literally [[TenMinuteRetirement reenlisted himself]] (flying into Chechnya on his own with his own gear), was accepter, then served again as a paratrooper officer and got a reputation as FatherToHisMen there. Then he got blown on a mine, had his foot amputated, but returned to duty in just one year [[HandicappedBadass on a prosthesis]]. Then, to up the ante, when his patrol got ambushed, he reportedly covered a wounded soldier with his body, [[MadeOfIron suffering a shrapnel wound]], proceeding to [[ImplacableMan completely ignore it]] until his unit got back to safety. The guy's also an accomplished engineer, [[MrFixit designing and building]] a lot of his unit[[note]]The legendary 45'th ORP [=SpN=] VDV, which is as close to Russian Army admitting the unit being the part of the feared GRU Spetsnaz as it gets[[/note]] equipment and gear, like the combat buggies and such. Like Lawrence of Arabia, Lebed' died far from the battlefield, in a high-speed motorcycle crash in 2012.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Jones Lt. Colonel Herbert Jones]] VC OBE. During the Falklands war his battalion was stalled under heavy small-arms fire from entrenched positions and being further pinned by increasing artillery fire. Realizing that he couldn't afford to loose momentum, Lt. Colonel H. Jones charged the fortified enemy position under concentrated fire, getting knocked back once, but continuing [[HeroicSacrifice until he died]] feet from the enemy. His men later charged, galvanized by his sacrifice. The enemy surrendered due to the heroics he displayed personally and simultaneously inspired in his men.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh Charles Lindbergh]], colonel in the Army Air Force, first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, and combat veteran of World War II (even though at that point he was a civilian).

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wintle Lt.Col. Alfred Wintle]]. Talked a dying soldier out of a Scarlet Fever-induced coma, was arrested for trying to steal a plane ''and signed his own arrest warrant'', was captured by Vichy French whereupon he informed his captors it was his duty to escape...and did.

* Yugoslav partisan Colonel Sava Kovačević had a reputation for great personal courage. Highlights include single-handedly capturing an Italian tankette without using any anti-tank weapon, leading an infantry assault that destroyed another three Italian tankettes by leaping onto them and attaching explosives, and making daring raids behind enemy lines. His career was cut short when he was gunned down during the partisan breakthrough from German encirclement at the Sutjeska river, June 1943.

* Agustin de Iturbide of México. Nicknamed El Dragón de Hierro, or the Iron Dragoon, he never lost a battle in four years of the Mexican War of Independence, often defeated greater forces than his own, once repelled the entry of 500 foot soldiers with just 34 of his dragoons, and with just his dragoons by his side dealt defeat to the greatest enemy general, José María Morelos, thought to be almost invincible at the time. As a royalist dragoon, he climbed the ranks but was most attached to his rank of Colonel of the Celaya Regiment. He would go on to liberate México almost single-handedly, acquiring the ranks of General, Admiral and Generalissimo along the way, and even being elected as Emperor, but always wore his Colonel uniform, even to his crowning.

* Despite being known as "Captain Marvel", [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] officially has the rank of Major in the United States Air Force.

** [[Recap/DcotorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone "Flesh and Stone"]]: [[ChurchMilitant Bishop]] Octavian.

** Basque Grand. He's AFatherToHisMen who leads from the front, transmutes entire buildings into weapons while delivering [[LargeHam hamtastic lines]], accepts Ishval's high clerics surrender and shoots Brigadier Fiessler (an ''actual'' GeneralRipper) when the latter orders the troops to kill the cleric and continue the genocide. Also has one of the most {{Badass Mustache}}s known to man.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Col. Stewart in ''Film/DieHard2''.

* Commander Rourke in ''Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire''.

* Johny Rico is a Colonel in ''Film/StarshipTroopers3Marauder'' (he was a Lt. by end of [[Film/StarshipTroopers the first one]]).

* Col. Nathan R. Jessup, as played by Creator/JackNicholson in ''Film/AFewGoodMen''.
-->-- "You want me on that trope. You ''need'' me on that trope!"

** In ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', there's at least four colonels and lieutenant colonels, and possibly more. One episode had all of 'em arrive in the same room at once, with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geNY3YyDR-A predictable results]].

** There's also Colonel David Telford (played by LouDiamondPhillips).
* Col. Ed Straker in ''Series/{{UFO}}''. In one episode, he shoots an opponent who can travel through time and downs a UFO with a rocket launcher.
** By that time, Straker was a "Commander" with colonels and naval Captains as subordinates. This Commander-is-the-boss idea occurs in many of the Gerry Anderson series.
* Col. John "Hannibal" Smith from ''Series/TheATeam''. "Hannibal", in this case, has nothing to do with the SerialKiller, but the Carthaginian general who almost brought down the Roman Republic. This Hannibal is that good. "I love it when a plan comes together."
** After the failure of the crappy, bumbling Major sent to hunt the A-Team down, the Army gets serious and brings in Colonel Decker, an unconventional badass in his own right who's very nearly as good as Hannibal. From then on, it goes from pratfall laughs as the Army is outwitted to hair-raising near-misses where the team's celebrations at beating the bag guy of the week are cut short as Decker closes relentlessly in. Decker's first appearance has him chatting with his superiors as he fires off every infantry weapon in the army one by one. Hard-friggin-core.
* Otto von Stirlitz (real name: Maxim Isaev) from ''Series/SeventeenMomentsOfSpring'', the pinnacle of a Soviet SpyFiction, is a [[UsefulNotes/CommonRanks Standartenführer]] ([[ThoseWackyNazis SS]] equivalent of colonel...and in his real life as a Russian spy, a NKVD colonel.). He was so badass back in his days, that he experienced a MemeticMutation in recent times and ended up being a MemeticBadass, as well ([[RussianHumour no, seriously]]).

* Col. Mace in the Sontaran episode of ''Series/DoctorWho'': ''"You will '''face''' me, sir!"''
** For that matter, Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in his first serial, before he was promoted to [[TheBrigadier Brigadier]].
** [[ChurchMilitant Bishop]] Octavian, of "The Time Of Angels"/"Flesh And Stone".
* Averted by Col. Wilhelm Klink in ''Series/HogansHeroes'', although his rank might just be a foil to that of good guy group leader, Col. ''Hogan'', who plays this trope more or less straight.
** Perhaps ironically, in the German version of the show (''Ein Käfig voller Helden'') Klink gets his proper German rank of Oberst, but Hogan, as an American, is still called ''Colonel'' Hogan by everybody... thus playing the trope completely straight.
* One episode of ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'' indicates that Sam Braddock's father literally earned the moniker "Colonel Badass", though he had been promoted to General by the time this was revealed.
* Subverted in ''Series/{{MASH}}'' with ineffectual Lt. Col. Henry Blake, then played somewhat straight with his replacement, Col. Sherman T. Potter, who had massive cred as a leader of soldiers as a former enlisted man and veteran of earlier wars.
** TruthInTelevision for Potter's history giving respect. People who go from NCO to officer are called "Mustangs", and enjoy great respect from enlisted personnel.
** And Hotlips' overhyped hubby Lt. Col. Penobscot is likely a parody of this type.
** Colonel Flagg fits this role as is evidenced in the episode where he breaks his own arm so he can infiltrate the hospital as a patient.
*** Double bonus badass: When an X-ray shows that his arm has healed sufficiently for him to be released, he ''pulls the X-ray camera down on his cast'', shattering it and re-breaking his arm.
*** Col. Flagg would come to squander his badass credibility in later episodes, though. (Sometimes edging towards ColonelKilgore, occasionally, at least mentally.) His behavior in later appearances became more and more erratic and paranoid; culminating in complete disgrace in his final appearance.

* The seventh season of ''Series/TwentyFour'' features the villainous African, Colonel Ike Dubaku of Sangala. Also a ScaryBlackMan.
* Col. Mason Truman of ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' You definitely going to need a ColonelBadass to be in charge of the last remaining humans on Earth. His appearance in the first episode says it all: Explosions reflect in his shades. He just stands there watching over his soldiers as all hell breaks loose. When Corporal Hicks tells him they're all screwed, he just tells him to "go shoot at something."
* Colonel T.C. [=McQueen=] from ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond''. He's the sole survivor of the battle between the Earth's best squadron and the Chigs. Like his last fight with "Chiggie Von Richtoffen," and his "I don't think 'our Lord' wants to hear from me right now," speech.
** He's also an "[[GattacaBabies In Vitro]]", who were genetically-engineered to fight the [[AIIsACrapshoot Silicates]], after the latter TurnedAgainstTheirMasters.
* Captain Ronald Speirs filled this role in ''Series/BandOfBrothers''. He wasn't a colonel, but as an officer, he was viewed this way by the enlisted men because of the things he said and did.
** Maj. Richard Winters, possibly even more than Speirs since while Speirs gained respect mainly through being terrifyingly badass, Winters was more like awe-inspiringly badass. And OfficerAndAGentleman to a T, plus greatly admired and loved by his men.
* On ''Series/UltimateForce'', Colonel Aidan Dempsey reliably kicks a lot of arse when called upon, most notably in the episodes 'Dead Is Forever', 'Never Go Back' and - particularly - 'Charlie Bravo'. In the latter, he strides through a gunfight, casually taking one-handed potshots at rebels, while exhorting his local counterpart to "Pretend you're an officer and get your men in order!"

* Colonel Wilma Deering in ''Series/BuckRogersInTheTwentyFifthCentury'', who was not only a badass but '''H.''' '''O.''' '''T'''. Gotta love a woman who can be a ColonelBadass while '''rocking''' a spandex catsuit.
* The British Army Colonel character played by Graham Chapman on ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. He can come in and put a stop to a sketch when he thinks it's getting too silly or out of control!
* Nate Taylor from ''Series/TerraNova'', played by none other than Stephen Lang. Due to strange time dilations, he had to spend 118 days alone in the Cretaceous Period, and doesn't even have any visible scars. And he still goes toe to toe with carnivorous dinosaurs to protect his people.
* ''Series/StrikeBack'' has Colonel Grant who normally commands the team from the command center but when a things go to hell she goes into the field and saved the day herself. She even commandeers an arms dealer's team of mercenaries to go and rescue a member of her team trapped in southern Sudan.
** Her successor Rachel Dalton, while not actually a Colonel (Captain upon introduction, promoted to Major at the end of the episode), displays some serious badass cred in the season two opener, using an anti-tank rocket to blast through a Somali blockade about midway through the episode and generally keeping up effortlessly with Scott and Stonebridge on the battlefield until their extraction arrives. As a bonus, she initially appears to be little more than a junior beaurocrat until she finds said rocket launcher in the enemy's weapons cache.
*** From Shadow Warfare onward, Colonel Philip Locke takes the reigns of leadership from Dalton after she has made questionable decisions during the course of the season and becomes the official leader after her untimely death. Colonel Phillip Locke is a 30 year veteran of the British Army and served in every conflict Britain was involved in during that time. Stonebridge is clearly impressed that Locke is involved in their mission. Locke then proves his reputation correct when he singlehandly saves Major Dalton from a hitman. When the team are ambushed at an airport, Locke's response is to go on the offensive and kill everything (until getting attacked from behind). Later, when forced to dig his own grave, he instead kills the men guarding him, and nearly escaped on his own. And even while wounded and being tortured, and offered the name of the man who killed his son, he still won't give up NATO secrets.
* Taken UpToEleven in the BBC ''Series/EdgeOfDarkness'', where all the spooks seems to be colonels.
* Colonel Tigh of the ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. Whether leading a resistance group on New Caprica or [[GunsAkimbo wielding two automatic rifles]] while fighting mutineers, the guy is BADASS. Bonus: he rocks the EyepatchOfPower.
* Commander Harmon "Harm" Rabb, Jr. in ''Series/{{JAG}}''. Lieutenant Colonel Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie would also qualify.
** Thai Colonel Patano in "Déjà Vu". It's made clear that the only reason Harm isn't dead is because Patano never had the intention to kill him.
* Colonel [[BaldBlackLeaderGuy Cedric Daniels]] in ''Series/TheWire''. He starts as a Lieutenant, and becomes MajorlAwesome, ColonelBadass, and finally DaChief, before realizing he doesn't want to be at the head of such a flawed police department. [[spoiler: the fact that he immediately starts getting blackmailed doesn't help. He quits and becomes a lawyer.]]
* At the end of the final episode of ''Series/{{Raumpatrouille}}'', Major [=McLane=] is promoted to Colonel for once again saving Earth.
* Colonel Carrillo in ''Series/{{Narcos}}'', a highly competent and honest - if somewhat brutal - military officer and the only guy that Escobar was afraid of.

[[folder: Roleplay]]

[[folder: Web Original]]

* Colonel Thomas Knowlton in ''Webcomic/TheDreamer''.

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

** Creator/GailSimone's run on volume 3 turned former PluckyComicRelief character Etta Candy into a DeadpanSnarker Lieutenant colonel who is also a BadassNormal, as well as one of Wondy's "[[BloodBrothers sisters]]" and very dear friends.

->"''I am Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt. I am known as a fair man, unless I am pushed. '''You have just pushed me'''.''"

This man is a professional, MarriedToTheJob, and mission accomplishment is the entire purpose of his existence. He tends to be fairly young for a colonel, likely because he climbed the ranks rapidly after an outstanding performance in an earlier war or campaign as junior officer. When he's got a full command of hundreds or thousands of troops, chances are he won't do much fighting himself on a day to day basis, because he's too busy managing the battlefield with a level of competence that prevents the enemy from ever gaining the initiative in the first place. If it ever comes down to it, though, his personal weapon will likely be a high caliber handgun - and while it won't be drawn often, it'll rarely miss when it is. Many have tried to kill this man, many of them extremely deadly in their own right, all of them have failed.

For any Commonwealth Tropers out there this trope also counts for badass Wing commanders and Group captains as well. On the international stage it applies to any badass with an equivalent [[UsefulNotes/CommonRanks NATO officer rank code of OF-4 or OF-5]].

* [[PsychoElectro Col. Volgin]] of the GRU from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3''. Yes, he's evil. Doesn't detract one bit from his badassitude.
** Also from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', 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 ''MGS''? He gave ''orders'' to Solid Snake.

* ''[[http://sosshinsei.proboards.com/index.cgi Suzumiya Haruhi no Yaku-Asobi]]'' has Colonel [[ButNotTooForeign Harriet Isuzu]], an alternate Haruhi who works for a [[TheMultiverse multi-dimensional]] paramilitary law enforcement agency that monitors sliding. Possible subversion in that soldiers from her home dimension's military look down on said agency and thus smugly refer to her as 'agent'. Her rival from the intelligence department, Colonel Sascha [[SignificantAnagram Sakisa]] also counts, being quite the {{Trickster}}.

** Colonel Willie Sharp, pilot of the space shuttle. [[NuclearPhysicsGoof Can disarm nine-foot-long nuclear weapons with only 20 seconds and minimal assistance]]. Also the only guy trusted with a firearm on the whole vessel (making him the only one badass enough to bring a gun onto a spaceship), and the only guy with enough balls to disobey a ''Presidential order'' for the greater good of the planet.

** Basque Grand. He's AFatherToHisMen who leads from the front, transmutes entire buildings into weapons while delivering [[LargeHam hamtastic lines]], accepts Ishval's high clerics surrender and shoots Brigadier Fiessler (an ''actual'' GeneralRipper) when the latter orders the troops to kill the cleric and continue the genocide. Also has one of the most {{Badass Moustache}}s known to man.

** Creator/GeorgePerez's run on [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Volume 2]] turned Etta into a BadassNormal airman to save her from the serious {{Chickification}} she underwent after Marston's death, but jettisoned most of the character's sense of fun and later writers on the title put her on a bus.