History Main / KingpinInHisGym

One of the ways to show that a villain's AuthorityEqualsAsskicking. However, if the training sessions are shown to be [[CurbStompBattle a walk in the park]], [[FridgeLogic one wonders how they will make the villain any stronger]]. [[VillainsOutShopping Shopping]] is another popular hobby of villains.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''

* The Cynthia Rothrock movie ''Honor and Glory'' shows the villain putting himself through an intense workout scene, allowing the audience to see that he won't be a pushover during the final fight.

* In the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', Galbatorix qualifies. For one, [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething he actually rules the Empire he's in charge of.]] He also [[spoiler:breaks into the minds of the Eldunari he has under his power to make him even more powerful.]] Third, he searches for [[spoiler:the true name of the Ancient Language of magic, which would give him power over all spellcasters and over magic itself.]] He succeeds on all three accounts.

* Done with the TropeNamer himself in ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': when Frank Castle is first brought before Wilson Fisk in the prison, Fisk is bench-pressing weights.

* The young MorallyBankruptBanker George Warleggan in ''Series/{{Poldark}}'' is a NouveauRiche who has molded himself into the epitome of cultured gentility. Although George has a bit of a SlobsVersusSnobs dynamic with his ArchEnemy, Ross Poldark, who comes from the gentry but is a man of the people, the expectation of George being a SissyVillain is subverted, as George regularly trains with a professional boxer, often while plotting against Ross. It's implied that George does this so he can win against Ross in physical combat in the same way he aims to win against him through economic chicanery. Indeed, in one episode where the two drop social pretenses and get into a bare-knuckle fight, George is evenly matched with the brawny Ross thanks to a combination of all of his training and simply from [[TheCombatPragmatist fighting really, really dirty]].

* The Spot trainer Wrestling/BlackRose showed off some her regimen when announcing her return to Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling League's ''Insurrection'' show, following a run through U Know Pro in Florida. Downplaed as despite being presented as heel the fans at the Puerto Rican show [[AHeroToHisHometown cheered her almost as much as her opponent]], Wrestling/IvelisseVelez.
* One WWF television segment followed the immortal wrestling announcer "Mean Gene" Okerlund going to a gym to interview "Rowdy" Wrestling/RoddyPiper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to get their thought on their upcoming tag team main event match against WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr. T at the inaugural Wrestlemania pay per view. Orndorff was in the midst of curling impressive amounts of weight, and Piper, who was merely observing at the time (along with bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton) saw fit to insult and berate Okerlund for disturbing their preparation. At the end of it, the heels advance menacingly towards Gene and ultimately throw him out of the gym and into the streets. A passerby comes to Gene's aid only to be viciously beaten by Piper's cohorts.

* Tombstone does this in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' -- fitting, since that adaptation promoted him to the Kingpin's usual role. (They couldn't use the trope namer himself due to rights issues.)

* The Spot trainer Wrestling/BlackRose showed off some her regimen when announcing her return to Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling League's ''Insurrection'' show, following a run through U Know Pro in Florida. Downplaed as despite being presented as heel the fans at the WWL show [[AHeroToHisHometown cheered her almost as much as her opponent]], Wrestling/IvelisseVelez.

* The Spot trainer Wrestling/BlackRose showed off some her regimen when announcing her return to Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling League's ''Insurrection'' show, following a run through U Know Pro in Florida.

* Any [[{{heel}} rudos]] who participate in Wrestling/{{CMLL}}'s body building contests can be counted.

* One WWF television segment followed the immortal wrestling announcer "Mean Gene" Okerlund going to a gym to interview "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to get their thought on their upcoming tag team main event match against WWF Champion Hulk Hogan and Mr. T at the inaugural Wrestlemania pay per view. Orndorff was in the midst of curling impressive amounts of weight, and Piper, who was merely observing at the time (along with bodyguard "Cowboy" Bob Orton) saw fit to insult and berate Okerlund for disturbing their preparation. At the end of it, the heels advance menacingly towards Gene and ultimately throw him out of the gym and into the streets. A passerby comes to Gene's aid only to be viciously beaten by Piper's cohorts.

* Count Dooku, a.k.a. Darth Tyranus, was shown sparring with General Grievous in the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' animated series. Most other master vs. apprentice fights in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe tend to be cases of attempted KlingonPromotion although they ''could'' be considered training for the apprentices. (Grievous is not technically Dooku's apprentice, as he is not a Sith, or even a Force-user for that matter. The fact that he is one of the few beings that is formidable in lightsaber combat without being Force-sensitive is something that makes him truly unique as a villain.)

* The Spot trainer Wrestling/BlackRose showed off some her regimen when announcing her return to Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling League's ''Insurrection'' show, following a run through U Know Pro in Florida.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* In Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/{{Cymbeline}}'' Cloten is proud of his prowess with the sword. What he fails to take into account is, his sparring partners know he is 1) the Prince and 2) borderline AxCrazy and will have them killed if he loses a match. Naturally, once he's up against a real opponent he's quickly killed.

** In ''Anime/DragonBallZResurrectionF'', Frieza trains offscreen after coming back to life to become strong enough to beat Goku. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, he didn't train long enough. He stopped as soon as he discovered his own SuperMode and rushed to Earth before figuring out how to properly regulate the energy it demanded, something he already had problems with in his ''normal forms'' all the way back on Namek. Though he's able to hold his own against Goku's astronomical rise in power since their last encounter, he quickly wears himself out in the span of a few minutes, and by the time he fights Vegeta, who has also reached similar heights, he can barely land a meaningful punch.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E15ThroughImperialEyes "Through Imperial Eyes"]], when Agent Kallus and Lieutenant Lyste are admitted into Grand Admiral Thrawn's office, they see him sparring with assassin droids in a side room.

** In ''Revival of F'', Frieza trains offscreen after coming back to life to become strong enough to beat Goku. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, he didn't train long enough. He stopped as soon as he discovered his own SuperMode and rushed to Earth before figuring out how to properly regulate the energy it demanded, something he already had problems with in his ''normal forms'' all the way back on Namek. Though he's able to hold his own against Goku's considerable rise in power since their last encounter, he quickly wears himself out in the span of a few minutes, and by the time he fights Vegeta, he can barely land a meaningful punch.]]

* Count Dooku, a.k.a. Darth Tyranus, was shown sparring with General Grievous in the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsCloneWars'' animated series. Most other master vs. apprentice fights in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe tend to be cases of attempted KlingonPromotion although they ''could'' be considered training for the apprentices. (Grievous is not technically Dooku's apprentice, as he is not a Sith, or even a Force-user for that matter. The fact that he is one of the few beings that is formidable in lightsaber combat without being Force-sensitive is something that makes him truly unique as a villain.)
* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', where Mr. Burns makes Smithers work out on his behalf.

* Both Prince Zuko and [[TheDragon Princess Azula]] each spend one of their respective first appearances in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' practicing their firebending. Zuko demands to learn the advanced techniques even though Iroh insists he hasn't mastered the basics yet. Azula, on the other hand, does the advanced bits flawlessly--but ''completely'' freaks out (foreshadowing her ultimate VillainousBreakdown) when ''one hair'' falls out of place.
* Done three times in the second ''WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|2003}}'' series. The first occurs with the Shredder, who gets a training scene in the episode "Darkness at the Edge of Town". The second occurs with Karai, whose very first scene is of her training. The third time occurs in a supplementary short of dubious canonity, also featuring Karai, which shows her apparently killing the four turtles... until its revealed that they're actually advanced training robots.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', mobster [[TheDon Rupert Thorne]] is in his private gym, punching a bag while a henchman - named Dicky - holds it for him and urges him on. Thorne is clearly getting a little tired, but then Dicky says, "Come on, boss! No wonder the Batman is runnin' circles around ya!" Thorne snarls and [[BerserkButton punches Dickie in the face]], knocking him out. Then he grabs a towel from another thug, mentioning before he leaves, "Oh, and when Dicky gets up, tell him he's fired." Moments later Bane arrives, this episode being his first appearance. When Thorne threatens to withhold payment for Bane after a recent job was nearly bungled, Bane responds by punching the bag so hard it flies off its fixtures.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', while it's not really "in a gym", Lex Luthor is seen practicing archery - for bonus points, he does this while on the phone with Lois Lane and asking her "Do you really think I would jeopardize the safety of this planet just to settle my personal grudge against Superman?". And then hitting a bullseye with a shit-eating smirk.

* Though not shown on-panel, dialogue states that ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'''s villain, Xykon, spent the duration of Roy's absence researching new spells and crafting magic items, the EvilSorcerer's equivalent of working out. [[RPGMechanicsVerse The nature of reality there]] renders him incapable of doing this for longer than 8 hours per day, and, as a lich, he doesn't sleep, either. As such, he generally spends the rest of his day messing around in a bid to alleviate his boredom, which is what the reader ''usually'' sees whenever Xykon is present.
** And by "messing about", we mean "coming up with inventive and horrific ways to kill prisoners, and making book on how long they last in the acid tank with the mutated sharks."

* In ''Film/OnceUponATimeInChina2'', when Wong Fei-Hung meets General Nar-Lan Yuen-Shu (DonnieYen) for the first time, he's busy working out his martial arts form before surprising Wong with a sparring match, establishing that he's Wong's equal, and not schlubby ArmchairMilitary cum bureaucrat like the rest.

[[quoteright:288:[[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Daredevil_-_170_-_The_Kingpin_3869.jpg]]]]

* In ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'', when Frank Castle is first brought before Wilson Fisk in the prison, Fisk is bench-pressing weights.

* Tombstone does this in ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' -- fitting, since that adaptation promoted him to the Kingpin's usual role. (They couldn't use the trope namer himself due to rights issues.)
* In one episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries Superman The Animated Series]]'', while it's not really "in a gym", Lex Luthor is seen practicing archery - for bonus points, he does this while on the phone with Lois Lane and asking her "Do you really think I would jeopardize the safety of this planet just to settle my personal grudge against Superman?". And then hitting a bullseye with a shit-eating smirk.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', David Xanatos enjoys sparring in a dojo. As always [[MagnificentBastard subverting]] such things, he shows how {{Badass}} he is by ''losing'' to his BattleButler and then commenting on how surprised he was that Owen has improved.

** Long before Mark Henry, former Olympic weightlifter and wrestler, Ken Patera, would often do random acts of strength, including driving nails with his bare hands.

* The Spot trainer Wrestling/BlackRose showed off some her regimen when announcing her return Puerto Rico for the World Wrestling League's ''Insurrection'' show, following a run through U Know Pro in Florida.[[/folder]]