History Main / NoBadassToHisValet

* In ''{{LightNovel/Durarara}}'', the typical reaction most people have to encountering [[TheBerserker Shizuo Heiwajima]] is to either run away in terror or to pick a fight with him in order to (fail to) prove their badassery. Tom Tanaka's response, on the other hand, was to go, [[BullyingADragon "Yeah, those guys are dicks]]. Want to hang out?"

* Kyon does something like this for ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''. The latter is a RealityWarper (though she doesn't know it) and, as a result, incredibly self-centered and obnoxious. Hyper-advanced aliens and entire organizations of time-travellers/psychics are afraid to provoke her or not fulfill her every whim, lest she [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds destroy the universe]]. Kyon, a stubborn but otherwise RidiculouslyAverageGuy, increasingly refuses to put up with Haruhi's bullshit...and it ''works''. She actually listens to him and becomes much less of a danger to the universe thanks to his influence, partly because she has a crush on him.

* ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'': Phonon, having freshly gained her abilities as an In-Birth, is attempting to style herself as a domineering S&M queen with a ruthless tendency to whip. After defeating [[BigBad Hilda]] in her Arcade Mode, the worst person for her enters the scene: Nanase, her junior student who knows her from school. She knows Phonon's real name, can chat to her like a friend and freely talks to her about things like the manga they used to read together when they first joined the same class. Phonon internally states that this is her worst nightmare -- someone who knows her as just a normal person when she's trying to be something special.

** Perhaps the very reason for the entire series. [[spoiler: Yusuke's Yokai ancestor Raizen was successfully seduced during his visit to Earth centuries ago by a sexy witch doctor who had absolutely no fear of him whatsoever. She later dies giving birth to their child. When he returned to Makai, sans offspring (who remains on Earth and continues the Urameshi bloodline) his heartfelt memory of her became his MoralityChain as LoveRedeems him into a NobleDemon who refrains from eating humans (despite that being the only food his specific species can consume) , and inspires him to establish a ProudWarriorRace kingdom of fighting monks who also refrain from eating humans as well and who seek to spread that philosophy across the demon world.]]

* ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'': Phonon, having freshly gained her abilities as an In-Birth, is attempting to style herself as a domineering S&M queen with a ruthless tendency to WhipItGood. After defeating [[BigBad Hilda]] in her Arcade Mode, the worst person for her enters the scene: Nanase, her junior student who knows her from school. She knows Phonon's real name, can chat to her like a friend and freely talks to her about things like the manga they used to read together when they first joined the same class. Phonon internally states that this is her worst nightmare -- someone who knows her as just a normal person when she's trying to be something special.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' as seen above, Frozone's wife doesn't take his hero crap seriously compared to their normal everyday life, though he eventually does seem to end up ditching the evening party regardless. Interestingly, while he used to date a lot of superheroines casually, he ended up going for what appears to be a completely ordinary woman and telling her his secret identity, which he didn't tell the superheroines.

* Evie Hammond eventually assumes this role for V in ''ComicBook/VForVendetta''.

* Whistler is like this to Film/{{Blade}}, though he's quite the badass himself.

** Paris Carver from ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' comes to mind first.

* Officer Anne Lewis plays this role for her cyborg partner in the first two ''Franchise/RoboCop'' films.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* [[HandicappedBadass Viktor]] and [[GenkiGirl Ivy]] have this relationship in ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}''.
[[/folder]]

-->'''Bulma:''' But why wouldn't Goku want to come back to Earth?\\

-->'''Batman:''' You think you know everything about me, don't you?
-->'''Alfred Pennyworth:''' I diapered your bottom; I bloody well ought to... sir!

-->'''Arthur''': I could take you apart with one blow.
-->'''Merlin''': [[DeadpanSnarker I could take you apart with less than that.]]

-->'''Sothe:''' Stop scowling at me like that. You're making me uncomfortable.\\

-->'''Snake:''' I'm gonna be spewing out poison soon enough anyways. What's one more smoke gonna hurt?
-->'''Sunny:''' Uh uh! ''(grabs cigarette)'' This is a no-smoking flight!

* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': The [[Characters/GenshinImpactRaidenShogun Raiden Shogun]] is the [[GodOfThunder Electro Archon]] and Inazuma's patron deity, worshipped, respected and sometimes feared alike by ''everyone'' in the island... except for the [[{{Miko}} head priestess]] [[AsianFoxSpirit Yae Miko]], who is perhaps the only person who will happily and openly disparage or tease the Shogun without fear of punishment. In fact, on one instance, Miko does this in front of the Tenryou Commission (which includes the Shogun's NumberTwo, [[{{Tengu}} Kujou Sara]]). Miko additionally [[spoiler:criticizes the real Raiden Shogun, Ei herself, over her self-imposed exile and the damaging national policies she set forth before locking herself from the outside world]].

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'': Ike is like this to anyone he meets, though once they join the player party, people learn he really isn't that mean.

* Chizuru Kagura, the cool-headed {{Miko}} from ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', cannot make [[AntiHero Iori]] [[JerkAssWoobie Yagami]] completely bend to her will, but she ''can'' make him team-work with none other than his sworn enemy [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou Kyo Kusanagi]]. ''Twice''. And later, she is personally visited by him before XIII, promising to [[spoiler: return her MagicMirror and restore her stolen powers]] in due time.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Batman in quite a few movies:
** Creator/ChristopherNolan's [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy trilogy]] has Alfred acting as a confrontational mentor to Bruce, even if Alfred Pennyworth in those films can hardly be described as a badass.
** Despite Batsy being beloved by Gotham and TheDreaded to its villains, in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', Alfred has the gall to put Bruce in time out like a petulant child. Barbara Gordon is not cowed by him and wants to work with the Caped Crusader as an equal; after all, she went to Harvard For Police.

* Whistler is like this to Film/{{Blade}}, though he's quite the badass himself.
* ''Film/DjangoUnchained'': It's revealed that Stephen is MUCH smarter than Candie, and is more than willing to call him a dipshit when he's making a mistake.
* In ''Film/TheHobbit'', while Thorin Oakenshield is idolized and king to his dwarven Company, [[TheHeart Bilbo Baggins]] couldn't care less about his royal status and regularly scolds him for acting rashly or being rude to others. When he descends into gold madness, it's Bilbo who [[MoralityChain continues to stand at Thorin's side]] and speak sense when he can, even telling Gandalf that he doesn't fear Thorin and will do everything in his power to save him.

* A lot of Film/JamesBond's former lovers.

* This trope is succinctly exemplified in this exchange between the Dark Knight and Alfred from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'':
-->'''Batman:''' You think you know everything about me, don't you?
-->'''Alfred Pennyworth:''' I diapered your bottom; I bloody well ought to... sir!

** Despite being a {{Muggle}} and TheChick, Bulma is perfectly willing to push around anyone; even [[BloodKnight Veg]][[JerkAss eta]], to the point of getting him into wearing a pink shirt. Naturally, they wind up married and having two children together.

* Ginny Weasley shows signs of this in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix''. Everyone, even Ron and Hermione, has no idea how to deal with Harry when his temper gets the better of him (namely, due to reaching his limit at everything that's going on.) Ginny though coolly and calmly defuses him. [[FridgeBrilliance Certainly adds a good depth to when they end up together.]]

** Sanji, the third of the Monster Trio, fares little better. To the rest of the world, his calm, collected visage is the last thing you see before he's on you in the blink of an eye with a kick strong enough to split a ship in two, who is as dreaded a presence as Luffy and Zoro and a sign that the battle is already over if he shows up. To his crewmates, he's an IdiotSavant who they wish they could just shut in the galley at all times, because he fucks up everything aside from cooking even without that whole business of turning into a blubbering love-struck idiot the minute he encounters anything with a pair of breasts.

** Despite Batsy being beloved by Gotham and TheDreaded to its villains, in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', Alfred has the gall to put Bruce in time out like a petulant child. Barbara Gordan is not cowed by him and wants to work with the Caped Crusader as an equal; after all, she went to Harvard For Police.

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Most people are terrified of Ninokuru for his FaceOfAThug, but Matsuri fawned over how "cool" he is the instant they met, and Suzu [[InvisibleToNormals being able to see]] his {{familiar}} Ponosuke made them come off as "cute" to her--massively intimidating Ninokuru, because he CannotTalkToWomen. Soga's ChilhoodFriend Reo isn't just unafraid of him, using him as a guinea pig for her inventions is the main reason he's afraid of girls. This is one reason Ninokuru ends up falling in love with Suzu and Matsuri, and bystanders tend to [[MistakenForRomance assume Matsuri or Reo are in love with him]].

** To most of the world, Jouichirou [[TheMaidenNameDebate Saiba[=/=]Yukihira]] is [[RedBaron "The Wandering Chef" or "The Asura of Cooking"]], a chef whose grasp of ''cuisine'' is such that it can restore the will to live to the terminally ill and cause priests to abandon their religion. The people who know him, and his son in particular, know that while his skills are pretty much head and shoulders above anyone else, he is also moody, whimsical, ill-disciplined, prone to goofing off and has a bizarre fascination for [[CordonBleughChef food combinations that Man Was Not Meant To Know]].

* ''Literature/HorusHeresy'': The [[TheBerserker World Eaters]] are, to the last, unstoppable, raging {{Super Soldier}}s. [[TheCaptain Lotara Sarrin]], the perfectly human captain of their flagship The Conqueror, takes shit from precisely ''none'' of them. At one point during the Shadow Crusade, a group of World Eaters disobeyed her orders to go on a murder spree on the Ultramarines: when they returned, Lotara pulled out her laspistol and ''blasted the insubordinate captain right in the face''. When he survived and moved to attack her in a rage, she stared him down and chewed him out even harder for daring to threaten a superior officer.

[[quoteright:257:[[Franchise/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/no-badass-to-his-valet_batman_9266.jpg]]]]

** Luffy's entire crew is this to him. The world sees Luffy as a dangerous pirate with massive amounts of potential and one of the forerunners to become Pirate King. His crew sees him as their idiot captain who wouldn't last five minutes in the Grand Line, let alone the New World, without them because of his recklessness and outright stupidity.

* At the beginning of ''StarWars: Film/ANewHope'', [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Daine_Jir an Imperial officer]] appears in one scene, where he [[CommanderContrarian argues]] with Darth Vader about taking Princess Leia prisoner and ''Vader listens to him''. The ExpandedUniverse gave this guy a name and elaborated on his {{backstory}}, confirming that he was one of the few Imperial officers to ever question Vader while still being loyal, and had earned Vader's respect for this.

* Mr. Gar in ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'' is the subject of fearful respect around Lakewood Plaza Turbo. However, to Carol, he's still the same NervousWreck he was back when they were teens. In fact, throughout most of the first season, whenever he tried interacting with Carol, reverted back to that babbling wreck who can barely speak in front of his crush.

* ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'': Phonon, having freshly gained her abilities as an In-Birth, is attempting to style herself as a domineering S&M queen with a ruthless tendency to WhipItGood. After defeated [[BigBad Paradox]] of Amnesia in her Arcade Mode, the worst person for her enters the scene: Nanase, her junior student who knows her from school. She knows Phonon's real name, can chat to her like a friend and freely talks to her about things like the manga they used to read together when they first joined the same class. Phonon internally states that this is her worst nightmare -- someone who knows her as just a normal person when she's trying to be something special.

** Sanji, the third of the Monster Trio, fares little better. To the rest of the world, his calm, collected visage is the last thing you see before he's on you in the blink of an eye with a kick strong enough to split a ship in two, who is as dreaded a presence as Luffy and Zoro and a sign that the battle is already over if he shows up. To his crewmates, he's an IdiotSavant who they wish they could just shut in the galley at all times, because he fucks up everything aside from cooking even without that whole business of turning into a blubbering lovestruck idiot the minute he encounters anything with a pair of breasts.

* ''Literature/HorusHeresy'': The [[TheBerserker World Eaters]] are, to the last, unstoppable, raging {{Super Soldier}}s. [[TheCaptain Lotara Sarrin]], the perfectly human captain of their flagship The Conquerer, takes shit from precisely ''none'' of them. At one point during the Shadow Crusade, a group of World Eaters disobeyed her orders to go on a murder spree on the Ultramarines: when they returned, Lotara pulled out her laspistol and ''blasted the insubordinate captain right in the face''. When he survived and moved to attack her in a rage, she stared him down and chewed him out even harder for daring to threaten a superior officer.

* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', nearly all of Trevor Phillips's associates are either incredibly terrified of him (Nervous Ron, Floyd) or too stupid to realise just how exploited and oppressed they are (Wade), or at the most respectful and keep a distance (Oscar). Even Michael knows not to mess with him. However, Trevor's meth cook, Chef, is a certified badass in his own right, and in his first mission, even orders Trevor about.

** Also applies to Q from ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' onward. He has no problem chewing Bond out for not returning gadgets in one piece and doesn't think twice about snatching said weapons out of Bond's very deadly hands. Meanwhile, ProfessionalKiller Bond doesn't give him more than a raised eyebrow and grin of mild amusement. This was often the case in the original series as well from Film/Goldfinger onwards.

* Batman in quite a few movies:
** Creator/ChristopherNolan's [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy trilogy]] has Alfred acting as a confrontational mentor to Bruce, even if Alfred Pennyworth in those films can hardly be described as a badass.
** Despite Batsy being beloved by Gotham and TheDreaded to its villains, in the ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'', Alfred has the gall to put Bruce in time out like a petulant child. Barbara Gordan is not cowed by him and wants to work with the Caped Crusader as an equal; after all, she went to Harvard For Police.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' as seen above, Frozone's wife doesn't take his hero crap seriously compared to their normal everyday life, though he eventually does seem to end up ditching the evening party regardless. Interestingly, while he used to date a lot of superheroines casually, he ended up going for what appears to be a completely ordinary woman and telling her his secret identity, which he didn't tell the superheroines.

* ''Literature/HorusHeresy'': The [[TheBerserker World Eaters]] are, to the last, unstoppable, raging {{Super Soldier}}s. [[TheCaptain Lotara Sarrin]], the perfectly human captain of their flagship The Conquerer, takes shit from precisely ''none'' of them. At one point during the Shadow Crusade, a group of World Eaters disobeyed her orders to go on a murder spree on the Ultramarines: when they returned, Lotara pulled out her laspistol and ''blasted the insubordinate captain right in the face''. When he survived and moved to attack her in a rage, she stared him down and chewed him out even harder for daring to threaten a superior officer.

* Protagonists of ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series usually have someone, who is at most a BadassNormal and won't hesitate to give them a reality check if needed. Every rider is a monster killing PersonOfMassDestruction that can often be countered only by other riders or by throwing even more monsters on the battlefield. Sometimes secondary or tertiary riders are also given that sort of attention.
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'': Taiga Hanaya is a [[FallenHero disgraced]] former [[BackAlleyDoctor doctor]] whose selfishness cost a patient their life after he got way ahead of himself as the story's (chronologically) first rider. His reputation of a lone, hardened criminal goes well with the nickname ''[[RedBaron Doctor of Darkness]]''. [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave Unfortunately]], Nico Saiba mostly [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu lacks]] self preservation instict, so his antics fail to intimidated her in the slightest. Also, nothing can stop her from revealing that he is actually a pigheaded edgelord and getting him to knock that attitude off.

* ''VideoGame/UnderNightInBirth'': Phonon, having freshly gained her abilities as an In-Birth, is attempting to style herself as a domineering S&M queen with a ruthless tendency to WhipItGood. After defeated [[BigBad Paradox]] of Amnesia in her Arcade Mode, the worst person for her enters the scene: Nanase, her junior student who knows her from school. She knows Phonon's real name, can chat to her like a friend and freely talks to her about things like the manga they used to read together when they first joined the same class. Phonon internally states that this is her worst nightmare - someone who knows her as just a normal person when she's trying to be something special.

* Rean Schwarzer in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' at the end of the second game and beyond is referred to as the national hero of [[TheEmpire the Erebonian empire]], "[[RedBaron Ashen Chevalier]]". His friends, however, know that he's their dork, their teacher and school's gofer, and a very overprotective big brother to his sister.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueDoom'' Alfred makes this quite clear. Batman shrugs off any advice the Justice League give him on getting healed and rested after their last battle. After getting back to the cave, Alfred makes it clear he won't let Batman get back to work until he has rested and healed.

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Most people are terrified of Ninokuru for his FaceOfAThug, but Matsuri fawned over how "cool" he is the instant they met, and Suzu [[InvisibleToNormals being able to see]] his {{familiar}} Ponosuke made them come off as "cute" to her (massively intimidating Ninokuru, because he CannotTalkToWomen). This is one reason Ninokuru ends up falling in love with both of them, and bystanders tend to [[MistakenForRomance assume Matsuri is his girlfriend]].