History Main / PopCulturedBadass

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Glitch is a fantastic mechanic whose love of human pop culture and bouncy ways make him seem like a tiny harmless AmusingAlien, until the twelve foot tall aliens that had once enslaved his people try to invade earth and he shows that he is a more than capable fighter despite his small stature. He'd dropped hints beforehand given he was part of a successful SlaveRevolt but had greatly played down any violence.

'''Scott Lang:''' Quantum Leap.

'''Scott Lang:''' Hot Tub Time Machine. \\

--->'''Professor Hulk:''' Who told you that?
--->'''Rhodey:''' Star Trek, Terminator, Time Cop, Time after Time.
--->'''Scott Lang:''' Quantum Leap.
--->'''Rhodey:''' A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time.
--->'''Scott Lang:''' Hot Tub Time Machine.
--->'''Rhodey:''' Hot Tub Time Machine, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically any movie that deals with time travel.
--->'''Scott Lang:''' Die Hard. No, that's not one.

* Detective Jake Peralta from ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''. He prefers ''Franchise/DieHard'', but he'll reference everything from ''Film/CaptainPhillips'' to ''Series/GameOfThrones'' at the slightest opportunity.

* ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan'': Nyarko will beat the snot out of you while doing Series/KamenRider poses, quoting [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure Jotaro Kujo]], using [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma Saotome]]'s tactics, and much, '''[[ReferenceOverdosed MUCH]]''' more.

While the CulturedBadass and WickedCultured kill to [[Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky Tchaikovsky]] and [[Music/RichardWagner Wagner]], and read [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]] in their spare time, the Pop-Cultured Badass rocks out to the latest hits on their [[ProductPlacement iPod]] and discusses their interpretation of recent movies.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Abed. The badass part is best demonstrated by the "paintball war movie" episodes.

* Cisco Ramone of ''Series/TheFlash2014'', aka [[spoiler: Vibe]], loves making references to everything from ''Star Wars'' to ''Harry Potter.'' The badass part only kicks in starting with season 2, however.

* In ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' the misfits defeat a person with a compelling voice by drowning it out with their individual choices of iPod music.

* Cisco Ramon of ''Series/TheFlash2014'', aka [[spoiler: Vibe]], loves making references to everything from ''Star Wars'' to ''Harry Potter.'' The badass part only kicks in starting with season 2, however.

* [[GamerChick Zoey]] in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' knows just how to handle the ZombieApocalypse because of her love for horror movies. May overlap with IKnowMortalKombat.

* ''Film/TrueLies'': Harry Tasker is being tailed by two Haziz's henchmen on the night of his birthday and offhandedly nicknames them [[Characters/BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] when discussing a strategy with before leading said henchmen into a [[BathroomBrawl a fight inside a mall's bathroom.]]

* ''Film/TrueLies'': Harry Tasker is being tailed by two Haziz's henchmen on the night of his birthday and offhandedly nicknames them [[BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] when discussing a strategy with before leading said henchmen into a [[BathroomBrawl a fight inside a mall's bathroom.]]

* ''Film/TrueLies'': Harry Tasker is being tailed by two Haziz's henchmen on the night of his birthday and offhandedly nicknames them [[BeavisAndButtheadBeavis and Butthead]] when discussing a strategy with before leading said henchmen into a [[BathroomBrawl a fight inside a mall's bathroom.]]

* The titular gecko from the ''VideoGame/{{Gex}} spends all his time watching TV. Not only is the games' level full of shoutouts to various popular movies and Television shows but Gex himself cracks around references throughout the game to pop-culture.

* The titular lizard from the VideoGame/Gex spends all his time watching TV. Not only is the games' level full of shoutouts to various popular movies and Television shows but Gex himself cracks around references throughout the game to pop-culture.

* The titular lizard from the ''VideoGame/Gex'' spends all his time watching TV. Not only is the games' level full of shoutouts to various popular movies and Television shows but Gex himself cracks around references throughout the game to pop-culture.

* Gintoki from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' probably one of the biggest in anime and manga as a whole, coming with at least 1 ShoutOut per episode in this already ReferenceOverdosed series, even in serious arcs. He even reads [[Magazine/ShonenJump Weekly Shounen Jump]], the magazine it's from, and has only mentioned a few with a {{Bland Name|Product}}, but most are directly ShoutOut, if censored are mostly just one character/letter ●-ed or [[SoundEffectBleep bleeped]] out making it quite useless. This has not gone without issues however as both Sunrise and Shueisha prays they won't get sued anymore. He's also a HiddenBadass who's a ShellShockedVeteran with a HiddenHeartOfGold who has managed to destroy a space ship with a bokuto as WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter.

* In crossover ''FanFic/TheDresdenFillies'', Dresden manages to reference The Princess Bride, the new ''Doctor Who'', Star Wars (twice!) and use a Vulcan greeting in Strange Friends alone. Without breaking a sweat.

* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'' Daniel is a GodEmperor and a gigantic, proud geek who will proudly reference [[Film/TheLastStarfighter movies]], [[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland books]], tv-shows or [[Disney/{{Dumbo}} Disney movies]].

** The Tenth Doctor was particularly fond of 20th / 21st century Earth pop culture. For example, he seems to be a Literature/HarryPotter fan [[CelebrityParadox (although presumably he hasn't seen the fourth movie)]], and [[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion once]] gave a humanitarian speech to an alien race that was threatening to kill a third of Earth's population... with lyrics from ''Disney/TheLionKing''. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E7TheIdiotsLantern "The Idiot's Lantern"]], he uses Music/KylieMinogue lyrics for an inspirational quote.

** Peter Quill (Star-Lord) from ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' jams out to classic rock songs from the [=60s=] and [=70s=] while protecting the galaxy. His very first appearance has him searching for a dangerous alien object while rocking to classic pop music, even grabbing a lizard-like creature to use as an impromptu mic.
** Peter Parker (Spider-Man) [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming Peter Parker (Spider-Man)]] even goes as far as to take inspiration from classic films like ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' to contend with his foes. Naturally, the he meets with aforementioned Quill, both Peters geek out when they meet in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''.
** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', James Rhodes (War Machine) reveals himself to be a pop-culture geek as well, frequently name-dropping movies like Film/BackToTheFuture and Franchise/IndianaJones while going over plans. specifically in this exchange during a time travel experiment:
-->'''Hulk:'''Who told you that?
-->'''Rhodey:'''Star Trek, Terminator, Time Cop, Time after Time
-->'''Scott Lang:'''Quantum Leap
-->'''Rhodey:'''A Wrinkle in time, Somewhere in time
-->'''Scott Lang:''' Hot Tub Time Machine.
-->'''Rhodey:''' Hot tub time machine, Bill and Ted excellent adventure. basically any movie that deals in time travel
-->'''Scott Lang:''' Die hard? no its not one.

* Bungie of the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' is a dedicated cosplayer, D&D player, and comic book geek in general who can produce a movie quote or a song lyric applicable to her current situation at the drop of a hat. She's also a member of the world's premiere superhero team. For extra points, she once responded to an emergency call while she was attending San Diego Comic Con... while cosplaying as her team leader, Achilles.

While the CulturedBadass and WickedCultured kill to [[Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky Tchaikovsky]] and [[Music/RichardWagner Wagner]], and read [[Creator/FriedrichNietzsche Nietzsche]] on their spare time, the Pop-Cultured Badass rocks out to the latest hits on their [[ProductPlacement iPod]] and discusses their interpretation of recent movies.

**

** In "The Nanny Napper", Fran is arrested for allegedly kidnapping a foreign woman's baby (she was simply holding him for her on the subway, before being separated). She likens her plight to that of a soap opera, which the foreign woman watches too, leading to an intense conversation about the show, which convinces the police to drop the charges.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfic ''{{FanFic/Gemini}},'' AxCrazy SerialKillerKiller Captain June Harper makes numerous references to ''{{Series/Firefly}},'' ''[[Series/StarTrek Star Trek]],'' ''[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Pirates Of The Caribbean]],'' and one of her signature [[ImprobableAimingSkills trick-shots]] is based on a [[FamousFamousFictional "Taska Venkman" series of spy movies.]]

* Joseph Carrion of the ''Literature/MediochreQSethSeries'' is arguably the biggest BadassNormal in the setting, and is also a fan of Series/StarTrek, Series/TheATeam and Music/TheBeatles.

** In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', James Rhodes (War Machine) reveals himself to be a pop-culture geek as well, frequently name-dropping movies like Film/BackToTheFuture and Franchise/IndianaJones while going over plans.