History Main / WorldOfBadass

** Hurin Thalion: ''Thalion'' being the sindar word for "badass". Performed a one-man LastStand against an army of orcs and trolls and was only captured because he became buried under their bodies and his battleaxe ''melted'' because it got so soaked in bile-blood. Brought before Morgoth and offered "mercy", Hurin ''[[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu mocks Morgoth to his face]]'' even in the face of a horrible curse that will affect all his family and descendants.

** Earendil: Middle Earth half-elf astronaut. Sailing to the land of the Valar in the world's DarkestHour, he arrives to pull a BigDamnHeroes against Morgoth's flying forces with his own force of angels and giant eagles. Leading the attack, he personally shoots down Ancalagon the Black, a dragon big enough to shatter a mountain when its dead body fell from the sky.
** Azaghal, King of the Dwarves. Crushed under the body of a colossal dragon named Glaurung, but [[DyingMomentOfAwesome stabbed it in the belly with a dagger using his last ounce of life]], sending the wyrm screaming in pain back to Morgoth. Effectively saving his entire army in the process.

** [[{{God}} Eru Illuvater]], who remains very hands-off with His creation for most of time, is so outraged by the arrogance and cruelty of the Numenorians that he makes a single exceptional moment of direct involvement by destroying the entire continent of Numenor in a mix of the Sinking of Atlantis and the Great Flood. Eru Illuvater's divine retribution is so powerful that it literally changed the shape of Arda, turning the world round. [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty Not forgetting Sauron's treacherous hand in all this]], Eru smites the rogue Maiar so badly that he can never again take physical form in the world!

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' has evolved over the years from regular tournaments to epics where the fate of the world lies in the hands of martial artists the world over, and most martial arts are SupernaturalMartialArts to some extent as these fighters throw out KiAttacks, use ElementalPowers to strengthen their attacks with [[PlayingWithFire fire]], [[ShockAndAwe lightning]], and [[AnIcePerson ice]], and can easily break stone, concrete, and steel with their bare hands and feet. The World Tour mode of ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'' takes this further, as EverybodyWasKungFuFighting is in full-effect: street fights are as commonplace a sight as street food vendors, and the player can challenge virtually any NPC they cross paths with to a fight.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' is the ActionGirl par excellence, but after looking at the rest of the cast, one begins to feel she's hardly remarkable in a universe that contains, among ''so'' many more, [[BadassLabcoat her parents]], [[BadassAdorable her pet]], [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething her best friend]], [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask her monarch]], [[BadassCrew her subordinates]], [[WorthyOpponent most of her opponents]], [[IronLady those opponents' President]], {{Space Marine}}s, super-spies, {{Ambadassador}}s, an AmazonBrigade, and Victor Cachat.

* The cast of ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' is comprised of a Badass Wizard (Merlin), a BadassNormal (Arthur), a PrettyPrincessPowerhouse (Morgana), a [[DamselOutOfDistress Badass Damsel]] (Guinevere), a CoolOldGuy (Gaius), a [[AuthorityGrantsAsskicking Badass King]] (Uther), a HeartbrokenBadass (Lancelot), and a BadassCrew (the Knights of the Round Table). Oh, and a giant fire-breathing dragon.

* ''LightNovel/BenTo'': every single character is MadeOfIron, otherwise they'd all be in traction.

* The entire [[PsychicPowers Esper population]] of Academy City in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''. And the [[FunctionalMagic Magicians]] are no slouches either. As well as [[BadassNormal some of the normal ones too!]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''. Half of the cast is borderline insane, while the other half is badass in one way or another. No exceptions. And since ''Durarara!!'' takes place in the same universe as ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', this makes sense.

* It doesn't matter what someone's archetype is in ''LightNovel/HorizonInTheMiddleOfNowhere'', because they'll be able to abuse the setting's [[ClarkesThirdLaw Sufficiently Advanced Science]] to be badass. Kimi, a dancer, is literally ''untouchable'' in combat. Shirojiro, a merchant, can fight giant robots ''with his bare hands''. Toori, a fool, is a ''bottomless'' energy well. Neshinbara, an author, can make ''anything'' happen just by ''writing it''. And they're the '''support''' types. Armed characters will do anything from be a shield, to cut anything they want, to summon legions of the undead instantly, to ground flying ships in single blows, and anything in between.

* ''Series/{{Nikita}}''. Seriously. TheChick is an ex-SexSlave turned sniping, shotgun-wielding CombatPragmatist ActionGirl. TheSmartGuy can call on {{Attack Drone}}s and isn't shabby in melee either.

* Creator/MontyOum's ''WebAnimation/DeadFantasy'' series is this. Of course, ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' and ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' are both badass worlds, but the power and skill of many characters is increased considerably and everyone is capable of kicking huge amounts of ass. The clearest example of this is [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Kairi]]; while [[LetsGetDangerous she does admittedly have her moments in the games]], she mostly stays out of fighting and acts as TheChick, but she is depicted in ''Dead Fantasy'' as an unstoppable BadassAdorable whirlwind of ass-kicking.

* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', you pretty much have to be this if you even hope of surviving in the Demon World, a place populated with [[PhysicalGod A and S Class Demons]]. Hiei himself [[LevelGrinding slaughtered over 500 A class demons]] in order to get himself to an S Class demon. To prevent an all out war between three nations, the Demon World had to set up an AsskickingEqualsAuthority Tournament where the winner would be crowned king of the Demon World.

* The cast of ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' is comprised of a Badass Wizard (Merlin), a BadassNormal (Arthur), a PrettyPrincessPowerhouse (Morgana), a [[DamselOutOfDistress Badass Damsel]] (Guinevere), a CoolOldGuy (Gaius), a [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Badass King]] (Uther), a HeartbrokenBadass (Lancelot), and a BadassCrew (the Knights of the Round Table). Oh, and a giant fire-breathing dragon.

* How convincing any given case was varied, especially when Kodo Fuyuki got the book and started [[DorkAge allowing non athletes in the ring]], but [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] at least tried to present every conceivable style and competitive division within pro wrestling as equally valid. It was part of Atsushi Onita's belief that "everything should be allowed in puroresu". Beyond this, FMW was a dangerous place, where sharp hazards were common place and any given lacerating edge could also be connected to a high voltage circuit or rigged to trigger a landmine. ''No'' wrestler was theoretically safe from this, so even the lowliest of FMW {{jobber}}s had to be some degree of badass.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': One cannot survive the tumultuous Second Age without being clever, a great warrior, a chessmaster or a believer in the PowerOfFriendeship. This is a world where gods can sink entire lands under water, demons and other unknown horrors lie beneath Middle-earth, Maiar, the AlwaysChaoticEvil race is scarily efficient, you have graceful warriors like the Elves of Eregion and Lindon or the ProudWarriorRace Dwarves of Khazad-dum, Galadriel is an unparalleled warrior, and the most badass of them all, Sauron.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': One cannot survive the tumultuous Second Age without being clever, a great warrior or a chessmaster. This is a world where gods can sink entire lands under water, demons and other unknown horrors lie beneath Middle-earth, the AlwaysChaoticEvil race is scarily efficient, you have graceful warriors like the Elves of Eregion and Lindon or the ProudWarriorRace Dwarves of Khazad-dum, Galadriel is an warrior

* ''Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos'': EVERYONE is badass.They take on an immortal HumanoidAbomination that can MindRape and mentally snap nearly anyone. [[KillEmAll But then again...]] Ones that deserve mention are [[Blog/SeekingTruth Zeke Strahm,]] [[Blog/WhiteElephants Robert,]] [[Blog/AReallyBadJoke Maduin,]] and Amalgamation Sage.

* Virtually any anime [[TheAnimeOfTheGame based on a fighting game series]] would count as an example, since all the characters involved are capable of fighting to varying degrees.
* Averted in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan''. Despite several people in the series being highly proficient at fighting, the vast majority of humans are just regular people that enlist in the military hoping to never actually have to fight, which explains the high casualty rate of every expedition.

*** Catachan might be an even better example than Cadia. It's a world where every plant and animal is poisonous, carnivorous or both, the jungle constantly encroaches on any settlement laid down and needs to be burned away every day, the native flora and fauna include [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Venus_Mantrap venus flytraps that can move and eat people]], [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Catachan_Devil scorpions the size of tanks]] and [[http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Catachan_Barking_Toad frogs which can explode and kill anything within a kilometer]], and the natives are all [[HeroicBuild hugely muscled]], [[MadeOfIron tough-as-nails]] [[KnifeNut knife-loving]] Franchise/{{Rambo}}-esque survivalists. Cadia is a world where people have to be badass or they get killed as adults. Catachan is a world where everyone has to be badass or they ''don't see adulthood''.

** Fëanor: Just told Melkor F#@+ you! to his face, died after facing an army of Balrogs. His body set aflame by the passion that inhabited him.
** Fingolfin: defied Morgoth before his own gates, actually managed to hurt him and maim him.
** Finrod Felagund: broke his chains and fought a werewolf bare-handed to save Beren's life.
** Luthien: RebelliousPrincess, entered Morgoth's stronghold, danced before him, enspelled him and stole a Silmaril from him. Died and convinced the God of the Dead to revive her and her lover.
** Ecthelion of the Fountain : killed Morgoth's general and Captain of Balrogs by impaling it on his helmet crest.
** Glorfindel: slew another Balrog by plummeting to both their end. Just. Wouldn't. Stay. Dead
** Hurin Thalion (''Thalion'' being the sindar word for "badass"): captured because he was buried under a mountain of Orcs and Trolls slain by his battle-axe. Brought before Morgoth, he taunted him (and paid the price).
** Beren Erchamion : when his putative father-in-law sets him for an ImpossibleTask ("Go to Hell and come back with a gem from Satan's crown!") his reaction is : "That's all you want from me? I expected something harder."
** Earendil: Middle Earth first astronaut. Shot down a dragon big enough to shatter a mountain under its weight.

** On a cultural level, the entire planet of Nirn. Every race still around has carved out their own territory by force (or survives by decentralized/nomadic tribes too tough for their "hosts" to kick out, like the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orsimer]]; and Tamriel's history is full of warring [[BadassArmy armies]], [[SlaveLiberation vengeance]] on a [[GenocideBackfire massive scale]], and invasions by [[HornyVikings Atmorans]], [[EliteArmy Akiviri]], and [[ArabianNightsDays Redguards]]. {{Steampunk}}-happy Dwemer (who are absolutely not [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame the same]]) regularly spit in the face of [[BigBadEnsemble Daedra]] while pursuing their own [[GodhoodSeeker divinity]]...or, rather, they ''[[EvilIsNotAToy did]]''. From [[OurDragonsAreDifferent immortal, divine tyrants]] to [[ANaziByAnyOtherName supremacist empires]], some new form of evil threatens the world just about every week--and gets beaten down by everyone from [[AnAdventurerIsYou wondering heroes]] to [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething demigod Emperors]]. If you think you can survive on Nirn without being badass on a national scale...well, you can ask the [[WasOnceAMan Falmer]] or [[ToServeMan Men of Akivir]] how that goes.

* The [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] world of ''Manga/Bastard1988'' is filled with badassery at every turn, complete with [[AwesomeMccoolname heavy metal themed names]].

** And even side-characters and civilian allies can step up to the plate without being bitten by a radioactive ''anything.'' J. Jonah Jameson may be a jerk but he won't back down from [[Characters/MarvelComicsOttoOctavius Doctor Octopus]] when his people are in danger. [[Characters/MarvelComicsMaryJaneWatson Mary Jane Watson]] does ''not'' make a cooperative damsel in distress ([[AdaptationalWimp outside the movieverse.]]) The X-Men's scientist friend [[Characters/XMenMutants Moira MacTaggert]] once pulled out a machine gun to battle a monstrosity calling itself Kierrok the Damned. [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] knows kung fu. The list goes on.

* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is an interesting case, in that the premise doesn't sound like it's trying too hard to be cool, but then you are given [[BadassPreacher Scar]], Major Armstrong, Colonel [[ColonelBadass Mustang]], [[BadassFamily the Elric brothers]], [[BadassTeacher Izumi Curtis]], [[BadassNormal Riza Hawkeye]], and many, ''many'' more. You can count the number of non-badasses on one hand, even though it's a series with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* Every noteworthy character in ''Manhua/RavagesOfTime'' is a certified badass, even more so than in the [[Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms source material]] and most adaptations. Keep in mind that "noteworthy" here means [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters in excess of a few dozen characters]], and the manhua has not even covered a third of the original novel!

* ''Literature/WarriorCats''. Yes, nearly every single one of the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters 700-some characters]] is trained to fight and can hold their own in a battle. (Except the kittypets, but some of them are pretty basass too.)

* Every anime that WebVideo/CJDachamp reviews has the characters act as if it's a HoodFilm. Every character is treated as a stone-cold badass, or someone who wants to be one, willing to show disrespect to anybody else if it means being the best. Characters who prove themselves to be TheDreaded among badasses might eb added to the Round Table of Black Air Force Activity, reserved only for the baddest of the bad.

** And even side-characters and civilian allies can step up to the plate without being bitten by a radioactive ''anything.'' J. Jonah Jameson may be a jerk but he won't back down from ComicBook/DoctorOctopus when his people are in danger. ComicBook/MaryJaneWatson does ''not'' make a cooperative damsel in distress ([[AdaptationalWimp outside the movieverse.]]) The X-Men's scientist friend [[Characters/XMenMutants Moira MacTaggert]] once pulled out a machine gun to battle a monstrosity calling itself Kierrok the Damned. ComicBook/LoisLane knows kung fu. The list goes on.
** Special shout-out to those chosen to be Franchise/{{Green Lantern}}s. They have to be badass ''just to qualify to get the ring in the first place!''
** Asgard, [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]'s homeworld, definitely counts. The children are as strong as a Super-Soldier, and the average Asgardian can [[SuperStrength lift 25 tons.]]

* The Doctor of ''Series/DoctorWho'' has a habit of making his companions badass. Over the course of series 6 alone, Amy Pond goes from a flirtatious FieryRedhead to a full on ActionGirl, while her husband has broken the badass scale because he has [[TookALevelInBadass taken so many levels.]] And that's not taking into account the other 40-odd years of continuity. Let's face it, the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}} is as much a World of Badass as it is a WorldOfHam. Considering that the Whoniverse is full of [[TheMaster god-like psychopaths]], {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s, Time-Traveling mutant [[UpToEleven Super]] [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Nazis]] in flying {{mini|Mecha}}tanks, {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and other baddies like flesh-eating shadows, there's no wonder it's this trope. The ''least'' badass character would be a tin dog, and even he wields a built in gun.

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Being the first fully-fleshed out live action version of Franchise/TheDCU, Smallville quite naturally evolved into a ''massive'' example of this trope. First of all, it's centered around the future Franchise/{{Superman}}, young Clark Kent, along with BadassNormal characters like ComicBook/LexLuthor, ComicBook/LoisLane, and Jonathan Kent. And then we get other superheroes like ComicBook/GreenArrow and the rest of the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, along with many of DC's supervillains. Put it this way, almost every main or recurring character (and even most of the one-shot characters) either ''are'' badass already, or ''become'' badass with CharacterDevelopment.

* Anything Creator/JossWhedon has ever done. (Except ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog''). You had to be badass to survive any of his worlds besides for that. One's infested with [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer vampires, demons, useless Powers That Be, Hellgods and everything else]], [[Series/{{Firefly}} one is much like the Old West… with lasers, spaceships, compressed air instead of gunpowder and space zombies]].

* TabletopGame/SystemsMalfunction: A CyberPunk {{LARP}} which takes this trope UpToEleven.

* How convincing any given case was varied, especially when Kodo Fuyuki got the book and started [[DorkAge allowing non athletes in the ring]], but [[Wrestling/{{FMW}} Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling]] at least tried to present every conceivable style and competitve division within pro wrestling as equally valid. It was part of Atsushi Onita's belief that "everything should be allowed in puroresu". Beyond this, FMW was a dangerous place, where sharp hazards were common place and any given laceratig edge could also be connected to a high voltage circuit or rigged to trigger a landmine. ''No'' wrestler was theoretically safe from this, so even the lowliest of FMW {{jobber}}s had to be some degree of badass.
* In Wrestling/RingOfHonor pretty much anyone, once they're in the ring and the bell has rang, should be expected to put up ''some'' kind of fight, no matter how many times they've been easily beaten or runoff outside of matches. Even drugg addicted {{spoiled brat}} rave kids in the depths of depression will fight back from the seeming break of defeat against soon to be main event acts like Generation Next numerous times before getting pinned. Even [[Wrestling/JoeyRyan the sleazy porn star pampered by a wealthy foreign dictator]] can get a HopeSpot against [[Wrestling/TylerBlack the number one contender to the world title]]. Even said dictator, [[CowerPower whose cowardice]] is legendary, will execute slams and throws from the top rope when forced to wrestle without backup. Even "obsese" or "annorexic" rookies like Bobby Dempsey and Cheeseburger tend to show quite a bit of resilence before the moments we're [[TookALevelInBadass supposed to take them a little more seriously]]. Even the "delicate" reporter [[BestKnownForTheFanService best known for her clevage]] will go down swinging against center of the women's division who is bigger than most men. Even the Las Vegas style show boys who previously could not lift a single car tire when working together or stand to dig a hole for more than a couple of minutes can suddenly roll, run and jump around like crazy while apply hold and executing counters, becoming two thirds of the trios champions, even if actual star wrestler Wrestling/DaltonCastle did most of the work. [[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Dave Meltzer]] apparently isn't a fan of this trope, as he has occassionally down rated ROH matches for little other reason than the feeling some people are trying too hard show what they can do and too little to play their roles.
* Almost every fed using the "super indie" model at least tries. ROH, a company litterally created to put a spotlight on talented wrestlers, probably isn't even the most extreme example. Around the same time Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla was founded on the philosophy ''every'' wrestler should be given enough time to "get their shit in".

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}''. Granted, most of the perspective is from the military of both humans and the Covenant. ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' puts this UpToEleven with ''everyone'' getting a chance to show how badass they are - even the Unggoy.

* ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' took this trope a bit further; it's not just one world anymore. There exist ''six worlds of badasses'' and all of them include a lot of badass people both heroes and villains (Earth, Phantom World, Hell, Alternate Earth, VideoGame/EndlessFrontier, and the different star systems in the future).

** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' recently took this UpToEleven. In other ''SMT'' games, if you didn't have demons, demon power, or could otherwise fight them in some way, you were screwed. In this game, though, not only is demon summoning ability available to pretty much everyone worldwide as long as you have a cellphone (which IRL and ingame are easy to get and very widespread) and a free downloadable app, even that isn't necessary in one level where ''unarmed, non demon summoning civilians'' are fighting demons and demon summoners and doing pretty well.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Sifu}}'', ''anyone'' the Student runs into in their quest for vengeance is going to be able to kick their ass as they're perfectly capable of single-handedly kicking everyone's asses in turn. It doesn't matter if they're junkies in the slums, clubbers who're part of a cult-like martial arts school, or random employees in a healing retreat, ''everyone'' knows Kung Fu and [[MookChivalry aren't afraid to disregard any semblance]] [[SubvertedTrope of honor and fair fighting]] if it means getting rid of you easier.

* [[FanNickname Miyuverse]] AlternateUniverse in ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya [=3rei=]''. How much more badass is it? Even [[spoiler:eternal ButtMonkey '''''Matou Shinji''''']] is a legitimately deadly threat!

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': there isn't one character that isn't an absolute badass, unless you count [[Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries the animated series]] or [[DamselInDistress Kyrie]] in ''4'' (and even the latter is willing to [[HeroicBystander use her body as a shield to protect a child from a demon attack]]). Even normal humans like [[BadassNormal Lady]] have ridiculous stamina, when they're not outright MadeOfIron.

* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': Basically any character that ''isn't'' a badass is just there for decoration. Virtually every character of note kills somebody. The result is an AnyoneCanDie situation, since the entire show pretty much amounts to a bunch of badasses all trying to kill each other. ''Spartacus'' is notable not just for the sheer number of badass characters, but also for their variety. Relevant types include ActionGirl (Mira and Saxa), BaldOfAwesome (Doctore, although Rhaskos and Gnaeus, despite their ignoble moments, are also pretty badass), CoolOldGuy (Lucius), DarkActionGirl (Naevia, of all people), DreadlockWarrior (Barca), GeniusBruiser (Spartacus), HandicappedBadass (Ashur), HeartbrokenBadass (most of them), OneManArmy (Caesar), PregnantBadass (Lucretia and Illithyia), ScaryBlackMan (Doctore), and SilkHidingSteel (Sura and Aurelia).