Badass Crew



""Special Forces squads are built around the skills of the individual members. But no matter how good each member of a squad is, every mission comes down to one thing; how well they work together. Because in the end, you don't need a hero to succeed in the field. You need a team.""

- Michael, Burn Notice, "Brotherly Love"

A Badass Family, even if they're not related. This will turn up a lot when discussing the Superhero Team, The Squad, and the Five-Man Band. And a fair number of Sci-fi shows set aboard a ship, since normally, even the baddest hero can't run a whole Cool Ship on his own. This isn't a requirement though.

Some general conventions that apply to almost all Badass Crews are:
 * They must include at least three people for obvious reasons. Two badasses would be Back-to-Back Badasses.
 * A Crew typically has a recurring and more-or-less permanent roster; you can reasonably expect to see the same members over and over. Which is why this Trope is a fixture of TV shows, comics, and other media which is made of recurring installments. You see this less in movie series, since they're often built around a central character who may have different supporters in each movie, i.e. Die Hard or James Bond. This is probably because it's easier to sign one actor for a film rather than three or five.
 * Most heroes have some sort of support or backup, but in a Badass Crew, everyone must be capable of a Crowning Moment of Awesome. In fact a given episode may involve the least Badass character doing something so awesome the jaws of the others drop in unison.
 * There's usually one person who acts as the leader of the bunch.
 * Their combined badassery is indispensable on the front lines, in actual combat. In their day-to-day applications, however, it can lead to some very sticky situations. For this very reason, they often have to watch what they say around each other, particularly with regards to lower-level antagonists that don't directly affect the other crew members.
 * Most important: the crew must have a certain loyalty toward one another. Like a family. If one of them is hurt/kidnapped/killed the others will bring holy hell on those responsible, even if it means violating orders. For this reason, all Badass Crews are a form of True Companions.

Since, unlike a Badass Family, none of the members were born into the Crew (though some of them might be blood relatives), some writers will use the story of the Badass Crew's formation as an interesting origin story. In most Action/Adventures and Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories, the badasses came together to foil a Big Bad and/or save the world.

The members of the Crew may not have even liked each other at first or even been outright enemies, but they come together and join forces because a) none of them can defeat the Big Bad and his plot without total cooperation, b) they worked out their differences, c) they see the badassness in each other and recognize a kindred spirit, or d) all the above.

The Badass Crew may be or have been a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits. Amazon Brigade is an all-female variation of this. The logical extension of this is the Badass Army where they are essentially a gigantic Badass Crew. Almost invariably a Caper Crew doubles as a Badass Crew.

Also see Misfit Mobilization Moment, which is often an origin for the Badass Crew.

Anime & Manga

 * Outlaw Star had the Badass Five-Man Band consisting of Badass Longcoat wearing Gene Starwind, his partner Jim Hawking, Robot Girl Melfina, Catgirl Aisha Clan Clan, and assassin Twilight Suzuka.
 * The Lagoon Company of Black Lagoon, oh ho ho, borrowing the charisma of Cowboy Bebop with a bickering crew of badasses who start off as rather typical, but unleash wave after wave of terror on their opponents with each episode. And Balalaika's Vysotniki. As described by Benny in their first announced appearance: "They have enough talent to fight and win World War III."
 * Cowboy Bebop. That show is guided by the Rule of Cool, and that includes the Badass Crew on the Bebop.
 * Naruto's Team 8, Team Gai, and especially Team 10 all remain a close-knit family. Asuma even mentions this, in a flashback, when he gives all the members of his team earrings as a symbol of sticking together. And every single member of the Konoha 12 has their CMOA, even Ino, and especially Sakura, Shikamaru, and Naruto himself.
 * Colonel Mustang's crew from Fullmetal Alchemist. They're so badass that
 * The Dai-Gurren Brigade from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. There's nothing else that needs to be said. Airship carrier doing a double roundhouse kick, for example. e A ground-based airship carrier doing a double roundhouse kick to an Airborne Aircraft Carrier no less!
 * The Urameshi Team from Yu Yu Hakusho.
 * Everyone Takashi Komuro leads in Highschool of the Dead.
 * From the Mobile Suit Gundam series, we get the following: [core members of the following]
 * Original Series: (The White Base pilots\crew)
 * Gundam0083 (The Albion pilots/crew)
 * Zeta Gundam (The AEUG)
 * Chars Counterattack (Londo Bell)
 * Victory Gundam (The League Militare)
 * G Gundam (The Shuffle Alliance)
 * Gundam Wing (The Gundam Pilots)
 * After War Gundam X (The crew/pilots of the Freeden)
 * Gundam SEED (The Archangel crew/pilots, later the Three Ships Alliance)
 * SEED Destiny (The TSA again, and the crew/pilots of the Minerva)
 * 00 Gundam (Celestial Being, Choubou, Overflags, A-LAWS, Innovades)
 * All versions of the Getter Team are like this, but special mention goes to the Go team. Go, Sho/Kei and Gai get along MUCH better than Ryoma, Hayato and Musashi/Benkei.
 * Gravion has the Gran Knights, who are Badass (in their own ways) in an out of titular mecha. The sequel bring us the Gran Troopers, who are the same, so much so that the leader of the first Badass Crew congratulates the second Badass Crew at one point.
 * One Piece.
 * One Image Song even mentions that the Straw Hats aren't related, but are still like a family.
 * The Whitebeard Pirates fit the criteria, even if they don't get as much focus as the Straw Hat Pirates.
 * Shanks' crew.
 * And lots and lots of other crews too, in fact the Straw Hats usually fight another Badass Crew at least once an arc. This show as a whole is FILLED with badass crews.
 * Riot Force 6 of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS. Even the White Mage of the group is someone you don't want to mess with.
 * Tsuna and his guardians, Xanxus and the Varia Squad from Katekyo Hitman Reborn.
 * The Sanzo-ikkou from Saiyuki.
 * The Z-Senshi of Dragon Ball.
 * Askeladd's Crew in Vinland Saga, composed of The Berserker, a Genius Bruiser Magnificent Bastard, a teenage Determinator, a Scarily Competent Tracker and Those Two Guys. There's close to a hundred men in his crew, the number fluctuates, but those are the ones that stand out.
 * The Band of the Hawk.
 * Jacuzzi and Nice's gang from Baccano!! is a group of Street Urchins, who still manage to fend off The Mafia.
 * Onime no Kyo and his Shiseiten in Samurai Deeper Kyo
 * The Kurogane House from Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z-hen, a group of former Yakuza members who were saved from the verge of death by their current leader, Tsubasa.
 * The Yorozuya from Gintama is this and a Comic Trio. The Shinsengumi also count.
 * Mahou Sensei Negima
 * Ala Rubra, which had at least two members who are essentially invincible and a number of other members who aren't quite invincible, but still incredibly Badass.
 * Negi's group, Ala Alba, is well on it's way to this, as almost all the girls are drifting in an Action Girl direction. If one chooses to focus on the primary combatants (Negi, Kotaro, Setsuna, Kaede, and Asuna) it essentially is a Badass Crew with a bunch of people working the backup support positions.
 * Section Nine from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
 * Bleach: the main heroes are two shinigami, one with a sword that would make Cloud Strife tremble in fear, one with a sword that could . One Quincy, who not only fires light arrows but has . Two humans, one of whom can.
 * The 11th division.
 * The Newspaper Club in Rosario + Vampire has been moving toward becoming this, especially recently. As club president, Gin is technically their leader, but more often than not the de-facto role goes to Tsukune. Even Yukari has had her moments of badass. It's also implied that the club's previous generation was one of these, and a helluva good one if Gin and Sun are any indication.
 * The four Frenchmen from Le Chevalier d'Eon, three of whom are among the best swordsmen alive.
 * Soul Eater has several, with the meisters paired with their weapons. There's Soul and Maka, Black Star and Tsubaki, and Death the Kid with the Thompson sisters. And when all three teams join together to beat the Big Bad...well, they're a freakin' lethal team. The manga pairs up Maka's group with Ox's to form young elite unit, Spartoi. They get natty new uniforms and everything.
 * The Task Force in Death Note.
 * As of chapter 180, in Noblesse there is RK -4, made of . They easily takes out hordes of Knights, a group made of elite vampires.
 * Nearly every guild in Fairy Tail
 * The crew of the Murakumo in Maiden Rose is composed of a Military Maverick Colonel Badass, his three closest childhood friends, and a Cool Old Guy medic who is also the gunner of said tank.
 * There are certain groups in High School DxD that would fit this trope like the Occult Research Club, the Student Council, and Vali's group to name a few.

Comic Books
""We're the Justice League. We've beaten up real gods and made them cry. You are nothing to us.""
 * The Secret Six. Even the idea of family roles are played with when Bane becomes Scandal's "father". But don't underestimate them; they are villains after all.
 * The Avengers. But you gotta be badass when your core membership is Iron Man, Captain America (comics), Thor, the Hulk, Wolverine and Spider-Man.
 * The Uncanny Frikkin' X-Men.
 * Teen Titans. Their whole premise is that they are a family, and they most definitely are Badass. As an example, here are a few from one of the most recent incarnations.
 * Impulse, almost immediately after joining the new Teen Titans, gets kneecapped by Deathstroke. After healing, which happens extremely fast and needs to be rebroken multiple times, his metabolism is so fast he is immune to anesthesia, he reads an entire library in a matter of hours, and retains everything he read, and proceeds to change his name to Kid Flash and Take A Level In Maturity and A Level In Bad Ass.
 * Superboy finds out he, but then proceeds
 * As mentioned above, Speedy is HIV positive and still Fights The Good Fight.
 * The Justice League. Duh.
 * As founding member Martian Manhunter explained to an ancient Rampant AI that just didn't GET IT:

""Lost cause? Of course it's a lost cause! That's why we're here."
 * Their predecessors, the Justice Society, is one too.
 * The Wreckers in various Transformers comic material. Most groups of Transformers qualify, mind you. But the Wreckers in particular. Even if their roster isn't as fixed as those of some Badass Crews. The Wreckers are basically the Autobot special forces and suicide squad. They fight when the chance of success is non-existant, and win.


 * Marvel also has The Defenders, a team made of Hulk, Namor, Doctor Strange and the Silver Surfer.
 * The Heroes For Hire, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, with the Daughters of the Dragon Misty Knight and Colleen Wing. All four team up rather frequently.
 * The Young Avengers, they all are pretty close friends and they are indeed badass(they aren't "Avengers" for nothing).
 * The band of fugitives in Negation. They want to escape the Negation-verse and get back home, and everyone's after them, so they're forced to rely on each other to survive. Over time, motivations and agendas change...
 * The Blackhawks.
 * X-Force. Especially The Uncanny X-Force.

Film
"Mr. Potato Head: Prepare to meet... Mr. Angry Eyes!"
 * The Massachusetts 54th Regiment as shown in the movie Glory.
 * The Fellowship Of The Ring. Even those hobbits will bust your ass should you trifle with them or their pals. One of their greatest moments of collective badassitude is in the Mines of Moria when the company find themselves completely surrounded by thousands of Orcs - and are completely ready to take them on.
 * Ocean's Eleven: Daniel Ocean's crew. The precision point schemes they pull off make them Badass, but what makes them family is made clear when Reuben is hurt; they put on a heist not to make a fortune, but just to spite the guy who hurt him.
 * The members of the 1960 Ocean's 11.
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The crew of the Black Pearl.
 * Animal House: The members of Delta Team.
 * The main characters of the Star Wars original trilogy. Well, all except Threepio, anyway.
 * The Seven Samurai
 * The Magnificent Seven
 * The Ghostbusters.
 * The Goonies.
 * Master and Commander: Captain Jack Aubrey's crew. When even the doctor and a one-armed 13-year-old grab swords and kick ass, you know your crew is badass!
 * The impromptu Power Trio and their back-ups in Independence Day.
 * The VIPER assassination squad in Kill Bill before their dissolution.
 * The movie version of The Untouchables certainly fit this trope. Yes, even the nerdy tax accountant (tax accountant for crying out loud!) achieves CMoAs. Even more badass in real life, considering that unlike the film,
 * The crew of Serenity from Firefly In the movie alone, each member shows just how badass he/she can be... although Book's Crowning Moment of Awesome happens off screen...
 * The crew of the Enterprise in Star Trek most definitely qualifies. Even  and Team Dad Captain Pike get Crowning Moments of Awesome. The movie was essentially an Origin Story of how the original Trek Badass Crew came to be.
 * Andy's toys from Toy Story. Toys can't be Badass, you say?? Kidnap or threaten one of them, they'll show you just how incorrect you are. In the first Toy Story, the Mutant Toys are the Badass Crew. Andy's toys don't play this Trope until Toy Story 2.


 * Even though it's mostly about Sharpe and his Lancer-sidekick Sergeant Harper, the riflemen of the 95th (and to some extent, the entire South Essex Regiment) definatly quialifies. Memorable scenes include Hagman dual wielding a pair of rifles, private Perkins saving Sharpe's life and anything including Captain Frederickson ("A musket ball broke my jaw. I have false teeth. The sawbone stuck on the smile for free, sir. He also stuck on my hair. Hair belongs to a horse, sir.")
 * The team of Allied commandos assigned to blow up the Nazi cannons on the Greek island of Navarone in The Guns of Navarone.
 * The Losers, in both the movie and the comics, though the loyalty is particularly pronounced in the movie.
 * The combined Special Forces/Autobots team from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
 * Dom Cobb's crew in Inception.
 * The Wolverines in Red Dawn
 * Subverted in MacGruber when the clueless titular hero rejects the appointment of (the qualified) Piper in favor of assembling his own team. He spends the next five minutes recruiting enormous burly dudes to accompany him on his mission.
 * The Expendables: Not just Stallone's team, everybody in the whole friggin' movie.
 * The eponymous Mystery Team by the final scene.
 * The Warriors: a small, obscure gang from Coney Island, yet pound-for-pound the toughest gang in New York.

Literature
"Ridcully: Please try to sue the University! We have a POND full of people who've tried to sue the University!"
 * The Jack Ryan novel Rainbow Six gives us Rainbow, headed by John Clark (Rainbow Six) and happens to be a multinational force of some of the baddesst asses from the world's most deadly special forces units, albeit they are presented in a very realistic and very mortal fashion.
 * The Star Wars Expanded Universe:
 * Any X-Wing squadron captained by Wedge Antilles. Specifically, the X Wing Series' Rogue Squadron, and especially Wraith Squadron. The four pilots of Red Flight, while a much smaller crew, all know each other from before and are quite awesome.
 * The four stormtroopers in Survivors Quest, Unit Aurek-Seven of the 501st. Cloud, Grappler, Watchman, and Shadow. They are unspeakably Badass.
 * Delta Squad probably takes the cake for the most Badass Crew from the Galaxy far, far away.
 * The Animorphs from the series of the same name, a crew of Badass shapeshifters.
 * The Fellowship Of The Ring is at least as Badass in the books as in the film.
 * The City Watch novels
 * Vimes, Carrot, Angua and Detritus form one of these.
 * The Silver Horde. Seven very old men. Six of them are Barbarian Heroes, the most dangerous occupation on the whole Discworld (and considering what some people do for a living, that's saying something.) They're primary skill is NOT DYING. They're made quite a habit out of it, and don't plan on breaking that habit.
 * The Wizards of Unseen University are NOT the sort of people you want to find yourself squaring off against, either. It doesn't matter how you might try, either.


 * The Dendarii Mercenaries of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. From Handicapped Badass Miles Vorkosigan to Action Girl Elli Quinn to Hermaphrodite Deadpan Snarker Bel Thorne, the Dendarii, to Taura are awesome.
 * Mystic and Rider has this - the True Companions formed around Senneth is made up of two elite fighters, two shapeshifters, a mind-reader and Senneth herself, who is not only the most powerful mystic ever, full stop, but is so good at sword-fighting that she can beat the Lirren boys. All of them can hold their own in a fight, and then some.
 * In a way, the SOS Brigade, led by Suzumiya Haruhi.
 * The leader can bend reality to her will, and once gave the time traveler the ability to fire lasers from her eye while filming a movie. The next character is a data-manipulating android that can't be killed, even with 6 spikes and 2 energy tentacles the size of a ship's mast through her body. After that, we have a ESPer, who can move into alternate dimensions created by the leader, usually to fight her inner demons. Following that, we have a time-traveller, who grows up to become the Chessmaster that jump-started the events that implanted the ideas of aliens, time travelers and ESPers into Haruhi's mind. The last character is completely normal, as verified by 2 factions. However, said character managed to blackmail one of the factions into not terminating his friend.
 * The condensed version: You piss off anyone of them, and chances are, someone will come in and kick your ass. Or head, as the Computer Club President realized.
 * Burke's True Companions from the books of Andrew Vachss.
 * Dumbledore's Army in the Harry Potter series.
 * Also, the first and second Order of the Phoenix. They are the best. Veteran auror's, the youngest ever auror (before Harry Potter), some of the most powerful wizards of their generation (Sirius Black, James and Lily Potter, Remus Lupin) and Albus Dumbledore.
 * Shake Hands with the Devil Dallaire's entire team, save the Bangladeshis.
 * Orcs by Stan Nichols. After defecting from Jennesta's army, they decide to wreak holy hell on everyone that gets in their way, invading underground cities, defeating crime bosses, launching a raid into an UNDERWATER city, laying down the smack on church millitant army and sending demons screaming back to hell. The sequel novels get even better, with them annihalating an army using...cows. Styrke and his Wolverines = Badass Crew
 * Bridge Four in The Stormlight Archive started out as the unluckiest of a very unlucky group of slaves and disgraced soldiers. Then Kaladin got a hold of them...
 * Doc Savage and the Fabulous Five.
 * The guardsmen of the Tanith First-And-Only. When you're the last 2,000 survivors of a planet destroyed by Chaos, you have to be badass.
 * Time Scout: The residents of time terminal eighty six. You can find an expert in every little thing, and the food vendors know how to survive if a random Time Portal opens into the middle of the Battle of Orléans.

Live Action TV

 * Every version of Star Trek features a version of this, but the best example is probably Star Trek: The Next Generation. Even decidedly un-Badass types like Wesley and Troi got their moments to be Badass, or at least TV Tropes Made of Win Archive.
 * Right up there with TNG is Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - thanks to the phenomenal Character Development, even supposedly minor characters wind up kicking ass at some point. In "The Way of The Warrior", for example, the station has to fight off a small fleet of Klingons. A montage shows minor recurring characters engaging in one-on-one fights with the Klingons, Ax Crazy Gul Dukat beating them up with a bat'leth, and Garak (the freakin' haberdasher) picking them off with a phaser.
 * The appropriately named The A-Team.
 * The Impossible Missions Force of |Mission Impossible.
 * Stargate SG-1: The titular SG-1. Entire alien races have attacked Earth just to kill O'Neill, Carter, Jackson, and Teal'c. The four of them have probably saved the planet more times than even they can count.
 * The primary team from Stargate Atlantis.
 * Dr. House's team. All extremely competent doctors, all competitive, all willing to bend rules to save a patient. And though it sometimes seemed they hated each other, their loyalty has actually lasted even though they've all gone their separate ways.
 * The new Hawaii Five-O team. Moreso than than the original squad.
 * The Burn Notice True Companions, made up of ex-spy Badass Normal Michael Weston, Trigger Happy Tsundere Fiona Glennane, Retired Badass Sam Ax, and Cool Old Lady Maddie Weston. Michael's brother Nate occasionally gets a look-in, but his badassness isn't as pronounced (he usually ends up being The Chick or the Damsel in Distress). As of Season 4, we get Sixth Ranger Jesse, which causes a lot of problems.
 * As mentioned above, the crew of Serenity in Firefly.
 * The Scooby Gang of Buffy the Vampire Slayer became this eventually.
 * The Angel Investigations staff in Angel. And Gunn's crew.
 * In Doctor Who, when a bunch of them work together in the new series.
 * The good people of Torchwood Three from Torchwood..
 * The Bannerman Road from The Sarah Jane Adventures. Think three (sometimes two; once four) kids, an older lady, a sentient computer, and occasionally a robot dog can't turn you into alien slime? Think again.
 * The Operation Bartowski team from Chuck.
 * The Unit.
 * Also, UNIT from Doctor Who.
 * God help you if you mess with certain officers, officials, and crewmen of the Battlestar Galactica. Yes, they're an exceedingly dysfunctional crew, and are [literally] at each others' throats repeatedly, but mess with them, and the only question is which one of them is going to destroy you and how flashy that destruction will be. Certain Cylon models exhibit this quality. But that situation is....complicated......
 * Team DenLiner from Kamen Rider Den-O.
 * The Gibbs' Team in NCIS
 * The Grissom team from CSI. The teams of CSI: NY and CSI: Miami in as well.
 * The Metro-Dade Vice Squad of Miami Vice. Believe it or not, Crockett and Tubbs were not the only badasses working in Miami.
 * The entire crew of Leverage. Each with their own specialties, each one the most Badass at that particular art. And also an awesome example of True Companions.
 * The Cold Case crew.
 * The crew of Moya from Farscape.
 * The BAU team from Criminal Minds, from no-selling Team Mom Hotch to Badass Bookworm Reid, you don't ever mess with them.
 * The outlaws from Robin of Sherwood. Except Much...
 * The outlaws from Robin Hood. Except Kate...
 * Magnificent Bastard Mario Santos and his crew from the Argentine TV show Los Simuladores. They even made The FBI their Unwitting Pawns. Yes that FBI.
 * The team from "Soldier of Fortune", essentially the A-Team for grown-ups done by Jerry Bruckheimer. The team was headed up by ex-Delta Force major Matt Shepherd and contained ex-Marine Scout/Sniper Benny Ray Riddle (played by former Ranger Tim Abell), ex-CIA officer Margo Vincent, fomer SAS Staff Sargeant and electronics/EOD specialist CJ Yates with Jason "Chance" Walker (ex-USAF SOAR)as the pilot. The team was run by a spooky government-type called Xavier Trout, himself an ex-military type, when he/the US government needed deniable ops done.
 * The Justice League of America in Smallville. You've got The Fastest Man Alive, Victor Stone, a Hollywood Cyborg with both Super Strength and Hollywood Hacking abilities (Genius Bruiser much?), Aquaman, who manages to be pretty Badass despite the whole What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway? situation, and Black Canary an Action Girl with Make Me Wanna Shout abilities. All headed up by Green Arrow, the biggest Badass Normal in the whole show. And that's when Superman and the Martian Manhunter aren't helping them.
 * This commercial for Golden Sun has a badass crew of musicians.
 * The study group as a whole in Community episode Modern Warfare, for surviving as long as they did in such hellish conditions.
 * The Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, doubly appropriate because they're Space Pirates. Also Marvelous' previous team with Akared and Basco Ta Jolokia, the Red Pirates. When you're just three people and is considered to be the greatest threat the Zangyack ever face and having a bounty bigger than the Gokaigers, you have to be one. Not too mention they just started collecting the Ranger Keys when they started their adventure, meaning they face off against the Zangyack without the key's powers. Any Sentai team would probably count.
 * The Knights of the Round Table in Merlin. They took on an army of immortal soldiers...and won. Or at least, survived long enough for Merlin to save them all...
 * Bones, Booth, and all the squints—increasingly so as more and more of them get out of the lab and into the field.

Tabletop RPG

 * Most Dungeons & Dragons adventuring parties. Groups of (traditionally four) people who depends their lives on each other, fill specific roles, fight violent monsters, and generally perform superhuman feats of heroics (or villainy, as the case may be). Upon reaching a certain level of power, dying doesn't become so much a worry for these people as an inconvenience.
 * By the same token, any group of soldiers in Warhammer 40,000 must be a Badass Crew if they are to have any hope of survival. Relatedly, gangs from the spinoff game Necromunda. About a dozen guys living, fighting and scavenging through a decayed city with conditions so poor Batman would find it hard to survive there.
 * The crew of the Weatherlight in Magic: The Gathering. (With the possible exception of Squee.)
 * By necessity, any crew of 'Runners in Shadowrun will usually end up becoming this once they survive their first few 'runs together.
 * "Exalted" perfect circles tend to fall under both this trope and Five-Man Band at the same time. Which character is occupying which role in the latter tends to vary with the situation.

Video Games

 * Every Persona game stars one, with the Persona 4 version being a very notable example. The Demon Tamers led by the hero of Devil Survivor are also worthy of mention.
 * By the end of Princess Waltz, Badass Normal Arata Fukamori is leading a Badass Crew consisting of the titular princesses. And yes, they do smite ungodly amounts of ass.
 * In Utawarerumono, every single retainer of Hakuoro is an utter badass. So much so that
 * Halo's Spartan-II's. Members see their fellow Spartans as their only family (they were recruited at the age of 6 and trained together ever since). Possible slight subversion in that they are not a small group - there are over thirty of them, and every one is a certified Badass.
 * They become a more typical Badass Crew after most of them die in the battle for Reach, reducing their numbers to a small group of five.
 * The player's squads in ODST and Reach are also exemplary Badass Crews.
 * Master Chief, Cortana, and Arbiter also counts as a Badass Crew, as the Chief is the muscles, Cortana is the brains, and Arbiter is the stealth-specialist.
 * Sgt. Johnson can also be considered part of the group.
 * Delta Squad from Gears of War. They're often split up into pairs, but when the four of them get together, they're practically unstoppable.
 * That's the way most RPGs work: if at first the heroes are a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits at first, by the end of the game and after taking several dozens levels in badass they usually end up at being roughly 50% of the world military power by themselves.
 * In most First Person Shooters, the online cooperation mode has the players become this. Special mention goes to Doom and Serious Sam.
 * The Alpha Numbers. You'd think a crew with Shinji Ikari in it would lose serious badass points. You'd be wrong.
 * In the Original Generation canon, we have smaller versions of this. The SRX/ATX Teams, The Aggressors, and they smash themselves together into a mega Badass Crew/Coterie when they join forces.
 * ZEUTH is very badass as well, as is Warter.
 * ZEXIS in Z2 has Kamina, Batshit Insane Ryouma from Getter Robo Armageddon, Zero, Chirico, Celestial Being and the list goes on and on.
 * Though she never actually does go through with her plan, Tohsaka in the True End of Heavens Feel in Fate Stay Night has a plan like this. It goes like this: Wait a few years until all necessary materials and abilities are gathered. Then, take her with Zelretch's sword, Shirou's Reality Marble, Sakura with the power of the Grail and Rider with... being Medusa and having an infinite mana supply. Then they'll go and enter tournaments for huge cash prizes because jewel sorcery is not for the poor. And roflstomp everyone because that combination is essentially all powerful. And yes, they are all most definitely capable of stand alone Crowning Moments Of Awesome. It's too bad the story ends before she can go through with it and the sequel eats continuity for breakfast.
 * The Embryon from Digital Devil Saga are so badass they.
 * The Asari, from Mass Effect. They lack the numbers to field a true Badass Army, but their individual special operation units are repeatedly stated to be the most lethal fighters in the entire galaxy that don't include anyone named 'Commander Shepard'.
 * Also, the crews of the SSV Normandy and the Normandy-SR2. One of Shepard's dialogue options during the climactic final battle in Mass Effect 2? "No one gets left behind."
 * In fact, the entire point of Mass Effect 2 is to assemble one of these. You're repeatedly shown that every single person who you recruit for your mission is extremely good at what they do.
 * A crew consisting of vigilantes, criminals, hired guns and engineers.
 * Ace Combat 5
 * The player and his wingmates. They started out as rookie flight cadets that were forced to fight as frontline units in the beginning of the war. By the middle of the war, you all become known as the Demons of Razgriz, and your very presence on the battlefield scares the enemy shitless.
 * Two words - Galm Team. Your squadron in Ace Combat Zero is exactly two man strong: a team thrown together by chance in the last ditch attempt at Back From the Brink. You succeed. Soon enough, the Player Character becomes known as the Demon Lord of the Round Table and his Wing Man is the same guy who had his right wing shot off from the hull and still landed his plane safely during an intense battle.
 * The Resistance Group from The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess. Unlike most of the other games in the series, this one actually gives Hyrule some citizenry who are willing to do something to help themselves instead of relying solely on the efforts of the green-clad Chosen One. They even help him break into the castle toward the end.
 * In the Updated Rereleases of The Godfather: The Game, you can pick up a crew of mobsters to help you. In the game of Godfather II you can raise a properly customised bunch to help you out.
 * Yo-Jin-Bo has your team of six bodyguards. The starting team of wanderers Yo, Jin, Bo, and Mon-Mon could also count.
 * Your crew in Neverwinter Nights Hordes of the Underdark isn't very large, but among the four (possibly five) people on the team are a part-dragon kobold, a former drow assassin, a slightly insane tiefling, and potentially the ghost of an elf paladin. Led by whatever you feel like making the player character. And the player and two of your compatriots get to in the end.
 * In Neverwinter Nights 2, you have a Boisterous Bruiser (Khelgar), a Kleptomaniac Hero (Neeshka), a White Mage (Elanee), your Token Evil Teammate (Bishop), a Knight in Shining Armor as contrast (Casavir), an insane pyromaniac (Quara), a Badass Bookworm (Sand), a Badass Normal (Shandra), a Badass Abnormal (Zhjaeve), Ammon Jerro, Grobnar, and potentially a giant metal automaton with swords for arms. Your crew in Mask of the Betrayer is smaller, but no less badass. You have a new Badass Bookworm (Safiya), whatever One Of Many is, a fallen angel (Kaelyn), and a Hagspawn Casanova (Gann). Who go on to thwart the works of the god of the dead.
 * Knights of the Old Republic: Look at the first crew: BadassNormals Carth and Canderous, Little Miss Badass Mission, The Big Guy Zaalbar, Badass Grandpa Jedi Jolee Bindo, Boisterous Bruiser assassin droid HK-47, Jedi Catgirl Juhani and Jedi Action Girl Bastila, and [T3M4] with the hidden pistols...all led by God Mode Sue!
 * And KOTOR II: Canderous and HK-47 (still Badass), T3-M4 (who took a few levels in Bad Ass between the games), Evil Mentor Kreia, Sociopathic Hero Determinator and Atton Rand, BadassBookworms Bao-Dur and Mical (female PC only), ActionGirls Brianna (male PC only), Visas, and Mira (Light Side only), Goto, and The Big Guy Hanharr (Dark Side only). And all of them (besides the droids and Hanharr) can become Jedi if they aren't already.
 * Every party line-up in a Final Fantasy game, but Dissidia Final Fantasy is the best example, being an Intercontinuity Crossover that brings the main heroes and villains from the rest of the series together to fight, and each and every one of them is just as Badass as they were in their original games. And if, like Garland or Laguna, you weren't particularly badass in your original game, don't worry, you get to be an Adaptational Badass.
 * The final chapter of Live a Live allows you to make a Badass Crew out of the each of the earlier chapter's heroes . A Badass Crew that can include a caveman, a Chinese monk, a demon-slaying ninja, a cowboy, a streetfighter, a psychic delinquent, and a robot.
 * There is at least one of these in every single Fire Emblem game, but possibly the most standout example would have to be at the beginning of Path of Radiance : the Greil Mercenaries, and their eventual growth under Ike into a Badass Army. Eventually the band of six or seven mercenaries grows into a 50-character strong army led by a more mature, wiser and altogether completely awesome Four-Star Badass Ike, complete with Ragnell, his Wave Motion Sword.
 * The cast of pilots in Airforce Delta Strike are this.
 * Subspace Emissary has multiple examples in Super Smash Brothers, since all the characters for most of the game are separated into groups. Marth, Meta Knight, and Ike were arguably the most bad ass group, though, and the only ones to stop a detonator from going off.
 * The Pokémon games revolve around creating a six-strong crew of badasses.
 * Star Wars: Republic Commando, normal clones are badass, Delta Squad turn badass Up to Eleven, they were born and bred for badassery. Taking out a droid production facility, retaking an acclamator-class ship from a group of trandoshan slavers and then defending said ship against an army of droids, each one of this four man team is crazy awesome, but together they are one badass crew.
 * The eponymous Killer7 of the Smith Syndicate count.
 * The 12th Unit of the Harmonian Southern Frontier Defense Force in Suikoden III. Consisting of Geddoe, Ace, Joker, Queen, Jacques and Aila, even if the last one is a trainee. None of them are related, and a good number of them argue frequently when they aren't drunk, or even when they are. But, they are all extreme badasses, having fought and won in several wars.

Web Comics

 * The Order of the Stick.
 * The main cast of Sluggy Freelance has gradually morphed into this over the years. At first Torg and Riff were the only real close friends, and Bun-Bun was the sole Badass, but as time went by the bonds between them grew stronger, as did their individual badass levels. Gwynn acquired some freaky magical powers, Riff showed everyone what a Mad Scientist with too much time on his hands can do, Torg's become a master swordsman, and Unfazed Everyman Zoe]] has done pretty well against zombies, vampires, and psychotic assassins. The only character without a Crowning Moment of Awesome at this point is Kiki, unless you count her Caffeine Bullet Time being used to fuel a ferret bazooka. Bub-Bun wielding the Ferret Bazooka would be of a "Crowning Moment of Crazy Awesome" for both of them.
 * Looking for Group A nigh unstoppable warlock, an extremely skilled archer/swordsman, a cleric capable of reviving the dead as long as she has MOST of the ashes, an axe wielding dwarf, and a guy who tackled/wrestled a dragon and is actually smarter than he is strong.
 * The Midnight Crew from Homestuck is this, even clownish Club Deuce has killed his fair share of adversaries. The main characters are quickly becoming this, as well.
 * The Heterodyne performers in Girl Genius have shades of this. Mainly because they're able to survive in the countryside populated by giant robots, monsters, and God knows what else. By themselves. And the occasional glitchy Death Ray.
 * El Goonish Shive also has a badass crew who are a very tightly knit group of teens... and they became so in about 2 or so months.
 * Mushroom Go: The crew of the Chainless includes a teenage prodigy Pianta, a six-foot-something chain smoking raven and apparent master of martial arts, a Shyguy with a knack for chainsaws and a militant Koopa captain. They're pirates. In a desert.

Web Original

 * The original Grand Lake Heroes League in the Legion of Nothing. The current team is working it's way there, but it's a little difficult when the badasses in training are also precocious teens.
 * Sasha and "her team" in Greek Ninja.
 * Team Kimba of the Whateley Universe. They may just be teenagers at Whateley Academy, but they've already taken out The Necromancer. And his Children of the Night. And the mercenaries he hired just in case Team Kimba showed up again.
 * The League of STEAM take on ghosts, zombies, werewolves, vampires and all manner of supernatural creatures; each member of the team specializes in a particular supernatural entity but all are competent as part of the team.

Western Animation

 * The main cast of Avatar: The Last Airbender eventually attains this status; by the end of the show, we have a superpowered Kid Messiah (Aang), a powerful waterbender (Katara), the world's best earthbender and (Toph),, and two Badass Normal warriors (Sokka and ). The Order of the White Lotus probably also qualifies.
 * Kung Fu Panda's Furious Five - Tigress, Monkey, Mantis, Crane and Viper- are China's top kung fu masters, and both films show you exactly why. By the second film, their Badass Crew is the Furious Five plus Po, who earns his way in after enduring the Training from Hell.
 * Dethklok. They may be dumb as a box of particularly dim hammers and they may fight and bitch at each other all the time, but when it really counts, they're thick as thieves (even if they don't admit it). Many of the Crowning Moments of Awesome in Metalocalypse double as Crowning Moments of Heartwarming because they're all at their most badass when they're looking out for each other.
 * Transformers Cybertron: The Autobots. All of them can, when it counts, crack open a can of whup-ass. Especially Optimus Prime. Four words: "Optimus Prime, Super Mode!"
 * The original Maximal crew from Beast Wars. Their scientist/medic guy dual wields chainguns.
 * The Dinobots are this in every continuity they appear in. Sometimes even before becoming the Dinobots.
 * Team Venture from The Venture Brothers, the original version at least.
 * The Penguin Team from The Penguins of Madagascar
 * Codename: Kids Next Door: Sector V...on occasion
 * The Galaxy Rangers. The colony worlds love 'em, the core worlds barely tolerate 'em, and they're always just this close to going rogue...but no one's going to argue the fact that Foxx and his Badass Crew are the best weapon the League's got against the Queen of the Crown's superior numbers.
 * Darkwing Duck and crew certainly belong here. We have Darkwing as Badass Normal, Morgana as Black Magician Girl, Gosalyn as Future Badass, Launchpad as Gadgeteer Genius Ditz, and Honker as Tagalong Child Prodigy.
 * The Captains in Captain Scarlet, to an extent (more so in fanon).
 * T.J. and his gang in Recess are a Badass Adorable Crew
 * The mane six from My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic could be consider this plus Badass Adorable.
 * The Fireside Girls from Phineas and Ferb. Some of their exploits include building a time machine, and moving a mountain.

Real Life

 * Any military Special Forces unit with a roster that isn't quite large enough to qualify as a Badass Army.
 * 101st Airborne, 506th PIR, E Company. Applies to most units of WWII, really.
 * The crew of Apollo 13. Complete with The Captain, Mission Commander James A. Lovell, Number Two Fred Haise, Ace Pilot Jack Swigert, and featuring the two Cool Ships the Aquarius and the Odyssey. Definitely True Companions, as training to be an astronaut will force you to see the man next to you as family. The crew was so badass, they were able to get back home even after their Cool Ship got busted in mid-flight.
 * Though a lot of the credit also should go to their Voice with an Internet Connection, the Mission controllers who diagnosed the problem from the telemetry, figured out the rocket burns required to get the crew on a trajectory to return to Earth (using just the Aquarius' engine, since the integrity of Odyssey's could not be determined), developed kludged-together procedures to keep the crew alive, and then worked out how to power the Odyssey back up and bring the crew through re-entry on less power than was thought possible. Badass the crew was, but they were not alone in being badass.
 * The Assault Team that launched a rescue mission to save over 100 hostages from from a hijacked plane at Entebbe Airport in 1976. Not surprisingly, they were part of the Badass Army known as the Isreali Defense Forces.
 * The Zeezura Club devoted to the exploration of the Egyptian and Libyan desert in 1930. Contained many a Badass such as Bagnold, Almasy, and Wingate.
 * The 1953 Everest team. Also contained many a Badass. Including the porters. Every Sherpa is a Badass. Its In the Blood.
 * The VF-84 and VF-103 Jolly Rogers fighter squadrons. They are one of the most recognizeed squadrons in the world, with their sinister skull crossbones emblem and bold paint schemes. They made the F-14 Tomcat famous, and was the inspiration for the iconic fighter in Macross/RoboTech.
 * The crew of a Chinese cargo ship fights off pirates using beer bottles. Crowning Moment of Awesome, indeed.

A great number of Sports teams are this:
 * The 1972 Miami Dolphins; who won every game that season, up to and including the Super Bowl.
 * The 2007 New England Patriots nearly equaled the feat. But they were beaten in the Super Bowl by another Badass Crew, namely the New York Giants.
 * That team was pretty ordinary, but Strahan, Umenyiora, and Tuck - who harassed superstar quarterback Tom Brady throughout - absolutely count.
 * If we're talking football, then look no further than the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders of the 70s. Not only did they win consistently, they faced off each other for AFC supremacy every year and had legitimate bad blood, leading to extremely physical, emotional, dirty games. The Steelers typically were the designated good guys, due to their classy owner, blue collar roots, and disciplined team ethic. The Raiders were always the bad guys, in part because of their Jerkass owner, rowdy fans, and perhaps, even rowdier players. Also note the Raiders were made up of a bunch of guys with Names to Run Away From Really Fast, guys like Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, Ken "The Snake" Stabler, and Skip "Dr. Death" Thomas. Incidentally, both the Steelers and Raiders only acheived full-blown Badass Crew status because they first had to take that mantle from the waning Dolphins, who not only had that undefeated season, but repeated the next year with a team some experts believe might have actually been better than the '72 Dolphins.
 * The University of Miami Hurricanes football team, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. The Canes, which won five national championships and appeared at several more title games, developed a "Thug U" reputation due to its "Catholics vs. Convicts" rivalry with Notre Dame, the players appearing at a national championship pregame banquet in combat fatigues (and losing to underdogs Penn State the next night at the 1987 Fiesta Bowl), the on-field taunting by the team (which led to the NCAA adding "the Miami Rule" addressing excessive celebration), the team's alleged payments from Two Live Crew's Luke Campbell, and many of the recruited players being from urban areas (unprecedented at the time, now somewhat the norm).
 * The 1990 UNLV basketball team, led by Jerry "Tark the Shark" Tarkanian. They dominated basketball, beating Duke to win the championship, while their coach defied the NCAA (he was notorious for saying "The NCAA got so mad at Kentucky they decided to give Cleveland State two more years of probation."). The next year, the UNLV team almost had an undefeated season, but lost to Duke in the Final Four.
 * The Michigan "Fab Five" teams of the 1990s. They popularized baggy shorts and brought swagger to college basketball, despite being the NCAA runner-up twice. Unfortunately, Ed Martin, a booster for the Michigan team, was found to have provided benefits to the team in violation of NCAA guidelines, and as a result, Chris Webber was found ineligible and the Fab Five title appearances were vacated.
 * The mid-70s Philadelphia Flyers, aka "The Broad Street Bullies." Were the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup (winning it twice in a row), became beloved in Philadelphia and loathed by traditional hockey fans for their success through intimidation and violence. They were also known for their skirmishes against the Soviet "Red Army" teams.
 * The early-90s Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 1991, led by coach "Badger Bob" Johnson. Sadly, "Badger Bob" died of cancer shortly after winning the Cup, and he was replaced by the season by legendary Blues/Canadiens/Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, who, in his first of two seasons as their coach, led the Penguins to their second consecutive Cup.
 * The New York Islanders ice hockey team, which won four straight Stanley Cup titles between 1980 and 1983.
 * Several Montreal Canadiens teams accomplished similar feats in several decades.
 * The Canadiens won five straight from 1956-1960, and four straight from 1976-1979. However, the Islanders played in an expanded league (the Canadiens of the 50s played in a six-team league; by 1980, when the Islanders finally won, the NHL had 21 teams) and had to win more games to get to the finals, which is why those Islander teams hold the record for most consecutive playoff victories (19). Also in the Islanders' favor is the fact that no team since in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) has won four consecutive championships. (They reached a fifth straight final)
 * The Islanders dynasty itself was ended by another badass crew, the Edmonton Oilers, led by Wayne Gretzky. The Oilers won the Cup four times with "The Great One" and won a fifth time after Gretzky was traded (Gretzky himself never won the Cup again after the trade).
 * The 1996 Chicago Bulls, with their 72-10 winning streak and fourth NBA championship, would qualify. Notable players, led by Phil Jackson, included all stars Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Tony Kukoc, as well as a certain guard from North Carolina.
 * Shaq and Kobe's Lakers, particularly the 2001 team.
 * YMMV on this one. The Lakers were Badass with 3 straight titles, but the personality clashes between Kobe and Shaq didn't exactly make for a good working environment
 * Magic Johnson's Lakers.
 * Isiah's Pistons. Like the Broad Street Bullies that terrorized the NHL in the 1970s, the "Bad Boys," which also included Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, and Joe Dumars and coached by "Dream Team" coach Chuck Daly, were beloved in Detroit and despised by traditional basketball fans by winning two consecutive championships through violence, intimidation, and lack of sportsmanship (when the Pistons lost to the Bulls in the 1991 playoffs, the Pistons players refused to shake hands after the game).
 * 2006 Miami Heat.
 * Tim Duncan's Spurs.
 * The 2008 Boston Celtics.
 * The 1983 Philadelphia 76ers who only lost 1 game on the road to the championship.
 * The 1986 Bostons Celtics championship team, featuring 5 future hall of famers (Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Bill Walton, Dennis Johnson and Kevin McHale).
 * Ahem. The Dream Team. Forget any city's team, forget the All Star game, this is the crew sent to compete at the highest level in the Olympics. The first one especially, consisting of Magic, Bird, Jordan, Robinson, Ewing, Malone, Barkley, Stockton and others, is considered the greatest team in basketball, maybe even in any team sport.
 * The Geelong Cats, an Australian football team, from round five 2007 to the 2009 grand final, which is seventy three matches by the way, they lost seven games in total and became the only team to win eighteen or more games in three consecutive seasons. Some commentators have called them the greatest team of all.
 * The SANFL team the Central Bulldogs, they've won all but two grand finals since 2000 and came second in the years where they lost.
 * The All-Blacks. A small island in Oceania somehow consistently produces the best rugby team in the world year in, year out. That they haven't won the Rugby World Cup since 1987 befuddles every sports analyst in the game.
 * This South African troper wonders by virtue of what exactly the N Zers have "the best rugby team in the world" if they don't, I don't know, win or something. Sure, the three Super 15 nations are in a league all our own, so the All-Blacks are among the world's Top 3 at any given time, but I don't think any of our national teams (NZ, SA, AUS) could be called "the best". We're more or less equally matched in every area, and in many cases victory in the end seems to come down to luck of the draw. It's getting to be NZ's turn to win again, that's for sure, and I wouldn't mind an NZ victory next time around... but losing since 1987 even though NZ is supposedly "the best"? I don't think so, sorry mate.
 * This is a point of view, but there is such a thing as the International Rugby Board world rankings, which the All Blacks top at the time of writing and have done most of the time (with South Africa a distant second). Consult also the other wiki: they "... are unique by being the only international team to have a winning record against every nation they have played". Then there's the opening paragraph: "They won the inaugural Rugby World Cup, are the leading points scorers of all time and the only international rugby team with a winning record against every test nation they have ever played. The All Blacks have held the top ranking in the world for longer than all other countries combined and in over 100 years only five of the top twenty ranked test rugby nations have ever beaten [them]".
 * The English Rugby Union team of 2003. Wilkinson, Dawson, Johnson...
 * The Liverpool football team of the late 70's/80's. Ian Rush, Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Mark Lawrenson, Alan Hansen etc.
 * Brazil's national football team that won the 1958, 1962, and 1970 World Cups. Not only had the best player ever (Pelé), but also a full roster of talented players: Garrincha, Zagallo, Tostão, Gerson, and more. The 1982 team is also considered to be one of the best teams in Brazil's history, even if they didn't win the WC that year (contrast with the teams that won in 1994 and 2002, both considered very inferior to the others).
 * 2010-2012 FC Barcelona. They trampled everyone in the Champions League; they made their biggest rival Real Madrid their bitches in several ocasions; and the match against Santos in the FIFA World Championship is considered to be one of the most one-sided games in the history of the tournament (even counting games against African, Asian, North/Central American and Oceanian teams, usually weaker than South American/Europeans ones). When you take the best South American team and keep the ball under your control for 72% of the game time, you're being some badass indeed.
 * Any and all pack-hunting predatory animals. Be it hyenas, Harris Hawks, Deinonychuses...they're all awesome.