Badass Creed/Video Games

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Badass Creeds in Video Games include:

  • The creed of the Grey Wardens in Dragon Age Origins: "In war, victory. In peace, vigilance. In death, sacrifice."
    • The Warden Oath, spoken at the Joining:

Join us brothers and sisters.
Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant.
Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn.
And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten.
And that one day we shall join you.

  • The Dalish Elves have the "Oath of the Dales";

We are the Dalish.
Keepers of the lost lore, walkers of the lonely path.
We are the last of the Elvhenan.
And never again shall we submit.

  • In the Dragon Age II DLC quest Legacy, Malcolm Hawke, the protagonist's father also made one into a Badass Prayer:

"Be bound here for eternity, hunger stilled, rage smothered, desire dampened, pride crushed. In the name of the Maker, so let it be."

    • Malcolm Hawke's own personal creed:

"Magic will serve that which is best in me. Not that which is most base".

    • In Mark of the Assassin Hawke proves that badass creeds must run in the family.

"I protect Kirkwall".

  • Mass Effect 2 brings us this creed from Shepard him/herself:

"We have to give everything....even if that means our lives. We will stop at nothing! We will fight for the lost!"

    • In-game, Paragon Shepard also gets one:

"I will not let fear compromise who I am"

    • Thane Krios also has his own.

Amonkira. Lord of Hunters. Grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness.

  • The eponymous Assassin's Creed: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted," is the main quote on the Badass Creed page.
    • This was in fact the actual creed of the historical Hashashin sect, led by Hassan al-Sabbah, from the name of which we get the word "assassin".
    • Note that the AC1 version has three tenets in addition to this motto: stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent, discretion in all things, and never compromise the Brotherhood. This is a major plot point, as Altaïr's violation of all three at Solomon's Temple led to his demotion, hence his starting as a Novice and having to literally kill his way back to Master Assassin.
    • It is expanded in the sequel, in the scene where Ezio is formally sworn into the ranks of the Assassins. It sounds even cooler that way, once you know exactly what it means... although the "three tenets" are now nowhere to be seen, possibly due to Altaïr's reforms. (Amusingly, it's also how to solve the last of Subject 16's Glyph puzzles.)

"Laa shaya waq'in moutlaq bale kouloun mounkine." (Arabic, literally "Nothing is absolute; Everything is permitted.")
Machiavelli: "Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember:"
Ezio: "Nothing is true."
Machiavelli: "Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember:"
Ezio: "Everything is permitted."
Machiavelli: "We work in the dark to serve the light. We are assassins."
All: "Nothing is true. Everything is permitted."

    • The central tenet of the Creed is even more impressive when you consider that it's essentially the answer to an existential crisis, an individual's realization that there exists no rational force governing nature: If there is no universal truth, nothing limits what you can do. And all of this centuries before philosophers would assemble the actual school of thought.

Altair: I understand now that our Creed does not command us to be free. It commands us to be wise.

Ezio: To say that nothing is true, is to recognize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say that everything is permitted, is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.

  • While most of the cast in Team Fortress 2 carry a Badass Boast in their "Meet the..." videos, the Sniper has a code. "Professionals have standards. Be polite, be efficient, have a plan to kill everyone you meet."
      • "Have a plan to kill everyone you meet," became the official slogan for US Marine India Company's Forward Operations Center, out of Fallujah, Iraq.
  • Kim Kaphwan would like to remind you that evil is UNFORGIVABLE.
  • Too Human, in a sendup to the Klingon example above:

Berserker: It's a good day to die!
Soldier: You always say that.
Berserker: It always is.

  • Richter Belmont from Castlevania: "I'm a Belmont. That's my job."
  • Halo 2. The Elites, chanted as a call/response series:

"When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath."
"According to our station, all without exception."
"On the blood of our fathers. On the blood of our sons. We swore to uphold the Covenant."
"Even to our dying breath!"
"Those who would break this oath are heretics, worth of neither pity nor mercy. Even now they use our Lord's creations to broadcast their lies."
"We shall grind them into dust--"
"--And continue our march to glorious salvation!"

    • There's one for the Spartans too:

"Spartans never die. They just go to Hell and regroup."

    • Don't forget the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers:

"Feet first into hell."

      • They get an even more badass one in the We Are ODST trailer. The song lyrics, translated from Welsh:

"We cheat Death from his rightful victory. No one can defeat us, we are glad to plunge? feet first into hell in the knowledge that we will rise."

I've twice been conquered-
 Three times more,
 Never again shall humanity purge me,
 And never the Pfhor.

"Jump on your swords while you can, villainy, for I won't be as gentle!."

"I am he who watches they. I am the fist of retribution. That which does quell the recalcitrant. Dare you defy the Warchief? Dare you face my merciless judgement?"

    • The Horde in general has: "Lok'Tar Ogar! Blood and Thunder! My life for the Horde!", although the entire creed is rarely ever spoken in its entirety, except during a quest to grant the Taunka membership in World of Warcraft..
      • Lok'tar Ogar translates as Victory or Death!

For The Horde!

    • The Blood Elves have the straight-to-the-point

Death to those who oppose us!

High Commander Halford Wyrmbane: Through the valleys and peaks of Mount Hyjal, across the shifting sands of Silithus, against the Legion's dread armies - we have fought. We are the nameless, faceless, sons and daughters of the Alliance. By the Light and by the might of the Alliance, the first strike belongs to us and the last strike is all that our enemies see. We are 7th Legion.

  • From Beyond Good and Evil, the code of Carlson & Peeters... kinda. While it does contain such statements of solidarity and strength as "W.W.T.A.O.: We Work Together As One!," the book's designated mouthpiece, Double H, seems to have... trouble separating the genuinely awesome from the mundane, treating both with equal gravitas.
  • Reversal from Hitman 2, and possibly Real Life: "I don't know anything, I didn't see anything, I wasn't there, and if I was there I was asleep." A reversal because, rather than pointing out that people should be afraid of the speaker, it's pointing out that he should be afraid of other people.
  • The Brotherhood of Nod in Command & Conquer has plenty, being a Army loyal to Kane, the most prominent being:

Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
Peace through Power. (Sometimes combined with the previous one)
You can't kill the Messiah. (Kane's personal motto.)

    • And, in one scene from Tiberian Sun:

Slavik: In the name of Kane!
Army of Nod Troops: Kane lives in death!
Slavik: In the name of Kane!
Army: Kane lives in death!
Slavik: In the name of Kane!
Army: Kane lives in-
Kane: KANE... LIVES!

"WHEN WE HUNT WE KILL. NO ONE IS SAFE. NOTHING IS SACRED. WE ARE BLACKWATCH. WE ARE THE LAST LINE OF DEFENSE. WE WILL BURN OUR OWN TO HOLD THE REDLINE. IT IS THE LAST LINE TO EVER HOLD."

"Dispatched in mankind's darkest hour, we are knights of the blue flame!"

    • And two more, though the second is a parody.

"Hailed by the heavens, earth, and people, the one and only Bang Shishigami is now here!"
"The heavens, the earth, and a million squirrels call to me! *Beat* Huh? What? They don't?"

    • Several characters use one during their Astral Finishes. For Example:
      • Nu-13's

Oh silver blade, forged in the depths of the beyond, heed my summons and purge those who stand in my way! Lay waste.

      • Better yet, her other Astral quote:

From beyond the realm of souls and birth; I call upon the Ur-Sword to bring ruin upon my enemies. Perish

      • That's right. The UR-SWORD. The original blade.
      • Tsubaki's

White feathers for innocence. Black feathers for darkest sin. We are the message endeavors of God, come to deliver righteous justice! Let sinners be punished. Let justice be done!

      • Mu-12's

This world was created by the hands of the Gods. Every thing is false. Everything is a lie! The final days have come. And now, LET EVERYTHING BE DESTROYED!!!

Allow me to show you the power... Of the full moon! Night has now fallen... The moon shines bright! The play is now through!

      • Ragna the Bloodedge

I'll show you there is no hell. Only Darkness!

I am matter.
I am antimatter.
I can see your past.
I can see your future.
I consume time...
And I will consume you!

    • The evil Sentai team you face in Barrel Volcano:

We fight for evil!
We live for disorder!
We like what we do!
We struggle for chaos!
We are...
...the AXEM RANGERS!!

First I whip it out! Then I thrust it! With great force! Every angle...! It penetrates! Until...! With great strength! I... ram it in! In the end... We are all satisfied... And you are set free!

    • Also some kind of an oath (of Holy Knights of the Order of the Sword?) from "Shall Never Surrender":

My honoured brethren
we come together
to unite as one
against those that are damned
we show no mercy
for we have none.
Our enemies shall fall
as we uprise
to claim our fate
now and forever
we'll be together
in love and hate.

Majiwara zarishi inochi ni, ima mo tarasaren setsuna no kiseki/Instant miracles are not brought to mix with life now
Toki wo hete...Koko ni yuugou seshi mirai he no taidou!/Time passes... Unite here and rise to the future!
GISHOU KEN!! * mask breaks, revealing Leon Magnus*
Boku wa... kako wo tachikiru. Chire!/I cut off the past... Scatter!
MAJIN RENGOKUSATSU!!!/INFERNAL SUFFERING!!!

Zero: "I never cared about justice, and I don't ever recall calling myself a hero... I have always only fought for the people that I believe in. I won't hesitate... If an enemy appears before me, I will destroy it!"

  • In Modern Warfare 2, Captain Price gives an epicly poetic-awesome speech in response to General Shepherd betraying him & Soap:

"The healthy human mind doesn't wake up in the morning thinking this is its last day on Earth. But I think that's a luxury. Not a curse. To know you're close to the end is a kind of freedom. Good time to take...inventory. Outgunned. Outnumbered. Out of our minds. On a suicide mission. But the sand and the rocks here, stained with thousands of years of warfare...They will remember us. For this. Because out of all our vast array of nightmares, this is the one we choose for ourselves. We go forward like a breath exhaled from the Earth. With vigor in our hearts and one goal in sight: We. Will. Kill him."

Dying message: "Death's vastness holds no peace. I come at the end of the long road. Neither human, nor devil... all bends to my will."

  • Know* that when death comes for you,
  • know* that I shall meet its blade with mine.
  • Know* that when all dies around you,
  • Know* I shall live for your sake.
    • What about: "Endure. In enduring grow strong."?
  • Devil Jin (manga) starts every fight with "Kyoufu o oshiete yarou." ("I will teach you how to fear.")
  • Sanger Zonvolt would like to remind you that HE IS THE SWORD THAT SMITES EVIL!
  • NCR 1st Recon: The last thing you never see.
    • "It was pretty accurate, and so were we."
    • And boy do they live up to it. Sending a single squad of these guys was considered a major military asset.
  • The Zuul from Sword of the Stars have the species-wide creed, which also finishes its leader's Badass Boast in the intro:

Born of fire! Born of steel! Born of science! Born! Of! Blood!

  • Alpha Protocol, for the eponymous organization: Quo Nemi Sequi Potest. "Where No One Can Follow."
  • EVE Online:
    • The Ushra'Khan alliance: "We come for our people."
    • Those who fly Minmatar ships: "In Rust We Trust."
    • The Amarr loyalists have their age-old Battle Cry "Amarr Victor!"
      • When the Empyrean War broke out, some Minmatar loyalists adopted the rejoinder "Matar Victor!"
  • Battlefield: Bad Company has the Legionaires and their motto "Acta Non Verba" which literally means in Latin "Action, Not Words."
  • What about Andrew Ryan's personal motto?

"A man chooses. A slave obeys... I choose the impossible"

  • Deus Machina Demonbane: "From the hate-scorched sky / With righteous anger in our hearts / We draw forth the sword that smites Evil / Thou art the innocent blade--Demonbane!"
  • From Fire Emblem the guild of assassins knows as Black Fang "The Fang lets none escape"
  • Dawn of War is full of these, which is entirely fitting given the source material. Particularly common for the Space Marines, obviously - "While the enemies of the Emperor still draw breath, there can be no peace", for example.
  • The Midnight Squad in City of Heroes:

We gather in moonlight
when the clock strikes midnight,
With intellect our torch
and humanity our compass.
Quill or sword in hand,
we move through the mysteries of the night,
Despite what horrors we face
or dark lore we uncover.
We shall press on.
For this is the oath
and the burden of the Midnighter.

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