Badass Normal/Comic Books

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Chase demonstrates the trope.
  • Batman fills this role when he's required to be in an ensemble. Despite having no inherent superpowers, he's earned a spot in the inner circle of the Justice League of America, fighting alongside the likes of Superman courtesy of a steel-trap intellect combined with a bit of a mean streak that means he can consider plans other members can't, and consider them well. Batman has the proven ability to develop the means to disable each of his fellow Leaguers -- proven when those plans were stolen by villains and used to great effect. This has likely become a case of Memetic Mutation, as Batman's badassery has been stretched to ridiculous proportions, and many comic readers firmly believe that Batman is invincible. And some writers agree.
    • Wesley Willis put him in his place, though.
    • To put it another way, whenever a Justice League villain mockingly says of Batman, "He doesn't even have any powers!", get some popcorn.
    • An Elseworld Spectre has described him as "the zenith of human fortitude and ambition", while an in canon Superman described him more simply as "the most dangerous man on the planet".
    • Honestly, Batman's Badass Normal status is cemented by the fact that several high-profile beings (including the above mentioned Spectre and Superman) have such high regard for a "mere mortal". Harbringer once referred to him as "the Scourge of all Evil."
    • Batman is such a badass normal, current Batman writer Grant Morrison has stated that he actually does have superpowers. What is his superpower? Being Batman.
    • It got to the point where when Neil Gaiman wrote Batman's funeral in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? it's stated that Batman's reward for his life isn't to die, but to be reborn again as Batman in another universe. He's so badass death doesn't stop him, and the laws of creation can't stop him in his quest to fight crime.
    • He actually JUDO-FLIPPED SUPERMAN across a god damned ROOM during World's Finest in Superman: The Animated Series, and Supes looked dazed. Superman doesn't take it well and shoulder-rams Batman across the other side of the room -- only for Batman to get right back up.
  • Nightwing (the original Robin's adult superhero identity) is likewise unpowered and is on par with Batman in most of Batman's skills. He surpasses him in leadership ability: he's about the only person in the world that every superhero would listen to without question. Heck, Nightwing actually became Batman for a time, so it comes full circle.
  • Cassandra Cain (the third Batgirl) is another example of this. Through physical conditioning alone, she has the ability to perfectly read body language and anticipate her opponent's next move. Not to mention she's been trained by Batman, and is arguably a superior fighter, having beaten the best martial artist in the DC Universe, Lady Shiva (another example of this trope).
  • Continuing on the above, Lady Shiva and pretty much the whole League of Assassins are examples of this trope, considering how none of them have any special powers apart from halted aging due to the Lazarus Pits (and even then only a select few).
  • It's a bit of a stretch to call him normal, but The Joker is essentially this. In most portrayals, he doesn't actually have any powers, but he's still fully capable of going toe-to-toe with any superhero in The DCU, including Superman and Wonder Woman, and often will come very close to beating them.
    • The DC Universe's villain community includes such powerful beings as billionaire super-geniuses, nigh-immortal cosmic dictators, biblical-scale demonic entities and even literal gods. The fact that the villain that most scares the crap out of every single hero (and many of the previously mentioned villains) is a mere insane mortal who looks like a clown speaks volumes.
    • Some versions of The Joker make him a very strange Badass Abnormal, his insanity being an explicit superpower that can be removed by power-dampening effects.
    • The Joker also has arguably the highest bodycount in the entire DCU outside of villains who are near godlevel like Darkseid, a far higher bodycount than almost any superpowered villains.
    • As one villain put it, "When super-villains want to scare one another, they tell each other Joker stories."
  • Minor Batman villain Catman used to be a walking joke, but now he's an incredibly dangerous mercenary for hire who lived with a pride of lions.
  • The top guard in Arkham Asylum, Aaron Cash, is a tough-as-nails and brutal man, often using extreme force to keep the inmates in line. Don't get the wrong idea, though: he's also a noble man with a good heart and moral compass. He's ruthless because he's outnumbered by the most sadistic, evil, and insane people in Gotham, and he and the other guards are the only thing keeping them from terrorizing the city. So what makes him a Badass is that he does manage to keep control of them. He's a man who will go toe-to-toe with the Joker, Two-Face, Zsasz, and Killer Croc (until the accident...) without a moment's hesitation. Shame they essentially made him a tough talking damsel in distress in Arkham Asylum and Arkham City...
  • Superman's Arch Enemy Lex Luthor glides under the radar on this one, but gets his due from time to time. Superman: Red Son outlines his whole get-up rather neatly: "What was the point of Lex Luthor? A human who dared challenge a god, surely he was the greatest of his kind."
  • Post-Crisis Lois Lane as well. A few abilities are due to her exposure to a lot of weapons and physical skills while growing up on military bases and all, but for the most part it's just that she apparently has cojones the size of Metropolis. Who has the luxury of being incinerated by that alien overlord or getting gunned down by a gang of mob members when you promised Perry White you'd get back to the Daily Planet with a front-page story before 8:00?
    • Weirdly double-subverted with Clark Kent — everyone who doesn't know he's also Superman thinks he's this trope, since daring to muckrake around Lexcorp and Intergang would be badass as hell for someone who isn't invulnerable to bullets and doesn't have the ability to fight off frickin' Darkseid. On the other hand, he manages to survive this kind of Death Seeker-worthy behavior using ways that don't blow his secret identity, generating the weird conclusion that Clark Kent is a badass normal if there are people watching that prevent him from using any superpowers.
  • In the Marvel Universe, Hawkeye has no powers, just a bow. And, when alien invaders summon a zombie army to destroy the universe, guess who is one of the only two people standing at the end of it. Go on, guess. Not bad for a carny.
    • Plus Hawkeye II (also known as Golden Archer, Wyatt McDonald of Squadron Supreme) and Hawkeye III (Kate Bishop, jokingly called "Hawkingbird"). The latter's first appearance in the Young Avengers, all either superpowered or having fantabulous armor, involves her saving the team's bacon during a botched hostage situation, later to become the official "Bad Ass" member of the team.
  • Mockingbird. "I may not have the claws and the webs... but I know a thing or two about a thing or two. Yeah, that's right... run like a bitch."
  • The Squadron Supreme also has Nighthawk, an alternate-universe Captain Ersatz for Batman.
  • Also Nick Fury (superpowers limited to halted aging). As proof of his badass normal credits, he's in charge of the world's biggest secret organization of, well, secret agents, he's in charge of the Avengers, a team that contains the greatest human-who's-still-only-human, the world's smartest man, the freaking Hulk, and a GOD, a living, breathing, lightning controlling GOD, he's not nearly as powerful as either of these but if he wanted to he could upside their heads. DO NOT FUCK WITH HIM! On another note, try saying I'm Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD without sounding like a total badass, try it! American Dad even had a parody of him that had a freaking Alien develop a man crush on him.
    • Dum Dum Dugan, of SHIELD! He is the only person ever to be in a fist fight with Godzilla.
    • Most members of S.H.I.E.L.D even. Especially Sharon Carter.
    • To clarify just how badass and awesome Nick Fury is, his Ultimate Marvel version is based on (and in the Iron Man films, portrayed by) Samuel L. Jackson.
  • Bucky, prior to the cybernetic arm and becoming Winter Soldier.
  • Black Widow: "world class athlete and gymnast, expert martial artist (including karate, judo, aikido, savate, various styles of kung fu, and boxing), markswoman, and weapons specialist as well as having extensive espionage training. She is also an accomplished ballerina." says Dr Wiki.
  • Almost every Daredevil villain. Of particular note is the (non-female) Bullseye, who started out as a professional baseball pitcher who somehow developed enough skill to turn anything he got his hands (or feet, or teeth) on into a lethal throwing weapon. While Bullseye generally plays this trope straight, it is occassionally subverted when he goes up against superhuman beings far out of his league. In one instance when the Hulk showed up Bullseye simply surrendered on the spot.
    • Daredevil himself, while possessing a Disability Superpower, is essentially a guy who likes to work out. He's tussled with Mr. Hyde, the Absorbing Man, and Ultron, villains who typically give the Hulk, Thor, and/or the Avengers trouble... and won.
  • The Punisher has no superpowers, but more than makes up for it with deadly martial arts skills, a brilliant tactical mind, and enough firepower to destroy a country. The skills of both the Punisher and Captain America (comics) are such that they've repeatedly tangled with superhuman foes and come out ahead by using their skills in clever and creative ways. (The MAX (mature readers) Punisher story Born may subvert this by implying that he may have made a deal with the Grim Reaper to continue to live in order to keep killing, but it is the only such hint in all of MAX Punisher. Otherwise, he's just a Badass Normal who looks his age and has been confined to bed rest multiple times from severe injuries.)
    • Notably, during an obligatory (albeit justified, insofar as Cap does not approve of Punisher's approach) tussle at the start of one of their team-ups, Punisher knocks Cap's flying shield down. Cap is shocked, to say the least.
    • In the Welcome Back Frank storyline, Punisher is about to take out a criminal with a sniper rifle when he is suddenly confronted by Daredevil. Punisher allows Daredevil to hit him a few times because, as he puts it, "Daredevil is about to have a very bad night." He then activates a device that generates an extremely loud noise, causing Daredevil to collapse in pain due to his enhanced sense of hearing amplifying it even more. Afterward Punisher beats and restrains Daredevil and finishes his assassination mission.
    • In The Punisher's Marvel Knights series he beat Wolverine by Slamming a baseball bat in to Wolvie's groin,then shot him in the crouch 9 TIMES with a submachine gun,then covers him in gasoline and is about to set him on fire before being interupted....AFTER blowing Wolvie's face off with a shotgun and at the end he runs Wolverine over with a steam roller so he loses Frank's scent and while only sustaining minor cuts from Wolvie.
  • Similarly, Marvel Comics' Kingpin uses both his powerful brains and even more powerful brawn to keep the costumed villains in their place, and screw over the heroes. Oddly enough, he started off as a Spider-Man villain where it was specifically stated that he had superstrength, the origin of which, was a mystery. It was to the point where it was all but stated he was stronger than Spidey who can life roughly 10 tons. Once he shifted over to a Daredevil villain, he had a Retcon, explaining that he was just a really strong human. After that, whenever Kingpin showed up in Spidey comics, he curiously turned into a master-manipulator type instead of the brawler he once was.
  • Alex Wilder, from Runaways, who's also team leader. It turns out he's The Mole, but that in no way reduces the badassitude of his actions.
    • Chase Stein, despite being considered the least intelligent of the group, has street smarts enough to figure out how to outwit the Gibborim while he also forcibly recruits the geek squad who worked for Wilder Senior.
    • Alex's father, Geoffrey Wilder, is a villainous example in both his 1985 and 2000s incarnations. He's been the leader of The Pride (a group that includes Mad Scientists, aliens with Light Is Not Good powers, time-travelling criminals, Evil Sorcerers and Mutants) since day one on the force of personality alone, and took control of most of LA, while the rest of The Pride handled out of town affairs. When his 1985 incarnation is brought to the future he proceeds to give the Runaways a serious fight, ultimately kidnapping Molly and killing Gert before being banished back to his own time.
  • Mina Murray, from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, is the team leader by dint of her sheer force of personality. In the movie, Mina gains vampire powers, and the Badass Normal team leader mantle is handed off to Allan Quatermain. Considering that he's played by Sean Connery, it's arguably one of the few changes that works.
  • ThugBoy from Adam Warren's Empowered takes this trope a step further. He's a Mook who'd made a successful living at getting the better of both superheroes and villains alike. Unlike a lot of these, however, he really really likes guns.
  • The Green Arrow family (Green Arrow, Green Arrow II, Red Arrow, and Speedy) are all unpowered. Improbable Aiming Skills and Trick Arrows aside, Green Arrow II is one of the best martial artists in the world, Speedy is an HIV-positive superheroine, Red Arrow is the fastest archer in the world, and GA himself is mostly a being of pure, unbridled moxie. He's one of the few people that are completely unafraid of Batman.
  • Lobster Johnson from the Hellboy-verse. Armed only with guns, bombs, and a glove for burning the Claw of Justice onto his enemies' foreheads, the Lobster manages to hold his own against The Mafia, Nazi cyborgs, Yetis, Ninja, and a Yellow Peril villain attempting to summon Eldritch Abominations.
  • The Marvel character "MVP" manages to become the best human possible, by various exercise programs and diets. Yes, he ate his veggies and did his pushups in just the right combination and everyone thought he had superpowers.
  • Pretty much everyone in Jaime Reyes' supporting cast that doesn't have superpowers, especially Brenda and Paco, aka Anger Girl and Stick Boy.
    • And let's not forget Jaime's predecessor Ted Kord.
  • One issue of Superman, pastiching the Silver Age, had a story where practically everyone in Metropolis gained superpowers identical to Superman's, going so far as to don capes and costumes (and Superman himself having to don a rather tacky costume while still masquerading as Clark Kent) and the mayor proposing the city name be changed to Superpolis. Then Metallo shows up and exposes everyone to his kryptonite, and they start dying from it like Superman would... until Detective Dan Turpin (who appeared earlier and disparaged Superman over how real crime fighters don't need superpowers), dressed in normal clothes, walks out of the crowd, unaffected, and arrests Metallo and saves everyone. It turns out the whole situation was set up by Mr. Mxyzptlk to give everyone superpowers - along with a kryptonite weakness - but since the detective wholeheartedly didn't want to get powers, he didn't get kryptonite vulnerability either. Then he gives Mxyzptlk a note to read, tricking him into banishing himself to the fifth dimension again. In other words, several dozen superpowered people lay around gasping for breath while a portly detective in a bowler hat outwitted two major villains.
    • Dan "Terrible" Turpin is pretty much that badass in every adaptation, especially Superman: The Animated Series where he stood toe-to-toe with Darkseid and didn't blink. It cost him his life, of course, but he knew that going into it and still stood up to the Man.
    • How badass is he? He's so badass Darkseid used him for his new body.
      • His original Crowning Moment of Awesome, back in the original New Gods, was attacking Kalibak with nothing but a tommy gun and getting mauled within an inch of his life--all to keep Kalibak distracted until he could be fried with all the electrical power in Metropolis, knocking him out— so the son of Darkseid, god of evil, could be arrested.
    • Ultimate Marvel had a similar story where everyone had super powers because the Skrulls gave them a magic pill. Unfortunately, the pill would eventually kill everyone who took it, which was the Skrull's way of conquering worlds. The Skrull leader claims to be invincible because he wears a suit that copies the powers of anyone. Ben Grimm is the only one who didn't take the pill, and when the Skrulls inevitably kill all the supers they empowered, leaving the emperor with no one to copy except Ben-normal, he defeats the Skrull leader. Then it all got erased through time travel, but still.
  • Cassie Hack of Hack Slash habitually fights superpowered Ax Crazy undead with no more than combat training, ferocity, and a very large friend.
  • New York in the Marvel Universe is both hero and villain central, so the NYPD came up with Code B.L.U.E., a police unit that uses training, tactics, Wonderful Toys, and brilliant improvisation to deal with superhuman beings. They've taken down Gods.
  • Also in the MU, Storm of the X-Men lost her powers for some time, made do as a Badass Normal, and still proved a great field leader of the team, beating out the powered Cyclops for the leadership position (although Cyclops was mentally influenced into losing by Madelyne Pryor). It even proved an advantage at one time, when the team was trying to stop the infamous massacre of the Morlocks. During that battle, a villain who could neutralize powers with his touch tried to do so with Storm, but she had no powers to affect and he left himself wide open for a knockout punch by her to put him out of action. She's also taken out Callisto and Crimson Commando in hand-to-hand combat, both of whose mutations make them nearly superhuman fighters, and she did so without using her powers.
  • The earliest Grendels all fit into this category, being only humans armed with an electrified Blade on a Stick who can take on Anti-Hero werewolf Argent.
  • Captain America (comics) would be this Depending on the Writer. The Super Soldier Serum turned him into what is referred to as a "peak human". Exactly what that means is up to interpretation, as the Super Serum can still be blamed if they ever need him to do something outside what even "peak normal" is. Furthermore, he is shown as being able to outfight Batman in a direct confrontation, where if he were merely a normal human at their physical peak, the two would be evenly matched.
    • Parenthetically, there's one fairly big caveat here: the outcome of the matches was decided by reader vote. All the Cap/Bats fight really tells us is that a lot of fanboys believe the super-serum takes him above and beyond Badass Normal territory and into the Low-Powered Super realm. (This doesn't, of course, mean they're wrong about that.)
      • Point of order: in Marvel vs. DC, the winner was decided by winner vote and Batman won. However, when the two faced off again in JLA-Avengers, Batman acknowledged that Cap was perfectly capable of beating him, though it would take a while.
    • The Ultimate Marvel version is, however, explicitly superhuman. Likely to avoid the continuity tangles that have occurred.
  • Iron Man, before the Extremis.
  • Alec Swan, protagonist of The Ultraverse's Firearm is a former secret agent turned Private Detective armed with nothing more than his wits and a Hand Cannon.
  • In Johnny Saturn, both Johnny Saturn I and II are badass normals. Indeed, in a world full of high-powered superheroes, non-powered vigilantes are referred to as Mystery Men. Mystery men get by on martial arts, toughness, and willpower.
  • Most of the heroes in Watchmen lack superpowers (the exception would be Dr. Manhattan) and yet are extraordinarily skilled fighters.
  • Rictor, after losing his powers during House of M/Decimation, has turned into this. Peter David describes him as the "moody former mutant who believes he’s useless and yet keeps happening to save the day." He's saved Siryn from a kidnapper, beaten the Isolationist and Arcade, programmed Danger Room technology to create a very convincing illusion, and helped stop Quicksilver from blowing up any more former mutants.
  • This trope isn't exclusive to heroes, either. the Evil Albino Spider-Man villain Tombstone originally had no powers, and was, in Spidey's words, "Just a guy." He was just a guy with a tendency to Neck Lift people while strangling them to death -- one-handed. When he and Spider-Man finally fought after a several-issue storyline, Tombstone gave the overconfident superhero a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown at first using just his hands and then a metal pipe. Once Spidey realized that he was actually dangerous, he got serious and served up a Curb Stomp Battle to the mob enforcer. Eventually he crossed over to become a Badass Abnormal with brick powers after his old "friend" Robbie Robertson trapped him in an airtight chamber filled with gaseous Applied Phlebotinum.
  • Obregon Kaine from Negation. He's a soldier trapped on a prison planet with a bunch of aliens, many of whom have incredible super powers. He wants to organize a jailbreak, but everyone hates his guts because they've become resigned to their fate and they think he's making a bad situation worse. Eventually he gets them to cooperate long enough to escape, and throughout the majority of the series, it's Kaine who holds the small group of super-powered fugitives together by being tougher, smarter and more dogged than anyone else, despite having no powers of his own.
    • Arwen from Sojourn, who at the beginning of the story attempts to hunt down and kill the undead Sigil-Bearer Mordath with no preparations, powers, or unusual equipment (yet). She fails, but it clearly establishes what kind of character she is, and even Mordath himself comments on her skill and courage.
  • Jenkins from Atomic Robo.
  • Any human Green Lantern, deprived of his/her ring, pretty much becomes this by default.
    • This is helped by the fact that two of them (Hal Jordan and John Stewart) either serve in or have served in the armed forces.
      • In the relaunched Green Lantern, Hal jumped out a window to reach the building across from his where a woman was being domestically abused. Later he got a weaker copy of the ring. He proceeded to outrun an entire planet of super-villains with nothing but a ring powered motorcycle.
  • Debatable, considering the nature of the universe they are in, but Dreamkeepers characters definitely have elements of this trope going for them.
  • German comic strip detective Nick Knatterton. Once he lifts a car! (He was angry at that time; and as the author pointed out, being a taxpayer, he's used to shoulder great weights.)
  • Stephanie Brown originally put the 'normal' in Badass Normal, as her tenure as the Spoiler and then Robin were not overwhelming successes and she never quite earned the acceptance of Batman and the rest of the hero community. Then, when she assumed the mantle of Batgirl from Cassandra Cain she improved her combat and detective skills until she earned the respect of original Batgirl Barbara Gordon and eventually Batman himself.
  • Wolverine once went to prison and remarked that when supervillains are in the pen, power-nullifying technology tends to be employed. This means that Badass Normals, like Batroc and the Kangaroo, are the big men nobody messes with - since they have the most straight hand to hand combat experience and ability.
  • Both Quantum and Woody qualify. Most notable in Woody's case, as he doesn't have the military training or combat experience Quantum has.
  • In the Star Wars "Infinities" comic for "A New Hope," Han joins Luke in going to face both the Emperor and Darth Vader, armed with nothing but his trusty blaster. While Luke does the vast majority of the fighting, Han does manage to take down an imperial guard, and very briefly wields a dual bladed lightsaber.
  • Gold Digger has a lot of them, but certainly the most prominent is Gina's mother Julia, greatest warrior of Jade Realm, who routinely takes down monstrously powerful supernatural opponents with nothing but her sword, martial arts, and her brain.
  • Magnus, Robot Fighter was this originally: a martial artist so Badass he could beat robots with his bare hands. The later Valiant Comics version eventually retconned it so that he did have super-strength after all.
  • In All Fall Down, the Ghoul is revealed to be one of these.
  • The titular character in "Paperinik New Adventures",Donald Duck's(yes Donald Duck)secret identity: he must use his wits and courage to fight aliens, cyborgs and the likes.
  • Ben Grimm - aka the Thing - isn't exactly "normal", but often in the history of The Fantastic Four, Reed or someone else manages to cure him and make him human again, even though it's always temporary. During these times, Ben certainly fits the description, often able to fight alongside the team with nothing more than what he learned when he was in the Yancy Street Gang.
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