Badass and Child Duo: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

* '''The Badass''' is a [[Jade-Colored Glasses|jaded]], cynical, and very often [[Always Male|male]] [[Anti-Hero]] with a [[Dark and Troubled Past]], age anywhere between their mid-twenties to mid-forties. He will generally be a Jerkass or very serious and [[The Stoic|stoic]] in personality. Even if he has a more sensitive side, he will not talk about his emotions, his past or what bothers him if he can help it. He is brutally practical and [[Street Smart]], cynical, but [[Knight in Sour Armor|he will still hold the hope for a more idealistic world somewhere in his heart]], even if on the surface he denies its existence. In combat he is always a veteran and he will be a [[One-Man Army]], usually well known in-universe, often with a [[Red Baron|badass nickname]] to match. Easily able to mow down dozens of [[Mooks]], one after another without too much effort, his dangerous reputation is sometimes the cause of half the problems the two face, as at least some of their opponents will be there to defeat him, rather than snatch away the child he's protecting. The Badass often sees the child as a [[Morality Pet]], as a way to atone for the sins of his past, or as a [[Replacement Goldfish]] for a deceased child that he's lost. It's not uncommon for him to perform a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] in order to protect the child.

** In the Hawks camp, [[Oracular Urchin|Sonia]] would ''like'' to have this kind of relationship with [[Dark Messiah|Griffith]], but of late, seems to have developed it with an Apostle named Irvine.

* ''[[Dragon Ball]]'': Tien and Chiaoutzou in Part 1.

* ''[[One Piece]]'': Zoro and Chopper appear to be this; the stock badass swordsman and the more innocent diminutive reindeer. Though Chopper is a capable fighter in his own right, Zoro is still stronger and thus more protective of him. {{spoiler|He didn't take it well when Ohm hurt Chopper.}}

* The main characters of ''[[Noir]]'' are an incredibly twisted same-gender example of this that fools you for a few seconds into thinking it's played straight. Mireille is jaded, cynical, older, and quite the [[Badass]], yes. Kirika is a wide-eyed waif who doesn't seem older than fourteen, true. But there's an important thing to remember: if you're up against [[Badass Normal|Mireille]], you ''might'' survive. If you're up against [[One-Man Army|Kirika]], you're already dead.

* ''[[Road to Perdition]]'', although the two are in fact related.

* The heroes of ''[[The City of Lost Children]]'' are a circus strongman and a streetwise urchin.

* ''[[Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels]]''. mob enforcer Big Chris and his son Little Chris.

* Dennis Quaid's character in ''[[Savior]]'' goes to every length to protect and take care of a newborn girl.

* Grendel-Prime to Jupiter during the ''Grendel: War Child'' story arch. Interestingly, as the child Jupiter was royalty his deceased father, Orion I, actually created the cyborg Grendel-Prime to specifically play this role, kidnapping the boy so that he could be raised in an environment free of political influence, privilege, and the threat of assassination.

* "The Archive" and her bodyguard Kincaid from ''[[The Dresden Files]].'' Played with the twist that Ivy, though physically a child, [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse|has the experience and magical power]] to [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb stomp]] your average badass without breaking stride.

* Essentially the entirety of [[The Road]], in which a man [[Walking the Earth|treks southwards]] with his young son in tow. For a post-apocalyptic novel, some of the interaction between them can be pretty heartwarming.