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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|"''I am Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt. I am known as a fair man, unless I am pushed. '''[[You Have Failed Me...|You have just pushed me]]'''.''"
|'''[[Gaunt's Ghosts|Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt]]''', ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''}}
Imagine [[The Captain]], but instead of a ship at sea or in the [[Space Is an Ocean|stars]], s/he has a large contingent of ground troops. Still the most [[Badass|kickass]] guy around, powerful leader, outranks everyone else in [[The Squad]], you know the type. Chances are, he is gonna be a colonel.
This is probably because "Colonel" is the highest military rank deployable in the field, the highest rank unlikely to be noticed and [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] on TV. Theoretically, [[General Ripper]] and [[The Brigadier]] should have more [[Power Levels]] than
This man in a professional, married to the job, and mission accomplishment is the entire purpose of his existence. He's tends to be fairly young for a colonel, likely because he climbed the ranks rapidly after an outstanding performance in an earlier war or campaign as junior officer. When he's got a full command of hundreds or thousands of troops, chances are he won't do much fighting himself on a day to day basis, because he's too busy managing the battlefield with a level of competence that prevents the enemy from ever gaining the initiative in the first place. If it ever comes down to it, though, his personal weapon will likely be a high caliber handgun - and while it won't be drawn often, it'll rarely miss when it is. Many have tried to kill this man, many of them extremely deadly in their own right, all of them have failed.
He won't break down over losses, but neither will he throw his men's lives away. If a [[General Ripper]] is his immediate superior, the two will almost certainly clash in styles, because not only is
He is commonly an [[Officer and a Gentleman]]... or at least, tries to be one, as long as it doesn't hinder his badassness because this man does not suffer fools. His [[Evil Counterpart]] is the [[Colonel Kilgore]].
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Pretty much a universal trope, just like Colonel is a universal rank (Lieutenant Colonels are included, as are full commanders, the naval rank equivalent to Lieutenant Colonels in most western militaries). A subtrope of [[Authority Equals Asskicking]]. In terms of [[Authority Tropes]], [[Majorly Awesome]] is for just a notch lower while the next step up is [[The Brigadier]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* Col. Roy Mustang from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. He beats even the {{spoiler|[[Putting on the Reich|Führer]]}}, in the first anime. In the manga/''Brotherhood'', he BURNS HIS OWN WOUNDS SHUT and by the end of the series, he manages to personally take down {{spoiler|two out of the seven Homunculi}}, which is [[Badass|REALLY impressive]] in that universe. He also plays several of the defining bits of the trope incredibly straight - he's only thirty years old, rose through the ranks incredibly fast (partly due to being a State Alchemist, which automatically starts you off at the rank of Major), he's extremely high-minded and has tremendous ideals for the country, and he will throw himself into danger in a heartbeat rather than risk losing one of his comrades, particularly [[A Father to His Men|his five dearest and most loyal subordinates]].
** Credit must also be given to his best friend, Lt. Col. Maes Hughes, who, [[Badass Normal|despite not being an alchemist]], is an [[Great Detective|investigative genius]] who also knows how to kick ass [[Knife Nut|with throwing knives]]. He even gets ''double promoted'' to [[The Brigadier|Brigadier General]] for {{spoiler|dying in the line of duty, though that ''was'' in part to cover up the conspiracy}}.
** Major Armstrong eventually gets promoted to Lt. Col. in the first anime (in the manga, it's stated he's never promoted due to his compassion for the enemy). Also in the first anime, Lt. Col. Frank Archer thinks he's one of these; whether he counts is really up to the viewer. While he is quite cool and collected under fire, he's also a sociopathic [[Smug Snake]] and [[General Ripper]].
** Basque Grand's manga incarnation. What makes it more impressive is that he had been firmly entrenched in the minds of the fans as a [[Complete Monster]] and [[General Ripper]] by the first anime's portrayal. In the manga, however, he's [[A Father to His Men]] who leads from the front, transmutes entire buildings into weapons while delivering [[Large Ham|hamtastic lines]], accepts Ishbal's high clerics surrender and shoots Brigadier Fiessler (an ''actual'' [[General Ripper]]) when the latter orders the troops to kill the cleric and continue the genocide. Also has one of the most [[Badass Moustache
* Lt.Col. [[Person of Mass Destruction|Hayate Yagami]] in the third season of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. This is in sharp contrast, for example, to the local [[General Ripper]] who fails to qualify even as a [[Badass Normal]] and the three [[The Brigadier|Admirals]] who only appear on TV screens. Possibly the only Colonel [[Magical Girl]] ever.
* Col. Richard Burton in ''[[Madlax]]''.
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* Great General of Darkness/Ankoku Daishogun from ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' and ''[[Great Mazinger]]'', [[The Dragon]] of the Emperor of Darkness and commander of the seven armies of the Mykene Empire. He wields a BFS, sports a [[Badass Cape]] and a [[Badass Beard]], and he can kick the butt of nearly any [[Humongous Mecha]] invented by [[Go Nagai]]. He led the army of Mykene Empire, personally or delegating on his generals, and he was [[A Father to His Men]] considered unforgivable default intelligence costed the lives of his troops. He fought Great Mazinger because he knew he could win, slicing it with his blade mercilessly as he laughed its attacks off. And he fought ''[[Mazinkaiser]]'' quite evenly.
* Col. Shikishima from ''[[Akira]]'' has several traits of a [[General Ripper]] but remains a [[Badass Normal]] to the very end.
* Though she's lacking a couple of ranks, Major Kusanagi from ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' is not only a
** The [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]] commander of the Umibozu, a Navy special forces team that goes up against Section Nine in Stand Alone Complex's endgame, is addressed as ''Taisa'': literally Colonel, though since he's Navy, his rank proper would be Captain. (Note that in Japan, the same word is used to refer to both Colonel (Army) and Captain (Navy).
* Col. Dewey Novak is not only the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Eureka Seven]]'' but he also pulls off a fully functional {{spoiler|[[My Death Is Just the Beginning]] scheme triggered by ''shooting himself in the head''}}. What's more badass than that?
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** In ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' all notable officers in OZ save Noin are colonels, Treize in particular seems [[Genre Savvy]] about this, maintaining the rank of colonel even after conquering the Earth {{spoiler|twice}}.
*** ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' uses an unorthodox rank structure based more around courtly titles than military rank. [[The Chessmaster|Treize]] is actually comparable to a Major General; [[Sergeant Rock|Lady Une]] is a Colonel, as is [[The Rival|Zechs]] [[Char Clone|Merquise]] after he earns his two-rank promotion for his actions in Operation Nova, OZ's coup d'état to overthrow [[The Federation|the Earth Alliance]].
** Naturally, most of these guys all have the
* Col. {{spoiler|Paya}} Livingston from ''[[Dai Mahou Touge]]''. Boy, is he badass.
* The Colonel, head of God's Army, in ''[[Fist of the North Star]]''. His weapon of choice is a [[Precision-Guided Boomerang]], controlled with [[Psychic Powers]]. He manages to be a threat to Kenshiro ''without'' some form of superpowerful martial arts.
* Col. Todou of [[Code Geass]]. He's one of the higher-ranked members of the Japanese Liberation Front, ''and'' leader of their most elite squad, the Four Heavenly Swords. Later, he joins the Black Knights and becomes Zero's third-in-command.
** Also of note is the fact that Todou is (based on ratings made by C.C, so take them with salt) the highest rated Black Knight, and second only to the [[Ace Pilot
* Well, not
** She's referred to as Lt. Col. Katsuragi in ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'', however. So this trope qualifies.
* [[Hyakujitsu no Bara|Taki's]] high rank combined with his general military badassness puts him squarely in this trope.
* Captain Smoker from ''[[One Piece]]''. He is stationed at some crappy station outside the grand line and considering his [[Elemental Shapeshifter|logia]] [[Super Smoke|power]] he is ranked to low in the marines. He also cares deeply for Tashgi and his marine subordinates. Furthermore [[Smoking Is Cool|he smokes and uses the smoke power]].
* Colonal Mustard from ''[[Clue (game)|Clue]]'': he's either a murderer or among a group of people who caught one. Then, of course, there is his [[Badass Beard]].▼
== Comic Books ==
* Col. Abernathy, a.k.a. Hawk, in [[G.I. Joe]]. After the first couple years of the comic he gets promoted to General and Duke takes over as tactical commander of the team, but he still gets into action on occasion.
* Col. [[Nick Fury]] in the [[Marvel Universe]]. His [[Badass
** Somewhat averted in the [[Ultimate Marvel]] universe though, as he's actually a four-star general there (or started out that way, anyhow), which would be much more realistic for the commander-in-chief of a multinational paramilitary espionage organization. Either way, it doesn't make him any less [[Badass]].
*** He starts as a colonel (that does not look like [[Samuel L. Jackson]]) by the end of his first appearance he's promoted as the head of Shield, and he's a [[Four-Star Badass|4-star general]] by his next appearance.
* Also Marvel, [[War Machine (Comic Book)|James Rhodes]] (War Machine, and sometimes [[Iron Man]]), is an Air Force Lt. Colonel in [[Ultimate Marvel]] and [[Iron Man (film)|the movies]].
* Col. Jennifer Sparks of [[The Authority]]. Technically, she did fight in WWII, against Sliding Albion and uses her rank and status in the British Army Intelligence to make them do what she wants.
* [[Gail Simone]]'s run on ''[[Wonder Woman]]'' turned former [[Plucky Comic Relief]] character Etta Candy into a [[Deadpan Snarker]] Lieutenant colonel who is also a [[Badass Normal]], as well as one of Wondy's "[[Blood Brothers|sisters]]" and very dear friends.
== Fan
* In the '[[Daria]]' [[Fanfic]] series 'Legion of Lawndale Heroes', there are ''two''
* [[Tiberium Wars|Colonel Nick Parker]] may be [[Retired Badass|"retired"]], but that doesn't stop him from organizing and waging a guerrilla war ''inside of twenty-four hours of the Nod invasion'', which comes complete with hunting down and destroying Avatar warmechs, blowing up a Nod general using his own artillery, and even {{spoiler|''recapturing the White House''}}. There's a ''reason'' he's called "Havoc."
* Played straight in [[Immortality Protocol Cy-Fox]] by Dr. Robotnik's father.
* Lieutenant Colonel Angus Beckett is this in the ''[[Robotech]]'' fanfic ''[[Scoop]]''. Later, {{spoiler|due to the wear and tear flying Valkyries does to his body, he becomes a [[Desk Jockey]], and is still one when he appears as a lieutenant general in ''[[Dire Straits (fanfic)|Dire Straits]]''}}
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== Film ==
* The one atop this page, Colonel Miles Motherfucking Quaritch of ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]''. He's the [[Designated Villain|designated]] [[General Ripper|villain]], but that doesn't stop him from modding his [[A Mech by Any Other Name|AMP suit]] with a gigantic ''combat knife'', or running out into Pandora's toxic atmosphere, guns blazing, without bothering to put a gas mask on. In one instance, it takes him about 11 seconds to react to the fact that he is, in fact, ''on fire''. Quaritch is in fact, so [[Badass]] he inspires major [[Rooting for the Empire]].
** To clarify the above example, Colonel Quaritch was aware the entire time that he was on fire. He just waited to extinguish himself until ''after'' he'd finished what he was already doing at the time.
* [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]'s character John Matrix takes this trope to an utter extreme in the movie ''[[Commando (film)|Commando]]''. Although his character is a retired Special Forces colonel, Arnie still manages to kick enough ass for several movies.
* Col. Stewart in ''[[Die Hard 2]]''.
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* There is a Russian movie named ''The Apocalypse Code'', one of the better Russian action movies, actually, whose protagonist is an [[Action Girl]] (bordering [[Extraordinarily Empowered Girl]]) serving in the Russian special forces. Obviously, she is a colonel. Which is revealed just before she gets ''serious'', [[Rule of Cool|topping all her previous stunts]].
* Col. Andrea Stavros in ''[[The Guns of Navarone]]'' movie adaptation, the best hand-to-hand fighter in the group.
* Col. Benjamin Martin in ''[[The Patriot]]''. Single-handedly killed an entire platoon of Redcoats, including at least three with a tomahawk. Colonel Tavington is an [[Evil Brit]] version, kicking the butts of [[Mel Gibson]]'s rag tag Rebel militia.
* Commander Rourke in ''[[Atlantis: The Lost Empire]]''.
* Col. Thursday in ''[[Fort Apache]]''... well, sort of... {{spoiler|at least until he orders the infamous Thursday's Charge, which results in the [[Suicidal Overconfidence|utter destruction of half the regiment]].}}
* In the remake of ''[[I Am Legend]]'' Will Smith's character is Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville. A brilliant scientist who also managed to survive being badly outnumbered by cannibalistic hordes. It wasn't because he was a punk...
* Johny Rico is a colonel in the third ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]'' movie (he was a Lt. by end of the first one).
* In the movie ''[[Glory]]'', Matthew Broderick plays a [[Real Life]]
* ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' features two Colonel Badasses. The first is Colonel Kurtz, who had the credentials to be a general but chose a life in the shit. While fighting in Vietnam, he goes kill-crazy and creates an army of zealots who worship him like a god. The other is [[Colonel Kilgore|Lt.Col. Bill Kilgore]], a bulletproof [[Badass]] who surfs in warzones and enjoys the aroma of napalm like a nice cup of joe. In the Redux edition, however, he's taken down a peg after his surfboard is stolen and he broadcasts messages begging for it back.
* Lt. Col. Frank Slade from ''[[Scent of a Woman]]''. He does the tango with a beautiful stranger who's waiting on her boyfriend, drives a Ferrari BLIND, and completely and utterly owns snobby schoolmasters. Plus, he's played by [[Al Pacino]], which totally doubles his badassitude.
* Col. Nathan R. Jessup, as played by [[Jack Nicholson]] in ''[[A Few Good Men]]''.
{{quote|-- "You want me on that trope. You ''need'' me on that trope!"}}
** Averted, though, when you consider that Jessup illegally ordered a man in his command be beaten, then falsified records and lied repeatedly when that beating led to a Marine's death. Can you really be
** Yes, you can. Colonel Badass is not necessarily Colonel [[Good Guy]]. Half the examples of this list are villanous ones.
** Yes, but they actually displayed badassedness during their movies. Jessup's only claim to badass is his alleged combat leadership skills -- which, as the movie shows, are actually sorta lacking.
* Thoroughly averted in ''[[Doctor Strangelove]]'': Group Captain (RAF for Colonel) Mandrake is a bit of a wimp and fails to properly stand up for himself when around other domineering American officers, while US Army Colonel "Bat" Guano does not even understand his own mission, and is instead obsessed with eliminating "preverts."
* [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] holds the rank of commander in the Royal Navy.
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* ''Completely'' averted (as to be expected) in the film ''[[Spaceballs]]'', in the figure of Colonel [[Punny Name|Sandurz]]. Whassa matter, Colonel Sandurz ...CHICKEN?!
** Considering that he's [[A New Hope|Grand Moff Tarkin]] if Tarkin were stupid rather than evil, this is to be expected.
* Col. Sam Trautman, the former trainer and commander of none other than John [[Rambo]]. He's more of the [[Obi Wan]] in the movies than
{{quote|'''Sheriff Will Teasle:''' Where in God's name did this Rambo come from...
'''Col. Trautman:''' ''God'' didn't make Rambo. ''I'' made him.
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* Colonel Douglas Mortimer in ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]''.
* Colonel Nicholas Alexander, played by [[Lee Marvin]] in his final performance, was the only man who could possibly give [[Chuck Norris]]' Major Scott McCoy orders in ''[[The Delta Force]]''.
* Colonel Rhumbus in ''[[Spies Like Us]]''. He knocks out his own squad of [[Conservation of Ninjutsu|elite ninja soldiers]] and then takes our heroes through [[Training
* Averted in ''[[Ip Man]]'', where Japanese Colonel Sato is a [[Smug Snake]] who only hits people when they're in no position to fight back. Preferably from safe up high behind a gun.
* Commander Anderson, United States Navy SEALs, played by Michael "[[The Terminator|Kyle Reese]]" Biehn, in ''[[The Rock]]''.
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** In the ''[[X Men Origins: Wolverine|Wolverine]]'' prequel, he is a Major, with anti-Mutant sentiment still in formation.
* Colonel Dax in ''[[Paths of Glory]]''. Try not flinching when enemy shells are exploding randomly less than 20 yards away from you. Go on, try. We'll wait.
* Lieutenant Colonel Danny Mcknight in [[Black Hawk Down]]. He casually walks from a convoy of Humvees to a building, through the open, while Rangers all around him are diving for cover and flinching. He ignores a gunshot wound to his throat that would have opened his carotid artery if it had been a millimeter to the right. After that injury, one of the Rangers tells him he doesn't need to go back out to save the rest of his men. He just smokes his cigar, looks at the guy like he's an idiot, then rides out with the 10th Mountain Division to get the rest of his men.
== Literature ==
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* Col. Sebastian Moran in the ''[[Sherlock Holmes]]'' stories, Professor Moriarty's top assassin.
* Col. John Christian Falkenberg in Jerry Pournelle's SF stories.
* Two in ''[[Warhammer
* Another Warhammer 40000 example: Col. Shaeffer of ''[[The Last Chancers]]''. He can stroll up and down a battlefield filled with Orks and Tyranids like he was on parade, decapitating Carnifexes and seeing the whole battle through without a scratch. At the same time, the hardened criminals of the 13th Penal Legion absolutely fear him more than those same Orks and Tyranids.
* A very obscure Warhammer 40 000 example from ''Let the Galaxy Burn''; Commisar von Klas. He's kidnapped and enslaved by a kabal of dark eldar, kills an eldar wych in one-on-one close combat, kills his torturer with his own weapons, then organises a break out which dooms the entire kabal to be defeated by a rival faction. The story ends with him telling his former master "They will cut my throat like some common animal. I suspect, however, ''you will take much longer to die''."
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** Supreme Commander [[Hand of Thrawn|Gilad Pellaeon]]: "Supreme Commander" is actually the highest military rank in the Empire, so this properly belongs in [[Four-Star Badass]]. But "Commander" is part of the rank, so he gets a mention here. He also was a captain for a while, which is roughly equivalent to a colonel.
** There ''was'' at least one colonel. When Wedge's [[Wing Man|wingmate]] Tycho Celchu took command of Rogue Squadron, he took this rank.
** Also, before he [[Defector From Decadence|defected]] to the Rebel Alliance, Soontir Fel was a Baron-Colonel. His [[
** Other real colonels (okay, lieutenant colonels are among them) would be Jaina Solo ({{spoiler|being a member of Rogue Squadron at the age of sixteen, seriously kicking around numerous Yuuzhan Vong, later on being in command of Rogue Squadron just to be court-martialed by her own twin brother whom she later on kills in a duel after he turned out to have become a Sith}}), her brother Jacen Solo ({{spoiler|became head of the secret police of the Galactic Alliance, tortured Boba Fett's daghter to death, became a Sith Lord, made himself joined head of state and later on sole head of state of the Galactic Alliance, set half of Kashyyyk on fire, killed his aunt Mara etc. until his sister finally got him}}), and Jagged Fel ({{spoiler|who (nearly) manages to keep up with Jaina Solo and Kyp Durron, two extremely talented Jedi pilots using a battle meld, and displays various feats of general badassery until he finally becomes the Imperial head of state}}).
* Colonel Jesse Wood, from [[1632|the 1632 series]] arguably qualifies, being the very first pilot in the new timeline created by the Ring of Fire. Because of that and his service in the uptime US Air Force, he's appointed head of downtime's new Air Force.
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** In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', there's at least four colonels and lieutenant colonels, and possibly more. One episode had all of 'em arrive in the same room at once, with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geNY3YyDR-A predictable results].
*** That scene is a reference to a scene in the SG-1 episode "Frozen", except the overused title in that one was "Doctor".
** Colonel Everett Young in ''[[Stargate Universe]]'' would be this, if he didn't frak it up with some truly dumb-ass decisions. [[Four-Star Badass|General]] O'Neill had to personally let him know that he was screwing up the
*** Once he gets his act together though, he quickly regains the
* Col. Steve Austin, ''[[The Six Million Dollar Man]]''.
* Col. Ed Straker in ''UFO''. In one episode, he shoots an opponent who can travel through time and downs a UFO with a rocket launcher.
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* Otto von Stirlitz (real name: Maxim Isaev) from ''[[Seventeen Moments of Spring]]'', the pinnacle of a Soviet [[Spy Fiction]], is a [[Common Ranks|Standartenführer]] ([[Those Wacky Nazis|SS]] equivalent of colonel). He was so badass back in his days, that he experienced a [[Memetic Mutation]] in recent times and ended up being a [[Memetic Badass]], as well ([[Russian Humour|no, seriously]]).
* Kira Nerys becomes one of these in the final season of ''[[Deep Space Nine]]'', but she was a badass since the pilot episode.
** Usually the heroes in ''[[Star Trek]]'' tend to be [[The Captain|Captains]], but the Commander rank can't be overlooked. The first, and in some cases second officers, of the ships hold this rank. And of course, any Starfleet officer that's a Captain or higher was one. Ben Sisko of [[DS 9]] was a Commander even though he was [[The Captain]].
*** Some of the lower-ranking characters are [[Sergeant Rock]], as well.
*** Especially Kirk could verge on this trope: a naval Captain does have an equivalent NATO officer code of OF-5 (the same as a Colonel), and Kirk, of course, repeatedly went down to planets himself and got into dangerous situations (it's a rare [[The Captain]] who can solve problems by ''punching them'').
* Col. Mace in the Sontaran episode of ''[[Doctor Who]]'': ''"You will '''face''' me, sir!"''
** For that matter, Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in his first serial, before he was promoted to [[The Brigadier|Brigadier]].
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** [[Truth in Television]] for Potter's history giving respect. People who go from NCO to officer are called "Mustangs", and enjoy great respect from enlisted personnel.
** And Hotlips' overhyped hubby Lt. Col. Penobscot is likely a parody of this type.
** Colonel Flagg fits this role as is evidenced in the episode where he breaks his own arm so he can infiltrate the hospital as a patient.
*** Double bonus badass: When an X-ray shows that his arm has healed sufficiently for him to be released, he ''pulls the X-ray camera down on his cast'', shattering it and re-breaking his arm.
*** Col. Flagg would come to squander his badass credibility in later episodes, though. His behavior in later appearances became more and more erratic and paranoid; culminating in complete disgrace in his final appearance.
* Sergeant Major Jonas Blane from ''[[The Unit]]'', even though he's not a ''colonel''. The show's resident colonel, Tom Ryan, is more [[Da Chief]].
** Sergeant Major (or his battalion staff equivalent, the Command Sergeant Major) is, of course, the
* The seventh season of ''[[24]]'' features the villainous African, Colonel Ike Dubaku of Sangala. Also a [[Scary Black Man]].
* The
* Col. Mason Truman of ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' You definitely going to need a
* Colonel T.C. McQueen from ''[[Space: Above and Beyond]]''. He's the sole survivor of the battle between the Earth's best squadron and the Chigs. Of particular note are his last fight with "Chiggie Von Richtoffen," and his "I don't think 'our Lord' wants to hear from me right now," speech.
* Captain Ronald Speirs filled this role in ''Band of Brothers''. He wasn't a colonel, but as an officer, he was viewed this way by the enlisted men because of the things he said and did.
** Maj. Richard Winters, possibly even more than Speirs since while Speirs gained respect mainly through being terrifyingly [[Badass]], Winters was more like awe-inspiringly [[Badass]]. And [[Officer and a Gentleman]] to a T, plus greatly admired and loved by his men.
* On ''[[Ultimate Force]]'', Colonel Aidan Dempsey reliably kicks a lot of arse when called upon, most notably in the episodes 'Dead Is Forever', 'Never Go Back' and - particularly - 'Charlie Bravo'. In the latter, he strides through a gunfight, casually taking one-handed potshots at rebels, while exhorting his local counterpart to "Pretend you're an officer and get your men in order!"
* Steve Trevor in the ''Wonder Woman'' TV series. He gets knocked in the head with a blunt object about once per episode, but he always wakes up with no ill effects and never complains. In early episodes, he even wears military ribbons that weren't even issued until after the war ended.
* Colonel Wilma Deering in ''[[Buck Rogers in
** Gotta love a woman who can be a
* The British Army Colonel character played by Graham Chapman on ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]''. He can come in and put a stop to a sketch when he thinks it's getting too silly or out of control!
* Colonel Xavier Marks of ''[[Combat Hospital]]'' is a medical version of this trope.
* Nate Taylor from ''[[Terra Nova]]'', played by none other than Stephen Lang. Due to strange time dilations, he had to spend 118 days alone in the Cretaceous Period, and doesn't even have any visible scars. And he still goes toe to toe with carnivorous dinosaurs to protect his people.
* ''[[Strike Back]]'' has Colonel Grant who normally commands the team from the command center but when a things go to hell she goes into the field and saved the day herself. She even commandeers an arms dealer's team of mercenaries to go and rescue a member of her team trapped in southern Sudan.
* Taken [[Up to Eleven]] in the BBC show ''[[Edge of Darkness]]'', where just about all the spooks seems to be colonels.
* Colonel Tigh of the ''[[Battlestar Galactica
== Tabletop Games ==
* In order to make it to colonel in the Imperial Guard of ''[[Warhammer
** Colonel "Iron Hand" Straken, Commander of the 2nd Catachan Infantry Regiment. He was badass enough to begin with, being from the [[Death World]] of Catachan, known for producing some of the toughest soldiers in the Imperium. Then he got attacked by a Miral land shark that tore off his arm. Instead of say, dying like a lesser man would, he tore the beast's throat out ''with his teeth'' (altho some say he just exagerated, and actually used his "fang"-pattern combat knife). He then had his arm replaced with a bionic one, and continued commanding his men. Since then he's survived multiple life-threathnign injuries and his body is riddled with bionics, makign him as much a machine as a man. He's as tough as a space marine, can punch straight through armour, and destroy tanks with his bare hands (mechanical hands, but still, that's impressive).
*** And all this goes ''Quintuple'' for Space Marines, whose equivalent, Captain, is fully capable of going face-to-face with a ''genetically engineered, 18 foot-tall alien killing machine'' and '''winning'''.
*** And their equivalent among the Grey Knights, who are designed to eat thirty-foot suspiciously-balrog-like incarnations of the Chaos God of slaughter for lunch. Though until the Daemonhunters codex is updated, this is an example of [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]] as GK Brother-Captains technically have a Weapon Skill of 5 vs. 6 for normal SM Captains.
*** The Canonesses, leaders of the Sisters of Battle, arguably one up the Space Marine captains because they do the same
* ''[[Rifts]]'' has Col. Buck Murphy, a hotshot SAMAS (flying [[Powered Armor]]) Pilot who has an impressive combat record, and is [[A Father to His Men]].
▲* Colonal Mustard from ''[[Clue (game)|Clue]]'': he's either a murderer or among a group of people who caught one. Then, of course, there is his [[Badass Beard]].
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* Col. Sawyer from ''[[World in Conflict]]''. While we never see him in the field, in that scene where he is shot by [[Cold Sniper|sniper]] (who misses by a few inches), he is just too [[The Stoic|stoic]]. And he is fluent in French, too.
** And the [[Expansion Pack]] gives us Soviet [[Common Ranks|Polkovnik]] Orlovsky.
* The lieutenant colonels in the second ''[[Wing Commander (video game)|Wing Commander]]'' were [[Ace Pilot
** And of course there's Colonel Blair himself, from WC3 and WC4. Having killed the most "ace" [[Mega Neko|Kilrathi]] pilots in the entire three decade war, and defeating [[The Dragon|Prince Thrakhath]], ''twice'' (the second time when Blair's fighter is weighed down with the [[Earthshattering Kaboom|Temblor Device]], which also halved his missile loadout), is one way of earning [[Badass]] points. He later gets promoted to [[Four-Star Badass]]
* Col. Corazon Santiago from ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]'': military genius, knows how to run a police state properly, and hot to boot.
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* Colonel from ''[[Mega Man X]]'' and his Net Navi counterpart in ''[[Mega Man Battle Network]]'' are both pretty awesome.
** It's required for the former, seeing as his [[Rival]] is the resident [[Badass]]...
* Col. Burton, the US [[RPG Elements|hero unit]] in ''[[Command
** Though he was only a captain during ''Renegade'', Nick "Havoc" Parker was ultimately promoted to colonel before his retirement, in spite of his antics ont he battlefield.
* Col. Jade Curtiss from ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]''. He starts out approximately 45 levels ahead of the other characters, is far stronger physically than most other black mages, and is 35 years old. In a JRPG. Still kicks the ass of a God-General after getting sealed down to the level of the rest of your party.
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* [[Psycho Electro|Col. Volgin]] of the GRU from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3''. Yes, he's evil. Doesn't detract one bit from his badassitude.
** Also from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', we have Col. Roy Campbell. Even when he [[Retired Badass|retires]], Snake not only continues to respect him, he even refers to him as "Colonel"... over Campbell's explicit objections. And in the original ''MGS''? He gave ''orders'' to Solid Snake.
* ''[[King of Fighters
** Technically, Ralf (who's under his command) hold the rank of colonel as well.
* Rolento from ''[[Final Fight]]'' (who later appears in ''[[Street Fighter]] Alpha'') is quite badass.
* Col. Hoffman from ''[[Gears of War]]'', at least in the sequel. Prior to that, he was more of a [[General Ripper]] type, at least toward Marcus, until Marcus redeemed himself.
* Maybe to appeal to players' potential [[Munchkin]] desires and knowledge of this trope - you are referred to as 'Colonel' for your military rank in [[
* The abilities of soldiers in ''[[X-COM]]: Ufo Defense'' generally improve as they survive more missions, as does their rank. The rank of colonel is the second highest in the game, next to the commander which you can only get one of at any time.
* Shepard from ''[[Mass Effect]]'' is a commander and, of course, very [[Badass]]. The character quickly receives command of the [[Cool Ship]] and is therefore upgraded to [[The Captain]], but is still called "Commander" and is a certified badass all along.
** By ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' s/he has (in the second of a trilogy) [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?|pissed off an entire fleet of Mecha-Cthulhu]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|by being directly or indirectly responsible for the destruction of a few of them]].
* Subverted by Captain Price from ''[[Modern Warfare]]'', who displays the amount of sheer badassitude commonly seen only in colonels, yet is still inexplicably a "mere" captain. {{spoiler|Had he not been held prisoner by the Russians for five years, though, he may have well been promoted to colonel by ''MW 2''.}}
* Colonel Hyuga from the original ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' is playable only briefly, but manages to annihilate a squadron of thugs due to his souped-up stats. He then proceeds to save an old man and befriend a child.
* Another chance for the player to pick up this trope: if you play as the United Earth Federation officer in ''[[Supreme Commander]] Forged Alliance'', you're referred to only as the colonel, having been promoted from Major in between the original game and the expansion. The more informal Cybrans only have two ranks that anyone ever hears about, so their player is always just commander, and the Aeon player is either Knight of the Illuminate or the Champion of the Princess, depending on where they are in the storyline. Both Cybran and Aeon players remain every bit as badass as their UEF counterpart, though.
* Colonel Augustus Autumn, ''[[Fallout 3]]''. Autumn is not a particularly strong opponent (he is only slightly more durable than the average human, and his only armor is his ''trench coat''), and he doesn't often appear during the game. This would make you think he doesn't qualify for this trope... until you realize that the troops under his
** Additionally, he somehow survives a dose of radiation that {{spoiler|kills you no matter how many anti-rad meds you take.}}
*** Just before {{spoiler|he falls on the floor,you can see him injecting something into his arm}}, maybe it's some kind of super-duper high-tech Enclave Rad-X?
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* In ''[[Just Cause (video game)|Just Cause 2]]'', you get to take down various colonels who carry good firepower and are [[Made of Iron]] enough to shrug off bullets to anywhere except [[Boom! Headshot!|the face]].
* Cpt. Keyes from [[Halo]]. Sure, in the games he only gives you your first gun, but in the books [[Adaptational Badass|he's epic]]. He takes a soldier's pistol and blasts an invisible Elite in one shot right after escaping the locked-in-landing Pillar of Autumn, and manages to survive for a remarkable time on the Halo ring.
* The upcoming ''[[Ace Combat: Assault Horizon]]'' will give us a USAF Colonel for the protagonist and a Russian Colonel for the antagonist. You just know this is gonna be epic.
* Colonel Relius Clover of ''[[
* Colonel Sanger Zonvolt of Super Robot Wars fame. Pilot of a giant mech, a German samurai and all-round badass. What's not to like about this guy?
* Lt. Colonel Burns of [[Vanquish]] is a massive dude with cybernetics up the wazoo touting a big ol' minigun as his main weapon.
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==
* Zephyr Crow of ''[[The Wandering Ones]]''
* ''[[Air Force Blues]]'': Col Alvis "Minnie" Gunnar and [[Lt Col]] Mike "Deadlock" Rowland.
* ''[[Manly Guys Doing Manly Things
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* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|Nobuo Iwasaki]] and [[Honor Before Reason|Samachi Nomura]] are very competent colonels although the former doesn't show it unless he's forced to act.
* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has Colonel Arthur Clarke, commanding officer of the Raptors, an elite military unit tasked with chasing down and arresting (or killing) draft-dodging Werewolves and Mages, as well as other secret operations. His successor, Colonel Andrea Treschi, is quite the badass himself.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131103220924/http://sosshinsei.proboards.com/index.cgi Suzumiya Haruhi no Yaku-Asobi]'' has Colonel [[But Not Too Foreign|Harriet Isuzu]], an alternate Haruhi who works for a [[The Multiverse|multi-dimensional]] paramilitary law enforcement agency that monitors sliding. Possible subversion in that soldiers from her home dimension's military look down on said agency and thus smugly refer to her as 'agent'. Her rival from the intelligence department, Colonel Sascha [[Significant Anagram|Sakisa]] also counts, being quite the [[Trickster]].
* [[Putting on the Reich|Standartenführer]] Rhianna von [[Meaningful Name|Adolph]] from ''[[Open Blue]]'' is a [[Stepford Smiler|constantly smiling]] [[Knife Nut]] who is in charge of the special operations division of Sirene's intelligence agency. She is also [[The Captain]] of ''two'' ships.
* Colonel Thomas Knowlton in ''[[The Dreamer]]''.
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* ''[[King of the Hill]]'s'' Cotton Hill. The guy took ''fiddy'' bullets to the back while lost at sea, managed to survive an ambush by an entire island full of Japanese troops, then proceeded to kill all of them with a piece of one of his deceased friends even though both his shins were blown off by machine gun fire; thus completes his famous deed of having killed ''fiddy'' men during WWII.
** Don't forget the time he took out a Japanese machine-gun nest by hiding in a barrel of sake, holding his breath until the guards got drunk, then leaping out and 'hibachi-ing' the entire group by blowing sake out over his zippo.
** Cotton is more of a subversion. True, he lost his shins, but his story...just ''doesn't'' add up. He mentioned Fatty was killed by sharks...yet he then mentions he used Fatty to beat the life out of the Japanese. Also, he claims to fought in both Munich and Okinawa in just mere days of each other. He's more [[
*** As Hank pointed out to Peggy, even though Cotton is fond of exaggerating his accomplishments he is ''still'' the greatest war hero Arlen had ever seen. Cotton was awarded a Medal of Honor, after all, and we know he was in the 77th Division which fought in Guam, Okinawa and the Phillipines, all of which have been cited by Cotton as locations he fought at.
== Real Life ==
=== In General ===
* Pretty much a given with ''any'' colonel (discounting the [[Modern Major-General]]-types who got their position through connections or nepotism, where those are still practiced) due to the fact that acquiring such a rank implies a successful military career, which in turn is generally due to the fact that this individual is physically and intellectually in top form. The fact that pretty much all military training involves, in some fashion, learning how to kill people doesn't hurt, either.
** Can be said to be subverted in the British and Commonwealth Armies, where a full Colonel is a staff rank only, and does not command a formation. There is thus a history of shunting not so competent Lt-Colonel's into this rank, whereas a
*** That has been more common in history then one might think. Originally Colonel simply meant roughly warlord. He was the constitutional monarch of a merc band. When regular armies evolved they evolved simply by colonels taking permanent service to a given monarch. Many times they were absentee colonels being on other assignments or sometimes not even soldiers. Basically being colonel of an eighteenth century regiment was like owning a baseball team.
* In the [[Reds with Rockets|Soviet]] and [[Russians With Rusting Rockets|Russian military]], the equivalent of the [[Four-Star Badass|four-star general rank]] is called General-Colonel. Not to mention that all three ranks from OF-3 to OF-5 are known as "[[The Captain]]" (in three grades). Russians like this trope.
** Though the actual shoulder insignia they wore had three large General's stars. Coincidentally, normal colonels wear three medium-sized stars, and lieutenant colonel's two.
=== Specific People ===
* The little-advertised fact about Vladimir Putin is that he is a colonel of the reserve. And he's a black belt in judo.
* [[wikipedia:Skorzeny|Otto Skorzeny]]. Played in [[Those Wacky Nazis|Team Evil]], but remained badass until his death.
** Even more badass in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110225193010/http://www.comics.aha.ru/rus/stalin/ Hitler Vs Stalin online graphic short story], where he is made of corpses reanimated by necromancer!Hitler.
* George Washington was a colonel during his time fighting for the British during the French and Indian War, and his [[Badass]] exploits earned him enough distinction to be appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army during the Revolution.
** Not to mention eventually becoming the First President of the United States of America. How's that for
* Lt.Col [[wikipedia:Jack Churchill|Jack Churchill]]. The man who fought the Nazis with a bow, arrows, and a claymore. The Germans eventually captured him by killing his entire commando squad with mortar fire; when they finally moved in, they found him sitting there, alone, playing the bagpipes.
{{quote|Any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.|Lieutenant Colonel '''Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill''', DSO, MC}}
** And after getting sent to two different concentration camps<ref>[[wikipedia:Sachsenhausen concentration camp#Notable inmates and victims during German period|Sachsenhausen]] and [[wikipedia:Dachau concentration camp|Dachau]]</ref> and escaping both times, he returned to Britain ready to go back to the battlefield. Unfortunately, the war ended before he got there, and that pissed him off. Apparently, he ''wasn't done killing'' yet. Time in Dachau would launch anybody on a [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]].
* Lt.Col. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Son of the first Black general in the U.S. Armed Forces, he led a WWII fighter plane group known as the Tuskegee Airmen. The baddest fighter pilots in damn near ANY war. Oh, and he was the first Black general in the U.S. Air Force.
** His dad was the first US black general,
* Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel [[wikipedia:Yonatan Netanyahu|Jonathan Netanyahu]] of the Israeli Defense Forces, who, among other things, led the ground team during the Entebbe Airport Raid to rescue the hostages of an Air France flight. He [[Heroic Sacrifice|died in the attempt]] (and was the ''only'' military Israeli fatality of the raid) and is a national hero in Israel.
** Lieutenant Colonel Netanyahu's brother is Benjamin Netanyahu. This might explain why Benjamin is always so angry.
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* The famous Special Operations division Delta Force was founded by Colonel Charles Beckwith. He was badass enough to take a .50 cal round through the torso and survive with only basic medical aid (as the doctors couldn't waste time on someone who was "clearly" going to die).
* Lt. Colonel James Doolittle of the famous Doolittle Raids.
* [[wikipedia:Frederick D. Gregory|Colonel Frederick Drew Gregory]], USAF, retired. The first Black man to pilot the space shuttle, and the first to command a space shuttle mission. This makes him [[The Captain]], an [[Ace Pilot]], and a
* [[wikipedia:Chesty Puller|Chesty Puller]] of the US Marine Corps and namesake of the Corps' bulldog mascot. The Marines have been telling [[Memetic Mutation|Chuck Norris facts]] about Puller before anyone had heard of Norris.
** Chesty is ''still'' considered a badass by today's Marines, and at Parris Island they end their day by saying, "Good night Chesty Puller, wherever you are!"
** He's also the most decorated Marine in the history of the Corps. Basically the only medal this guy doesn't have is the Medal of Honor, and that's just because he didn't kiss ass and refused to play political games.
*** Though pretty much everything that [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller came out of his mouth] proved he was a badass, he famously said this about being surrounded during the Korean War:
{{quote|"We've been looking for the enemy for some time now. We've finally found him. We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them."|More pithily put as: "They're to the left of us, the right of us, they're behind us, they're in front of us -- they won't get away this time!"}}
*** When shown a flamethrower, Puller reportedly asked, [[More Dakka|"Where do you put the bayonet???"]]
* [[wikipedia:Harry Smith (Australian soldier)|Lieutenant Colonel Harry Smith]], Australian Army. Known for his real-life [[wikipedia:Battle of Long Tan|Conservation
* [http://www.badassoftheweek.com/reusser.html Ken Reusser], a USMC fighter pilot in three different wars ([[World War Two]], [[Korean War]], and [[Vietnam War]]), who retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel. Probably one of the most badass feats he performed was downing a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft that was reporting on US positions for Kamikaze attacks, flying about 1000 feet above the theoretical ceiling of its pursuers. Him and his wingman both had their guns malfunction, so they used the props of their F4U Corsairs to chew up the Japanese aircraft's tail to take it down.
* Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, A.K.A. ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]''.
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* Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain commanded the 20th Maine during the Civil War, and was in charge of the Union left flank at the Battle of Gettysburg, day two. He is best known for calling "BAYONETS!" and ordering a charge downhill into the Confederate lines when his men ran out of ammo. It worked. The Union won.
* Colonels Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry ("Rough Riders"). Badasses both.
* Colonel Rick Rescorla - Served in Africa with the British Army, joined the US army in the mid-1960's and served in Vietnam, one of the hero's of the Battle of Ia Drang (Although he was written out of the movie version of [[We Were Soldiers]]...), was killed on 9/11 going back in with three subordinates to attempt to save the last 2 missing employees of Morgan Stanley (for whom he was the Head of Security at the World Trade Centre) but succeeded in getting the other 2700 employees safely out (who he organized the evacuation of, and he stood around singing Men of Harlech over a megaphone while supervising the evacuation). Was a US Army Reserve Colonel on 9/11.
** It's worth noting that he oversaw the evacuation of his company's employees during ''both'' World Trade Center attacks, including the 1993 truck bombing. He also tragically was [[The Cassandra]], trying to convince the Morgan Stanley higher-ups to move their offices to a less vulnerable location in New Jersey, which they decided not to do until the lease expired in 2006. A big part of their successful evacuation was that he [[Properly Paranoid|insisted on regular evacuation drills]].
* Colonel Ulf Henricsson, Swedish Army, commanded the first Swedish mechanized UN battalion to be deployed in the Bosnian war in the early 1990s and displayed a Pattonian attitude towards the situation in his area of responsibility. Once he ''personnally'' cleared a road from anti-tank mines just to show the local warlords that he would take no crap from them. His actions earned him the loyalty of his men and set fear in the regional militias and bandits, who never had expected Blue Berets to intervene so forcefully. (Sweden rarely decorates its officers, but Henricsson got the highest one available for peacetime bravery and competence, plus rapid promotions.)
* Lt Colonel [[wikipedia:John Dutton Frost|John Frost]] was the British Army's go to guy for impossible airborne missions. After proving himself by stealing a German radar station from occupied France, Frost went on to perform similarly daring missions in North Africa and Sicily. However his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] came during the Battle of Arnhem as part of Operation Market Garden where he was tasked with securing the Arnhem Bridge. Although ultimately doomed by the poorly conceived operation, John Frost and a small force of some 400 lightly armed paratroopers managed to penitrate German lines and sieze the north end of the bridge where he held out against an entire German SS Panzer division for 4 days until finally being forced to surrender due to lack of ammunition. Lt Col. Frost was later depicted in a movie and had Arnhem Bridge renamed in his honor.
* Lieutenant Commander [[wikipedia:Patrick Dalzel-Job|Patrick Dalzel-Job]]. His rank equates closer to Major, but nevertheless his Naval Intelligence Commando unit (basically British Navy SEALs) stormed German targets four days after D-Day and disabled a German destroyer at port (with its whole crew compliment) and then captured the town of Bremen. His boss was [[Ian Fleming]], and many consider him one of the models for [[James Bond]].
* [[wikipedia:Colonel Tye|Titus Cornelius]] was a former Black slave who fought in the American Revolution for the British. Although the British did not allow Blacks to be officers, let alone reach the rank of Colonel, he nevertheless was known and referred to as Colonel Tye. His guerilla-tactics were legendarily effective, even so far as helping hold off [[Four-Star Badass|George Washington]] troops in their first siege of New York. Most historians agree that had he been white (and, y'know, not fought for the British) he'd have been far more famous today. Side note, there is a rumor that his name inspired a certain other
* [[wikipedia:Lloyd L. Burke|Lloyd L. Burke]] received the Medal of Honor in the Korean war for his actions at Hill 200. He was on his way home when he heard his platoon was pinned down so he went back to them. After assessing the situation he stormed a Chinese trench with a pistol and a hand grenade. After using those up, he got out and grabbed a Browning 1919, ignored the shrapnel that shredded his hand, wrapped his jacket around the hot barrel, wrapped the ammunition belt around his body, lifted the 31 pound machine gun (normally used on a tripod), and proceeded to storm the trench again. He was only a Lieutenant at the time, but he achieved the rank of Colonel before he retired, so he counts.
* Many of [http://www.badassoftheweek.com/ataturk.html Mustafa Kemal Ataturk]'s claims to [[
* Colonel David Randolph Scott, seventh man on the moon and the only Air Force pilot to actually pilot a moon landing (the rest of the Apollo commanders were Navy men).
* Lieutenant Colonel [[wikipedia:John U. D. Page|John U. D. Page]], an artillery officer who served in the Korean War and recieved the Medal of Honor for his actions. In just 12 days of combat service, he singlehandedly took out an enemy MG nest, commanded tanks while also acting as a tank machine gunner , performed an aerial attack with hand grenades in an unarmed observation plane, and saved an ambushed logistics regiment from their Chinese attackers. In this last action, he was eventually killed, but not before taking at least 16 enemy soldiers with him.
* Colonel [[wikipedia:Buzz Aldrin|Buzz Aldrin]] (USAF), the second man to land on the Moon (but not the highest ranked officer to ever walk on the Moon - that's Alan Shepard or Charles Duke), and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUFO8AGMwic effective silencer of Moon landing hoax advocates]. Other Colonels who've landed on the Moon include David Scott and James Irwin - the rest are divided between Navy Captains and civilians.
* Lt. Colonel [http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Анатолий_Лебедь Anatoly Lebed']. 29 years of service, first as a [[It's Raining Men|paratrooper]] in Afghanistan, then entered an officers school, flew a helicopter there, first as a tech, then as a pilot until his retirement. But as he couldn't imagine himself as anyone but soldier, when Chechen war started he basically [[Ten-Minute Retirement|reenlisted himself]], served again as a paratrooper officer and got a reputation as [[Father to His Men]] there. Then he got blown on a mine, had his foot amputated, but returned to duty in just one year [[Handicapped Badass|on a prosthesis]]. Then, to up the ante, when his patrol got ambushed and [[Made of Iron|he suffered a serious shrapnel wound]], he basically [[Implacable Man|just ignored it]] until his unit got back to safety. The guy's also an accomplished engineer, [[Mr. Fixit|designing and building]] a lot of his unit<ref>The legendary 45'th ORP SpN VDV, which is as close to Russian Army admitting the unit being the part of the feared GRU Spetsnaz as it gets</ref> equipment and gear, like the combat buggies and such.
* [[wikipedia:H. Jones|Lt. Colonel Herbert Jones]] VC OBE. During the Falklands war his battalion was stalled under heavy small-arms fire from entrenched positions and being further pinned by increasing artillery fire. Realizing that he couldn't afford to loose momentum, Lt. Colonel H. Jones charged the fortified enemy position under concentrated fire, getting knocked back once, but continuing [[Heroic Sacrifice|until he died]] feet from the enemy. His men later charged, galvanized by his sacrifice. The enemy surrendered due to the heroics he displayed personally and simultaneously inspired in his men.
* [[wikipedia:Charles Lindbergh|Charles Lindbergh]], colonel in the Army Air Force, first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, and combat veteran of World War II (even though at that point he was a civilian).
* Colonel Dave Belote, base commander of Nellis AFB and five-time ''Jeopardy!'' champion.
* Lieutenant Colonel Danny Mcknight of the 75th Ranger Regiment. He was deployed to Somalia and participated in the infamous Battle of Mogadishu, in which seventeen American Soldiers died and hundreds of Somali militia were killed. LTC
* Daniel Morgan, leader of a unit of [[Cold Sniper|sharpshooters]] in the [[American Revolution]].
* An aversion comes from the time when Colonels were first CEOs and later ceremonial warleaders of a mercenary band, and a colonel did not even have to be a soldier let alone a sioldier from that particular regiment because it was lieutenant colonels and majors that actually led them in battle. In fact a colonel could very much resemble an American baseball team owner that just owns it because he is rich and likes baseball. Much of this tradition is still maintained in Commonwealth regiments.
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[[Category:All the Tropes Superhero Team]]
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[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]
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[[Category:The Squad]]
▲[[Category:Older Than Television]]
▲[[Category:Badass]]
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