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{{trope}}
[[File:darkwing-duck-
{{quote|'''Launchpad McQuack''': I don't know, DW, that sounds dangerous!
'''Darkwing Duck''': Yeah? Well then, ''[[Trope Namer|let's get dangerous!]]''
|''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]''}}
Things are looking bleak. The protagonist and his allies are in a corner; the villain's [[My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours|kung fu is stronger than theirs.]] Outnumbered, outgunned, the situation calls for heroism, and unfortunately for our heroes, the only people around are all [[Plucky Comic Relief|comic relief]], [[
Hey, what are they doing? Don't they know that they're outside the [[Competence Zone]]? They're prime [[C-List Fodder]]!
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Hold on a moment... [["Hell Yes!" Moment|did he just punt that guy through a wall?]]
A moment in the story when all the quirky, eccentric supporting cast stop being quirky and eccentric and start demonstrating why you should respect your elders. In effect it can often be similar to [[Took a Level
This was the [[Catch Phrase]] of [[Darkwing Duck]], a bumbling hero who revealed his true competence and effectiveness from behind a pompous exterior after saying it.
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{{examples}}
* {{spoiler|Chuck}}, in ''[[Panty & Stocking with
▲== Anime & Manga ==
▲* {{spoiler|Chuck}}, in [[Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt|Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt]]. In the last episode, {{spoiler|Chuck unzips himself to reveal [http://i56.tinypic.com/t9y1k1.jpg this... THING], and proceeds to charge straight up the huge Ghost, taking down Fastener (who does something similar, turning into a two headed dragon) along the way.}}
* Midway through ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'', {{spoiler|Hanyuu}} decides to get serious: ''"I have finally realized that this cycle of suffering is because of your Will. WE WILL NOT LOSE TO YOUR WILL!"''
** Even after that, in the last few episodes, several of the normally [[Adults Are Useless|useless adults]] have these kind of moments, with Kasai intimidating a group of mooks into submission with a large shotgun and [[Fan Nickname|Mr. Delicious]] judo-flipping a corrupt superior officer. These are all trumped royally when Akasaka shows off his shiny new [[Took a Level
* At first acquaintance, Rock of ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' seems harmless and nice, a contrast to his [[Darker and Edgier]] crewmates, not to mention the city he lives in, a [[Wretched Hive]]. Then, just when you think you're going to win, he shows ''why'' he's a member of the ''Black Lagoon'' crew.
** ''Really'' shows up in the Baille de la Muerta arc. He just pushes a couple of people in the right directions and sits back and laughs. Literally. Also when he shows his [[Slasher Smile]], and that, no, he really isn't very idealistic at all (contrary to what everyone else thinks).
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** That's nothing compared to what [[The Woobie|Dr. Marcoh]] had [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|done]] to Envy.
** And then there's Hohenheim taking care of Pride, by encasing him in a giant dirt dome.
* Happened quite often in ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', definitely after everyone took [[Took a Level
* Vash the Stampede from ''[[Trigun]]'' lives and breathes this trope. 90% of the time he's goofing off, playing with local children or even getting into trouble with local thugs, but when the chips are down he really does live up to his nickname of "The Humanoid Typhoon".
* ''[[Macross Frontier]]'' contains a direct subversion when Sheryl Nome attempts to fly a Valkyrie for the first time during a battle. She even intones her [[Catch Phrase]] and gets a [[Theme Music Power-Up]], but she botches the whole thing as one might expect of an [[Idol Singer]], getting shot down almost immediately.
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** Joey in particular demonstrates this trope a lot. Most of the time, he's the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] far outshadowed by his King of Games best friend, who, after all, has ''card-playing superpowers''. But every once in a while, when you push him up against a wall, you threaten the well-being of his sister, Mai, or Yugi, and his eyes become little windows to hell and you brace yourself for a ''hard'' smackdown. The only time this has ''failed'' is his duel against Marik and he managed to (mostly) withstand an attack by an Egyptian god and get Marik to practically crap his pants before collapsing mere seconds before winning the duel.
** Mokey-Mokey Smackdown, anybody?
** Not to mention Yugi himself. In the second series, to a minor
* In ''[[Naruto]]'' we spend 50 episodes watching the kids get more and more powerful with only an occasional demonstration of power from one of the teachers. A person might start to think that the kids are the real powerhouses right up until the [[Big Bad]] attacks the village with his Mooks. At which point everyone's parents show up and start tossing around powers that are an order of magnitude above what any of the main cast has shown up until that point. (The battle between the [[Big Bad]] and the [[Old Master]] involves necromancy, using the ''Monkey King'' as a partner (!?), dragon's heads made of earth shooting fire balls, and summoning ''the freakin' Grim Reaper'' to help out.)
** Meanwhile the parents of the supporting cast all demonstrate their phenomenal powers by using their children's power at a much greater level. Chouji's father [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|makes his entire body grow ten times in size]], Shikamaru's father strangles people with their own shadows, Ino's dad mind controls a squad of enemy ninjas and makes them beat each other up, and we don't know what Hinata's dad did, but there were about thirty corpses lying around once he was finished. This doubles as a teaser showing what powers the support crew will get to obtain in coming storylines.
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* One episode of ''[[The Big O]]'' has Roger's mild-mannered butler <s> Alfred</s> Norman pulling a huge, belt-fed gun out of [[Hammerspace]] to protect his employer and his robot girl sidekick.
** Then, in the same episode, when he's run out of big guns, he whips out twin semiautomatic pistols, fires them straight overhead, shredding a few robots about to land on him, all in the time it takes to yell "Sons of bitches!"
* Several comic relief characters from ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' fall in this category. Master Roshi started out as a purely comic character (introduced as a pervert with a pet turtle); only later did he reveal his fighting skills. Yajirobe was instrumental in defeating Vegeta, and several [[Big Bad
** Are you kidding, at the end he risked his life to save Vegeta and even helped give Goku the power he needed to take down Kid Buu.
** Even Goku himself can come off like this, Often joking and light-hearted even in the midst of battle. But when you ''actually'' piss him off? You are done. Period. This even shows in his English VA as you can tell the tone in his voice clearly changes to show he's dead serious.
* ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]'': When faced with the destruction of her new home and death of her friends, Caro, the supporting healer of the group, summons a Godzilla sized dragon that proceeds to wipe the floor with the bad guys.
** From the [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime)|first season]]: Chrono Harlaown. We'd been getting vague hints about his skill with magic, despite being [[Weak but Skilled|confirmed weaker than the protagonist]], but he never seemed to actually ''do'' anything, and the [[Cannon Fodder|relative strength level]] of the other TSAB mages wasn't helping his case. Then, in the finale, he obliterates several dozen [[Mecha Mook
* In ''[[Bleach]]'' the quirky father, Isshin Kurosaki, confronts Grand Fisher, and reveals that he was once a Captain level Shinigami. He then kills Grand Fisher with a single attack.
** It's two [[The Dandy|men]] fighting over who's the [[Fairest of Them All]] and [[Hilarity Ensues]]. It's [[Plucky Comic Relief]] in the middle of all that serious fighting. It's one [[Berserk Button]] too many getting pressed resulting in the villain
** Orihime against {{spoiler|Ginjou: "Sadistic? I don't mind you calling me that. If you don't want to get hurt, don't attack me when I say not to.''}}
* The cast of ''[[Ninja Nonsense]]'' do this, but ''[[Bait and Switch Credits|only in the theme]]''!
* ''[[Hellsing]]''. Walter C. Dornez is a rather benign butler who nonetheless displays some technical wizardry with weapons. When vampires attack the compound, however, he reveals himself to be a [[Retired Badass]] and goes into full [[Battle Butler]] mode, slicing through squads of mooks at a time with his [[Razor Floss]].
** We also get [[The Woobie|Seras Victoria]] {{spoiler|taking on a company of [[Elite Mooks|Millenium vampires]] in a ''freaking airship''}} and [[Lady of War|Integra Hellsing]] (who has [[Badass Normal|no superhuman abilities whatsoever]] {{spoiler|pulling herself from a car crash relatively unscathed, decapitating the vampire who attacked her, mocking the rest as weaklings who couldn't bear humanity, and telling them to bring it on so she can kill them}}.
* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', it is very easy to discount Shinigami-sama as harmless [[Mission Control]], what with his goofy mask, silly speech pattern and [[Verbal Tic
** Spirit gets this during his and Stein's fight with Medusa, in a moment of [[Mood Whiplash]] where he muses about [[Lovable Sex Maniac|removing]] her white coat and promptly points out that, being the Death Scythe, he has to kill her. He is also eager to fight Asura with Shinigami in the anime.
** Marie Mjolnir as well. She may be a kindhearted [[Team Mom]] who can get along with pretty much everybody, but when she gets serious, shit tends to get pretty real. [[Megaton Punch|Justin Law found this out]] [[Shock and Awe|the hard way]].
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** Or {{spoiler|Lizzy.}}
* A lot of characters from ''[[Saiunkoku Monogatari]]''. Normally childish, goofy Ryuuki turns out to be {{spoiler|only pretending to be an idiot for a variety of complicated reasons}} and manages to {{spoiler|take down several highly trained assassins to save Shuurei, in spite of his fear of the dark and, oh, not being able to ''see''}}; Shouka, Shuurei's blundering, spacey father is actually {{spoiler|the legendary assassin Black Wolf, and... well, just don't hurt Shuurei and let him know about it}}; Ryuuren the eccentric genius manages to take down bad guys by the dozen ''using only his flute''; and even the little brainiac Eigetsu {{spoiler|turns out to have a split personality, and his other side is an insanely good fighter}}. And that's just the tip of the iceberg; don't even get me started on the ''women''....
* In the ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' finale, the school is under attack and [[The Hero|the Blue Sky Sapphire heroine Arika Yumemiya]] and [[Beware the Nice Ones|Fire-Stirring Ruby]] [[Lady of War|Mai Tokiha]] and even the [[Badass Teacher|headmaster Ice Silver Crystal Natsuki Kruger]], have been forced to [[Instant Armor|Materialize]] to combat the invasion. But then they hear the familiar voice of Miss Maria Graceburt, one of the most feared teachers in Garderobe... '''''Who has MATERIALIZED and thus REGAINED HER YOUTH.''''' Cue the young Miss Maria [[Flash Step
{{quote|'''Miss Maria:''' It's shameful that, even in my old age, I still have to show this graceful form.}}
** Doubles as a [[Never Mess with Granny]] moment. Especially since she's been getting provoked by the invaders since the start, and her patience just reached its limit.
* Nanael from ''[[Queen's Blade]]'' is a ditzy angel who always gets in trouble and can't even fly straight, because of her asymmetric
* In ''[[One Piece]],'' Usopp plays this trope magnificently in Thriller Bark when he calls out for help, then rescues himself as Sogeking complete with gag theme turned [[Crowning Music of Awesome]].
** Also can be seen when Luffy cracks his knuckles, Zoro puts his bandana on his head rather than around his arm, Sanji lights a cigarette in the middle of a fight, and Robin brings her hands up to the opposite shoulders, when they do these, you know they're taking their fight seriously.
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** In the Thriller Bark storyline Brook was introduced as a bumbling socially incompetent idiot. Many chapters later he suddenly had one of the creepier dramatic entrances of the series and one-shotted a giant monster who was wiping the floor with Franky and Robin ''at the same time.''
** Chopper, the tiny reindeer is a comic relief character, right? Wrong.
* Happens at the beginning of ''[[Ninja Scroll]]: The Series''. Shigure is always getting angry at her fellow villagers about their inability to take their martial arts training
* Folgore and
** That's nothing! While in training to beat Clear Note, Kanchome and Gash spar and Kanchome {{spoiler|beats gash even though he used the super powered Bao Zakeruga. That's right, the comic relief took down the Title character in a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]]}}
* While [[Kirby]] is as competent (read: violent) in the games as the player, in the [[Kirby:
* Also, in the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime, Misty's Psyduck. Normally totally useless, but whenever it gets a serious headache, it gains amazing psychic powers.
** Misty's Togepi. The little ball of cuteness that can barely walk on its own packs a mean Metronome attack which saves the day every time it uses it.
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* Hayato and Kai, and later Sayla, of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' do this every once in a while if the White Base is in a pinch, not always to great avail. This is also tried in various other series, but, being Real Robot anime, [[Anyone Can Die|it doesn't always work out so well]].
* While the ''[[City Hunter]]'' Ryo Saeba may be a [[Chivalrous Pervert]], once you get him started with the task at hand, watch out.
* Erika and Walker of ''[[Durarara!!]]''. {{spoiler|Not only are they Dollars, the were also instrumental in the downfall of the Blue Squares Gang, which they accomplished by ''pouring gasoline on the leaders of the Blue Squares and lighting them on fire.''}}
* Generally, [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Gintoki]] doesn't need more than [[Wooden Katanas Are Even Better|the wooden sword he bought in an infomercial]] to slice and dice his enemies, alien airships, towering mechas, and so on. There are at most two or three enemies in ''[[Gintama]]'' whom he deems strong enough that he decides to swap his wooden sword for a real sword in the fight. However, you'll know that he still doesn't consider his enemies challenging until he starts [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|dual wielding]].
* Matsuda {{spoiler|shooting at Light}} in the final episode of ''[[Death Note]]''
* Juvia Loxar from ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' is a childish [[Third Person Person]] who seems to only exist so she can be [[The Lancer|Gray Fullbuster's]] [[Stalker with a Crush]]. The entire thing is played for laughs, because no one considers Juvia capable of any real malice or harm anyway. {{spoiler|Then one of the enemies in the S Class Trial arc says she's out to kill Gray...Juvia rises up from a supposed defeat and starts speaking normally, ready to go into [[Violently Protective Girlfriend]] mode.}}
* Many characters in ''[[Ghost Sweeper Mikami]]'', but most notably Yokoshima the perverted [[Butt Monkey]] of the series. While he treated harshly by his employer and also get the worst of everything. When he does get serious he can really cause some mondo damage. Hell he winds up taking down Medusa, once of the series biggest bads, not once but ''twice''.
* Several times in ''[[Baccano!]]'', but in particular "Jacuzzi Splot [[Berserker Tears|Cries]], [[Cowardly Lion|Gets Scared]], And [[Big Damn Heroes|Musters Reckless Valor]]."
* In ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', Kotetsu/Wild Tiger has shown himself to be a complete dork and something of a klutz. However, dork or not, he's still a veteran superhero (and, according to Yuri Petrov's archived data, a former holder of the King of Heroes title) and demonstrates quite regularly that he can be quite a ''badass'' dork.
** Origami Cyclone as well. This is a guy who's main style of 'heroism' is to pop up everywhere there's a camera, largely because he doesn't think his [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|superpower]] measures up to the other heroes. Later in the series, after a boost of confidence, he proves to be much more [[Badass]] than he had been before, [[Heart Is an Awesome Power|using his power]] to disguise himself as a ''wanted poster'' at one point, and proving that he really can fight in the finale.
*** And his infiltration of the {{spoiler|Ouroboros base, which took guts and was almost a Heroic Sacrifice once Jake found him}}.
* [[Magnificent Bastard|Xerxes Break]] of ''[[Pandora Hearts]]'' says this almost verbatim toward the end of the anime. Although he has revealed to the audience how truly terrifyingly badass he is during earlier fights, none of the main cast have seen him do it until that point, and their reaction is little less than speechless shock. To top it off, every time he gets dangerous, he does so without changing his overly flamboyant behavior and speech.
* In the ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' movie, ''everyone'' pulls one of these; given that almost nobody in the entire cast is usually serious, this is something of a welcome change. After the heroes have been stranded on an island, the alien mothership lands and deposits a very large army of [[The Blank|faceless]] [[Alien Invasion|aliens]] around them, who respond to this threat by ''[[Good Old Fisticuffs|punching the crap out of it]]''. Especially awesome moments include America remembering he has super strength and backflipping out of the way of several shots, [[Beware the Nice Ones|Rus]][[Tsundere|sia]] facepalming the aliens out of the way <ref>
{{quote|"All right then, come on! ''I'll kill you all with my bare hands!''" *proceeds to take down another dozen before finally getting taken down*}}
* [[Yes! Pretty Cure 5|Nozomi]] [[Yes! Pretty Cure 5|Yumehara]] is probably the bubbliest of a [[Five-Man Band]]. She's implied to have [[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny|ADHD]], she's [[Book Dumb]], and [[Got Volunteered|she'll drag herself and everyone else into some odd idea of hers]]. Yet, if you dare try to squash someone's dreams, she will ''end you''. You can easily see that between her civilian identity and her transformed identity as her voice grows deeper and more commanding in the latter.
==
* Comes up occasionally in DC's ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' comic regarding the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a group of misfit heroes rejected for Legion membership because [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|their powers are lame]]. A particularly notable example appears in [[Gail Simone]]'s four-issue "[http://legionabstract.blogspot.com/2006/12/legionnaires-for-no-better-reason.html For No Better Reason]" storyline: after all hell breaks loose on Earth, Legion support staff member Chuck Taine sends the team the only backup he can find - apparent [[C-List Fodder]] from the Legion Academy. Who proceed to kick butt and take names.
** Likewise, in the recent "[[Superman]] and the [[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]" storyline in ''Action Comics'', not only do a group of third-rate villains [[Not So Harmless|take over the world]], but they're stopped in large part by the Legion of Substitute Heroes, a team that raises [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?]] to an art form.
*** To be fair, the Subs don't have crappy powers (one of them has all the energy projection powers of the ENTIRE EMOTIONAL SPECTRUM, for example, from the GL comics), they just have sucky methods of using them. Stone Boy, sure, he has crap powers. But Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, and Rainbow Girl? Just not the best methods of application for their powers. When they use them well? It's pure awesome.
* In ''[[The Astounding Wolf Man]]'' Cecil assembles a crew of all of the series' [[
* [[Plastic Man]] in the ''[[Justice League of America]]'' comics was often this. Despite nominally being the comic relief, he kicked bad guy ass so often that [[Batman]] classed him as possibly the most dangerous member of the League. At one point someone writes Plastic Man off as a useless addition to the team, whereupon Batman points out that this is someone that has survived being shattered into millions of pieces and scattered on the ocean's floor for thousands of years, and is not to be trifled with.
** Notably, in [[Frank Miller]]'s ''[[The Dark Knight Strikes Again]]'' one character refers to him as "Immeasurably powerful. Absolutely nuts," and asserts that he could kill them all with ease.
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* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' Season 8 comic ''Wolves at the Gate,'' we have Dracula. While he is technically as dangerous as any other vampire, he is mostly played for laughs both in his one appearance during the TV show and during the comic. However, in the final battle of the issue he delivers a chilling reminder of just how dangerous he can be when he's derided as an old man by one of the enemy leaders along with an [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|awesome speech]]:
{{quote|'''Dracula''': "Did you forget who I used to be? I've killed more men than God's plagues combined. And that was before I started eating people for fun. The fields of Europe used to stream with the blood of my enemies. Trust me... the vampire's the least of your concerns. It's the old man you need to worry about."}}
* In the ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'', Susan Storm's powers were used mostly defensively, so she was more an obstacle to a villain than a threat. However, when she started [[Took a Level
* In [[Don Rosa]]'s "The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros", the villain is leaving on the only canoe available to leave Donald Duck, José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles trapped in an ancient ruin, to be eaten by a giant anaconda sooner or later. As the three despair of stopping him or ever getting out, Donald mentally hears everyone back home whose disrespectful attitudes he's effectively escaping on this adventure scolding him for failing again. He gets so angry that he swings on a liana over the piranha-infested river to reach the boat and viciously attack the (armed) villain. His example also inspires the other two to get dangerous and do things such as defeat the giant snake with an umbrella.
== Fan Works ==
* Episode 2 of ''[https://my.w.tt/v4IffEriLU Final Stand of Death]'', [[Blink 182| Mark]] thought Spur {{spoiler| once known as woman named [[Spice Girls| Emma]]}} would be easy. At first, it seemed like that until Mark [[Too Dumb To Live| makes chainsaw noises]]. Spur quickly reminds Mark that she can fight and DOES! Since it has been known about her karate skills, Spur can hold her ground in a fight when the call comes, even [[Involuntary Battle to the Death| if forced to]], like what happened back at ''[[Celebrity Deathmatch|DeathBowl 98]]
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* Eric from ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' spends a good portion of the film getting jerked around in one way or another, then the sea witch tries to kill Ariel and he has to introduce her to Mister Giant Pointy Stick.
* ''[[Despicable Me]]'', towards the end {{spoiler|when Vector has captures the girls, and refuses to release them, even though Gru gave him the Moon. Gru, who up until this point was doing an OK job, decided to finally step up his game. Going so far as to dodge Vector's defenses, and [[Offhand Backhand|punch out a shark.]]}}
* The scene in ''[[Dumbo]]'', where the [[
* For most of Disney's ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', Little John is a jovial sidekick who makes jokes about Prince John from afar and has to be coaxed into going along with Robin's plans. But when the Prince is about to execute Robin at the tournament, all Little John does is grab the Prince by the collar, point a dagger at his back and growl "Okay hotshot, now you tell your men to untie my buddy ''or I'll''..."
== Film - Live Action ==
* ''[[Gremlins]] 2''
{{quote|'''Kate:''' What happened to ''him''?
'''Billy:''' I think they [[Beware the Nice Ones|pushed him too far]]. }}
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* Richard, [[Jennifer Aniston]]'s brother in ''The Breakup'', played by John Michael Higgins. Though a [[Flamboyant Gay]], Richard delivers a quick [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb stomp]] when Vince Vaughn lays a hand on him. Later, the ego-hurt Vaughn complains that he was sucker-punched before he knew he was in a fight, and promises to bring some "Polacks who don't have a future" to back him up next time.
* ''[[Mystery Men]]'' takes this trope as its premise.
* In ''[[Transformers
** Bumblebee [[Took a Level
* ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'': When Eddie Valiant, who's already been starting to drop the alcoholic slob act as he's been forced into action, gets ready to finally enter Toontown, digs out his giant toon gun, and instead of taking a swig from his bottle of booze throws it in the air and shoots it with an anthropomorphic Indian bullet that produces a tomahawk bigger than itself and smashes the bottle in mid-air. {{spoiler|That's the only thing the gun ever is useful for in the movie.}}
** Roger himself also gets a moment to shine. After Eddie and Jessica are taken captive, Roger attempts to save them by bursting up through a drain in the floor. (Hey, he's a 'Toon. He can do things like that.) In a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], he holds Judge Doom at gunpoint and declares "We 'Toons may ''act'' idiotic, but we aren't stupid!" Of course, his heroic act comes to a halt after a literal ton of bricks is dropped on his head.
* Mr. Miyagi in every single ''[[Karate Kid]]'' movie. Given, it's no longer surprising after the first movie, but it isn't until the end of the first film that he demonstrates he "still has it after all those years."
* In the Russian film ''[[Guest From the Future]]'', a space pirate corners the child protagonists. Then their sports teacher shows up, the pirate threatens her, she throws him out of the
* In ''[[The Black Hole]],'' V.I.N.CENT is a cute little robot sidekick. Then he [[This Is a Drill|faces up against]] [[Killer Robot|Maximillian.]]
* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' a couple of [[Those Two Guys|ineffectual bumbling soldiers]] at one moment climb onto a ship where a fierce and pretty one-sided battle between soldiers and undead pirates unleashes. Having taken in that horrifying sight, they promptly [[It Has Been an Honor|shake hands]] and rush into the fray with a battle cry.
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* Patrick Winslow and the time-lost Smurfs approach Gargamel's hideout in Central Park to rescue Papa Smurf, with Patrick wielding a crowbar, the Smurfs cricking their necks, and the soundtrack playing AC/DC's "Back In Black" in ''[[The Smurfs (film)|The Smurfs]]''.
* ''[[The Wild Hunt (film)|The Wild Hunt]]'' is basically a countdown to this trope as a simple live-action role-playing game suddenly devolves into ''[[Lord of the Flies]]'' style murder.
* From ''[[Beetlejuice]]'': [[It's Showtime!|"It's showtime."]]
* In ''[[Shaun of the Dead]]'', after poor Shaun is forced to sacrifice his old vinyl record collection to fight off two zombies, but they just keep coming, he's so full of utter rage that he and Ed break into the tool shed and pull out a shovel and cricket bat to ''really'' start smashing zombie skulls.
== Literature ==
* A prime example of this is the last battle in ''[[
** Including, among other things: {{spoiler|'''Molly Weasley ''kills'' Bellatrix Lestrange'''. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Singlehandedly, while Bellatrix was shown to singlehandedly fight three members of Dumbledore's Army to a standstill at once!]] [[Mama Bear|Don't mess with her kids.]]}}
*** {{spoiler|More specifically, don't mess with [[Berserk Button|the only daughter]] of a woman who's raised ''
*** In the film version, {{spoiler|she is laughing when Molly shows up, and after her first attack, goes straight into an [[Oh Crap]] while Molly delivers her declaration. Then she actually starts to take her seriously as a combatant, but stops to cackle at her, at which point Molly starts driving ''her'' back, then ''breaks her into little pieces''.}}
** {{spoiler|Hey, don't forget Professor Trelawney! Something has to be said about the woman who drives off a werewolf using crystal balls as projectiles.}}
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** Also in the final battle, the [[Hellish Horse|thestrals]] and the [[Knife Nut|house elves]] (led by {{spoiler|[[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|KREACHER]]}}, of all people) take part in the battle, greatly assisting the heroes.
** Dobby in Book 2, and then later in Book 7, where he {{spoiler|completely owns Bellatrix and the Malfoys and ends up pulling both a [[Big Damn Heroes]] and a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}.
** Neville Longbottom, who, after being everyone's [[The Woobie|favorite]] [[Butt Monkey|loser]] for 6 years, steps up to the Carrows, leads an underground resistance group and single
*** The special-release Neville Longbottom [[Defictionalization|Chocolate Frog Card]] states plainly that he is one of only three individuals ever to ''single-handedly'' duel Voldemort and survive (the other two being Harry Potter and Dumbledore). The phrase "[[Took a Level
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** The broom-sweeping elder monk [[Retired Badass|Lu Tze]] from [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[
** Otto Chriek from ''[[
*** In ''Thud'', he explains that he works hard to appear silly and pathetic, because if he didn't he'd be creepy and genuinely frightening. There's a couple of hints now and then that he might be [[Retired Monster|a retired complete monster]].
** Magrat of ''[[
{{quote|The elf looked down at the crossbow. "I won't beg," it said.
"Good," said Magrat, and fired. }}
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The eyes of the Queen were all she could see. All she wanted to do was lose herself in them, and the ablation of Magrat Garlick roared on, tearing at the strata of her soul... exposing the core.
She bunched up her fist and hit the Queen between the eyes. }}
** Then there's Stanley in ''[[
** The Archchancellor and most of the wizards at Unseen University count. They're a group of stumbling idiots who spend most of their time eating large meals and sleeping... but don't piss them off.
** Also, Susan, Death's grand-daughter technically counts (particularly by ''Thief of Time''). She may be a teacher and may spend most of her time looking after six
*** And don't forget the scene in the same book about her abilities as a teacher. She inspired one of her students, who had until then been terrified of the monster under the bed, not only to face her fear, but to ''go after it with her father's sword''. When confronted with parental worries that she'd been introducing children to the occult, Susan replied that she had, "so it won't come as a shock".
** How can we not mention Death himself? He's this relaxed, philosophical figure, quite uncharacteristic of the normal image people have of the Grim Reaper... until you mess with the Balance of Life and Death. Then he {{spoiler|gets on a fucking motorcycle. That's all there really is to say on the matter.}}
** Oh, and Albert, Death's butler. He spends his days complaining, smoking thin, soggy cigarettes, making food that tastes as bad as it is for your health, and oh by the way just happens to be {{spoiler|the greatest wizard who ever lived and the founder of Unseen University, Alberto Malich.}}
** Mr. Bent from ''[[
** The Nac Mac Feegle were comic relief through the first three ''Tiffany Aching'' books, but in ''I Shall Wear Midnight''
* The final battle in ''[[Good Omens]]'':
** [[Good Is Not Dumb|Azi]][[Our Angels Are Different|rap]][[Beware the Nice Ones|hale]] arms himself with his [[Flaming Sword]].
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** [[Badass Bystander|Pepper, Bri]][[Badass Normal|an, and Wensleydale]] {{spoiler|defeat the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Bikers of the Apocalypse]].}}
* ''[[Honor Harrington]]'' Victor Cachat is this is his first appearance in ''From the Highlands''. He's the new guy, never done any real fieldwork. His new mentor calls him "wonderboy" and mocks him (good-naturedly) at every oppourtunity. His idealism and naivete is a constant source of amusement to the other characters, even though the former the only reason any of them would consider talking to him. His uncertainty is quite frankly, adorable and endearing. Then you get to the end bit where he's supposed to fire one burst to scatter the scrags and get out of the way for the Ballroom, and...yeah, not so much. They screwed with his nation and his principles, and he '''will''' make them pay, personally. Officer of the Revolution. Sneer and be damned. (He's much less of an example thereafter, since it becomes common knowledge in the military/espionage community - meaning all the main characters - that however cute and sweet he may occasionally appear, only the deeply suicidal get in the way of his principles. He is [[God Mode Sue|THAT good.]])
** A related example is his mentor Kevin Usher, who deliberately built a reputation as a politically oblivious drunk to hide the fact that {{spoiler|He's a major player in the Havenite
** Another example from the same series is Shannon "Oops!" Foraker. She's the quintessential techno-nerd and [[Genius Ditz]], apparently a wizard at tactical problems with no particular care for the real world. But once she marks the Havenite [[State Sec]] as an enemy, the organization's days are numbered, culminating with {{spoiler|an entire main battle fleet's fusion plants being blown by a computer virus}}. Now remember, kiddies, never mess with [[Adorkable]] nerd girls.
* In ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]'', the demons are pursuing the escaping heroes and princesses when the heroes reach the [[The Cavalry|assembled armies of Wisdom]], all the goofy [[Anthropomorphic Personification
* The Cassiline Brotherhood of ''[[Kushiel's Legacy]]'' are sworn only to get their swords out to kill (normally, they use daggers and vambraces). You'd better believe that when they do, things are going to get
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', the most powerful Ringwraith, the Witch-king, was killed by Merry and
** There was also Pippin, who in the books took down a whole troll, and not just any troll, but one of those ones bred for fighting.
*** By the time the third book has happened, Merry is already noted to have hacked the limbs off of several of the
** Eowyn is given leadership of the nation of Rohan in her brother and uncle's absence. In times of war, that is a position of military importance and granted only to someone that can handle combat.
** Speaking of Hobbits, one chapter fits this trope perfectly: "Scouring of the Shire".
** Gandalf himself gets a little of this. He comes across a little bumbling in the first book, a tad of the archetypal distracted wizard. Then he [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|faces down the Balrog of Moria]].
** [[Badass Normal|Samwise]] deserves a mention too, driving off the [[Eldritch Abomination]] Shelob and taking down an orc slavedriver in his search for Frodo.
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* ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'': [[The Klutz|Alfred]] faints when confronted with danger. {{spoiler|In truth he is a Serpent Mage, one of the most powerful beings in the universe}}.
* Why has ''[[The Pendragon Adventure]]'' not been mentioned yet? Spader says this almost every five minutes. He even gets Bobby saying it.
* [[The Belgariad|Belgarath]] pretty much lives and breathes this trope. Normally he could easily be mistaken for a drunken, lazy, bumbling, vagabound, with a fairly weak grasp of personal property and a rather sloppy taste in attire. People who know him often call him this and worse, since he can't seem to be bothered take most things seriously. But when things get serious, or you piss him off... you'll see WHY he was chosen as first disciple of the god Aldur, and just what the most powerful sorcerer on the planet, with over 7000 years of experience, is capable.
** His daughter Polgara is only slightly less so. She may look pretty innocuous at times, but but she takes ''a lot'' after her father in the sheer power department (in an early book, she turned the Empress of Nyissa into an eternal snake). She's lived several millennia herself and has been everything from a Nadrak slave-woman to the Duchess of Erat, so she carries her own arsenal of magical and non-magical skills.
* Speaking of David Eddings, in ''[[The Redemption of Althalus]]'', you have Emmy. She looks like a sweet cat and will purr and love you to pieces... However she is {{spoiler|God (well, Goddess), and the entire fate of reality is revolving around a family feud she's having with her two brothers}}. Piss her off and she can and will {{spoiler|eradicate you from existence}}. Also, Athalus himself probably counts to the rest of the group. He may be a thief and he may joke around with the forces of existence, but you threaten anyone he loves and he will {{spoiler|show you why he is Dweia's boyfriend}}.
* In the ''Demon child'' series, R'shiel may look and act like a spoilt brat. However {{spoiler|she has enough power to destroy a God}}. And she has a short temper when it comes to people interfering in her plans.
* ''[[Great Alta Saga|White Jenna]]'': Skada. As a dark sister, she is supposed to fill a supporting role, but in the climatic battle she kills her first man and saves Jenna's life.
* In ''[[Spelljammer|The Cloakmaster Cycle]]'' a very young [[Boisterous Bruiser|Giff]] joins the protagonist and considers him superior. This green "trooper Gomja" is more of a burden, since he only looks in Teldin's mouth and waits for an order. Then in a fit of inspiration Teldin "[[Non-Promotion|promotes]]" lad to
* Septimus from ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' does this against the Toll-Man when trying to get to the House of Foryx in ''Queste''.
* Let's consider the [[Animorphs]], shall we? Sure, Rachel develops into a walking pile of RAEG and Jake is clearly no one to mess with, with an air of [[Determinator]]-ness and [[Papa Wolf|devoted leadership]]. But their support? A wise-cracking comic book geek, an introverted, pacifistic animal nut, and the middle-school bully magnet ([[And Zoidberg|and Ax]]); not exactly the biggest badasses around. That is, until they transform into wolves and gorillas. Tobias's hawk might not be the scariest thing around ([[Weak but Skilled|though he's damn good with it]]), but he also knows ''rhino''. And, if worst comes to worst, they all have [[Everything's Worse with Bears|the set of polar bears]], just in case...
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* Poor brain-fried River from ''[[Firefly]]'' is a serious liability for most of the series, although there's a creepy savant-ish ability with a pistol in one episode, and intimidating cunning in another. In the movie, coming to terms with what caused her mental problems lets us see what she's ''really'' capable of. It's awesome in the classical sense of the word.
** And when he really needs to, Shepherd Book can apply some serious boot to ass, even if he [[Technical Pacifist|won't kill]]. Case in point in the comic series ''Better Days'', where he {{spoiler|chops through a group of killer death robots, samurai style}}.
*** And let's not forget his bad-ass line in
** In fact, Wash was one of the softest, gentlest people you could ever meet. Then he got captured and tortured by a crime-lord, but he ''completely ignored his torture'' as he carried on a conversation he had started before the capture about the nature of his wife's relationship with their Captain.
*** Best summarized by his growling, "my ass" response to Zoe telling him Niska will prolong Mal's torture for days: "Bastard's not gonna get days." Do
** He later flies the ship to the rescue and rams the station where Mal is being held-''without crashing'' by coming to a stop right into the station's landing bay. The same episode has {{spoiler|River shooting three assailants without even looking at them}}; Kaylee is a little freaked at how easy it was.
* ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'': Marshall Eriksen refused to fight and was mocked constantly by Ted and Barney, even though he said he had been in plenty of fights before. But after Ted got punched out by a really big guy, Marshall beat the living pulp out of the guy who punched out Ted, with a single punch. Turns out that the aforementioned (in-universe and on this entry) fights with his brothers (who are taller than him, he's "only 6'4'' (1,93 m)" after all) were serious business.
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*** It should also be noted that Fraser managed to kick a lot of ass even when he wasn't armed. He routinely fought opponents hand to hand, and the few times he was injured, he was either significantly outnumbered or was going up against an unrepentant murderer who killed any cop who got in his way. It was Fraser's mild mannered and polite demeanor that threw people off. Very few expected the kindly Mountie who was polite to a fault to be able to take down opponents twice his size.
* There's an episode of ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' where everyone but Kes, an innocent and upbeat young alien woman, is incapacitated by an evil alien. He tries to attack her too and gets promptly beaten to a pulp. Her race was previously revealed to have untapped but potentially god-like [[Psychic Powers]].
** Not to mention the time Kes was possessed by a brutal dictator who, at first, assumed she'd make an easily cowed [[Body Surf
*
** In Season 2 there is an episode where Baltar saves the day on Kobol by being better at strategic combat than a trained officer.
** Romo Lampkin has a moment of this in the 4th season. {{spoiler|He stabs a guy during Tom Zarek and Felix Gaeta's attempted coup. [[The Pen Is Mightier|With a Pen.]]}}
*
* In the first season of ''[[Babylon 5]]'', the planet's secret is revealed, a bomb is about to destroy the entire system and a massive space battle over ownership of the planet is occurring all around, with missiles attacking anything that gets close to the planet.
{{quote|'''Ivanova:''' ''(in C&C)'' Whoever's piloting that shuttle must be a madman!
'''Londo:''' ''(piloting the shuttle)'' Yes!!! Just like Fralis-12!!! }}
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'''Londo:''' Actually, now that you mention it...
'''Morden:''' NO!!!
<nowiki>*
** Vir Cotto, Londo's assistant goes through a lot of [[Character Development]] throughout the series, eventually capable of pulling of [[The Plan|impressive plans]] on his own and {{spoiler|becoming the Emperor}}. Londo considers his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] to be when he violently retaliates against a Drazi merchant who [[Beware the Nice Ones|kept pushing]] his [[Berserk Button]].
*** That may have changed. When Mister Morden tried to sound Vir out for corruption and asked the Shadows' favorite question , "What do you want?" the answer was prompt; "I'd like to live ''just'' long enough to be there when they cut off your head and stick it on a pike, as a warning to the next ten generations that some favors come with too high a price. I want to look up into your lifeless eyes and wave, like this." *gives a little wave* Shortly after Londo's [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|crowning moment]] as stated above, he showed Vir a gift
** Lennier, the meek assistant of Delenn, can lift people with one arm and can handle himself in a bar brawl. And that's before {{spoiler|he joins the Rangers, becoming an ace pilot and even more formidable melee fighter.}}
** Marcus Cole, early into season three. Shown to be a nice guy most of the time, people quickly learn not to make him angry. {{spoiler|After Delenn gets captured he takes on an entire bar full of brawlers and assorted criminals to get the information he needs, stopping only after he's knocked everyone out and bemoaning that he now needs to wait for someone to wake up.}}
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'''Lennier:''' And?
'''Marcus:''' I'm not repressed anymore! }}
** And that's far from the only time he
{{quote|'"I am a Ranger! We walk in the dark places no others will enter! We stand on the bridge and none may pass! We live for the One, we ''die'' for the One!"}}
* You knew Al Bundy was going to start kicking ass and taking names on ''[[Married... with Children]]'' when either he said "Let's rock", or when [[Standard Snippet|"Bad To the Bone"]] started playing.
** Actually all of the Bundys are like this. They all fight and seem to hate each other, but if someone starts attacking one of them they'll all come together and beat the crap out of anyone they meet in universe.
* Xander Harris, from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' was usually the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] (and was a bit of [[Joss Whedon]]'s personal [[Chew Toy]], too). The other characters pretty much universally got onto him about how he just wasn't as cut out for fighting demons as they were (Spike even called him a "glorified bricklayer" once). But every once in a while...
{{quote|''(after smashing Glory through a wall with a wrecking ball)''
'''Xander:''' And the glorified bricklayer picks up the spare! }}
** Also, Giles. After {{spoiler|his love interest is killed}}, he takes on Angelus and a bunch of vampires singlehanded and does rather well considering he's a librarian. And of course, blasting Dark Willow into a wall.
*** Not to mention {{spoiler|murdering Ben in order to kill Glorificus, because it had to be done and he knew Buffy wouldn't do it.}}
* Wesley from ''[[Angel]]'' diverges from his completely comical presentation in [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]] and becomes a hardened badass. One of the most notable instances of this is when {{spoiler|his father (or, rather, someone he believed was his father) double-crossing him. The climax comes when Wesley confronts him on the roof, and during the [[Hannibal Lecture]] proceeds to [[Shut UP, Hannibal|shoot the man half a dozen times]].}}
* ''[[iCarly]]'': Gibby in "iPsycho". He rams down the front door of Nora's house and when Nora seems to get the upper hand in their fight, Gibby removes his shirt and resumes the battle.
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* James May on ''[[Top Gear]]'' is frequently the butt of jokes from co-presenters Clarkson and Hammond about how he can't drive fast. However, his taste runs to well-made cars that handle well, and on winding backroads he frequently leaves the other two behind.
** On one episode, James May was being coached for a driving challenge by no less an authority than legendary racer Jackie Stewart. Stewart told May that he had the greatest potential as a driver of the three hosts.
** James May disproved the whole "can't drive fast" bit when he took the Bugatti Veyron to the track. And pushed it to a jaw-dropping, record-breaking, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] 407.5
** Jeremy Clarkson, after seeing the rear end of James May's car: "Is THAT Captain Slow?"
* Clark Kent from ''[[Smallville]]'' has, especially in the early seasons, a bad habit of [[
* In ''[[Lois and Clark]]'' this was Clark's entire M.O. To wit, when Superman is threatened that his Daily Planet colleagues will be killed if he is seen in the East Side, Clark goes undercover as a cop to take on Intergang.
* In ''[[Get Smart]]'', Maxwell Smart is usually [[The Fool]], but when it's do or die, ''nothing'' can stop Smart from saving the day.
* In season two of ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', all we knew about Bobby was that he was a gruff old junk dealer who knew a lot of arcane lore and had helped Dean fix the Impala. Probably too old to hold his own in a fight, especially against a huge guy like Sam, aka "Sasquatch." So when Sam turned incredibly Evil (and [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|incredibly hot]] in the process), and paid Bobby a "friendly visit," the audience did a collective uh-oh and hoped Dean would get there in time to save the day. Turned out, {{spoiler|Bobby casually slipped some holy water in the beer and easily knocked out Sam while he was choking on the floor.}} Bobby is made of [[Cool Old Guy|Bad Ass]].
** In a later episode Bobby is trapped and facing a Japanese vampire while unarmed. He's up against a supernatural predator with superhuman strength and resilience, that can only die from being stabbed with a specifically blessed weapon (that he does not have). So he uses aikido to redirect the vampire's rush at him, throws it into a tree so hard that it ''bounces'', and then picks up the stunned vampire and feeds it through a nearby wood chipper. Turns out being reduced to bite-sized chunks also kills them just fine.
** The first two times we see Castiel in a fight, he gets the crap kicked out of him. Then there's the {{spoiler|first episode of Season 5,}} where he {{spoiler|shows up after being thought dead}}, casually dispatches two other angels, and intimidates his former superior into running like a child pretty much by telling him to. From then on he kicks ass consistently.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'':
* Happens numerous times throughout ''[[Power Rangers]]'', most often on the part of [[Those Two Guys|Bulk and Skull]]. For example, in season 2, after the Rangers lost their memories due to the [[Monster of the Week]], Bulk and Skull stand up to the monster. They fail miserably, but it was their first really notable act of heroism. Then theres two at the end of ''[[Power Rangers in Space|In Space]]''. The first one involves Alpha 6 and DECA kicking Ecliptor's ass in "The Impenetrable Web". Secondly is, of course, the widely accepted [[Power Rangers/Awesome|Crowning Moment Of Awesome of the entire series]]: the [[I Am Spartacus]] scene at the end of "Countdown To Destruction Part 2", when Astronema demands that the Power Rangers show themselves, or the planet will be destroyed. When they don't appear, Bulk and Skull claim that THEY'RE the Power Rangers and soon, so does the rest of the citizens of Angel Grove. Frustrated, Astronema demands that everyone is [[Never Say "Die"|destroyed]]. Bulk and Skull then proceed to lead the citizens into a fight with the endless [[Mooks]], where they shockingly hold their own fairly well for powerless humans.▼
** For the franchise as a whole, bot heroes and villains have their own version of this. For villains, whenever the Rangers gain the upper hand on the [[Monster of the Week]], this Trope might as well be synonymous with [[Make My Monster Grow| another Trope]], as the Big Bad enlarges it to [[Kaiju]]-size. That's when the heroes use their own version of this Trope and break out the heavy artillery in the form of [[Humongous Mecha| the Megazord]], and the battle begins again on a far greater scale.
▲**
** Ninjor, the Rangers ally in Season Three of the first series was usually a [[Deadpan Snarker]] type, but when flames appeared in his visor, you knew he was done with the jokes and about to assume his [[Super Mode]].
* Quark in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' has personally killed no fewer than three Jem'Hadar soldiers.
* ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'': ''Chris''. ("I'm not nervous. I'm cautious.")
* As of ''[[Stargate Universe]]'', O'Neill seems to have cast off the [[Flanderization]] he acquired during the last few seasons of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' and gotten down to business.
* Rodney McKay of ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' is not what most people would call an effective fighter. But as soon as he gets some enzyme in his system...
* Throughout ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor's companions, most especially Rory Williams, did this frequently.
* Howlin' Mad Murdock of ''[[The A-Team]]'' did this all the time. He'd be wonderfully zany and hilarious, and then near the climax he'd pull out some sort of [[Badass]] stunt, usually with a helicopter.
* Captain Mainwaring and the Home Guard platoon of ''[[Dad's
{{quote|'''Nazi pilot:''' If you don't put that gun down, I will shoot you!
'''Cpt. George Mainwaring:''' And if you don't put that gun down, I will shoot you!
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'''Nazi pilot:''' Three!
'''Cpt. George Mainwaring:''' Three! If you shoot me, there are seven men to take my place! }}
* Pierce in ''[[Community]]'' episode [[Community/Recap/S1
* In episode 5.05 of ''[[Primeval]]'', when all of the ARC's troops are out dealing with anomalies, an anomaly appears in the car park. Lester, the government official who runs the ARC, goes after a dinosaur solo (albeit armed).
** It should be pointed out that said dinosaur had just pressed Lester's previously-undiscovered [[Berserk Button]] - it had threatened his Jaguar.
{{quote|'''Lester:''' OI! Have you
== Pro Wrestling ==
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== Sports ==
* [[wikipedia:1969 New York Mets season|The 1969 Mets]]. The team had a history of poor performance, and limped off the line in 1969 with an 18-23 record, then suddenly turned things around to crush all competition and become the first expansion team to [[Underdogs Never Lose|win the World Series]]. In the film ''[[Oh, God!]]'', George Burns, as God, states that his only miracle since the Red Sea had been the 1969 Mets.
* The 2004 Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS against their hated rivals, the Yankees. They were down 0-3 in the series and it was Game 4 with one inning from being swept, they flipped the switch and got dangerous. It wasn't just one person, it was EVERYBODY from Keith Foulke to Derek Lowe to Bill Mueller to Dave Roberts...heck, even Curtis Leskanic!! Everybody got dangerous and the team [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|overcame the deficit and won the ALCS en route to their first World Series title in 86 years]].
* During Super Bowl XXII, the Redskins were being completely outplayed by the favored Broncos, all with starting QB Doug Williams playing injured after being sacked in the first quarter. With the Redskins down 10, and all momentum in the Broncos' favor, Williams and the Redskins exploded for 35 points in the 2nd quarter, where even little used RB Timmy Smith reeled off a 58-yard TD run, while Williams threw all 4 of his own TD passes to three different receivers, all the while showing exactly why he and the Redskins belonged in the Super Bowl in the first place.
** A similar feat would be achieved in Super Bowl XLIII, when the underdog Saints team found themselves down 10-0 to Peyton Manning and the Colts early in the game, only to outscore the Colts 37-7 over the rest of the game, including an interception returned for a game-clinching touchdown at the end of the game, also known as the point where Peyton Manning was guaranteed to lead his team from the brink of defeat if necessary, as he had done in almost every game that season. This and the aforementioned Super Bowl XXII were the only two times in NFL history that a team was able to rebound from a double digit deficit to win the game.
* The 2010 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals. The number 1 seed Washington Capitals and the highest scoring team in the league against the number 8 "we barely made it to the playoffs" Montreal Canadiens. With the Capitals up 3-1 by game 5, there was an obvious winner. And that's when [[wikipedia:Jaroslav
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* In ''[[Disgaea]]'', Prince Laharl's servants are seen lounging around the castle lazily before and after every mission. However during one mission, when you are attacked by {{spoiler|an overlord so massive that he represents himself as 10 Lvl. 75 monsters}} these vassals come to your aid; each at least 50 times your level.
** Assuming you didn't grind like a madman, at any rate.
* ''[[Fate/stay night
* ''[[The Legend of Dragoon]]'' has several examples, mostly boss battles.
** Both of the [[The Brute|Kongol]] battles feature this. After dealing a certain amount of damage to him, he'll say "Kongol no need weapon" and start fighting barehanded, [[Weapons Are Useless|which is far more effective]]. The second one, if considered as a continuation of the first one, features this as well, since in this one Kongol wears armor that makes him much more powerful. Of course, said armor still doesn't negate [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors|his weakness to ice attacks]].
** [[Disc One Final Boss|Emperor Doel]] does this too. Once you beat him in his normal form, he'll activate his dragoon form.
** You can even have your own characters do this with the "Special" combat action, which puts all of your characters into their dragoon forms AND teleports them and the enemies into a pocket dimension where the elemental attacks of the character who initiated the Special are more powerful.
* Kaneda spends much of (i.e. the entire 1st chapter and quite a bit of the 2nd) ''[[Princess Waltz]]'' as a background classmate noted only for comedically fainting at any sign of arousal...then {{spoiler|[[The Glasses Come Off]] in the middle of a Guardener attack via awesome [[Transformation Sequence]] with [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] Techno accompaniment}} and we find out that {{spoiler|she is in fact Liesel, the [[Genius Bruiser]] princess/
* [[Final Fantasy V|Bartz]] in ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', at the end of his story mode. Previously he's been portrayed as a happy-go-lucky mime wanderer who spends most of his time running away from opponents and making dumb jokes with [[Final Fantasy IX|Zidane]]. Then, when the time comes to show why he was chosen as a Warrior of Cosmos, he pulls a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] and tells Exdeath that [[media:SeriousBartz.jpg|this is the first time he's serious]].
** For those not watching the video, he duel wields Cloud's Buster Sword in one hand, and Squall's Gunblade in the other.
** Funnily enough, his buddy Zidane will say a variation of this to you in his opening battle-quote if you fight him as [[Final Fantasy VII|Seph]][[One-Winged Angel|iroth.]]
* ''Doc Louis's [[Punch-Out!!]]'' ([[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition|exclusive to Club Nintendo Platinum members]] as of this writing): [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EpbyzjlO20 As this video demonstrates], if you {{spoiler|knock a [[Trademark Favorite Food|chocolate bar]] out of his hands}}, he'll get angry and {{spoiler|shed his jacket to reveal ''a leopard-print jacket''}}, and the training essentially becomes a Title Defense fight.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'', Steiner spends most of the first half of the game as the [[Butt Monkey]] and all-around buffoon, but when he actually gets into a fight, he's shown to be a pretty good swordsman. His general demeanor also starts to change when he helps rescue Dagger halfway through Disk 2, and he shows himself to be a competent leader and fighter alongside Beatrix during the invasion of Alexandria in Disk 3.
** This happens every time he reaches Trance, where he goes from a knighty in rusty armor to a full on knight in shining armor. Since he's already one of the three melee monsters, this only makes him more dangerous.
*** Let's not forget when Vivi's in the party with him...
* [[Limit Break
* Susano in ''[[Okami]]'' is presented as a cowardly middle-aged man, and throughout most of his character arc this is played for laughs. He quakes in his boots at the thought of monsters, makes up a bunch of excuses to get out of doing work, and [[Crowning Moment of Funny|wages a battle against a sleeping bear]]. The moment when he ''stops'' being lazy, cowardly and useless is {{spoiler|at Orochi's cave, which he's seen cowering outside of at the beginning of the stage. When Orochi is about to devour Kushi, he says proudly and without hesitation: "Hold it right there, vile serpent." Then, with a little help from Amaterasu, he slays Orochi, delivering the final blow all by himself. One easily missed scene indicates he uses some degree of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] by letting slip that, unlike most people, he actually can tell what Amaterasu is and has known the whole time.}}
** Amaterasu herself: once {{spoiler|the people of Japan reconnect with their faith}}, she starts to fight seriously, which basically means that the local [[Eldritch Abomination]] has just been [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|demoted to a chew toy]].
* Reimu Hakurei of ''[[Touhou]]''. Perpetually selfish, [[Brilliant but Lazy|terminally lazy]], only solves incidents when she has no other option or another character convinces her to, only manages to ''find'' those causing any particular incident due to supernatural luck, and only wins because of (literal) impervious [[Plot Armor]]. Or at least, that's what most of Gensoukyou thinks. Then she unleashes "Fantasy Heaven" (aka "[[Touhou Nekokayou|Hax Sign: You Just Plain F***ing
* ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'''s [[Big Bad|Bowser]] could be seen in situations such as [[Super Mario Sunshine|fighting Mario while in a giant hot tub]] and [[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga|being stuck inside a cannon]]. Then you get to the bits where he's [[Super Mario Galaxy|attacking the Toads' village]] and [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|defeating an]] [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story|in order to save the very kingdom he's trying to take over]]...
** And we also have Luigi. Generally, he's calm, levelheaded, nice, a bit timid, and quirky. Threatening to harm Mario is... [[Understatement|not a good idea]].
** ''[[Paper Mario]]'' has Parakarry, a [[
* Dante in ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' both subverts and plays this straight. Dante is always wisecracking and arrogantly joking with his enemies in battle. However, he has every right to because he's a half-demon hybrid and is capable of pulling off spectacular feats even when not trying (such as being ambushed in his office and shrugging off being stabbed about five times simultaneously, nonchalantly eating a slice of pizza as his response). However, there have been occasions when Dante has cast aside his upbeat personality when the situation becomes critical enough. And if you thought he was a problem when he was quipping and smiling, [[It Got Worse|it's going to be worse]] when the kid gloves come off.
** One moment from the first game comes to mind: {{spoiler|after Trish pulls off a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, Dante deflects an (alluded to be [[One-Hit Kill|instantly fatal]]) energy beam from the [[Big Bad]] ''just by looking at it''. In the following fight, he awakens [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|Sparda's Devil Trigger form]].
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{{quote|'''Trauare''': It looks like Zorne was no match for you. I'll have to take this seriously, then.}}
* ''[[Kirby]]'': [[Kirby Super Star|"King Dedede wants revenge! Careful, he's serious this time!"]]
* An optional one in Mass Effect 2, we all know Shepard is basically a killing machine, but in Garrus's recruitment mission one of the renegade lines is "
* In ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'', Tyrell's [[Establishing Character Moment|intro scene]] nearly earns him a [[Too Dumb to Live|Darwin Award]]. So he's the bumbling comic sidekick, right? Then comes {{spoiler|Luna Tower}}, and Tyrell decides he's had enough, flips out and freaking ''jumps'' {{spoiler|[[The Man Behind the Man|Arcanus]]}}. It's [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|a little unexpected]], [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|a lot awesome]], and very effectively indicates that there's more to Tyrell than we'd previously seen.
* Ah, from ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' comes the [[Blatant Lies|ever lovable Chip]], one of the most [[Hilarious in Hindsight|God]]-damn annoying characters to ever come from a next-gen Sonic game (and that's WITH Tail's new voice actor being in the same game). On the last level of the game, he uses the Chaos Emeralds {{spoiler|and his own powers}} to create a giant mecha created from temple ruins to punch out a literal apocalyptic darkness god-creature.
* How can eponymous Ottsel from ''[[Jak and Daxter]]'' not be on this list? He usually avoids violent confrontations like the plague, at least when he's directly in the line of fire. But when push comes to shove, he'll put his life on the line to do what needs to be done (especially in ''Jak 3''), his racing skills and marksmanship rival Jak's (when Jak's riding a Zoomer, Daxter wields the gun), and hell, [[Gaiden Game|he's got his own game]].
* Dimitri, from the ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' games, is an example because his ridiculous mannerisms make it easy to forget that he was a boss in ''Sly 2'' (okay, [[Warmup Boss|the first boss]], but still). When he's playable in ''Sly 3'', he dives into shark-infested waters without protest, and later takes down one of the [[Big Bad]]'s many mutant monsters. And if [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxhO7BQ9Qo8 the E3 trailer] for the upcoming game is any indication, he's been practicing his [[Le Parkour|free-running]].
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' brings us a villainous example with Demyx, at least in terms of gameplay. He's quirky, lazy, and complains constantly about [[Non-Action Guy|not being the right guy for the job]]. But once provoked into fighting [[Musical Assassin|seriously]], he turns out to be [[That One Boss]].
* In ''[[Wild
* In ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' throughout most of the game the Vortigaunts serve as your alien allies in the fight against the Combine, providing some technical support and adding some interesting variety to the rebel fighters. However you never actually see them in combat. This changes in Episode 2 in the chapter Vortal Combat where the Vortigaunts show you the true power of the Vortessence along with an epic fight song against legions of ant lions.
* Remember the Volus? The cosmic [[Butt Monkey]] of the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' universe? Turns out in the third game, they have a Dreadnought- a single Dreadnought- that according to a visiting Turian General happens to pack enough firepower to roast the surface of an entire planet ''three times over''. There is a reason the Volus ''don't'' need more.
* In ''[[Daily Life with Monster Girl|Monster Girl Quest]]'', we get an interesting one with Alma Elma, queen of the succubi. For most of both games, she refuses to take anything seriously, and is more of a [[Puzzle Boss]] than anything, giving up once Luka proves he's grown since their previous encounter. She's also the only succubus who wears clothes. In the final battle, she gives up again...but Luka insists she actually fight him seriously for once. She agrees, and [[Battle Strip|takes off her clothes]], which does a wonderful job of underlining that this isn't some random chick with
* In ''[[Dark Souls]]'' Siegmeyer is a bumbling [[Lord Error-Prone]] with a habit of sleeping in odd places. Once players find him in Lost Izalith, he decides to return all the help the player has given him in the form of a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] and a [[Badass Boast]]. Sometimes it won't even be a [[Heroic Sacrifice]], he'll just stomp the monsters threatening you. The player can also fight with him to ensure his survival.
* In ''[[Senran Kagura]]'' Katsuragi is normally a bumbling [[Groper Girl|lesbian pervert who exists to grope boobs]]. When the lives of her friends are in danger or she has a mission that could possibly {{spoiler|earn her the influence she needs to have her fugitive parents pardoned}} she becomes deathly serious.
== Web Comics ==
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* Vashiel from ''[[Misfile]]''. He's [[No Social Skills|a complete innocent]], to the point where he's physically incapable of lying and gets a [[Nosebleed]] if he as much as has an impure thought. However, when his brother or Ash are threatened, you're suddenly reminded that his job description reads "[http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=447 Avenging Angel]". Also a prime example of [http://www.misfile.com/index.php?page=448 instantly snapping back] to his ordinary, chivalrous personality afterwards.
** Rumisiel, Vashiel's pot smoking brother, is also one of these. Normally a slacker to the point where his goal in life is to sit on a couch drinking beer all day, as soon as someone's life is on the line, he suddenly becomes competent and, due to limiters placed on his brother, the stronger of the two when it comes to dealing with the supernatural. And as [http://www.misfile.com/?page=986 this] comic shows, it is important to remember that ALL angels in this series are ancient supernatural beings.
* The
** Murtaugh, [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2014-12-31 when her team got cut off] from any support.
{{quote|'''Kathryn''': The glass is half-full?
'''Captain Murtaugh''': Half-full of fuel. The ''other'' half is air, and I'm an optimist with a matchbook.
'''everyone else''': (give her a look) }}
** When Neo-Oafan delegation started [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2015-01-08 collapsing] into anabiosis, because not knowing whether they'll be reanimated still beats being a fully conscious bubble of ''hydrogen'' in the middle of a firefight. Mostly.
{{quote|'''Captain Murtaugh''': Wait... are ''you'' deflating now?
'''Meld-minister Miamumla''': ''[[Mind Hive|I am three]].'' Miamumla and Unuaiya are deflating.
(cloud of hand-sized [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-12-26 metal clad] [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2013-06-28 flechette bugs] emerges)
'''[[Voice of the Legion|swarm]]''': Utchi-Skafatka is tired of being a passenger. }}
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' robots - those [[Golem]]s in electromechanics-heavy and mostly fairly weak bodies. Even Seraphs overseeing them, for all their grapples and laser eyes, ''still'' look like clunky tin toys compared to either their own all-[[Magitek]] [[Super Prototype|prototype]], or "makeshift" body Kat made for S-13. Laser cows and bots with chainsaws that stopped "shrub dogs" seem to be powerful, but even clumsier than the rest. On the inside, they all are naive, [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=661 shy, lovelorn], ineffectual and easily get suckered by a bit of [[Paper-Thin Disguise]] and [[Circular Reasoning]]. And got this awkward adoration of Kat. If {{spoiler|a bunch of Seraphs goes out of line, using [[Reality Warper|Zimmy's abilities]] for their messed-up plans}}, what these poor things can do - and even if they can, do they have ball bearings to try? Right? Still, Annie gets through a message to the "Robot King" that "their angel is in trouble". [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1418 Five pages later] - meet the [[Fan Nickname|"Gunnerkriegsmarine"]].
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* The Supreme Six were one of the least respected teams of superheroes in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]''. All six heroes (Calculus, Photon, Omnipresent, Prototype, Stonewall, and Thunderstorm) were former teen sidekicks "all grown up", and as such were generally the butt of jokes because, in the public perception, they were still sidekicks. And then they fought the [[Five-Bad Band|Fatal Four]], one of the most feared supervillain teams in the world... and won. [[Curb Stomp Battle|Handily]].
* ''[[Ink City]]'''s [[Wham! Episode|first Event]] saw [[Darkwing Duck|Megavolt]] snarling this just before {{spoiler|he and [[Animaniacs|Yakko]] pulled off their [[Last Stand]]}}.
* In ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog]]'', the title character is reluctant at the prospect of killing sommeone in order to join the [[Redundancy Department of Redundancy|Evil League of Evil]]...until [[Super Dickery|Captain Hammer]] tells him that he's going out with [[Love Interest|Penny]] just to tick him off. [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|Then it becomes easier for him.]]
* ''[[Shadowhunter Peril]]'' has several characters who embody this trope, most notably Etzel and Veronica. Although Etzel has yet to fully unleash his inner potential, it has been strongly hinted that he was an extraordinarily successful assassin who would not be afraid to do what had to be done if he situation arises. Of course, being that he's almost constantly surrounded by several [[Physical God
== Western Animation ==
* [[Popeye]] would spend a considerable amount of time each cartoon getting his butt kicked by Bluto/Brutus. Then he got his spinach on and it was over. Sometimes, this point comes when he ''really'' gets angry, and says, "That's all I can stands, 'cause I can't stands no more!"
* ''[[Bugs Bunny]]'': "Of course you realize... [[This Means War]]!"
* [[Tex Avery MGM Cartoons|Droopy Dog]]: ''(deadpan like always)'' "You know what? [[You Wouldn't Like Me When I'm Angry|That makes me mad]]!"
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'''Beast Boy:''' Now try and follow me.
''(presses a button, [[Teen Titans (animation)/Awesome|blowing up his ship and everything around it]])'' }}
* Happens with Flash in ''[[Justice League (animation)|Justice League Unlimited]]''. Twice. The first time has him destroying his [[Evil Twin|robot double]] by punching through its chest and then making it ''explode'' by vibrating his arm super-fast, and ''then'' {{spoiler|taking down a Brainiac/Lex Luthor fusion by drive-by getting a run up for each punch so quickly he travels around the world (multiple times) and then PUNCHES EVERY MOLECULE OF BRAINIAC OUT OF LUTHOR while he screams in agony}}. The second time comes in the next season, when [[Freaky Friday Flip|his mind has been swapped with Lex Luthor]], who does the vibration trick on some walls and threatens to do the same to someone's head. (Flash doesn't make a habit of this due to the property damage it tends to cause, thus proving that despite appearances, he is more conscientious than pretty much the rest of the Justice League.)
** Actually, that was Luthor demonstrating the potential
{{quote|'''Tala:''' Is that you, Lex?
'''Luthor:''' Of course it's me, you idiot.
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** Said kid happened to be Gus, the mild meek kid of the gang.
*** Gus also got dangerous in the movie. Soda pop > Ninja.
* Jake Long from ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' has a level of
** Jake's muggle dad gets his own such moment when he does some [[Great Big Book of Everything|on-the-fly research]] ''in the middle of a battle against the Dark Dragon's shadow monsters'', finds the weakness of said monsters, and improvises a method of unleashing said weakness (light). The summoned creatures which had been giving the gathering of dragons all they could handle are wiped out in a matter of seconds. Jake taunts the Dark Dragon by lampshading this.
* [[Badass Grandpa|Iroh]] from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. He gets to do this a number of times, the first being when he is kidnapped by earthbenders just before the winter solstice. He nearly manages to escape on his own, buying time for Zuko to show up. They proceed to lay the smackdown on them without even firebending (that would have been unfair). Another is at the North Pole, after Zhao destroys the Moon Spirit. Then there is the second season premiere, in which he redirects Azula's lightning and kicks her overboard just as she's about to finish off Zuko. Finally, there is the scene when Iroh demonstrates how he got the nickname "Dragon of the West." Moral of the story: do ''not'' underestimate someone who once broke through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, no matter how harmless he may seem now.
* The [[Trope Namer]] himself, [[Darkwing Duck]].
* The Toiletnator in ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' pulls one of these in a rage-filled, paranoid moment against the very villains who constantly [[Butt Monkey|belittle him]]. Mainly applies because he is fought seriously by most of the villains he takes down in the sequence. Unfortunately, he essentially runs out of ammo by the time the actual '''heroes''' show up.
* Ding-A-Ling Wolf, [[Hokey Wolf]]'s little sidekick once bashed a robot repeatedly with a massive stick longer than he was because the robot was trying to kill Hokey.
* ''[[Winx Club]]'': An S2 ep shows Griselda blocking every single attack from her students as part of Magical Defense Class, including Bloom (though to be fair, she was thinking about her phone call with Sky from earlier in the episode). Then you [[Fridge Logic|get to the fridge]] and realize that she didn't have any significant role in the final battle of the previous season, when that ability would have been useful. The movie (Non-Europeans: [[No Export for You|"What movie?"]]) makes up for it by having her putting up a shield for Stella, Flora and Tecna during an attack from the film's [[Big Bad]].
* ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' does this a lot, but the best example would probably be the sketch in which Mafia-installed union reps are brutally killed... by ''[[Bob the Builder]]'' and crew.
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* In ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers]]'', Walter "Doc" Hartford spent most of the series as a [[Deadpan Snarker]] and "computer guy" who was nowhere ''near'' the other three when it came to a fight. But when a [[Evil Chancellor]] steps in and threatens to kill the king they're trying to ally with? Doc picks up a sword, brawls him, and hands said evil adviser his ass. All the while admitting that [[Minored in Asskicking|he learned fencing from "Miss Abercrombie's Charm School!"]] This came up again when he was back on Tarkon and took down the show's nastiest villain ''singlehandedly'' using stuff he picked up in "charm school."
** Which has led a great many fanfic authors to wonder just what ''kind'' of Charm School Miss Abercrombie was running in the first place.
* Launchpad McQuack often filled out this trope in [[DuckTales (1987)|the original ''DuckTales'']]. Sure, he was typically bumbling and accident-prone, but when necessary (especially to protect the nephews), he could pull off some amazing feats of aeronautical skill, as well as general badassness. Perhaps this is what led them to team him up with Darkwing Duck.
* Scooby in ''[[Scooby Doo Mystery Inc]]'' is the same
{{quote|'''Scooby Doo''': ''Play dead.''}}
** For reference, said [[Monster of the Week]] withstood concentrated fire from police with no effect, that's how [[Badass]] Scooby gets when he has to.
* Ickis from ''[[Aaahh Real Monsters]]''' had [[Mr. Vice Guy|a lot of flaws]]: [[Parental Issues]] with [[The Ace|his famous father]], incredible [[Pride|arrogance]] coupled with crippling insecurity, a tendency to [[The Slacker|slack off with his scaring]] and panic when that inevitably came back to bite him... Yet whenever put into the position where he was the only one who could face a crisis, he could pull off some amazing [[Big Damn Hero]] moments.
* ''[[My Little Pony:
** [[The Smart Guy|Twilight Sparkle]] is pretty frequently the butt of jokes and the entire plot of the show so far has been her learning social skills. Just don't threaten her, her friends, or her town, lest she remind you that she is the magical prodigy student of a solar god-empress.
** Doubly so
*** While normally a weak flyer, Fluttershy can also [[Improbable Piloting Skills|fly well enough to keep up with]] [[Lightning Bruiser|Rainbow Dash]] when her friends are in danger.
** Pinkie Pie provides a more mundane example. When she realizes she hasn't been particularly responsible caring for the twins she's babysitting, she becomes far more serious and strict. It lasts about as long as it takes the Pegasus baby to realize he can fly and the Unicorn baby to start using her magic.
*** In an earlier episode, "Griffon The Brush Off
{{quote|'''Pinkie:''' She's a grump, and a thief, and a bully. [[Jerkass|The meanest kind of mean meanie-pants there is.]] I can take it, but [[Even Evil Has Standards|no one treats Fluttershy like that.]] ''[[Moral Event Horizon|No. One.]]'' This calls for extreme measures, ''Pinkie Pie style!''}}
** Spike sees Rarity being kidnapped by the diamond dogs. "Little Spiky Wikey" just outright starts beating them up. He loses, but he puts up a good fight. Note to be outdone, {{spoiler|Rarity manages to inconvenience the Dogs with wit and whining.}}
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** {{spoiler|''All'' of Phineas and Ferb's friends and inventions get to do this during the climactic battle in [[The Movie]].}}
* For the first season of ''[[Transformers Prime]]'', Soundwave kept away from the front lines; the only fight he got into was with the kid sidekicks of the Autobots (his drone also fought a single Helicopter once). In the finale {{spoiler|[[Dark Action Girl|Airachnid]] tries to [[The Starscream|convince the Decepticons to abandon Earth, and Megatron]]. Soundwave effortlessly tosses her around, forcing her to abandon her mutiny.}}
* When the usually idiotic [[The Fairly
== Real Life ==
* During the First World War, [[wikipedia:Nestor Makhno|Nestor Makhno]], the great Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary, returned to Ukraine after being released from prison to discover that the Soviets had signed Ukraine away to the Germans. With just 30 men and one Maxim machine gun, he crept into a nearby town under cover of darkness where a thousand German troops were bivouacked in the town square and proceeded to massacre the entire German force while they slept. The few German soldiers who escaped were hunted down by angry townspeople with gardening implements and killed. Makhno's anarchist
* Battle of Lepanto. Those fat, rich, decadent, wussy, Venetian wimps. Should be lots of fun to pick on, right? In the first two battles the Venetians lost. In the third and best-known one, in 1571... they got dangerous. Very dangerous.
** ...fits the trope on paper, but not so much in reality. This isn't the time nor place to explain, but suffice to say there's more to it than that (i.e. Spanish and French intervention, naval combat experience and bucket-loads of money).
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*** It should be noted that 'lions led by donkeys' was a term directed at the entire British and Dominion force, it applied just as much to British troops on the Western Front as to Australian troops led by British officers at Gallipoli (and popular history distorts this as well, as many of the leaders at Gallipoli deemed incompetent were actually Australian). It was a statement also shown later to have been completely fabricated by a historian on the winning side with an animus against the British.
* At some point in every nation's history they were not looked on as a military power. For every nation that ever became one there was one of these moments.
* The Battle of Cannae during the Second Punic War for Rome, even though this particular example is better known as a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for Carthage. When the Carthaginian army had the Romans surrounded and were cutting them to pieces, the remaining soldiers, under the leadership of Scipio Africanus, decided they weren't going to get slaughtered by Hannibal, and hacked their way right through enemy lines and to freedom. They ended up being [[The Scrappy]] of the Roman military, but were [[Rescued
** This incident is VERY exaggerated. Scipio Africanus was at Cannae but did not have a position of command and the 'remaining soldiers' were at least a legion strength, if not as much as 14,000 men, depending on the source, who cut their way out. What IS a ''Lets Get Dangerous'' moment is that, supposedly, after the battle of Cannae when Scipio heard that some people were calling for surrender took some of his friends and marched into the Senate(which he would not have been allowed to enter because of his youth) and demanded that they not surrender(although most Senators were in agreement. He also is said to have charged the Carthaginian lines at the battle of Ticinus to save his father. It should be kept in mind as well that pretty much all of this is from Polybius, who was a client of Africanus' grandson(by adoption) Scipio Aemilianus, and is generally regarded to have exaggerated(although probably not outright lied) things with regards to that family.
* Adolf Hitler is a perfect example. He was a near homeless vagabond until he got into the army, once that happened he quickly rose, managing to become Führer (a title that didn't even exist when he joined the army) with only a few setbacks and with a grand total of six initial allies.
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* Finland:
** For a nation who aren't exactly the first to come to mind when you think of military powerhouses, [[wikipedia:Winter War|The Winter War]] is something of an eye opener. With 1/3 of the troops, 1/30 of the aircraft, and somewhere between 1/100 and 1/200 of the tanks, they sure gave the Soviets some wounds to lick.
** [[wikipedia:Simo Hayha|Simo Häyhä]], or "[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The White Death]]", was an ordinary farmer who was, naturally, called up to help with the Winter War. He now has the record for the largest number of confirmed kills ever.
*** Not only that, but they got lucky and put him in a coma for nine days when one of those artillery strikes got close enough. The Soviets stopped advancing and ended the war the same day that he woke up. I like to think they heard the White Death had come out of his coma and was about to drive them out, and they quit while they were ahead.
* Croatia. It is relatively small state, with only 4 million inhabitants, but consider this:
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** The Croatians also fought on both sides of World War II, forming one elite division of the German Army, one complete Waffen SS division, one part of a Waffen SS division, as well as starting first organized resistance movement against German occupation.
** Yugoslav wars. In 1991, when fighting started, the most numerous, best trained and best equipped Croatian military units were not military at all, but rather Special Police forces. The Croatian National Guard was formed in 1991 and gradually developed into full-fledged army by 1993.
** "R9-Arms Corp. U.S.A." machine pistol: A machine pistol of entirely original design (except for the magazine being a standard Uzi magazine, which Colt has also reused), professional build quality, a standard rail capable of mounting a laser sights and has been made in sufficient enough quantities that ''thousands'' have been found across Europe (and that's just the ones that have been caught). This is despite being a tiny country with no real fame in manufacturing or gun design. This was most likely all done underground too.
* The United States after Pearl Harbor was bombed. The Japanese had estimated that it could successfully win a war against the U.S. since both of their military's production output was roughly equal. The problem was, the U.S. wasn't in a war yet, and so its production of war material was only so-so, while the Japanese had been fighting a war for nearly ten years, ''and were going flat out''. Suddenly, an entire nation wakes up and bears its wrath upon Japan. Eventually, the U.S. was building ships ''faster than the Japanese could sink them''. Everything new and great was first sent to Europe, and the USMC was effectively dead last on the supply chain for everything. Hell, the Marines didn't get the use the Garand until after the National Guard and Marines used the bolt action Springfield 1903 for the entire war!
** Let's not even get started on the atomic bomb.... (although, one may think of this as a case of good fortune for them)
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*** Unfortunately for Russia, this came at a huge price. By 1945, the USSR could not even effectively field materiel replacements for its army. Had US industry not been supplementing the USSR's, the Red Army might have destroyed itself before it even reached Warsaw, never mind Berlin.
* How has no one brought up Ancient Greece? What happens when Persia, one of the world's greatest powers, attacks a ragtag band of city-states that fight each other more passionately than they do anything else? Said superpower gets owned in a series of wars with said ragtag band of infighting city-states, that's what happens.
* The Battle of Britain.
** Mind you, Poland, well just look at the stats for the invasion, half as many troops again, twice as many artillery pieces, 3 times as many tanks, and almost 6 times as many aircraft, and all of it better than what the Polish had, and it still took the Nazis 5 weeks, and the Soviets coming in from the other side (with half as many troops as the Poles started out with, but massively outnumbering them in every other way). In ''6'' weeks the next year the Germans had overrun the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Luxembourg (and with backup from the British), a combination which altogether had numerical parity in troops, ''more'' tanks and guns, a much slimmer disparity of aircraft, and overall much more modern equipment.
*Thomas Caldwell and Beth Gooden, a [[Beware the Nice Ones|cute]] and [[Adorkable]] couple of American climbers, were on vacation in the mountains of Central Asia when they were kidnapped by guerrillas. Several of their guards left until there only one remained. That one of course took his eyes off them at just the right time. Whereupon Tom did the obvious thing and [[Combat Pragmatist|pushed.]] After that the two of them escaped and managed to get home.
**Oddly enough the guard survived. He spent a long time cooling off in a government prison though.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:More Than Meets the Eye]]
[[Category:Just in Time Tropes]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:Hidden Badass]]
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[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:Badass]]
▲[[Category:Let's Get Dangerous]]
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