Memetic Badass/Live-Action TV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Examples of Memetic Badasses in Live-Action TV include:

The Mr. T Vs character is an extremely simplified version of a complicated, and in fact deeply weird individual. It has some resemblance to the persona Mr. T has tried over the years, with varying degrees of success, to project to the public. The Mr. T of Mr. T Vs has more traits in common with the B.A. Baracus character Mr. T played on The A-Team. He is afraid of flying. He drinks milk. He works at youth centers. He doesn't (usually) swear. He can make tanks out of toasters. He speaks ungrammatically. He has little tolerance for crazy fools. However the Mr. T Vs persona has exaggerated, in fact super-human, abilities. To be specific, he can "throw helluva far" and, unaffected by most weapons, is "helluva tough". Also he is almost always hostile towards his A-Team compatriots in the rare times they appear in the strips. And he speaks even more ungrammatically than the B.A. character. Of course, that could be due to the authors' personal disregard for the English language and/or inability to spell.

    • Fans! had the team fight this version of Mr. T. He was completely unstoppable, even after being teleported into the sun, and they only won after he called them "kids", and one member pointed out that the real Mr. T would never beat up kids. ...fool!!
  • Chuck Norris Facts are possibly originated from Conan O'Brien's near-nightly Walker, Texas Ranger skits on the former Late Night, where he would pull the "Walker Texas Ranger Lever" causing a clip of Chuck Norris to play doing something suitably badass... usually culminating in a roundhouse kick.
  • CSI's Gil Grissom.
  • The original Green Power Ranger was the best Ranger ever. No exceptions.
    • Oh you did not just go there.
      • Yeah, it's too bad that there's not just one, the TWO polls that name Jason the greatest Ranger of all time. Suck it.
    • This has led to parts of the fandom converting to the Church of Oliver. "And the Lord said, 'Aww, man!'"
      • While on the topic, there is also Adam, who seems to be working his way up. That's because he has achieved Bankai and possesses Geass, among other things. Perhaps the power of kissing developed into several handy powers.
    • Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue: Carter. Grayson. Period.
    • Power Rangers Time Force: Eric Myers, anyone?
  • In the same place, the green Silverhawk was the best - he could travel in time.
  • Watchers of Heroes have often made jokes about how Mr. Muggles is one true mastermind behind it all.
  • Star Trek: Of course it makes sense James T. Kirk had the know-how to create gunpower, put together a bazooka, and use it to kill the Gorn. That's why he's the goddamn Captain.
  • The champion stood, the rest saw their better: Mr. Rogers in a bloodstained sweater. (To clarify: the filk band Lemon Demon was playing off of a long-running urban legend about Mr. Rogers supposedly having been a Navy SEAL.)
  • Bill Nye can count to infinity. Twice. Bill Nye can recite the last two thousand digits of pi. Bill Nye can win a game of Connect Four in three moves.
    • That last one is actually possible, assuming that your opponant is not paying attention.
  • Kai from Lexx, for he has killed mothers with their babies, great philosophers, proud young warriors, revolutionaries, the evil, the good, the intelligent, the weak, and the beautiful. He has done this in the service of His Divine Shadow and his predecessors, and he has never once shown any mercy. Then he killed his divine shadow and an entire universe along with him.
  • Supernatural's Dean Winchester once visited the Virgin Islands. Now they're just the Islands.
    • Misha Collins had a day on twitter dedicated to reiterating such facts as "The healing powers of Misha Collins' fine ass will save the economy". This was largely organised by people from Mishaland.
    • Castiel is an ANGEL of the motherfucking LORD.
      • He stood up to the Devil, called God a son of a bitch, molotov'd the Archangel Michael with holy fire, lied to other archangels, made Raphael his little bitch, and is now the new God, bitches.
  • Top Gear: "And now we need to find out how fast it goes around our track, so it's time to hand it over to our tame racing driver. Some say he roams the woods at night, foraging for wolves, and that he appears on high denomination notes in Sweden. All we know is he's called 'The Stig.'"
  • NCIS Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Gibbs is an example in-universe: Abby is fairly certain he could take Godzilla in a fight. She also believes he would defeat Mothra and all the Terminators at the same time. The only fight she thinks would actually be a fight would be Gibbs vs. Gibbs. She's not sure whether the second Gibbs would be a clone or Evil Twin.
      • The very idea is scary on a fundamental level. One would assume that fire and brimstone would come into play before the first punches are thrown?
      • In all fairness, the Gibbs v. Gibbs battle is a rip-off of SNL's Bill Swerski's Superfans' "Ditka/Bears/Bulls vs. x." Based on their answer, the UN would step in before such a battle could occur, to prevent the space-time continuum from being destroyed. Maybe it's more of an "unstoppable force vs. immovable object" type thing.
    • Also, he voiced Superman in Crisis on Two Earths.
    • Tony compares Gibbs arresting God to The Thing arresting The Hulk.
    • Lets just say that there's a very good reason Gibbs is the subject of THE quote for this trope. But only Gibbs knows what it is.
  • Dr. Gregory House can diagnose anything. (Whether he can cure it is still restricted by the capabilities of modern medicine.)
    • You call it a lethal overdose of Vicodin. House calls it breakfast.
  • Battlestar Galactica: Bill Adama's glare can melt through the hull of a Cylon basestar.
    • ... until it meets Laura Roslin. Then it curls up in a corner and cries.
    • Until you give him a flashlight.
    • If Laura Roslin wanted to airlock a baby, believe me, that baby would be airlocked.
  • All hail Dalek Fred, the Dalek that just shoots the Doctor dead on the spot, without even a warning "Exterminate".
  • The Daleks themselves in the Stolen Earth. Considering everything every companion of the Doctor has faced. Jack faced the son of the Devil. The Daleks show up with one message: "EXTERMINATE". Everyone is near tears.
    • The Doctor qualifies too, as an in-universe example. The aforementioned memetic badass Dalek is from a race who tells legends about him.

Doctor: Everyone has nightmares. Even monsters from under the bed have nightmares. Don't you, monster?
Reinette: But what would monsters have nightmares about?
Doctor: Me!

    • Also:

Doctor: Do you know what they call me, in the ancient legends of the Dalek homeworld? The oncoming storm.
Actually, according to the books it's better then that. The Daleks - the most dangerous evil thing in the known universe, the thing that humanity until the end of time itself considers worse then the Devil - call the Doctor "The Bringer of Darkness".

    • From Forest of the Dead:

Doctor: I'm The Doctor and you're in the biggest library in the Universe. Look me up.

    • Not to mention that wonderful speech in "The Family of Blood":

Tim Latimer: "He's like fire and ice and rage. He's like the night, and the storm in the heart of the sun. He's ancient and forever. He burns at the center of time and he can see the turn of the universe. And... he's wonderful."

    • From The Pandorica Opens:

Doctor: There was a goblin, or a trickster... Or a warrior... A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world.
Doctor: Look at me! No plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else I don't have. Anything. To. Lose! So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way. Remember every black day I ever stopped you, and then, AND THEN...do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first. (The Enemy Armada retreats)

    • From The Wedding of River Song:

Doctor: Imagine you were dying and a long way from home and in terrible pain. And just when you think it couldn't get any worse, you look up and see the face of the devil himself. [[[Beat]]] Hello, Dalek.
Dalek: EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!

The Master: One time she punched me in the face. It was awesome.

      • This gets proven in-universe at the end of Series 5: After it kicks him out of itself, Amy tells reality itself to give her back the Doctor. It does without a moment's hesitation.

Amy: Are you just saying yes because you're scared of me?

    • Jack Harkness is flawless. I hear his hair is insured for $10,000.
    • The Eleventh Doctor is so Badass, he made the aliens flee by, basically saying: "Hi, it's me!". TWICE!
      • Every single member of every single alien race in all of time and space gathered together to try and stop him. It didn't work.
    • River Song. She made a Dalek beg for mercy. Three times.
      • She will also murder your hat.
      • She is so Badass, she had to pick a more Badass name.
      • She disintegrates reality itself to find a way to save the Doctor. Reality is now the collective bitch of Amy Pond and River Song. Like mother, like daughter...
      • Her parents are the two Memetic Badass-es on this page. Of course she would be Badass.
    • You New Who fans, you don't know what the word badass means. Ace, now, she beat up a Dalek with a baseball bat. She spawns memes. She inspired the Crowning Moment of Awesome page.
    • The baseball was enhanced by the power of Rassilon. She beat it up because it called her small.
    • The Brigadier. A man so awesome that no-one even needs to use his name, because all lesser brigadiers have bowed down before him. "I just do the best I can," he said. And then he blew a demon back to hell. With a revolver.
    • Rory Williams: The Plastic Centurion.
      • Remember that 'nameless, terrible thing soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies'? Rory Williams punched it in the face. He also scared a bunch of Cybermen by just uttering one question.
      • After "A Good Man Goes to War," Rory's turning into the Chuck Norris Facts of Doctor Who:

That which does not kill Rory Williams makes him stronger. That which does kill Rory Williams also makes him stronger.
One time he punched me in the face...

      • He also punched out someone else. Hitler.
      • The best part is, Moffat himself has partaken of the Rory Williams Facts.
      • Let's Kill Hitler shows that the writers are well aware of Rory's badass status. Not satisfied to have him punch Hitler in the face without hesitating, this exchange confirms that Rory can simply do whatever the hell he wants: "Can you ride a motorbike?" "I expect so. It's that sort of day."
      • In "God Complex," there is a holodeck hotel where a room exists containing the fear of every being who sets foot in it. It shows Rory the exit.
        • To put it another way: there is a reason that Rory has by far the longest Crowning Moment of Awesome list on the Doctor Who page (excluding the Doctors).
    • An up-and-coming [dead link] example is baby Alfie from Closing Time (that's Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All to you peasants.)
    • "A Good Man Goes To War" takes this to the point of deconstruction. Having such a terrifying reputation is convenient for scaring off overzealous Space Police who threaten your favourite planet, but it can also drive your enemies to do terrible things just to get the slightest advantage over you - such as stealing a child conceived on the TARDIS and experimenting on it to create a Time Lord of their own. When the Doctor asks why they'd go to such lengths to create their own Time Lord, Vastra simply replies "They've seen you," which doesn't do wonders for his mood. If that wasn't a big enough kick in the teeth, the Doctor's deeds have become so well-known that the word 'Doctor' means warrior instead of healer on some planets. Just to counter this somewhat from "The Wedding of River Song", even with all of time and space unravelling, the reply to a distress becon sent by River saying that 'the Doctor is dying, please help', is basically yes of course we'll help.
      • That "Yes, of course we'll help." is sent by not just one person, alien, planet or group. But by a trillion, trillion separate entities, all willing to do anything to save The Doctor.
  • Richard Alpert from Lost. Most cite his "beginning in badassery" to the episode "LaFleur", where Richard simply walks into the DHARMA Barracks compound, holding a torch, which he then slams into the ground and sits on a bench as if he owns the place. Not to mention the sonic death fence that surrounds the Barracks, which apparently doesn't harm him. Because he's Richard Alpert.
    • The television forum on GameFAQs has taken this meme a step further by actually developing a fake episode called "Wrestling With Angels," which is a four hour long episode in which Richard does everything from sword duel with Jacob over a volcano to having a threesome with Kate and Juliet. There even exists a Youtube video in which the chateau fight scene from The Matrix Reloaded is edited to feature Richard fighting off various Lost characters.
    • Juliet Burke now has her own website all about her awesomeness.
      • Please link so we can all bask in her ninja goodness.
  • In-universe: Frasier's aunt Zora is a violent person feared by all, said to have joined the WWII Greek Partisans just so she could strangle Nazis. Since she was about 5 at the time, they say she did it with a jumping rope.
  • River Tam kicks serious Reaver ass. Also, she can kill you with her brain.
  • Sue Sylvester doesn't breathe, she holds air hostage.
    • There is no 'ctrl' button on Sue Sylvester's computer, Sue Sylvester is always in control.
      • Does that mean that Sue Sylvester cannot type in lower case?
        • Why would Sue Sylvester want to type in lower case? HER FORCEFUL VOICE RINGS STRONG THROUGHOUT THE INTERNET!
    • Sue Sylvester does not go 'hunting'. That kind of terminology implies the possibility of failure. Sue Sylvester goes killing.
    • Sue Sylvester once had a bet with Chuck Norris over who was the bigger badass. The loser had to star in "Walker, Texas Ranger".
    • On a related note, Pavarotti misses you guys... BUT HE'S STILL A BAMF.
      • And he's not happy with what Finn just did.
  • Saturday Night Live had a series of sketches where everyone was talking about how awesome Bill Brasky was. He usually never actually appeared, but many of the things said about him were eventually relegated into Chuck Norris facts.
  • Jack Bristow waterboards himself twice every morning just to keep himself sharp.
  • Spike.
    • Buffy's plan in season 7 involves becoming this. Results vary.

Buffy: They're trapped in here. Terrified. Meat for the beast, and there's nothing they can do but wait. That's all they've been doing for days. Waiting to be picked off. Having nightmares about monsters that can't be killed. But I don't believe in that. I always find a way. I'm the thing that monsters have nightmares about. And right now, you and me are gonna show 'em why. It's time. Welcome to Thunderdome.

    • Also, in a more unusual example, Xander. By any Real Life standards, Xander is Badass simply by merit of the fact that he's still alive after seven years of fighting the Good Fight (or more, depending on whether you count the Season 8 comics as canon). In many a Fanfic, this is taken Up to Eleven, and Xander effectively becomes the merciless god of his universe.
  • Angelus embodied this trope to other vampires.
    • Angelus was so badass he was still badass when he had a soul.
    • And as a puppet
      • He was so badass when he was a puppet, he FINALLY managed to beat up Spike. (OK, so it was because Spike couldn't stop laughing even as he got pummeled, but it counts.)
  • When in doubt, just ask yourself: "What would Don Draper do?"
    • Don wrote a guide on how to pick up women. Rule 1: Be Don Draper. There are no other rules.
    • And when that fails, do what Joan Holloway would do.
  • God made Eve out of Adam's rib, because that was all that was left after John Casey was done with him.
  • MY NAME IS JACK BAUER! I AM A FEDERAL AGENT!
  • You either want Gene Hunt or you want to be him. Even puppets are afraid of him.
    • Gene Hunt literally bleeds whiskey.
    • Gene Bloody Hunt doesn't pick any fairy locks. Gene Hunt breaks the bloody door down.
    • Gene Hunt can hit the devil. Who then buggered off.
  • Some say he was in the pod that Superman came in, and that he's Chuck Norris' chauffeur. All we know is...he's called the Stig.
    • Also from Richard Hammond's Opel Kaddett... Oliver
      • Looks like the Stig is so badass, he gets two listings on this page.
  • Michael Westen counts in-universe. Four armed members of a Russian Black Ops team will surrender because, "There are only four of us and he's Michael Westen."
    • "If the Devil had a name, it would be Chuck Finley."
  • No machine is safe from Cameron. She would have crushed Skynet singlehandedly, but she wants the humans to feel relevant.
    • George Laszlo gets this treatment in-universe after Cromartie (having stolen his identity) killed off an entire FBI team in the season 1 finale.
  • An in-universe example from The Wire: "Omar comin'!" A man so memetically badass that when he walks by stash-houses unarmed, the dealers are so scared they surrender the drugs without a fight or even a threat. So legendary is Omar that when he dies, the story of his murder inflates to a death-squad of mobsters with AK-47s because no one can beleive Omar was killed by a little kid with a pistol.
  • SF Debris does this Up to Eleven with Ben Sisko. The list of reasons he's awesome is so long, the only surface big enough to write it on is his dick. Not to mention that unlike all of the other examples on this page, Sisko actually can legitimately call himself a god.
    • And by extension, the USS Defiant, which was designed by Sisko, and is basically a set of guns strapped to an engine. Defiant was Sisko's second choice, as Starfleet wouldn't let him name it the USS Ben Sisko's Mother-Fuckin' Pimp Hand.
  • Ron FREAKING Swanson.
  • Eliot Spencer is very nearly this in universe in Leverage
    • Nearly? How 'bout DEFINITELY?
    • Sterling. Never. Loses.
  • Spitting Image does this in-universe with Doctor David Owen. Not only does he have a smooth voice, and run the Liberal-SDP Alliance by himself, but the guy can run an entire commons debate by himself (playing people on both benches, and the speaker) and even breakdance.
  • The Red Ranger of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger is increasingly becoming more badass. He started off as a badass when we only knew his name. Captain MARVELOUS!!!!!!
  • Sergeant James Doakes, motherfucker.
  • According to the Sherlock fandom, no one is more of a BAMF than John "Three Continents" Watson, tiny assassin in a cuddly jumper. Do not threaten Sherlock, or he will end you.
  • Derek Morgan and Aaron Hotchner from Criminal Minds. The former is a door-kicking Bald of Awesome Scary Black Man. The latter can bring down serial killers with a single well-placed observation. Oh, and he killed the murderer of his wife, one of the show's most vicious serial killers who also nearly killed Hotchner. Hotch did this by beating the bastard with his bare hands.
    • To put it bluntly, serial killers check under the bed before they go to sleep to make sure Aaron Hotchner's not there.
    • In-universe, Jason Gideon has this reputation.
    • Spencer Reid manages to be badass by not getting himself killed despite being a physical wimp who sucks with a gun. Repeatedly
    • Two words: Penelope Garcia. That girl can get any information from any system. Even stuff that would never be on a computer. Never fails. And within seconds. Now that is Badass.
  • Nathan Fillion is Made Of Awesome, just check out his Tropes page!
  • Sean Cameron deafened a kid with a single punch! He would go on to shoot a kid with the kid's own gun.
  • Jamie Hyneman, thanks mostly in part to his complex past.
  • Ben invokes this with his dad in Outnumbered... some of the time.
  • SG-1 is this in-universe. It's acknowledged by pretty much everyone that if you need the world saved, make sure Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson or Teal'c is around.
  • Stargate Atlantis's main team is this as well. Specifically, Rodney McKay. Yes. Meredith Rodney McKay. Smartest man in the universe. Saviour of the world. Canadian. He's the guy people look at when things go bad. To the point that Sam Carter, the previous holder of the Smartest Person in the Universe title, has started looking to McKay for solutions.
    • John Sheppard became this in-universe as of the second episode. One of the first things we learned about the Athosians is their version of tag, wherein one kid wears a Wraith mask and hunts the other. After the Athosians moved to Atlantis, the game is now "Major Sheppard hunts the Wraith".
  • Star Trek: Klingons are a whole Memetic Badass species. They now have their own language, they have real opera's in Klingon, and some people even have Klingon weddings.
  • Ace Rimmer can kill a whole army of Nazis in one go. With crocodiles if necessary. What a guy.
  • Ambassador Delenn of the Minbari. So Badass the Shadows have dark, ancient legends about her.
  • Tyrion Lannister has become the audience favorite of the show, and eventually started receiving this treatment. Slight aversion however, as it's not for his fighting prowess or manliness, but what a legendary smooth talker and bullshitter he is.
  • Al Bundy. Paragon of all that is man, and general God to the abused minimum wage workers of the world.
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