Never Mess with Granny: Difference between revisions

[[File:yolanda golden eagle 3352.jpg|link=Black Lagoon|frame|Clearly someone who isn't heading for a retirement home any time soon.]]

 

 

Little old lady is [[Mugging the Monster|attacked]]. [[Badass Bystander|Little old lady]] [[Weak but Skilled|kicks ass]]. Moral of the story: '''Never Mess with Granny'''. If you think that a [[Mama Bear]] is bad, this is ''her'' [[Mama Bear]]. Maternal instinct [[Applied Mathematics|to the power of two]]; you're pretty much screwed.

The [[Distaff Counterpart]] to "[[Badass Grandpa]]". Commonly we hear her say that "[[I Was Quite a Looker]]". She may also be a [[Retired Badass]] or the matriarch of a [[Badass Family]]. Older [[Iron Lady|Iron Ladies]] will generally be this. Might overlap with [[Good Is Not Dumb]]; '''''always''''' a [[Cool Old Lady]].

 

 

{{examples}}

* A commercial for Safe Auto Insurance has this: Three toughs cut in front of the little old lady. Big [[Scary Black Man]] sneers, "You got a problem?" and Granny answers him (and his buddies) by letting them [[Talk to the Fist]]! [[Hilarity Ensues|Hilarity]] and ass-kicking ensues as Granny gives them [[Curb Stomp Battle|a full-blown assbeating]] before she kicks them out of the store.

 

* [[Badass Preacher|Sister Yolanda]] (seen above) from ''[[Black Lagoon]]''. In the Greenback Jane arc, she walks in to see her church being attacked... and what does she do? Calmly takes out a ''gold-plated Desert Eagle'' and blows up a car in one shot. While holding the gun with one hand. ''Wow''.

* ''[[Ranma ½]]''

** Also Sentarô's grandma/the matriarch of the Daimonji Clan, grandmistress of [[Martial Arts and Crafts|Martial Arts Tea Ceremony]] and very handy with a napkin.

* Genkai from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''. She wins half a round of the Dark Tournament pretty much single-handedly... ''after giving most of her power to Yusuke.''

* "[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]" has a parody in Grandmano, and how.

* ''[[Naruto]]''

* The Russian assassin from ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'' is over 80 years old, but like many other characters is really a brain in a [[Mobile Suit Human|cybernetic body]] that doesn't look a day older than 30. And with 60 years of experience, she's extremely dangerous.

* Sakae Jinnouchi in ''[[Summer Wars]]''.

 

== Comic Books ==

* May Parker from ''[[Spider-Man]]'' is actually Peter's aunt, but she's old enough to be his grandmother, and on at least one occasion has scared the bejeezus out of a villain who was after Petey.

** In her Ultimate incarnation, after Jameson fired Peter, she had a [http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvwljatvpp1qdcg0ho1_500.gif chat] with him on the phone. Jameson's response to Peter was basically, "You can have your job back, and please never make me talk to your aunt again."

** [http://luna.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/26/usm128.jpg Behold] - Aunt May vs. Eddie Brock!

* A particularly dark variation can be found in one of the ''[[X-Men]]'''s most dangerous foes, [[Complete Monster|Cassandra Nova]], a "little old lady" whose telepathic powers rival that of Charles Xavier himself but whose intentions and goals are far from honourable.

* Gran'ma Ben of ''[[Bone]]''. {{spoiler|Also a [[Retired Badass]].}}

* Madam Fatal (despite technically being a younger man) invokes this trope, [[Wholesome Crossdresser|dressing up as an old lady]] to fight crime.

* There is a comic of ''[[Tales from the Crypt]]'' in which a con man romances a young woman who he believes is heiress to a fortune, only to find out she was trailer trash and dumps her. He discovers that he died in his sleep and the girl's grandmother had cursed him so that he remains alive after dying, but in a zombie-like state with all of post-death symptoms. So while he goes to find the grandmother to have the curse removed, the con man puts up with liver spots, loss of muscle control, loss of bladder control, rigor mortis, and flesh decomposition. When he reaches the grandmother's house, she catches him in a bear trap and reveals that she did all of it for revenge as her granddaughter committed suicide out of grief while pregnant. The story wraps up with the grandmother (and the rest of the family) forcing the con man to marry the girl, who is now a zombie herself.

* The title character's grandmother in ''[[Bamse]]''. She normally only stands in the sidelines, cooking up the thing that makes Bamse strong... but when he's otherwise incapacitated, she enters the fray herself. Awesomeness ''always'' ensues.

* From ''[[Lucky Luke]]'', Ma Dalton can certainly be scarier than her four desperado sons. She was a fearsome bandit herself and still carries a loaded gun in her handbag.

* In ''The Piranha Club'', Enos mother-in-law is a frail little old lady... who just happens to have superpowers such as invulnerability and superhuman strength along with a really mean personality. She swept the floor with Mike Tyson once.

* In ''[[Promethea]]'', the protagonist's predecessor is somewhere between failing at this trope and failing at averting it. She never wanted to be a hero in the first place.

 

== Fan Works ==

* ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure Blue Moon]]'' has a number of examples. The [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] has [[Evil Old Folks|Mireyes]], whose age and main ability (fortune telling) throw people's expectations off when she turns out to be very dangerous, her ability translating into [[Combat Clairvoyance]]. Tachimany also has the ability to turn into [[Me's a Crowd|three]] old women. On the good side of things, the Elder of the Garden of Days has done a lot more in the brief page-time she's gotten than her [[Futari wa Pretty Cure|ca]][[Fresh Pretty Cure|non]] (and male) counterparts ever did.

 

* In the Disney version of ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]'', the fairy grandmothers are very old and very round. But with their powers of flight and offensive spellcasting, they actually get more action that the [[Decoy Protagonist|prince]].

* Nana, the old woman from ''[[Madagascar]]''. She only has a couple of scenes in the first movie, where she [[Groin Attack|kicks Alex in the crotch]] while shouting "Bad kitty!" She [[Ascended Extra|proved so popular]] that she gets a bigger part in the [[Spin-Off]] short ''Christmas Caper'', and on the sequel ''Escape 2 Africa'' displays serious skills as a survivalist.

* Although she is short, old, and her hands shake, the nanny from ''[[The Thief and the Cobbler]]'' is probably the most formidable good guy in the movie. As seen by the part, left in most cuts, where she restrains the thief from stealing her golden-yellow bananas... with a pair of huge, muscular arms... and then beats him like an old carpet.

** {{spoiler|Granny is a champion cage wrestler, amongst other things.}}

* They may not have grandkids, but ''[[The Triplets of Belleville]]'' definitely get a place here. The main character, Madame Souza, ''is'' a grandmother, and earns Never Mess With Granny status by being a [[Determinator]] who takes on [[The Mafia]] (with the help of the eponymous triplets) to [[Roaring Rampage of Rescue|rescue her kidnapped grandson Champion]].

* ''[[Arthur (film)|Arthur]]''. The [[Trope Codifier]]. Martha even stops an [[Axe Crazy]] Bert Johnson with just a slap.

{{quote|'''Martha:''' Don't ''screw'' with ''me'', Bert.}}

* Antonia in ''Antonia's Line'' decides to deal with the man who raped her granddaughter her own way—so she heads to the local tavern with a shotgun. When she gets there, she decides instead to put a curse on him instead of killing him ([[Karmic Death|which apparently works]]). Whether you think he got off easy or not it was definitely a [[Badass]] grandma moment when she has him on his knees terrified.

* The old lady with whom Max and Jess stay in the middle part of ''[[Mad Max]]''. She threatens the Toecutter's biker gang with a pretty hefty gun (by real life standards, not [[More Dakka]]), and they listen.

* The Penguin from ''[[The Blues Brothers]]''. Maybe a little young, but she fits the badass by whipping the piss out of Jake and Elwood.

* ''[[Zombieland]]''. Sister Cynthia Knickerbocker, winner of the Zombie Kill of the Week, who walks quietly away from a zombie {{spoiler|so she can ''drop a fucking piano on him!''}} This is her only appearance in the film and she has absolutely no connection to the rest of the plot or characters... but does she need to?

* While her exact age is somewhat ambiguous, BB from Takashi Miike's ''[[Sukiyaki Western Django]]'' is definitely a grandmother and past her prime when she picks up her guns again and [[Improbable Aiming Skills|shoots a crossbow bolt]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|out of the air!]]

* Lucy Bobby, mother of Ricky Bobby in ''[[Talladega Nights]]'', tamed his sack-o-hell sons Walker and Texas Ranger.

* In ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'', we have an overweight elderly housekeeper leap into action and save her employer, knocking down at least one ruffian and two soldiers in the process. Interesting for a white supremacist racist work, the heroine is black and the man she's saving is white.

{{quote|'''Old woman''': Fucking cyborgs. Streets aren't safe anymore. Can't even go to the market without meeting some punk...}}

 

== Literature ==

** Eda Bell, better known as the Shang Wildcat from the [[Tamora Pierce]] ''Kel'' books. She teaches hand-to-hand combat to the pages.

{{quote|'''Eda:''' Some grandchildren need more raising than others, and I provide it.}}

* ''[[Harry Potter (novel)|Harry Potter]]''

** [[Badass Teacher|Professor]] Minerva McGonagall, who Rowling describes as a 'sprightly' 70-year-old. She holds her own against Death Eaters during the final battle, whether she's fighting them in person or bringing statues to life to attack them. She also lived through being hit with four Stunning Spells to the chest, which is apparently quite a feat for someone in her seventies.

** Molly Weasley may be a ''bit'' too young to qualify, but her oldest son is nearly thirty when she takes down Bellatrix so she's probably pretty close.

{{quote|[[Memetic Mutation|"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"]]}}

* In Daniel Pennac's novel ''La Fée Carabine'', a group of old ladies had been taught to use guns, which is somewhat unusual in Paris. And then there were the accidents....

** Granma Plum was based on a real person that author Janet Evanovich met while researching bounty hunters. She was still skip-tracing in her seventies.

* ''[[Discworld]]''

** Any witch that fits the [[The Hecate Sisters|Mother or... other one]] slot. Granny Weatherwax isn't a grandmother from the technical viewpoint of not having children of her own, but she's still the little old lady known as Granny by a good deal of the main characters, and she Will Take You Down. Her name in Trollish—that's the thumping great creatures made of rock—is "She Who Must Be Avoided". Her name in Dwarfish—as in short people who shove rock all day and carry battle axes on principle—is "Go Round the Other Side of the Mountain". Nanny Ogg is a grandmother, and has a face like an old apple and a pleasantly sunny personality, but also enough pure magical power to make anyone sit up and pay attention.

*** Nanny Ogg ''is not afraid'' of Granny Weatherwax. That should be a hint.

** [[Memetic Badass|Mrs. Cake]]. Even the Post Office (who are only scared of the worst things) are scared of her.

'''Ridcully''': Yes.

* Another [[Terry Pratchett]] example is Granny Morkie from ''[[Nomes Trilogy|The Bromeliad]]''.

* ''[[Good Omens]]'': The title inspiring Agnes Nutter from ''The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter'', who knew she was going to be burned at the stake, ''packed her skirts with gunpowder and roofing nails'' (and pretty much controlled the plot of the whole book from a few hundred years ago).

** Ancient Mai. She scares the shit out of Harry and senior wardens carry her umbrella.

** Martha Liberty as well, as both are on the Senior council, the oldest and most powerful wizards.

** Lartessa, the second most powerful of the Denarians, and over 2000 years old, and her second, Rosanna, who has even the Knights of the Cross semi fooled about her 'good girl in a bad situation' act. Harry is not fooled, but that's because he had Lasciel in his head for several years. Neither is a [[Cool Old Lady]].

* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''

* In ''The Secret Diary of [[Adrian Mole]]'', after Adrian's grandma learns he's being tormented by local bully Barry Kent, she goes out, returning a little while later with the money Barry took from Adrian, and assurances that he won't be bothering Adrian again. Next day, Adrian writes, "It is all over school that a seventy-six-year-old woman frightened Barry Kent and his dad into giving back my menaces money," although [[Noodle Incident|precise details of what happened are never given]].

* Olenna Tyrell, aka "The Queen of Thorns" in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. While she only properly featured in one book thus far, by all accounts she's a vicious piece of work if she thinks you're a threat to her or her family. {{spoiler|Just ask Joffrey.}}

* Grandma Dowdell from ''Long Way from Chicago'' and ''A Year Down Yonder''. She lives by herself in a sleepy Illinois town, always manages to have enough to eat during the Depression, and engages in a number of fantastic escapades that leave her grandchildren (who grew up in Chicago) stunned. She owns a Winchester rifle which once belonged to her husband and is not afraid to use it, keeps a large snake in her attic to eat mice, and once expressed a desire to see the alleged body of a Chicago mobster who was killed and put on display. And lord help any idiot who tries to get the best of her. When some brothers blow up her mailbox, she tricks them into breaking into her house then throws a cherry bomb at them and holds them down with the Winchester Rifle, finishing it off by getting their milkman father to beat them after pretending they put a dead mouse in her milk. When the principal's son tries to vandalize her house on Halloween, she waits in the shed and trips him with wire before throwing a pan of hot glue at his head. She then takes the knife that he dropped and uses it to cut him a slice of pie at the school's Halloween party, adding insult to injury (the kid was still pretty much bald from the glue attack). Upon learning what his son did, the principal just said "Boy, you picked the wrong house".

* Rosa Klebb, the head of SMERSH in the ''[[James Bond]]'' novel ''[[From Russia with Love]]'' is a late middle-aged [[Big Bad]] who can dish out serious hurt and fights dirty.

* Relda Grimm from ''[[The Sisters Grimm]]'' series.

* Scott Westerfeld's ''[[Midnighters]]'' trilogy features Madeleine, the elderly mindcaster who {{spoiler|sold out her fellow midnighters for popularity}}, then hid in a crepuscular contortion for decades to stay away from the darklings and ''create a whole new generation of midnighters'' to back up natural-born Seer Rex. By manipulating the vulnerable minds of women in labour. And that's when she had relatively good intentions. [[Mind Rape|You don't want to know what Madeleine will do to you if you get on her bad side]].

* Pearl Bright in Jane Lindskold's ''[[Breaking the Wall]]'' trilogy. When your first on-page action in one of the books is beheading an attacker who took you completely by surprise, you are this trope.

* In Maria Semyonova's book series ''[[The Wolfhound]]'', we learn that it was an [[Old Master|old lady]] known as Mother Kendarat who has taught the protagonist (big, [[Badass]] [[Noble Savage|barbarian warrior]]) his martial arts prowess. A few years later the hero regularly beats seven kinds of shit out of his numerous opponents, and still Mother Kendarat can wipe the floor with him. This series also has an old Norse lady, grandmother of another prominent character, who had spent 20 years on a cold barren desert of an island ''alone'', then, when 70 [[Badass]] [[Proud Warrior Race|Vikings]] came to her island, she took leadership over them and sailed away to the other side of the world to find her lost grandson.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Not to be confused with the UK children show ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtymNiYlSD4 Super Gran]'', about a Scottish granny who gets superpowers from the bad guys mishandling a piece of [[Applied Phlebotinum]]. The [[Title Theme Tune]] says it all:

{{quote|''Stand back [[Superman]], Iceman, [[Spider-Man]]. [[Batman]] and Robin too.

* Granny Clampet of ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]''. None of them were wimps, but Granny was one of the toughest scrappers in the whole family. And you don't want her shooting at you.

* ''[[Monty Python's Flying Circus]]'': Hell's Grannies.

* Maddie "[[Mama Bear]]" Westen in ''[[Burn Notice]]''. She manages to successfully interrogate a terrorist into near-pants-wetting fear when Sam and Fi couldn't break him, hides weaponry in her house, and {{spoiler|successfully stalls and distracts a pair of government agents in order to help Michael escape, fully aware that they'll arrest her once they inevitably figure out she's protecting him.}} When the normal standard of badass is made by ex-spies and bounty hunters and you're still considered badass, you deserve to be on this page.

* Gemma in ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]''. She only recently became a grandmother but she definitely fits.

* T'Pau in the original ''[[Star Trek]]'' series, thanks to Celia Lovsky's amazing presence.

* ''[[1000 Ways to Die]]''. A mugger attempts to steal an old lady's purse, but the old lady turns out to be a black belt in tae kwon do. A [[Curb Stomp Battle]] ensues that ends when the would-be mugger has his throat crushed via karate chop.

* ''[[Chuck]]'' has Mrs Winterbottom who when her home is invaded by mercenaries, fires her double-barrel shotgun at them and then proceeds to take a machine gun she has hidden in her coffee table and fire it from her living room window. When she is out of ammo, she 'scuttles' her house using C4, a handgranade and her knitting supplies. Supreme Badass Casey is perfectly happy to just follow her lead and reload for her.

* Company Boss Jang Sook Ja, who basically kicks her daughter-in-law and grandchildren out into the real world, allowing only room, board, and $10 a day for them to live on in the [[Korean Drama]] ''[[Shining Inheritance]]''.

* In ''[[MacGyver]]'' season fives Christmas episode, "The Madonna", an elderly bag lady whom Mac and Peter Thornton are helping turns out to be not only a fount of wisdom, but also turns around a troubled youth by hustling him at pool.

* In ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'', Ashley's grandma attacked a monster with her car.

** Technically, Snow White and Regina are [[Older Than They Look]], being Henry's grandma and great-step-grandma.

 

== Music ==

* The Manau song "''Faut pas faire chier Mémé''" ("Do not piss Granny off"). Unusual in that Granny is not sympathetic; she goes on a killing rampage just because someone resisted her bullying.

* The [[Spike Jones]] song [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orywozdlS8s "Never Hit Your Grandma With a Shovel"] warns:

{{quote|''[[Shovel Strike|Never hit your grandma with a shovel]]

 

== Party Games ==

 

== Pro Wrestling ==

* In the mid 2000's wrestler Shelton Benjamin was given an on screen mother simply named "Momma Benjamin", portrayed on screen by comedian and actress Thea Vidale. She would interfere and challenge other wrestlers on her son's behalf. The character was written out when Vidle had a medical condition and could not continue performing the role.

* During the late 1990's wrestling boom, a TV special "Exposing the secrets" of pro-wrestling was produced and shown on NBC networks. In the show, they explain how crowd plants work by showing a character they named "Stunt Granny", an older woman.

 

== Radio ==

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* Erin Tarn of the ''[[Rifts]]'' role-playing series. She's in her 60s and is the Coalition State's Public Enemy #1, simply because she spreads knowledge. She's one of the few people in that world that is known around the world (and across dimensions) to be both respected and feared.

** However, while she is entirely fearless and has dominated intense situations by sheer force of personality or charm, she's never actually been in a fight in her life and unlike some other entries on this page (such as Granny Weatherwax), she shows no signs of being ''able'' to fight. She does, however, employ some of the most formidable bodyguards available anywhere.

** There are several class features that entirely eliminate age penalties while still letting you keep age bonuses. One of them is being a high-level monk. So yeah.

** The crone statue in 4E's "[[Tomb of Horrors]]" qualifies.

* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'', in one of its comedy sets, has a card named "Granny's Payback" whose art depicts an old lady slaughtering her way through a horde of people. The card's [[Flavor Text]]:

{{quote|'''R&D Comments'''

'''MR:''' [[Fix It in Post|We'll fix it in the flavor text]]. }}

** A more recent (and tournament legal!) example from the new ''Dark Ascension'' set is the kindly old [[Our Werewolves Are Different|Lambholt Elder]]. The flavor text says it all:

* It's been suggested on a modder forum that made mods for the ''[[In Name Only|Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' game, that carrying cash should increase the chance that a player gets attacked on the streets, which in turn would lead to a big fight involving muggers, pirates, guards, and old ladies with broomsticks, who don't want to miss the fun. How serious this suggestion was, is anyone's guess.

* An odd one in ''[[House of the Dead]]: Overkill'', where the final boss {{spoiler|is Clement's elderly mother... after her brain had been transplanted into Varla Guns, and the mutagen overloaded her and made her giant.}}

* ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]''

** Lily Bowen was a kindly old grandmother before becoming a Nightkin. She's still like this somewhat when not completely [[Ax Crazy]].

** You, yourself, if you moved the age meter all the way to the right and gave yourself grey hair and be female, can play as a badass grandma. "I may not have kids, I may be 70+ years old, but I'm quite capable of taking a rocket launcher to your face."

** Why stop there? You can easily be one in Oblivion. "I may literally be old enough to be the mother of Martin Septim himself, but I can handle Dagon and his minions easily."

* There was a small Shockwave game called ''[[Egg Drop]]'' that involved the player standing at the top of a tall building dropping things like eggs, water balloons, etc., on passersby. If a payload falls on a passing granny (who walks rather slowly), she gets enraged and calls the police, which ends the level immediately.

* ''[[Golden Sun]]''

** In ''[[Golden Sun]]: The Lost Age'', the player follows the escaped pirate Briggs back to his homeland, where he's begging his grandma Obaba for protection from the player characters. She obliges by summoning a giant firebreathing salamander. Once she realizes the player characters are too tough for that, she lets them say their piece, and then she realizes they're telling the truth about Briggs's shenanigans and goes off on him for lying to her and endangering her baby great-grandson. She later [[The Blacksmith|helps reforge]] the pieces of an ancient trident that can be used to defeat the sea monster Poseidon.

* Both [[Rival Science Teams|Class I and Class M]] from ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' are full of [[Badass Grandpa]]s. They show this capability when Sheridan is attacked by the Oracle Knights, and Tamara, one of the two women on the teams, pulls out a fricking [[Kill It with Fire|flamethrower]] on the Knights. Commence asskicking. {{spoiler|Unfortunately, just before almost everyone on the teams pulls a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}.

* Raja from ''[[Suikoden V]]''. A former navy admiral who later defeated her [[A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil|student who defected to the enemy Godwin faction]].

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[Digger]]'', there is Boneclaw Mother. "Frankly, I'm a lot more scared of Boneclaw Mother than the Gods. She-Is-Fiercer [the hyena goddess] isn't known for her left hook.

* Albeit more of a [[Mama Bear]], Miranda Deegan (mother of ''[[Dominic Deegan]]'') deserves a mention here. She doesn't have any grandchildren yet, but is an elderly badass lady just the same. As an archmage, it [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards|comes with the territory]].

* [http://agirlandherfed.com/comic/?690 Rose] from ''[[A Girl and Her Fed]]''. She's a little old grey-haired lady who walks with a cane. She's also the retired Federal agent who used to run "the post office", a black ops team. When she retired, she opened a daycare for the children of mercenaries and Special Forces members. It has snipers with live ammo watching to make sure no-one messes with the kids.

* ''[[Drive (webcomic)|Drive]]'': Captain Taneel of the ''[[Cool Ship|Machito]]'' hasn't even touched a weapon (yet), but managed to mouth off to the emperor and get away with it. The same emperor who [[Klingon Promotion|killed his uncle]] for the position.

* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]''. The eponymous Doc is at stated to be about thirty-five. Mitzi [[McNinja]], his mom, has to be in her mid-to-late fifties, and she can just about out-ninja him. Achievements include blowing up a pirate ship so precisely that the treasure landed in her family's hands on the shore, fighting Doc to a draw in the cave, and (in an alternate future) destroying the only Horrorsaurus.

* ''Chuckle-A-Duck'' reminds: [http://chuckleaduck.com/comic/stay-on-the-grass/ keep away from her petunias].

 

== Web Original ==

* There's this gem from [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCTUvvTR4zc BinkieMcFartnugget.]

* ''[[Whateley Universe]]''. Mrs. Carson is in at least her 70s with grandchildren. She scares the crap out of the entire student population of Whateley Academy at one point. Students are seen wondering who had the balls to prank her. On Halloween, she beat the crap out of and nearly killed a nearly-invincible cyborg ''without help''. It helps that she is Lady Astarte, a big-name superheroine.

 

== Western Animation ==

** The elder princess pinned down Demona with a laser gun. "Nobody messes with my eggs!" (Gargoyle eggs by the way, she wasn't defending breakfast.)

** Heck, Demona herself when {{spoiler|we see her in flashbacks as an old gargoyle in ''City of Stone'', before she is granted immortality and eternal youth}}.

** Ma Beagle is certainly the smartest and craftiest of her family of thieves, crooks and robbers. [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas|No wonder they loved her so much.]]

** Glittering Goldie counts, too. Because if you don't count her, she'll come after you with a shotgun.

* From the ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (animation)|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' animated series, Sam's Granny Ruth, who works at a ''maximum security prison'' on [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Blood Island]]. The duo visit her on Christmas Eve just as the prisoners attempt a jailbreak. True to this trope, Granny kicks seventeen types of ass to get the rapscallions back into place.

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]''. Mr. Krabs' mother may seem like a sweet old lady at first, but when she finds out that Plankton was just using her to get the Krabby Patty formula, she flexes her bicep, revealing it to be huge and accompanied by an image of battleship cannons going off inside it. Cue [[Oh Crap]] from Plankton followed by him being [[Megaton Punch|punched clean out of the Krusty Krab and back into the Chum Bucket]]. Never Mess with Granny indeed...

* ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' had one extremely short segment of a little old lady rolling down the street in a tank.

{{quote|'''Granny:''' Come and get some!}}

* ''[[Wakfu]]'' season 2 introduces Ruel's grandmother in one episode. Note that Ruel is already the [[Cool Old Guy]] and [[Old Master]] of the heroes' group, so there's no telling how old exactly is his grandmother. When a group of [[Sky Pirate|air pirates]] attacks her [[Clock Punk]] [[Cable Car Action Sequence|cable-car]], you get the feeling that she wouldn't even need the help of the heroes to drive them off... considering she welcomes them with a cannon. {{spoiler|And by [[Fusion Dance|fusioning with her drheller]] [[Familiar]] for a tougher combat form.}}

* ''[[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee]]'': If you think Juniper Lee is badass, you ''don't'' want her grandmother to be angry at you.

* [[Archer|Mallory Archer]] mostly spends her time complaining about things, and being wasted, but as she demonstrated, she's still a dead shot with her 44. Magnum. {{spoiler|A fact she demonstrated on a mind controlled Archer.}}

{{quote|'''Mallory:''' All six shots, right in the 10 ring.}}

 

== Real Life ==

* 77-year-old Avis Blakeslee was attacked by a rabid fox. She caught it and held it down until help arrived.

* An old Texas grandmother and her granddaughter were at home one night when a robber broke in. The granddaughter rushed to the phone and called 911. Granny pulled out a revolver and opened fire. When interviewed later on the news, she apologized... for swearing at the robber.

* An 88-year-old Oregon woman returned from picking up logs for her stove to find a nude intruder in her home. When he tried to push her face first into a chair, she reached back and [[Groin Attack|yanked his testicles]]. He fled, injured, and was apprehended.

* A 72-year-old former sprinter [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4602626/Teenage-handbag-thief-outpaced-by-72-year-old-ex-sprinter.html outpaced the teenager] trying to steal her handbag.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfeAsOiaOkk She warned]. Should some poor sod mess with this granny, [[Memetic Mutation|she'll shoot him in his toodles]].

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7002829.stm Helen McAdam] confronted an armed robber who was holding a security guard at gunpoint. She then proceeded to beat him with her handbag and he fled.

* Australian Olympic gold medalist [http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Dawn-Fraser-71-year-old-Olympic-champ-fights-o?urn=oly,186159 Dawn Fraser, 71, grabs a would-be crook by the ear and kicks him in the groin]. He threatens her, she's annoyed, grabs him again by the ear and his hair.

* Four grandmas in an Impala get hit by a young man at an intersection and the man is yelling at him like it's their fault even though it was him who ran the red light. One rolls down the window, gets the guy with pepper spray and the four old ladies proceed to get out of the car and beat the guy senseless with two umbrellas, a purse, and a black luggage bag until he gets so scared he runs back into his car and takes off. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj-6nJCQYdo Listen to it here].

* Mugger pulls a knife on a little old lady in a wheelchair. Little old lady reaches into her purse, pulls out gun, and shoots him. Turns out, little old lady was a highly competitive shooter, and was on her way home from the range. Unfortunately, she intentionally did not shoot to kill, and is now being sued by the mugger.

* Everyone on [http://raginggrannies.org/ Raging Grannies]. They invoke the trope by being over sixty, marching in protests, and singing mildly raunchy songs on street corners to call attention to government and corporate corruption.

* According to ''Albions Seed'' by David Hackett Fischer, a number of Scotch-Irish [[Apron Matron]]s were like this. They had intimidating personalities, were experts on all the traditions of [[The Clan]], and would scare the fierce frontiersmen about them, especially if they were their [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas|sons]]. And when was needed they could be [[Mama Bear|right handy with a gun]].

* A criminal, attempting to hide from the police, broke into a house he knew to be owned by an old widow, thinking he'd be safe. After he heard the distinctive sound of a pump-action shotgun and received a polite warning that he might have a better chance with the police, he chose to surrender.

* Asshole in a fancy car is rude to an old lady, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bBVJAFrN0U old lady sets off his airbag with her shopping] and keeps on walking.

* [[wikipedia:Ruth Westheimer|Ruth Westheimer]]. Yes, that Dr. Ruth. She was born in 1928. She fought as a ''sniper'' in the War of Israeli Independence. She is still very much active.

* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F08%2F05%2FDD181KHUV0.DTL Sensei Keiko Fukuda] just became the fourth person in history (and the first woman, and first person living outside Japan) to be made a 10th dan judoka. She's ''98'' and still teaches judo in San Francisco. Do not mess with her.

* Julia Child was as OSS agent.

* In some Native American tribes, if you piss off Granny you will have all of the young men gunning for you.

* Jane Elliott, the teacher responsible for the "[[wikipedia:Jane Elliott#The exercise|brown eyed/blue eyed]]" exercise, is a non-combat example of this trope. She reaches [[Sadist Teacher]] levels in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf2LB0IG1xo this] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neEVoFODQOE&feature=related reenactment] of the experiment, but does an excellent job of conveying how it feels having to deal with racism every day.

* Dorli Rainey of Seattle, who is 84 years old, got pepper-sprayed to fight against [[Corrupt Corporate Executive|the noxious influence of the 1%]] with an inordinate influence on government. Her response to all the idiots who haven't even read the First Amendment to the United States Constitution? [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|"I'm feeling great. I feel so energized. It's amazing what a little pepper spray will do for you]]."

** Not so surprising, considering Japanese culture. Still Badass.

* Annie Oakley. She was nearly seventy when she passed away; she'd been shooting with perfect accuracy right up until then.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Action Girl]]

[[Category:Elders]]

[[Category:Badass]]