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{{trope}}{{cleanup|Far too many examples in the "Real Life" section are a decade or more old and are written as if they're the latest news. These need to be cleaned up and "de-recentified".}}
[[File:yolanda golden eagle 3352.jpg|link=Black Lagoon|frame|Clearly someone who isn't heading for a retirement home any time soon.]]
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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]].
See also: [[When Elders Attack]], [[My Grandma Can Do Better Than You]]! For elderly female villains you should never mess with, see [[Evil Old Folks]].
{{examples}}
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* The elderly cooking show host in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjlBUwORobE this Miller Lite commercial.]
== Anime
* [[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]]''
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** She also [https://web.archive.org/web/20121014160546/http://cdn-i.dmdentertainment.com/cracked/wong/chameleon1.jpg drugged the Chameleon] after seeing through his disguise of Peter, making that ''two'' women of the Parker [http://girlsreadcomics.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/specspider-man24521.png family] who've abused him.
** [http://luna.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/11/26/usm128.jpg Behold] - Aunt May vs. Eddie Brock!
** She's also [http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/9/99657/1888235-wolverine_verses_aunt_may_super.jpg taught]{{Dead link}} ''Wolverine'', of all people to respect her. Then there is [https://web.archive.org/web/20191017003616/http://images.wikia.com/marveldatabase/images/3/33/May_Reilly_
** Aunt May, herald of [https://web.archive.org/web/20131222011332/http://spiderfan.org/characters/images/aunt_may/mtu137_golden_oldie.jpg Galactus]! (Completely non-canon, mind.)
** Also, "What if the Radioactive Spider had Bitten Aunt May?" This [[Alternate Reality| alternate look]] at the origin story (from ''[[What If...?| What If...? #27]]'' is a heartwarming story where May becomes a pretty effective [[Distaff Counterpart| female version]] of Spider-Man, but ''without'' the angst and guilt Peter feels as Spider-Man, seeing as Ben does not die in this reality.
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* In the ''[[Total Drama Island]]'' fanfiction ''[[Keepers of the Elements]]'' the [[Passing the Torch|Old Keepers]] are [[Amazon Brigade|definitely]] [[Elemental Powers|this!]]
==
* 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.
* ''[[Hoodwinked]]'': With all this [[The Matrix|Matrix]] dancing, haz-mat fun and {{spoiler|"Granny wins by a {{
** {{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]].
* ''[[Ratatouille]]''{{'}}s old lady. See rat, grab [[
* ''[[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.}}
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* ''[[Nemesis (film)|Nemesis]]'': a little old lady is harassed by one of the cyborg assassins searching for the protagonist. When he walks away, she pulls out a large pistol out of her purse and shoots him in the back several times, and then shoots him half a dozen times more when he's down for good measure.
{{quote|'''Old woman''': Fucking cyborgs. Streets aren't safe anymore. Can't even go to the market without meeting some punk...}}
* When Jeanine first appeared as a young woman in the original ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' she was the team's [[Sassy Secretary]]; forty years older in ''[[Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire]]'', she suits up and dons a proton pack to fight alongside them.
== Literature ==
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** 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]]''
** Neville's grandmother Augusta Longbottom in ''[[
** [[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....
* In the first of the ''[[Stephanie Plum]]'' books, Grandma's response to being kidnapped (and having her own and her granddaughter's life threatened) involves bullets. Quite a few bullets. She doesn't actually shoot anyone (her aim isn't the greatest), but she starts a fire that burns down the funeral home (she apparently didn't know that the crates stacked along the walls contained ammunition, explosives, etc., or if she knew, she didn't care).
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** 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.
*** [[
** In ''[[
** [[Memetic Badass|Mrs. Cake]]. Even the Post Office (who are only scared of the worst things) are scared of her.
*** In ''[[
{{quote|'''Hughnon''': You have... ghastly Things from the Dungeon Dimensions and things, yes? Terrible hazards of your ungodly profession?
'''Ridcully''': Yes.
'''Hughnon''': We have someone called Mrs. Cake. }}
* 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).
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** 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.
** Anastasia Luccio, despite the fact that she (literally) currently has the body of a 25 year old and has lost most of her power, Harry, who has faced Fallen Angels and [[Physical
** 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]]''
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* 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.}}
* [[Dorothy Gilman]]'s [[Mrs. Pollifax (franchise)|Mrs. Emily Pollifax]], wife of the late Virgil Pollifax. Prim, kind, innocuous, charming, genteel [[Badass]]. And yes, she would manage to avoid any asterisks in that ''without'' violating the "prim and genteel" clause. Joined the CIA when she was already a grandmother because she felt that she had outlived her usefulness. Promptly proved herself astonishingly practical and resourceful. Incidentally she was unleashed upon the world in 1966.
* 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.
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* ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' once had Sam leap into the body of Dr. Ruth and kick the ass of a man that that was taking advantage of his employee. Even better since we get to see the ass kicking in a mirror's reflection we see it as Dr. Ruth performing a pile driver on the creep. Considering the real Dr. Ruth's history (look in the [[Real Life]] section below) we can see [[Retired Badass|why they chose her.]]
* In ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'', Ashley's grandma attacked a monster with her car.
* Kelsy's grandmother in ''[[Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue]]'' overlaps this Trope with [[Mama Bear]], as in, threaten her granddaughter, even if you ''are'' a demon with a squad of Batlings backing you up, and she'll come crashing into your headquarters with a forklift and beat you senseless with a hockey stick.
* Red Riding Hood's Granny in ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]''. Her [[Establishing Character Moment]] in the Fairy-tale world? Keeping vigil at her door with a ''crossbow'' loaded and cocked. [[It Gets Worse]] when you find out the truth about the wolf {{spoiler|she [[Our Werewolves Are Different|was the Big Bad Wolf]] at [[Retired Monster|one point]], and passed the lycanthropy to her daughter and granddaughter.}} She and Red also join Snow White in a daring raid on King George's castle to rescue [[Prince Charming]], and Granny takes down a few guards.
** Technically, Snow White and Regina are [[Older Than They Look]], being Henry's grandma and great-step-grandma.
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== 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.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7f9hsFrKUY "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena"] by [[Jan and Dean]].
* 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]]
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* 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.}}
* In the webgame ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20100123144503/http://www.epicmafia.com/ Epic Mafia]'', one of the roles a player can get is "Granny". If anyone tries to visit Granny during the night phase, Granny shoots them instead.
* ''[[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]].
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* ''[[World of Warcraft]]''
** Grandma Wahl in the Worgen starting zone initially seems a senile old lady who makes you fetch her favorite book, clothes, and cat before she'll obey with orders to evacuate. When you're attacked on retrieving the cat however, Grandma Wahl proves she's a senile old ''Worgen'' lady and helps take out the enemy with a yell of "You do not mess with my kitty, you son of a mongrel!"
*** This is even more remarkable when you realize, at this point of the game's lore, the player is the ''only'' Worgan known to regain their human intelligence and personality; all others up to now have succumbed to their beast side.
** Ethel Waterwise, a very old Tauren in ''Legion''. She has poor eyesight and hearing, but her ''voice'' is as good as ever, proven when she scares away a demon - three times larger than herself - by yelling at it.
** Katherine Proudmore from the ''Battle for Azeroth'' expansion. She may lack the wizardry and elementalist abilities of her daughter, but her Rogue skills are still as sharp as they ever were, letting her kick ass with the best of them.
** Dorian Atwater, a shipwright you have to recruit to unlock Kul Tiras Humans as a playable race. Let's put it bluntly, during the quest chain involving her, there's an [[Escort Mission]] where the roles are reversed, and ''she'' protects ''you'' from attackers. Not to mention the fact that she managed to learn shamanic magic without even knowing what a Shaman is.
* ''[[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.
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* ''[[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.
* ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f-6ZgnNF90&feature=plcp&context=C3693db5UDOEgsToPDskJVnbZjq5zh7zMj9DP1hcLT EAT WELL: Grandma vs. Robber.]'' The moral of the story is eat your vegetables.
== Western Animation ==
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* 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.
* [https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/11/25/82-year-old-woman-beats-down-home-intruder-he-picked-the-wrong-house/23867381/ Burglar breaks into a house in Rouchester, NY, and gets his ass handed to him by the owner, 82 year old (and award-winning bodybuilder) Willie Murphy.]
* 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.
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* [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.
* Azrael at [https://web.archive.org/web/20130801004644/http://www.outpostnine.com/gaijin_smash/ ''Gaijin Smash''] blogged frequently about the terror that is the obaasan (Japanese grandmother). School policies tended to be made with deference to them, and discipline couldn't be carried out for fear of facing their wrath; the obaasan were feared as much as yakuza parents. Az also describes a field trip in which he was driven from half-way up Mount Fuji by a typhoon, and on retreat was ''passed up'' by a group of marching obaasan who had already been to the top.
* Actress Natalie Schafer was in her late 60s when she played Mrs. Howell on ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'', yet she insisted on doing ''all'' her own stunt work.
* The Sisters of Mercy might count as an entire sect of badass grandmas—even though their vows prevent them from even becoming mothers. Fed up with the cloistered lifestyle that Catholic nuns were forced into, they browbeat their way into making the ''Pope himself'' agree to the formation of a non-cloistered order. These women also went into ''warzones'' on a regular basis to treat the wounded—they braved ''artillery fire'' in the
* 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].
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* [[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.
** She was born in 1928 in ''Germany'', and pretty much got out in the nick of time in 1939. Her parents didn't make it. She came by her quite noticeable limp the hard way, being badly wounded by shellfire during the Israeli War Of Independence in 1948. ''Any'' of the things listed here on their own would qualify her as a Badass.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20191017003616/http://www.galsh.com/img-23-60664-_Plaka_me_pushke_.html#top_display_media This old lady.]
* [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.
* Ernestine Shepherd, who at 74 years old, is in the ''Guinness Book of Records'' as the world's oldest female bodybuilder. To top it off, she didn't even ''start'' working out until she was 56.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Action Girl]]
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[[Category:Elders]]
[[Category:Badass]]
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