Never Mess with Granny: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

== Advertising ==

* 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.

* 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.

 

== Films -- Animation ==

** {{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]].

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* 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.

* ''[[Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot]]'' featuring Sly Stallone as a cop who is troubled by his pistol-packing elderly mother. The film was universally reviled.

* 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 ==

** [[Action Mom]] Alanna, who is reaching her forties in ''Tricker's Choice'' and still beats Kel, who is much younger than her, in a practice fight.

* ''[[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.

*** She's a grandmother in less than a year after that event happens, so, close enough.

* 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]]''

{{quote|'''Hughnon''': You have...ghastly Things from the Dungeon Dimensions and things, yes? Terrible hazards of your ungodly profession?

'''Ridcully''': Yes.

**** Near the end of book, Death raids one of Offler's more remote temples to steal the largest diamond in existence. As he's about to break through the last defenses before the innermost shrine, the priests there scream in horror: '''"Mrs Cake!"'''

** And no one wants to mess with the Agony Aunts, who protect the [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold|seamstresses]] of Ankh-Morpork. They took ''[[Badass|Vimes]]'' down with absolutely no trouble, and he's killed werewolves with his bare hands.

* 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]].

* ''[[Gentleman Bastard Sequence|The Lies of Locke Lamora]]'' has Dona Vorchenza, an elderly noblewoman with no heirs and a penchant as acting as a sort of "foster mother" for various other noblewomen, calling them up to midnight tea to discuss their issues. {{spoiler|She's also the Spider, head of Duke Nicovante's secret police force, who often uses these midnight teas as a way of both keeping up on noble doings and finding possible violators of the Secret Peace between the nobles and the criminal element.}}

* 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.

* 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.

* ''[[V (TV series)|V]]'': The old Jewish lady in a wheelchair... with an [[Cool Guns|Ingram MAC-10]] under her blanket.

* 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 ==

 

== 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 ==

** 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.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]''

* 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 ==

* 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 ==

* [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.

* 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 Crimean on more than one occasion!

* 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.

* 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.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.

* 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.

** 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.

* In 2014, [http://www.insideedition.com/headlines/8736-granny-get-your-gun-armed-elderly-woman-thwarts-burglars two burglars] tried to break into a home in Florida, only to be confronted by an armed 80-year-old grandmother.