The Ace: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

In a work revolving around a specific activity, any kind of [[Serious Business]], the Ace will be the best at it. In works lacking that sort of focus, they'll probably be extremely talented at ''everything''.

The Ace is rarely the protagonist, typically acting as the living embodiment of [[Always Someone Better]]. They'll drive the protagonist to greater efforts either out of [[Green-Eyed Monster|envy]] or by [[Dare to Be Badass|inspiring them]]. As such, if they're a main character, expect them to be either [[The Rival]] or [[The Mentor]]. If they're a minor but reoccurring character, then they'll almost certainly be [[Hero of Another Story]].

 

 

It is common in Romance stories, as what they are good at usually has little effect on the romantic plot.

 

See [[Ultimate Lifeform]] for a character that is ''literally'' perfect.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime & Manga ==

* Kintaro from ''[[Golden Boy]]''.

* Max Sterling in ''[[Robotech]]''. He's made a nice guy and a hopeless romantic (who almost gets in a [[Star-Crossed Lovers]] romance at some point, but manages to make his [[Hot Amazon]] rival pull a [[Heel Face Turn]]) to make him more of a sympathetic character, though, and the heroes want to have him for a friend both on and off duty. For instance, Rick Hunter, one of the lead characters who ''was'' a cocky pilot himself, is more than ready to acknowledge that Max is far better than himself, which of course makes him a great wingmate to have with you in battle.

** Max is considered basically undefeatable in the ''[[Robotech]]'' novelizations in either mecha-to-mecha or hand-to-hand combat, to the point that in the final battle of the first-generation novels engaging his blue-trimmed fighter is described as an instant death sentence.

** He's even better in his original ''[[Macross]]'' appearance as Max Jenius, and even in ''[[Macross 7]]'', where he becomes the [[Cool Old Guy]]. Hell, just look at his name!

** In the later stages of ''[[Macross 7]]'' Max is ordered to {{spoiler|sacrifice the entire million+ population of the Macross 7 fleet to bide time}} against the Protodevilin. Dismayed but not swayed, the Genius takes the battle to the enemy, even stealing the spotlight from {{spoiler|main character Gamlin's 'death'}}. In the final battle, despite being a secondary character, Max outflys everyone, having the distinction of fighting closest to the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|without having his VF explode}}

** In ''Super Robot Wars Alpha 3'', ''[[Macross 7]]'' is included, and Max is mostly used as the pilot of the Battle 7. And he still dodges attacks and shoots down enemies with the best of them.

{{quote|'''Onizuka''': All right, I'll sell my organs then. No other choice, right?

'''Student''': Sell the brain first! You never use it! }}

* Char Aznable and the vast majority of his [[Char Clone|Expies]] in the ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' multiverse. Usually, they're [[The Hero]]'s [[The Rival|Rival]] or [[Evil Counterpart]], making them less sympathetic (but no less [[Badass]]).

** The most blatant example is [[Big Brother Mentor|Mu La Flaga]] from ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', otherwise known as the "man who makes the impossible possible", who seduces the insanely hot [[The Captain|Murrue]] {{spoiler|TWICE}}! He's also arguably a better pilot than the actual main character Kira, without being a [[Super Soldier]]. [[Word of God|Apparently]] he's actually a Newtype, even though SEED already has Newtype equivalents.

** Speaking of Char Clones (although not strictly in the Gundam multiverse), [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch]] and [[Boring Invincible Hero|Suzaku]] come across to each other as this. Lelouch constantly felt cheated each time the mysterious white [[Mini-Mecha|Knightmare]] showed up to ruin his plans with over-the-top acrobatics, whilst Suzaku felt that Zero was dirty terrorist who stole the "[[The Empire|Good Guys']]" thunder. It only got worse when they discovered each others' identities.

* [[Nabeshin]] when he appears in ''[[Excel Saga (anime)|Excel Saga]]'' by merit of being [[Parody Sue|a parody of a Marty Stu]]. He is essentially a living [[Deus Ex Machina]].

* Goku of ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', most definitely. He also happens to be somewhat [[Genre Savvy]] (about this at least) in the Cell and Buu Sagas in that he wanted to avoid having the other Z Soldiers rely on him too much, knowing the [[Crutch Character|drawbacks of it]].

* Gary in ''[[Pokémon]]'' at the start of the series. He'd show up in a convertible (complete with cheerleaders) every so often and completely degrade Ash with just how better than him he was.

* Portgas D. Ace ([[Punny Name|haha]]) of ''[[One Piece]]'' is the main character's badass big brother who rips through entire marine battalions effortlessly and with oppressive amounts of style. He's suave, friendly, helpful, polite, and everyone on the crew loves him, even going so far as to wonder how he could possibly be related to Luffy. Even before getting his Devil Fruit powers, he was tough enough to beat up his little brother ''after the latter got his'' (but Luffy doesn't begrudge him at all because he's ''just that cool''). Plus, he's still a good enough guy to ask the crew to look after Luffy for him while he's gone. Interestingly subverted when he is defeated by Blackbeard in his first major fight, [[The Worf Effect|probably to show the power of Blackbeard]].

** In the end, he's really more of a [[Broken Ace]]: He wasn't quite as powerful as we thought, had ''severe'' daddy issues, was a bit too [[Hot-Blooded]] for his own good, and generally had problems of wondering if he was supposed to even exist.

* Kei Takishima from ''[[Special A]]'' is consistently ranked #1 in the school, filthy rich, handsome, and athletic to the point that it borders on [[Charles Atlas Superpower]]. About the only thing he can't do is get Hikari to realize that he likes her.

* Similar to Kei is Takumi Usui of ''[[Kaichou wa Maid-sama]]'' who excels at anything he does, whether it be athletics, cooking, academics, music, or anything else you can think of. Misaki thinks he's a space alien. It's probably true.

* Keigo "Ore-sama" Atobe from ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'' is pretty much the incarnation of this trope.

* Chao Lingshen in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''. Mentally, she's a genius inventor, engineer, and studies robotics, medicine, bio-engineering and quantum physics at university level. In talents, she's an expert at Chinese cooking. Financially, she's a wealthy entrepreneur thanks to these cooking abilities and her business management skills. Athletically, she's a specialist in Shaolin Kung Fu. {{spoiler|Supernaturally, she's a [[Playing with Fire|fire-using]], device-based [[Time Master]]}}. She also happens to be fifteen years of age and the most intelligent student in the school (this school happens to hold over 30'000 residents).

** And Roy. Remember that scene where Ed, Scar, Jerso and Zompano were in a futile battle to the death with philosipher-stone powered supersoldiers when Roy comes along and blows them all up with a snap of his fingers?

* ''[[Rental Magica]]'' has a [[Deconstruction]]. The [[Omniscient Council of Vagueness|Association]]'s investigator Kagezaki, who is apparently powerful and knows a lot, just stands nearby with a confident smile and interferes only when he absolutely must, however dire the case is. He's also royal pain in Astral's butt as their curator and seems to enjoy employing [[Jerkass Facade]] and constantly keeping the cast on their guard.

* ''[[Hajime no Ippo]]'': David "Golden" Eagle. The second world champ Takamura faces and the complete opposite of Brian Hawk in both character and boxing style: Friendly, honorable, intelligent, hard-working and dignified and an orthodox "text-book" boxer who's best at the very basics of boxing and a good strategist inside the ring. Ippo mentioned how he looks like a super-hero, contrasted with Takamuras' [[Jerkass]] image of a super-villain. And if that isn't enough, he also has the "same eyes as Ippo". Yeah, the ones with the ominous glow that never give up.

* Just about every American football team in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' has an ace, with Sena being the ace running back for Deimon. More prominent to this trope, however, is Riku of the Seibu Wild Gunmen, who taught Sena how to run properly.

* ''[[Kaze to Ki no Uta]]'': Serge is smart, athletic, good looking and, among other things, a musical prodigy and an excellent equestrian.

* Cowboy Andy in the "Cowboy Funk" episode on ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]''. [[Chewing the Scenery|Scenery-chewing]], [[Cloudcuckoolander|completely-off-his-rocker]], the only person in the whole series to have a personal [[Leitmotif]] that plays whenever he appears (and breaks the fourth wall, [[Painting the Fourth Wall|considering all the other characters hear it too]]), and is [[Good Old Fisticuffs|able to stand up to Spike in a fistfight]].

* ''[[Future GPX Cyber Formula]]'' has Shinjyo, Randoll, and Osamu. Shinjyo is a 2-time European F-3 champion, Randoll is incredibly rich and excels at every sport and endeavor he could get his hands on and Osamu had an excellent record in F-3.

* [[Genshiken]] has Makoto Kousaka. Unlike the other socially awkward and mundane otaku in the show, he is an attractive, well dressed, charismatic, all around nice guy who also towers over the rest of the cast in intellect (hell, he managed to land a job as a programmer after studying for one month).

** He's also the first member of Genshiken to get a girlfriend.

* ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' has Kaworu as a nice subversion. He synchronizes at a [[Over Nine Thousand|higher level than any other pilot]] and is probably the only sane person. He's also a [[Humanoid Abomination]] sent here to [[Apocalypse Maiden|destroy humanity]]. He chooses not to, though. [[It Got Worse|That gives humanity another thirty minutes.]]

* Several characters in ''[[Ben-To]]'', but especially "The Wizard," legendary master of [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|violent discount microwaveable dinner acquisition]].

* Nago (the [[She Cleans Up Nicely|cleaned up one]], [[Inexplicably Identical Individuals|mind you]]) is Yanagin's [[Rival]], who outdid Yanagin in academics, [[Action Girl|karate]], and [[Big Eater|ramen eating]].

* In ''[[Arisa]]'', the titular character is seen as this. {{spoiler|She turns out to be a [[Broken Ace]]}}.

== Comic Books ==

* [[FoxTrot]] gives us Grandma, Andy's mom, who has apparently traveled the world, is a world-class chef and well-informed in most all subjects. However, she [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructs]] the trope when Andy finally reveals that living under her and her [[Monty Oum]] levels of awesome has made her almost unable to connect with her and feel seriously inferior to her.

* In early strips of ''[[Zits]]'', Jeremy's [[Aloof Big Brother|older brother]] Chad was this (at least in the eyes of his [[Always Someone Better|jealous]] brother) to the extent that he was [[The Faceless]]

* The reason for Solaris The Tyrant Sun's second [[Face Heel Turn]] in [[DC One Million]] was that every single descendant of Superman proved far nobler than him, causing great jealousy on his part.

* [[Herbie|Herbie Popnecker]], as a sort of comical early deconstruction of superheroes, would qualify as a preeminent example, though he doesn't look or act the part, and his parents are oblivious. Invincible, endlessly talented, loved and trusted by his allies, respected and feared by his enemies, irresistible to women (on one occasion, much to his chagrin), famous throughout the universe, there's simply nothing he can't do with ease.

* [[Dilbert]] character Topper at least claims he's this and he's never been successfully called on it. It doesn't matter what you've done whether its recycling, building a time machine, or giving birth, he claims he's done it better.

* [[Batman]] is the Ace to such a degree that it's practically a super-power. He's the world's greatest detective, non-super-powered melee fighter, physicist, chemist, engineer, tactician, strategist, pilot, you name it.

** But it's balanced out by him having ''[[Broken Ace|serious]]'' [[Dark and Troubled Past|issues]].

* Sara Nelson-Shimazu from the ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' [[Fanfic]] series called the ''[[Deva Series]]''. Although now a [[Posthumous Character]] and thus subjected to pre-emptive [[Deus Exit Machina]], in the backstory she was said to have sealed two Lost Logia on par with the canonical Book of Darkness by herself - remember how much trouble the Book of Darkness gave the canon characters - as well as being a highly accomplished mage who invented the eponymous system of magic, which has spells of both destruction and utility far beyond anything existing systems had to offer.

* Alexend from the French Pokémon Fanfic/Parody "Pokémon D/P: Plus qu'un jeu" (Pokémon Diamond/Pearl: More Than A game). Seemingly invincible, uses a sword rather than fight with his Pokémon, although he sometimes does so; always appears to help the main character, Zeronos (not related to Zeronos from [[Kamen Rider Den-O]] except his name which was taken from there, it's his ACTUAL NAME), when he's facing an opponent too strong for him, such as Drakness, or simply to destroy something too stupid for him to deal with normally (such as facing the Teletubbies in a Pokémon fight, Alexend just jumped in and killed them all in one slash of his sword before the fight even started, stating that it wouldn't have been funny to fight them anyway.). He have a tendency to show up (and go away when he's done) in an unnecessary cool looking fashion (includes [[Dramatic Wind]], sparkles, lens flares and whatnot when he's in a good mood, but he his more likely to just pop up in a breeze of wind behind Zeronos and disappear the same way). Can be considered as a mix between [[Sidekick Ex Machina]], [[Hypercompetent Sidekick]] and a bit of [[Parody Sue]].

* Likewise, Auron from the sequel, [[Brave New World (fanfic)|Brave New World]].

* The Hunter in ''[[With Strings Attached]]''. At least, Jeft is desperately trying to show the four that he's the Ace and they're feeble jerks. Unfortunately for him, the four {{spoiler|force [[Character Development]] upon him, and he turns into quite a decent guy}}.

* From ''[[Turnabout Storm]]'', ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' and ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' crossover, there's the [[Posthumous Character|murder victim]] [[Original Character|Ace Swift]], an Equestrian pegasus athlete known for winning every event he's ever compited in (which lead to rumors of him cheating and using dubious methods to do so).

** The griffins have Black Star and Red Cyclone, though the latter is more of a [[Broken Ace]].

 

== Film ==

* Tom Cruise, who played the paradigm [[Ace Pilot]] in ''[[Top Gun]]'' made his early career playing a string of Aces : Ace Football Player in ''[[All The Right Moves]]'', Ace Bartender in ''[[Cocktail]]'', Ace pool player in ''[[The Color of Money]]'', and Ace race car driver in ''[[Days Of Thunder]]''.

* Clark Devlin in the movie ''[[The Tuxedo]]''.

* Subverted in ''[[Spy Kids]] 3-D: Game Over''. An overly heroic super messiah comes in at the last minute, gives a rousing speech on how everyone should work together to win the game and singlehandedly bursts through the giant gates. He is instantly shot in the chest and loses all of his 99 lives. Made even funnier by the fact that he's played by Elijah Wood, and instead of having an actual name, he's simply known as "The Guy."

* Nicholas Angel in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' could be a [[Deconstruction]] of this. With how good and dedicated he is to his job, he has no room for any other part of his life. His improbably good abilities also get him shunted off to the country because he's ''making everyone else look bad''. This backfires on the Met, because when they want him back he won't go.

* Subverted beautifully with Harvey Dent in ''[[Dark Knight Trilogy|The Dark Knight]]''. Aaron Eckhart actually seems to play nothing but deconstructed and subverted Aces, like in ''[[Thank You for Smoking]]'' and ''The Black Dahlia''.

* [[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension|Buckaroo Banzai]]: cowboy, rock star, adventurer, brain surgeon.

* Ash from the ''[[Evil Dead]]'' movies starts out as something of a nebbish, but by the last scene of the third film, has grown to become an Ace.

** Oscar Gordon in ''Glory Road'' is another super-competent warrior-engineer. Rufo as well.

** Colin Campbell in ''The Cat Who Walks Through Walls''. His all-around competence is unsurprising considering that {{spoiler|Lazarus Long is his father}}

** Cedric Diggory, however, is more of a textbook Ace in ''Goblet of Fire''. {{spoiler|Which ends up ''[[Sacrificial Lion|brutally]]'' subverted as he is killed in seconds upon confronting the actual villains}}.

** Harry himself also counts in way. At least in the areas of Quidditch and Defense Against the Dark Arts, it's shown that he is exceptionally talented; almost naturally gifted.

* Three words: Bond. [[James Bond]]. (The film version anyway; the literary version is somewhat more realistic.)

* Professor John Kenner of the [[Michael Crichton]] novel ''[[State of Fear]]'': graduated from an MIT engineering course and a Harvard Law course both at higher than average speed, became a professor at MIT at 25 and still manages to be a hot-shot federal agent. Oh, and he is apparently able to quote geological surveys from memory. The only thing keeping him from being absolutely perfect is him at one point confessing he isn't good at languages and a major [[What an Idiot!]] moment.

{{quote|'''Celchu''': "I've been reviewing engineering records and damage statistics."

'''Janson''': "While we've been maneuvering?"

'''Celchu''': "Restraining myself so you could keep up with me left me plenty of time for intellectual pursuits. I also composed a symphony and drafted a plan to bring peace to the galaxy." }}

* ''[[Shadows of the Empire]]'' has Han Solo's [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]], Dash Rendar. He's a very good pilot and a very good shot, and he's ridiculously arrogant, though this does at least annoy the characters. Failing to destroy something he was shooting at actually causes a [[Heroic BSOD]] on his part, and then he shapes up a bit.

* Appleby in ''[[Catch-22]]'' is good at everything he puts his hand to. He's handsome and charismatic and everybody likes him. Yossarian hates that son of a bitch.

* Slim in ''[[Of Mice and Men]]''.

* Lee Child's '''[[Jack Reacher]]''' is either the Ace or the [[Marty Stu]], depending on the variation of your mileage.

* John Galt of ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', complete with [[Author Filibuster|one of the longest monologues ever written]].

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Henry "Hank" Jellicoe is introduced in ''Game Over'' as this. He is in charge of Global Securities, an organization that is like the Vigilantes, but it spans the entire world. It has network even greater than Charles Martin's, and indeed Charles looks up to the man like no one else does. However, the books ''Cross Roads'' and ''Deja Vu'' reveal that Henry is actually a [[Broken Ace]].

Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, you're sexier by far. }}

** Also: "Hurrah! It's the Scarlet Pimpernel!"

** The drunk doctor (played by Alan Alda's father) was a veteran of WWI and WWII, and he simply explained that war and age had taken their toll such that experience and expertise were of no avail against the ravages of time and the horrors of war.

* ''[[Scrubs]]'':

** Dr. Molly Clock, a brilliant shrink who could not only heal ''The Todd'', make any character realize their problems, but her everlasting good mood couldn't be crushed by Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox ''combined'' either.

* On ''[[Leverage]]'', the entire [[Badass Crew|main cast]] is largely this. [[The Big Guy|Eliot]] even falls into the category of [[Invincible Hero]].

* ''[[Chuck]]'':

** Captain Awesome in the TV show ''[[Chuck]]''.

** Bryce Larkin is also quite the Ace.

** As is Cole Barker, who appears to be at least partly based on James Bond.

** [[Justified Trope|There's a reason for this...]] {{spoiler|Eiji is ''half''-human. His mother was an Ashu}}.

** Plus, that was his debut. Once he's more set into the series, he starts getting less badass.

* ''[[Frasier]]'' episode "The Perfect Guy" features Dr. Clint Weber (played by [[The Rocketeer (film)|Billy Campbell]]), an outrageously good-looking (even Frasier's father is stunned) Oxford-certified M.D. (who put himself through med school working as a ''sous chef'', leaving him an expert cook), polyglot (speaking at least English, French and Korean), pilot, squash champion, and generally charming individual. After an episode of slowly giving in to envy after a series of increasingly unlikely upstagings, Frasier gleefully discovers the man can't sing.

* [[Kamen Rider Kabuto|Souji Tendou]] is a particularly grating version of this, [[Up to Eleven|cranked to 11]]. And he's ''the protagonist''. You end up rooting for the bad guys very, very quickly.

== Video Games ==

* Saxton Hale from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''.

** Even death doesn't stop Zack, because he {{spoiler|appears to Cloud just as Sephiroth is charging for the kill and manages to give Cloud a time-stopped heroic pep talk from beyond the grave, inspiring Cloud to find the strength not only to fight on, but to win decisively in a single attack}}.

** It even gets a bit meta; Zack is one of, if not THE most popular characters of the FFVII compilation. Possibly the entire franchise.

* ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' gives us a straight example, Squall Leonhart, who is also the main protagonist. At one point, he [[Rookie Red Ranger|is given command of Balamb Garden, despite being a new graduate]], [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|regardless of your current SeeD rank]]. You're also given missions like abducting heads of state. Yes, typical stuff a newbie who just graduated does. And we should mention that your party includes [[Cool Big Sis|your former teacher]].

* Miles Edgeworth of [[Ace Attorney]] comes across as this. Handsome, rich, extremely intelligent, cultured and a living legend at his job. Subverted though, he's got a whole heap of [[Broken Ace|personal problems]] and starts as something of an [[Amoral Attorney]].

* Sanger Zonvolt from ''[[Super Robot Wars]]''. A [[Large Ham]] whose only real weakness is that his mecha's attacks all cost energy. He gains Ace status during the Earth Cradle where he takes on a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|cyborg zombie version of himself from another dimension]] in a duel, accidentally destroys a bunker that was supposed to withstand the apocalypse, and then one hit kills a boss. Like Kamina he can say the cheesiest crap and make it look totally badass.

** Or on one memorable occasion:

{{quote|I am Sanger Zonvolt! [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|The sword that cleaves the gods!]]}}

* The Boss from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3'', who not only managed to fight in World War II while pregnant and give birth on the battlefield, she gave ''herself'' a Cesarean section! Not to mention being the fictional {{spoiler|Mother of American Special Forces}}, and ''the'' reason behind all of the events of the Metal Gear saga.

** Snake from the same series is superficially The Ace, a legendary [[One-Man Army]] who's saved the world on multiple occasions and capable of wooing any woman ([[Ho Yay|or man]]) he encounters, but the player, those close to him and Snake himself know that the truth is far less flattering. (It turns out that {{spoiler|much of Naked Snake/Big Boss' accomplishments are fabrications created by Zero}}, while Solid Snake is {{spoiler|an imperfect -- and rapidly aging -- clone of Big Boss}}. He may have saved the world, but it's revealed that in doing so, {{spoiler|he's been an unwitting part of a not-so-[[Ancient Conspiracy]]'s feud with Big Boss, then Revolver Ocelot}}.)

** Though he is the villain, Vergil could be considered this way too. The Daniel Southworth-voiced, blue-clad, [[Katanas Are Just Better|katana-wielding]] [[Aloof Big Brother|Aloof]] [[Evil Twin]] beats Dante most of the time and has more fans than his brother.

** Dante is more of an Ace in ''DMC4''. Every time he shows up he upstages Nero in some way and spends half the game killing the villains that Nero couldn't kill.

* Prince Peasley in ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]''. [[Twinkle Smile|Whenever he smiles, the entire screen flashes white]]. [[Ho Yay|Luigi swoons over him]].

* Pierce in ''[[Battalion Wars]] 2''. He even {{spoiler|pulls off }}''{{spoiler|three}}'' {{spoiler|[[Big Damn Heroes]] moments in a single mission--the last one, no less}}.

* Tom Goodman from ''[[No One Lives Forever]]''. Subverted {{spoiler|because he's already dead, and the one you meet is an impostor}}.

* By reading his CV, it is clear Santino from ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]'' was every bit the ace... [[Dem Bones|Just too bad that by the time you meet him, he's been dead for decades]]. None of his crew-members seem to have realized this, however, as they still think he's awesome.

** [[Fire Emblem Tellius]] has a few of them. Ike qualifies in his Radiant Dawn incarnation, the Black Knight is busy {{spoiler|being the best general for both Daein and Begnion ''at the same time,''}} and Bastian seems to be a man of many talents.

* The protagonist of ''[[Radiant Historia]]'' is this; he was able to learn an invisibility spell after seeing an enemy use it ''once''. From the perspective of the non-time travelers, its even more ridiculous. "We need a one-of-a-kind magic item protected by the most powerful army in the world!" "Oh, I have that right here in my pocket." Of course, he had to jump between two different timelines a few dozen times to get it, but they don't see that.

* [[Tales of the Abyss|Van Grants]] is ''the'' Ace in a world that's just a few competent civilians short of being a [[World of Badass]] {{spoiler|and, in a weird way, while he's very much a [[Broken Ace|broken one]], [[Reconstruction|he's also a straight one]]... [[Big Bad|to the villains]].}}

* Deconstructed in the [[Hentai]] game ''Season of the Sakura''; protagonist Shuji Yamagami is instantly good at any sport<ref>[[Super Drowning Skills|except swimming]]</ref> without needing to practice or train, but refuses to participate in any club unless its members can beat him fair and square. Eventually he explains to his friends that he tried being the "school hero", but [[Hard Work Hardly Works|the people who actually had to work to get where they were]] resented him for just having skill handed to him on a silver platter, and he ended up being shunned and hated, which was why he transferred to this new school in the first place.

 

== Webcomics ==

'''Joe''': Perhaps she's trying to improve herself.

'''Fea''': --{{spoiler|Simultaneously}}. }}

** On the other hand, it's been explicitly stated that Jones has no talent for magic, though how common that is isn't entirely clear.

** She's also not a robot.

* In ''[[City of Reality]]'', newcomer Hawk thinks that SUEPR Team Five leader Todo is this: idealistic and generous to a fault, skilled enough to defeat any challenge, and recipient of general acclaim and affection. However, as the entire story is a [[Deconstruction]] of a [[Mary Suetopia]], Todo's idealism is sorely challenged by the world outside Reality.

* Dora of ''[[Questionable Content]]'' has serious issues with her brother Sven due to his being an Ace.

** Sven himself has serious issues with him being an Ace. He becomes a [[Broken Ace]] when he starts to realize he doesn't really have much to his personality besides picking up hot chicks, using wacky situations to get out of uncomfortable ones and writing music he hates.

* Sheldon Flaco is a former cosmonaut, a gold medalist in the modern pentathlon, read several hundred books over the course of one summer, and - according to one strip - will eventually become an admiral in the Bulgarian navy. Did we mention that he's a foot-tall lizard who talks in squeaking sounds?

 

== Web Original ==

* The [[Whateley Universe]] has this with Chaka, whose instinctive ki mastery lets her pick up more than just wire-fu martial arts tricks within moments and who's certainly prone to hamming it up. Or going after [[Eldritch Abomination|half-demonic hybrid weres]] with a rolled-up newspaper.

* Super 55 from ''[[AH Dot Com the Series]]'' is an example turned all the way up to [[Canon Sue]] levels for comedic purposes.

* Ace from [[The Insane Quest]] was ([[Meaningful Name|fittingly]]) one of these at first, but as time went on his team began to lose respect for him when he started becoming less of an ace and more of a traditional [[Marty Stu]]. Lori could also be considered a female example.

** This has given [[Blob Monster|Mortal]] enough basis to accuse them both of being a [[Mary Sue]], of course.

* [[Chuck Norris]], via [[Memetic Mutation]].

** And every other [[Memetic Badass]]/[[Memetic Sex God]].

* [[Proton Jon]] of [[The Runaway Guys]] by pretty much being the best at everything, except for luck.

** For example, in the Super Smash Bros video they did, it came to a point where all three of them were facing each other. Jon had to use a controller he wasn't used to, but still managed to beat both Chugga and NCS ''at the same time,'' while still having 2 stock out of 5 left. In the New Super Mario Bros Wii LP, while everyone else was having problems with their lives, Jon had reached 99 lives while still screwing everyone else (mostly Chugga) over.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Aqualad is portrayed this way in his debut episode of ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''.

* [[Kim Possible]] is a rare example of this being the ''protagonist'' herself. She's a straight-A head cheerleader who is involved in nearly every extracurricular activity, and she is quite [[Genre Savvy]] and can learn how to pilot something in just a few seconds. [[Phrase Catcher|She can do anything]], indeed.

** He ''does'' get completely incapacitated if he's as much as sprinkled with oil, though.

* [[Knight in Shining Armor|Sir Victor]] in ''[[Adventures of the Gummi Bears]]''.

* Captain California in ''[[Hero High]]'' is a subversion. Physically he fits, but he's not quite competent enough.

* Cornfed Pig from ''[[Duckman]]'' fits this to a tee. He has dozens of degrees, has worked hundreds of jobs, and is a certified expert at everything. He materializes new skills whenever it is necessary or funny, from performing surgery on the fly, constructing a working helicopter from bamboo, or performing the works of Hendrix, he can do it.

** But there is one thing Hello Nurse cannot do: [[Dreadful Musician|sing]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7izMvoFuDM Here be evidence...]

** Or she's [[The Ditz]] given a bit of in-universe [[Memetic Mutation]]. Either way is fun.

* Rick Thunderbolt of ''[[Oban Star-Racers]]'' is famous, gorgeous (complete with waist-length black hair and [[Cool Shades]],) beloved, one of the world's best racers - and knows it. Over the course of the show's first arc, he is crippled so he can never race again, and ends up as a mentor figure to Molly, teaching her everything he knows so that she can succeed where he did not.

* ''[[Captain Star]]'' of the eponymous series is called the "greatest hero any world has ever known", and a legendary captain and explorer with hundreds of worlds named after him. Despite being effectively exiled to a remote corner of the universe still manages to save the day on numerous occasions. On his [[Show Within a Show]], he's even more so.

** All of this, however, doesn't do him any good against a ghost shield, since he is Danny's ghost half and therefore cannot change back to human.

* Hunter from ''[[Road Rovers]]'' is kind of a mix of this, [[The Hero]] and [[Idiot Hero]]. Nothing bad ever happens to him and he's always [[Casual Danger Dialog|cracking jokes during missions]].

** Jonas Venture Jr. also qualifies... and only gets more infuriating as the series progresses.

** Jonas Venture Sr. too, albeit posthumously. Everyone who ever knew him considered him a god among men. Even Rusty, who knows full well what a self-absorbed asshat he was, can't bring himself to break out of his father's shadow.

* [[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]] disguises himself as the completely over-the-top Prince Ali to woo Princess Jasmine, and he's introduced with a preposteously [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM5VGfiSd3s epic song] that's one long hymn to his awesomeness.

** He does appear in the 1995 "Spirit of Christmas" short, though only to give [[An Aesop]] speech.

* I.M. Weasel from ''[[I Am Weasel]]''. It got toned down in later seasons, but his first season incarnation is very much this and played the role of foil to the resident [[Butt Monkey]] I.R. Baboon.

* Jet from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' is portrayed like this; he's strong, he's a good leader, he sweeps Katara off her feet, and Aang doesn't even seem to notice because he thinks Jet is awesome too. Only Sokka is suspicious of him, and for good reason; they later find out that Jet is rather psychotic and was willing to kill innocent people in order to wipe out a few fire nation soldiers.

* Mei Ling in ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]: Secrets of the Furious Five''. She was the top student at the martial arts academy where Crane worked as the janitor and is a [[Nice Guy|true blue friend]] who helped the underconfident bird achieve his dream to enroll in the school.

* ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' has 3 of them. Spongebob is this compared to Squidward, as are Mr. Krabs to Plankton and Squillium to Squidward.

** Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen. He was number 1!

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Mary Sue Tropes]]

[[Category:Master of the Index]]

[[Category:The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool]]