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The Ace: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
The Ace is someone who is ridiculously good at what they do, whatever that happens to be, and everyone knows it. People look up to him, envy him, are in awe of him. He has a reputation for [[We Do the Impossible|doing the impossible]], and may be [[Shrouded in Myth]], as people are unable to separate his real accomplishments from unfounded rumors.
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]].
However [[The Hero]] typically evolves into [[The Ace|an Ace]] by the end of their story by virtue of having [[Time to Unlock More True Potential|the most potential to unlock.]] By the time this happens [[The Ace|the real Ace]] would've been hit by [[The Worf Effect]] a few times, that or they two will just finally be standing on equal ground.
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* 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]].
* Zorro (not ''[[One Piece|that]]'' Zorro) from ''[[Latias' Journey]]''. [[Steven Ulysses Perhero|Berry Stoo and Mariah Susanson]] might also count, but are more a case of [[Parody Sue|Parody Sues]].
* 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).
* {{spoiler|Mobius}} in ''[[Ace Combat: The Equestrian War]]'', though it's justified, since he's a ponified version of the [[Player Character]] from {{spoiler|[[Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies]]}}.
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* Jim Goose dominates the first half of the movie ''[[Mad Max]]''. He has a great time even Just Before the Fall.
* In ''[[Our Man Flint]]'', Derek Flint is a ludicrously competent [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[James Bond]], with all of the latter's traits turned [[Up to Eleven]]. The Government tries to give him a code book? No need, he's designed a better one. They try to get him a plane? He'll fly his own, thanks anyway. Training? He's a master fencer, martial artist, ''and'' dancer. He can meditate so deeply that it passes for death, and wake up with no ill effects. He can speak Italian so fluently that it fools natives. He does complicated surgery with a letter opener. He can tell you ''what city a Bouillabaisse was made in'' just from tasting it once. The whole movie is like this.
* Darkly inverted in Captain Sternn of ''[[Heavy Metal (animation)|Heavy Metal]]''. Outwardly he looks to be the typical Ace, with the heroic clothes, the swagger, the lantern jaw, etc., but we soon discover he's really a despicable character despite his outward charms.
* David Hasslhoff's character from ''[[Click]]''.
* Dr. Glickenstein from ''[[Igor]]''.
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* Occasionally seen as a visiting doctor in ''[[MASH|M*A*S*H]]''. And just as often subverted. One doctor, coerced into visiting by Hawkeye and BJ, {{spoiler|has a [[Heroic BSOD]] midway through the episode, just before having to perform a delicate and life-threatening surgery on a patient. He's found in the Swamp, drunk, much to Hawkeye's disgust}}. A second Ace doctor, filling in for a sick Potter {{spoiler|[[Out, Damned Spot!|also breaks down]]}} just before a [[Recycled Script|suspiciously similar operation]]. A surgeon, temporarily appointed to the 4077th {{spoiler|''wasn't even a surgeon'', but someone ''pretending'' to be one}}. There was one episode involving an Ace colonel that was played by... wait for it... Leslie Nielson.
** 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. Kevin Casey is an example where the Ace has a "hidden" [[Fatal Flaw]].
** A first season episode had an intern named Murdoch also appear to be the Ace, handling all of the problems that came his way without flinching, but breaking down at the end of the episode.
** 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.
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* Chris Traeger on ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'' is blindingly handsome, so [[The Pollyanna|positive]] that his own girlfriend doesn't notice when he breaks up with her, runs at least ten miles a day, and is immediately well-liked by nearly everyone he meets. (The positivity is justified by his admission that he was born with an extremely rare blood disorder and was only expected to live for a few weeks, thus making every day a gift.) It's all subverted by the fact that he actually isn't very good at his job: as a state auditor, he's in the business of making budget cuts, but because he finds it hard to say no to anyone, he never got anything done until he was paired with the comparatively dour [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] Ben.
** And he now has tendonitis from overexercising.
* In ''[[Bones]]'', Angela's ex-husband Grayson is an ace. He build a house for her with his bare hands while smuggling medical supplies into Cuba and supporting an orphanage. On top of that, he is simply beautiful.
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== Video Games ==
* Saxton Hale from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''.
* Zack Fair in the ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''-verse, especially in ''[[Crisis Core]]''. He's everything Cloud wants to be -- upbeat, popular with everyone, cheerful and fun-loving, [[Jumped At the Call]] and never came down, actually a member of SOLDIER, etc. He did nearly everything Cloud's famous for and did it first, up to and including riding on the top of trains, fighting rogue SOLDIERs and arguably did a better job of all of it. He's the first to meet Aerith by falling into her flower bed, as Cloud does years later. Almost everyone Zack encounters likes him, or at least they don't hate him even though he works for Shinra -- this includes Cissnei, Tseng, Sephiroth, Yuffie, Tifa, etc. The only time Zack really fails at a critical moment is in trying to stop Sephiroth during the Nibelheim Incident -- unfortunately, Zack's efforts are [[Doomed by Canon]]. And even though he eventually loses to Sephiroth, Zack manages to put up a darn good fight. Zack is the sort of guy who's just [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth]]. His death is a [[Foregone Conclusion]], but he naturally dies in an epically heroic way, still every inch a Hero and every ounce an Ace.
** 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}}.
** Zack's position as [[The Ace]] is lampshaded in episode 8 of ''[[Before Crisis]]'', when Zack first shows up and works with the player character Turk. The title of that episode is "A Light That Penetrates Through the Darkness" or "A Light Even Darkness Can't Penetrate". Guess who they're referring to.
** It even gets a bit meta; Zack is one of, if not THE most popular characters of the FFVII compilation. Possibly the entire franchise.
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* In ''The [[Fantastic Mr. Fox]]'', Ash's cousin, Kristofferson, is a fox kit who seemingly can do no wrong, although he tries not to make a big deal of it. Regardless, young Ash feels belittled by him, but eventually both achieve a mutual understanding and become friends.
* ''[[Stressed Eric]]'' lives next door to the [[Meaningful Name|Perfect]] family. Ray Perfect is Eric's coworker and excels everywhere that Eric fails dismally.
* In ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', Brock Samson is a [[Rated "M" for Manly]] [[God Mode Sue]], [[Played for Laughs]]. It helps that he picks up some [[Character Development|character dept]]h along the way.
** 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.
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[[Category:Master of the Index]]
[[Category:The Ace]]
[[Category:The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool]]
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