The Ace: Difference between revisions

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''.

 

 

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.

 

'''[[No Real Life Examples Please]]'''.

 

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

* Hiko Seijuro in ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''. He is so ridiculously powerful that the story never pits him against anyone important, as there would be no dramatic tension involved. In the OAV prequel to the show ("Trust and Beatrayal"), Seijuro is introduced by essentially causing a man to evaporate into nothing by hitting him so quickly with his sword. In the show's proper run, main character Kenshin (himself already famous as a savant of swordsmanship) struggles for months trying to learn how to fight as well as his master, and only gains the right to inherit his master's mantle after a very, very hard struggle--at which point his master reveals that the cape he wears is literally lined with a large amount of metal weights, meaning that he was still probably twice as strong as his student.

** 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!

* 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).

** She may act like an ace but she is also a {{spoiler|time-traveling, possibly [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] relative of the Main Character whose true objective seems to change a Future ''Bad end''. a scheme which seemly has joined a [[Gambit Pileup]] with the current arc}} she might be an almost [[Fixer Sue]] or at least trying to be one.

** Not to mention Nagi, who is almost as hammy as Rakan, and is somehow still incredibly badass even without his magical powers.

* Seta Noriyasu from [[Love Hina]] fits this trope, being a comedically impossible benchmark for the [[You Suck]] protagonist to reach after. He is pretty much better at everything than any of the other main characters are ([[Drives Like Crazy|except anything involving safe operation of a motor vehicle]]), and about the only thing that fazes him is a [[Megaton Punch]] from Haruka or Naru and the fact that he is a high-level [[Cloudcuckoolander]].

* ''[[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.]]

* ''[[Rosario to Vampire]]'' has Inner Moka. Not only is she one of the most [[Badass]] characters in the series (which is [[World of Badass|saying something]]), but she's also very intelligent and analytical, her only flaws being her [[Lethal Chef|complete inability to cook]] and her [[Tsundere|aggressive, withdrawn personality]].

* All of the Generation of Miracles from ''[[Kuroko no Basuke (Manga)|Kuroko no Basuke]]'' are this for their respective high school teams, but special mention goes to Aomine, who was considered [[The Ace]] of the Generation of Miracles.

* 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]].

* Akisame Koetsuji of ''[[Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple]]'' is generally known as one of the greatest jujutsu masters in the world, but is also a talented sculptor, calligrapher, philosopher, medical practicioner, Go player... and pretty much everything else he puts his mind to. Quoth Kenichi: "Is there a single thing this guy can't do!?"

** Answer: Be brave enough to take on [[Badass Grandpa|the Elder]] in combat, apparently; in one instance when Koetsuji is arguing with the other Ryozanpakou masters about which of them could beat the others in a fight, the Elder comes on the scene and asks to be involved in the discussion. ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|The other masters immediately change the subject]]''.

** The first thing Killer Bee does is own {{spoiler|[[The Scrappy|Sasuke.]]}} He's still yet to lose a fight, albeit he's sometimes given a bit of help.

* Tatsugoro in ''[[Gintama]]''. A cop in Kabukichou, respected by everyone (including his vigilante rival), a good fighter, an upright, honest guy, got the girl and was thereby deemed [[Too Cool to Live]]. Two characters (his vigilante rival-turned-[[Yakuza]] and [[The Hero]]) lampshade how awesome he was years later by saying that no matter how much they try to imitate Tatsugoro, they'll never be as good as him.

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

* The Hunter in ''[[With Strings Attached (Fanfic)|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}}.

* {{spoiler|Mobius}} in ''[[Ace Combat the Equestrian War (Fanfic)|Ace Combat: The Equestrian War]]'', though it's justified, since he's a ponified version of the [[Player Character]] from {{spoiler|[[Ace Combat 04]]}}.

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

* Dirk Pitt from [[NUMA Series|Clive Cussler's novels]]. Officially a marine engineer by trade, he also is an [[Guile Hero|cunning]] action hero who has defeated the world-threatening schemes of a veritable menagerie of villains, made a number of discoveries that changed history and has little difficulty getting a [[Girl of the Week|Girl Of The Novel]]. I have not mentioned the nice collection of antique cars he owns, have I? ... I guess I just did.

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

* ''[[Discworld]]'''s Carrot Ironfoundersson. So much so that it was played for full shock effect when in ''The Fifth Elephant'' he challenged the [[Big Bad]] to a fair fight (a very foolish move in itself) and promptly got his ass handed to him. He got to [[The Ace|Ace]] his way out of danger again by the end, though.

* [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Tycho_Celchu Tycho Celchu], an [[Ace Pilot]] of the ''[[X Wing Series]]''. He's a fairly major character, but never the main one, which is just as well since he could very easily become a [[Canon Sue]], at least in the novels - in the comics he's one pilot out of twelve and mostly distinguishable because of his origin, his original hairtrigger temper, and his romance with Winter. He's an ''insanely'' good pilot, as a Force-Sensitive protagonist [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Quote:Tycho_Celchu#I.2C_Jedi finds] - so good that flying against him is apparently the hardest thing Corran has ''ever'' done, and he'd fought a Sith Lord not that long before - and gets a lot of praise from the people on his side, to the point where everyone on his side who doesn't think he's a double agent loves him. He's also a bit of a [[The Woobie|woobie]] in-universe and [[Ensemble Darkhorse|very, very popular]] out of it. This exchange, taken entirely out of context:

* In ''[[The Princess Bride]]'', Westley tracks down men on a secret mission and climbs a mountain with his bare hands before easily defeating a master swordsman at fencing, a giant at hand-to-hand combat, and a clever thief at a mind game. Later, through his skills and cunning he and Buttercup become the first people ever to survive the Fire Swamp, and even in a physically weakened state after having been revived from the dead, he helps two other men storm a castle surrounded by sixty armed guards, all before [[To the Pain|bluffing his way]] out of a swordfight with a man dead-set on killing him, which the man had done once before.

* [[Jeeves and Wooster (Literature)|Jeeves]] spends ninety percent of his time [[The Jeeves|pressing Bertie Wooster's shirts]] and [[Cloudcuckoolanders Minder|solving his problems for him]], yet somehow manages to be ''highly'' popular and sought-after, know everything about what's going on, and have a more active social life even than his master.

 

 

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]]'':

 

== Myth ==

 

 

{{quote| '''Sanger Zonvolt''': I am Sanger Zonvolt! The sword that cleaves evil!}}

** Or on one memorable occasion:

* 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.

* Captain Falcon in ''[[F Zero]]''.

* At first, Shadow appears to be this to [[Sonic the Hedgehog|Sonic]], but it's subverted pretty quickly.

** 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 and Luigi Superstar Saga (Video Game)|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.

* Deconstructed in ''[[Fire Emblem the Sacred Stones (Video Game)|Fire Emblem the Sacred Stones]]''. Ephraim starts off so damn amazing he's a borderline [[God Mode Sue]]. However, when he gets back to Renais, {{spoiler|Seth tells him that the citizens are not cheering for his return. They're only happy because Orson's reign of terror is over.}} Ephraim takes this as the sign that his [[Leeroy Jenkins]] tendencies haven't been great for his people and begins to mature from then on.

** [[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.

** Oh! Now it turns out that Ace is also a whiz at hapkido.

** However, his cooking is not 'inedible', it's just so ultra-spicey you have to be ''that manly'' to eat it, and only Ace is ''that manly''. His favorite ice-cream flavor is 'Habanero'.

* ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'' has Othar Tryggvassen ([[Gentleman Adventurer]]!) who's always willing to swashbuckle and ham it up like nobody's business, and who's somehow able to survive all manner of ridiculous dangers (plummeting to his death and turning up unharmed a few pages later is his specialty). He's also dangerously insane, but since he firmly believes he's the dashing hero in a thrilling scientific romance, being insane doesn't get in the way of him playing the Ace role to the hilt. He also has a rather large amount of charisma, though for a Spark it's normal.

** The "official" Ace is [http://www.yamara.com/yamaraclassic/index.php?date=2005-06-02 Ultima Thule]. She's "eidolon of humanity" and as such has [[RPG Mechanics Verse|all stats at the Human racial maximum]]. Since it includes Intelligence and Wisdom, she's not an adventurer (high-risk waste of time!) but a banker.

{{quote| '''Fea''': Now she's reading Socrates and Tao Te Ching.<br />

* 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.