In Tribute to Understated Badassery

[SuperFerret]

Nowadays, the "badass" is everywhere. Movies, video games, comics, TV, all have their badasses. This is a great character type, the guy (or gal) who, while not necessarily being the most relatable, always gets you to root for them because they're the ones who don't take any crap from anyone, they're at once anti-authority and authority figures.

But even then, I personally don't like the over-the-top badass, such as Kratos from the God of War game series, or Wolverine and the Punisher from Marvel comics, and countless others. I prefer the understated badass, the guy who you don't quite think of as one until you catch a glimpse of it. The way I see it, these guys top all the rest. So, if you agree with me, post your own examples of this oft unrecognized person.

I'll start, with two of the most unlikely men to be considered badass, one real, one fictional.

cg1yUMqJMcw

First up, Superman. Sure, he gets more than his share of badass moments, but this is my favorite. The calm politeness in his voice as he challenges Zod to one of the best fights in any superhero movie simply and obviously shows what I've been saying here.

Upm9LnuCBUM

This moment is one that I first read about on one of my dawdling trips across Wikipedia, and I can't sum it up better than the excerpt I found there.

During the 1997 Daytime Emmys, the Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Rogers. The following is an excerpt from Esquire Magazine's coverage of the gala, written by Tom Junod:

“ Mister Rogers went onstage to accept the award — and there, in front of all the soap opera stars and talk show sinceratrons, in front of all the jutting man-tanned jaws and jutting saltwater bosoms, he made his small bow and said into the microphone, "All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are. Ten seconds of silence."

And then he lifted his wrist, looked at the audience, looked at his watch, and said, 'I'll watch the time." There was, at first, a small whoop from the crowd, a giddy, strangled hiccup of laughter, as people realized that he wasn't kidding, that Mister Rogers was not some convenient eunuch, but rather a man, an authority figure who actually expected them to do what he asked. And so they did. One second, two seconds, seven seconds — and now the jaws clenched, and the bosoms heaved, and the mascara ran, and the tears fell upon the beglittered gathering like rain leaking down a crystal chandelier. And Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said softly "May God be with you," to all his vanquished children. "

[Metamorpho1977]

Mr. Rogers was the man.

[Erzengel]

Batman vs. the Hyperclan

The Hyperclan take down the entire Justice League of America but forget about Batman.

Batman sneaks in and starts taking them out one by one because he figures out what they really are. Martians. And what their one weakness is.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/XErzengelX/batman_jla233-1.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/XErzengelX/hdhyperclan.jpg

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"And one other thing. I'm not sure what you are, or where you come from, but my instincts tell me you are to be trusted. Make no mistake, though. I have a $70,000 sliver of radioactive meteor to stop the one from Metropolis. With you, all I need is a penny for a book of matches."

[Kane52630]

sR3CKEC3lbs

[SuperFerret]

Batman vs. the Hyperclan

The Hyperclan take down the entire Justice League of America but forget about Batman.

Batman sneaks in and starts taking them out one by one because he figures out what they really are. Martians. And what their one weakness is.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/XErzengelX/batman_jla233-1.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/XErzengelX/hdhyperclan.jpg

That's bordering on over-the-top. I'm talking about things that are more subtle, like the line that Blitzkrieg posted. Batman is capable of varying degrees of badassery.

[Franklin Richards]

So in a What If? issue, Annihilus delayed Reed, Ben, and Johnny from getting back to Sue with the Cosmic Control Rod so that they could save her life. In this universe Sue died in childbirth.

Reed blamed Annihilus.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/AuntPetunia/Fantastic%20Four/Comic%20Scans/reedbadass.jpg


...and he did.


:ff: :ff: :ff:

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you. I will find you and I will kill you."



"So here's how it goes, as of now you work for me. And your job is very simple. Give me my space. Understand? All I want is a little peace and quiet. Got it, fat boy?"

"Yes."

"Say it."

"I work for you, and you want peace and quiet."

"And who am I?"

"I don't know."

"That's right, you don't know. Let that little mystery keep you up at night."

[Addendum]

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7076/fables60painting.jpg
Ambrose aka Flycatcher, known in our fairy tales as The Frog Prince.

For proof of his badassery, read the comic Fables. You won't think much though until the arc called "The Good Prince". You'll never look at him the same.

[Maximum Carnage]

Mr. Rogers was my life when I was a kid.. haha!

and the Batman line was badass. :P

[Rob Lobo]

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7991/ernbig3.jpg

Ernest P. Worrell

An unstrung hero who did badass things ;) :awesome:

[Paradoxium]

So in a What If? issue, Annihilus delayed Reed, Ben, and Johnny from getting back to Sue with the Cosmic Control Rod so that they could save her life. In this universe Sue died in childbirth.

Reed blamed Annihilus.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v418/AuntPetunia/Fantastic%20Four/Comic%20Scans/reedbadass.jpg


...and he did.


:ff: :ff: :ff:http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/2808/reed2.jpg
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/1796/reed4.jpg

Baddddd asss :awesome:

[Maximum Carnage]

Ernest.. haha! Those were the old days......

[Wolfwood]

I know this is kind of cheesy, but I think it qualifies in a way:

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb209/Mister_Servo/RosaParks.jpg

Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat.


And I don't know if Doc Holiday is over or understated, but I'm tossing these two scenes into the mix:

-cUnXWNO17s

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I think the second one especially qualifies when Ringo nearly craps himself at the very sight of Doc Holiday.

[Maximum Carnage]

.. Badass. Haha!

[david icke]

Rosa Parks is not cheesey to mention, she is a perfect real life example of understated badassery :up:

and for another real life example...what about that guy with the flags who stood in front of the tank, blocking it's way at every turn? They never found out who that guy was, they didn't have to, all they had to know was that he was an understated badass of the first degree.

[Erzengel]

That's bordering on over-the-top. I'm talking about things that are more subtle, like the line that Blitzkrieg posted. Batman is capable of varying degrees of badassery.
Over-the-top I would have said would be showing him kicking their ass. It's implied off panel as he's dragging them back to the rest of the JLA.

[Poetic Chaos]

One of my favorite Michael Corleone moments is not one of the more talked about scenes but I think fits perfectly into this thread. In the beginning of The Godfather II when Connie shows up with her new fiance asking for money, Michael tells her how and why to break up with him (while he's sitting right there). In an act of defiance, Connie reaches over and holds her boyfriends hand. Michael calmly responds "if you don't listen to me and marry this man...you'll disappoint me."

The way that line is delivered with so much authority is just chilling. You automatically know this is not a man you want to disappoint.

[Erzengel]

How can I forget my absolute favorite example of Badassery.
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[Blitzkrieg Bop]

:up:

[Erzengel]

Another favorite.

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[Maximum Carnage]

OMFG! Erzengel.. that's the most badass movie scene. EVER. Period.

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I love how that scene came about because Ford had diarrhea that day and wasn't going to able to hold it in for the entire original scene.

[Maximum Carnage]

Period!

[Rumpy Bulge Dubz]

The calm politeness in his voice as he challenges Zod to one of the best fights in any superhero movie simply and obviously shows what I've been saying here.



see, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. The first two Superman movies may be classics, but they're far from superior (as some people make them out to be) as they're extremely dated, especially the fighting in movies 2-4 which were just horribly done. That may have been the best they could come up with at the time, but I'm sorry, the fighting is just cheap, slow, and, well, just flat out horrible.

"one of the best fights in any superhero movie" award goes to The Incredible Hulk VS Abomination.

another fight sequence that tops the Superman movies, Smallville's fight between Clark and Titan or even Season 9's finale with Clark VS Zod which was far superior to the Clark/Zod fight in SM2.

here's another: Daredevil VS Bullseye and Kingpin (in the directors cut at least, not sure how the theatrical went down). Was easily more watchable than anything in the Superman films.

[Prison Mike]

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[Erzengel]

They don't make characters like this anymore. Now we have people who cry and are sensitive and tween stars from the CW.

Quint from Jaws. :up:

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[SuperFerret]

:up:

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"one of the best fights in any superhero movie" award goes to The Incredible Hulk VS Abomination.

I would have liked it more if I hadn't seen the same fight in Iron Man a few months earlier. The hero fights a larger, evil version of himself throughout the city, using whatever they can grab as weapons.

[Maximum Carnage]

Agreed.

[Wolfwood]

I couldn't find decent videos of it, but two other favorites of mine come from the book "To Kill a Mockingbird." The first moment would be when Atticus defends Tom in the court, especially during his closing argument speech. The second would be when he sits outside Tom's jailhouse and waits for the lynch mob and faces them down.

[The IronMan]

Awesome beard man for taking apart a smart assed punk on a bus.

[Motown Marvel]

i think this thread is in desperate need of a proper definition of 'bad ass'.

[Wolfwood]

Well I think it's kind of hard to pinpoint since it's supposed to be subtle badassery.

[ComicChick]

it was nice to see the Mr. Rogers video :up:

[Parker Wayne]

Its still a great thread though. I like it.

How about a group of subtle badasses?

-8h_v_our_Q

[Parker Wayne]

Now this one was amazing too, particularly the last 30 seconds.

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[david icke]

see, I'm going to have to disagree with you here. The first two Superman movies may be classics, but they're far from superior (as some people make them out to be) as they're extremely dated, especially the fighting in movies 2-4 which were just horribly done. That may have been the best they could come up with at the time, but I'm sorry, the fighting is just cheap, slow, and, well, just flat out horrible.

"one of the best fights in any superhero movie" award goes to The Incredible Hulk VS Abomination.

another fight sequence that tops the Superman movies, Smallville's fight between Clark and Titan or even Season 9's finale with Clark VS Zod which was far superior to the Clark/Zod fight in SM2.

here's another: Daredevil VS Bullseye and Kingpin (in the directors cut at least, not sure how the theatrical went down). Was easily more watchable than anything in the Superman films.

That Incredible Hulk /Abomination fight will date faster than that SMII one, the CGI is not even as good as the 2003 Hulk movie. even in terms of a 'fight', it ain't that great , it starts off well, until that helicopter gets involved, then it gets boring, just some chains swinging about, swinging from the copter, major letdown.
In fact, there was a review of TIH on aicn that said the Hulk/Ab smackdown was the best superhero city fight since Superman II, and so i was hyped for it...big letdown, the only part of the movie i don't like in fact.
Superman II has some cheesey sfx, but for the most part it is well done.
The footage they used for the Donner cut looks awful though, but the original Lester cut, most of it is just fine, and has some grand moments, like superman standing up on the bus as the city is in chaos around him, also, swinging Zod into the coke sign, classic.

and yeah, quint from Jaws...great actor and character.
There is a great character in a movie called 'Trust' who is an understated badass, played by Martin Donovan, my god, love that character and movie. V funny badass bit where he subtley backpunches a guy off a seat in a bar to get a seat.
He also carries a grenade about with him at all times , 'just in case'. He fears no-one, except his father, hilarious scene where his dad forces him to clean up the toilet. Check this movie out if you have not seen it, by Hal Hartley.

[Obi-Ron]

Now this one was amazing too, particularly the last 30 seconds.

AW9pklBXqk4

Is that deputy Hank Azaria?

[Maximum Carnage]

Is that deputy Hank Azaria?

Holy crap! It is!!!

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

Understated badassery? Allow me to submit:

WaSy8yy-mr8

^ Before you go all :huh::huh::huh:, all I can say is this is the girl I want to marry. No, not Carrie Underwood herself (well - okay I -would- like to marry Carrie Underwood, but that's another subject), but rather the girl she portrays in this song. I dunno, everytime I hear this song, I just think to myself "I need to meet this chick, because she's a badass"

Probably helps that she actually has a semblance of singing ability also. :yay:

And yes, the Carrie Underwood factor helps also. :heart::fhm:

[JackBauer]

The image itself is bordering on over the top.

But the words... My god, the words!

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/5034/topxx518.jpg

[cryptic name]

Now this one was amazing too, particularly the last 30 seconds.

AW9pklBXqk4

you know your ****'s in trouble when Uncle Phil's voice goes into Shredder territory

[SuperFerret]

i think this thread is in desperate need of a proper definition of 'bad ass'.

Well I think it's kind of hard to pinpoint since it's supposed to be subtle badassery.

Basically, but as long as you see it as badass, and it's not in-your-face, over-the-top, and/or forced, it can go here.

you know your ****'s in trouble when Uncle Phil's voice goes into Shredder territory

:up:

[ttotheusher]

I'd like to nominate the line "We'll handle this" by Qui Gon Jinn in Episode 1. Say what you will about the film, but the delievery of that line, mixed with the fight that follows it, is classic.

[TheZink]

I'd like to throw in Clint Eastwoods performance in Unforgiven.

This scene is one of my favorites from the movie. Just how he is cool and collected while the kid is loosing it

<object width="960" height="745"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y07NENVxMRE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y07NENVxMRE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="960" height="745"></embed></object>

I also love the scene aftewards

Where the girl comes to bring them the money and tells Munney and the Kid that Ned was killed and placed outside the saloon. You can see the emotion on Munney's face but he doesn't scream or shout. He simply takes the bottle of liquor from the kid and starts downing it. The first time he's had a drink in years and he downs it like a champ. You know sh** has hit the fan

[Kane52630]

you cant deny his badassery

http://i42.tinypic.com/65n2id.jpg

[Metamorpho1977]

Bob Ross, always an inspiration. You can watch and enjoy his show just as well sober as you can high as a kite.

This guy's badass too...

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[PyroChamber]

Now this one was amazing too, particularly the last 30 seconds.

AW9pklBXqk4How about a badass/pwned moment?

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[the_ultimate_evil]

what happens when you take two things that are pure badass and merge them, you get this

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[Charlie Boy]

Has anyone mentioned Eastwood in Gran Tarino ?

[Maximum Carnage]

Agreed! Gran Torino was badass!

[TankerX]

Most bad-ass thing to come outta Disney ever, despite his death :(
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[Spider-Fan]

I forgot who did this, but a producer of a film was yelling at the director because he was behind schedule on shooting. The director asked someone for a copy of the script. He then, with the producer right in front of him, started scrolling through the script and ripped some pages out of it. He then said "Now I'm ahead of schedule."

[SuperFerret]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v189/superferret/2v3mxs3.jpg

[Maximum Carnage]

Bad. Ass. Ferret! Haha!

[SpideyInATree]

Yeah, I have to agree that Mr. Rogers acceptance speech equals the true understated bad ass.

I mean there are a lot of "bad ass" moments but I'm telling you that Mr. Rogers video will beat anything and everything presented into this thread.

When he actually looks down at his watch and then there are giggles from a group of jerk offs that thought he was making some kind of joke and then he actually waited ten freakin' seconds in pure seriousness. You know why? Because Mr. Rogers was the real deal and the true American bad ass.

RIP Mr. Rogers. :o

[SuperFerret]

This man is a true badass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4

[Carcharodon]

Wow...that's the second time in a year I've been directed to that guy's Wiki.

[SuperFerret]

I was just made aware of him.

[ttotheusher]

I couldn't find decent videos of it, but two other favorites of mine come from the book "To Kill a Mockingbird." The first moment would be when Atticus defends Tom in the court, especially during his closing argument speech. The second would be when he sits outside Tom's jailhouse and waits for the lynch mob and faces them down.

I'd like to nominate a similar act, that of Juror #8 in the film 12 Angry Men. To stand up to 11 other men who just want to get out of there in order to protect a man's life is an incredible brave and badass thing to do.

[doih]

Simo Hayha was ridiculous.

From an infantry perspective:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogendra_Singh_Yadav

[Darkness Falls]

QsogswrH6ck

close thread:awesome:

[The Question]

Two from World War Two:

1: The Axis forces had rolled into a small village in Greece. Conquered it completely. As the first order of business, they approached the mayor and the local Greek Orthodox priest, and told them to compile a list of every jew in the village so they may be rounded up and sent away. After that the occupation would run smoothly. The mayor and the priest politely agreed, and went home to compile the list. The next day, they returned with a list containing only two names. Their own.

2: During the war, as the two were political and military allies, Japan sent an ambassador to Germany. The man, upon arriving there, was so appalled by the Nazi's policy of etnic cleansing, that he began using his political clout to arrange for visas from Europe to Hong Kong to be written up for as many Jews as he could manage. This went on for several years, and when the Germans cought wind of this and had him sent back to Japan, he was still hurridly writing and handing out visas as he was escorted to the train. He saved the lives of several thousand jews, and is the reason why there is a small but thriving European Jewish community in Hong King today.

Bad. Ass.

[Metamorpho1977]

Nowadays, the "badass" is everywhere. Movies, video games, comics, TV, all have their badasses. This is a great character type, the guy (or gal) who, while not necessarily being the most relatable, always gets you to root for them because they're the ones who don't take any crap from anyone, they're at once anti-authority and authority figures.

But even then, I personally don't like the over-the-top badass, such as Kratos from the God of War game series, or Wolverine and the Punisher from Marvel comics, and countless others. I prefer the understated badass, the guy who you don't quite think of as one until you catch a glimpse of it. The way I see it, these guys top all the rest. So, if you agree with me, post your own examples of this oft unrecognized person.

I'll start, with two of the most unlikely men to be considered badass, one real, one fictional.

cg1yUMqJMcw

First up, Superman. Sure, he gets more than his share of badass moments, but this is my favorite. The calm politeness in his voice as he challenges Zod to one of the best fights in any superhero movie simply and obviously shows what I've been saying here.

Upm9LnuCBUM

This moment is one that I first read about on one of my dawdling trips across Wikipedia, and I can't sum it up better than the excerpt I found there.

Fox News called him evil. I disagree.

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[Mr.Webs]

That is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.:o

[doih]

2: During the war, as the two were political and military allies, Japan sent an ambassador to Germany. The man, upon arriving there, was so appalled by the Nazi's policy of etnic cleansing, that he began using his political clout to arrange for visas from Europe to Hong Kong to be written up for as many Jews as he could manage. This went on for several years, and when the Germans cought wind of this and had him sent back to Japan, he was still hurridly writing and handing out visas as he was escorted to the train. He saved the lives of several thousand jews, and is the reason why there is a small but thriving European Jewish community in Hong King today.


That's funny, because there were German officials in China who were appalled at the genocides the Japanese were committing throughout Asia, and attempted to save people as well. Maybe if they were in their own countries they could have prevented things from getting to that point.

There are Jewish communities in many major cities in China btw.

[mrvlknight21]

Pretty much anything Viggo does in this film....

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I also love Clive Owen's line from "Inside Man" about how is going to walk out the front door of the bank when he was good and ready (and does just that).
I couldnt find a vid clip, though.

[Kane52630]

MISUHTo2NDs

[Darkness Falls]

Wp_K8prLfso

the fact roddy thought of that line on the spot just makes it even more badass :awesome:

[Bubonic]

The king of subtle badassery, Steve Buscemi.
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/2978/stevebusecmi.jpg

[SuperFerret]

I'll support Buscemi's badassery. Quitting acting and joining the FDNY after 9/11 is badass.

[WalkingDeadMike]

Mr. Rodgers being a badass is laughable. He may have been a good person, but that doesn't make him a badass.

[Schlosser85]

Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

Clint Eastwood in pretty much anything

[Mr. Wooden Alligator]

Eastwood in Unforgiven really stood out for me. Say what you will about TG TB &TU, but Unforgiven is what's gotten me into the Western genre.

[WalkingDeadMike]

Shaun (of the Dead)

[PWN3R]

Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises


"Tell them you have seen stars on my chest."
Such a boss at the end.

Y: The Last Man - Yorick Brown is, to me, the pinnacle of badassery.
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2492/summaryimage02.jpg

[DarkSovereignty]

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6p4T7_XI7WM&feature=related

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

"You have to answer for Santino, Carlo."

[Superman 1265]

3NxGO2lx-A0

[WalkingDeadMike]

Mike and Walter White from Breaking Bad, though Mike definitely fits the criteria better.

[Kane52630]

Once more into the fray,
Into the last good fight I'll ever know.
Live and die on this day,
Live and die on this day.

--John Ottway (Liam Neeson)

[SuperMike335!!]

One of my favorite Michael Corleone moments is not one of the more talked about scenes but I think fits perfectly into this thread. In the beginning of The Godfather II when Connie shows up with her new fiance asking for money, Michael tells her how and why to break up with him (while he's sitting right there). In an act of defiance, Connie reaches over and holds her boyfriends hand. Michael calmly responds "if you don't listen to me and marry this man...you'll disappoint me."

The way that line is delivered with so much authority is just chilling. You automatically know this is not a man you want to disappoint.


One of my favorite moments too.

Thing is a lot of this subtle badassery mentioned on this thread is really just Alpha social behavior.

The behavior of leadership.

[Erzengel]

I'm partial to Michael telling Fredo never to go against the family again.

[Optimus_Prime_]

My cat is an understated badass. He's cool. His name is Rajon Rondo and he's not afraid of anyone. He's a fighter. Takes on dogs, tries to go for humans' ankles, and he's quite smart about finding where I hide his food.

He just showed up at my door one night, came inside, and I fed him. He was kind of a brat at the time, but I trained him to use litter and got him to stop being so wild. He scratched me all up but now he's very obedient. Follows me around, says "meow" at me to greet me when I come home.

About six weeks after finding him we found a microchip on him. Called the owner, turned out it was the winner of last Year's college home run derby. He came by and saw how docile and obedient I had trained the cat to be and told me he wanted me to keep it.

The cats original name was Dexter.

[Parker Wayne]

I'm partial to Michael telling Fredo never to go against the family again.

Michael is full of understated Badassery.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"

[Optimus_Prime_]

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert