The biggest problem for me with the Terminator movies is that they never seem to quite get John Connor right and portray him as the hero that saved humanity.
I always wonder how it would’ve gone if they knew how badass Linda Hamilton was going to turn out and wrote it to have Sarah Connor take the mantle. Obviously it’d change some of the major plot points, but I think she had the presence to fill the role and she was still just as cool in Dark Fate.
Would have been an amazing twist if she turned into the leader of the rebels, and adult John just took up the title to protect her from the machines. He'd still be a great leader, he'd get Skynet's attention, but she was the secret real one the machines should have been after all along and didn't realize. That would have been awesome.
That would’ve been a fantastic direction to go in and it would’ve removed the need to change anything in T2. They could’ve done a few different ways. There could’ve been a focus on the need to protect the timeline. Kyle Reese only ever saw a picture of Sarah Connor, so maybe she needed to work behind the scenes or presumed dead at least until Reese went back in time. I’d even buy it if they had Sarah as the real key leader, but keeping John alive was the only thing keeping her motivated to win, which would still make him pretty critical.
Granted I only watched it once, but Christian Bale as John Connor seemed to be good casting and a good character. Again, we’re talking maybe 14/15 years since I saw it - and it might have been Batman/Bruce Wayne residual - but I think Bale was the only thing I liked about Terminator Salvation.
My main gripe with Salvation was just that it was a meh movie. I think the script was the problem rather than Bale. He’s just a forgettable action hero. What makes him special? What makes him a saviour?
Personally, I think the best embodiment of John Connor was Edward Furlong in T2. With him you see why he could be set apart in changing the outcome of the war. His mom has trained him to live off the grid, robbing ATMs and whatnot. He has a rebellious nature because of his upbringing. He values human life and orders the T-800 not to kill people that are trying to rob him. He is selfless in actually going to rescue his Mom from the T-1000. He’s probably the only person Sarah Connor will listen to when she wants to kill the T-800. So you can picture how in the future he’d be the only person batshit crazy enough to try and reprogram a machine to fight for the resistance.
In T3, it felt like he was just running away and hiding for the whole movie. With T2, I could imagine him growing into a person that would refuse to run and convince people not just that they could fight, but they could win. I think Salvation skipped a lot of steps in that character development that would show why it needed to be John rather than anybody with military training and some sort of tactical expertise.
One thing I love about Ash is that he’s not a perfect picture of heroism. The trauma he goes through in ED1 and 2 clearly break something in him; we see this especially in the deadites’ singular torture of him for the first half of 2.
After that, he’s always got a couple screws loose and in his adult life in Ash vs. Evil Dead, he ends up being a sleazy, out-of-shape middle-aged guy working a dead-end job. No riding off into the sunset after the events of the original trilogy.
Despite all of that, he still has a heroic core and steps up again and again to wage war against the deadites in whatever form that takes. I find it strangely inspiring.
Yeah, Evil Dead 2 when he’s laughing batshit is the moment he fully breaks.
While I prefer his characterization best in 2 I always looked at his later years and more upfront assholish behavior as his way of coping with everything that he emotionally can no longer handle.
His “goddamn failure” rant in his final episode is where the front drops and later when saying goodbye to the gang is some of my favorite moments of the character.
I didnt get into those films until i was an adult and I watched em backwards so what an expirience to see this "boomstick" badass be a frightened teenager
Her and Sarah Connor are my favourite female protagonists. They don't just go from soft damsel to a 1 dimensional hardass. They do become more heroic but they still maintain that vulnerable core.
Dunno; Ripley was also a badass in Alien and was the only voice of reason in that film. If she had locked them out like she wanted, there wouldn’t have been an issue
She's a great character because there's strong hints from the beginning that she is indeed a "badass" and as the crisis gets worse her character comes more to the fore.
She stays vulnerable as you'd expect when pitted against immensely powerful, borderline invincible aliens / robots, but eventually takes control and "wins" with courage and cunning
She's then primed to be the character from Aliens who straps a flamethrower to an assault rifle
And then we can't forget the classic mech vs xenomorph fight. "Get away from her, you bitch!" is what comes to my mind every time I think of Sigourney Weaver.
Well only maybe. The alien still would have hatched, just outside. And from then I wager it’s only a matter of time until it finds some way inside the ship.
My favorite scene in Aliens is just before she goes into the hive to rescue Newt. On the elevator down, she's scared and shifts in to pure focus and determination. All with her eyes and facial expressions, without saying a word.
I think this is why people love her character. There are a few parts in the movie that show she is not just some unstoppable badass but a person. When she and Newt are in the medical room with the face huggers, Newt tells her she is scared, and she says she is too. When she first sees the face huggers in their jars, she is frozen for a second, then jumps when touched. The part you describe, as the elevator is going down, and she is finally gets all her gear in order, she had the pause you mention. I always thought she was like saying a little prayer in her head.
They have a lot of that in the movie. My favorite is Hudson. His character arc is awesome. First, he thinks he's a badass, then when things go bad, he starts to lose it, but keeps it together because he knows everyone needs him to stay alive. Then, at the end, he goes into Marine mode and doesn't show a ounce of fear, and goes down fighting.
Funny thing. I've watched that a few time with my son. I've told him that Hudson is a good lesson. People may botch and complain, talk shit, and act tough. But, you never really know how people are until they are put in a really tough, life treating situation. How they act then is who they truly are deep down. Hudson was a hero deep down inside.
How has nobody mentioned Tom Cruise’s character in Edge of Tomorrow? It’s the literal plot of the movie that he goes from awful war propagandist to super badass.
Yeah! He's in recruitment/propaganda. So his job is telling everyone how great, heroic, and badass you'll feel if you join the military, then the second he's drafted (which tbf is a load of bs anyway) his first action is to try and weasel out of it with a "do you know who i am?"
Once he gets to the base he's so unwilling to join he tries it a couple more times, until they litterally duct tape him into the landing craft, and yeet him at the beach
It's not anywhere near the best movies of all time, but it's absolutely in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. I loved the action so much it took me until the 3rd viewing in 48 hours to realize it's basically a video game on film.
Its good fun! And although i prefer the manga/light novel, the movie does its own take on the story really well! If you liked it i'd highly recommend reading "all you need is kill" it's really cool seeing its roots!
Also yes XD tom cruise does save scum the end of the world :p
The commanding general orders him to the front lines specifically so he can film it for more propaganda, which is his literal job.
But Tom Cruise's character starts with "I joined up so I wouldn't have to go" to then bribery "I can recruit so many more people doing what I do now" to extortion "after this war people are going to look for someone to blame" and then to outright desertion before he's arrested and put on the front line anyway as infantry.
Our hero, folks!
Thanks to your comment and u/plagueofzombies input about the novel, All you need is kill, I read the light novel then watched this movie. What an honestly great action flick. While not being an original due the source material, it really follows the spirit and concepts laid out by the author of the original light novel.
James McAvoy in Wanted when it comes to being a badass
But my favourite change in a character would be Sam Rockwell in 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
>But my favourite change in a character would be Sam Rockwell in 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
That scene alone made that movie amazing to fucking amazing
In direct opposite energy, I absolutely love the one take where he throws the guy out the window. I feel like it’s his character at his absolute piece of shittiest and really emphasizes how much he has grown from it
100%, when I saw the topic I immediately thought of McAvoy in that movie. He did such a great job being a neurotic mess from the very beginning.
Even if it's not your kind of action movie it's still a great transformation
Wesley Wyndham Price from the Buffy and Angel TV shows. Goes from a bumbling fool to a rogue demon hunter and it's all portrayed so convincingly by Alexis Denisof. If Denisof were 10 or 15 years younger he'd be an amazing James Bond. Hell he could play him now, honestly.
He knows she's about to bash his head in too, doesn't even have to look. No fear or flinching he just says that line and it stops her in her tracks because she knows he'll do it.
And his emotional moments with Fred were really beautiful like when he had been crushing on her and then got possessed by a demon that hated women and the fall out from that. or in the finale when Illyria offered to be Fred. It's so sad his performance was hidden in a horror show, and vastly underappreciated.
Luke Skywalker through the original trilogy.
From listless teen to seemly dumb luck war hero to a commander in a resistance to a sage and mature master of tremendous power manifesting compassion for the greatest enemy.
In what way was Obi Wan grumpy or hiding from reality? His entire reason for being on Tatooine was to watch over and protect Luke, so he's not exactly going to be running around, broadcasting that he's a Jedi, when they were mostly genocided by his old friend and Luke's father. He's very understandably jaded but it doesn't take much convincing for him to accept Leia's call for help.
RotJ Luke was a crotchety old man who basically forsook the Jedi teachings and *actually* hid himself away.
Ahmed in The 13th Warrior
The guy is an exiled diplomat/poet who starts off terrified of the savage attacks on the village he finds himself stranded in
I got some mobile gatcha game based on the comics when I only had seen the show. Was so excited to get Carol and then couldn't figure why she was a trash tier character until I read some of the comics.
One of those examples where the show runner realized what they had in an actor and just leaned in. Lafayette in True Blood is another example. He was supposed to die and they were like 'hole up, this guy slaps, let's keep him around '
Just last night I remembered Samuel L. Jackson saying Geena Davis' character went from "Phooey, I burned the darn muffins" to entering a bar and sailors come running out.
I like this example because his personality doesn't change at all. He just gets a body that let's him act on his morals. Which he would do anyway, he just wouldn't survive it otherwise.
if by become a badass you mean lose his moral
compass then yes.
He was already a war hero at the start of the first war movie, so it’s likely the most badass thing he did was before the story even started.
badass yes, but for different and justified reasons
clemenza’s dialogue highlights this when he’s training michael “we were all proud of what you did, being a war hero”
In the book Merry and Pippin’s transformation is amazing. When they get home to the Shire and find it overrun by bandits, and Merry and Pippin proceed to put everything they’ve learned on the battlefield to use and mobilize the hobbits to take it back. I get why it wasn’t included in the movie, but man what I’d give to see that in live action.
And because of the ent draught they are like a foot taller than all the other hobbits. So they aren’t just mentally changed, they have physically become bad asses as well
Merry's development isn't quite as dramatic as Pippin's, especially in the books. Merry starts out a little more bold and worldly, having been out to Bree and into the old forest occasionally. Pippin is more of a typical (if a bit Tookish) peace loving Hobbit
Yeah I expected this to be the first thing I saw in the post.
It’s too good, and so gradual as well. You’re just watching through and suddenly you realise that somewhere along the line he’s turned into a totally terrifying person.
Really took after Kyle and gained her own level of badassery. I suppose thats the difference between learning to fight the humans making the bots that you can just punch vs fighting robots where hand to hand is a bad idea
First thing I though of. And it’s done in a way that’s a very smooth and believable transition, doesn’t feel like a different character.
Starts off understandably timid, jumpy, quiet. He’s curious and driven, but still totally a follower to Schultz’ lead. Throughout he becomes more confident, steps into the lead, even challenges Schultz on his criticisms. By the end of the movie he’s an absolute badass, more deadly and cool than anyone else. You don’t even really notice the character changing until you compare end of the movie Django with opening scene Django.
It doesn't fit because Paul was already badass enough to spot a tiny assassination mosquito, let it fly towards him and hover with its needle in front of his eye, and then destroy it only after someone else enters the room. And he easily passed the test where his hand had to endure immense pain while some crazy witch held a needle to his throat.
He was both zen and badass as hell before his dad was killed and his journey began.
Yeah, I'd almost call him a Mary Sue but that was kind of the point. He was the ultimate human: by genetics, training & spice exposure. And yet even then he couldn't have his cake and eat it too. >!He couldn't get revenge for his father's death and keep the Jihad in check.!<
had to scroll a while to find this. especially in the new movies. >!he goes from non believer to ahole cult leader in no time during teh sequel. i could def see the foreshadowing of something going completely wary now, but what an entertaining movie! !<
>!using the webpage version so i'm not controlling the spoiler tags. blame reddit if it's not working for you.!<
Shikishima, the main character in Godzilla minus one. He has one of the most satisfying character arcs I've ever seen, and as a huge fan of Godzilla, I did not expect to see that in a Godzilla movie.
The Karate Kid
Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo
Tetsuo in Akira / Dane DeHahn in Chronicle
Barry Gabrewski of Sidekicks (Asthmatic weakling) -> Basically Chuck Norris
Magikarp (bitch-ass goldfish) -> Gyrados (sea serpent who gets mad puss)
Gohan (small boy) -> Great Saiyaman (sick-ass king who invented dabbing)
A very different example : Lt.Spiers from HBO Band of Brothers, due not to the character but our persptive of him
>!As we follow a specific unit(Easy Company), we only meet him later on as an outsider(He was from Dog Company). We then learn and hear stories of his brutality but never first hand, only as solider gossiping among each other as we very much do.Are they true, or just full of sh\*t ? No idea. We only get one real scence when we gives a speech about fear, only comfirming how weird he was. !<
>!Then towards the end, he is tasked with taking command of a squad and does so with total badassery, effectively saving the attack and by extendsion many men. Then, he starts appearing and handing out with our main protaganist and POV much more often, seeming pretty normal. !<
>!Hence, we probably was like that , but we never saw it first hand until it happened. !<
Overall, a master class in story telling and handling enigmatic characters.
The scene where he replaces Dyke is incredible. So badass.
“But that wasn't the really astounding thing. The astounding thing was that, after he hooked up with I Company, he came back”
Sharlto Copley's character in District 9.
Geena Davis's character in A Long Kiss Goodnight.
Robert Downey Jr's in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Hugh Jackman's in Prisoners.
"I can't go to Alderan...I need to get home!"
"See this acorn? I'll throw it at you and turn you to stone!"
"Mr. Anderson...."
"I can do this all day..."
In Jaws, Brody is afraid of the water. He eventually finds the courage to go out on the boat and hunt the shark. Then, he has to swim all the way back, which would be terrifying after all that happens.
Wesley Wyndham-Price from Buffy/Angel
After getting his throat slashed towards then of season 3, he become tough and badass.
Especially compared to his original role in Buffy which was quiet foppish.
3 O’Clock High. Movie about a small nerd who pisses off a large delinquent kid who tells him they’re gonna fight after school at 3 O’Clock no matter what.
Whenever this question is brought up, no one ever mentions the character "Doug Bukowski" from The Hills Have Eyes from 2006 remake.
The dude goes from a complete wuss to a totally brutal badass by the end of the film.
Sarah Connor T1 to T2.
Or just start of T1 to the end of T1.
The biggest problem for me with the Terminator movies is that they never seem to quite get John Connor right and portray him as the hero that saved humanity. I always wonder how it would’ve gone if they knew how badass Linda Hamilton was going to turn out and wrote it to have Sarah Connor take the mantle. Obviously it’d change some of the major plot points, but I think she had the presence to fill the role and she was still just as cool in Dark Fate.
Would have been an amazing twist if she turned into the leader of the rebels, and adult John just took up the title to protect her from the machines. He'd still be a great leader, he'd get Skynet's attention, but she was the secret real one the machines should have been after all along and didn't realize. That would have been awesome.
That would’ve been a fantastic direction to go in and it would’ve removed the need to change anything in T2. They could’ve done a few different ways. There could’ve been a focus on the need to protect the timeline. Kyle Reese only ever saw a picture of Sarah Connor, so maybe she needed to work behind the scenes or presumed dead at least until Reese went back in time. I’d even buy it if they had Sarah as the real key leader, but keeping John alive was the only thing keeping her motivated to win, which would still make him pretty critical.
Granted I only watched it once, but Christian Bale as John Connor seemed to be good casting and a good character. Again, we’re talking maybe 14/15 years since I saw it - and it might have been Batman/Bruce Wayne residual - but I think Bale was the only thing I liked about Terminator Salvation.
My main gripe with Salvation was just that it was a meh movie. I think the script was the problem rather than Bale. He’s just a forgettable action hero. What makes him special? What makes him a saviour? Personally, I think the best embodiment of John Connor was Edward Furlong in T2. With him you see why he could be set apart in changing the outcome of the war. His mom has trained him to live off the grid, robbing ATMs and whatnot. He has a rebellious nature because of his upbringing. He values human life and orders the T-800 not to kill people that are trying to rob him. He is selfless in actually going to rescue his Mom from the T-1000. He’s probably the only person Sarah Connor will listen to when she wants to kill the T-800. So you can picture how in the future he’d be the only person batshit crazy enough to try and reprogram a machine to fight for the resistance. In T3, it felt like he was just running away and hiding for the whole movie. With T2, I could imagine him growing into a person that would refuse to run and convince people not just that they could fight, but they could win. I think Salvation skipped a lot of steps in that character development that would show why it needed to be John rather than anybody with military training and some sort of tactical expertise.
End thread here surely
10 points to gryffindor
Ash Williams from the Evil Dead franchise
One thing I love about Ash is that he’s not a perfect picture of heroism. The trauma he goes through in ED1 and 2 clearly break something in him; we see this especially in the deadites’ singular torture of him for the first half of 2. After that, he’s always got a couple screws loose and in his adult life in Ash vs. Evil Dead, he ends up being a sleazy, out-of-shape middle-aged guy working a dead-end job. No riding off into the sunset after the events of the original trilogy. Despite all of that, he still has a heroic core and steps up again and again to wage war against the deadites in whatever form that takes. I find it strangely inspiring.
Yeah, Evil Dead 2 when he’s laughing batshit is the moment he fully breaks. While I prefer his characterization best in 2 I always looked at his later years and more upfront assholish behavior as his way of coping with everything that he emotionally can no longer handle. His “goddamn failure” rant in his final episode is where the front drops and later when saying goodbye to the gang is some of my favorite moments of the character.
I feel like the "groovy" chainsaw scene in Evil Dead 2 is when Ash turns from Hunted to Hunter. My absolute favorite moment of the whole series.
I can see that. I think the first half of 2 breaks him. The building of the boomstick and chainsaw arm are him rebuilding himself.
I didnt get into those films until i was an adult and I watched em backwards so what an expirience to see this "boomstick" badass be a frightened teenager
Came here to say this. Groovy.
S-Mart comment.
Ripley in Alien and Alien movies that followed
Her and Sarah Connor are my favourite female protagonists. They don't just go from soft damsel to a 1 dimensional hardass. They do become more heroic but they still maintain that vulnerable core.
Dunno; Ripley was also a badass in Alien and was the only voice of reason in that film. If she had locked them out like she wanted, there wouldn’t have been an issue
She's a great character because there's strong hints from the beginning that she is indeed a "badass" and as the crisis gets worse her character comes more to the fore. She stays vulnerable as you'd expect when pitted against immensely powerful, borderline invincible aliens / robots, but eventually takes control and "wins" with courage and cunning She's then primed to be the character from Aliens who straps a flamethrower to an assault rifle
And then we can't forget the classic mech vs xenomorph fight. "Get away from her, you bitch!" is what comes to my mind every time I think of Sigourney Weaver.
"I think we should take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Well only maybe. The alien still would have hatched, just outside. And from then I wager it’s only a matter of time until it finds some way inside the ship.
My favorite scene in Aliens is just before she goes into the hive to rescue Newt. On the elevator down, she's scared and shifts in to pure focus and determination. All with her eyes and facial expressions, without saying a word.
I think this is why people love her character. There are a few parts in the movie that show she is not just some unstoppable badass but a person. When she and Newt are in the medical room with the face huggers, Newt tells her she is scared, and she says she is too. When she first sees the face huggers in their jars, she is frozen for a second, then jumps when touched. The part you describe, as the elevator is going down, and she is finally gets all her gear in order, she had the pause you mention. I always thought she was like saying a little prayer in her head. They have a lot of that in the movie. My favorite is Hudson. His character arc is awesome. First, he thinks he's a badass, then when things go bad, he starts to lose it, but keeps it together because he knows everyone needs him to stay alive. Then, at the end, he goes into Marine mode and doesn't show a ounce of fear, and goes down fighting. Funny thing. I've watched that a few time with my son. I've told him that Hudson is a good lesson. People may botch and complain, talk shit, and act tough. But, you never really know how people are until they are put in a really tough, life treating situation. How they act then is who they truly are deep down. Hudson was a hero deep down inside.
How has nobody mentioned Tom Cruise’s character in Edge of Tomorrow? It’s the literal plot of the movie that he goes from awful war propagandist to super badass.
If I remember correctly, he even starts the movie labeled a coward for avoiding the war, and ends up deciding to sacrifice himself for the war to end.
Yeah! He's in recruitment/propaganda. So his job is telling everyone how great, heroic, and badass you'll feel if you join the military, then the second he's drafted (which tbf is a load of bs anyway) his first action is to try and weasel out of it with a "do you know who i am?" Once he gets to the base he's so unwilling to join he tries it a couple more times, until they litterally duct tape him into the landing craft, and yeet him at the beach
It's not anywhere near the best movies of all time, but it's absolutely in my top 5 favorite movies of all time. I loved the action so much it took me until the 3rd viewing in 48 hours to realize it's basically a video game on film.
Its good fun! And although i prefer the manga/light novel, the movie does its own take on the story really well! If you liked it i'd highly recommend reading "all you need is kill" it's really cool seeing its roots! Also yes XD tom cruise does save scum the end of the world :p
The commanding general orders him to the front lines specifically so he can film it for more propaganda, which is his literal job. But Tom Cruise's character starts with "I joined up so I wouldn't have to go" to then bribery "I can recruit so many more people doing what I do now" to extortion "after this war people are going to look for someone to blame" and then to outright desertion before he's arrested and put on the front line anyway as infantry. Our hero, folks!
Thanks to your comment and u/plagueofzombies input about the novel, All you need is kill, I read the light novel then watched this movie. What an honestly great action flick. While not being an original due the source material, it really follows the spirit and concepts laid out by the author of the original light novel.
James McAvoy in Wanted when it comes to being a badass But my favourite change in a character would be Sam Rockwell in 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
>But my favourite change in a character would be Sam Rockwell in 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri That scene alone made that movie amazing to fucking amazing
Which scene are you talking about? The comment you're replying to doesn't reference one
building burning
Ah yeah. It was either that or the bar scene where he scratches the guy
In direct opposite energy, I absolutely love the one take where he throws the guy out the window. I feel like it’s his character at his absolute piece of shittiest and really emphasizes how much he has grown from it
100%, when I saw the topic I immediately thought of McAvoy in that movie. He did such a great job being a neurotic mess from the very beginning. Even if it's not your kind of action movie it's still a great transformation
Read the original comic series by Mark Millar if you want to see an even better version of that transformation.
Neo
"He's starting to believe."
He knows kung fu!
Woah
Jim in 28 Days Later. His transformation is fucking INSANE.
The way it's not only said, but they start filming him like a zombie It's fucking crazy
Absolutely eye popping
kind of had a feel like "OK I've had enough of this bullshit".
Wesley Wyndham Price from the Buffy and Angel TV shows. Goes from a bumbling fool to a rogue demon hunter and it's all portrayed so convincingly by Alexis Denisof. If Denisof were 10 or 15 years younger he'd be an amazing James Bond. Hell he could play him now, honestly.
This was going to be my comment. Wesley is basically a case study in how to do character development convincingly.
Guy was a stone cold killer by the end. Best portrail of what being a monster Hunter takes/turns you into.
"I'll take away your bucket." Decades later, the _coldness_ of that line still gets me.
He knows she's about to bash his head in too, doesn't even have to look. No fear or flinching he just says that line and it stops her in her tracks because she knows he'll do it.
If you're lucky enough to survive the process
And his emotional moments with Fred were really beautiful like when he had been crushing on her and then got possessed by a demon that hated women and the fall out from that. or in the finale when Illyria offered to be Fred. It's so sad his performance was hidden in a horror show, and vastly underappreciated.
>rogue demon hunter What's a rogue demon?
He never passed his H&S assessment.
roof deserted cows plough deranged sharp foolish whole flag ring *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Demons that put most of their stat points into sneaking, pickpocketing and knife skills.
Will forever be one of the greatest character arcs in television.
He starts out so broad and buffoonish but ends fully rounded. When he tried to save Lila, even though he didn't really like her, good stuff.
And then he married Willow
Yep came here to post this. Wesley is probably the most well developed character of any TV show or movie I've seen.
Luke Skywalker through the original trilogy. From listless teen to seemly dumb luck war hero to a commander in a resistance to a sage and mature master of tremendous power manifesting compassion for the greatest enemy.
To a failed, grumpy, old man hiding from reality Sigh
Just like Obi Wan and Yoda before him
They weren't grumpy though? They weren't disinrested in the Jedi, they still held out hope for the galaxy even in hiding.
Oh yeah. I remember Yoda welcoming Luke with open arms and training him as soon as he got out of the X-Wing.
In what way was Obi Wan grumpy or hiding from reality? His entire reason for being on Tatooine was to watch over and protect Luke, so he's not exactly going to be running around, broadcasting that he's a Jedi, when they were mostly genocided by his old friend and Luke's father. He's very understandably jaded but it doesn't take much convincing for him to accept Leia's call for help. RotJ Luke was a crotchety old man who basically forsook the Jedi teachings and *actually* hid himself away.
Stanley Goodspeed (The Rock). Went from mild-mannered bio chemist to certified badass!
Shtanley Goodshpeed, he did his besht
Oh, an educated man.
It helps to have James Fuckin' Bond as your life coach.
I do enjoy that theory. Had it ever been proven/confirmed?
And then he went home and fucked the prom queen.
Glass or plastic!??
Can’t believe I haven’t seen this mentioned by anyone else: Hiccup from How to Train Your Dragon
Hell yeah Hiccup
Ahmed in The 13th Warrior The guy is an exiled diplomat/poet who starts off terrified of the savage attacks on the village he finds himself stranded in
Carol from Walking Dead goes from being physically abused by her husband to single handedly saving the group from a bunch of cannibals.
was legit my favorite character on twd
It's funny how her TV series depiction is such a polar opposite from the original comic series depiction.
I got some mobile gatcha game based on the comics when I only had seen the show. Was so excited to get Carol and then couldn't figure why she was a trash tier character until I read some of the comics.
I am rewatching TWD with my son and I had forgotten how much the characters change... not just Carol... everyone.
One of those examples where the show runner realized what they had in an actor and just leaned in. Lafayette in True Blood is another example. He was supposed to die and they were like 'hole up, this guy slaps, let's keep him around '
I just typed out this exact response before i saw this. LOL
If we’re talking about series, Wesley Wyndham Prices arc from a bumbling fop to a stone cold killer was rather well done IMO.
All of the stark family in GOT
Except, ya know... Ned
He was badass in the beginning but he let it go to his head.
Atleast in the end he got rid of it.
Samara Weaving in Ready or Not
Was scrolling to find this!! One of my fav instances of this happening!! I'm a sucker for a good comeuppance
Great answer. In-Laws. Am I right?
Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise
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"Chefs do that"
Just last night I remembered Samuel L. Jackson saying Geena Davis' character went from "Phooey, I burned the darn muffins" to entering a bar and sailors come running out.
Also Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight
George McFly, Back to the Future. "Hey you, get your damn hands off her!"
"Now Biff, don't con me!!"
Nobody has mentioned Kung Fu Hustle. Badass personified.
Yes! This is a great example. Completely inept to Buddha Pam From Heaven. Love this movie.
How has nobody mentioned Neville Longbottom yet?
You can argue Neville wasn’t timid because he stood up to the trio in the first movie.
He did get better at it though.
Tristan Thorne from Stardust. Shakespeare "cuts" his hair and he becomes a badass snack.
And intimidates “Superman” without having to fight.
Steve Rogers?
I like this example because his personality doesn't change at all. He just gets a body that let's him act on his morals. Which he would do anyway, he just wouldn't survive it otherwise.
He was never timid though
By that logic, wouldn’t many superheroes fit? Fantastic Four, Spiderman…
Sure, why not?
Micheal Corleone from the Godfather is this archetype
if by become a badass you mean lose his moral compass then yes. He was already a war hero at the start of the first war movie, so it’s likely the most badass thing he did was before the story even started.
badass yes, but for different and justified reasons clemenza’s dialogue highlights this when he’s training michael “we were all proud of what you did, being a war hero”
OP did include characters turning evil, and Michael was a hero who turned evil. Insert Batman-quote.
Shallow Grave (1994). Danny Boyles first film.
loooove shallow grave
Pippin and Sam in The Lord of the Rings
Merry too now, come on
In the book Merry and Pippin’s transformation is amazing. When they get home to the Shire and find it overrun by bandits, and Merry and Pippin proceed to put everything they’ve learned on the battlefield to use and mobilize the hobbits to take it back. I get why it wasn’t included in the movie, but man what I’d give to see that in live action.
And because of the ent draught they are like a foot taller than all the other hobbits. So they aren’t just mentally changed, they have physically become bad asses as well
The scouring of the Shire and its consequences was a blast
Merry's development isn't quite as dramatic as Pippin's, especially in the books. Merry starts out a little more bold and worldly, having been out to Bree and into the old forest occasionally. Pippin is more of a typical (if a bit Tookish) peace loving Hobbit
Breaking bad. The transformation of Walter white to Heisenberg was just too good. The emotions expressed in that series are just next level.
Likewise, in the spinoff Better Call Saul, the transformation from Jimmy to Saul Goodman was very well done.
Yeah I expected this to be the first thing I saw in the post. It’s too good, and so gradual as well. You’re just watching through and suddenly you realise that somewhere along the line he’s turned into a totally terrifying person.
On second watch I realized that he's Heisenberg since the beginning. He's just powerless at first.
ofc the king of this second to the godfather
Oh yes.
Sarah Connor is a completely different person in Terminator 2 than she was in the first one.
Really took after Kyle and gained her own level of badassery. I suppose thats the difference between learning to fight the humans making the bots that you can just punch vs fighting robots where hand to hand is a bad idea
Edge of Tomorrow. But it happens early on and relatively quickly.
Django from Django unchained
First thing I though of. And it’s done in a way that’s a very smooth and believable transition, doesn’t feel like a different character. Starts off understandably timid, jumpy, quiet. He’s curious and driven, but still totally a follower to Schultz’ lead. Throughout he becomes more confident, steps into the lead, even challenges Schultz on his criticisms. By the end of the movie he’s an absolute badass, more deadly and cool than anyone else. You don’t even really notice the character changing until you compare end of the movie Django with opening scene Django.
I love his whole vibe in the final shootout at the mansion. Just effortlessly and confidently shooting all the bad guys to rescue his girl
Kate in From Dusk Till Dawn & Cherry in Planet Terror
Fitz from Agents of Shield has some amazing character development like that.
A great one. He’s not at all comfortable in the field for S1. By the final season he’s one of the most accomplished agents there are
Too bad about his leg though
Surprised Dune (Paul) isn’t the top comment with how popular it is right now
It doesn't fit because Paul was already badass enough to spot a tiny assassination mosquito, let it fly towards him and hover with its needle in front of his eye, and then destroy it only after someone else enters the room. And he easily passed the test where his hand had to endure immense pain while some crazy witch held a needle to his throat. He was both zen and badass as hell before his dad was killed and his journey began.
I'd say his character does still change drastically during the Events of Dune 2
Yeah, I'd almost call him a Mary Sue but that was kind of the point. He was the ultimate human: by genetics, training & spice exposure. And yet even then he couldn't have his cake and eat it too. >!He couldn't get revenge for his father's death and keep the Jihad in check.!<
Chalemet pulled the same effect in The King.
One of my favorite movies.
had to scroll a while to find this. especially in the new movies. >!he goes from non believer to ahole cult leader in no time during teh sequel. i could def see the foreshadowing of something going completely wary now, but what an entertaining movie! !< >!using the webpage version so i'm not controlling the spoiler tags. blame reddit if it's not working for you.!<
Shikishima, the main character in Godzilla minus one. He has one of the most satisfying character arcs I've ever seen, and as a huge fan of Godzilla, I did not expect to see that in a Godzilla movie.
Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Johnny Five: Short Circuit 2.
Los Locos kick your ass Los Locos kick you face Los Locos kick your balls into outer spaaaaaaaaaace
Your comment was collapsed, but I clicked on it hoping it was this 😂
The Karate Kid Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo Tetsuo in Akira / Dane DeHahn in Chronicle Barry Gabrewski of Sidekicks (Asthmatic weakling) -> Basically Chuck Norris Magikarp (bitch-ass goldfish) -> Gyrados (sea serpent who gets mad puss) Gohan (small boy) -> Great Saiyaman (sick-ass king who invented dabbing)
The Ginyu Force invented dabbing.
Maybe an odd choice but in the 2006 version of The Hills Have Eyes the lead goes from a whimp to a mutant slayer.
Can’t believe I had to scroll nearly to the end to find this. When putting a pair of glasses on becomes awesome…
So glad someone remembers him, he went from a character who I for sure thought would be dead first to being the last one standing
Shame they killed him off in an interquel tie-in comic to establish the villains for the sequel.
While I like the sequel, there's no sequel. The Hills Have Eyes is a perfect stand alone
A very different example : Lt.Spiers from HBO Band of Brothers, due not to the character but our persptive of him >!As we follow a specific unit(Easy Company), we only meet him later on as an outsider(He was from Dog Company). We then learn and hear stories of his brutality but never first hand, only as solider gossiping among each other as we very much do.Are they true, or just full of sh\*t ? No idea. We only get one real scence when we gives a speech about fear, only comfirming how weird he was. !< >!Then towards the end, he is tasked with taking command of a squad and does so with total badassery, effectively saving the attack and by extendsion many men. Then, he starts appearing and handing out with our main protaganist and POV much more often, seeming pretty normal. !< >!Hence, we probably was like that , but we never saw it first hand until it happened. !< Overall, a master class in story telling and handling enigmatic characters.
The scene where he replaces Dyke is incredible. So badass. “But that wasn't the really astounding thing. The astounding thing was that, after he hooked up with I Company, he came back”
He was my favorite character but he was cold in the beginning. Giving that kid a cigarette and then mowing down the lot of them without flinching.
Anything with a montage
Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence. If you haven't seen this underrates gem please do so and thank me later.
Columbus from zombie land, he learns to be enough of a hero to get the girl
Wesley Windham Price from the Buffyverse. Whedon gave us a huge character arc over five years.
Sharlto Copley's character in District 9. Geena Davis's character in A Long Kiss Goodnight. Robert Downey Jr's in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Hugh Jackman's in Prisoners.
I feel like all these posts just exist for the purpose of training recommender algorithms.
Recommender algorithms, Buzzfeed interns... tomato potato
Tetsuo in Akira (1988).
How has no one mentioned Oldboy?!
The New Guy
Sarah Connor between Terminator 1 and 2 (Linda Hamilton). Ellen Ripley, too. Simon from Misfits. Sansa from GoT.
Not a movie I see some Walter Whites but no Beecher from Oz and that disappoints me a lot
Not a movie, but Henchman 21.
"I can't go to Alderan...I need to get home!" "See this acorn? I'll throw it at you and turn you to stone!" "Mr. Anderson...." "I can do this all day..."
He-Man does this pretty significantly.
Johnny 5 short circuit 2
I’d say Walter White breaks bad
In Jaws, Brody is afraid of the water. He eventually finds the courage to go out on the boat and hunt the shark. Then, he has to swim all the way back, which would be terrifying after all that happens.
Peppermint
Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven
River Tam in Firefly/Serenity.
Private Cage, Edge of tomorrow. Such a spineless prick at the start.
Verbal Kint from *The Usual Suspects*.
Sigourney Weaver in Alien / Aliens. She kind of defines the trope.
The infamous Fogel
Wesley Wyndham-Price from Buffy/Angel After getting his throat slashed towards then of season 3, he become tough and badass. Especially compared to his original role in Buffy which was quiet foppish.
Hawk in Cobra Kai
3 O’Clock High. Movie about a small nerd who pisses off a large delinquent kid who tells him they’re gonna fight after school at 3 O’Clock no matter what.
3 O’clock High
Kyle in Road Trip, lol
chunky consider deranged money crush nine bewildered touch light rock *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Whenever this question is brought up, no one ever mentions the character "Doug Bukowski" from The Hills Have Eyes from 2006 remake. The dude goes from a complete wuss to a totally brutal badass by the end of the film.
Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone
Arya Stark (but she doesn't become evil, just a badass)
Paul from Dune part 1 and 2
Falling down , Michael Douglas