What constitutes Badassery?

[Sir Boss]

What is Badassery, can it be nailed down?
Is it an ice cold demeanor and being silent but deadly? (Halo, Bioshock)
Is it being boisterous on the battlefield and glorying in the slaughter of your enemies? (Heavy Weapons Guy)
Is it delivering one-liners and acting all macho? (Gears of War)

or did i miss the point completley?
are the requirements any different depending on gender?
am i asking too many questions?

Post Script
although this is in the gaming section feel free talk about other media

 

[badgersprite]

Badassery: Doing the awesome and impossible in an awesomely cool way on a regular basis without the quantity overshadowing the awesomeness of said feats.

 

[William MacKay]

stopping a nuclear bomb-shooting tank with a purple dildo.
any crime-fighting technique using sex toys really.

 

[Robot n.o 9124791234]

stopping a nuclear bomb-shooting tank with a purple dildo.
any crime-fighting technique using sex toys really.

I wholeheartedly agree

 

[IBlackKiteI]

I'd say an army of mere mortals equipped with guns which basically have the damage output of a flashlight who fight and die every day against the most messed up kinds of evil which threaten to destroy the galaxy are pretty badass.

Imperial Guard FTW!

 

[DanDeFool]

True badassery is knowing what you want, always having a (good) plan on how to get it, and always being able to pull that plan off.

A couple good examples of the opposite of this are comic-relief main characters, like Jack Sparrow and Guybrush Threepwood. Both are almost complete badasses, but Sparrow never knows what he wants, and Threepwood is generally incompetent.

Duke Nukem is an example of a real badass. The goal: Save earth, get chicks. The Plan: Kill lots of aliens. Can he do it?: Yes. Hence, badass.

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

It's Bruce Willis.

I have such a crush on him.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

True badassery cannot be described. You just know it when you see it.

 

[The Rockerfly]

Seeing an advisory much larger and more powerful and taking them down. Adding in a few badass lines don't hurt, it is hard to describe but when you see an act of badassary you will know

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Well generally it is a posterior that writes dirty words on the walls and talks back to figures of authority.
I have not met many rumps with a tendancy to misbehave myself, unfortunately. Most of them tend not to be sentient.

 

[Sir Boss]

I'd say an army of mere mortals equipped with guns which basically have the damage output of a flashlight who fight and die every day against the most messed up kinds of evil which threaten to destroy the galaxy are pretty badass.

Imperial Guard FTW!

When will people give the Guard the respect they deserve?

 

[Da Chi]

It's Bruce Willis.

I have such a crush on him.

You an me both!

 

[SHIFTYMACO]

one of my favourates is from the Aliens movie!
[during the drop to LV-426]
Hudson: I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT wanna f*** with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks........

The ultimate Badass has got to be ASH from evil dead III!
Look it up kids!

I'd say an army of mere mortals equipped with guns which basically have the damage output of a flashlight who fight and die every day against the most messed up kinds of evil which threaten to destroy the galaxy are pretty badass.
Imperial Guard FTW!

When will people give the Guard the respect they deserve?

I hate it how Dawn of War games make them look like incompetent louts.
Without the Imperial Guard the Imperium cannot stand.

 

[Thaluikhain]

For me, it's about being vulnerable.

This might seem counter-intuitive, but people who just win by being over the top aren't badarse. Being beat up and being tough enough to ignore it doesn't make you badarse, being beat up and being weak enough for it to really hurt, but choosing to keep going does.

one of my favourates is from the Aliens movie!
[during the drop to LV-426]
Hudson: I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT wanna f*** with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks........

Um, he certainly keeps telling everyone how badarse he is (though, to be fair, so do the others), but what happens the very first time they get a chance to show it?

 

[Sir Boss]

The ultimate Badass has got to be ASH from evil dead III!
Look it up kids!

I'd say an army of mere mortals equipped with guns which basically have the damage output of a flashlight who fight and die every day against the most messed up kinds of evil which threaten to destroy the galaxy are pretty badass.
Imperial Guard FTW!

When will people give the Guard the respect they deserve?

I hate it how Dawn of War games make them look like incompetent louts.
Without the Imperial Guard the Imperium cannot stand.

1. we all should know about Ash "BOOMSTICK" Williams
2. DoW shows them as incompetent...apart from the tanks "Ready to unleash eleven barrels of hell" anyone?

 

[IBlackKiteI]

2. DoW shows them as incompetent...apart from the tanks "Ready to unleash eleven barrels of hell" anyone?

Oh hells yeah, the Baneblade.

Actually Guardsmen are my favourite main infantry unit in DoW, early on its easy to get several squads of them due to their low cost and when they're upgraded with heavy weapons, improved morale, extra lasgun range and commanders, they're practically unstoppable.
Even when they're not backed up by the most awesome tanks in the game.

 

[josemlopes]

Knowledge and power.

You are badass because you are not some rookie, you have experienced a lot and know how things work. You are not wrong. You can over power a lot of people.

Play Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay

 

[Emurlahn]

I'd say an army of mere mortals equipped with guns which basically have the damage output of a flashlight who fight and die every day against the most messed up kinds of evil which threaten to destroy the galaxy are pretty badass.

Imperial Guard FTW!

Genetically engineered killing machines. AKA Tyranides

 

[BlackMageBob]

I just wanna say, Zagstruk had his legs crushed by a Beakie dreadnought...and then he crawled up the arm to kill it.


WAAAGH!

 

[Casual Shinji]

Being able to deal with any given situation in a cool demeanor.

Which is why Bugs Bunny is the greatest badass ever.