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So I've noticed something about the badasses in fiction I like...
Dante from Devil May Cry, Fonzie, Any role played by Bruce Campbell, and even John McClane and Batman to a lesser extent...
they all have some levels of dorkiness or points where people take the piss out of them.
I think it might be just that when they have a level of human silliness to them then their badassery comes off more as fun that we're supposed to share in rather than telling us how much better than us the character is.
Comments
I like characters who stand for everything "badass" does not. Like Wheatley and some versions of Robotnik.
It comes back to the common writing mistake of thinking a character who only has the trait of being "badass" can be taken seriously at all. When the character actually feels like a person, it's a lot easier to accept badassery.
The badasses I like are either big dorks like Malk points out, have a degree of character complexity (Like Mal), or are idealists punchers of things (Like Superman)
Mal has that level of dorkiness too though, but yeah Inuh's got it.
I think a lot of aspiring 'serious' writers refuse to have any comedy or levity in them which makes them feel dead. See Kratos or War from Darksiders. It's also why Tyrion's so popular in Game of Thrones. With all these super serious grim folk, he's a much needed contrast.
Also I think it's kind of interesting how straight my father buys Fonzie despite the fact that the entire joke of Fonzie (initially at least) is that he's a socially insecure dope.
Characters that are fleshed out to be more human, will often more catch out interests for the simple fact that we see them more than plot cars.
Heck, part of Spiderman's whole stick was that he juggled a heroic life with a normal one.
I kinda like drive by dorkiness more than anything. Like Batman taunting some aliens by recreating a scene out of Die Hard.
I remember reading somewhere that Die Hard is Batman's favorite movie which makes perfect sense.
i tell you, batman totally loves die hard
^It was an article by Chris Sims.
SHOW ME THIS
^^Ah right. If I recall he also said Back to The Future was Spider-man's favorite.
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/05/11/ask-chris-105-batman-die-hard-and-super-heroes-favorite-mo/
Suh-weet-ness.
I'd argue that Mal's thing is actually growing into a less bitter and more "dorky" man, but back during the first few episodes, Mal was a stone-faced "let's do the job" merc. Of course, as Whedon wrote him, he had a sense of humor, but his jokes were pretty much insulting his crew and such.
Malk: come to think of it, Garrus fits that pattern too, doesn't he. Even though most of the time his humor is more on the sardonic side, it comes out every so often.
Meh. When written properly, pretty much any character ever can be badass when it counts. The flat ones fail because they don't have any other defining traits.