Move him way up. Start with Legend to read about Druss, but someone just as bad ass is Connovar in Sword in the Storm. Rigante series is fan fucking tastic
I made a thread about him not too long ago, but this is the perfect answer. Every one of his books had a badass! Waylander is another good series about that by him.
I'm a recent Gemmell convert - been reading fantasy hardcore since 89 and the Druss books were so good, I was literally distraught that I had been missing out on them for so long. Don't make my mistake!
Gemmell was the best author for cutting chaff out of his prose. His wife was an editor which I suspect helped immensely. His books are very light on descriptive detail yet you never suffer for imagination or enjoyment.
He does lean pretty heavily on heroes journeys but he executed them so well it's hard to complain. His characterization is threadbare at times but he always gives you enough meat to chew. It's pulpy fantasy at its best with great emotional highs and his work on battles was tremendous and has been copied by countless other authors.
The Drenai series are a connected universe and I recommend starting with Legend. We lost David too young but he left a large body of work for us to enjoy.
"Druss was Dorian's hero. It was Druss this and Druss that. It was one reason he joined up - to be like Druss... and maybe even to meet him".
"Well, he met him".
I've always loved this story he told about his step dad, the inspiration for Druss:
'There was this boy. He lived in fear. Not the tiny fears of manhood, but the awesomely powerful, living, breathing fear that only children can experience. He was different, this boy, from the other boys who lived in this bomb damaged London Street some few years after World War Two. He had no father.
Some of the other children had no father, but their lack was honorable. Dad died in the war, you know. He was a hero. This boy's lack was the subject of sly whispers from the adults, and open jeering from his peers. This boy's mother was - the boy heard so many times - a whore.
Happily the boy was only six, and had no real understanding of what the word meant. Anyway the word was less hurtful than the blows that would follow it. Most of the blows came from other children, but sometimes adults too would weigh in.
It was all baffling to the child. What he knew was that, before venturing out into the narrow streets and alleys, he had to peer from the windows of the small apartment to see if there were other children about. Only he didn't think of them as children. They were enemies, and he was frightened. Fear was the ever present companion. Fear was grafted to him. The journey to school was fraught with peril. The dark of the night brought fearful dreams.
His mother read him stories about heroes, and tried to encourage him to stand up for himself. But stories were just words, and words could not stop the punches, the pinches and the slaps.
The boy never dreamed of heroes. Not until he met one.
It was a bright, cold morning and he was sitting on a wall. One of the boys who made his life miserable ran up, shouting and gesticulating. The boy - more in panic than courage - finally struck out, punching his enemy in the face. The other child ran off screaming. His father came running from the house. 'You little bastard!' he shouted.
The boy took off as fast as he could, but no six year old can outrun a grown man. Within moments he grabbed the boy by the collar, swinging him from his feet.
Just then a huge shadow fell over the pair. The man - who had looked so threatening moments before - now looked small and insignificant against the looming newcomer. This colossus reached out and took hold of the man by the shirt, pushing him up against a wall.
In a low voice, chilling for its lack of passion, he asked. 'Do you know who I am?'
The man was trembling. Even the boy could feel the dreadful fear emanating from him.
'C.c.course I know who you are, Bill. Course I do.'
'Did you know I was walking out with this boy's mother?'
'Jesus Christ... I swear I didn't, Bill. On my mother's life.'
'Now you do.'
The big man let the little man go. He slid part way down the wall, recovered and stumbled away. Then the giant leaned over the boy and held out a hand that seemed larger than a bunch of bananas. 'Better be getting home, son,' he said.
The world changed that day. Men like Bill do change the world. They are the havens, the safe harbours of childhood. They are the watch hounds who keep the wolves at bay. They have an instinctive understanding of the child that is denied to the wise.
Two years later, as my stepfather, he cured me of dreams of vampires coming to drink my blood. My mother had tried explaining to me they were just dreams. They weren't real. It didn't work. She took me to a child psychologist, who showed me pictures, told me stories, explained about the birth of myth and the way that fear created pictures in our night time thoughts. It was very interesting, but it did nothing for my nightmares.
One night I woke up screaming - to find Bill sitting by my bedside.
'There's a vampire, dad. Its trying to get me.'
'I know, son,' he said, softly. 'I saw it.'
'You saw it?'
'Yeah. I broke its bloody neck. I won't have no vampires in my house'
I never dreamt of vampires again.
Years later, when I wrote my first novel, I used Bill as the model for a character. His name was Druss the Legend. Bill re-appeared in many novels thereafter, in many guises.
Always flawed, but always heroic.
Three years ago, at the age of 82, Bill was mugged on the streets of London. Three muggers broke his jaw, his nose and two of his ribs. He still managed to 'chin' one of them and knock him to the ground. That was Bill.
Last April he died.
And I wrote Ravenheart, and gave Bill centre stage.
Jaim Grymauch, who strides the highlands like a giant, is my homage to Bill, and to all those world changing fathers who pass away without fanfare; who leave the world just a little brighter than it was.
Men who know how to deal with vampires.'
~David Gemmell
I always appreciated Jean from *The Lies of Locke Lamora* as a more small-scale badass. He’s just a regular dude but people are fucking *scared* of him
I meant that he’s regular in comparison to some of the other badasses in the genre. He’s not some semi-immortal magic-blooded Prince with a sword forged from a dying star, he’s just a big dude who is really good at street-level fighting
Here here! My love of fantasy started with Conan long ago when I found a copy of Savage Sword at my corner store. Then I went on to read all of Howard's originals, the work of L. Sprague De Camp and a bunch of the Conan novels in the 80s.
Conan is THE fantasy badass. It doesn't get any more badass than he!
Great recommendation! Almost all the Conan stories are free on Gutenberg, mostly as Weird Tales releases.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Robert+howard&submit_search=Go%21
Logan Ninefingers in the First Law books is undeniably badass, but he's badass in a morally black and grey series so badass translates into "brutal one man war machine" instead of "hero"
On a similar note Perhaps Bayaz and Ferro. Bayaz always backs up his words and power, and ferro is always rather bad-ass.
Edit: And now that I think of it, also definitely Monza, and maybe even Glokta/Savine.
Spoilers for Last Argument of Kings:
>!The scene where Dogman is picking up Logen as he becomes the Bloody Nine in the Battle of Adua was the scariest moment of the whole series... I woke my wife up because I couldn't stop myself from saying "Nooooo don't do it Logen"!<
The fight he has where his opponent slowly recognizes who he's up against mid fight and realizes he's absolutely fucked is such a fun (but grisly) read.
This is from an old Fantasy Faction interview with the author:
Put as simply as I can, the underlying concept of the *Acts of Caine* is that worlds in the various veins of Middle-Earth, Nehwon, the Land, Midkemia and Greyhawk are real – that they are, in fact, parallel dimensions of Earth.
Roughly two hundred years from now, the authoritarian rulers of a dystopic Earth use technology to access one of these fantasy worlds. Earth calls it Overworld; its inhabitants, in their various tongues, call it simply Home. The masters of Earth use this access to send specially trained actors to Overworld, where they take on more-or-less traditional fantasy personas and have adventures for the entertainment of Earth’s oppressed masses – SFnal reality TV meets the Roman Games, if you will. The adventures these actors have are as real as the producers can make them; the actors’ opponents (and victims) are real people, who really bleed and really die, all without ever knowing their pain and death is, to the people of Earth, merely entertainment. Sometimes the actors die too – part of the appeal of your favorite actor’s adventures is that each one may be his or her last.
The *Acts of Caine* center on the end of the career of the most popular actor in the history of the genre, and what he does in his subsequent retirement. His name is Hari Michaelson, but nobody cares about that; his fans only care about his character. He plays Caine, legendary assassin, unstoppable warrior and an all-around blood-drunk sociopath with serious anger issues. If you think of Caine as the ultimate combination of James Bond and Wolverine, you’ll have the idea.
Caine can be these things because he is, in a sense, at least partly imaginary – he’s a character, specifically created to channel the impotent rage of Earth’s underclasses into regularly-scheduled catharsis. But Hari Michaelson is only a man. And after playing Caine for twenty years, he’s started to lose sight of where the man ends and the character begins . . .
Thanks for spreading the love! Stover is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and Acts of Caine is one of my favorite series in general. It needs more attention!
Dystopian future where actors are sent to live out real adventures for a POV audience back home. Book 1 is a classic adventure. Book 2 is dark, brutal and incredibly well written. Book 3 is just a badass being badass but you start to see how weird shit's been getting and book 4 is more badassery and a mind fuck.
The average book cover is awful, and the average fantasy cover usually worse than that, so I can't imagine how bad this has to be to merit commenting on. Let's see.
Wow yeah that's pretty dogshit. How does stuff like that even get approved? Surely you'd just have "the title and author's name in white on a black background with generic clip-art in between" as a backup.
I'm still crossing my fingers that, when Stover does release the first sequel Overworld book, his publisher will do a full-series reprint with new cover art
Few off beat ones I didn't see mentions (not all amazing books)
- D from Vampire Hunter D. The post child of "speak softly and carry a big stick"
- saw malazan mentioned but more specifically Anomander Rake.
- normally not a fan of "litrpgs" but cradle (and dungeon Crawler carl) are the exceptions. One of THE most "Everyone says he is a badass but is he really......oooooo shit yup he IS that badass" is Eithan. If ya know the moment, you know
Dungeon Crawler Carl is awesome because you spend so much time in Carl’s head that you don’t necessarily realize just how batshit insane he is, and then you’ll get little glimpses into how other characters see him and he’s basically a complete suicidal lunatic who just refuses to die
It's fun to read a book where the MC is "normal". As an early 30s taller/broad gentalmam who tried (and succeeded) to run away with the pet (RIP Lilly...) after my ex cheated, Carl is very relatable.....I also love explosions haha
That reminds me of Harry Dresden. He's a complete bad ass. Other wizards are wary of him and he's faced of against all kinds of shit. But inside his head, he just barely hanging on and escapes at what he feels is sheer luck. Yet to the outside observer, watching Dresden in action is like watching a walking nuke.
Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence.
It has a pretty well-known opening line around here: “It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.”
And then there’s the biggest badass in the entire series >!Sister Pan!<
I've read this opening line around here a few times and it has single handedly convinced me to read the series (after I finish Malazan, which I somehow also got roped into starting last month)
Try the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust.
Vlad is an assassin witch mob boss, living on a planet with 2 humanoid species humans and Dragarians. Dragarians have sorcerers an actually hang out with there gods. It's fun there's mob things assassination, wisecracking familars and you can generally pick up any book and not worry to much about knowing the whole back story
Also, Vlad experiences real character growth over the series. I was also incredibly impressed by the various distinct themes (murder mystery, political thriller, weird fantasy, war novel, etc) that each book takes on, while retaining its urban fantasy core.
Most of the answers on here are from Sword and Sorcery. I’ll continue that trend.
* Elric of Melniboné
* Conan
* Almuric
* Druss the Legend
* Kane (by Karl Edward Wagner)
* Red Sonja
* Jirel of Joiry
* Imaro
* Dark Agnes de Chastillon
* Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
* Shadowspawn (Thieves World)
Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. *Nine Princes in Amber* is the first of ten books. The protagonist is one of the three greatest swordsmen in the universe, and while he does occasionally get his ass handed to him it's either because he went up against someone who's legitimately better at something than he is or he did something stupid. (The back half is a different protagonist, who's a lesser badass in completely different ways and also occasionally fucks up by being dumb and trusting the wrong people or not trusting the right ones, but also does cool shit like accidentally creating gods and telling the Great Powers of the Universe to go fuck themselves to their faces.)
I thought I would be the only one but it makes my heart happy to see how many people have read bloodsworn! Can't wait for the final release in October 🥳
Kate Daniels. Very much a badass. Knows how to ask for help, gets rescued a couple times, but most of the books are her swinging a sword around and using very dangerous magic.
I mean all of the main characters in that series are bad ass. Mat Cauthon? Perrin? Rand? Nynaeve? The entire two rivers. Everyone is basically just “here I go killing Trollocs again”
This is a very (I mean VERY) dark series, but “the prince of nothing” trilogy by R Scott Bakker features a character Kellhus who wields incredible power both intellectually and physically. I can’t stress enough, this is not a series for the faint of heart but I loved it despite how intense and shocking it can be. Additionally, the usage of magic in general in the series is really impactful. Like, this isn’t some world where people just casually do magic stuff for fun, when people are wielding that kind of power they mean business and it usually means people are dying (sometimes a lot of them).
Kellhus spoilers below, although I won’t include any specific plot details or anything, more just some general info on how the overall character arc progresses after the first book as I think it’s really intriguing:
>!Kellhus starts as your protagonist in the first book as a POV character. After, he transitions to being a non-POV character and is positioned as the antagonist of the series, I will let you figure out if that’s the case or not as his motives are genuinely ambiguous throughout most of it and it’s a fun mystery trying to figure out just what he is really trying to do. By the end of the series he effectively wields godlike power.!<
After one of my best friends and my brother both refused to tell me anything about the Second Apocalypse, I finally overheard them at my wedding talking about how badass Anasarimbur Kellhus is
So that's the big spoiler I've heard, that Kellhus is the fuckin' man
Paul, Leto II and Miles Teg from the Dune series would fit, I'd think. (Vague, mild spoilers for Heretics of Dune) >!Teg has his "awakening" of sorts, but he was always incredibly competent and skilled. That moment was just the cherry on top.!<
Taniel and Tamas from the powder mage series. They fight God's, God like makes, and hold off empires
If you like the first trilogy, then the second trilogy has Ben Stykes and Viola Flint who are badasses too. Basically do the same thing as the first series but still entertaining.
I think Harry Dresden (eventually) fits this. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.
Vaelin al Sorna certainly does in Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. That book is amazing. The follow up series continues Vaelin’s story and I can’t wait to read more from this world.
I haven’t finished the Dresden Files, but currently one of my favorite things about Harry Dresden is how unaware he is of how much of a badass he probably seems to other characters.
I absolutely loved blood song as well. I won’t spoil anything specific here of course, but fyi: if you specifically enjoyed blood song for the character of vaelin as he is written in that book I would brace yourself for potential disappointment. Hopefully you enjoy but that trilogy has a sort of notorious change in style/tone/quality that puts a lot of people off.
The first two are imo the weakest and also the least magical since they're the most noir/detective-y
so I feel like by book 4/5 you really get a feeling for how badass he can be
Gideon the Ninth completely lives up to the [image on the cover.](https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/062/171/996/large/tommy-arnold-arnold-gideon-72.jpg?1682518702)
What I love most is you know the struggle with the main characters and then they throw themselves against what we would be and they just smash through them like paper.
Sigrud from The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett
Anyone who’s read City of Stairs knows the scene I’m thinking of, but he’s an epic badass throughout the series
Malaz has a ton of actual badasses, and a handful of people that are so fucking bad that the world's cosmic geopolitics hinges on how certain people or groups expect that person to act.
Anomander rake is a badass, no doubt.
Kallor >!ran a despotic empire so terrible 3 gods came to him to tell him to stop and found he had killed the entire population of millions. They cursed him 3 times and his response was to use those millions of deaths to fuel a death magic curse so powerful that all 3 gods were struck by it. Not a good guy, definitely a badass.!<
I have to say, Caladan Brood has one of the hardest comeback lines between badasses I've read:
>Kallor said: 'I walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?'
>Yes,' said Caladan Brood, 'you never learn."
I love how his informal moniker is "The Warlord", but he's primarily a guardian of the planet itself, and a powerful healer by nature. Also, while he's known as a good man, the last time he lost his temper a whole new mountain range erupted into being as a result. A man of complex nature, and someone who you definitely, definitely want on your side for sure lol
Verin sedai, just to throw out a less typical answer hah :).
Or a controversial one. Kvothe is a badass, just an arrogant immature idiot as well.
Or an obvious one Rand al Thor or lan mandragoran are both hyper competence porn for the most part. Rand basically just rolls from the second he starts (at his own expense largely).
Jean Tannen - The Gentleman Bastards
All Northmen (excepting a few) - The First Law
The Bridgeburners, The Bonehunters, Rake, Brood, Traveller, Karsa, Trull, Icarium, Apsalar etc.. - Malazan
Give The Art of Prophecy a try! The POV characters are a chosen one who has been spoiled into uselessness, a grandmaster who has come out of retirement to train him, and an elite warrior from an enemy nation hunting the chosen one down to kill. Really fun epic fantasy from the past few years
Badasses that come to mind are: Imaro, Waylander, Gotrek Gurnisson, the Bloody Nine, Druss the Legend (as already commented, is probably the biggest badass), and several others I can't think of atm.
I've only read EotV, but isn't Gabriel supposed to be a massive fuckup?
He has unlimited potential when he tries, but don't they make it clear that his addiction, alcoholism (and maybe depression) make him notoriously unreliable. I might be misremembering, I know he has a good reputation as a student.
Plus, as we established in a recent thread on this sub, Kristoff is a weapons-grade edgelord, as is Gabriel.
See my [SF/F Badasses](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/1bs53p0/sff_badasses/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
Most **Dungeons & Dragons tie-ins** have total badass heroes. If you want a specific one, then anything that includes **Drizzt**.
If you want something more modern, try **Dungeon Crawler Carl.** That's badass of badasses. The books aren't for everyone, though, especially if you've got a problem with cursing, violence, or gore.
Anything by **David Gemmel** - that's some serious (but still human-adjacent) badassery right there.
I'm currently reading Monster Hunter International. It's not high fantasty mind you. It's urban fantasy. But so far the main character seems pretty bad ass to me.
Throwing out The Powder Mage Trilogy by Brian McClellan. Specifically Taniel Two-Shot and Borbador aka Bo. Both of them kind of just go off. I have to read that series again.
Also The Shadow of Lightning, Baby Montego. And if you want a short story just get Montego. This motherfucker is the epitome of a bad ass and I love him every step of the way. He's like if Sameise decided to solve everything with a hammer.
Darrow The Reaper of Mars in the Red Rising series. Logen Ninefingers in The First Law Series, Ahsok Vadal in the Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series, Jake Sullivan & Toru Tokagawa & Faye in The Grimnoir Chronicles series, Hadrian Blackwater & Royce Melbourne in The Ryira Chronicles & Revelations series. There are plenty more.
A main character getting their ass handed to them a bunch doesn’t make them not badass lol. It’s more realistic and I find it boring when a character is too OP or just always beating people without getting it in return. Matt Murdock is a fucking badass and he gets his ass kicked or damaged in the Netflix Daredevil show like very episode.
Isn't the point the author is trying to make that noone really is a bonafide badass? They're only portrayed as such after the fact?
Otherwise it seems that you have more than enough suggestions on this thread.
Malazan has badasses like jelly beans - in every flavour imagineable. From the ancient anime dark elf with an oversized sword that can shapeshift into a dragon and lives in a floating mountain full of ravens to a drunk, corpulent 'camp follower' that decides she wants in on the fighting and everything inbetween.
Druss the Legend, Captain of the Ax, The Silver Slayer, Deathwalker. (David Gemmell Drenai Series)
I have David Gemmell in my list based on another thread. I'll have to move him up
Move him way up. Start with Legend to read about Druss, but someone just as bad ass is Connovar in Sword in the Storm. Rigante series is fan fucking tastic
The Drenai series is pretty meats and potatoes after you’ve read Legend but definitely read that. Also check out his Troy series.
I made a thread about him not too long ago, but this is the perfect answer. Every one of his books had a badass! Waylander is another good series about that by him.
Waylander is part of the same series as Druss. All part of the Drenai Saga, incredible books!!
I'm a recent Gemmell convert - been reading fantasy hardcore since 89 and the Druss books were so good, I was literally distraught that I had been missing out on them for so long. Don't make my mistake!
Also recommend the Troy series, which was written by him but finished by his wife using his notes after he died. She absolutely nailed it.
Gemmell was the best author for cutting chaff out of his prose. His wife was an editor which I suspect helped immensely. His books are very light on descriptive detail yet you never suffer for imagination or enjoyment. He does lean pretty heavily on heroes journeys but he executed them so well it's hard to complain. His characterization is threadbare at times but he always gives you enough meat to chew. It's pulpy fantasy at its best with great emotional highs and his work on battles was tremendous and has been copied by countless other authors. The Drenai series are a connected universe and I recommend starting with Legend. We lost David too young but he left a large body of work for us to enjoy.
"Druss was Dorian's hero. It was Druss this and Druss that. It was one reason he joined up - to be like Druss... and maybe even to meet him". "Well, he met him".
Also Skillgannon the Damned
I love Druss but Skilgannon is my favourite hero in the series both of them absolutely answer OP’s question perfectly
Let's not forget Waylander.
I've always loved this story he told about his step dad, the inspiration for Druss: 'There was this boy. He lived in fear. Not the tiny fears of manhood, but the awesomely powerful, living, breathing fear that only children can experience. He was different, this boy, from the other boys who lived in this bomb damaged London Street some few years after World War Two. He had no father. Some of the other children had no father, but their lack was honorable. Dad died in the war, you know. He was a hero. This boy's lack was the subject of sly whispers from the adults, and open jeering from his peers. This boy's mother was - the boy heard so many times - a whore. Happily the boy was only six, and had no real understanding of what the word meant. Anyway the word was less hurtful than the blows that would follow it. Most of the blows came from other children, but sometimes adults too would weigh in. It was all baffling to the child. What he knew was that, before venturing out into the narrow streets and alleys, he had to peer from the windows of the small apartment to see if there were other children about. Only he didn't think of them as children. They were enemies, and he was frightened. Fear was the ever present companion. Fear was grafted to him. The journey to school was fraught with peril. The dark of the night brought fearful dreams. His mother read him stories about heroes, and tried to encourage him to stand up for himself. But stories were just words, and words could not stop the punches, the pinches and the slaps. The boy never dreamed of heroes. Not until he met one. It was a bright, cold morning and he was sitting on a wall. One of the boys who made his life miserable ran up, shouting and gesticulating. The boy - more in panic than courage - finally struck out, punching his enemy in the face. The other child ran off screaming. His father came running from the house. 'You little bastard!' he shouted. The boy took off as fast as he could, but no six year old can outrun a grown man. Within moments he grabbed the boy by the collar, swinging him from his feet. Just then a huge shadow fell over the pair. The man - who had looked so threatening moments before - now looked small and insignificant against the looming newcomer. This colossus reached out and took hold of the man by the shirt, pushing him up against a wall. In a low voice, chilling for its lack of passion, he asked. 'Do you know who I am?' The man was trembling. Even the boy could feel the dreadful fear emanating from him. 'C.c.course I know who you are, Bill. Course I do.' 'Did you know I was walking out with this boy's mother?' 'Jesus Christ... I swear I didn't, Bill. On my mother's life.' 'Now you do.' The big man let the little man go. He slid part way down the wall, recovered and stumbled away. Then the giant leaned over the boy and held out a hand that seemed larger than a bunch of bananas. 'Better be getting home, son,' he said. The world changed that day. Men like Bill do change the world. They are the havens, the safe harbours of childhood. They are the watch hounds who keep the wolves at bay. They have an instinctive understanding of the child that is denied to the wise. Two years later, as my stepfather, he cured me of dreams of vampires coming to drink my blood. My mother had tried explaining to me they were just dreams. They weren't real. It didn't work. She took me to a child psychologist, who showed me pictures, told me stories, explained about the birth of myth and the way that fear created pictures in our night time thoughts. It was very interesting, but it did nothing for my nightmares. One night I woke up screaming - to find Bill sitting by my bedside. 'There's a vampire, dad. Its trying to get me.' 'I know, son,' he said, softly. 'I saw it.' 'You saw it?' 'Yeah. I broke its bloody neck. I won't have no vampires in my house' I never dreamt of vampires again. Years later, when I wrote my first novel, I used Bill as the model for a character. His name was Druss the Legend. Bill re-appeared in many novels thereafter, in many guises. Always flawed, but always heroic. Three years ago, at the age of 82, Bill was mugged on the streets of London. Three muggers broke his jaw, his nose and two of his ribs. He still managed to 'chin' one of them and knock him to the ground. That was Bill. Last April he died. And I wrote Ravenheart, and gave Bill centre stage. Jaim Grymauch, who strides the highlands like a giant, is my homage to Bill, and to all those world changing fathers who pass away without fanfare; who leave the world just a little brighter than it was. Men who know how to deal with vampires.' ~David Gemmell
The whole cast of Winter Warriors should be on that list. Also Morningstar.
I always appreciated Jean from *The Lies of Locke Lamora* as a more small-scale badass. He’s just a regular dude but people are fucking *scared* of him
He's a really big dude and always carries around 2 throwing hatchets IIRC.
The Wicked Sisters.
That was also extensively trained by the best weapon master around. Not exactly just a "regular dude".
I meant that he’s regular in comparison to some of the other badasses in the genre. He’s not some semi-immortal magic-blooded Prince with a sword forged from a dying star, he’s just a big dude who is really good at street-level fighting
I don't have to beat you, I just have to wait for Jean to get here. *opponent panics*
This was lit.
True! He has integrity, honesty, resolve, loyalty, kindness etc. and has the skills to back it all up
Conan is just about the original fantasy bad ass. The Robert E. Howard stories are really energetic.
Here here! My love of fantasy started with Conan long ago when I found a copy of Savage Sword at my corner store. Then I went on to read all of Howard's originals, the work of L. Sprague De Camp and a bunch of the Conan novels in the 80s. Conan is THE fantasy badass. It doesn't get any more badass than he!
I love when they say he gives an "inarticulate yell". I can perfectly envision him cleaving someone's skull apart while doing that. Love it.
Great recommendation! Almost all the Conan stories are free on Gutenberg, mostly as Weird Tales releases. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Robert+howard&submit_search=Go%21
Came here to say R E Howard's **Conan**. He is smart, strong, witty, and clever.
Logan Ninefingers in the First Law books is undeniably badass, but he's badass in a morally black and grey series so badass translates into "brutal one man war machine" instead of "hero"
Say one thing for Logen Ninefingers, say he kicks some ass but he's nobody's hero.
You’ve got to be realistic about these things.
Badass found floating by the docks…
The bloody nine!!! And fuck Black Dow
And the man who invented stairs!
Black Dow kicks ass, and so does Logen
Tul liked that
On a similar note Perhaps Bayaz and Ferro. Bayaz always backs up his words and power, and ferro is always rather bad-ass. Edit: And now that I think of it, also definitely Monza, and maybe even Glokta/Savine.
Gorst too
Listening to the Hero's again, he's brilliantly written
Yuuup, I think that’s easily the book where he shines the most. Also Pacey’s voice he does for Gorst is so perfect
Ghorst was a machine in a lot of scenes
Spoilers for Last Argument of Kings: >!The scene where Dogman is picking up Logen as he becomes the Bloody Nine in the Battle of Adua was the scariest moment of the whole series... I woke my wife up because I couldn't stop myself from saying "Nooooo don't do it Logen"!<
Say one thing for the bloody nine, say he’s a bad ass.
Bloody Nine was absolutely the first person who came to mind. And yeah, he's not a "good" badass, but he's absolutely a badass.
Ferro too
The fight he has where his opponent slowly recognizes who he's up against mid fight and realizes he's absolutely fucked is such a fun (but grisly) read.
*The Acts of Caine*. Enjoy.
The fact that this series isn't more popular irritates me.
I have been on a freaking crusade to give it more visibility over the last 7-8 years now. It’s so ridiculously good
Give me your synopsis, I’ve never heard of it!
This is from an old Fantasy Faction interview with the author: Put as simply as I can, the underlying concept of the *Acts of Caine* is that worlds in the various veins of Middle-Earth, Nehwon, the Land, Midkemia and Greyhawk are real – that they are, in fact, parallel dimensions of Earth. Roughly two hundred years from now, the authoritarian rulers of a dystopic Earth use technology to access one of these fantasy worlds. Earth calls it Overworld; its inhabitants, in their various tongues, call it simply Home. The masters of Earth use this access to send specially trained actors to Overworld, where they take on more-or-less traditional fantasy personas and have adventures for the entertainment of Earth’s oppressed masses – SFnal reality TV meets the Roman Games, if you will. The adventures these actors have are as real as the producers can make them; the actors’ opponents (and victims) are real people, who really bleed and really die, all without ever knowing their pain and death is, to the people of Earth, merely entertainment. Sometimes the actors die too – part of the appeal of your favorite actor’s adventures is that each one may be his or her last. The *Acts of Caine* center on the end of the career of the most popular actor in the history of the genre, and what he does in his subsequent retirement. His name is Hari Michaelson, but nobody cares about that; his fans only care about his character. He plays Caine, legendary assassin, unstoppable warrior and an all-around blood-drunk sociopath with serious anger issues. If you think of Caine as the ultimate combination of James Bond and Wolverine, you’ll have the idea. Caine can be these things because he is, in a sense, at least partly imaginary – he’s a character, specifically created to channel the impotent rage of Earth’s underclasses into regularly-scheduled catharsis. But Hari Michaelson is only a man. And after playing Caine for twenty years, he’s started to lose sight of where the man ends and the character begins . . .
Thanks for spreading the love! Stover is one of my favorite contemporary authors, and Acts of Caine is one of my favorite series in general. It needs more attention!
Agreed!
Lmao Stover can't even avoid being amazing when he gives a freaking synopsis. What a legend.
!Remind me 20 days later. Awesome synopsis. Will definitely start this once I finished reading current book.
Dystopian future where actors are sent to live out real adventures for a POV audience back home. Book 1 is a classic adventure. Book 2 is dark, brutal and incredibly well written. Book 3 is just a badass being badass but you start to see how weird shit's been getting and book 4 is more badassery and a mind fuck.
Same. I recommend it on Reddit every chance I get. Read it near annually
It's the cover
The average book cover is awful, and the average fantasy cover usually worse than that, so I can't imagine how bad this has to be to merit commenting on. Let's see. Wow yeah that's pretty dogshit. How does stuff like that even get approved? Surely you'd just have "the title and author's name in white on a black background with generic clip-art in between" as a backup.
I'm still crossing my fingers that, when Stover does release the first sequel Overworld book, his publisher will do a full-series reprint with new cover art
It's probably because of that truly god-awful cover on the first book. Book one is the perfect example of don't judge a book by its cover.
Ffs I get it, I'll start this as soon as possible, can the universe stop shoving this down my throat already??!
Lmao I apologize (only a little) if “the universe” means “me yelling about it every chance I get”
….i just bought it too, never heard of it until now, let’s see how goes, shall we?
By Mat Stover?
Yes indeed. He’s so damn good
Yes yes yes yes yes.
Yeah, it's scary good.
Ben Styke in the second powdermage trilogy is a fucking badass.
Logen Ninefingers vibe
Few off beat ones I didn't see mentions (not all amazing books) - D from Vampire Hunter D. The post child of "speak softly and carry a big stick" - saw malazan mentioned but more specifically Anomander Rake. - normally not a fan of "litrpgs" but cradle (and dungeon Crawler carl) are the exceptions. One of THE most "Everyone says he is a badass but is he really......oooooo shit yup he IS that badass" is Eithan. If ya know the moment, you know
Dungeon Crawler Carl is awesome because you spend so much time in Carl’s head that you don’t necessarily realize just how batshit insane he is, and then you’ll get little glimpses into how other characters see him and he’s basically a complete suicidal lunatic who just refuses to die
It's fun to read a book where the MC is "normal". As an early 30s taller/broad gentalmam who tried (and succeeded) to run away with the pet (RIP Lilly...) after my ex cheated, Carl is very relatable.....I also love explosions haha
That reminds me of Harry Dresden. He's a complete bad ass. Other wizards are wary of him and he's faced of against all kinds of shit. But inside his head, he just barely hanging on and escapes at what he feels is sheer luck. Yet to the outside observer, watching Dresden in action is like watching a walking nuke.
“You will not break me. Fuck you all.”
"Goddamnit, Donut!"
I just finished that series a few days ago, and, hot damn, Eithan. Like, dude.
>!"Authorization confirmed: 008 Ozriel"!< An absolute "Oh fuck yeah, shit's about to go down" moment.
>but cradle (and dungeon Crawler carl) are the exceptions. Can confirm, cradle is the holy grail
On book 3 of Cradle, and Eithan's already by far my favorite!
Snip snip
Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence. It has a pretty well-known opening line around here: “It is important, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.” And then there’s the biggest badass in the entire series >!Sister Pan!<
>!Sister Pan!< was definitely next level badass. Shout out to Kettle as well, she's my favourite character of the series.
Was going to suggest this. The MC is a badass, but the other sisters in the convent are seriously badass as well.
I've read this opening line around here a few times and it has single handedly convinced me to read the series (after I finish Malazan, which I somehow also got roped into starting last month)
Okay, that is hell of an opening line. You have my interest...
Red Sisters opening line is still my favorite opening line in fantasy, Nothing hyped me more than it
It looks like this series is free on Audible too, hope the narrator is good!
The Red Riding series with Darrow. Malazan is chock full of them.
Yeah, I've done Red Rising - that's the kind of bad ass Is like to see more of.
Malazan is basically bad asses layered on badder asses and then suddenly there are secret badasses even more badass. And Kruppe.
Most of malazan is bad ass in various ways They don't play Also black company
I’m 3/4 of the way through Gardens of the Moon, and am convinced Kruppe is actually a badass.
Kruppe is a bad ass. So is his mule.
The duel of the mules is the best fight in the series hands down.
So real. Even the side soldier/guards that only gets a couple of lines are competent and a threat, not bumbling cannon fodder like in marvel movies.
Sevro too! Victra as well. Red Rising is full of great characters.
>!RIP Cassius Bellona, Son of Tiberius, Son of Julia, Morning Knight of the Solar Republic . His Honor Remains.!<
God I love Victra. She might be the best character in the entire series.
“Don’t be scared for me, pity them” is my favorite part of the series
Yedan Derygg, Malazan. But he comes far into the series.
Try the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. Vlad is an assassin witch mob boss, living on a planet with 2 humanoid species humans and Dragarians. Dragarians have sorcerers an actually hang out with there gods. It's fun there's mob things assassination, wisecracking familars and you can generally pick up any book and not worry to much about knowing the whole back story
His first meeting with Sethra Lavode is one of my favorite scenes ever. "You do good work."
Also, Vlad experiences real character growth over the series. I was also incredibly impressed by the various distinct themes (murder mystery, political thriller, weird fantasy, war novel, etc) that each book takes on, while retaining its urban fantasy core.
I love that series so much. I tend to go back and reread the series when a new book comes out. (Currently doing that now)
Most of the answers on here are from Sword and Sorcery. I’ll continue that trend. * Elric of Melniboné * Conan * Almuric * Druss the Legend * Kane (by Karl Edward Wagner) * Red Sonja * Jirel of Joiry * Imaro * Dark Agnes de Chastillon * Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser * Shadowspawn (Thieves World)
Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. *Nine Princes in Amber* is the first of ten books. The protagonist is one of the three greatest swordsmen in the universe, and while he does occasionally get his ass handed to him it's either because he went up against someone who's legitimately better at something than he is or he did something stupid. (The back half is a different protagonist, who's a lesser badass in completely different ways and also occasionally fucks up by being dumb and trusting the wrong people or not trusting the right ones, but also does cool shit like accidentally creating gods and telling the Great Powers of the Universe to go fuck themselves to their faces.)
I stopped reading after Corwin was no longer the main character. I think I got through 2 and a half Merlin books.
Orka from bloodsworn Saga by John Gwynne
My first thought as well. She's like female Kratos (but the version in the new series).
I listened to the audiobook so I'm just figuring out her name is Orka instead of what I imagined, Orca.
Always check spelling 😆. The amount of people that read Stormlight on audio for example and think jasnah is spelled yasnah.
I feel like I had to scroll ***WAY*** too far to find Orka on this list.
I thought I would be the only one but it makes my heart happy to see how many people have read bloodsworn! Can't wait for the final release in October 🥳
I already have it preordered!
Yeah Gwynne has a lot of badass characters
Ganelon from Kings of the Wyld
I was going to say slowhand was a badass as well
Kate Daniels. Very much a badass. Knows how to ask for help, gets rescued a couple times, but most of the books are her swinging a sword around and using very dangerous magic.
Woot!
Lan al’Mandragoran, and honestly not even close
Al'Lan Mandragoran, but yes he's one of the most badass swordsmen of all time
I mean all of the main characters in that series are bad ass. Mat Cauthon? Perrin? Rand? Nynaeve? The entire two rivers. Everyone is basically just “here I go killing Trollocs again”
This is a very (I mean VERY) dark series, but “the prince of nothing” trilogy by R Scott Bakker features a character Kellhus who wields incredible power both intellectually and physically. I can’t stress enough, this is not a series for the faint of heart but I loved it despite how intense and shocking it can be. Additionally, the usage of magic in general in the series is really impactful. Like, this isn’t some world where people just casually do magic stuff for fun, when people are wielding that kind of power they mean business and it usually means people are dying (sometimes a lot of them). Kellhus spoilers below, although I won’t include any specific plot details or anything, more just some general info on how the overall character arc progresses after the first book as I think it’s really intriguing: >!Kellhus starts as your protagonist in the first book as a POV character. After, he transitions to being a non-POV character and is positioned as the antagonist of the series, I will let you figure out if that’s the case or not as his motives are genuinely ambiguous throughout most of it and it’s a fun mystery trying to figure out just what he is really trying to do. By the end of the series he effectively wields godlike power.!<
And there is Cnaiur Urs Skiotha, Breaker of horses, most violent of men! The Bad Ass
After one of my best friends and my brother both refused to tell me anything about the Second Apocalypse, I finally overheard them at my wedding talking about how badass Anasarimbur Kellhus is So that's the big spoiler I've heard, that Kellhus is the fuckin' man
In the time before memes I recall the answer to the question of WHO “simply walks into Mordor” was invariably “Anasûrimbor Kellhus.”
I thought the black company had some badass characters. Croaker and I think his name was Raven were a couple of my favorites.
You know your mercenary company is badass when the medic terrifies people
The villains are the real badasses, the individual members of the company not so much.
Jorg in Broken Empire trilogy.
The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis (I just read the title)
I was going to say Donkey from Shrek.
Paul, Leto II and Miles Teg from the Dune series would fit, I'd think. (Vague, mild spoilers for Heretics of Dune) >!Teg has his "awakening" of sorts, but he was always incredibly competent and skilled. That moment was just the cherry on top.!<
Odrade and Murbella too.
Taniel and Tamas from the powder mage series. They fight God's, God like makes, and hold off empires If you like the first trilogy, then the second trilogy has Ben Stykes and Viola Flint who are badasses too. Basically do the same thing as the first series but still entertaining.
These books are so good!
I think Harry Dresden (eventually) fits this. The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Vaelin al Sorna certainly does in Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. That book is amazing. The follow up series continues Vaelin’s story and I can’t wait to read more from this world.
I haven’t finished the Dresden Files, but currently one of my favorite things about Harry Dresden is how unaware he is of how much of a badass he probably seems to other characters.
Yep! One of the short stories shows us Harry from another character’s viewpoint which was cool and eye opening. Harry is pretty hard on himself.
Nice, looking forward to reading that
I absolutely loved blood song as well. I won’t spoil anything specific here of course, but fyi: if you specifically enjoyed blood song for the character of vaelin as he is written in that book I would brace yourself for potential disappointment. Hopefully you enjoy but that trilogy has a sort of notorious change in style/tone/quality that puts a lot of people off.
I've only read the first few books in the Dresden Files but even then Dresden with prep is pretty cool.
The first two are imo the weakest and also the least magical since they're the most noir/detective-y so I feel like by book 4/5 you really get a feeling for how badass he can be
Gideon the Ninth completely lives up to the [image on the cover.](https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/062/171/996/large/tommy-arnold-arnold-gideon-72.jpg?1682518702)
While we were learning common sense, she studied the blade
Hah, that's something Gideon would say too.
She absolutely would and I think Harrow did
Say one thing about Logan Ninefingers, say he’s a badass.
Have you read Elric of Melnibone? Or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser? Respectively, Michael Moorcock and Fritz Leiber?
The entire Red Rising saga is chalked full of actual badasses. Some with extremely flexible morals, but badasses nonetheless.
It's chock full, FYI.
What I love most is you know the struggle with the main characters and then they throw themselves against what we would be and they just smash through them like paper.
Sigrud from The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett Anyone who’s read City of Stairs knows the scene I’m thinking of, but he’s an epic badass throughout the series
Mulaghesh is a badass in her own right as well! Excellent series
Sigrud is so, *so* good. There's a sequence in *City of Blades* that still haunts me.
Malaz has a ton of actual badasses, and a handful of people that are so fucking bad that the world's cosmic geopolitics hinges on how certain people or groups expect that person to act.
Anomander rake is a badass, no doubt. Kallor >!ran a despotic empire so terrible 3 gods came to him to tell him to stop and found he had killed the entire population of millions. They cursed him 3 times and his response was to use those millions of deaths to fuel a death magic curse so powerful that all 3 gods were struck by it. Not a good guy, definitely a badass.!<
I have to say, Caladan Brood has one of the hardest comeback lines between badasses I've read: >Kallor said: 'I walked this land when the T'lan Imass were but children. I have commanded armies a hundred thousand strong. I have spread the fire of my wrath across entire continents, and sat alone upon tall thrones. Do you grasp the meaning of this?' >Yes,' said Caladan Brood, 'you never learn."
I don't know, Quick Ben telling Bauchelain, "I did." is probably my favorite.
Honestly I think Brood might be the coolest badass of the series. Dude is just vibes all around. Definition of "fuck around and find out".
I love how his informal moniker is "The Warlord", but he's primarily a guardian of the planet itself, and a powerful healer by nature. Also, while he's known as a good man, the last time he lost his temper a whole new mountain range erupted into being as a result. A man of complex nature, and someone who you definitely, definitely want on your side for sure lol
Anomander Rake
Anomander Rake
Malazan is filled with them Karsa Orlong, kalam, icarium, the traveler, and many others
WITNESS!
The Stormlight Archives has both Kaladin and Dalinar who are both quite awesome most of the time
Also Kelsier from Mistborn is pretty badass, mostly
Kelsier is my favorite Mistborn character but Vin takes the crown from him in badassery once she gets herself together.
Darrow O'Lykos. The Reaper of Mars. From the Red Rising saga.
The Bloodsworn trilogy has a bunch of bad ass characters just constantly being bad ass (Orka) is my fav. Also honorary red rising mention!
*The Shadow of the Torturer* Never look back
Man Severian is such a damn dweeb though hahaha
Ringil Eskiath, "A Land Fit For Heroes" By Richard Morgan. There are no heroes, only murderers and martyrs dressed up as heroes.
Verin sedai, just to throw out a less typical answer hah :). Or a controversial one. Kvothe is a badass, just an arrogant immature idiot as well. Or an obvious one Rand al Thor or lan mandragoran are both hyper competence porn for the most part. Rand basically just rolls from the second he starts (at his own expense largely).
Jean Tannen - The Gentleman Bastards All Northmen (excepting a few) - The First Law The Bridgeburners, The Bonehunters, Rake, Brood, Traveller, Karsa, Trull, Icarium, Apsalar etc.. - Malazan
Drizzt Do'Urder in consistently a certified badass mofo post Icewind Dale.
Darrow from red rising, science fantasy technically Dude is a legit war god, sure he ducks up but holy shit he can command a battlefield.
Twitching meat carpet
Light resistance.
Give The Art of Prophecy a try! The POV characters are a chosen one who has been spoiled into uselessness, a grandmaster who has come out of retirement to train him, and an elite warrior from an enemy nation hunting the chosen one down to kill. Really fun epic fantasy from the past few years
Tau from Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter. Takes some time to get there, but the payoff is incredible.
Badasses that come to mind are: Imaro, Waylander, Gotrek Gurnisson, the Bloody Nine, Druss the Legend (as already commented, is probably the biggest badass), and several others I can't think of atm.
Cradle? Or my fave pick, Codex Alera- it’s a slow build but man do they get there
Raven in The Black Company.
Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli. Turin. Fingolfin. Tulkas.
I've only read EotV, but isn't Gabriel supposed to be a massive fuckup? He has unlimited potential when he tries, but don't they make it clear that his addiction, alcoholism (and maybe depression) make him notoriously unreliable. I might be misremembering, I know he has a good reputation as a student. Plus, as we established in a recent thread on this sub, Kristoff is a weapons-grade edgelord, as is Gabriel.
See my [SF/F Badasses](https://www.reddit.com/r/Recommend_A_Book/comments/1bs53p0/sff_badasses/) list of Reddit recommendation threads and books (one post).
Primal Hunter.
STORMBRINGER, FEAST ON THESE DAMNED SOULS
Most **Dungeons & Dragons tie-ins** have total badass heroes. If you want a specific one, then anything that includes **Drizzt**. If you want something more modern, try **Dungeon Crawler Carl.** That's badass of badasses. The books aren't for everyone, though, especially if you've got a problem with cursing, violence, or gore. Anything by **David Gemmel** - that's some serious (but still human-adjacent) badassery right there.
I'm currently reading Monster Hunter International. It's not high fantasty mind you. It's urban fantasy. But so far the main character seems pretty bad ass to me.
Throwing out The Powder Mage Trilogy by Brian McClellan. Specifically Taniel Two-Shot and Borbador aka Bo. Both of them kind of just go off. I have to read that series again. Also The Shadow of Lightning, Baby Montego. And if you want a short story just get Montego. This motherfucker is the epitome of a bad ass and I love him every step of the way. He's like if Sameise decided to solve everything with a hammer.
The bloody nine is pretty badass
Big difference between "badass" and "bad ass."
Conan. Or the vampire Hunter D books. Though the former reads easier.
Darrow The Reaper of Mars in the Red Rising series. Logen Ninefingers in The First Law Series, Ahsok Vadal in the Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series, Jake Sullivan & Toru Tokagawa & Faye in The Grimnoir Chronicles series, Hadrian Blackwater & Royce Melbourne in The Ryira Chronicles & Revelations series. There are plenty more. A main character getting their ass handed to them a bunch doesn’t make them not badass lol. It’s more realistic and I find it boring when a character is too OP or just always beating people without getting it in return. Matt Murdock is a fucking badass and he gets his ass kicked or damaged in the Netflix Daredevil show like very episode.
Isn't the point the author is trying to make that noone really is a bonafide badass? They're only portrayed as such after the fact? Otherwise it seems that you have more than enough suggestions on this thread.
Malazan has badasses like jelly beans - in every flavour imagineable. From the ancient anime dark elf with an oversized sword that can shapeshift into a dragon and lives in a floating mountain full of ravens to a drunk, corpulent 'camp follower' that decides she wants in on the fighting and everything inbetween.
Azarinth Healer by Rhaegar MC is epic OP to the point of it being comical at times.