View source for Badass Boast

{{trope}}
[[File:badass-boast watchmen-2 4357 1785.png|link=Watchmen (comics)|frame]]

{{quote|''"If you think that's enough to kill me, you really don't know what a Slayer is. Trust me when I say you're gonna find out."''|'''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy Summers]]''', "The I in Team"}}

Many characters like to boast about their achievements, but only a few can gasconade in style, rattling off a [[Try to Fit That on A Business Card|string]] of [[The Magnificent|titles]] and battle honours that impresses allies and intimidates enemies in a way which makes them sound [[Magnificent Bastard|mythic]], [[Small Name, Big Ego|not conceited]].

The character has got to be pretty [[Badass]] to be able to make this kind of boast convincingly, though sometimes a [[Boisterous Weakling|weaker character]] will bluff like this. It helps when he is obviously in a situation where he may be called on to demonstrate; if not, he may insist that he can show you at once, to [[Underestimating Badassery|prevent]] his appearing a [[Miles Gloriosus]]. The usual subversion is for something to promptly undercut [[Miles Gloriosus|the boaster's pretensions]]. The [[Combat Pragmatist]] in particular is given to unceremoniously [[Shut UP, Hannibal|cutting off boasters in the middle of their speech]] with a [[Talk to the Fist|punch to the face]]. A [[Large Ham]] is particularly given to these.

Self-granted titles are considerably less impressive than those bestowed by awestruck allies, while titles of grudging respect from the character's enemies rank highest of all, all else being equal. Naturally, more powerful beings count for more, when ranking titles or battle honours.

The smarter heroes and villains may use riddling talk when describing their accomplishments.

A Badass Boast can be used in a few different ways.

* Hero to Villain or vice versa -- [[Throwing Down the Gauntlet]]. If a hero does this routinely, it's [[In the Name of the Moon]] or a [[Badass Creed]]. A particularly arrogant Villain might make a Badass Boast part of his [[Hannibal Lecture]] or his [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|"Reason the Hero Sucks" Speech]].
* Hero to mooks or Villain to [[Red Shirt|redshirts]]—straightforward psychological warfare.
* Hero to [[The Rival|rival hero]]; Villain to rival villain—jostling for dominance. Heroes settle these disputes fairly amicably; villains don't.
* Hero to redshirts, townsfolk, etc; Villain to new minions—establishing leadership. It's a way of saying "this is why you follow me". Alternatively, especially for heroes, reassurance: "I can protect you, and here's why."

This dates back to [[The Epic of Gilgamesh|Gilgamesh]], making it [[Older Than Dirt]].

See also [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner]], [[I Have Many Names]], [[I Am the Noun]] (which frequently is a component of these), and [[World of Cardboard Speech]]. If your boast is really your oft repeated credo that explains who you are to yourself, then it is your [[Badass Creed]]. If the things you're boasting about are things that happened on-screen earlier in the story, the trope is [[Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?]]. A '''Badass Boast''' often happens either during or immediately before a [[Moment of Awesome (Sugar Wiki)|Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. May conclude with the observation that [[Who Will Bell the Cat?|some one person has to be the one to attack him first.]]

Compare [[Blasphemous Boast]], [[Famed in Story]], [[The Munchausen]]. [[Blase Boast]] is when this dresses up as [[But for Me It Was Tuesday]]. Contrast [[Despair Speech]].

Not to be confused with [[Cool Boat|Badass Boats]].

{{Examples on subpages}}


{{reflist}}
[[Category:I Am an Index]]
[[Category:Word Power]]
[[Category:Truth in Television]]
[[Category:These Tropes Love to Brag]]
[[Category:Badass]]
[[Category:Index]]
[[Category:Badass Boast]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]