For God's sake, get off his lawn.
"I'm Hub McCann. I've fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I've seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes, KILLED MANY MEN and loved only one woman with a passion a FLEA like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am. NOW, GO HOME, BOY!"
Old men are weak, right?
WRONG.
When it comes to fiction, more often than not the oldest, apparently feeblest characters are the ones to be feared the most. They kick ass, take names, and can fend off armies single-handedly.
They can be the strongest character in the entire story. The reason for this is obvious: "Experience and treachery will beat youth and enthusiasm every time." Old men in a dangerous line of work have been doing it for a very long time, and only lived that long because they've been smarter and/or stronger than everyone they've faced. Additionally, in a Crapsack World, or when Earth Is a Battlefield, a man may well only live to be old if he is already very bad-ass to start with.
The defining characteristic of the Badass Grandpa is that, as the story begins, they already have several or max levels in Badass, and will almost always have more than anyone else, including, in many cases, the Big Bad; yet they generally opt for quiet and simple lives, sharing their wisdom with younger generations rather than directly involving themselves. After all, every generation of heroes has to grow up and fight on their own sometime, right?
Badass Grandpas hide their power level well... at least until it really matters. When the chips are down, and the heroes look like they're in need of assistance, it's time for the Badass Grandpa to step up and throw down, proving that age has done nothing to quell their ability to take down villains literally decades their juniors.
If he's not The Hero then there will be a reason why he can't do the hero's job for them:
— Hub McCann (to the teen he's currently choking), Secondhand Lions
- He's not The Chosen One
- Helping Would Be Killstealing
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself
- Take Up My Sword
- etc.
Examples:
- Animated Films
- Anime and Manga
- Comic Books
- Fan Works
- Literature
- Live-Action Films
- Live-Action TV
- Music
- Professional Wrestling
- Sports
- Tabletop Games
- Theatre
- Video Games
- Web Comics
- Web Original
- Western Animation
- Real Life
- Yes sir, getting off your lawn now, sir. Please don't hurt me.
