PaulH said:
...
Well true, but I guess it really matters on what you consider badass?
I mean if you're talking unbelievably violent, inhuman proficiency in combat, stupidly insane levels of fortitude that transcends all reasonable ideals of narrative restraint when dealing with the 'suspension of disbelief' ... all with that seemingly quintessential douchebaggery you find in Marvel superheroes or any run of the mill anime ... then no ... Holo isn't a badass.
But if you consider the idea of someone who has raw natural talent to cause wholesale devastation, yet dcan use her words to same the effect? A natural talent for emotional blackmail, seduction, and a quick wit? I think she's actually the most actualized idea of a badass there is.
I would be far more frightened (in more ways then just fearing for my life) if Holo was my nemesis then any other possible opponent I have seen in anime ... male or female.
She's someone that would crush my heart, my assets, then take my life if I pushed the matter ...
Far more frightening then the generic sword/gun/magical baton of doom/mecha/etc etc etc wielding female <.<
She's certainly no less impressive than the ruthless actionettas in capability (and of course beat the living daylights out of them in characterization) but by the conventional meaning of the word she hardly qualifies.
She's
powerful,
resourceful, and
stylish - more so and on more fronts than most mere gunslingers - but I'd think "badass" to be more of a particular approach one goes about things, and her ways aren't the extreme, uncompromising, brash, no-nonsense approach I for one believe the word's usually associated with. She reeks of class and sophistication instead.
Not that we really disagree on her (far more subtle and complex) "fear and awe" merits, only the terminology.
