r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Tannerknox • May 29 '26

Powers (Loved Trope) Character finally reveals their true power level

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John Wick - the viewer spends the first 25ish minutes just being told John Wick has an infamous past of being an assassin. Once the first home invasion happens, we see him fully unleash the Baba Yaga, completely annihilating a dozen unsuspecting assailants.

Rebel Ridge - the viewer learns early on that Terry Richmond is a Marine veteran who was never sent overseas for an initially unclear reason. Over half-an-hour into the movie he has a standoff with the town’s corrupt police chief. It’s revealed in this scene that he’s THE martial arts instructor for the Marines. He proceeds to disarm two police officers with extreme efficiency.

Naruto - Rock Lee is a character we’ve seen prove to be a capable fighter in a couple of episodes prior to his fight with Gaara, despite Rock not having any inherent Ninjutsu abilities. When his strikes can’t make it through Gaara’s automatic sand shields, Rock’s instructor, Guy, gives Rock permission to take off his leg weights. The bystanders watching the fight don’t understand how taking off some leg weights will give Rock an edge in the fight, but then when Rock drops them, they’re revealed to be hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds. This then reveals that Rock can move at super speed, and he can shockingly out maneuver Gaara’s first layer of shielding.

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3.5k

u/P0C0_goesLoco May 29 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/qmXLOwHE7b5Y1aDhjB

1.4k

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Thragg locked the fuk in way too late.

831

u/UberDude21 May 29 '26

Too caught up in aura farming

796

u/[deleted] May 29 '26

[deleted]

429

u/flippy123x May 29 '26

128

u/eawilweawil May 29 '26

The pose Piccolo strikes 15 seconds before getting mauled

145

u/flippy123x May 29 '26

my boy always keeps it real tho

45

u/eawilweawil May 29 '26

Coolest guy in all of DBZ, just not the strongest

18

u/SomeKindofTreeWizard May 29 '26

someone should really just re-cut DBZ to have Piccolo as the MC. Just cut to some hero posing after those 10 episodes of him owning Frieza II and Cell. I'd watch that.

15

u/eawilweawil May 29 '26

I always said that Piccolo should have been 'the wizard' with various arcane powers to give him an edge. Instead he's just a brawler with a cape for aura farming

10

u/SomeKindofTreeWizard May 29 '26

Earlier he had stretchy arms and full battle regeneration and it had varying degrees of combat effectiveness. Beam attacks could have been more interesting before EVERYONE got them.

I'm not saying "everybody should go back and watch Dragon Ball" because a LOT of it aged poorly and drags, but ... there were more interesting decisions made back before it was the Kakarot and Vegeta weekly god-fight.

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18

u/BearOk9010 May 29 '26

Did you just spin kick him?

10

u/ryconn93 May 29 '26

I know right? I've always wanted to do that.

14

u/randomname560 May 29 '26

Backed up the truck just to get a kick in when he could have just as easily punched cell in the face

Truly the king of doing unnecessary shit for extra points

160

u/Loose_Jackfruit_3104 May 29 '26

We see the fit Piccolo

8

u/SMUHypeMachine May 29 '26

And it’s on point 👌

4

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Makes me wonder if Piccolo could body Thragg or not.

13

u/gaming42 May 29 '26

Considering that Thragg is probably on the same level (if not lower) level as vegeta in the saiyan saga, yes

7

u/scalyblue May 29 '26

Any post furiza arc protag from DBZ solos the invincible verse , even Kuririn would have to pull his punches to avoid turning a viltrumite into chunky salsa

3

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Krillin wins on skill alone, Goku has admitted that fighting Krillin is a different ball game for him. Krillin isn't stronger, he's just a better technical fighter because he's always playing catch up.

3

u/Dasseem May 29 '26

It makes me chuckle to think he was up there for like three hours waiting for Mark to show up lol.

2

u/bannasplt May 29 '26

Piccolo: "Observe, Gohan."

2

u/bannasplt May 29 '26

Yes, Thragg, we see the fit.

1

u/RoombaGod May 29 '26

Yes Thragg we see the fit 🫩

13

u/Fartfart357 May 29 '26

Someone said in another thread 

"He took on generational aura debt just to flex his wealth"

4

u/Romhim May 29 '26

He trying to get a good playoff seed in the aura farming tournament

276

u/January_6_2021 May 29 '26

It makes sense that the leader of a proud warrior race would not want to defeat all their enemies himself. 

Doing so would make him (personally) an object of immense fear/respect/reverence, but he genuinely wants to be a good leader and for the empire itself to thrive.

He needs to give other viltrumites opportunities to prove themselves in battle and grow, including against strong opponents, and even if they're on the back foot initially.

Eventually yes he does realize "damn we boutta be extinct", locks in, and decides to put survival first for now, with reclaiming the glory days a goal for the future.

But I hate all the people claiming it's "plot armor" or "only happens for the story", when it's genuinely very reasonable approach for a viltrumite emperor to take given their mindset and culture 

86

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Agreed. Thragg was not taking his opponents seriously in my opinion, spent way too long at the top without ever feeling genuinely threatened while also wanting his people to have their fair shot at glory (not so much 'honor' in my opinion, just glory).

It's less plot armor or 'for story reasons' and just genuine arrogance. Not misplaced arrogance, granted, the guy is basically the strongest thing alive except for some freaky raptor aliens that can rip into a Viltrumite with their bare hands and Battle Beast. But "pride goeth before the fall" is a saying for a reason. Had Thragg treated the Alliance like a real threat his planet wouldn't be dust.

5

u/ninjasaid13 May 29 '26

the guy is basically the strongest thing alive except for some freaky raptor aliens that can rip into a Viltrumite with their bare hands

nah Thragg can murder those raptor aliens.

11

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

I've seen the comic, they were ripping into Thragg.

1

u/ninjasaid13 May 30 '26

well tbf he was caught by surprise and he was outnumbered. But in a real battle, rognaars stand no chance.

8

u/MagicMadMan01 May 29 '26

I haven't seen the show beyond some clips, but I have absorbed the important plot details through osmosis and I would never call that plot armor. The subtext is there to support him being a fucking unit of a Viltrumite.

Thragg is notably calm and collected whenever he speaks and I would even say he's somewhat soft spoken in the clips I have seen. That tells me he is completely secure in his position. He doesn't casually make examples of people, or kick the shit out of someone for a perceived slight, or ever have to resort to any show of force or strength to maintain authority. He is completely confident and secure in his authority as Grand Regent. Given how prevalent internal violence is in Viltrumite society the only way someone gains and maintains that status quo is if they and EVERYONE around them know that Thragg, for a fact, is "the shit."

So, yeah, I'd say it's a believable reveal and not plot armor.

1

u/Due-Boss-4354 May 29 '26

Occam's razor says it's just bad/convenient writing.

I enjoy watsonian aproach but when it comes to world building, plot holes and verisimilitude, doylist is the mature and healthy way. The making of the story/art adds to it, once you stop worrying about demystifying it.

I don't hate the mainstream fans of Invincible but I do wish we lived in a world where they'd be less loud and didn't gaslight themselves.

37

u/A-hecking-alt May 29 '26

Never watched the show what’s the context

106

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Thragg didn't take any of his enemies seriously until they blew up his planet. He could have killed them so much sooner but he didn't and then it was too late, but he managed to kill the leader of the Galactic Alliance (Old dude with the beard).

115

u/VoicelessPassenger May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

Worth noting that said old dude with a beard was also a Viltrumite and a veteran of the Viltrumite conquests who managed to kill the Emperor. But Thragg fucking jumps forward and rips his head from his body in one smooth, uninterrupted motion.Considering how difficult it is even for Viltrumites to kill eachother, being able to kill Thaedus so quickly and effortlessly is SERIOUSLY impressive.

17

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Thad and Thragg were both on basically the same level but Thragg made it look easy, that was terrifying.

15

u/Firestorm7i May 29 '26

Is Thad on Thragg’s level? I thought nobody was on his level.

25

u/sharyan51 May 29 '26

He's not. Nobody comes close to Thragg

3

u/Neveronlyadream May 29 '26

Power wise, I don't even know where Thaddeus would rate. It's not as if we see him actively fighting for the most part. Even his assassination was done with stealth, not a direct confrontation.

I think if he was anywhere close to Thragg, he'd have taken him out centuries earlier himself rather than retreat and use less direct tactics.

3

u/mang87 May 30 '26

There is someone: Battle Beast. In the comic, Thragg and BB fought toe to toe for an entire week before Thragg was able to finally gain the advantage and kill him. He's the one warrior in the galaxy that Thragg shows genuine respect to.

2

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

That was the impression I got, but I could be wrong and equating age with power.

11

u/ActuallyCalindra May 29 '26

It's not really been mentioned in the series. But Thragg is basically bred to be the strongest and fastest. He's to a Viltrumite like Captain America to a trained soldier.

37

u/kons21 May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

Important addition, IMO:

He one-shotted him, ripping his head off in just one move.

17

u/BornCoyote87 May 29 '26

Was effing impressive, Thragg and Thad were basically on the same level and he made it look easy.

4

u/kons21 May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26

Easy is an understatement imo. He made it seem effortless. Like the same amount of energy it would take us to pluck a flower.

-8

u/DoctaRoboto May 29 '26

Edgy Superman fan fiction where Krypton was never destroyed, and all Kryptonians are fascist assholes. Add political correctness to please some execs and secure a TV show in America. And some stupid, overly dramatic scenes because the writers are creatively stuck and don't know how to advance the plot further.

9

u/Daan_aerts May 29 '26

He literally said in his monologue to Nolan that any death of a viltrumite leaves a void in him, he doesn’t want to kill more of his own (endangered) species, and it’s also the exact reason why he wiped Mark and Nolan right after, but leaves them alive in the end. He knows that pure (or nearly in the case of Mark) viltrumites are rare and wants to avoid killing any of them. He killed Thaddeus out of pure hate for what he did to the emperor, planet and species as a whole