(Loved Trope) Character finally reveals their true power level

[u/Tannerknox]

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.

[u/ShadowShedinja]

John Wick being called Baba Yaga still makes me laugh, as it doesn't mean boogeyman at all. Baba Yaga is a witch who practices dark magic and has a house with chicken legs. "Baba" is literally Russian for "grandmother", which the two Russian guys should know.

[u/BoultonPaulDefiant → u/ShadowShedinja]

One one hand, yes, on the other , Baba Yaga is a witch

[u/Roku-Hanmar → u/BoultonPaulDefiant]

John Witch

[u/Manager-Accomplished → u/ShadowShedinja]

IIRC it's actually an error in the script where he was supposed to be called Babayka, which is boogie man, but it got messed up somehow and the actors got a script calling him "witchy grandma"

[u/Xaero_Hour → u/ShadowShedinja]

"He's not the boogeyman. He's the man you send to *&^%ing KILL the boogeyman!"

[u/UniqueLog8386 → u/ShadowShedinja]

They also mispronounce it.

[u/DadToACheeseBaby → u/ShadowShedinja]

Isn’t it their version of the boogeyman though? Like boogeyman being a title not a name

[u/ShadowShedinja → u/DadToACheeseBaby]

From what I understand, she's closer to the witch from Hansel and Gretel. Someone you should avoid for your own safety? Absolutely. But a very different kind of threat and skillset from an assassin.

[u/Bysmerian → u/ShadowShedinja]

She's kind of an ogre at the same time, a monstrous cannibal. She's also sometimes a help to heroes who treat her with respect and deference.

[u/ignis888 → u/Bysmerian]

shes more a hag/human looking Leshy(in many tales Leshy can take human form and help people) than ogre.
Majority of stories is someone crossed/disrespected her so she fucked them up; all other stories is based on "treat strangers well so you will be repaid with goodness"
Bonus Trivia about Baba Yaga
In Poland green light, red light game is called Baba Jaga, when the caller is standing facing wall or tree that person recite "once two three, Baba Yaga is looking" - "raz, dwa trzy, Baba Jaga patrzy" (after each sylabe you made small pause), then (in red light phase) Baba Yaga will move around the field looking for people who's moving including blinking/laughing then back to callers place

[u/RussianGayPug → u/DadToACheeseBaby]

not really. in modern retellings of fairytales she's more just a witch that tries to trick protagonist to then eat him or make him do something.

but in old folklore tales she's literally just an undead. or more like someone between life and death since she has characteristics of being both dead and alive

[u/ignis888 → u/DadToACheeseBaby]

nah Slavic version is Bobo /Bebok is a devil, not the devil but a devil or Licho stealingg-one eyed-demon

[u/updoot35 → u/DadToACheeseBaby]

Nope, did you watch the Witcher? Where the house was that could walk? And the witch inside or something? That's baba yaga.

[u/DadToACheeseBaby → u/updoot35]

Never watched it, not a big fantasy person

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/ShadowShedinja]

I think this missed the point a little bit.

Baba Yaga used to be used to scare children to do whatever parents wanted them to do. It's not a literal translation, but the cultural meaning is the same as boogeyman.

Source- grew up in Easter Europe in the 90s.

[u/Xyyzx → u/[deleted]]

Also I’ve never understood why they called him Baba Yaga when they could have been calling him Koshchei.

Koshchei being a different figure from Russian folklore who is a sort of undead/undying warrior who has been made immortal and invincible by removing and hiding away his heart. He’s also often depicted as a bearded man with long hair.

Like…it works on so many literal and metaphorical levels for John Wick that I almost suspect it was originally intended but they thought American audiences wouldn’t be able to pronounce ‘Koshchei’ or something.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

They clearly meant it as the "Thing you use to scare others", which is what the term is used for.

I'm from where the term is used, and to me it made perfect sense in the movie.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

This reminds me a lot of that clip of Denzel Washington talking about culture when promoting "Fences".
It's not really something you can learn by reading, you need to experience it.

You're clearly not from Eastern Europe / Slavic, so you don't get it, and that's fine.

PS. I could also say- you're working weirdly hard to convince others it's a mistake. That doesn't really bring anything to the conversation.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, but reading about something, and actually experiencing it in its cultural context, are two different things.

You have never experienced your Mom telling you to clean up your toys, otherwise the Baba Yaga was going to get you- something most Polish kids would hear during their childhood.

Honestly- this dude explains it really well: Denzel Washington 'It’s Not Color, It’s Culture!' 🔥

A thousand books would never teach you what it's actually like to be Polish / Slavic, because that's something you experience. That's not me gatekeeping, that's a fact. It's the same way I wouldn't pretend to have more authority speaking about whatever culture you're from.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

And again- you are confusing the myth, with the culture. The myth is completely irrelevant here.

It's not about "my mom told me"- it's about shared experience.

My friends would hear the same from their parents. My cousins would hear the same from theirs. We have all experienced that. That's what culture is- a collection of experiences that connect a group of people together.

For all kids in Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia (and so on), Baba Yaga means one thing "Evil witch you should be very afraid of".

That's it. The origins of the myth, its variations- are all irrelevant to the contemporary cultural use of that character- which works perfectly in the context of the movie.

Growing up in Poland might not make me an expert on the myth, but I'm fairly sure it makes me more of an authority on our culture, than you are.

[u/FlashyChemical2231 → u/TheGuardianInTheBall]

Yes, but there is still no way a Russian mob boss would use Baba Yaga in that context.

[u/ConradBHart42 → u/ShadowShedinja]

She's a scary story you tell children to frighten them into obedience, it's not a huge stretch.

[u/Lolxgdrei787 → u/ShadowShedinja]

flys around in a big mortar and steers with the pestle

[u/theseanbeag → u/ShadowShedinja]

"Well John isn't exactly the Boogeyman, he's the one you send to kill the fuckin Boogeyman."

[u/Kyrathered → u/ShadowShedinja]

In many older Russian folktales the boogeyman is ... the Snotty Goat. Seriously.

[u/alreadytaken2108 → u/ShadowShedinja]

He never gets called Baba Yaga.  He is the one you call to kill the bogeyman.

[u/alreadytaken2108 → u/[deleted]]

Oh okay

[u/TheChinOfAnElephant → u/[deleted]]

But is he called boogeyman outside the one time Viggo corrects his son and says he's not the boogeyman?