“Badass” is a word we all have an instinctive understanding of, but it’s tough to define. My computer’s built-in dictionary defines “badass” as “n: a tough, aggressive, or uncooperative person, adj: 1) tough or aggressive 2) particularly bad or severe 3) formidable; excellent.” Wiktionary defines it as “N: 1) a mean or belligerent person 2) a person whose extreme attitudes and behavior are admirable, adj: cool.”

Neither of these definitions can quite capture the grandeur, fury, righteousness and ass-kickery of those who the term is applied to. Instead of attempting to fine-tune a definition of my own, I wish to embark upon a project of public edification by describing some of the world’s foremost badasses and what is badass about them. Hopefully, by following this project, you, the humble, uneducated reader, may come to a fuller understanding of the term.

The project so far:

1: Ricky Ho