The book The Right Stuff gives a vivid description of Yeager’s experience during this bailout. His face was on fire due to a glob of molten metal burning thru his visor & being fed by his oxygen system. In the process of dealing with this, his glove actually fused to his hand. When he hit the ground, he pulled a pocket knife & started cutting the glove (along with skin & meat) from his hand, causing one of his would-be rescuers to vomit at his feet.
Well, since Starship Troopers mentions him by name, I need to submit the real world, yet mentioned in a movie (and a book by the same name):
Rodger Young.
*YOUNG, RODGER W.
Rank and Organization: Private, U.S. Army, 148th Infantry, 37th Infantry Division. Place and Date On New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 31 July 1943. Entered Service at: Clyde, Ohio. Birth: Tiffin, Ohio. G.O. No.: 3, 6 January 1944.
Citation:
On 31 July 1943, the infantry company of which Pvt. Young was a member, was ordered to make a limited withdrawal from the battle line in order to adjust the battalion’s position for the night. At this time, Pvt. Young’s platoon was engaged with the enemy in a dense jungle where observation was very limited. The platoon suddenly was pinned down by intense fire from a Japanese machinegun concealed on higher ground only 75 yards away. The initial burst wounded Pvt. Young. As the platoon started to obey the order to withdraw, Pvt. Young called out that he could see the enemy emplacement, whereupon he started creeping toward it. Another burst from the machinegun wounded him the second time. Despite the wounds, he continued his heroic advance, attracting enemy fire and answering with rifle fire. When he was close enough to his objective, he began throwing handgrenades, and while doing so was hit again and killed. Pvt. Young’s bold action in closing with this Japanese pillbox and thus diverting its fire, permitted his platoon to disengage itself, without loss, and was responsible for several enemy casualties.
I’m going with William Wallace. Maybe he’s not the biggest nor the strongest, but he inspired other people to their death. Nobody can last forever alone, you need an army behind you.
Other than that, maybe Jet Li’s evil side in “The One.”
“He’ll find her. That’s what he does. That’s all he does. You can’t stop him. He’ll wade through you, reach down her throat and pull out her f------- heart!”
Just remembered Mark Rydell as Marty Augustine in Altman’s The Long Goodbye.
Marty Augustine: [to Joanne] Look at that face. Is that a face for a magazine cover? The profile. You’re beautiful, and I love you. I sleep with a lot of women; I make love to you. The single most important person in my life, next to my family. Is that right, Pepe? Huh?
[smashes a coke bottle on her face] Marty Augustine: [to henchman] Get her out of here! Marty Augustine: [to Marlowe] Now, that’s someone I love! And you I don’t even like! You got an assignment, cheapie: find my money!
Leon. In the opening scene he quietly takes out a whole crew of armed professional bodyguards – all warned and waiting – just so he can deliver a threat to their boss.
But even he is topped by Hit Girl from Kick Ass. I mean, you have to give her mega bonus points for doing what she does at the age of ten.
I think Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs was scarier - shoots at random civilians in a bank becuase he’s unhappy with the alarm going off, cuts the ear off a policeman and burns him alive to relieve the boredom of waiting for his accomplices to come back from an errand.
If I remember the end of Hellraiser II, didn’t Pinhead actually try to save the two girls imprisoned in the Cenobite world? The psychiatrist in Hellraiser II turned into a scarier monster than Pinhead.
As far as real-life badasses go, I would nominate “Mad Jack” Churchill, the British soldier who went on the battlefield with a bow and arrow, in addition to his bagpipes.