Dave Bautista

The Animal

The Actor

Batista (real name: David Bautista) was one of the top-tier wrestlers in WWE. As of 2017 he's probably much-better known as Drax from the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy films.

Dave Bautista provides examples of the following tropes:

• Ambiguously Brown: His father's Filipino, while his mother's Greek.
• Awesome McCoolname: His daughter's name is Athena. As in the Greek goddess.
• Badass
  • Batista's eventual Badass Decay turned into memes in the wrestling community. See below.
  • And he eventually regained his Badass status thanks to a Face Heel Turn.
    • YMMV towards the end of that turn.
• Badass Grandpa: Yes he is a Real Life grandfather.
• But Not Too Foreign
• Chewing the Scenery: After turning heel, Batista started putting his propensity for Narm to good use.
• Cool Old Guy: He was already in his thirties when he debuted in WWE. Of course, it helped that his longtime tag-team partner, Ric Flair, was a Badass Grandpa at that point.
• Cool Shades: Tends to wear these when he's not wrestling.
• Crowning Moment Of Awesome: When he turned against Triple H during his contract signing for Wrestlemania 21.
• Crowning Moment Of Funny: During his Last Man Standing match against John Cena:

Boy in crowd: I hate you, Batista!
Batista: I hate you too!

• Dirty Old Man: Repeatedly accused of hitting on the younger Divas, even if they were already seeing someone (and when he was married).
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: It was pretty sad to see this world-class sports-entertainment star (who at one point was second in popularity to John Cena, no less!) reduced to a wildly ranting, wheelchair-bound maniac during his final appearance on WWE television.
  • Although that may have been his own wish. Chris Jericho said that he loved the way he went out during his leave of absence in 2005, being dragged out of the arena by security, kicking and screaming, because that's a way a heel goes out in style.
• Duct Tape for Everything: At Extreme Rules 2010, Batista lost his Last Man Standing match against John Cena by getting his legs duct-taped around a ring post.
• Fallen Hero: During his last heel run. Emphasized during his feud with John Cena at Wrestlemania 26.
• Fan Nickname: Botchtista.
  • And after what Santino called him one time, the Manimal.
• Former Teen Rebel: Admitted that he was a Delinquent during his youth and was a carjacker.
• Fountain of Memes: Batista is very much the poster child for memes in professional wrestling as a result of his Badass Decay.
  • "Basketballs... don't hold grudges!"
    • ...which became an Ascended Meme on the "Lakers vs. Nuggets" episode on Raw, when Batista came out with a basketball in his hands.
  • "That's my title, and come this Sunday, I'll be taking it back!"
  • The Batista Code (for his seemingly endless amounts of shots at world titles)
  • "Congratulations. I want my rematch."
  • And from his entrance theme,"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
  • Batista is pretty much Photoshop fodder at various wrestling forums (the majority of which comes from the former Wrestlecrap forum).
  • To Rey Mysterio: "YER SAHPOZED TA BE MAH FREEEND!!"
    • Also, "I'm gonna rip your head off."
  • "Weapons aren't only welcomed... they're allowed!"
  • "...stoop that low! Duct tape!? Are you serious? Really? Duct tape?"
  • There was also his trademark ring entrance, which involved him miming the firing of a machine gun (which looked more like he was cabbage-patching) to the tune of Saliva's "I Walk Alone", which has been imitated by some WWE fans.
    • There was an episode of RAW which showed Batista warming up for his match, then a "fan" comes by and stands in front of him and imitates Batista's entrance. He is then chased away by security.
  • "JBL, at The Great American Bash... I'm gonna expose your ass!"
    • "Goodnight, everybody!"
  • "You keep on kissing babies and hugging fat girls."
  • " I hate you Batistaaa!" "I hate you too!"
• Genius Bruiser
• Genre Savvy: One of the key points of his character.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: Attacking The Undertaker during his trademark long elaborate Wrestlemania ring entrance.
• Glass Cannon
• Hot Dad and Grandpa What Massive Hotness You Have
• Humiliation Conga: The months after Wrestlemania XXVI to his retirement could count as this right up to his last night. Also might qualify as a Downer Ending.
• It's All About Me
• Kick the Dog: Had Shelly "Ariel" Martinez fired after she refused his advances. Both of them have since apologized to each other via Twitter.
  • Reportedly, he tried to do the same with Mickie James, until The Undertaker got involved.
• Large Ham: His final heel run, to the point that he would only cut his in-ring promos after demanding that a spotlight be shone on him and only him.
• Last-Name Basis
• Narm: When on the mic... or making any kind of face in general. More or less the main reason for his Memetic Mutation status.
  • Also, any time he shakes the ropes. It makes him look like the Ultimate Warrior and that... that's no good. (Although he came by it honestly: he admits he took the move straight from the Warrior.)
  • With a possible exception of his AWESOME promo leading up to his match with Cena at Wrestlemania. Yes... Batista and awesome promo in the same sentence... I hear something crumbling.
• Nice Character, Mean Actor: Apparently.
• Old Shame: His first WWE stint as "Deacon Batista", the sidekick of Reverend D-Von (a.k.a. D-Von Dudley).
  • And his OVW run as "Leviathan".
• Popularity Power
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: STOOP! THAT! LOW!
• Red Baron: The Animal, The Demon
• The Rival and Worthy Opponent: He and John Cena are both these to each other ever since the 2005 Royal Rumble. After Batista's Face Heel Turn, he became the Rival Turned Evil in their Wrestlemania 26 match.
• Rogues Gallery: JBL, Edge, Kane, Mark Henry, The Undertaker, Chris Jericho and John Cena.
• Screaming Warrior
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After repeatedly failing to beat John Cena for the world title, and getting injured in a match, he quit the WWE. But that was only on Kayfabe, because...
  • ...He had later stated that he didn't like the direction in which the company was going.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He actually had a real backstage fistfight with Booker T over this. Pretty much everyone else agreed with Booker; see Nice Character, Mean Actor above.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky: During his heel runs.
• Ten-Minute Retirement: On the record to saying he would like one more match/brief run with the WWE before taking an executive role in the company.
• The Brute: This was his role as a member of Triple H's Evolution stable.
• The Giant
• Too Dumb to Live: His 2009 Face Heel Turn? Yeah, it basically happened because Batista apparently assumed that being in a Fatal Four Way for the World Heavyweight Championship with Rey Mysterio, Jr. as one of his opponents meant that Rey wouldn't actually try to win and would just help him.
  • Especially when Rey later admitted that if Batista had just asked him to help him, he would have.
  • It's standard Insane Troll Logic, which is standard operating procedure for most heels.
• Underwear of Power
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: Has the Philippine and Greek flags tattooed on his left biceps, as a tribute to his mixed heritage (see Ambiguously Brown above).