The Ultimate Badass- Tom Cody

The Definition of Badass? One name: Tom Cody.

Start with a killer tagline:

"A Rock ’n’ Roll Fable. Another time, another place."

Check.

Make your entrance to a moody, neon-drenched soundtrack?

Check.

(Guitar by none other than Ry Cooder? Hell yes.)

Kick the crap out of some outclassed punks, slap a knife-wielding chump like you’re Ike Turner, take his blade, hand it back... and do it again?

Check.

Out-awesome the Honey Badger? Out-kick Chuck Norris and the internet combined?

You better believe it.

That’s Streets of Fire. That’s Tom Cody.

Cooler than cool, tougher than leather, and walking straight into legend.

Suffice it to say: the sheer bad-assery of Tom Cody can barely be contained by Streets of Fire — arguably the greatest movie of the 1980s (and let’s be honest, possibly all time). The beatdowns he dishes out are many, creative, and deeply satisfying. And here's the thing — he's an anti-hero you can actually root for. Why? Because unlike the try-hard brooding types, Cody isn’t rebellious just to stick it to “The Man.” He’s not doing it for the 'tude. He’s doing it because someone’s gotta clean up the mess.

He steps off the subway in a trench coat — and unlike the cosplaying try-hards at your Local Gaming Store, he actually pulls it off — then immediately proceeds to lay waste to the Roadmasters for threatening his sister. (See above for details on ass-kickery/bad-assery.) The knife-slap scene is cinematic gold, and the ensuing skull-busting with a hat rack? Chef’s kiss. Just to drive the point home, he tosses them through a plate-glass window like yesterday’s trash… then jacks their ride for good measure. 

Tom Cody doesn’t walk away from trouble. He walks into it — and leaves a trail of wreckage behind.

The whole crux of the plot? Tom’s got to rescue Ellen Aim — played by a 20-year-old Diane Lane who somehow manages to look both like the girl next door and a rock goddess at the same time — from the clutches of Raven Shaddock and his goons, the Bombers. Raven, by the way, is played by Willem Dafoe in full vinyl-overall menace mode. And if Tom Cody is the baddest man in town, Raven is the unhinged yin to that yang — pale, intense, and the kind of guy who probably hisses when he talks to himself in the mirror.

Naturally, Ellen is Tom’s old flame. So when his sister writes him a letter begging for help, he shows up like a trench-coated avenger. Enter Billy Fish — Ellen’s sleazy, whiny, promoter/manager/placeholder-boyfriend — played by Rick Moranis in full proto-Weasel form. Billy, realizing his golden goose just got snatched by a biker gang that makes the Misfits look like the Monkees, coughs up 10 grand to hire Tom. Big mistake? Big win? Both.

Before kicking off the mission, Tom swings by Pete’s garage — and Pete’s got an arsenal that makes Commando look like a yard sale. Tom arms up, Max-style, only cooler — and with actual personality — and rolls out with McCoy (Amy Madigan), a tough-as-nails ex-soldier who drinks hard and punches harder. Together they head off into the neon-noir city in the Roadmasters’ stolen ride, which is still the coolest vehicle this side of the Batmobile.

Destination? Torchie's — the Bombers’ grimy HQ and dive bar of doom. What follows is pure Cody: infiltration, devastation, and an unreasonable amount of explosions. But first, he pauses for a classic “look through the window” moment as the synthy love theme swells and he gazes at Ellen in captivity like some kind of rock-and-roll knight. Then it’s back to business.

Despite being outnumbered something like 1,000 to 1 (give or take a few leather-clad creeps), Cody wrecks house. McCoy chips in, sure, but let’s not kid ourselves — this is the Tom Cody show. Explosions. Butterfly knife action. More explosions. Ellen gets rescued. The Bombers get humiliated.

But before they ride off into the neon-lit night, Raven steps out of the shadows for some classic villain banter. It's tense. It's theatrical. It's shirtless. Foreshadowing? Absolutely. That’s your Chekhov’s sledgehammer moment right there.

The real showdown? Oh, it’s coming. And it’s gonna be glorious. 

The ride back? Oh, just your standard post-rescue hell-ride featuring cop cars, roadblocks, and Tom Cody going full Mad Max on a motorcycle. He doesn’t just dodge the law — he shreds it. One second he’s gunning through the night like a leather-clad ghost, the next he’s lighting up squad cars like it’s the Fourth of July.

Then, just to flex, he stops a moving bus with his bare hands. Because of course he does. Who needs physics when you're built out of raw narrative dominance? He and Ellen trade words, fire, and unresolved romantic tension — and even though they’re on the same side, it’s clear their ride-or-die status hasn’t quite synced up yet. She’s got rockstar fire, he’s got trench coat rage. It’s messy. It’s great.

Back in Richmond, the aftermath unfolds. Cody gets the girl — the unreal Ellen Aim — and shows her what a real street knight looks like. The ten grand? Just a footnote. He grabs only what’s needed to pay McCoy her cut, because class. And because Tom Cody doesn’t do this for the money. He does it because he can.

And then? Then it’s time for that long-awaited showdown with Raven. Not a brawl. A reckoning. They meet like modern gladiators under industrial floodlights, and Cody puts him down — hard. Could’ve ended him. Doesn’t. Because Cody’s that guy. He’s the guy who walks the line and still somehow stands taller than the rest.

And as the final act plays out, we get the bittersweet farewell: Cody kisses Ellen goodbye while she sings “Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young” — a volcanic eruption of Jim Steinman bombast that sounds like Meat Loaf got struck by lightning at a prom. It’s Wagnerian Rock at full tilt — so glorious it should come with a health warning.

To quote Kung Fu Panda:
“Ahhh… he’s too awesome.”

So forget brooding capes, magic swords, and regenerating mutants. Tom Cody doesn’t need healing factors or destiny. He needs a trench coat, a pump shotgun, and a reason.

That’s it.

Alignment? Chaotic Good (with Chaotic Neutral vibes).
Class? Level 10 Fighter.
Weapon specialization? Hat racks. Butterfly knives. Motorcycle-based law defiance.
And most of all? Ass-kicking.

Tom Cody. The definition of badass. End of story.