This is going a different direction than I thought, from the title of the thread. I was thinking 'badass' as 'evil' rather than as 'tough'.

So what came to my mind was Tamerlane, an evil warlord from Central Asia in the 14th-15th Centuries, who isn't mentioned much these days. Here's a decent link for any who may be interested.

Larry Hoover. CPD SIG knows who he is.