Acrofatic: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Almost always male, probably due to the media reluctance to ever depict a female of less than [[Hollywood Homely|average mainstream attractiveness.]]

 

 

Compare [[Kevlard]], which often goes hand-in-hand with this trope. [[Glacier Waif]] is the [[Inverted Trope|inverse]]. A very good way to establish a character as [[Big Fun]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[The Breaker]]: New Waves'' [http://www.mangareader.net/the-breaker-new-waves/28/10 Right here.]

* Subverted in ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', because every notable fighter in the series in that show are fast and agile

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'': Boss. He was pretty fat, but he could be fast when he wanted or if he needed. Combine that with him being strong and sturdy, and he could deliver a good beating to anyone (except Kouji, much to his chagrin and disgust). He also showed up in the sequels (''[[Great Mazinger]]'' and ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]'').

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'' has Pharaoh, Daitokuji-sensei's cat. Despite his bulk, he's pretty fast and strong.

* Another fat cat is Rhett Butler/Hercules from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', who saves Luna twice from a large gang of stray cats in one episode. The 3rd time was when {{spoiler|Zoisite turns him into the monster-cat Youma called Bakene, and, despite destructive intention like the other Youma, saves Luna from falling.}}

* Choji Akimichi (as well as the whole Akimichi clan) from ''[[Naruto]]''; there are definitely faster [[Ninja]] but they've never had trouble with the [[In a Single Bound|giant leaps]] or other acrobatics expected of them.

* Buccha from ''[[Air Gear]]''. Somewhat of a subversion in which he's not actually fat; there's little fat on his body. He happens however to have a huge volume of blood, which concentrates mostly on his belly, and when required it floods his muscles; during said moments he has a leaner, more muscular body

* Marechiyo Omaeda from ''[[Bleach]]''. He ''is'' the lieutenant of a squad of ninjas with [[Super Speed]], though he prefers hiding it under [[Obfuscating Stupidity]].

* ''[[One Piece]]''

** Somewhat earlier is Yama of Skypeia. Really, a body that fat with arms and legs that small, it's a wonder the guy can even move. Yet he can move pretty damn well.

** And then there's Sentomaru, who's built like a sumo wrestler but can keep pace with Luffy.

** Lucky Roux, for a time fans were convinced that he's the fastest man on the OP universe, and well, he's fat.

* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[D.Gray-man|D Gray Man]]'', the Millennium Earl, is a fairly rotund individual, but is capable of readily fending off the protagonist in a sword fight.

* ''[[Full Metal Panic Fumoffu]]''. In the [[Beach Episode]], Sôsuke battles an overweight bodyguard who does Neo's "bending over backwards to dodge bullets trick" from ''[[The Matrix]]''.

* Goemon Ishikawa in ''[[Yaiba]]'' is quite large and plump, but he's a [[Lightning Bruiser]] when he fights.

* Iwado the fat judoka from ''[[Holyland]]''. The notes point out that many underestimate the speed of judoka.

 

* A minor Western Marvel villain from ''Kid Colt'' called simply The Fat Man, who could roll and [[Foe-Tossing Charge|bowl people over]].

* Big Bertha of the [[Great Lakes Avengers]].

* [[Batman]] villains Tweedledee and Tweedledum are extremely rotund, yet also extremely agile and acrobatic, capable of launching themselves at enemies like cannonballs.

* In ''[[Deadpool|Deadpool and Cable]]'', Alex Hayden becomes obscenely obese, and prefers to sit around eating munchies than doing any actual work. However, in Deadpool vs The Marvel Universe, after a little pep talk from Outlaw while dinosaurs affected by the [[Spider-Man|Venom]] symbiote are ravaging the town, he finally gets back into action, starting by leaping off a scyscraper and onto a dinosaur.

* Partially subverted by [http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/f/fatfury.htm Herbie The Fat Fury]. On the one hand, he ''is'' a fat, bespectacled loser with a bad haircut who easily defeats bank robbers, alien invaders, and Satan. On the other hand, his abilities are not from any training or skill, but from an arsenal of magic lollipops.

* Obelix from ''[[Asterix]]'' is very fat, but he has super-strength, is invincible in combat, and can defeat an entire Roman legion single-handed. It's canon that he fell in a cauldron of magic potion when he was little and is thus permanently under the effect of the potion. [[Berserk Button|And don't call him fat]]. He's just well-covered.

* ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]''. Buck is huge because he comes from a high-gravity planet, and yet surprisingly quick.

 

* Mr. Bobinsky from the [[Film of the Book]] ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]''.

* Po from ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'', after being taught how to fight. His being fat is actually why {{spoiler|he's able to defeat Tai Lung. The others fell when he started using his pressure point attacks, but, [[Chekhov's Gun|as demonstrated earlier]], Po's bulk makes it too hard to hit the nerves properly, and all it does is tickle him}}. Po was already quite agile, so long as his objective was the acquisition of food. Shifu simply needed to use this fact to his advantage in order to train Po to be so on command.

* In Disney's ''[[Mulan]]'', Chin Po went from anxiously balancing on poles above water to gracefully cartwheeling over them during training. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTqIsB98a1E here] at 2:46 and 4:16.

* In ''[[A Goofy Movie|An Extremely Goofy Movie]]'', Pete's rather overweight son PJ shows some surprising dexterity on a bike, a skateboard, and on the dance floor.

* The Kaiju, ''[[Gamera]]''. Just look at him working the parallel bars in ''Gamera vs Guiron''.

* [[Godzilla]]. Sure, he's normally content just lumbering at a relatively slow pace. But, when he decides to move fast, he ''does''. His surprising agility even allows him to kick his enemies, with both feet, while sliding on his tail.

* One of the brothers in ''[[Shaolin Soccer]]'' has weighless moving as his specialty... even years later, after he had stopped exercising and gained a lot of weight.

* The late [[John Candy]] proved to be agile in some of his movies, including pulling off some martial arts moves in ''Delirious'' as well as being able to ride a horse. He does a somersault in ''Who Is Harry Crumb'' and can toss his shoes with deadly precision.

* [[Fat Bastard]] of the third ''[[Austin Powers]]'' movie is extremely agile in combat. He can even flip, though [[No Fourth Wall|he needs a stunt wire team for that, which snaps halfway through his stunt.]]

* Speed, one of the supervillian/bullies in ''[[Sky High]]'', was a Flash like speedster in spite of being overweight.

* John Travolta described his ''[[Hairspray]]'' character, Edna Turnblad, in these terms. Tracy is this trope too; a significant part of the film is focused on her mad dancing skills.

* Near the end of the direct-to-video comedy film ''Run Ronnie Run'', an overweight kid who was kidnapped by disgruntled Reality TV stars (don't ask) and spent his entire captivity playing [[Dead or Alive]] proceeds to beat the crap out of his kidnappers [[I Know Mortal Kombat|using the over-the-top "martial arts" moves from the game]] while the song "Ass Kickin' Fat Kid" plays in the background.

* [[Sammo Hung]] in everything he ever did.

* Eddie Valiant from ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]'', especially in his song and dance number. Most impressive of all is when he performs several backflips across the floor of the Acme Gag Factory, despite wearing ''a hat, coat, and trousers''!

 

* In one of the ''Burke'' novels by [[Andrew Vachss]], Max the Silent has a brief spar with one. Although Max beats him, he is impressed with his skill. Also, in ''Terminal'', we get introduced to Gigi, who is a perfect example of this trope. Burke may qualify; he is described as large and slippery, but lacking the knockout punch power to be a full [[Lightning Bruiser]].

* [[Big Bad|Sunday]] from ''[[The Man Who Was Thursday]]''.

* Hern Heslin, in ''[[The Duel of Sorcery Trilogy]]'', is described several times as short and pudgy. The first time you see him, he's tied up...but not for long. After freeing himself, he quickly outmaneuvers and kills a bad guy who's much taller and trimmer. He ends up repeating both feats in ''Moonscatter''.

 

* Randy from ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' despite being fat is actually a really talented natural gymnast. It is only brought up once a season or so though to preserve the [[Played for Laughs|comedy]] value of it.

* On ''[[Community]]'' when Buddy is discussing what he would bring to the study group, he says they need a chubby, agile guy. Though his actual invocation of this tropes is a bit messy.

* Sammo in ''[[Martial Law]]''.

 

* Arthur the miner, from the video for The Avalanches' "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUyKdaNKHzo Since I Left You]".

 

 

* Along with Big Van [[Vader]]. 450 pound men usually don't do moonsaults.

* American Balloon. Obese dude doing the sky twister press. Seriously.

* NXT Rookie Husky Harris (son of Irwin R. Schyster) is described as "an Army Tank with a Ferrari Engine," and has quite the speed and vertical leap.

 

* In ''[[GURPS]]'', having a Fat or Very Fat character give you no penalties to acrobatics and agility, at least not directly.

 

* Cheng Shin Zan of ''[[Fatal Fury]]''.

* E. Honda and Rufus in the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series. Mostly Rufus though. While Honda is no slouch, he's still got elements of [[Mighty Glacier]]; conversely, Rufus is not only strong, but among the most agile characters in the game. This combination makes many complain that he's broken (after all, the whole point of the [[Mighty Glacier]] is that he's powerful, but is slow, so as to give lighter and faster characters a chance). One fan theory states that Rufus is in fact [[Epileptic Trees|filled with Helium]]. The designers even gave Rufus [[Jiggle Physics]]. Yes, his body is basically treated as one giant boob. The designers said that the main reason they made Rufus fast was to [[Subverted Trope|subvert]] the typical "fat guy = [[Mighty Glacier]]" trope so common in video games, not to appease the Fat Acceptance movement.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64DNpYiqlEc The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Obesity.]

* ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)|Super Mario Bros]]''

** Mario too, though not as fat as Wario, is far from a picture of physical fitness but still capable of pulling off acrobatic feats that would put real life gymnasts to shame. He wasn't originally called "Jumpman" for nothing. [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-13-miyamoto-explains-why-mario-is-chubby explained] that his fatness was to allow for easier collision detection in 80's hardware.

** Bowser dips in and out of this trope, depending on the game. Bowser is typically the [[Mighty Glacier]], living up to the "slow but powerful" character type, but in some games, Bowser can run and jump as good as Mario can.

* The [[Wall Jump]] is something usually given to nimble characters. Folks with, say, ninja training. Thus, the ninjas in the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' series tend to pull this off. Including Earthquake the Texan ninja, who lives up to his name.

* The description of the Seeq in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics A2]]'' indicates that despite their rotundity, they're surprisingly agile. This is something of an [[Informed Ability]], as three of the four Seeq jobs have below-average speed growth (on par with a Hume Soldier or Bangaa Warrior) and even the fourth one isn't very fast.

* The Elven Priestesses from ''[[Overlord]] II''.

* Zeke from ''[[Infamous (video game series)|In Famous]]''. Despite the fact that Cole jumps off a 20-story apartment building... Zeke is waiting for him at the street somehow, all while touting the biggest beer gut this side of Texas. And that's just one example. There's also the fact that his running speed is actually just slightly less than Cole's. Then there's how he falls into the harbor during the failed escape attempt, yet is waiting for Cole when he returns - even though he admits that he had a crapton of trouble with the swim.

** Big the Cat also qualifies. He's enormously fat but also [[Stout Strength|superhumanly strong]], and in ''[[Sonic Heroes]]'' he has no problems navigating the loop-de-loops with his teammates.

* Luther from the ''[[SSX]]'' games. Obese? Definitely. Capable of decatuple backflips under the right circumstances? Oh yeah.

{{quote|''Pandaren have a long tradition of mystic warfare and are exceedingly strong and agile. The traditional pandaren fighting style focuses upon mobility, speed and precision, as well as stunning acrobatic tricks.''|[http://www.wowwiki.com/Pandaren The WoWWiki]}}

* ''[[Heavy Rain]]'': Do ''not'' try to spring an attack on Scott Shelby.

* Barry of ''[[Alan Wake]]'' is heavyset, double-chinned, and can keep pace with the much slimmer Alan and the toned sheriff Sarah Breaker. He occasionally complains and bends over to catch his breath, but Alan himself is a non-athletic protagonist who can only sprint a few meters before he has to do the same.

* Bo Rai Cho in the ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' series.

* Dynamo and Alternator from ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' are very rotund but can swing and charge very fast.

* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'': The Heavy, usually the slowest class, gains a significant speed boost when equipped with the Gloves of Running Urgently or for a brief period after eating a Buffalo Steak Sandvich.

* ''[[Dark Cloud]]'' gives us Goro, a stout little boy who can climb a tree with a few well-placed jumps. Unfortunately, [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|this agility doesn't carry over to his gameplay abilities.]]

* Tuba from [[Eternal Sonata]] falls under this banner.

** They can also trigger a party-wide movement speed boost with Stampeding Roar. [[Truth in Television|Bears can run at 30 mph]].

* Smough in ''[[Dark Souls]]'' isn't as fast as [[Lightning Bruiser]] Ornstein, but he's pretty quick for someone so huge and bulky. Of course, Smough might not actually be that bulky under the armor.

* Typhlosion in ''[[Pokémon]]'' does not look like it should have a base 100 Speed (that's faster than some nimble Pokémon like Lucario) with those little stubs for legs, nor should Gengar, who's even faster.

** Starmie is faster than both of those two, despite it being an echinoderm (whose movements, in [[Real Life]], are only visible through time lapse).

 

* Butch R. Mann of ''[[Chopping Block]]'' varies between this and just plain fat, depending on the joke. In general, he gains a massive boost of strength and speed when his life is in danger.

 

* Bat-foe The Penguin was controversially reimagined as very skilled in martial arts for ''[[The Batman]]''.

** With him it was less the agility and more the [[Wire Fu]]-esque jumps, especially since the character design had very stumpy legs.

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''

** Homer and Flanders have a [[Le Parkour|parkour]] sequence in one episode. Flanders is quite fit, but Homer is, well, Homer. Then there was the time he was training for [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQI3TTNR6AM Whacking Day]. He's even been shown to be able to walk with his hands.

** In a high school flashback, Homer was shown to be a talented gymnast until his father distracted him in the middle of a competitive floor routine, cutting his career short.

* All three members of the [[Super Duper Sumos]].

* ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]''

* [[Gentle Giant|Mikey Blumberg]] from ''[[Recess]]'' is a talented ballet dancer. [[The Hero|T.J. Detweiler]] is a more subtle example. He's chubbier than the other main six (save for Mikey), but can pull off some pretty awesome stunts.

* The overweight ninja from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' [[The Movie]].

* Stan Smith in ''[[American Dad]]'' has a pot belly but is extremely athletic, which is most likely a requirement for his work in the C.I.A. His gut is only visible when he shirtless.

 

* Sammo Hung, a legendary action superstar and frequent collaborator with Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao in Hong Kong action cinema. He suffered an injury at 16 that left him bedridden for months, and the resulting weight gain has more or less become his calling card. Even nearing the [[Cool Old Guy|age of sixty]] and not getting any thinner, he can still go toe-to-toe with the likes of much younger action stars such as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-zE2YFp7lU Donnie] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBIg9l4TTIM Yen] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji7oSx6AhM4 Wu Jing.]

* Heavy Impact from Americas Best Dance Crew is a group of acrofatic dancers.

* Oliver Hardy was a talented physical comedy performer and a graceful dancer, as seen in many [[Laurel and Hardy]] shorts.

* Silent film comedian [[Fatty Arbuckle]], who earned his nickname (it would later cause him health problems) was very nimble as well.

* [[Jack Black]]. Although on the pudgy side, he is surprisingly agile and can perform physical comedy with the best of them. Specifically referenced in his appearance on ''[[Community]]'', where he tries to gain access to the group by claiming they need "an agile fat guy". He then accidentally high-kicks Jeff in the face.

* While the [http://basketbawful.blogspot.com/2007/09/word-of-day-calorie-cap.html calorie cap] certainly exists, many professional basketball players, particularly "bigs" who usually play the center position, are notably husky - including such all time greats as Charles Barkley and Shaquille O'Neal.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLv230HLRNE Aiden Trimble], head of the FSK, is anything but a small man. Not that you'd ever notice whilst he's moving.

* Roman legionaries. They were professional soldiers who trained all the time with the gladius and were constantly marching with heavy loads or performing manual labor. They were also generally fattened up when not on campaign to increase survivability. As one book put it 'the most reliable supply train in their eyes was around their waists'.

* Fighting bulls

* Manx cats, as well as lacking tails, have a generally bulky body shape and faintly ridiculous long hind limbs that earned them the nickname 'cabbit'. However, they are still perfectly capable of the dainty athleticism cats are known for.

* While it's up to you to decide whether or not crocodiles can be perceived as fat, they are easy to mistake for sluggish predators on land. It's really downright terrifying to see how fast they actually run.

* Thais Carla, a hefty Brazilian teenager who's a skilled, graceful dancer.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Combat Tropes]]

[[Category:Video Game Characters]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:Velocity Index]]