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{{trope}}
[[File:bowser-large-and-in-
▲[[File:bowser-large-and-in-charge_1913.png|link=Super Mario Bros|right|[[Sarcasm Mode|Gee, I wonder who's the boss]].]]
{{quote|"I'm da biggest, so I'm da boss!"
The tendency to visually depict leaders of an organization as large, physically intimidating people. Sort of makes sense, because people are more likely to follow orders from a big guy than a small one. Abundant in video games since these guys need to be able to make impressive bosses as well and players like big targets. Unless they have magic or machines for that, but even then they tend to be pretty big. While most commonly this trope applies to villains there are still some heroic characters that are
▲{{quote|"I'm da biggest, so I'm da boss!"|'''Ork Warboss''', ''[[Warhammer 40000]]: [[Dawn of War]]''}}
Because [[Evil Is Bigger]], this is more prevalent among villains. This applies to most of the brutish types of [[
▲The tendency to visually depict leaders of an organization as large, physically intimidating people. Sort of makes sense, because people are more likely to follow orders from a big guy than a small one. Abundant in video games since these guys need to be able to make impressive bosses as well and players like big targets. Unless they have magic or machines for that, but even then they tend to be pretty big. While most commonly this trope applies to villains there are still some heroic characters that are [[Large and In Charge]].
Related to [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] (or, perhaps, [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]). Also see [[
▲Because [[Evil Is Bigger]], this is more prevalent among villains. This applies to most of the brutish types of [[Always Chaotic Evil]] fantasy races, like Orcs, Hobgoblins, and some of the [[All Trolls Are Different|many, many types of trolls]].
▲Related to [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] (or, perhaps, [[Asskicking Equals Authority]]). Also see [[Hitler Cam]], the camera effect that you can use to accentuate height. Contrast [[The Napoleon]] (when he's in a leadership position).
Sometimes found in real life- in the modern world, elected leaders are generally of average or greater height. However, this is rarely taken to the kind of extremes found in video games.
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Contrast [[Mister Big]] and [[The Napoleon]]. [[Adipose Rex]] is the trope for fat kings.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* The [[Big Bad
▲* The [[Big Bad|Big Bads]] of each ''[[One Piece]]'' arc are often unnaturally large, despite mostly being human.
** Also from ''[[One Piece]]'', Edward Newgate, Whitebeard, is a very large man, easily dwarfing some of his lieutenants who are themselves quite large.
** All of the [[Psycho for Hire|Seven Warlords of the Sea]] are impossibly tall, except for Mihawk and Boa Hancock, who are just ''unusually'' tall (
** Occasionally played with. Rob Lucci was the most powerful of CP9, but was merely tall, standing around 6'7" and relatively slim (in human form). While this would be huge in the real world, two of his subordinates, Fukurou and Kumadori, utterly dwarf him in both height and mass, and only slightly taller than Nico Robin. Then he uses his Devil Fruit power, and becomes ''a gigantic bloody leopard''.
** An interesting twist on this is Buggy. While not the largest by far, he is a toweringly lanky figure. However, when he is defeated and separated from his crew, portions of his arms, legs, neck and torso were stolen, reducing him to a chibi-version of himself standing at barely 3 feet tall. However, the moment he is reunited with his crew he finds his missing body parts and resumes his more imposing form.
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** Averted with the Straw Hats. Luffy isn't the tallest of the crew. Franky and Brooke easily tower over him and Zoro and Sanji are also taller than him. Even Robin is taller than Luffy.
*** To be fair, Robin is around 6'2 and also taller than Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji.
** In the Fishman Island Arc, the whole royal family of the Ryugu Kingdom (as in, a kingdom of merfolk) qualify. Ryuboshi, Fukaboshi, and Manboshi are about twice the size of typical merfolk, Shirahoshi is a ''giant'', about twice the size of them. Their father King Neptune is even larger. [https://onepiece.fandom.com/wiki/File:Neptune_Family_Infobox.png (For comparison, here is a family portrait.)] Oddly, however, Neptune's deceased wife Otohime [[Huge Guy, Tiny Girl|was a normal-sized mermaid]].
** Blackbeard is a subversion; while he ''is'' about 12 feet tall, some members of his crew are larger, most notably San Juan Wolf, who is not only an actual giant, but large even compared to most of his people.
* Lordgenome from ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'', who's at least seven feet tall and densely muscular. Even more so with Thymilph the Crasher, first among his four generals and literal 800 Pound Gorilla.
* ''[[Futari wa Pretty Cure]]'' takes this to truly ridiculous extremes. Everybody in the entire series is approximately human-scaled or smaller, except for the Queen of the Garden of Light, who I suspect could dance with an average Gundam, and her opposite number Dark King (or Evil King or however we're translating it this week), who is about the same height as her but has no legs (so a "complete" Dark King would be even bigger).
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** Played straight as well with Gamabunta, the chief toad of Mount Myouboku. He's easily the largest toad of the lot; his size rivals even the larger [[Eldritch Abomination|Tailed Beasts]].
* In ''[[Hokuto no Ken]]'', about every thug gang leader is for some reason three times larger ([[Word of God|officially]], [[Your Size May Vary|by about 4 to 12cm]]) than your average normal human, and demonstrate physical prowess like crushing heads with their bare hands. This reaches truly ridiculous proportions with the Prison Chief Wigür (height not given, probably three stories) who dwarves even Raoh (who in turn dwarves about every peasant/soldier/thug, and even the hero Kenshiro) (roughly two stories, or [[Dissimile|210cm]]).
* Used initially in ''Yuusha-Oh [[
* Done comically in ''[[School Rumble]]'' with the manga institutions Chief Editor being ridiculously large. So much in fact that he shakes hands with one of the charicters using only the ''tip of his finger''.
* Very evident in ''[[Transformers Victory]]'', on both sides. Star Saber is the biggest of the regularly appearing Autobots, and is also the Supreme Commander. Deathsaurus is even bigger, standing twice as tall as the average Transformers, and naturally enough is the Decepticon Emperor of Destruction.
* Also evident in ''[[Transformers Masterforce]]'' after the Godmasters appear. Ginrai has the biggest Autobot Transtector, and so Metalhawk hands command of the Earth Autobots over to him. Mega and Giga jointly command the Decepticons under Devil Z's leadership, and they can combine their Transtectors to form Overlord, who is even larger than Ginrai. To cap it off, Devil Z eventually combines with BlackZarak, who is bigger still.
* However, this trope reached its ultimate expression in ''[[Transformers Headmasters]]'' with Fortress Maximus and Scorponok. Both gain leadership over their respective factions, and both are roughly the size of a large building.
* Definitely averted in ''[[
** [[The Napoleon|General
* This trope is taken [[Up to Eleven]] with the Raven in ''[[Princess Tutu]]''. He's so large that his wings blacken the sky when he's overhead and when his feet touch the ground, a single claw is large enough for a teenage girl to hug. Of course, he's also pretty much a symbol of evil in the series, so he's nearly always depicted in
* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' subverts this with the Hakushuu Dinosaurs, as team captain Marco is quite scared of the massive Gaou, creating the impression that Gaou is leading the team. But Gaou has nothing but respect for Marco and no desire to challenge his authority, meaning Marco is really in charge.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'': The two tallest characters shown in the series are Zeon dictator [[Big Bad|Gihren Zabi]], and his enormous brother, [[The Brute|Dozle]], who serves as a Vice-Admiral and commander of Solomon Base. Both are hulking men, with broadshouldered builds, with Dozle being in the running for tallest man in the franchise as a whole.
== Comic Books ==
* The ''[[Spider-Man]]'' villain the Big Man is a very tall and powerfully built man with a very intimidating voice, {{spoiler|but [[Subverted Trope|subverts]] this because in reality, he's Frederick Foswell, a reporter for the Daily Bugle, a small, meek individual who uses a padded suit, a mask, and a voice modifier to better look and sound the part of a criminal mastermind. In the comics, his daughter Janice later pulled the same trick as the Big Man.}}
** The Kingpin (who replaces Foswell as [[The Don]]) plays it straight, being a ''huge'' hulking man who towers over most of his minions.
** In ''[[The Spectacular Spider
* Geoffrey Wilder from ''[[Runaways]]''.
* ''Negation'' subverts this somewhat with third-tier villain Komptin, whose first appearance in the flesh shows him to be half-human height and rotund, as opposed to the huge, looming figure on the communications screen.
* Averted in Image Comics' ''WildC.A.T.S.'' - Jacob Marlowe (Lord Emp) is the multi-millionaire financier as well as the team leader. He's also shown to be rather far below average height. (Four feet tall wouldn't be far off, though with scales being what they are in comics, it's sometimes hard to say.)
* For a heroic female example, look no further than "Ma" Hunkel of the ''[[Justice Society of America]]''. She may be in her '80s, but she's still pretty huge and capable of kicking your ass (and then baking you cookies). Even more so back in her heyday, when she ran around as a superhero, the Red Tornado.
* Subverted in ''[[
* In the ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'' comic, Darth Krayt, leader of the One Sith, follows Darth Vader's legacy of being large and imposing thanks to the Vong growths in his body and armor. Many of his subordinates are tall and muscular in themselves, but he stands out even among them.
** {{spoiler|Subverted in Legacy War when he finally learns how to rid himself of the growths and he drops back down to normal human size. A trade made willingly, coming as it does with a more than equal growth in his force power and the removal of the time limit the growths place on his life span.}}
==
* Tsuruya's father in ''[[Kyon
▲* Tsuruya's father in ''[[Kyon Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]'' is explicitly mentioned as being larger than his daughter's bodyguard, who's large as it is. {{spoiler|He's also in charge of the largest [[Yakuza]] group in the story.}}
== Film ==
* In the ''[[Star Wars]]'' films:
** Darth Vader is by far the tallest human in the series, played by the 1,82m (6'6) David Prowse. He would have been even taller had Prowse and the 2,10m (7'3) Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) not mutually agreed on which parts they would play.
** In the prequels, [[Brian Blessed|Boss Nass]] of the Gungans and Archduke Poggle of the Geonosians. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] by [[George Lucas]] in the director's commentary.
** Jabba the Hutt. And, in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]], all other Hutts, as well.
** Ironically subverted with [[The Emperor|Emperor Palpatine]], the [[Big Bad|main villain]], who has the appearance of frail old man.
* Sauron's humanoid form, as depicted in the opening minutes of ''The [[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
* The Persian "God-King" Xerxes in ''[[
* The President in ''[[The Fifth Element]]''.
* The President in ''[[Idiocracy]]'', used to illustrate America's idiocy in that it would elect a professional wrestler (and [[Bigger Is Better in Bed|porn star]]) to the highest political office.
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* Almost subverted with the [[Transformers Film Series]]. In the first movie, Optimus Prime is by far the largest Autobot (at 28 feet tall), however Megatron (at 33 feet tall) is according to [[Word of God]], not the largest Decepticon in the movie. Blackout (the helicopter) apparently was (he was 35 feet tall), but due to the way the camara angles are set up, Megatron appears to be the biggest Decepticon and thus, the biggest Transformer in the entire film.
** The sequel plays this a little more straight. With Megatron reduced to [[The Dragon]] status due to the new [[Big Bad]], The Fallen, who despite being much less massive in appearance, is actually taller at 41 feet tall.
* [[Brian Blessed]] as Prince Vultan in ''[[Flash Gordon (
* Lord Humungus in ''[[Mad Max|The Road Warrior]]''.
* Shade from [[
== Literature ==
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[
▲* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Men At Arms|Men at Arms]]'' subverts this. With the leader of a savage dog pack purported to be menacing, lethal, and incredibly dangerous, you come to assume he's going to be one big dog, {{spoiler|but it turns out that he's actually a small poodle that wets himself near constantly and is more than a little insane. He remains incredibly dangerous.}}
** Played with in the case of Captain Carrot plays. He's 6'6 and has the approximate body shape of his namesake due to his hugely developed musculature. He's neither the leader of the watch nor the ruler of the city, but he has to actively work to not be any of those things, since most people obey him unthinkingly.
** Amongst others are Mustrum Ridcully (Archchancellor of UU, and apparently quite a big man), Hughton Ridcully (Mustrum's brother, and chief priest of Blind Io, and consequently the whole religious organisation in the city), Harry King (one of the biggest employers in the city, and apparently also a big man), the brothers Upright (run all the stagecoaches in the city, and again, big men, and in this case pretty portly as well). Perhaps surprisingly averted with the trolls, the most powerful troll in the city is by no means big by their standards.
* Damon Knight's short story ''The Handler'' is centered around a subversion of this trope; the Big Man at a party is just a puppet controlled by the despised pathetic little man crammed inside his chest.
* This is a key plot point in ''[[Brave New World (
* Alanon of the ''Sword of [[Shannara]]'' is over seven feet tall, and the leader of the heroes.
* In the ''[[Wheel of Time]]'' books, most [[Elite Mook|myrddraal]] are human sized or slightly taller. [[The Dragon|Shaidar Haran]], the most powerful member of that race (and possible avatar of the [[Big Bad]]) is almost half again as big. This is explicitly noted by the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Forsaken]] when they first meet Haran.
* In [[Graham McNeill]]'s ''[[Warhammer
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', King Robert Baratheon is described as "towering over lesser men" and being muscled like a woman's fantasy when he was in his prime. This is [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the fact that [[Asskicking Equals Authority|he won his crown by fighting.]] Other examples include Gregor Clegane, a monstrously huge knight who leads a troop of soldiers on particularly vicious missions, and the Titan's Bastard, a giant of a sellsword who leads a mercenary company.
* Togrul in the ''[[Conqueror]]'' books is khan of the Kerait tribe, and also the biggest, fattest person in all Mongolia. Genghis Khan himself is also rather tall.
* [[Ciaphas Cain]] has been stated to be one of the tallest in most groups. And he's the Commissar, which means not only is he In Charge, he has the option to shoot anyone who disagrees. (He still has to do what the Commissariat and the Inquisition say, though).
* Tigerstar of ''[[
*
** Aragorn stood at 6'6", which was considered very tall for Men at the end of the Third Age.
** Men of Númenor were noted for generally being taller than typical Men, and their height was often indicative of their personal power and social standing. Elendil (regarded as the greatest Man of his age) was about 8 feet tall. Height as a measure of power and standing was also typical among the Elves.
** Another Tolkien example is the Great Goblin from ''[[The Hobbit]]''.
** Bilbo's great-great-grand uncle Bandobras "Bullroarer" Took was a military leader of sorts, and
** The Witch-King of the Nazgul was easy to tell from his eight underlings, standing head-and-shoulders over them.
* Gilgamesh in ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh]]''.
* In ''[[Watership Down]]'', the largest rabbit is almost always the leader of their warren. General Woundwort, for instance, is described as approaching the size of a hare and is immensely strong. {{spoiler|The protagonists end up being an exception, with the average-sized Hazel being the Chief Rabbit. In fact, Woundwort assumes Bigwig to be the chief because of his size, and is disturbed when it turns out he isn't -- Bigwig is at this point successfully fighting him off. He assumed the chief rabbit was even bigger.}}
* In the House of The ''[[Keys to
* In The [[New Jedi Order]], the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Yuuzhan Vong]] are physically much larger than humans. Most notable was [[Evil Overlord|Supreme Overlord Shimrra]], ruler of the Yuuzhan Vong, and was huge even for a Yuuzhan Vong.
* Alderman Foodbotham, one-time Lord Mayor of Bradford in the ''[[Peter Simple]]'' newspaper column, was invariably described as weighing 25 stone (350 pounds).
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* In the ''[[Rod Albright Alien Adventures]]'', the monster Smorkus Flinders is the leader of his race by dint of his size. The monsters have difficulty understanding any other form of hierarchy.
* The ''[[
▲== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
▲* The ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[Black Adder]]'' kings played by [[Brian Blessed]].
▲* In ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'', Cyber Controllers tend to be larger than normal Cybermen, and Emperor Daleks tower over normal Daleks. {{spoiler|Except when said Emperor is Davros. Even then he wears casing to made himself seem bigger in ''[[Doctor Who (TV)/Recap/S25 E1 Remembrance of the Daleks|Rememberance of the Daleks]]''.}}
▲* In ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' all Scarrans were larger than most other bipedal races, but Emperor Staleek did appear appreciably larger still. Oddly enough, and despite his brutality on occasion, he also appeared to one of the more intelligent and reasonable Scarrans that we saw as well, so one would guess his size was not as much of a factor in actually choosing him as leader, but still was apparent.
* In ''[[Top Gear]]'', Jeremy Clarkson, generally considered the lead presenter, is 6'5". This is especially apparent when compared to 5'7" co-presenter Richard Hammond. Clarkson regularly mocks Hammond for being short, and exploits his height by placing things (mainly cars on the "Cool Wall") out of Hammonds reach.
* King Uther fits into this in '[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. Anthony Head is kind of tall anyway, and the royal outfit and his usual intimidating scowl added to it.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer
▲* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' models from the "Headquarters" section of the Codices tend to be noticeably larger than rank-and-file figures, the better to accommodate details like the [[Bling of War]]. Alternatively, a model's status can be measured by the size of his [[Shoulders of Doom|pauldrons]].
** Justified by the [[Our Orcs Are Different|Orks']] biology - not only do greenskins never stop growing, but successful or [[Klingon Promotion|aspiring]] bosses will actually bulk up and grow even faster. Exemplified in Warlord Ghazghkull, the self-proclaimed Prophet of the Waaagh!, who's nearly [http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/mediawiki/images/9/98/Ghazghkull_vs_Yarrick.jpg twenty feet tall]. This all makes it very easy for Orks to tell who their superiors and underlings are, leading them to comment that humans' military hierarchy is confusing since we're "all 'bout da same size" and therefore must waste valuable time arguing over who's in charge.
** [[Horde of Alien Locusts|Tyranid]] [[Hive Queen|Synapse creatures]] tend to be much bigger than the rest of the swarm, though it should be noted that not every large Tyranid is necessarily a Synapse creature. Imperial policy on the matter is to "[[Memetic Mutation|shoot the big ones]]!" and hope that it helps.
** Space Marines start out with a foot or two on regular humans, and due to their genetic modification will slowly but continuously grow throughout their lives. Their commanders are usually at least eight feet tall, the Primarchs of old were even bigger, and the Emperor Himself was reputably as immense as you'd expect a [[Physical God]] to be. [[Evil Counterpart|Chaos Space Marines]] follow the same scheme, and Warlords who ascend to [[One
* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'': Orcs, Ogres, and Daemons. Orcs for the same reason as in 40K, Greater Daemons are the stronger leaders of the Lesser Daemons, and Ogres because when you're really big, you have to listen to the guy who's really, ''really'' big
** There are only two real "ranks": Grots and Bosses. A Grot is anything ''smaller'' than you, and is to be kicked and abused at your leisure; a Boss is anything ''bigger'' than you, and is to be feared and respected.
* Many monsters in ''[[Dungeons
** Also, one of the
** On a smaller scale, the race known as dark creepers in the 1st and 2nd Editions, later called dark ones or dark folk, are the size of Halflings, except the leader of each community, called a dark stalker; they're human-sized.
* The "rulers" of the Slivers in ''[[Magic the Gathering]]'' are much larger than even their largest subordinates--specifically, all three have 7 power and 7 toughness, while the largest Sliver (aside from a variant designed to sabotage opposing Sliver decks) has 4 and 4. In real life terms, they would also be physically larger; the Queen is dozens of feet long, the Overlord a mashup from at least four other Slivers, and the Legion actually being a [[Hive Mind]] spread out among many Sliver bodies.▼
** This is always the case with myconids, a subterranean race of fungus-men. Myconid range from 1 to 7 HD, and are about one foot tall per HD; there is only one 7 HD myconid in a community, and that one is the king.
** [[Fish People| Sahuagin]] never stop growing during their lifetimes, and given their [[The Social Darwinist|social Darwinist]] culture, the ones in charge are usually the oldest ''and'' largest. In addition, their strongest leaders are "mutations", ''huge'', ferocious sahuagin with four arms.
▲* The "rulers" of the Slivers in ''[[Magic:
** The green Phyrexian faction is led by Vorinclex. It really fits [[The Social Darwinist|his personality]].
== Toys ==
* ''[[Bionicle]]'':
** Tuma for the Skrall
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== Video Games ==
* Bowser, the Koopa King from ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''. One of the Punis even says so in ''[[Paper Mario:
** [[Wario Ware|Wario]] (CEO of a video game company) and [[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong]] (informal leader of the Kong Klan of primates) fit the bill, too.▼
▲* Bowser, the Koopa King from ''[[Super Mario Bros]]''. One of the Punis even says so in ''[[Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door (Video Game)|Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door]]''.
* Ganondorf from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]''. Especially when he goes [[One
▲** [[Wario Ware|Wario]] (CEO of a video game company) and [[Donkey Kong Country|Donkey Kong]] (informal leader of the Kong Klan of primates) fit the bill, too.
▲* Ganondorf from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]''. Especially when he goes [[One Winged Angel]] and becomes Ganon.
** The Moblins from the same series almost always have their ranks sorted by size.
** Goron Chieftains are also typically distinguishable by their size.
** The two rulers of the twilight realm seen in [[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|Twilight Princess]] are rather tall, the main difference being that [[Defrosting Ice Queen|Midna]] is a [[Statuesque Stunner]] while [[Psychopathic Manchild|Zant]] is a [[Noodle People|Noodle person]].
* [[Invoked]] in ''[[
* Gorath from ''[[Betrayal
* King Dedede from ''[[Kirby]]''. Kirby's height has been given as eight inches, which would make King Dedede about as large as an actual penguin. When scaled up along with Kirby in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', however, he is appropriately large.
* In ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', Golbez is much taller than most of the other characters, {{spoiler|even though he's not really a villain at all}}, to the point that even though Cecil was scaled up to be the largest of the heroes
** In the original game he was also [http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Zfyik15ZS9g/0.jpg an exemplary] of the "ridiculously over-sized enemy battle art" trope seen commonly in early RPGs, spanning the full height of the screen.
* ''[[Metroid]]'' has Ridley. While he might not lead the Space Pirates (the games never cleared up his exact position), he's Samus' [[Arch Enemy]] and obviously much bigger than she is.
** He still answers to Mother Brain who towers over the both of them. In fact, pretty much all of Samus' archenemies are the biggest baddies in the games bar Kraid.
** And then you get to ''[[Super Metroid]]'', where Kraid turns out to be one of the ''biggest'' monsters in the series, standing several stories tall!
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' bosses usually have bigger models than the players, even if the boss is of the same race. This is due in part to [[Story and Gameplay Segregation]]. Bigger bosses make it more manageable for big parties to fight them. Also present in ''[[
** In ''World of Warcraft'', size tends to equal power in all terms. In Loch Modan, you'll meet level 17 ogres that are about eight feet tall. In the Blade's Edge Mountains, you'll meet level 67 ogres that are closer to twenty feet tall!
** Not to mention the hunter Shrinky Dink effect when taming a pet for a reverse application of the trope. The quickest way to make a five story tall elite dinosaur smaller than your mount? Bring it over to our side!
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*** Noth The Plaguebringer, despite having a normal human male shape and model, looks to stand nearly 9 feet tall. A normal human male NPC standing next to him looks to only be about waist height compared to him.
** Prophet Velen is [[All There in the Manual|canonically tall and thin by draenic standards]] (and draenei are rather tall to begin with). His unique model accurately reflects this.
* The Laguz Kings, Ashnard, and arguably Ike (in 10) from the ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius
** Zephiel in the 6th is also this.
* ''[[Odin Sphere]]'' takes this to a ridiculous extent. Several of the 'important' characters, like Odin and his main general, are basically giants, despite ostensibly being the same race as the human-sized Valkyrie protagonist.
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** Most of the Rularuu bosses are maybe twice human size. Rularuu himself (leader of the group) is explicitly stated to be over 100 feet in height.
** Similarly, the small Hydra forces are man sized. They get bigger.
* Dracula in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series is usually (with a couple of notable exceptions) about twice the height of the protagonist when confronted, requiring the Belmont hero to jump in order to whip him in the face. This may be a [[Shout
** While most of his second forms are of the [[One
* Subverted in ''[[No One Lives Forever]] 2'' where the Big (literally) boss of French mime villains actually was a midget on a unicycle.
* Colonel Volgin from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 3''
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*** Subverted by Legion, who is the smartest individual Geth platform thus far, having over a thousand programs in it. It's only the size a standard Geth Trooper. However it was specifically designed to be that way so the Geth could have an effective single agent.
** In the DLC "Lair of the Shadow Broker" {{spoiler|it's revealed that the Shadow Broker is a member of the Yahg species. They are enormous and he towers over nearly all the characters in the series so far}}.
* In ''[[Aquaria (
** With one exception, which also happens to be [[That One Boss|annoyingly fast and hard to hit.]]
* ''[[
* In the ''[[Mega Man (
* ''[[Mondo Agency]]'': The President is ''tremendous''.
* Captain Syrup in the first two ''[[
* Toyotomi Hideyoshi in ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' is a towering guy comparable to a gorilla. Obviously, he is one of the more ruthless leaders of the game.
* In ''Mike Tyson's [[Punch
** The Wii version tones down the height advantage that opponents have over Mac, but they don't tone down the weight advantage. Mac weighs in at 107 pounds. Glass Joe, his first opponent, weighs in at 110
* In the old Amiga platformer ''[[Shadow of the Beast]]'', most bosses (and some mooks) were large, but the final boss? All you see of him is his foot, and his club-wielding hand that tries to crush you. You defeat him by repeatedly punching his ''big toe''.
* Dong Zhuo ([[Fat Bastard]] tyrant king) and Meng Huo (hulking Nanman tribal leader) from the ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' series.
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* In ''[[Drakan]]: The Ancients' Gate'', Arohk lampshades this on the way to optional boss Snotmaw's territory: "Since he's a chieftain, I'm guessing he's a very ''large'' wartok. Their system of government isn't particularly complex."
* {{spoiler|Taranis}} from ''[[Infinite Space]]'', who is {{spoiler|the current Emperor of Lugovalos}}.
* ''[[Ninety
* Garland's [[One
* ''[[Warhammer Online]]'''s redesign of the city sieges pits boss NPCs against each other. The Warlords are twice the size of a normal player (despite being characters that, in the original tabletop game, were normal man-sized), whereas the King NPCs are both roughly three to four times the height of a normal man. including the Emperor Karl Franz, who is very much a normal human. Still, it helps to a) justify his one-on-one fight with the monstrously huge and mutated Daemon Prince Tchar'Zanek and b) pick him out as a target...
* In ''[[Painkiller]]'', most of the mooks are roughly man-sized. Then you go up against your first boss - whose [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcOZ4TCkrfI foot you can mistake for a small building].
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* A slight subversion in ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'': The [[Big Bad]] and final boss, Chairman Drek, is very small, but uses a [[Humongous Mecha|big machine]] in the final boss fight. Also subverted in the second game of the series - the final boss is {{spoiler|a little pet...turned gigantic.}}
* In ''[[Titan Quest]]'' the special monsters tends to be bigger than the other soldiers, while the hero-monsters are even larger. This is expecially evident with the Satyrs, Jackal-men, Croc-men and Dragonians.
* All of the bosses in ''[[
* Bitores Mendez in ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' is chief of Pueblo, and the average person only comes up to the bottom of his sternum. Inverted with Ramon Salazar, the adult castellan who is [[The Napoleon|the size of a pre-teen child.]]
* ''[[Sword of the Stars]]'':
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** Liir never stop growing, so their elders can be positively huge. {{spoiler|The extreme of this are the Suul'ka, Great Elders who are larger than Leviathans.}}
* The major villain of ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]] Online'', Jolly Roger, is about 10 feet tall. Aside from some [[When Trees Attack|walking trees]] on a remote island, he is easily the largest opponent in the game.
* Ugh-Zan III, the [[Final Boss]] of ''[[
* The boss in [[
== Web Comics ==
* Barry Heterodyne, Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, Master Payne and the Jager Generals from ''[[Girl Genius]]''.
* ''[[Last
** In fact, the main subversion is [[Cute Bruiser|Jigsaw Forte]] herself: she's the smallest Executioner of the four. The other executioners are a reasonably sized human, a large lion-like centaur, and an alien creature commonly mistaken for a Horse.
* Fa'Lina from [[DMFA]] is head of SAIA, and towers over most of the cast. However this is her smaller form, as Clan leaders are shown to be 'naturally' much larger.
* Ruby from [[
* ''[[
** Also, [[Eldritch Abomination|Lord English]], the leader of [[Gang of Hats|The Felt]]. He's not the size of a mountain, but he's at ''least'' ten feet tall.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Speaking of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', [http://
▲* Speaking of ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', [http://www.cwsargeras.com/2009/03/scourge-chat-log-1.html Scourge chat] [[Log Fic|logs]] spawned the phrase "Wyrms before worms". If you click a link under "Store", you'll see there are shirts and mugs with an illustration. Because "[[Fantastic Racism|phylumism is hilarious]]".
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Optimus Prime and Megatron from ''[[Transformers]]'', with the exception of the gestalts and a few ''very big'' Transformers like Tidal Wave or Metroplex.
** Particularly jarring in ''[[
*** Well, he was only ''that'' big [[Artists Are Not Architects|for his first appearance]]. Still, he was pretty big.
** Earlier seasons offered a subversion- Dinobot was head and shoulders taller than Optimus Primal, and Rhinox was equally as large if not larger. Late season two, Rampage is much larger than Megatron, who really doesn't need size to be scary... it just helps.
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** Unicron is the size of a small planet.
** Primus IS a planet.
** Very apparent in ''[[
* Goliath from ''[[
* Vilgax from ''[[
* The Highbreed in ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force
* The Tallest of ''[[Invader Zim]]'' are [[Exactly What It Says
** And in the first episode, they are seen handing out invasion assignments based on physical height. Ending with sending the shortest applicant to the "home of the slaughtering rat people", after ''not'' sending an earlier applicant there because he looked taller. (That earlier applicant instead went to the planet that housed the universe's comfiest couch.) Zim himself is just about as small as this last applicant.
* Both Secret Societies in ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' were created and run by Gorilla Grodd. [[Exactly What It Says
* Pariah Dark from ''[[Danny Phantom]]''.
* In the straight-to-DVD Aladdin sequel, ''The Return of Jafar'', Iago literally says (in reference to Jafar) "He's large... and IN CHARGE!"
** Also, in the series, the ruler of the Al-Muddies is a giant, far bigger than his human-size subjects; however, that is ''not'' the ''only'' reason they made him their leader, as he himself says, when Aladdin tries to outsmart him.
* Fire Lord Ozai from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' cuts a rather impressive figure, as does [[Crazy Awesome|King]] [[Badass Grandpa|Bumi.]]
* From ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* [[Meaningful Name|BigWeld]] from [[Robots]] is the biggest Robot in the movie aside from the [[Big Bad|Big]][[Incredibly Lame Pun|Bad]].
* In ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', Aku is the tyrannical ruler of the dystopian world; as a shapeshifter, his size varies, but he's always a giant who towers over his minions. (And usually anyone else.) Inverted, however, with the Scottsman's clan, where ''everybody'' is a big, hulking muscleman ''except'' the guy in charge, the Elder.
* In ''[[Amphibia (TV series)|Amphibia]]'', Mayor Froderick Toadstool is the largest resident of Wartwood Swamp, the town where most of season 1 takes place; justified, as he is a toad while most other residents are frogs. However, the king of Amphibia as a whole is King Andrias Leviathan, who towers over ''any'' of his subjects, clearly the biggest non-monster character on the show as of the end of season 2.
* In the 2012 version of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', the Kraang are aliens that are about the size of the brains they resemble. Their leader is called Kraang Prime, looks similar to its underlings, but is much bigger, about the size of a bus. [[Authority Equals Asskicking|Far more dangerous too.]]
* Sera in ''[[Hazbin Hotel]]'' is a seraphim angel and the highest authority yet seen in Heaven (for the series). She is fully twice as tall as Charlie (who is 6'2" according to [[Word of God]]) and physically larger than any other angel yet seen on the show.
** In the sister series ''[[Helluva Boss]]'', this applies to many of Hell's rulers. Stolas (an Ars Goetia, part of demonic nobility) is tall and lanky, much taller than Blitzo or other regulars on the show. Asmodeus and Mammon are members of the Seven Deadly Sins, and both are much larger than other demons. Beelzbub is much smaller in her usual form (she tends to be more social than the others) but [[One-Winged Angel| her true form is as large as the others]].
** Subverted, however, for [[The Devil| Lucifer]] himself; while it's likely he could go [[One-Winged Angel]] if he wanted to, his usual form is actually half a head shorter than his daughter.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Historically, wealthier and more important people had better access to nutritious food, like meat, which allowed them to grow larger and stay fitter than the ill-nourished masses. Not having to work physically for a living could also make them [[Adipose Rex|much fatter]].
** The Leadership bit is also often justified in that, as Terry Pratchett so succinctly and accurately put it in one of the "Disworld" books(roughly paraphrased here): "For much of history in a great many places the leader was he who could kill the most enemies." While there certainly were some very talented, effective, and deadly leaders who were smaller men, being large often does help one with this.
* Emperor Charlemagne of the Sacred Roman-German Empire was
* Edward I of England was 6'2 (188
* It's [[Older Than Feudalism]]. In art history, drawing the most important people larger than their subordinates is called [
* El Cid Campeador is known to have been 1.75m tall, well above the average for his time and country.
*
* More recent: The late King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga stood an impressive 6'5" and [[Adipose Rex|weighed 440 lbs]].
* William Wallace is often portrayed as especially tall, if not a giant.
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** [[George Washington]], the first American president, stood a little over six feet tall, an impressive stature for his time. Jefferson was even taller, though not as robust.
** [[Abraham Lincoln]] is still the tallest president ever (6' 4" aka 193 cms), living at a time where the average height was even shorter. He compounded his height with a tall stovepipe hat.
** With one exception, all American presidents since [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] have been taller than the average man ([[Jimmy Carter]] was average height). Yes, even [[George W. Bush]], who despite often being depicted as short by political cartoonists is actually 5
** William Howard Taft is best known for his [[Adipose Rex|weight]] while in office as president. He actually lost about 80
** LBJ had something known as the [http://deadpresidents.tumblr.com/post/43949692433/the-johnson-treatment Johnson Treatment]. Part of this was using his imposing height (roughly 6 feet 4 inches).
* The French Republic had Charles de Gaulle and Jacques Chirac.
* [[
** Though those who have seen Arnie in person can attest that, impressive musculature notwithstanding, he is not, in fact, a particularly ''tall'' man...
*** He is 6' to 6'2" (1.82 to 1.88m) depending on what source do you believe, above average but not gigantic.
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* Malcolm Gladwell reports in the book "Blink" that the average height of a CEO for a Fortune 500 company is 6 feet - American average is 5'9". And while only 2% of American males are above 6' 2", almost a third of the CEOs are. Gladwell concludes that people have a subconscious association of tall=good leader, much as many Americans have associations saying white male=good leader.
* Men of the Mycenaean royalty and nobility were often 6 feet or taller, whereas the lower classes were...not very tall. This has led to debate over whether the upper class was merely better fed, or were a conquering race. Some German archaeologists have argued that they were Teutonic barbarians who rode in and took over the Mediterranean peoples in Greece.
* [
** Armours and uniforms from the Late Middle Ages to Early Modern times, as shown in museums (from the Royal Armoury in Madrid to the [
* Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, aka the [[Magnificent Bastard]] who united [[
* Slovene president, Dr. Danilo Türk, is over 190 cms tall.
* In the animal kingdom, being large and physically powerful is often what nets you the best territory, along with the most females.
** This also applies to many female animals, social insects being the most prominent.
* Frederick I of Württemberg was almost 7 feet tall and weighed [[Adipose Rex|around 400 pounds]]. When he held negotiations with [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1805, his courtiers and subjects were quite anxious and even afraid, because the two rulers were comically mismatched in size, and the resulting awkwardness could have killed the talks. Fortunately, Napoleon was totally cool with being four heads lower than his vis-a-vis, recognizing Frederick as King of Württemberg and forging an alliance.
* King Harald Hardrada of Norway - one of the three claimants to the throne of England in 1066 - was famously tall. Not that it did him any good in the end, even in the pre-battle negotiations: when asked how much land he would cede to Harald in exchange for peace, King Harold of England (as told in ''[[
* There wasn't any doubt who was in charge on the basketball court when Shaquille O'Neal (all 7'1", 325 pounds of him) was playing.
** The same goes for [[Wilt Chamberlain]] (same height). There has never been, and probably never will be, another player who could dominate a game so completely.
** Yao Ming is even taller than Shaq, at 7'6". During his playing days, he was the tallest in the NBA.
* [[Osama Bin Laden]]'s impressive height of between 6'4'' and 6'6'' was considered well-known and distinctive enough that, in the raid that ended his life, the American troops actually used his height as an impromptu initial means of confirming his identity in the dark conditions of his compound.
* Though not as extreme, [[The House of Normandy|William the Conqueror]] stood 5'10" (178
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Authority Tropes]]
[[Category:Bigger Is Better]]▼
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Bigger Is Better]]
[[Category:Older Than Dirt]]
[[Category:Might Makes Right]]
[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]
▲[[Category:Badass]]
▲[[Category:Large And In Charge]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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