Muscles Are Meaningless: Difference between revisions
m
→Western Animation: Pointed out how weak Johhny is when he lost to a child.
m (update links) |
Coffee Lover (talk | contribs) m (→Western Animation: Pointed out how weak Johhny is when he lost to a child.) |
||
| (12 intermediate revisions by 6 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:
In [[Real Life]], a person's size is [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse|not a foolproof indication of their strength]]. Besides the fact that the short and wiry guy might know kung fu, the size of muscles is also not necessarily proportionate to their efficiency. You can usually expect that pure mass does bring a certain advantage in terms of potential power ([[Square-Cube Law|to an extent]]), but it's not a set rule. Leading experts in Broscience theorize that different weight training styles, say bodybuilder vs Olympic weightlifter, cause hypertrophy of different muscle cell components, in this case intracellular fluid (sarcoplasm) vs contractile protein complexes (myofibrils). Multiple training programs exist to increase strength without bulking up, especially for martial artists, who want strength without the limitation of flexibility excessive muscle can create.
Line 9:
* Inner Power. It's a common spiritual idea that inner strength equates physical strength. This is often used as a justification in universes where [[Ki Attacks|the spirit is the true source of a character's strength]].
* [[Weak but Skilled]]. The seemingly weaker character is stronger because of his superior technique. This can work as a realistic justification until people [[Charles Atlas Superpower|start shattering mountains]] and punching out [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|giant monsters]].
* [[Bishonen]] + [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]. You can't have your [[Troubled but Cute]] hero grow huge muscles without risking certain death at the hands of the [[Fan Girl
* [[Super Strength]]. Characters may have big muscles in comic books to denote being super strong, but elsewhere this is often an exception. Sometimes even in comics books.
* [[Rule of Cool]].
Note that this trope is specifically about instances in which the person with the seemingly weaker body possesses more actual ''strength'' than a muscle-bound opponent. This does not include characters who only win because of other characteristics that make them superior to their enemies, like speed or weapon proficiency. It's a common occurrence in [[Fighting Game
Contrast [[Stout Strength]], where the character has the muscle, he just has fat on top of it as well, and [[Muscles Are Meaningful]], where the muscles DO make a difference.. When it appears on comic book heroes, it is always a case of [[Heroic Build]].
Line 29:
*** Videl is actually one of the straightest examples of this, as even before she learned basic ki manipulation she was at least as strong as her father Mr. Satan, despite being a slender teenage girl with none of his huge muscles. As for why Gohan doesn't accidentally snap her in half, it's probably for the same reason real-life weightlifting champions can pet a kitten or pick up an egg without crushing it. Controlling your strength to use only the amount you want to for the task at hand is not difficult.
** The DBZ characters are, however, very muscular for the most part. It turns out that anything that boosts your ki energy will probably also build muscle mass. Really, once you start blowing up planets with mystical ki energy, physics can go out the window and nobody will care.
* The complete dependency on Shinsoo in ''[[Tower of God]]''. It is the one thing defining power and musclemass really means absolutely nothing. Not only does the [[Square-Cube Law]] come into effect, but being big is an entirely different problem when in some areas of the Tower the Shinsoo, which acts as air surrogate, is as dense a 4 °C water. Thus character with high Shinsoo resistance and control like [[The Hero|Baam]] and [[Tomboy Princess|Yuri]] have a huge advantage.
** Yuri and her clan, the Ha, is also a traditional case of being [[Charles Atlas Superpower|physically very strong]] while having a fairly feminine frame. Other characters, especially the damage dealing Fishermen can strengthen their body temporarily while inducing Shinsoo into their body.
* The CP9 of ''[[One Piece]]'' have the huge guy Blueno, but he's one of the weaker ones. By far the most powerful in the team is the lean (though tall) and attractive [[Knight Templar]] Rob Lucci. And then there is, of course, Luffy himself, who is one of the strongest people alive and has arms like sticks. Funnily enough, there was at least one occasion where he flexed his arms to reveal muscles larger than his head.
** Luffy's small arms are justified since he is made of rubber. Zoro, on the other hand, is just plain crazy. When he flexes, his arms become the size of his torso. When relaxed they are normal size. On the other hand, Sanji's kicks can smash down buildings but he's pretty consistently a bean pole.
** The same also applies to the admirals, Kizaru being the most prominent example; they are among the most powerful of antagonists, but all three [[Lean and Mean|are very thin for their height.]]
*** In the case of Kizaru, however, there's a justification for this. He can move at the speed of
** Before Alvida ate her Devil Fruit she had decent [[Stout Strength]] (being able to wield a large iron club), but she's still strong after eating even though it made her much skinnier (and more attractive).
** Also, Robin is a tall, slight woman with the strength of an above-average athlete, which is pretty weak compared to some of the monsters of the series. However, she easily makes up for it with her Devil Fruit ability, which allows her to ''break your back'' effortlessly.
Line 52:
** A specific case of this is Nuriko, whose power is super strength, yet {{spoiler|he's skinny enough to convincingly crossdress as a woman.}}
* Kyohei and Sunako from ''[[The Wallflower]].'' Both are very waifish, and both can easily beat down ''crowds'' of enemies when they need to.
* L from ''[[Death Note]]'', who is 5'8" and weighs 110
* ''[[Soul Eater]]'' uses the combination of a healthy 'mind, body, and soul' to define strength and point out that it's not purely down to physical power. Characters who are shown to be extremely strong physically do not always appear as such; Maka and Kid for example, though the latter has the excuse of being a god. It doesn't hurt to be muscular, however, as characters like Black Star (especially) and Stein show.
* [[Inuyasha]] is pretty trim under that kimono, but he can uproot large trees and use them as weapons, pick up and carry a bolder larger than he is tall, etc. Even for a [[Half-Human Hybrid|hanyo]], InuYasha is incredibly strong, stronger than many full [[Youkai]].
Line 58:
** [[Word of God]] states that Sesshoumaru's ''arm strength alone'' is about as strong as Inuyasha in full demon mode. We're talking about all the strength in a single arm here.
* Somewhat averted, somewhat played with in ''[[Naruto]]''. While some characters use special chakra-based abilities to have [[Super Strength]] (just look at Sakura and her teacher, Tsunade (whose trademark ability is her raw strength). Barely a muscle on their slim bodies (except for their bosoms), but they can beat down mooks fifty times their size!), the characters known for being physically strong are usually HUGE. A, Killer Bee, and Chouji come to mind. There ARE exceptions, like Rock Lee (who is much stronger than his muscles would suggest, and DOESN'T use chakra to make up for it).
** This fellow from Yahoo.com answers the same question: [
** Sakura and Tsunade's hard hitting explicitly ''doesn't'' have anything to do with muscles, as it's actually them [[Ki Attacks|gathering chakra into their fists and blasting it all out on impact]]. Most of their actual physical ability involves heightened agility to [[Deadly Dodging|avoid getting hit]]. When it comes to raw physical strength, the strongest tend to be pretty big guys ([[Stout Strength|Choji and his father]], [[Giant Mook|Jirobo]], [[Gentle Giant|Jugo]], [[Large and In Charge|the Raikage]]) or use some form of body modification ([[Powered by a Forsaken Child|Kakuzu]], cursed seal user, Naruto and Jiraiya in [[Super Mode|Sage Mode]]) except for Mighty Guy and Rock Lee, who tend towards the "defined, but lean" [[Bruce Lee Clone|in the style of Bruce Lee]] (see below) as they value both speed and strength. It's outright (and hilariously) subverted when Sasuke (who's really rather scrawny) tries to kick Killer Bee (who is quite large, tall, and muscular)... [[Punch-Punch-Punch Uh-Oh|and it does absolutely nothing]].
*** However, in one of the first filler episodes Sakura ''rips up a ship's mast and uses it to beat the bad guys off the vessel.'' This is before she began her training with Tsunade, you understand. It was a big ship.
Line 67:
* Of course, ''[[Saint Seiya]]'' has this in spades. Cassios and Docrates, two enormous towers of sheer muscle (Shayna's disciple and one of the Pope's acolytes, respectively) are humbled by skinny 15 year-olds Seiya and Hyoga. Most noticeable in that Cassios' ''fist'' is as large as Seiya himself, but the latter can easily stop Cassios' punch with his open palm. Without even using his [[Battle Aura|Cosmo]] ([[You Fail Physics Forever|or leverage, for that matter]].)
* ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'': Toyama Kintaro was twelve years old, not even five feet tall... and was able to drive a golf ball farther than a college student with ''a 5-iron that he bent with his bare hands.''
* Who's the strongest character in ''[[Durarara!!]]''? Is it Simon, the huge black [[Husky Russkie|Russian]] sushi tout known to be capable of lifting men his size with one hand? Nope, it's Shizuo the skinny, blonde ex-bartender. A skinny, blonde ex-bartender that can throw vending machines four stories high. This is due to the fact that, beyond lacking the mental limiters most people have to [[Heroic RROD|keep them from ripping their body apart via overexertion]], most of Shizuo's muscular structure is so dense and compact that most bladed weapons have trouble penetrating it beyond a centimeter.
** It's stated in the anime that Simon is better that Shizuo in a one on one fight. He's the only one who can stop Shizuo's rampages, albeit with some trouble; he does it and comes out with some bruises and a black eye. Shizuo is stated to be better in a street fight however, due to an advantage in speed and his nigh invulnerability.
*** His body is THAT awesome because he literally broke every single bone in his body multiple times in his youth, due to the super strength and [[Hair-Trigger Temper]]. After breaking so many times, his bones won't break anymore. On top of that, his pain receptors broke down from overburdening, and he feels no pain. {{spoiler|In one of the last episodes, he got shot in the back and in the hip from behind, and thought he slipped in the mud. When he realized what happened, he got up and walked halfway across Ikebukuro to Shinra's house to have the bullets removed.}}
Line 74:
** Many of the Dex Holders themselves manage to perform feats of physical excellence, but the majority of them are a result of being drunk on [[Heroic Resolve]]. And then there's Sapphire, whose feats of strength and heroism [[Cute Bruiser|speak]] [[Badass Normal|for]] [[Wild Child|themselves]].
*** Hell, even Blue may be stronger than she appears. At age 11, she once held onto her flying Jigglypuff with one hand while the other arm was hoisting up Red.
* Hareta from ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure]]'' is absurdly powerful for a kid his age but has no muscles (probably considering he's prepubescent). At one point he flipped a Rhyperior, which is over 600 pounds and a rock Pokemon.
* In ''[[Pretty Face]]'', Rando was in a coma for a year and his muscles shrank for not using them. Strangely enough, despite this, his physical strength didn't go down at all.
* The strongest characters in ''[[Aiki]]'' are pretty muscular... but only on the middle of the size scale. The strongest ''women'' barely have any. The trope itself is invoked when Joukyuu informs [[Hot Amazon]] Hou Mei of why she's doing badly in a fight against an opponent who's much smaller - she's too muscular and it's slowing her down. She leaves for a time to train, returning noticeably slimmer and much faster.
Line 85:
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'':We have Sanosuke, a lean hand-to-hand combat fighter. Yet he's strong enough to lift a heavy zanbato and clash with muscular monk Anji. Anti-hero Saito, who can beat Sanosuke into a bloody pulp, and Shishio, who has enough power to send Sanosuke flying, are also quite slender.
** Averted with Seijuro Hiko, Kenshin's master, who seems a tall and slender man... until he takes off his coat, revealing a huge muscled body. [[Word of God]] says that some fangirls were disappointed at him not being a Bishounen.
* In ''[[Ranma ½
* Averted humorously in ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex|Stand Alone Complex]]'' when Batou, jokingly, tells the Major she should switch to a male prosthetic body like his because it would give her more strength. She challenges him on the spot and he brings his fists up ready to spar. Knowing that he's ''correct,'' she hacks his brain and makes him punch himself out.
** The joke here being that the Major doesn't need more strength when she has her far more effective brain.
* Pretty much all [[Magical Girl Warrior]] anime, from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' to ''[[Pretty Cure]]'', give their heroines [[Super Strength]] upon [[Transformation Sequence]] without significant changes to muscle mass or tone.
* In ''[[Rosario
* ''[[Black Lagoon]]'': [[Bald Black Leader Guy|Dutch]], the Lagoon Company's leader, is a fairly muscular guy but gets easily overpowered by the thinner [[Ninja Maid|Roberta]]. Ultimately, the much more trim Revy is the only match for her.
* In ''[[Koihime Musou]]'' very few characters are drawn muscle-bound but some of the smallest characters are among the strongest. Chouhi is only as tall as Kannu's chest but can carry a battering ram [[Up to Eleven|plus the half dozen or so people using it]] with one arm. While suffering from a cold. Kyocho is similarly a very small-sized character with no visible muscle but uses a [[Epic Flail|kendama with a huge metal ball that must weigh as much as she does]] in combat. Both easily qualify as [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse|Pintsized Powerhouses]].
* Just about every single [[Shoujo Demographic]] that involves action, including the male characters and even in series that don't have the supernatural excuse. You can be a pretty boy and still have a good amount of muscle but not in shoujo.
* In ''[[Fairy Tail]]'', size and muscle mass is hardly ever an indicator of strength, barring a few exceptions like [[Badass|Gildarts]]. The incredibly thin Sol was able to overpower [[Heroic Build|Elfman]] with ease, and so could [[Ms. Fanservice|Mirajane]].
* Ivica Tanović, the commander of the Pied Piper Team in ''[[Eureka Seven AO]]'', ''is'' [[The Big Guy|an extremely tall and imposing man]], but still looks awfully skinny for the [[Super Strength]] feats he routinely displays.
Line 131:
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] and [[Subverted Trope]] in Robert Asprin's [[Myth Adventures]] - Guido is getting the "size doesn't matter in a fight" lecture from a drill sergeant, and muses that this only works if the little guy is very skillfull while the big guy is very UN-skillful. He then proceeds to break the arm of the drill instructor, who had been planning to use him as a tackle dummy.
* In ''[http://qntm.org/?power Power of Two]'' (part of the "Fine Structure" series at [[Things of Interest]]), it's noted that people who get superpowers don't look any different, and the narrator muses that "We don't even know if you gain anything from working out when you have these abilities".
* Justified in ''[[Codex Alera]]'' by Earth crafting, which is explicitly noted to provide strength but not extra mass, and Air crafting (though if it isn't backed up by [[Required Secondary Powers]] it can be quite painful) which provides speed, meaning one can make like the Flash.
* [[Sherlock Holmes]] is tall and wiry, but he is also extremely strong. After a burly man threatens him in "The Speckled Band" by bending an iron poker, Holmes casually straightens it.
* Ditto [[Erast Fandorin]]. Except that he has the justifying bonus of having been trained in ninjutsu for six years, meaning he can kill pretty much anything with his bare hands while hiding his strength under [[Bishonen|frail, bishie]] looks..
Line 138:
* Elves and Riders in the ''[[Inheritance Trilogy]]'' are often capable of feats of strength (and speed and magic too) beyond that of most humans, including humans with way bigger muscles. Eragon himself notes this in Brisingr by comparing his muscles to his cousin Roran's much larger muscles.
* ''[[Pippi Longstocking]]'' is perhaps the most famous example of this trope in literature. She can lift one of the area's strongest men... when the man is lifting 100-lb weights, and Pippi herself, as the article's image shows, has ridiculously skinny limbs.
* This trope is also used in the ''[[Dragaera]]'' novels. Dragaerans, while admittedly averaging about a foot taller than normal humans (or "Easterners", as they call
* First played straight in ''Graceling'', as Katsa's extreme talent, flexibility, and speed make her too [[Badass]] for strength to matter much, but subverted once she meets another Graced fighter ({{spoiler|though of course Po's Grace is a bit more complex than that}}) and realizes her size and relative weakness do disadvantage her.
* The Doctor, in the ''[[Doctor Who]] [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]]'', can easily carry a grown man around, has threatened one of his companions with the fact he could break any bone in said companion's body (he was really stressed out at the time), and once stabbed a guy with his thumb. He's 5'8", "slight", and "bony".
Line 150:
** The Seventh Doctor in the [[Virgin New Adventures]], while not being as physically active as his [[The Nth Doctor|older counterpart]], is often described as having an uncanny strength, and the grip of a bear, when need be. He's 5'6" and of a small build.
* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Yoko Akia. She is 4 feet 8 inches (1.46304 metres) tall, she weighs 90 pounds (40.82 kilograms), and just about everything about her is tiny. She can flatten just about anybody bigger, more muscular and weightier than her in a fight and her fellow Sisters and Vigilantes call her "the 90-pound stick of dynamite"! In the book ''Lethal Justice'', Yoko (who supposedly has a brown belt) spars against Harry Wong, who is likely a [[Bruce Lee]] [[Expy]], has a black belt, is bigger than her, has more muscle than her, and could supposedly flatten her without difficulty. Instead, the little "porcelain doll" (as Harry described her) ended up pinning him to the ground. Harry afterwards admits to Jack Emery that that was the first time he was ever pinned to the ground!
* [[Mistborn]], those who can burn pewter gain [[Super Strength]] but no muscle mass, Vin, a 5 foot nothing skinny girl can beat the living crap out of several large men at once when burning pewter.
* Stated in ''[[The King Killer Chronicles]]'' with the matriarchal Adem culture of warrior-philosophers. The hero's female mentor states that women are better fighters then men because they are more moral and therefore understand their fighting style better. The hero asks about men's superior reach and strength, which the mentor dismisses as irrelevant. Since Adem are far and away the most skilled warriors in the world, their views are apparently justified.
Line 167:
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'''s Minbari, memorably when Lennier picks someone up by the throat and holds them with his arm held straight and level and not bracing himself. All whilst calmly explaining that although looking [[Rubber Forehead Aliens|much]] like a human he really is an alien.
* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] is occasionally shown to have this ability. The Fourth Doctor once karate-chopped a brick in half, and the Eighth dented a heavy steel door in the process of knocking it off its hinges.
* ''[[Star Trek]]'': Vulcans (and their kin, the Romulans and the Remans) are twice as strong as humans - Spock has effortlessly wiped the floor with Kirk at least two times in the series. And [[Star Trek:
** Data's strength is shown when a Klingon tries to challenge him in their version of arm-wrestling (B'aht Qul). Data effortlessly beats him, at which point the angry Klingon tries to headbutt the android. Data simply points out that his skull is made out of the same stuff they make starship hulls.
* In ''[[Friends]]'', Monica is [[Informed Ability|noted]] to be "freakishly strong", despite her size.
* X-5 series transgenic supersoldiers in ''[[Dark Angel]]''. While Zack is fairly bulky, Max and Alec have roughly the same level of enhanced physical prowess.
* In ''[[Chuck]]'', a new version of the Intersect computer can upload martial arts skills into a user's brain, giving guys with [[Geek Physiques]] the ability to beat up trained soldiers without any change in muscle size.
== Professional Wrestling ==
* Pro wrestling usually averts this trope, but when [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] had The Hurricane, he would often chokeslam wrestlers several times his own size. (The chokeslam normally being reserved for [[The Giant|huge wrestlers]].) Hey, he is supposed to be a [[Superhero]], after all.
* There was also He Who Must Not Be Named ({{spoiler|[[Chris Benoit]]}}). Part of his "Silent But Violent" persona was that he was ridiculously strong for his size and able to perform power moves on wrestlers literally twice his size.
* In one of his books [[Mick Foley]] once wrote that when a wrestler had a less than stellar physique, the commentators would often cover for the wrestler's ability to throw guys around by claiming they had exceptional ''tendon'' strength. In some cases, such as with Dan "The Beast" Severn, it was true.
* While it is normal for lightweight wrestlers to be squashed by the big guys they are plenty of cases where the smaller guys (and girls) can get the win against them. This can normally only be done with high flyers who rely on hit-and-run type tactics.
* If you're a muscular WWE Diva then it's not wise to assume the [[Waif Fu]] girls will be an easy win. Just ask [[Beth Phoenix]].
== Tabletop Games ==
* In most if not all [[Superhero]] roleplaying games -- such as ''[[Villains and Vigilantes]], [[Champions]], [[GURPS Supers]]'' and more -- body mass and physical strength are completely decoupled. (Then again, that's usually true for any genre of roleplaying game but it's far more noticeable in superhero games.) It's possible to make slender, three-foot faerie-type who can pound [[The Incredible Hulk]] into the dirt with ease.
== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Super Smash Bros.]] Melee'', the [[Fragile Speedster]] Fox is not only possibly the fastest character, he also has two of the most powerful KO-moves in his up-aerial and up-smash, the latter of which is the second-most powerful of its sort in the whole game, easily beating the much slower up-smashes of [[Donkey Kong/Characters|Donkey Kong]] and [[The Legend of Zelda/Characters|Ganondorf]] in terms of raw power. And the strongest up-smash? [[Violation of Common Sense|Pikachu's.]]
* This can be seen in MMORPGs as well. Since character appearances are purely aesthetic, a large muscular character could be defeated with ease by a smaller character.
** Extremely apparent in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' and ''City of Villains''. A player making a Brute or Tanker character can take Super Strength, War Mace, or Battle Axe and the strength of the attacks will be the same whether you're an [[The Big Guy|8-foot high hulking man]] or a [[Cute Bruiser|4-foot tall anorexic-looking girl]].
Line 194 ⟶ 198:
* In a word, ''[[Disgaea]]''. Someone who looks like [[media:dis-laharl1.jpg|this]] should not even be capable of lifting the sword he is holding, much less be able to deal absurdly high amounts of damage or lift and throw ten significantly larger people at once.
** Or blow up planets...
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''' Sora, like most [[Kid Hero
** Same thing that applies to Axel, goes with Larxene.
*** This is lampshaded early on in the first game, with Maleficent openly stating that "the boy's strength is not his own". It's implied that a combination of the Keyblade's magic and [[The Power of Friendship]] is what allows him to kick so much ass.
Line 203 ⟶ 207:
** In ''Wind Waker'' Link was about 4 feet tall, one of the smallest characters in the game. Ganon was almost thrice Link's height!
** This part of the series is so odd that even Miyamoto commented on it as peculiar. Of course in many cases it's justified by his possession of a strength-enhancing magical accouterment (in the last two set-top games, you get some in the first dungeon). To give an idea of how powerful these can make Link, by the end of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|OoT]]'', the golden gauntlets allow him to ''[[Cutscene Power to the Max|rip a 5'×5'×30' solid stone pillar from the ground and lob it a hundred feet through the air]]''; with that kind of might and an invincible blade like the Master Sword, he [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|should be able to hew clean through any monster (or dungeon wall!) in a blow]].
* Dante of ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' would definitely count. While is certainly well built (his arms are like tree trunks in ''Devil May Cry 4'') and of a large body frame (though [[Capcom]] changes this every game... all canon material place him to be no less than 6'2'' and as tall as 6'7")... this in no way explains how he can cause a ten foot thick block of concrete to crack into two pieces with a half hearted punch; how he can hit a Demon King which is 40 times his size clean off his feet and back about twenty feet; how he can block a punch from a mile tall stone replica of his father with matching power to boot (meaning those punches probably equal out to be several hundred tons of force); etc. Also, while I'm sure that he has quite a bit of muscle on those legs of his... he still shouldn't be able to clear 100 foot jumps, how his legs can withstand being bulldozed into by a punch from a mile tall stone replica of his father with matching power to boot (Once again, probably equalling out to be several hundred tons of force), how he can launch objects with enough force to clear several hundred feet, etc. Then again, seeing as how he took out the EMPORER/GOD of all demons... I shouldn't be surprised.
** All of his feats and strength are easily explained by the fact that he's supernatural. Despite being a bishonen though, he is actually of above average build (the degree varies from game to game).
** He's not only supernatural but also magical as well. He can after all create a footing in thin air, why not enhance strength with magic?
Line 209 ⟶ 213:
* The original ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' game allows you to gain the same strength as Gutsman, a boss robot at least twice your size. The strength Mega Man shows in the end of the fifth game needs to be seen.
* Saber from ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' is a little over five feet tall and is built like a somewhat toned fourteen year old, and yet is capable of parrying blows from a ten foot tall crazed [[The Berserker|Berserker]]. {{spoiler|This is because of her Mana Burst ability, where she consumes magic to perform superhuman feats of strength and endurance. When she's suffering from mana deprivation, she's about as weak as she looks. It is explicitly stated that without magical energy she is weaker that Shirou and Rin in terms of physical strength.}}
* Kinda averted in [[Tsukihime]] and the [[Nasuverse]]. Arc and Saber are stated to be as weak as they appear if not for their high levels of supernatural magical energies. Then again, it does fit this trope in that
* Played with in ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]''. Standard human-sized Alex can lift cars and kick helicopters apart with about 3 hits and the {{spoiler|Supreme Hunter}} is a fair powerhouse despite not being much bigger. This is justified as both actually weigh far more than they appear on the surface. On the other hand, the standard human-sized Infected don't pose much threat in melee, Alex's Muscle Mass power ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]) noticeably increases his melee power, and the various [[Elite Mooks]] that do pose a problem in melee are hulking bruisers towering over Alex.
* Makoto Nanaya of ''[[
* ''[[Mass Effect]]'''s Male Shepard is decently built, but stick his [[Distaff Counterpart]] in a dress and she's a waif. This doesn't stop her punching [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|krogan]] to death if she gets close enough. In the second game, Shepard is partially cybernetic and can fire a sniper rifle or shotgun that would shatter a normal human's bones.
** The sniper rifle in question, the [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|M-98 Widow]], is an ''anti-tank rifle''.<ref>"The Widow was never designed to be carried and fired by a human. Although this modified model can be carried, no ordinary human could fire it without shattering an arm."</ref>
* One of the augmentations the Spartans received in the ''[[Halo (series)|Halo]]'' universe was a thyroid implant that increases their muscular density significantly (tying in to the real life science mention in the description). Spartan II's were "7 foot tall walking tanks" but they became known that way ''before'' their strength enhancing [[Powered Armor]] made them into near unstoppable soldiers. In a story surrounding the augmentation of John-117, at age 14 he already had an adult Olympic-level physique and after recovering from the thyroid implant he was physically far superior to a pair of ODST special forces soldiers, who made the mistake of [[Bullying a Dragon|trying to push him around...]]
* While not as scrawny as some of the other video game characters listed, in ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', the Scout is able to sending enemies flying with a baseball bat, including the [[Mighty Glacier|Heavy.]]
* Cloud from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''. He's 5'7", making him the shortest human male in the cast. Also, while having very well defined muscles, is much smaller than [[The Big Guy|Barret]] or even Cid. Yet he's significantly stronger than anyone else in the party and in ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children|Advent Children]]'' he ''carries'' Barret ''one-handed'' at high speed.
** If Cloud doesn't count because of all his mako enhancements, then Tifa most definitely does. She looks like a waif, but she can keep pace with Jenova-enhanced [[Super Soldier
* Similarly, Fenris of ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' is an elf, which in this game means very thin and lanky, but specializes in two-handed weapons which not only include greatswords but hammers and axes as well. Helps that he has [[Applied Phlebotinum|Lyrium]] laced throughout his body.
* In ''[[Saints Row: The Third|Saints Row the Third]]'', at your complete whim you can change your hulking, muscular beast of a character to a stick-like [[Pretty Boy|bishie]] twerp on the spot via [[Magic Plastic Surgery|plastic surgery]], but you can still drop kick grown men, throw people across a highway, and manhandle a [[Elite Mook|brute]] with a baseball bat like it's no big deal.
Line 226 ⟶ 230:
* Bun-Bun from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' is a [[Killer Rabbit]] about the same size as a plushy, and about as soft. Doesn't stop him from [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=980122 kicking] [http://pics.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=991128 serious] [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090512 ass].
* ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].'' Molly's alien pet Snookums is about the size of a basketball, but began as a [[Kaiju|giant monster]] before getting [[Incredible Shrinking Man|shrunk.]] He retains all his original mass, so the ground shakes when he hops around, and he can defeat much larger opponents simply by hopping into them.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150508052219/http://adventurers.keenspot.com/d/20020114.html Discussed] in ''[[Adventurers!]]''
Line 236 ⟶ 240:
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''.
* Disney's [[Hercules (
* Bamm-Bamm as an infant on ''[[The Flintstones]]''. [[The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show|Later, he becomes a buff teen]].
* Ed, Sarah, and Rolf from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy|Ed, Edd n Eddy]]'' have virtually no muscles but are incredibly strong, but Rolf does when he flexes or becomes enraged.
* [[The Life and Times of Juniper Lee|Juniper Lee]] displays remarkable super strength compared to her appearance. Justified in that she's the [[The Chosen One|Te Xuan Ze]] and her super strength is magical.
* Stewie Griffin of ''[[Family Guy]]'' can brutalize adults and fire an automatic weapon with no recoil problems despite being a baby. And then he'll get his ass whooped by an infant younger than him.
* June from ''[[
* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Jun beats some huge guy at arm wrestling easily. Then again, she is badass.
* [[Johnny Bravo]], despite being a muscular [[Top-Heavy Guy]], is regularly shown to be beaten by people at the most half his size. He even lost a fight to a small child that just waved his sleeves around.
* [[Dave the Barbarian]] is a very tall muscular guy but he's a total wuss who can't fight worth a damn and always gets his ass kicked by people and animals smaller than him.
* On ''[[Total Drama Island]],'' shrimpy, geeky [[Dogged Nice Guy|Cody]] seems to have super strength. Aside from his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] knocking out [[Jerkass|Duncan]] in one punch, in TDDDDI he was hanging off a cliff, holding up himself, the muscular Tyler, the even-more-muscular DJ, ''and'' almost-three-hundred-pound [[Big Eater]] Owen. Shockingly, he was actually able to pull up all of their weight (though the cliff edge couldn't, which is why they fell anyway).
* In ''[[Silverhawks]]'', [[Genius Bruiser]] [[Brother-Sister Team|twins]] Steelheart and Steelwill exemplify this perfectly. Steelwill is huge and brawny, to the point his facemask looks like a ''football helmet''. Steelheart looks like a very athletic woman, but even she looks positively tiny next to her brother. And yet, they're equally strong and evenly matched in any physical contest, making Steelwill's towering bulk look... ''inefficient'' next to his sleeker, more compact sibling.
== Truth In Television ==
Line 269 ⟶ 272:
* While machines were adopted for weight training because they keep the weight from moving around in an unsafe manner, this has turned out to cause more injuries than traditional methods because it works out major muscle groups without also engaging stability muscles. In recent years, there's been a shift to "strongman"-style training with awkward loads (sandbags, water tubes, medicine balls, etc.) to give athletes control to back their strength.
* It's entirely possible for a diet to provide enough calories to get stronger, but not enough to gain muscle mass. It's much more common with vegetarian and vegan athletes who can reach their optimal protein intake with fewer total calories.
* Varvara Akulova. Amazingly strong and has been lifting weights since a very young age. At her early teenage years she could lift 350
* Abraham Lincoln was unusually tall and thin, but according to several sources, [https://web.archive.org/web/20150515133925/http://www.lincolnportrait.com/physical_man.asp was quite a good wrestler in his youth.]
{{reflist}}
| |||