Muscles Are Meaningless: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

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.

* 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]].

* [[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]].

 

 

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]].

*** 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.

** 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.]]

** 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.

** 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.

* ''[[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]].

** [[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).

** 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.

* 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.

* 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".

* ''[[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.

** 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.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* 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]].

 

 

* 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...

** 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.

* 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.}}

* 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.

* ''[[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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''.

* 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.

* In ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'', Jun beats some huge guy at arm wrestling easily. Then again, she is badass.

* [[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 ==

* 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.

 

{{reflist}}