The Napoleon: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

== Anime & Manga ==

** [[Street Fighter|Tiger Uppercut]]!

* Anak Zahard from ''[[Tower of God]]''. Small, strong and straight to the point (or punch).

** Two other twists on this [[Running Gag]]: Two [[Lady of War]] characters, Izumi Curtis and Olivia Armstrong, both call Ed short, but he doesn't respond in his usual manner, because he's terrified of them. Another instance is with two characters who start beating Ed up because he basically said they were his slaves. They actually do call him a pipsqueak who is an inch tall, and his response is "I'm not small, it's the world that's big."

** Although, unlike most listed here, due to his nature as a teenager, he ''does'' grow taller as the story goes. Never becomes what you'd call 'tall', but does become a decent height.

* Atsushi Otani from ''[[Lovely Complex]]'', who clashes a lot with the equally temperamental [[Huge Schoolgirl]] Koizumi.

* Black Star in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has a bit of Napoleon in him. While about average height with the rest of the cast, he places ''much'', ''much'' emphasis on how "big" he is.

* Michael from ''[[Angel Sanctuary]]''. Yes, ''[[The Bible|that]]'' [[The Bible|Michael]]. He's prone to causing violent explosions whenever anyone mentions his height. Naturally, [[Idiot Hero|that's the first thing Setsuna says upon meeting him]].

* ''[[Dragonball Z]]''. Vegeta. It's ''extremely'' noticable during his first appearance, and not only because he's [[Giant Mook|standing next to Nappa]]. Vegeta seems to grow in comparison to the other characters as the series moves on, though this can be attributed more to added muscle mass and aging rather than physically growing taller. He consistently remains one of the shorter fighters in the show.

* [[Naruto]] before ''Shippuden'' was this -- him being the shortest in the team, including Sakura. And let's face it -- he really is very confrontational, rude, loud, and aggressive.

** In ''Shippuden'', however, he's a lot taller, practically as tall as Sakura if not a bit taller.

* Emerald from ''[[Pokémon|Pokémon Special]]'', who tries to make up for it with extendable arms and ridiculously high platform shoes.

** To be fair, you can't really blame him, since he's shorter than ''[[Samus Is a Girl|Yellow]]'' (who does not, however, have the same problem, though she does usually [[Sweat Drop]] every time one of the GSC gang realizes that she's older than them, despite being shorter).

* [[Teen Genius]] Suzu Hagimura is ''[[Seitokai Yakuindomo]]'''s resident [[The Napoleon|shorty]]. Never call her [[Berserk Button|kid]] unless you want to hear [[Catch Phrase|a long tirade about the strength of her intelligence]]. That goes double if you're a foreigner: it'll be the [[Cluster F-Bomb|Cluster F Bombs]] for you.

* The protagonist, Kankichi Ryotsu, of ''[[Kochikame]]'' is like this. He's shown to have a short temper and excels physically. His height is depicted at 167 cm, shorter than most of the main cast, but sometimes appears shorter. His boss, Daijiro "Bucho" Ohara, is slightly taller and has a short fuse temper mainly towards Ryotsu goofing off on his job.

== Films -- Animation ==

* Lord Farquaad from ''[[Shrek]]'', who takes great lengths to appear taller, such as by attaching false legs to his stirrups. Upon seeing Farquaad's massive tower, Shrek suggests that he's [[Compensating for Something]], which could actually go a few ways.

* Mr. Huph, Mr. Incredible's boss at the insurance company, in ''[[The Incredibles]]''. He's extremely short and short-tempered and looks even smaller next to Bob. He's voiced by Wallace Shawn, who often plays these types of characters.

** As well as Edna Mode from the same film, or Chef Skinner in ''[[Ratatouille]]''.

* All of the mob bosses in ''[[The Triplets of Belleville]]'' are tiny and always flanked by two much larger bodyguards.

* [[Big Bad|Mr.]] [[Jerkass|Sykes]] from ''[[Shark Tale]]''. He a short-temperd pufferfish who rules the Whale-Wash with henchmen [[Adult Child|Ernie & Bernie]].

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* Swan in ''[[Phantom of the Paradise]]'', played by a 5'2 [[Paul Williams]], has shortened doorways at the Swanage/Death Records.

* Napoleon's entire personality in ''[[Time Bandits]]'' was based around his abhorrence of tall people and obsessiveness about being short.

* Mini-Me from ''[[Austin Powers]]''. He [[Silent Bob|doesn't really say anything about it]], though... just makes a lot of mean faces if you make fun of his height.

* Lord Cutler Beckett from ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''. He's the closest thing to an outright-evil character in the films. He has no fear of Gods, and no sense of honor, he's cold, heartless, tyrannical, and severe. ''But he's so tiny!''

* Francis Begbie of ''[[Trainspotting]]''. Although the character in the book was described as a large, musclebound bruiser, director Danny Boyle chose to cast 5'8 Robert Carlyle on the belief that shorter men are more dangerous.

* Tanner in both the 1976 ''[[The Bad News Bears]]'' (and its sequel ''Breaking Training'') and the 2005 remake.

* This is a staple for most roles played by French comedic genius [[wikipedia:Louis de Funes|Louis de Funès]] -- short, bossy and bad-tempered.

** For example, in ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067108/ Delusions of Grandeur]'', Don Saluste finds his valet Blaze (played by Yves Montand) to be too tall and orders him to serve his master while half-crouched. The actors for the "Grands d'Espagne" in the same movie were specifically chosen as very tall to make Saluste look shorter.

* Kevin Hart's character in [[Think Like A Man]], when confronted with a very tall man who wants to play on the basketball court that he and his friends were just about done with, refused to give it up and instead challenged the man and his equally tall friends to play him and his friends for the right to use the court. Kevin and friends lost really badly.

* Ottilio Panza, an assassin in ''[[The Boondock Saints]] II'', wears elevator shoes. He also lies down next to his victims after killing them, comparing his height with theirs.

 

== Literature ==

* Curly from all incarnations of ''[[Of Mice and Men]]''.

** Big Fido, feared canine psychopath and charismatic leader of Ankh-Morpork's Dog Guild, was a small fluffy white poodle.

* Aliera e'Kieron from the ''[[Dragaera]]'' series. She goes as far as levitating to appear taller, which provides a [[Blood Knight|handy excuse for a duel]] when someone points it out. She seems to have dropped the practice later in the series's timeline.

* Lessa in the ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' series is ''tiny'' but fearsome, made all the worse by her massive, jet plane-sized dragon Ramoth.

* A mild example in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Tie-in Novel|Tie In Novels]] starring the Eighth Doctor. He's not exactly short -- at 5'8", he's only an inch or two below average height for a 21st-century British man. But that's not especially tall for a hero with his enormous reputation. He hardly seems to know or care what he looks like to anyone, but sometimes meets people who were [[Expecting Someone Taller]], and another character comments on the fact that "he acts tall," which he does. His companion Anji is even more of an example; fellow companion Fitz reflects upon how silly she looks trying to boss around some thirteen-year-old girls whom she is "several inches shorter than", but decides she probably "shout[s] so much" because, "It must be a bummer to be short." He wouldn't know; he's the opposite of this trope, being tall and laid-back.

* Sammael (whose name means "The Destroyer of Hope") of the Forsaken in ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' was one of several formerly prominent light side generals and Aes Sedai during the war against the shadow in the Age of Legends, whom was intensely jealous of the leader, Lews Therin Telamon, The Dragon (but not [[The Dragon]]), for one because he was a head shorter than him. He is extremely irked the same is true of his opponent's [[Reincarnation]] Rand Al Thor, and sometimes uses a projection to appear taller. It should be noted that he probably isn't all that short really, as Rand is explicitly said to be much taller than is average thanks to his Aiel heritage, around 6 1/2 feet.

** It's explicitly stated in the books that Sammael is only slightly shorter than average.

* [[Vorkosigan Saga|Miles Vorkosigan]] is ahem-mumble-something under five feet tall, and with fragile bones to boot (well, until he gets synthetic replacements, anyway). He's an Admiral rather than a General, but his Napoleonic tendencies are described several times by other characters, and even he acknowledges that he's driven by his physical condition; he has to prove, day after day after day, that he's a smartass bastard who can think rings around the opposition, and thus force people to accept the body that his brains happen to be in. The Vorkosigan Saga Universe should probably be very, very thankful that he had ''really good'' parents, because otherwise he'd have probably conquered it twice over by now.

* Karrin Murphy of ''[[The Dresden Files]]''. Tiny (especially when she's surrounded by men who are pushing six feet like Harry, Sanya and Thomas) and can probably kick your ass twelve ways from midday. Not to mention the fact that she {{spoiler|may or may not be the wielder of a holy sword}}. As Sanya put it, "Tiny, but ''fierce''."

* Percy Wetmore, the main villain from ''[[The Green Mile]]'', is described as being very cruel, very sadistic and very short.

* Base from ''[[Star Trek Millennium]]'', the galaxy's shortest and most angrily homicidal Ferengi.

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: Many times, a short male character will pop up and the author or one of the characters will say that the guy probably has a Napoleon Complex. This sort of character is portrayed as a [[Jerkass]] at best and a [[Complete Monster]] at worst by the author. At times this seems to go into the territory of [[Unfortunate Implications]].

 

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Louie De Palma from ''[[Taxi]]'', though many of Danny DeVito's characters get classified as this by default.

* Dr. Romano on ''[[ER]]'', even though he could be quite the good guy at times.

* ''[[Top Gear]]'''s Richard "Hamster" Hammond, although he isn't actually ''very'' short. The Napoleon stuff comes from working with a "[[The Big Guy|seven foot oaf]]" who is [[Deadpan Snarker|big on the mockery]]. Nonetheless, at about 5'7", he's the smallest of the hosts and also probably the most [[Cluster F-Bomb|foul-mouthed]] and adventurous.

'''Chapulí­n:''' They take advantage of my nobility... }}

* [[The Daily Show|Jon Stewart]] was recently accused of being one of these. [http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=230075&title=jons-napoleonic-complex He decided to grab the idea and run with it].

* An episode of the reality show ''[[Tool Academy]]'' features a contestant accused by the entire cast of being a Napoleon due to his short height and arrogance. Other contestants repeatedly assert that he is jealous of their larger physiques and wonder what a short man could possibly be arrogant about.

 

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

 

 

== Theater ==

 

 

* Ramon Salazar, the insane Castellan midget from ''[[Resident Evil]] 4'', who also dresses in period clothing to make the connection even more obvious. Of course, he's also got progeria and [[Giggling Villain|a creepy laugh.]]

* Laharl from ''[[Disgaea]]'', who would likely (and literally) skin you alive for saying such.

* Manuel Calavera of ''[[Grim Fandango]]'' is a protagonist example. He has stubby legs that force him to wear lifts while acting in his official capacity as a [[Grim Reaper|reaper]], and has a [[Determinator|nigh-indomitable]] will which takes him from one end of the Land of the Dead to the other and from deck-swabber to captain of a ship within a year. While he doesn't appear to be good at fighting, he has only lost to Domino Hurley (once in backstory and once in Year 3) and managed to lay out Nick Virago with one punch in Year 2.

** Played straight with {{spoiler|Coach Oleander}}, who starts the whole "take over the world with psychic death tanks" thing because he was {{spoiler|refused military service}} because of his height.

** [[Cloudcuckoolander|Tiax]] [[Chaotic Evil|will]] [[Take Over the World|rule]] [[Ax Crazy|the]] [[Bedlam House|world!]]

** Or that Momo, the [[Clingy Jealous Girl]] who crushes on him, is ''even shorter'' than he is... but loves to use both her [[Moe Moe|cuteness]] ''and'' short stature [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|to her]] [[Wounded Gazelle Gambit|advantage]].

* Zack Temple from ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'' seems to be this only without the personality. He's definitely self-conscious about his height, standing less than four feet tall, and is constantly looking for ways to make himself taller (at least on the same level as Geo, and Luna [[Princess Curls|and her hair]]).

* Ripto from the ''[[Spyro the Dragon]]'' series. He typically rides on a dinosaur to make himself appear taller, and the heroes often make jokes about his height.

* ''[[Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|Final Fantasy II]]'': One of Emperor Palamecia's [[The Dragon|dragons]], Count Borghen, fits this trope, and even kind of looks like the dictator himself. He has no real bearing on the story, other than {{spoiler|offing one of your more useful party members.}}

* The [[Ax Crazy]] Mori Kibbutz from ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]: The Ballad of Gay Tony''. He is notably shorter than any of the other characters, including his younger brother, Brucie, whom he regularly bullies and belittles. He strongly belives that he is superior to everyone else and will constantly brag about the size of his penis and his military training, especially if is his height is mentioned.

* The eponymous player character in the [[Adventure Game]] ''[[Ceville]]'' is a three-foot-tall tyrant.

* The Soda Popper from ''[[Sam and Max]]'' are former child stars who are short and bow vengence on Sam and Max.

* [[Big Bad|Doctor Neo Cortex]] of the ''[[Crash Bandicoot]]'' series. When the series began, he was so short that his in-game model couldn't even walk properly due to the insufficient length of his legs. It is implied in the introduction of ''The Huge Adventure'' that abuse related to his height (along with [[They Called Me Mad]]) was what drove Doctor Cortex towards a life of trying to [[Take Over the World]]. It should be noted that he has gotten taller in later games; his official height is given as 5'3" in the Nintendo DS version of ''Crash of the Titans'', and he now has visible knees.

 

== Visual Novels ==

 

 

== Web Animation ==

* Strong Bad from ''[[Homestar Runner]]'', even though he's really the second shortest character and of course the shortest is The Cheat, his [[Non-Human Sidekick]].

 

 

== Web Comics ==

** He at one point claims this was inspired by other halflings making fun of his height, but he was just trying to get some roleplaying XP at the time so this may just be a convenient lie.

* Agent Jerry in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' is foul-tempered and quick to fire off his gun (fortunately, he's a terrible shot). Floyd Fitznewski, on the other hand, isn't really mean, he just has too much energy and likes to start fights for the heck of it -- especially if it involves a flying tackle.

** Meanwhile, Galatea seems to have a crush on the actual historical Napoleon. "He's so complex, they ''named'' one after him!"

* Lord Stanley in ''[[Erfworld]]''. "I'll ignore one height crack. One."

{{quote| '''Gil:''' [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date{{=}}20030108 Being a short man he places too much importance on size]...}}

 

 

== Web Original ==

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* Numbah Four from ''[[Kids Next Door]]''.

* The latter half of ''[[Pinky and The Brain]]''.

** He was even mistaken for Napoleon in one episode, securing him control of France. That is, until the real deal walked under the "You must be this tall to enter" signs Brain set up at the border specifically to keep him out.

* Yosemite Sam and Rocky the Gangster from ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' (both sport hats nearly as tall as they are!).

** Henery Chickenhawk in the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons.

* Ren from ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]''. It helps that he's a Chihuahua, well known in [[Real Life]] for yapping impotently at people as if they were the boss. And he's well-known for [[Ax Crazy|going psycho]]. Ren has been described thusly: "He would rip your heart out, if only he had the strength."

* Napoleon Brie from the original ''[[Biker Mice From Mars]]'' series, and Hairball from the new one.

** Whatever you do, do not call her a [[Berserk Button|shrimp]].

* In ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'', Tim-Tom and Kevin are Dr. Girlfriend's "Murderous Moppets" from her days as the Au Pair. They're a pair of creepy midgets who always want to stab things, though their personalities are purely servile to Dr. Girlfriend and they act like her pets.

** Omi is a pretty straight example.

* Dr. Wasabi from ''[[Chop Socky Chooks]]''.

* Citoset from ''[[The Ripping Friends]]''

* In the ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' episode "Bullseye!" one of the contestants in the [[Card-Carrying Villain|Pageant Of Evil]] is a [[Meaningful Name|Dr. Diminutive]], who introduces himself by saying, "I don't have a Napoleon complex! Napoleon had a ''me'' complex!" He's quickly disqualified for being too short.

 

 

* Alexander The Great was purported to be 5'4", although considering what time period he lived in that isn't that small.

* Attila the Hun may have suffered from dwarfism.

* Bank robber George "Baby Face" Nelson was a raving loony, with a whole keyboard full of [[Berserk Button|Berserk Buttons]], but the biggest one was his height: he was only 5'4".

* Although he was portrayed by 6'2 Peter O'Toole in ''[[Lawrence of Arabia]]'', in real life T.E. Lawrence was 5'5.