Top-Heavy Guy: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A type of caricature style of drawing the human male figure, as having really huge torso and arms, but legs that are too small to support the upper body, either by being too skinny and/or too short. The effect is usually a triangle with legs (heck, some drawing books actually say to draw the male torso as a triangle). The form of this can range from a moderately large torso and legs that are just a bit too skinny (usually when the rest of the cast is drawn with realistic proportions), to legs that are short and stubby, and the torso is freakishly huge to keep the guy still at normal height (usually when the rest of the cast has cartoonish figures). And even then, there can be other variations.

 

 

 

'''This still requires legs being too small to support the torso, not simply a guy with a big, muscular chest and/or arms.'''

 

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Soul Eater]]'' has Mosquito, while normally a puny old guy, has the ability to bulk himself up to fight. However, his legs do not increase in size, leaving them to dangle while he supports himself by his arms. This is [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded.]]

 

* Strong Guy from [[Marvel Comics]] has a massive torso but regular legs. It isn't stylistic, his body was deformed by his powers overloading.

* [[The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde|Mr. Hyde]] in ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' is muscled all around, but his torso is still too large for his legs.

* Krakkaboom of the '80s [[Astro City]] Irregulars, whose bombastic proportions are evidently a side effect of his powers.

* Jerommeke of the Belgian comic ''Suske en Wiske''.

* ''[[Tom Strong]]'' acquired this physique in adulthood, having been much leaner as a boy. It's possible that this is a side-effect of the high-gravity environment in which he was raised and the emphasis on the miracle food goloka in his diet. Several characters compare him to an upside-down triangle ("You wonderful, triangular man!") -- which, incidentally, is also his [[Chest Emblem]].

 

* Rattigan from ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]]'' has this build. Being a...um...big mouse {{spoiler|RAT!!!}} he has very broad shoulders, a wide chest, and overall is extremely muscular in the upper body. However, he has a teeny tiny waist and very short legs, easily fitting into a triangle shape. His head is also quite small compared to his shoulder width, despite his genius IQ.

* In the animated ''[[Hellboy]]'' movies, Hellboy is drawn with a huge upper body but mere human-sized legs.

 

== Literature ==

* Played straight (huge torso and stubby legs) and inverted (incredibly skinny torso and massive legs) in the beach scene in ''[[Where's Waldo]]''.

 

* Groose

* The Tank from ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' has a massive upper body, supported by fairly normal-sized legs. It actually walks like a gorilla, using its massive arms to help support itself.

** In the sequel its mass has increased to the point where its lower jaw has either been forced off, or crushed, by massive pectoral muscles.

* Minotaurs in ''[[Dragon Nest]]'' have this appearance. They drop an item called Joint Treatment that lampshades it. After all, their poor tiny knees have to support gargantuan tops.

* Inspector Grosky of the [[Professor Layton]] series has a ''huge'' chest. His pecs are so big, the collar of his shirt is actually down near nipple level, tie and all, with his prodigious bush of chest hair poking out.

* [http://spyro.wikia.com/wiki/Agent_Zero Agent Zero] ''[[Spyro the Dragon|Syro: Ripto's Rage]]'' has extremely tine legs.

* A common complaint about male draenei and worgen in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''.

* The titular character in ''[[Odin Sphere]]'' has arms that comprise over half of his body weight. This is unfortunately not even played for humor, it is just part of the game's bizarre art style.

* This is what your character becomes in the browser game ''The Douchebag Life'' when you bulk him up.

* Burrito Bison, from the game with the same name.

 

 

== Western Animation ==

* From ''[[The Incredibles]]'', Mr. Incredible has puny legs, whether his torso is flabby or muscular.

* Coach McGurk has the smallest legs and the largest torso of anyone on ''[[Home Movies]]''.

* Joe Swanson from ''[[Family Guy]]''. Even when he got the use of his legs back, his legs were small.

** Slightly toned down between the [[Pilot]] and the main series.

* Hego, Shego's [[Super Strength|super-strong]] brother from ''[[Kim Possible]]''. The cartoon style makes you wonder how he stands up.

** Steve Barkin, Brick Flagg, Pain King and Steel Toe, Dementor's minions (Dementor himself has short legs, but is more boxy), and even Drakken to a lesser extent (almost normal-proportioned, but still with shorter-than-average legs, although this is best seen when he's not in his usual lab coat; re: "Dimension Twist" and "Rappin' Drakken"). In fact, any male character who's not rail-thin (like Ron) is almost guaranteed to have short legs.

* Vlad of the ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' series, most noticeable in his ghost form less so as a human. Dash and Kwan as well.

** Skulker is a more blatant form.

* Duncan from ''[[Total Drama Island]]''. He tends tower over most of the other characters [http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101126070306/totaldramaisland/images/3/33/Glare.PNG when they're all sitting down], but since his legs are less than a third of his total height, he's actually one of the shortest males on the show.

* ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' has [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Grandus_(Animated) Grandus].

* Standard in [[Batman Beyond]]. Batman/Terry himself is an example (even when he's not wearing the suit), but so are Bruce, most of the bad guys, even Superman when he guest stars.

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Graphical Tropes]]

[[Category:Personal Appearance Tropes]]