History Main / BarehandedBarBending

* Bending metal bars around her forearms was a favorite of Ada Ash, showing off not just strength but also her pain tolerance.[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Do. Not. Mess. With. Me.]]

** In one episode a pawnshop specializes in items Superman has previously bent, but it turns out they're counterfeit: the store owner uses a bench vise to artificially bend the merchandise.

* Wild Tiger's introduction in ''AnimeTigerAndBunny'' has him bending monorail tracks into a knot.

* An early ''Comicbook/LuckyLuke'' comic has a boxer try to intimidate the other by putting a horseshoe around his arm and then bending it by flexing his muscles. He gives it to the other boxer "as a lucky charm", only for the other boxer to give it back to him with a knot in the middle, saying he isn't superstitious.

* In ''Videogame/CrashTeamRacing'', in the Adventure Mode's character selection, Tiny Tiger is effortlessly juggling a barbell around. If you select him, he'll bend the barbell into right angles.

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* UsefulNotes/PeterTheGreat liked to boast his strength by bending, twisting, and tying iron fireplace pokers into knots.

* ''Film/ShortCircuit 2'' has the robotic Johnny Five pull off the pretzel variant when attacked by thieves trying to get him off their tail. Being an ActualPacifist turned TechnicalPacifist, he discards the bent beam and uses his metal-bending strength to contain one thief by rolling him up in a mesh fence.

* Wild Tiger's introduction in ''TigerAndBunny'' has him bending monorail tracks into a knot.
* ''DragonBallZ'': The Saiyans have done this on occasion. Most of the times it is PlayedForLaughs.

* Exploited in an ''{{Archie}}'' comic. One day Archie and Jughead went to the landfill and picked up a bent iron pipe. The two of them took it to a road construction site where similar pipes were waiting to be installed. Then, when arch-rival Reggie walked by, Archie grabbed the bent pipe while Jughead yelled that the construction crew would "...be ''mad'' if you keep messing up their pipe like that." This freaked Reggie out big time.

** In the short "Muscle Tough", DaffyDuck gets into a strength contest with a bodybuilder, who ties a pipe around a pole. Daffy tries it with a fishing pole, but only manages to tie ''himself'' into a knot.

* In ''{{Futurama}}'' there's a class of robots who have this as their sole purpose: they bend girders. The main character Bender is one of them. When the Planet Express crew attend robot Olympics, this trope is shown when several brawny robot competitors in a bending competition twist several extremely large girders labelled "unbendable" into very intricate knots. This impresses Bender, knowing that he would never be able to keep up with that kind of strength.

* Used in ''{{PS 238}}'' to demonstrate that Argonaut has regained his powers. [[spoiler: He hasn't; the beam he uses was gimmicked beforehand.]]

* ''ShortCircuit 2'' has the robotic Johnny Five pull off the pretzel variant when attacked by thieves trying to get him off their tail. Being an ActualPacifist turned TechnicalPacifist, he discards the bent beam and uses his metal-bending strength to contain one thief by rolling him up in a mesh fence.
* ''SuburbanCommando'' has the alien bounty hunters show off their strength to Shep by bending a metal bar. The first one bends it into a V shape, the second one straightens it out again. Shep one-ups them by bending it into the shape of a bunny.

* ''LooneyTunes'':
** While not depicted as being super strong, BugsBunny will on occasion bend Elmer's shotgun, even tying it into a knot.

* PeterTheGreat liked to boast his strength by bending, twisting, and tying iron fireplace pokers into knots.

* In the second ''Literature/AlexRider'' book, TheDragon does this to prove a point - before she and her boss "officially" reveal themselves as supervillains. As far as they knew, Alex was just a mouthy teenager.

* {{Animorphs}}: When the Venber are first encountered, one of them is seen bending rebar like spaghetti in arctic conditions.

** "Space Seed". When Kirk confronts Khan in the Enterprise engine room, Khan grabs Kirk's phaser away from him and bends/crushes it in his bare hands. During the ensuing fight he boasts that he has five times Kirk's strength.

** While not depicted as being super strong, BugsBunny will on ocassion bend Elmer's shotgun, even tying it into a knot.

* King Augustus of Saxony and Poland liked to show off his strength by ripping a horse iron apart. Mentioned in the novel Literature/{{Krabat}}.
* PeterTheGreat liked to boast his strength by bending, twisting and tying iron fireplace pokers into knots.

[[quoteright:333: [[Film/{{Convict13}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/convict13_8855.jpg]]]]

* The ''Franchise/SherlockHolmes'' story ''The Adventure of the Speckled Band'' has Dr. Roylott threaten Holmes by bending an iron poker in half. After he leaves, the totally unfazed Holmes straightens it back.
* In one of ''TheDresdenFiles'' novels, Thomas helps Harry intimidate some of Marcone's thugs by twisting a couple of barbells together.

** In the short "Muscle Tough", DaffyDuck gets into a strenght contest with a bodybuilder, who ties a pipe around a pole. Daffy tries it with a fishing pole, but only manages to tie ''himself'' into a knot.

* In ''CrashTeamRacing'', in the Adventure Mode's character selection, Tiny Tiger is effortlessly juggling a barbell around. If you select him, he'll bend the barbell into right angles.

* One episode of ''BatmanBeyond'' had Maxine in pursuit with a genetically altered human-dinosaur hybrid. She attempts to fight it off with a metal bar she finds, only for the dinosaur man to bend it.
* In ''{{Futurama}}'' there's an entire class of robots who have this as their sole purpose: they bend girders. The main character Bender is one of them. When the Planet Express crew attend robot Olympics, this trope is shown when several brawny robot competitors in a bending competition twist several extremely large girders labelled "unbendable" into very intricate knots. This impresses Bender, knowing that he would never be able to keep up with that kind of strength.

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