History Main / Heavyworlder

'''[[InvertedTrope "Lightworlders"]]''' -- skinny, delicate humans from low-gravity habitats, or orbital colonies without artificial gravity -- aren't nearly as common as straight treatments, as it's harder to portray your BigDamnHeroes as {{Badass}} if they're built like toothpicks. Low-gravity characters are often female, fragility being more forgivable in women to [[MostWritersAreMale most writers]]. However in RealLife, although being in a lower gravity would make muscles waste away it would also make people small, (not tall like they usually are portrayed as) because bones need Earth-like gravity to grow properly.

* The {{Lensman}} series featured a company of Valerians, the next-millennium descendants of Dutch colonists on a high-gravity world, serving in the Space Marines of the [[BadAssArmy Galactic Patrol]]. In close quarters, their WeaponOfChoice was the "[[RecycledInSpace space]] [[AnAxeToGrind axe]]", essentially a solid-metal combination axe and warhammer [[SciFiNameBuzzwords with "space" tacked on]].

* The {{Lensman}} series had the Valerians, the descendants of Dutch colonists on a high-gravity world, used as footsoldiers for the [[TheChosenMany Galactic Patrol]] carrying their WeaponOfChoice the "[[RecycledInSpace space]] [[AnAxeToGrind axe]]", basically a solid steel pole-axe [[SciFiNameBuzzwords with "space" tacked on]]. They are however described as being six to seven feet high.

* RumikoTakahashi did a comedic one-shot about a bounty hunter whose family was from a high-gravity world, and had proportionate strength, so they had to wear special restraints in order to keep from destroying everything around them by accident. The antagonist was also a super-strong heavyworlder, though not to the degree of the protagonist.

* Not quite the same thing, but the idea that {{Aquaman}}'s incredible strength and durability come from he and his fellow Atlanteans adapting to the "crushing ocean depths" is related to this trope. By this logic, a deep-sea jellyfish could pound Mike Tyson... instead of literally falling apart in shallow water, lacking the external pressure they rely on to hold them together.
** Um, except for the part where a jellyfish and an Atlantean are two completely different things, sure. Not saying the Atlantean resilience does or doesn't make sense, but you could at least use another vertebrate as a comparison.
*** Perhaps Aquaman, like a deep-sea fish (vertebrate) brought to the surface, would '''explode''' instead of just falling apart.

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* Likewise to Superman, ''DragonBallZ'' has the Saiyans from Planet Vegeta, with gravity 10x that of Earth. The saiyans also routinely train in high-gravity chambers, beyond 150 times Earth's gravity in some cases. This was used hilariously when a low level Mook in the beginning of the Buu saga challenged the Saiyans, thinking that changing the environment to ''his'' home planet, which had 10 times Earth's gravity, would give him a sizable advantage. ''Boy'' [[CurbStompBattle was he wrong]].
--->'''Vegeta''': "Maybe... if your planet had five hundred times Earth's gravity, you'd have an advantage, but ten? ''I don't even feel it!''"
** The series also gets around the whole issue of heavyworlders logically being short by having the Saiyans be invaders from ''another'' planet, which presumably had gravity to closer to ours. Indeed, Vegeta's original inhabitants, ''were'' noticably smaller than humans.

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* ''ZoneOfTheEnders Dolores, i'', inverts the trope: It portrayed people born on Mars as being ''weaker'' than those born on Earth. It's mentioned that it's a criminal offense for an Earthling to strike a Martian, as there's a good possibility it could kill them.
** Which is why they built themselves HumongousMecha about [[CompensatingForSomething six times the power of Earth models in their most mass produced forms.]] On a related note this also explains how Ken from Zone of the Enders 2 [[GagBoobs can support herself without her back giving way.]]
** This is also mentioned when main character James Links is challenged to a fist fight by a Martian gangster. James figures the fight will be easy as he's a Earthling, only to get his ass kicked in record time. Apparently the gangster works out in heavy G, just so he can knock arrogant Earthlings down a peg or two.
** The ''RedMarsTrilogy'' touched on this, too - when long-time Mars residents traveled to Earth, they often needed power-enhancing suits to cope with the higher gravity.
* Nono in ''{{Planetes}}''. She's two meters tall. She's ''[[HugeSchoolgirl twelve]]''. She was born on the Moon. However, since the human body wasn't designed for this sort of environment, the effects of lunar gravity to her physiology lead to her living permanently in a hospital, both to monitor her health as well as to aid medical research into the effects of low-gravity environments on humans --which is vital for deep-space missions like the Jupiter-bound Von Braun expedition. There is also a subversion of the "Earthborn protagonists are stronger" aspect of the trope in that professional astronauts who spend too much time in zero-G will suffer muscular atrophy and a form of osteoporosis. This is shown explicitly when the elderly Harry Roland easily overpowers the 25 year-old Hachimaki because the veteran astronaut actually made a substantial effort to maintain his muscle mass and bone density. Hachi is inspired to do the same after the incident.
* Although the world of {{MAR}} Heaven doesn't have gravity that is notably different from Earth's, in that the humanoids look no different, it does give Ginta [[spoiler: and Nanashi]] an extreme power up in strength and jumping ability when compared to the standard occupants of the world.

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* The Saiyajin race of DragonballZ are ''born'' superhuman as their race has evolved for eons on a world that has '''ten''' times the gravity of Earth.

* [[BuckGodotZapGunForHire Buck Godot, Zap Gun For Hire]] is a Hoffmannite, from a violent race of large heavyworlders who call normal humans "jellybones" and are prone to AttackHello.

* In ''StarTrek'', Vulcan is said to have higher gravity than Earth, and Vulcans are consequently around three times stronger than humans. This explains why Spock, in spite of being a nerd, can kick most people's butts in hand-to-hand combat.
* The Jinxians of LarryNiven's KnownSpace are one of the rare short heavyworlder variety (described by one character as "five feet tall and five feet wide"), realistically so, since human growth patterns are determined in part by the weight of the body. They are strong enough to bend crowbars, and black-skinned regardless of ancestry, since the star they orbit, Sirius, is far brighter than Sol, particularly in the ultraviolet. They got this way after only four hundred years of selective breeding, but the downside is heart problems and short lifespans even with the life-extending drug "[[SpiceOfLife boosterspice]]". Culturally, they are mainly scientists and [[HurricaneOfPuns punsters]].
** ''Ringworld'' even features a joke about them:
--->Q: How many Jinxans does it take to paint a building?
--->A: Three. One to hold the paint sprayer and the other two to shake the building up and down.
* In ''{{Andromeda}}'', there are several genetically-engineered human variants, including people who breathe water and Heavyworlders. Captain Dylan Hunt's mother is a Heavyworlder, so he has genes that almost make him a physical match for a Nietzschean SuperSoldier.
** In a straight fight against a Nietzschean with eqivalent hand-to-hand combat, he'd lose. This is acknowledged by [[WordOfGod the producers]] in commentary tracks. [[spoiler:Remember, Gaheris Rhade was eventually revealed to have thrown that fight,]] though that's a RetCon added by [[JumpTheShark post-shark]] writers.
* The "Planet Pirates" series of [[AnneMcCaffrey Anne McCaffrey]] has a genetically-enhanced Heavyworlder race that, due to their history, resents and distrusts "lightweights" to the point of being open to manipulative propoganda and conspiracy theories by the titular criminals. In a greater society of near-universal vegetarians, they also have to eat meat due to their altered metabolism.
* Charlie-27 of MarvelComics' ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' is a Jovian, huge, super-strong, muscular and [[MadeOfIron very tough]]. The genetically engineered Jovians lived on floating gas-mining cities in Jupiter's atmosphere, prior to their genocide by hostile aliens.
* An episode of the [[BuckRogersInThe25thCentury Buck Rogers TV series]] had an unassuming man of average build named Toman who was secretly from a high-gravity planet, giving him great strength, which he used as a hit man who never needed weapons.
* The {{Lensman}} series had the Valerians, the descendants of Dutch colonists on a high-gravity world, used as footsoldiers for the [[TheChosenMany Galactic Patrol]] carrying their WeaponOfChoice the "[[RecycledInSpace space]] [[AnAxeToGrind axe]]", basically a solid steel pole-axe [[SciFiNameBuzzwords with "space" tacked on]]. They are however described as being six to seven feet high.
** Another of EEDocSmith's great sci fi series starred the Family d'Alembert, a circus troupe of heavyworlder secret agents and [[BadassFamily incredible badasses, one and all]].
* The CoDominium universe has the inhabitants of Frystaat, a DeathWorld with high gravity, intense heat, blinding sunlight, and native life with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily. A mere six hundred years of mutation and natural selection has [[HollywoodEvolution rapidly transformed]] them into superhumans with strength, stamina, senses, and reflexes beyond the human norm (almost a match for the [[SuperSoldier Saurons]]). They are, however, very vulnerable to cold.

* HonorHarrington herself is from a world with heavier-than-normal gravity, and the genetic enhancements built into her for survival on that world are part of what make her kick so much ass. The series also has San Martin, the highest gravity planet inhabited by humans with several minor characters being from there. Inhabitants are noted for their prodigious strength and muscle mass (but short height).
* The {{Phantasm}} films have dead humans resurrected as superstrong dwarves by compacting their density on a high-gravity world in an alternate universe.

* Likewise to Superman, ''DragonBallZ'' has the Saiyans from Planet Vegeta, with gravity 10x that of Earth. The saiyans also routinely train in high-gravity chambers, beyond 150 times Earth's gravity in some cases. This was used hilariously when a low level Mook in the beginning of the Buu saga challenged the Saiyans, thinking that changing the environment to ''his'' home planet, which had 10 times Earth's gravity, would give him a sizable advantage. ''Boy'' [[CurbStompBattle was he wrong]].
--->'''Vegeta''': "Maybe... if your planet had five hundred times Earth's gravity, you'd have an advantage, but ten? ''I don't even feel it!''"
** The series also gets around the whole issue of heavyworlders logically being short by having the Saiyans be invaders from ''another'' planet, which presumably had gravity to closer to ours. Indeed, Vegeta's original inhabitants, ''were'' noticably smaller than humans.

* One story by Stephen Baxter had "humans" engineered to live on ''neutron stars''. Said "humans" were on a microscopic scale - such that they considered a centimetre to be a really impressive size for a ''city'' - and lived inside the star. Oh, and got around by "swimming" through the magnetic field...
* The [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Squats]] of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' evolved on high gravity worlds back in the days they weren't [[DroppedABridgeOnHim wiped out by the Tyranids]]. (And then [[RetCon subsequently declared]] to have ''never'' existed.) As did the Ogryns, who survived without being lunch. The planet Catachan, on top of being [[DeathWorld one of the nastiest jungles in fiction]], also has a slightly higher gravity, giving Catachan natives the somewhat unflattering nickname of "Baby Ogryns".
* The Sontarans, a race of cloned galactic warriors from ''DoctorWho''. Although Sontarans 'grew' in size over the course of the series, the new series took the trouble to restore them to their original short height, leading to the inevitable HurricaneOfPuns from the Doctor.
* The creature in the BMovie ''{{It Conquered the World}}'' (1956) was originally conceived as short and squat, due to the heavy gravity of its native planet. Actress Beverly Garland was unimpressed by the vertically-challenged villain -- approaching it within hearing of director Roger Corman she cried "So, you plan to take over the world do you? Take that!" and kicked it in the head. Corman agreed to redesign the creature to [[http://www.planetvideo.com.au/blog/2009/01/03/beverlygarland3.jpg more menacing proportions]].
* {{Orions Arm}} has numerous races designed and redesigned for high gravity planets. Also comes in handy on accelerating spaceships.
* ''BillTheGalacticHero'' by HarryHarrison. The Chingers are lizardoids only seven inches high, but as they come from a 10G world, they're able to throw the Space Trooper protagonist easily. Government propaganda portrays them as being seven feet tall so morale won't be affected.
* [[AllThereInTheManual Officially]], Jek "Piggy" Porkins from ANewHope - the first pilot to die on the run against the Death Star - was from a high-gravity world. He was [[StoutStrength somewhat overweight but still strong.]]
** Several minor characters and extras in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse are also mentioned to be heavyworlders--however, unlike Jek, they're generally portrayed as being short and stout. In fact, it could be that Jek Porkins was adapted to a heavy world, and gained weight from the sudden drop in exercise upon moving to standard-gee worlds.
* A short story by [[GordonRDickson Gordon R. Dickson]] adds a forgotten corollary: things fall faster (or rather, accelerate at a higher rate) on a high-gravity world. One alien from such a world is somewhat stronger, but ''much'' faster, because falling over on such a planet is a '''bad''' idea and being able to catch falling things is usually helpful too.

* The S't'ach in ''StarTrekTitan'', who resemble metre-high four-armed blue teddy bears, but are denser than they appear. In early books they are said to be superdense, but in a later book one points out the perils of having a lot of mass on a high gravity world. Apparently, this is a rumour spread by the S't'ach themselves; they're aware of how cute they look to humanoids, and want to discourage them from trying to pick them up and cuddle them.
* The ''PerryRhodan'' universe features human colonists that come in short-and-squat, physical giant, and even relatively normal looking superman form depending on their exact planet of origin.
* Taken to an extreme by the '[[FanNickname lobster]]' form that [[TheSymbiote Kheldians]] can take in ''CityOfHeroes''; a previous common host for Kheldians were the inhabitants of a ''white dwarf star''.
* The Brobdingnagian, from the ''{{Hoka}}'' story "The Napoleon Crime." Who's also a GentleGiant and a Japanophile, and would be obnoxiously cute if he weren't huge.
* Harry Harrison's ''Deathworld'' features Pyrrus: double Earth gravity and so, so much more. The population are all {{TykeBomb}}s. Pyrrans are short and massive, for added realism.

* According to [[AllThereInTheManual official data]], [[{{Halo}} The Covenant]] has a few heavyworlders in its ranks. The Sangheili/Elite homeworld Sanghelios has 1.375G, Doisac (the Jiralhanae/Brute) homeworld has 2.1G, and the Yanme'e/Drones call Palamok, with 2.2G, their home. Fittingly, all three races are quite physically strong - Elites & Brutes can match [[SuperSoldier Spartans]] in close combat, and Drones are strong enough to lift full-grown armored human marines into the air.
** Te, the Lekgolo/Hunter homeworld, has ''4''G.
*** The Lekgolo are actually small wormlike creatures that live in massive colonies, which according to the 'smaller is better' angle would be more appropriate for a high g world.

* The Elcor of ''MassEffect'' come from a heavy world, and as a result are very cautious and conservative in all aspects of their life, since a fall could literally kill them on their homeworld.
** MassEffect also has the Volus. The Volus homeworld has a high pressure atmosphere and a gravity of 1.5gs making the Volus rather short. They have to where a pressure suit to keep their skin from splitting open when in environments that are suitable for the other council species.

* In LastAndFirstMen, Olaf Stapledon describes a realistic version of heavyworlders engineered to colonize Neptune ([[ScienceMarchesOn at the time it still seemed possible]]): they're simply midgets who take advantage of the SquareCubeLaw. Subsequent Neptunian species engineer themselves to be taller than the original terrestrial men, but it's made clear that they're [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens so advanced]] they're not limited by petty biological constraints.
* The supervillain The Persuader from [[{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}} The Legion Of Super-Heroes]] is a normal human, but has incredible strength from being born and raised on a high-gravity world.
* Tug-Mug from ThunderCats.

* An early {{Futurama}} episode involves a high-gravity planet. The only person they meet on the planet is quite short and wide and incredibly strong.

* Inverted in ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' where Voluptua has said she is more fragile than she looks because Earth has higher gravity than her homeworld.
** In fact Fructose Riboflavin (same species) refers to Bob (a completely normal human) as a heavyworlder while fighting him.
* ZoneOfTheEnders Dolores, inverts the trope: It portrayed people born on Mars as being ''weaker'' than those born on Earth. It's mentioned that it's a criminal offense for an Earthling to strike a Martian, as there's a good possibility it could kill them.
** Which is why they built themselves HumongousMecha about [[CompensatingForSomething six times the power of Earth models in their most mass produced forms.]] On a related note this also explains how Ken from Zone of the Enders 2 [[GagBoobs can support herself without her back giving way.]]
** This is also mentioned when main character James Links is challenged to a fist fight by a Martian gangster. James figures the fight will be easy as he's a Earthling, only to get his ass kicked in record time. Apparently the gangster works out in heavy G, just so he can knock arrogant Earthlings down a peg or two.
** The RedMarsTrilogy touched on this, too - when long-time Mars residents traveled to Earth, they often needed power-enhancing suits to cope with the higher gravity.

* Elaysians from ''[=~Star Trek: Deep Space Nine~=]'' and ''StarTrekTitan''. They ''are'' fragile.

* The Tau of {{Warhammer 40000}} includes the Air Caste, the Tau social class who crew the empire's spacefleet. As they have lived almost exclusively in a low-gravity environment for generations, they are described as having developed very fragile, lightly-built bodies.
** Other Tau castes aren't much better. Your run-of-the-mill Fire Warrior barely gets to the chest of [[RedShirt his Guard counterpart]], and is so physically weak that average human can tear him apart without much effort. In short, the normal human is for a normal tau what a [[SuperSoldier Space Marine]] is for him -- and that's why Tau [[MemeticMutation suck in a close combat]]. So, they tend to compensate for it with a lot of BeamSpam.
*** In fairness, a Fire Warrior is about as tough as a human and has about the same stamina, but lacks a human's reflexes. This is played totally straight with the other Tau castes though, as the Fire Warriors are the toughest and strongest of the Tau and they only come up to human-level, if that.

* In [[IsaacAsimov The Gods Themselves]] Moonborn people have weaker bones, leading to [[CantHaveSexEver slight sexual incompatibility]] with Earth people. And due to the metabolism being about the same, they need constant exercises to keep their bodies under the proper strain. A human from Earth who comes to the Moon must spend at least a week every two months on Earth, unless he wants the path back cut off for him.
* [[{{Halo}} The Covenant]] has two prominent light-worlders in its ranks. The Kig-Yar/Jackals hail from Eayn, which has 87.5% Earth's gravity. They are not physically strong or durable (being birdlike and thus likely having fragile skeletons doesn't help them either), relying on shields to protect them. However, even in Earth gravity they're pretty fast on their feet. Unggoy/Grunts come from Balaho, which has only 70.8% Earth's gravity, but are actually [[StoutStrength pretty strong]] judging by the weapons they've been seen carrying; in ''First Strike'' the ODST Cpl. Locklear has great difficulty hefting a [[{{BFG}} fuel rod cannon]] over his shoulder, while Grunts carry [=FRGs=] with no problem.
** Some of the Unggoys' strength might be due to their homeworld being a DeathWorld, with flame geysers and other hazards. This is also responsible for their [[ExplosiveBreeder rapid rate of reproduction]], to the point where contraceptive chemicals are put in their gas and food while offworld to prevent overcrowding.
* In [[{{Film/Avatar}} Avatar]], the [[MagicalNativeAmerican Na'vi]] live on the lower-gravity Pandora. They're in the range of ten feet tall and skinny as a rail. Averts the weakness part: they're much stronger and more durable than humans, with the ability to use a hunting/war bow as tall as an average human man and their bones are practically natural carbon-fiber. Perhaps justified in that Pandora has only marginally lower gravity and the Na'vi evolved on a [[DeathWorld planet where]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything tries to kill you]].
** Not to mention that being so large, they have more places for muscles to attach too and just more muscles in general. And then the longer limbs could give them more leverage. The injection of {{Mary Suetopia}} doesn't hurt either.

* Nono in {{Planetes}}. She's two meters tall. She's ''[[HugeSchoolgirl twelve]]''. She was born on the Moon. However, since the human body wasn't designed for this sort of environment, the effects of lunar gravity to her physiology lead to her living permanently in a hospital, both to monitor her health as well as to aid medical research into the effects of low-gravity environments on humans --which is vital for deep-space missions like the Jupiter-bound Von Braun expedition. There is also a subversion of the "Earthborn protagonists are stronger" aspect of the trope in that professional astronauts who spend too much time in zero-G will suffer muscular atrophy and a form of osteoporosis. This is shown explicitly when the elderly Harry Roland easily overpowers the 25 year-old Hachimaki because the veteran astronaut actually made a substantial effort to maintain his muscle mass and bone density. Hachi is inspired to do the same after the incident.

* In the GreenSkyTrilogy, the titular world does have much lower gravity, so much that a toddler's fall from the high treetops will injure, but not kill. The Kindar are on the willowy and frail side, while the ground-walking Erdlings [[spoiler: descended from Kindar Exiles]] have developed a sturdier frame from generations of living underground.

* Saval Bork from Steve Perry's ''Matador'' series is from a heavy-g world, and has some genetic modifications to help him survive there. He also spends a lot of time weightlifting, when he's in places with lighter gravity.

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'''Examples:'''

** Another of 'Doc' Smith's great sci fi series starred the Family d'Alembert, a circus troupe of heavyworlder secret agents and [[BadassFamily incredible badasses, one and all]].

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* The creature in the BMovie ''It Conquered the World'' (1956) was originally conceived as short and squat, due to the heavy gravity of its native planet. Actress Beverly Garland was unimpressed by the vertically-challenged villain -- approaching it within hearing of director Roger Corman she cried "So, you plan to take over the world do you? Take that!" and kicked it in the head. Corman agreed to redesign the creature to [[http://www.planetvideo.com.au/blog/2009/01/03/beverlygarland3.jpg more menacing proportions]].

* In ''StarTrek'', Vulcan is said to have much higher gravity than Earth, and Vulcans are consequently around three times stronger than humans. This explains why Spock, in spite of being a nerd, can kick most people's butts in hand-to-hand combat.

* Likewise to Superman, ''DragonBallZ'' has the Saiyajin from planet Vegeta, with gravity 10x that of Earth. The saiyans also routinely train in high-gravity chambers, beyond 150 times Earth's gravity in some cases. This was used hilariously when a low level Mook in the beginning of the Buu saga challenged the Saiyans, thinking that changing the environment to ''his'' home planet, which had 10 times Earth's gravity, would give him a sizable advantage. ''Boy'' [[CurbStompBattle was he wrong]].

A common trope in ScienceFiction, the Heavyworlder is someone who is adapted to life in a high-gravity environment - either a human being who has been altered to survive through [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Genetic Engineering]] or HollywoodEvolution, or an alien who evolved on such a world in the first place. One factor common to nearly all Heavyworlders is [[SuperStrength prodigious physical strength]] (even though logically, physical stamina would be more important when carrying around twice your weight every day). Another common element (one could even call it a [[YouFailBiologyForever fallacy]]) is that many Heavyworlders are described as being far larger and more massive that normal humans, despite this adding even more weight for them to carry around -- in fact, basic mechanical considerations and SquareCubeLaw shows that it's much more advantageous for heavyworlder to have a compact, stout, but ''short'' body, not unlike common portrayal of Dwarves in fantasy. Usually they have personalities to match (imagine an entire race as TheBigGuy). A few exceptions are noted below. In fights, a Heavyworlder is usually a OneManArmy.

* The [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Squats]] of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' evolved on high gravity worlds back in the days they weren't [[DroppedABridgeOnHim wiped out by the Tyranids]]. As did the Ogryns, who survived without being lunch. The planet Catachan, on top of being [[DeathWorld one of the nastiest jungles in fiction]], also has a slightly higher gravity, giving Catachan natives the somewhat unflattering nickname of "Baby Ogryns".

* In ''{{Andromeda}}'', there are several genetically-engineered human variants, including people who breathe water and Heavyworlders. Captain Dylan Hunt's mother is a Heavyworlder, so he has genes that almost make him a physical match for a Nietzschean SuperSoldier. (well, that and being a MartyStu.)

* HonorHarrington herself is from a world with heavier-than-normal gravity, and the genetic enhancements built into her for survival on that world are part of what make her kick so much ass-- that and the [[CanonSue Sue]] gene. The series also has San Martin, the highest gravity planet inhabited by humans with several minor characters being from there. Inhabitants are noted for their prodigious strength and muscle mass (but short height).

* [[{{Halo}} The Covenant]] has two prominent light-worlders in its ranks. The Kig-Yar/Jackals hail from Eayn, which has 87.5% Earth's gravity. They are not physically strong or durable (being birdlike and thus likely having fragile skeletons doesn't help them either), relying on shields to protect them. However, even in Earth gravity they're pretty fast on their feet. Unggoy/Grunts come from Balaho, which has only 70.8% Earth's gravity. But they're actually [[StoutStrength pretty strong]] judging by the weapons they've been seen carrying (In ''First Strike'' the ODST Cpl. Locklear has great difficulty hefting a [[{{BFG}} fuel rod cannon]] over his shoulder; Grunts carry [=FRGs=] no problem).
** Some of the Unggoy's strength might be due to their homeworld being a DeathWorld. The planet has naturally occuring flame gysers, as just one hazard. This is also responsible for their [[ExplosiveBreeder rapid rate of reproduction]], to the point where contraceptive chemicals are put in their gas and food while offworld to prevent them overcrowding.

** This is also mentioned when main character James Links is challenged to a fist fight by a Martian gangster. James figures the fight will be easy as he's a Earthling, only to get his ass kicked in record time. Apparently the gangster works out in heavy G, just so he can put arrogant Earthling's down a peg or two.

** One character, a genetic throwback often referred to as a "dwarf", is the only person who can wear one of the original spacesuits.