History Main / MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Literature/MichaelStrogoff'': The titular character is able to appears stoic during his travel in Siberia and [[spoiler:even to [[ObfuscatingDisability look and act as if he was effectively blinded by the Tartars]]]].

* Creator/AndreiBelyanin's ''Literature/TsarGorokhsDetectiveAgency'' series has Dmitry "Mit'ka" Lobov, a huge oaf from a village whose brain is inversely proportional to his body. As a rule, the protagonist (a modern day ByTheBookCop stuck in fairy-tale Russia) and Literature/BabaYaga mostly use him for manual labor and to assist in apprehending villains and forbid him from attempting to exercize his brain, as that usually leads to disaster. His enormous strength (it's frequently mentioned that he bends horseshoes with his bare hands for fun) isn't seen as that unusual for a village boy. When the protagonist decides to introduce Medieval Russia to hockey, Mit'ka is made a goalie, as his enormous bulk blocks most of the goal to attack.

* In Creator/AlexanderAfanasyev's Russian tale "Literature/TheSoldierAndDeath", the titular soldier intends to spend the night in a palace overrun with demons. When the tsar tries to dissuade him, the soldier replains a Russian will not be frightened by torture or punishment.

"God bless you," says the Tzar, "but you don't know what you are asking. Foolhardy folk enough have tried to spend a night in that palace. They went in merry and boasting, but not one of them came walking out alive in the morning."\\
"What of that?" says the soldier. "Water won't drown a Russian soldier, and fire won't burn him. I have served God and the Tzar for twenty-five years and am not dead. A single night in that palace won't be end of me."

* A one-shot parody of the ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' comics called ''The Man of Rust'' has the Lex Luthor expy summon all the Man of Rusts from all the alternate Earths. One of these is from Soviet Earth. When all the Men of Rust start fighting each other, and one of them uses his Freeze Breath on the Soviet Man of Rust, he just shrugs it off and says, "Bah! Your freeze breath is nothing compared to Siberian winters!"

And before the Cold War it was a Wild Communist, and even before, in the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia 19th century]], it was a hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guy in furs, with a wild beard and a pet bear. So this trope [[OlderThanTelevision predates the television by some 150 years]] (it goes all the way back to 1813, in fact). And it would be probably even older if people outside the country itself before 1813 had registered Russia's existence.

One wonders for the reason for this trope: is it the cold winters of Russia, or their being raised on unsophisticated food, or something completely different? But that's rarely answered.

SubTrope of HadToBeSharp and GrimUpNorth. Often overlaps with, if not providing an outright {{Justifi|edtrope}}cation for, HuskyRusskie. Somewhat related, also, with RussianGuySuffersMost.

*** Throughout Eastern Bloc armies of the 1960-1990 period, a popular joke about very short and muscular men was "they were sent to the tanks during Army service".

** Some Russian cultural attitudes have inadvertently reinforced the trope of Russian stoicism. As noted in the the StepfordSmiler page, [[http://blog.properrussian.com/2011/05/why-russians-are-not-smiling.html Russians smile mostly around people they know, as doing otherwise is seen as insincere.]] As such, to foreigners visiting Russia, Russians seem to be grim, dour people.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s Worf, while already strong as a Klingon, likely got the strength to [[TheWorfEffect survive the alien of the week]] from his adopted Russian parents. He even mentioned that his father took him camping in the Urals during his childhood.

* [[TwoferTokenMinority Simon Brezhnev]], the kind and thoughtful but also [[ScaryBlackMan very intimidating]] sushi hawker in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''

* The title character of ''Literature/MichaelStrogoff'' could be the poster boy for this trope: able to appears stoic during his travel in Siveria and [[spoiler:even to [[ObfuscatingDisability look and act as if he was effectively blinded by the Tartars]]]].

* [[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX Punisher]] villain General Nikolai Alexandrovich Zakharo A.K.A ''The Man Of Stone'', exemplifies this trope. In fact, at one point he refers to Frank as a Russian who just happened to be born American.

* Colossus of the ''ComicBook/XMen'', though deep down he's a sensitive soul with a talent for drawing.
** Omega Red play's it horrifyingly straight.

* Mr. Bobinski, the FunnyForeigner neighbour of ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', invokes this trope.

* Literature/DirkPittAdventures: In ''Raise The Titanic,'' when Dana Seagram unhesitatingly complies with the Soviet sailor's demands to remove her clothes, she promptly demonstrates just how much of a strong-willed woman she is by taunting them, and when the Russians are rendered speechless, she adds: "What's the matter, Ivan? Too used to muscle-bound, hod-carrying Russian women?"

* Creator/AndreiBelyanin's ''Literature/TsarGorokhsDetectiveAgency'' series has Dmitry "Mit'ka" Lobov, a huge oaf from a village whose brain is inversely proportional to his body. As a rule, the protagonist (a modern day ByTheBookCop stuck in fairy-tale Russia) and Literature/BabaYaga mostly use him for manual labor and to assist in apprehending villains and forbid him from attempting to exercize his brain, as that usually leads to disaster. His enormous strength (it's frequently mentioned that he bends horseshoes with his bare hands for fun) isn't seen as that unusual for a village boy. When the protagonist decides to introduce Medieval Russia to hockey, Mit'ka is made a goalie, as his enormous bulk blocks most of the goal to attack. For a visual, see [[http://img12.nnm.me/6/7/4/8/4/9ab0d1f5385c99e1baafb902299.jpg this]] cover art (Mit'ka is the big guy on the left).

* Defied in ''Literature/RedRabbit'': Jack points out that as much as both the Russians and Americans like to play up this trope with various levels of jokiness, the sad and sorry truth is that the lower standards of nutrition and healthcare in the USSR mean that Ivan Conscriptovich is not going to be as strong or able to withstand adverse conditions as his US counterpart.

* Susan Ivanova in ''Series/BabylonFive''; a stoic, no-nonsense soldier who even goes down in legend as Ivanova the Strong.
* ''Series/{{Danger 5}}''. Spoofed with ActionGirl Ilsa, who shrugs off being whipped by Nazi torturers. "This is nothing compared to Siberia." Later when facing {{doppelganger}}s of the team, the fake Claire is exposed by a test that plays on her emotions, but it's noted that the test won't work on Ilsa as "Russians don't have emotions".

* Asserted by prisoner Nikolai Stanislofsky in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. After seven years in a Russian gulag, he expects no trouble from Oz. He didn't expect [[MagnificentBastard Ryan O'Reily]].

* Sergei Malatov from ''Series/TheWire'' claims that American prisons are not real prisons as he has been a "guest" in the actually harsh Ukrainian/Soviet ones.

* The people of Khador (the local FantasyCounterpartCulture of Russia) in ''[[TabletopGame/IronKingdoms [=Warmachine=]]]'' tend to be tough-as-nails hard-fighting bearded men in fur pelts and carrying big axes.

%%* JustForFun/ZerothLawOfTropeExamples: Invoked in ''Theatre/LovesLaboursLost''.

* Dimitri Rascalov of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' seems quite amiable at first. Then, he bitch-slaps you and [[spoiler:starts betraying and backstabbing every single person he comes across.]]
** Also, Rascalov's apparent calm and impassivity even in the worst circumstances fits the trope of Russian toughness. [[spoiler:It is revealed he's actually a huge thorazine addict.]]

* Page picture: Soda Popinski (originally VodkaDrunkenski) from ''VideoGame/PunchOut''.
* Mikhail Bulgakov from ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is the only Russian kid at camp. He's possibly one of the strongest kids there and he's obsessed with wrestling. He's kind of scrawny (not at all a HuskyRusskie), but he's strong enough to wrestle ''bears''. Almost every single comment he leaves on everyone's {{Character Blog}}s involves him figuring out how he'd defeat them in a wrestling match.

* Zangief from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' is one of the most iconic examples of this trope in video games. He is the original MightyGlacier of the series and his playstyle revolves around high-damage throws.
%%** Before him, Zangief of WCW.
* The Heavy from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. His fists do the same amount of damage as a sword in game. He also carries a gun about as large as himself. He has twice the health of the other tiny baby classes, without wearing any armor. And he can kill you by pointing at you and yelling "Pow!" It's later revealed his family is just as good at it: Even the younger, less corpulent ones can go hunting for large bears for dinner and have done so for years, and the biggest of the lot, Zhanna, regularly kills men and robots with her bare hands once she joins Soldier in it.

* ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'': [[spoiler:Stella, Claire, and through them Ginger]]. It's also stated that even Russian [[{{Uke}} subs]] tend to have a dominant streak.
* Viktor Vasko from ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' invokes this trope, even though he was born in Austria-Hungary. He's a large, stoic enforcer for a speakeasy who doesn't smile much.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Steve befriends an ex-Soviet spy who helps him build a rocket for a competition. To toughen him up, he teaches him to eat Russian turnips, which are so tough Steve's mouth begins to bleed upon biting into one.

* Even robots are not immune. In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' The Russian-accented Decepticon Strika is built like a titanium outhouse and turns into a futuristic tank, making her one of the largest fighters in her faction. On Soviet Charr, tank drives ''you''.

* Rather creepily, Adolf Hitler became a firm believer in this by the end of the war. Because the Soviets had defeated the Germans in the Great Patriotic War, his racist and Social Darwinian attitudes led him to conclude that the "eastern races" were obviously more deserving of survival and thought they would ultimately complete world conquest after destroying the "decadent democracies of the west." It's one of the reasons he came to [[YouHaveFailedMe denounce the entire German nation and deemed them unfit to even survive as a people]], trying to effect this by [[TakingYouWithMe ordering the destruction of all German infrastructure and even the bare means of survival]].

* Russian military equipment is oftentimes far from the the most comfortable.

* ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedTheFall'' reveals the Russian tsars run on AuthorityEqualsAsskicking, as shown when Alexander III takes down an Assassin unarmed, after walking off his train crashing, and handing over his piece of Eden just so the fight would be fair.

* UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin is a [[SecretPolice KGB]] [[ColonelBadass Colonel]] who holds a [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking 6th dan in judo]] and runs the St. Petersburg dojo.

* Simon Brezhnev, the kind and thoughtful but also [[ScaryBlackMan very intimidating]] sushi hawker in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''

* In ''Tabletopgame/WarhammerFantasy Battles'', the counterpart culture to Russia is made up of hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guys in furs, with wild beards and pet bears.

%% * Zangief, ''Franchise/StreetFighter''.

* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerIII'': While Kislev is a CultureChopSuey of Russia, Poland, and other Slavs, it definitely runs with this. One of their defining mechanics is each unit going on a LastStand for thirty seconds when other factions units [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere would usually route]]. Furthermore, all of their foot troops are TheMusketeer, tough in melee combat, be it an archer or gunner.

* Defied in ''Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober'': Jack points out that as much as both the Russians and Americans like to play up this trope with various levels of jokiness, the sad and sorry truth is that the lower standards of nutrition and healthcare in the USSR mean that Ivan Conscriptovich is not going to be as strong or able to withstand adverse conditions as his US counterpart.

* The people of Khador (the local FantasyCounterpartCulture of Russia) in ''[[TabletopGame/IronKingdoms [=Warmachine=]]]'' tend to be tough-as-nails hard-fighting bearded men in fur pelts and carrying [[AnAxeToGrind big axes]].

* From ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'', Lev Andropov of the space station. So tough, he was on the ''outside'' of an "asteroid rover" when it jumped a chasm, and fixes the space shuttle's navigation system by [[PercussiveMaintenance assaulting it]], because "[[PunctuatedPounding This! Is how we fix things! On Russian! Space! Station!]]"

* "Iron Joe" (read, Stalin) from a ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' sketch with the WWII allies as superheroes. He was modeled after ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]]'' and his favourite tactic was "Wipe out my opposition with famine and secret police!" That despite the fact that Stalin was not Russian.

* A one-shot parody of the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics called ''The Man of Rust'' has the Lex Luthor expy summon all the Man of Rusts from all the alternate Earths. One of these is from Soviet Earth. When all the Men of Rust start fighting each other, and one of them uses his Freeze Breath on the Soviet Man of Rust, he just shrugs it off and says, "Bah! Your freeze breath is nothing compared to Siberian winters!"

** As did the Abomination from the ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'' comics.

* The Heavy from ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. His fists do the same amount of damage as a sword in game. He also carries a gun about as large as himself. He has twice the health of the other tiny baby classes, without wearing any armor. And he can kill you by pointing at you and yelling "Pow!". It's later revealed his family is just as good at it: Even the younger, less corpulent ones can go hunting for large bears for dinner and have done so for years, and the biggest of the lot, Zhanna, regularly kills men and robots with her bare hands once she joins Soldier in it.

* "Iron Joe" (read, Stalin) from a ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}!'' sketch with the WWII allies as superheroes. He was modeled after ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]]'' and his favourite tactic was "Wipe out my opposition with famine and secret police!" That despite the fact that Stalin was not Russian.

* Oh, and while we're on the military topics, Russia will still retain {{Conscription}} for the conceivable future, resulting in a considerable portion of the male able-bodied population being ([[RedshirtArmy somewhat]]) trained soldiers[[note]]According to Russian [=YouTuber=] NFKRZ, the army is so corrupted that conscripts aren't even trained to become soldiers at all. They are instead used as glorified cheap laborers by corrupt Russian officials for the duration of their service.[[/note]].

** Although the Red Army is stereotyped as [[WeHaveReserves carelessly throwing lots of soldiers killing half amount of their casualties]], the greatest Allied [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Kozhedub fighter,]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Sidorenko sniper,]] & [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitry_Lavrinenko tank]] aces came from the USSR. And the top Soviet tank ace of the whole war [[UpToEleven was killed in late 1941, barely one year into the war]]. Which isn't to say they ''didn't'' use human-wave attacks, mind you; they were merely a DesperationAttack rather than standard operating procedure, even with the [[RedshirtArmy explicitly expendable]] penal battalions.