History Main / MusclesAreMeaningless

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'':
** The FragileSpeedster Fox is not only possibly the fastest character, he also has two of the most powerful KO-moves in his up-aerial and up-smash, the latter of which is the second-most powerful of its sort in the whole game, easily beating the much slower up-smashes of [[Characters/DonkeyKongKongs Donkey Kong]] and [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganondorf]] in terms of raw power. And the strongest up-smash? [[ViolationOfCommonSense Pikachu's.]]
** Who has the strongest of all moves in the game? Is it Captain Falcon? Nah. Is it Donkey Kong? Nope. Is it Mewtwo? You're getting warmer. Surprisingly, it's Jigglypuff, which already unsettling seeing that she's a small Pokémon who's almost literally a balloon, is even weirder because she is the second smallest Pokémon in the game. Although her down-special move, Rest, is hard to connect and, if done wrong, can leave her sleeping and an incredibly easy target, if done correctly, she can send an opponent with at least only 50% damage flying off stage.

* Create a male draenei or orc mage in '' VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', and you've got a GlassCannon whom a {{boss|Battle}} can easily one-shot. However, due to [[OnlySixFaces all characters of any given race and sex using the same model]], he'll ''still'' be huge and beefy. Roll a female [[OurElvesAreDifferent blood elf]] paladin, on the other hand...your character appears to weigh less than her weapon but is probably a MightyGlacier.
** Or a gnome, who in many cases will be swinging weapons larger than themselves, and is just as capable as a tauren of tearing you to shreds.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' offers a huge amount of stat and skill customization for each character through the Sphere Grid, letting any character take on any role if they put in the effort (other than Yuna's summoning, which is locked to her for plot reasons). These stat changes do not affect the characters' appearance in any way whatsoever, which means that a properly-trained [[WhiteMagicianGirl Yuna]] can hit harder than the rest of the party (including [[JackOfAllStats Tidus]] and [[MightyGlacier Auron]]) by meekly bopping the enemy with her staff.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Mario can do things like lift Bowser by the tail, spin him around swiftly and throw him across an arena [[ShapedLikeItself with just his arms]] in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', despite being a short, somewhat pudgy guy. Also applies to Luigi, who's a bit thinner overall but nearly as strong. However, in proportion to their size, Mario and Luigi do have the thickest legs and second-thickest arms out of the humanoid characters. They still don't appear to be very muscular, though.
** Toad is an even better example; he's the shortest out of everyone that is selectable in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', but he's capable of pulling out throwable vegetables out of the ground the fastest, especially considering that Peach and Luigi in comparison take a considerable amount of time to do the same. Also Yoshi can beat Bowser around with the same ease that Mario can.

* In a word, ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}''. Someone who looks like [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dis-laharl1.jpg this]] should not even be capable of lifting the sword he is holding, much less be able to deal absurdly high amounts of damage or lift and throw ten significantly larger people at once.
** Or blow up planets...

* Pick ''any'' OneHitPointWonder NintendoHard [=80s=]/early [=90s=] game where you play a bare-chested, supermuscloid juggernaut. (''VideoGame/{{Karnov}}'', ''VideoGame/IkariWarriors'', ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'', ''VideoGame/SmashTV'', ''VideoGame/TotalCarnage''). Not only do the muscles never come into play (you use guns and the like), but if you touch even the weakest, skinniest {{mook|s}}, YOU ARE DEAD.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the draw strength on the Great Eagle Bow is noted to be almost impossible for anyone else to do, yet [[ArcherArchetype Revali]], its original owner, is on the slender side compared to beefier [[BirdPeople Rito]] like Kass. Link is even smaller than Revali and has no trouble wielding it either
* Little Mac from ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' isn't even five feet tall and weighs a little over a hundred pounds, but he can defeat a variety of legendary heavyweight boxers such as Mike Tyson himself. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in that Little Mac has significantly less attack power, and stamina than the [[BossGame other opponents]], but wins due to the player exploiting the bosses mistakes, and fighting patterns.

* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'': Physically, Raziel is barely more than a walking skeleton, but, as the Elder God states, he's actually stronger as a wraith than he was as a vampire. He can easily push and pull massive stone pillars and overpower vampires.
* The second boss of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianding'' is TheDreaded killing machine, Nakamura Michiaki, who despite being the most muscular boss in the game turns out to be quite ''the'' pushover, his muscles hardly benefiting his health and he goes down easier than later, skinnier bosses.

* Makoto Nanaya of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', despite being a [[LittleBitBeastly squirrel girl]] who only weighs 49 kilograms (108 pounds), is one of the most powerful characters in the game, able to do a lot of physical damage with just her fists. This is not GameplayAndStorySegregation either. In one cutscene she drops from the air and leaves a large crater where she punched the ground and, to further let you know how powerful she is, she effortlessly picks up and carries off an unconscious Tsubaki like she were a rag doll.
* Female Shepard ''Franchise/MassEffect'', unlike her reasonably built male counterpart, is something of a waif when out of armor. Nonetheless, this doesn't stop her punching [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]] to death if she gets close enough. Due to the [[BackFromTheDead Lazarus Project]] in the second game, Shepard has been outfitted in cybernetic implants and a [[MadeOfIron reinforced skeletal structure]], allowing her to fire sniper rifles and shotguns designed by Geth and Krogan, which generate enough recoil to shatter every bone in a ''normal'' human's arm.
** Prior to the SuperSoldier treatment, an InUniverse explanation for this trope was the presence of genetic enhancements in all Alliance soldiers, including Shepard, that make them considerably stronger than they appear, and all combat armor has a built-in exoskeleton. Also, it's worth noting that neither the male nor female Shepard does much heavy lifting in the first game, sticking to firearms and grenades instead. Hard melee attacks were introduced in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.
** In the second game, an over-amorous Turian makes the mistake of hitting on an asari and a Female Shepard, before insulting them. Cue the sound of him being beaten to a pulp offscreen, then thrown clean across the room. Made even more amusing if Shepard's wearing the [[LittleBlackDress cocktail dress]] from Kasumi's DLC at the time.
** Even more obvious in ''Citadel'' where you get the chance to beat [[TheBigGuy Vega]] at pull-ups, with a whopping score of ''182''
* One of the augmentations the Spartans received in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' universe was a thyroid implant that increases their muscular density significantly, which is one way to get around the real-life limitations mentioned in the page description. This ''would'' be a justification, except that Spartan-[=IIs=] are also "7-foot-tall walking tanks" even ''without'' their strength-enhancing PoweredArmor (''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'' describes them as already having adult Olympic-level physiques at age 14). Nonetheless, when a 14-year old John-117 was still recovering from the thyroid implant, he was already physically far superior to a quartet of bigger ODST special forces soldiers, who made the mistake of [[BullyingADragon trying to push him around...]]
** Kat is the easily the smallest member of [[TheTeam Noble Team]] in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' and Spartan [=IIIs=] in general (unless the player is also a female spartan), but Kat still has all the superhuman abilities that the Spartan Program [[SuperSerum benefit]]. Overall the female Spartans are less bulky than male spartans in Halo Reach, and Kat in particularity has feminine attributes but regardless they are no less physically strong than their male peers.
*** Also it's worth noting all the normal-sized Spartan [=IIIs=] in Noble Team are just as strong as ''the huge'' Spartan [=II=] [[TheBigGuy Jorge]] who's received the same augmentations as John 117 aka Master Chief (who is smaller than Jorge).

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Female characters in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' have slightly higher Magic stats and male characters have slightly higher physical stats (and the [[{{Bifauxnen}} androgynous]] Faris is in the middle), but the difference is only a few points and well overwhelmed by the statistical bonuses gained by equipping a Job. Based on how she is written as having magic powers outside of the Crystal's gifts, Krile was probably intended to be a magic user, but it's just as easy to turn her into an axe demon or martial arts champ.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has Terra and Celes, who look like dainty, slim women and wield big swords. While not the physically strongest members of the party, they're the two most reliable JackOfAllStats characters the player gets and have access to the game's best weapons. Both are considered unusually strong in the game's story, as well. Justified in that Celes has been magically enhanced and Terra is not human.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
*** Cloud. He's 5'7", making him the shortest human male in the cast. Also, while having well-defined muscles, he is much smaller than [[TheBigGuy Barret]]. Yet he's significantly stronger than anyone else in the party, carries a {{BFS}} like it's a feather, and in ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'' he ''carries'' Barret ''one-handed'' at high speed. {{Justified|Trope}} in that he's been enhanced via magical techniques. His actual degree of musculature varies on the [[AdaptationalAttractiveness specific portrayal]] - it caused some minor backlash when ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' was first announced, in which Cloud is less muscular than he's usually portrayed and [[NothingButSkinAndBones very, very thin]]. Many fans thought this was silly, but many others thought it was appropriate for his [[PeopleJars history]] and [[DeathOfPersonality character at that point]]. Cloud was buffed up significantly from this for the final game, but he was modelled to have the physique of 'a male ballet dancer' to indicate a slim body but with astonishing core strength. Funnily enough, Tetsuya Nomura drew Cloud with ''huge'' biceps in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Smash Bros 4]]'' [[http://mag.mo5.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/smash-bros-cloud.jpg promo art]] while his initial [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/7/70/Cloud_Strife_Sketch2.png/revision/latest?cb=20130202104438 design]] for Cloud was far more lean. In the Remake, this is referenced when a huge, muscular JerkJock named Ronnie mocks Cloud for being skinny while Jules warns Ronnie not to underestimate him. Cloud faces Ronnie in a squat contest and defeats him.
*** Tifa Lockhart, who looks like a waif but can keep pace with Jenova-enhanced {{Super Soldier}}s, and unlike Cloud, she has [[BadassNormal nothing going for her]] but [[BareFistedMonk her martial arts training.]] Though in the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake remake]] Tifa does have defined abdominals, which is something but judging by fan reactions they wish ''she was more ripped''.
*** Yuffie much like Tifa is quite skinny, but unlike Ms Lockhart, Yuffie doesn’t even have a toned physique. Yet as seen in the original game and ''Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade'' Yuffie is fully capable of taking down monsters and foes who dwarf her in size.
** Amusingly, [[TheCutie Rinoa]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has the highest unmodified Strength stat in the game at level 100. She's stronger than ''[[GentleGiant Ward]]''.
** Tidus in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is the smallest male character, but he's capable of lifting a grown man off the ground by the collar. Apparently you need to be super human to play [[FictionalSport blitzball]].
** Noctis in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' is on the scrawny side and dwarfed by [[TheBigGuy Gladiolus]], but he's also the MasterOfAll, proficient with all kinds of ridiculous weaponry (including {{BFS}}es bigger than his entire body), and physically tough. This is a side effect of his heightened magical powers, and it is hinted at numerous times that using so much magic to maintain his strength causes him various health problems.
* Fenris of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' is an elf, which in this game means very thin and lanky, but specializes in two-handed weapons which not only include greatswords but hammers and axes as well. Helps that he has [[AppliedPhlebotinum Lyrium]] laced throughout his body.
** A Female [[PlayerCharacter Hawke]] specializing in wielding two-handed weapons also falls into this trope, being less muscular than her male counterpart. Her proficiency with these weapons is somewhat justifiable however, due to both her and her brother Carver being trained in swordsmanship from a young age by their [[MagicKnight father]], as well as being one of the few ''survivors'' of [[RedShirtArmy King Cailan's Army]] at Ostagar.
** Statistically speaking, this happens when a mage takes the Arcane Warrior specialization. It changes the prerequisite attribute for equipping armor and weapons from Strength to Magic.
* Two such bosses appears in ''VideoGame/DustyRevenge''. Reddo the bull for instance is a pile of muscles, and an easy WarmUpBoss that Dusty the rabbit can easily beat up. There's also a ''massive'' KillerGorilla named Tongada, who despite his size is still nowhere as durable as later bosses (like Amelia, a slender cheetah or Aliciaconda the snake).
* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'', the Boss's appearance is purely aesthetic and thus a tiny, thin woman is capable of ripping a payphone out of the sidewalk and beating someone with it or stepping into an underground fightclub and delivering a NeckSnap finisher to a man three times her size.
* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', at your complete whim you can change your hulking, muscular beast of a character to a stick-like [[PrettyBoy bishie]] twerp on the spot via [[MagicPlasticSurgery plastic surgery]], but you can still drop kick grown men, throw people across a highway, and manhandle a [[EliteMooks brute]] with a baseball bat like it's no big deal.
* As the result of an EmergencyTransformation gone wrong, Gauldoth from ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV'' has a frail-looking undead arm that is powerful enough to [[NeckSnap break someone's neck]].
* Most fist fighters and two-handed weapon users in ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' tend to fall into this category.
** Colette and Presea from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' are, among other things, both shown to be capable of carrying things larger and heavier than themselves with ease despite being devoid of any noticeable muscle. This extends into gameplay in the latter's case, who wields enormous axes with ground shattering force.
** Senel from ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' looks to be of slightly above average musculature at best, but is nonetheless capable of throwing around monsters about three times bigger than himself with ease.
** Karol from ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' wields hammers with heads almost as big as himself along with swords and axes that are twice his height and is a simple 12-year-old boy. He does have a possible justification in the form of the blastia on his handbag, though.
* Sammy "Skate" Hunter, the iconic KidHero of ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'', is by all accounts a FragileSpeedster underaged kid... whom can toss all variants of the notably heavy [[FatBastard Bongo]] enemy around with as much ease as Max Thunder, who is [[MightyGlacier at least three hundred pounds of pure muscle and near-zero agility to compensate]]. In most of the games, none of the other adult characters are capable of the same feat: Bongo will just fall on them for some serious crushing damage. Averted with regards to normal enemies, though, as Sammy is the only character who can't throw an opponent using his strength alone. While even the short but muscular Blaze can throw out a [[SuplexFinisher suplex or three]], Skate's only actual throw comes from [[CombatParkour flipping over the opponent]] and using the momentum and leverage to toss ''them'' forward.
* Knuckles in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' is roughly the same size as Sonic and has [[NoodlePeople skinny arms like the rest of the characters]], but has the power to match the likes of Vector, Storm, Big, Omega, [[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Wario, Bowser, and even Donkey Kong]].
* The Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' seems the be built like an average woman, but is capable of firing an assault rifle with one hand and carrying Davy Crockett miniature nuclear platform weighing 300kg around effortlessly.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags]] this trope.
** The remake of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' subverts it with Jill and Chris, where Chris's larger frame allows him to take more abuse and handle heavier weapons better than Jill. While Chris can effortlessly fire the magnum and the shotgun from the hip, Jill stumbles with each shot from the magnum and has to fire the shotgun from the shoulder.
** In later games, Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, and Ada Wong play this straight despite their waif physiques with all three women are able to [[KickChick kick]] away massive monsters with their melee skill, Jill and Claire are seen using the massive grenade launchers, mini-guns and [=RPGs=]. Ada and Jill, in particular, have crazy SheFu and acrobatic skills being capable of jumping long distances and doing ninja flips [[spoiler:and this was before Jill was injected with PsychoSerum that gave her superhuman power [=BTW=]]].
*** Though ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' subverts this with Ada, as she can't use the huge burly shotguns that Leon gets in the main game and instead uses a smaller and easier to handle one. This contrasts with Jill and Claire who can handle large firearms no problem despite lacking the upper body strength of the male characters in the series.
** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' Claire (a skinny college girl) effortlessly wields a [[GatlingGood Mini-Gun]] that likely weighs over 85 lbs to kill the G-Creature during the FinalBattle of her scenario.
** Probably one of the most awesome and {{Narm}} moments in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' is the option to have regular-sized Jill Valentine push the Hulk-sized Nemesis off a bridge into a chasm. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake'' has a moment even more ridiculous where Jill (who is just as skinny as in the original game) pick up the massive and heavy [[{{BFG}} Railgun]] like it's light furniture to finish off Nemesis.]]
** The small Rebecca Chambers plays this straight in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil0'' able to use the heavy weapons like the grenade launcher and [=RPG=] though averted somewhat as Rebecca is forced to take a step back after firing it while [[{{Hunk}} Billy]] can stand still and fire it faster than her.
** Leon S. Kennedy is the most prominent male example as physically he's not nearly as muscular as Chris Redfield or Billy Cohen, but nevertheless Leon can still: crush a zombie's head [[FinishingStomp with his foot]] (or kick it off), [[SuplexFinisher suplex a man]] so hard his head explodes, [[Anime/ResidentEvilDegeneration hold the combined weight of a giant bio-monster and a grown woman]], keep a mutant shark's [[PalatePropping jaws open]] with his bare hands, [[Anime/ResidentEvilVendetta stagger a mutated antagonist with an axe kick]] and perhaps most impressively equal Chris in a hand to hand fight.
** Sherry Birkin in ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil6 RE6]]'' has plenty of agile SheFu moments, but Helena Harper actually deserves acknowledgment for how strong she is despite being smaller than Leon. She even helps him push a boulder over at one point.
** Albert Wesker plays this trope even better than Leon, no overly huge muscle mass at all and he's up against Chris [[MemeticMutation boulder puncher]] Redfield armed only with a handgun. However, Wesker has SuperStrength, SuperSpeed and SuperReflexes so Chris is [[CurbStompBattle absolutely demolished]] in almost every single fight [[spoiler:until he exploits Wesker's PsychoSerum and dumps him in a volcano in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'']]. It's also worth noting Chris gained the muscular build solely for purpose of fighting Wesker, and even then it wasn't enough as Wesker can NeckLift Chris's 220 lb ass off the ground ''one-handed''.
*** [[spoiler:In the same game a BrainWashedAndCrazy Jill overpowers her beefy partner Chris in a melee, thanks to Wesker giving her a SuperSerum.]]
** Lady Dimitrescu from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' [[StatuesqueStunner while very tall]] isn’t muscular like the previous [[ImplacableMan pursuers]] such as Mr X or Nemesis, yet she can still NeckLift [[PlayerCharacter Ethan]] showing she’s incredibly strong. This is thanks to BigBad Mother Miranda, mutating Dimitrescu with a parasite that makes her strong and vampire-like.
* Jimmy Hopkins in ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}''. He's short and isn't muscular at all, yet can take on guys nearly twice his size in a fight.

* VideoGame/{{Shantae}} can effortlessly sprint through miles of monster-infested forest while [[BridalCarry carrying someone bridal-style]], despite having the physique of a scrawny teenager girl.
* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', melee damage is largely independent of muscles. While Krieg (a WalkingShirtlessScene with washboard abs whose [[CatchPhrase pecs have pecs]]) is a devastating melee combatant, so is [=Zer0=] (an extremely noodly space ninja). As for carrying capacity and weapon weight, neither matters at all - the only relevant trait for that is inventory slots, which are bought with Eridium from the black market. This means that Gaige (a 5'4", slightly built MadScientist in her late teens) can carry just as many enormous Torgue rocket launchers and shotguns around as Salvador (same height, but a ''massive'' steroid abuser); the sole edge Sal's habit gives him is that he can [[DualWielding dual-wield]] them, he can't stuff any more in his backpack.
* ''VideoGame/FateExtra'': Saber Nero is less than 5 feet tall and skinny as a rail. As a Servant, she has SuperStrength, but back when she was alive, she was an ordinary human with no special abilities. Yet one time in her original life, she fought a lion ''[[FullFrontalAssault naked]]'' and killed it with her bare hands by strangling it to death, simply because she wanted to reenact the story of Hercules vs the Nemean Lion.
* While ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' ''mostly'' averts this trope (many Fighting-Types look pretty muscular, for example), there are a few straight examples.
** The Meditite and Marill lines have stick-arms and are chubby-looking rodents, respectively, but they can both have the Pure/Huge Power abilities, which double their physical attack stats, allowing them to hit ''nearly as hard as some OlympusMons''.
** Cinccino also counts. It’s a small, cute chinchilla-like Pokémon with a soft scarf. Despite this, its attack stat is a fairly high 95.
* Max from ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'' was an inversion in his first appearance, but fit this trope as time went on. He got progressively buffer in his in-game portraits, but his units got less of a damage boost later on as well.
* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'' gives us two characters stated to be extremely strong: Kuro, who is at least very tall and does seem to possess some bulk in depending on the card (though it tends to taken further by fan artists), and Souma, who is right in the middle in terms of height and is, if anything, quite slender (Kanata describes him once as being limber, like a flying fish). His strength ''is'' explained by him always carrying around a real sword and practising with it every morning, but he certainly doesn't look it.
* In ''VideoGame/MaddenNFL'' and its sister series ''VideoGame/NCAAFootball'', height and weight matter very little with regard to how well players block or shed blocks - only the ratings (including Strength) matter, logic (or physics) be damned. Inverted in some installments, which see height and weight as the primary determining factor.
* ''VideoGame/MikeShadowIPaidForIt'': Mike can lift some really heavy objects and deal powerful blows despite being rather spindly.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', at least for the human characters, between Verse and Eb. Eb is an AmazonianBeauty and actually a ''mage'' (albeit a relatively tough one), while smaller and more slender Verse is a BloodKnight who dishes out incredible physical damage with dual-wielded swords or her bow. Likewise, thanks to CharacterCustomization, the Fatebinder can share a body model with Sirin (a teenage girl) and [[GlacierWaif still be]] a MightyGlacier, no problem.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'': The Stranger is a string bean compared to the wall of meat that is Kratos, but he's still able to perform feats of strength that no mortal should be capable of, like punching Kratos ''over his house''. [[spoiler:That's because he's not a mortal; he's the Nordic god of light Baldur.]]
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarRagnarok'': Kratos' son Atreus brings this up when he notes he is approaching his father in strength, yet is still skinny, eagerly asking when he will grow muscles like Kratos. Kratos points out that to those with godly heritage, strength has nothing to do with muscle mass since it comes from magic. The reason why Kratos is muscular is because he worked out simply because he wanted to. If Atreus wants to be buff, he'll have work for it.
* In ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'', several characters comment on how tall and muscular Osvald is, and he explains to Partitio that he finds exercise to be helpful for improving his focus and discipline when it comes to research. However, stat-wise, Osvald is a SquishyWizard [[BlackMage Scholar]]. Meanwhile, Hikari is the shortest and smallest male character, and he starts off as a more physically-inclined [[TheBigGuy Warrior]].

* ZigZaggingTrope in ''LightNovel/TheHeroWhoReturnedRemainsTheStrongestInTheModernWorld''. Daiki's current baseline is already far beyond any normal human thanks to the strength he gained as a hero in another world. As a result, he can easily beat up his old bullies despite retaining his old scrawny physique after deactivating all of his skills. But after using Enhance Physical Ability, [[TemporaryBulkChange his muscles grow considerably]] into a more proper HeroicBuild, multiplying his SuperStrength manifold in the process.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' offers a huge amount of stat and skill customization for each character through the Sphere Grid, letting any character take on any role if they put in the effort (other than Yuna's summoning, which is locked to her for plot reasons). These stat changes do not affect the characters' appearance in any way whatsoever, which means that a properly-trained [[WhiteMagicianGirl Yuna]] can hit harder than the rest of the party (including [[JackOfAllStats Tidus]] and [[MightyGlacier Auron]]) by meekly bopping the enemy with her SimpleStaff.

* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'' takes place in an RPGMechanicsVerse where one's stats are completely unrelated to one's build. The protagonist is a top-level Witch with the body of a petite seventeen-year-old girl, but can still [[GrievousHarmWithABody swing around a full-grown dragon by the tail]].

-->-- '''[[SuperpoweredEvilSide Inner-]]Moka Akashiya''', ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire''

* This highlights Sam's power in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8532906/1/iFightCrimeWithVictorious iFight Crime With Victorious]]'' - having her power prevents her from gaining extra muscle mass. [[spoiler: Ricky Flame]] on the other hand can, and exercises regularly to increase his superhuman strength.

* Dorina Basarab (a.k.a. Dory) from Karen Chance's second series describes herself as small and curvy. Vampires often underestimate her because she appears cute and harmless. She is still, however, a 500-year-old dhampyr who can easily tussle with all but the most powerful of vampires and other supernatural creatures. During one of her "berserker rages", two First-level Masters could barely hold her down and are implied to only have managed because one is her father who has incredible mental abilities and hundreds of years of experience in dealing with her. [[spoiler: It was revealed in the third book of her series that her "berserker rages" are a result of her extremely old and powerful vampiric blood taking over, as she is normally in ''human'' mode.]]

* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''. Standard human-sized Alex can lift cars and kick helicopters apart with about 3 hits and the [[spoiler: Supreme Hunter]] is a fair powerhouse despite not being much bigger. This is justified as both actually weigh far more than they appear on the surface. On the other hand, the standard human-sized Infected don't pose much threat in melee, Alex's Musclemass power (ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin) noticeably increases his melee power, and the various EliteMooks that do pose a problem in melee are hulking bruisers towering over Alex.

** In later games, Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, and Ada Wong play this straight despite their waif physiques with all three women are able to [[KickChick kick]] away massive monsters with their melee skill, Jill and Claire are seen using the massive grenade launchers, mini-guns and [=RPGs=]. Ada and Jill, in particular, have crazy SheFu and acrobatic skills being capable of jumping long distances and doing ninja flips [[spoiler: and this was before Jill was injected with PsychoSerum that gave her superhuman power [=BTW=]]].

** Probably one of the most awesome and {{Narm}} moments in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' is the option to have regular-sized Jill Valentine push the Hulk-sized Nemesis off a bridge into a chasm. [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake'' has a moment even more ridiculous where Jill (who is just as skinny as in the original game) pick up the massive and heavy [[{{BFG}} Railgun]] like it's light furniture to finish off Nemesis.]]

** Albert Wesker plays this trope even better than Leon, no overly huge muscle mass at all and he's up against Chris [[MemeticMutation boulder puncher]] Redfield armed only with a handgun. However, Wesker has SuperStrength, SuperSpeed and SuperReflexes so Chris is [[CurbStompBattle absolutely demolished]] in almost every single fight [[spoiler: until he exploits Wesker's PsychoSerum and dumps him in a volcano in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'']]. It's also worth noting Chris gained the muscular build solely for purpose of fighting Wesker, and even then it wasn't enough as Wesker can NeckLift Chris's 220 lb ass off the ground ''one-handed''.
*** [[spoiler: In the same game a BrainWashedAndCrazy Jill overpowers her beefy partner Chris in a melee, thanks to Wesker giving her a SuperSerum.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHollow'': Adam's strength is well in excess of what his muscles should provide. [[spoiler: Then again, he is in a video game, so...]]

** For a villainous example, NPC Axel, especially the BonusBoss version, should not be able to deal the damage he does with a frame like his. The same goes with Larxene and Saix.

* Who's the strongest character in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}''? Is it Simon, the huge black [[HuskyRusskie Russian]] sushi tout known to be capable of lifting men his size with one hand? Nope, it's Shizuo the skinny, blonde ex-bartender... a skinny, blonde ex-bartender who [[SuperStrength can throw vending machines four stories high]]. This is due to the fact that, beyond [[UninhibitedMusclePower lacking the mental limiters most people have to]] [[HeroicRROD keep them from ripping their body apart via overexertion]], most of Shizuo's muscular structure is so dense and compact that most bladed weapons have trouble penetrating it beyond a centimeter.

* In ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', the physical strength is determined by the level at which the adventurer is. A slender 5 level boy can easily defeat a beefy man at level 2 and is physically stronger than he is.

** Data's strength is shown initially in "Encounter at Farpoint" when he lifts Riker up. Later, when a Klingon tries to challenge him in their version of arm-wrestling (B'aht Qul), Data wins effortlessly, at which point the angry Klingon tries to headbutt him and is staggered by the impact. Data points out that his skull is made of the same stuff they use to make starship hulls.

* The second boss of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianDing'' is TheDreaded killing machine, Nakamura Michiaki, who despite being the most muscular boss in the game turns out to be quite ''the'' pushover, his muscles hardly benefiting his health and he goes down easier than later, skinnier bosses.

** Kat is the easily the smallest member of [[TheTeam Noble Team]] in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' and Spartan [=IIIs=] in general (unless the player is also a female spartan), but Kat still has all the superhuman abilities that the Spartan Program [[SuperSerum benefit]]. Overall the female Spartans are less bulky than male spartans in Halo Reach, and Kat in particularity has feminine [[SexyWalk attributes]] but regardless they are no less physically strong than their male peers.

** Statistically speaking, this happens when a mage takes the Arcane Warrior specialisation. It changes the prerequisite attribute for equipping armor and weapons from Strength to Magic.

* ''ComicBook/SheHulk'': Zigzagged with She-Hulk. Much like Wonder Woman or Power Girl whether she’s skinny, AmazonianBeauty or monstrously muscular is entirely DependingOnTheArtist, but the most recognisably iconic version of her is [[ComicBook/TheSensationalSheHulk the fourth wall breaking green supermodel]] who can lift well over 100 tons and match her cousin and Thor in strength. Later comics settle on Jen being a ogress however.

* Similar to the ''Immortal Hulk'' example [[ComicBook/{{Juggernaut|MarvelComics}} The Juggernaut]] was at one point literally had all his skin and internal organs removed by the EvilSorcerer D'Spayre but to the latter’s horror Jugs still kept kicking his ass even as a ''giant red skeleton'' because nothing stops The Juggernaut.

* Zigzagged with ComicBook/GhostRider as DependingOnTheArtist it’s just his head that’s a [[ButterFace flaming skull while his body is drawn to be buff]]. Other artists play this straight Ghost Rider is a walking skeleton with demonic super strength who can go toe to toe with Hulk and Thor.

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsCarnage Carnage]] is as lean as Spider-Man and tiny compared to ComicBook/{{Venom}} yet he’s far stronger than both of them being able to toss them around like beach balls.

** [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] is drawn as an athletic woman, but rarely with muscles anywhere approximating what she can do. Justified in that [[PowerParasite she stole the strength powers from]] [[ComicBook/MsMarvel another hero]]. Funnily enough, when Rogue uses the powers of Hulk or She-Hulk, her [[HulkingOut body’s bulks up]] significantly as well her skin going green.

* Zigzagged in ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy''. The spider bite made the [[GeekPhysique formerly scrawny]] Izuku ripped and athletic for a fourteen-year-old, quickly outpacing all of his middle school peers in almost every physical activity. But his wiry, acrobatic build is hardly indicative of his ability to carry refrigerators with one hand or bench press ten tons.

* Zigzagged with Fu (the Nanabi jinchuriki) in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin''. During Part I, she's short and scrawny, yet she exhibits a degree of SuperStrength and SuperToughness leagues above that of her peers and on par with Kage-level powerhouses like A or Tsunade. [[SheIsAllGrownUp While she does develop]] an AmazonianBeauty physique after the timeskip, it's later revealed to be a side effect of having Chomei sealed inside her for her entire life (similar to [[ToughBeetles how beetles and other bugs in real life are able to lift weights several times above their own]]).

* Dorina Basarab (a.k.a. Dory) from Karen Chance's second series describes herself as small and curvy. Vampires often underestimate her because she appears cute and harmless. She is still, however, a 500-year-old dhampir who can easily tussle with all but the most powerful of vampires and other supernatural creatures. During one of her "berserker rages", two First-level Masters could barely hold her down and are implied to only have managed because one is her father who has incredible mental abilities and hundreds of years of experience in dealing with her. [[spoiler: It was revealed in the third book of her series that her "berserker rages" are a result of her extremely old and powerful vampiric blood taking over, as she is normally in ''human'' mode.]]

* ZigZagged in ''LightNovel/TheHeroWhoReturnedRemainsTheStrongestInTheModernWorld''. Daiki's current baseline is already far beyond any normal human thanks to the strength he gained as a hero in another world. As a result, he can easily beat up his old bullies despite retaining his old scrawny physique after deactivating all of his skills. But after using Enhance Physical Ability, [[TemporaryBulkChange his muscles grow considerably]] into a more proper HeroicBuild, multiplying his SuperStrength manifold in the process.

** Probably one of the most awesome and {{Narm}} moments in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'' is the option to have regular-sized Jill Valentine push the Hulk-sized Nemesis off a bridge into a chasm. [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake'' has a moment even more ridiculous where Jill (who is just as skinny as in the original game) pick up the massive and heavy [[{{BFG}} Railgun]] like it's light furniture to finish off Nemesis]].

*** [[spoiler: In the same game a BrainWashedAndCrazy Jill overpowers her beefy partner Chris in a melee, thanks to Wesker giving her a SuperSerum]].

* Alucard in ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania|2017}}'' You can see in his ShirtlessScene that he isn’t really muscly at all (female viewers likely [[LongHairedPrettyBoy won’t care]]) and he looks a pushover compared to the always [[WalkingShirtlessScene shirtless]] muscular vampire God Brand (who's actually far weaker). Alucard regardless is still a {{Dhampir}} who humiliated the more muscly Trevor Belmont by displaying his SuperStrength twice first when [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom first fighting him]] and secondly when lifting rubble that Trevor could barely carry with ease. Played with however as while Alucard can easily physically overpower normal humans, monsters, and vampires when fighting his imposing father {{Dracula}}... he got his ass beat into next week (twice).

* Ahsoka Tano from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' is a rather skinny teenage girl, yet she can break [[EliteMooks Bx-series Commando droids]] with a single kick, [[EffortlessAmazonianLift pull up Obi-Wan from the edge of a cliff]], throw opponents much larger and bulkier than herself over her shoulder, and protect herself in hand-to-hand combat against two meters tall LizardFolk. She can also effectively parry [[DualWielding multiple simultaneous lightsaber strikes]] from the {{cyborg}} General Grievous ''one-handed''.
** She's also a Jedi, and considering Anakin's PapaWolf tendencies, it wouldn't be out of character for him to teach her how to amplify her strength with the Force. It can be done, and this might be what happened, as up to about season two to mid-season three (pre-timeskip), she possessed strength normal for a girl her age, i.e. unable to lift Anakin, a 6'1" adult man [[EffortlessAmazonianLift (which she later did in Season Five)]].

** [[HornyDevils Succubus queen]] Nocticula is a fairly slender human-sized CuteMonsterGirl, who is stronger than some adult true dragons.

** In the second game, an over-amorous Turian makes the mistake of hitting on an Asari and a Female Shepard, before insulting them. Cue the sound of him being beaten to a pulp offscreen, then thrown clean across the room. Made even more amusing if Shepard's wearing the [[LittleBlackDress cocktail dress]] from Kasumi's DLC at the time.

* Zigzagged with Fu (the Nanabi jinchuriki) in ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin''. During Part I, she's short and scrawny, yet she exhibits a degree of SuperStrength and SuperToughness leagues above that of her peers and on par with Kage-level powerhouses like A or Tsunade. [[SheIsAllGrownUp While she does develop]] an AmazonianBeauty physique after the timeskip, it's later revealed to be a side effect of having Chomei sealed inside her for her entire life (similar to how beetles and other bugs in real life are able to lift weights several times above their own).

* ''ComicBook/SheHulk'': Zigzagged with She-Hulk. Much like Wonder Woman or Power Girl whether she’s skinny, AmazonianBeauty or monstrously muscular is entirely DependingOnTheArtist, but the most recognisably iconic version of her is [[ComicBook/SensationalSheHulk the fourth wall breaking green supermodel]] who can lift well over 100 tons and match her cousin and Thor in strength. Later comics settle on Jen being a ogress however.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' offers a huge amount of stat and skill customization for each character through the Sphere Grid, letting any character take on any role if they put in the effort (other than Yuna's summoning, which is locked to her for plot reasons). These stat changes do not affect their appearance in any way whatsoever, which means that a properly-trained [[WhiteMagicianGirl Yuna]] can hit harder than the rest of the party (including [[JackOfAllStats Tidus]] and [[MightyGlacier Auron]]) by meekly bopping the enemy with her SimpleStaff.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', a properly-trained [[WhiteMagicianGirl Yuna]] can do more physical damage than any other character, including [[TheHero Tidus]] and [[BadassLongcoat Auron]]. With a blunt stick, no less!

* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon. Muscles on women tend to be seen as unattractive[[note]]viz. the snarks about [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Michelle Obama]] as some kind of crypto-transgender person because she's got some definition[[/note]], and [[DoubleStandard most creators care more about making their female characters attractive than their male ones]]. Hence women who can bench-press cars won't even be as cut as a typical athlete, let alone have the muscle mass that'd actually be necessary to perform that feat. Though even men with SuperStrength are more likely to have a swimmer's build than a Hulk-like physique[[note]]Creator/WilliamShatner notes that his skinny colleague Creator/LeonardNimoy really was "very powerful, he was a swimmer"[[/note]], let alone the kind of large barrel-chested build real-life ''power lifters'' have (which hardly resembles what a ''body builder'' has).

** [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] is a beanpole who can go toe to toe with trained ninja martial artist-Batman, and to make matters worse the Joker ''draws [[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1d/02/0c/1d020c9f12523902061229027bd51f1a.jpg strength from pain]]''.

* ''Literature/{{Sorcery}}'' does this with the Strength Spell, which boosts the spellcaster's strength to more than six times as usual... and turns out to be utterly meaningless in most of the situations it was cast. Trying to use this spell when fighting a flock of flying fish, and the narration states that there are too many fishes for the spell to have any effect [[note]] On the other hand, you can use the Razor Spell -- which increases the sharpness of your sword but doesn't boost the range of your attacks -- in the same scenario, and yet the spell will work ''perfectly''[[/note]], while using it on the blob-like Mucalytics will have the book stating the increased strength of the player can't affect the Mucalytic's blob-like muscle mass. What's even worse is that by the time players gain access the Strength Spell (by obtaining Fire Water in the third book), they already have means to other attacking spells, like fireball, thunderbolt, razor edge, speed, and several others which works ''far better'' than the strength spell.

* First played straight in ''Literature/GracelingRealm'', as Katsa's extreme talent, flexibility, and speed make her too badass for strength to matter much, but subverted once she meets another Graced fighter ([[spoiler:though of course Po's Grace is a bit more complex than that]]) and realizes her size and relative weakness do disadvantage her.

* This is an interesting thing about performing a suplex in wrestling. Most women's centers of gravity are low, whereas most men's are higher. Men also tend to be taller than women on the whole. This means that it's potentially - if not, actually extremely - easy for a lot of women[[note]]for many more unlisted reasons[[/note]] to suplex the majority of men, even if they aren't physically strong. The same goes for short people to tall people - grab them under the butt (around the thighs) and then just lean back. It's a pure case of physics over strength. You can see a beautiful example of this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4xpOsCcWIw here]].

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'':

** Zigzagged with ComicBook/SheHulk. Much like Wonder Woman or Power Girl whether she’s skinny, AmazonianBeauty or monstrously muscular is entirely DependingOnTheArtist, but the most recognisably iconic version of her is [[ComicBook/SensationalSheHulk the fourth wall breaking green supermodel]] who can lift well over 100 tons and match her cousin and Thor in strength. Later comics settle on Jen being a ogress however.

* Similar to the ''Immortal Hulk'' example [[Characters/{{Juggernaut}} The Juggernaut]] was at one point literally had all his skin and internal organs removed by the EvilSorcerer D'Spayre but to the latter’s horror Jugs still kept kicking his ass even as a ''giant red skeleton'' because nothing stops The Juggernaut.