History Main / SuperStrength

-->-- '''Emil Blonsky''', ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk''

See also WorldsStrongestMan and RequiredSecondaryPowers. Villains show this off with a NeckLift, MinionMaracas, BarrierBustingBlow, or HoistHeroOverHead; heroes do it by being a LoadBearingHero. Characters with this power may sometimes [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not know their own strength]]. They are often described as having TheStrengthOfTenMen. Children with this power have [[SuperStrongChild their own trope]], as do [[StoutStrength characters with big stomachs]].

* Mirabel’s oldest sister Luisa from WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}} has this as her gift, she can do among other things carry mountains, houses, bridges, and several people and animals at once.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Quasimodo is quite strong for a man of his size. Some of his feats include picking up an armored man with one hand, sliding a massive stone slab aside, scaling a cathedral wall with one hand while carrying Esmeralda and Djali in his other arm, and even ''breaking down brick walls''.

* Mirabela’s oldest sister Luisa from WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}} has this as her gift, she can do among other things carry mountains, houses, bridges, and several people and animals at once.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/super_strength.jpg]]]]

** The Underminer is able to almost match Mr. Incredible in terms of strength, likely due to his ArtificialLimbs.

** In the [[WesternAnimation/Incredibles2 sequel]] there’s the BrawnHilda Brick who has super strength has power as well, she succeeds in [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter matching and briefly overpowering]] Mr. Incredible himself when BrainWashedAndCrazy. Although she’s clearly DumbMuscle which contributes to her defeat.

** Elastigirl and Jack-Jack also have a degree of super strength, though this does not come close to Mr. Incredible. Elastigirl's elasticity lets her perform feats of strength no normal human could achieve while Jack-Jack demonstrates strength far beyond that of a normal baby.

* ''Franchise/TheIncredibles'':
** Mr. Incredible has super strength and (apart from [[RequiredSecondaryPowers some degree of implied invulnerability]]) that's pretty much it. It's actually quite a hassle at times, because if he doesn't concentrate on keeping it in check he can accidentally saw a plate in half when cutting his steak or indent his fingerprints into his car, and the only way he can believably work out is to rig up an exercise machine with entire locomotives used as weights. On the bright side, it's great for [[MundaneUtility lifting up the couch so his wife can vacuum under it]].

* Mr. Incredible from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' has super strength and (apart from [[RequiredSecondaryPowers some degree of implied invulnerability]]) that's pretty much it. It's actually quite a hassle at times, because if he doesn't concentrate on keeping it in check he can accidentally saw a plate in half when cutting his steak or indent his fingerprints into his car, and the only way he can believably work out is to rig up an exercise machine with entire locomotives used as weights. On the bright side, it's great for [[MundaneUtility lifting up the couch so his wife can vacuum under it]].
** In the [[WesternAnimation/Incredibles2 sequel]] there’s the BrawnHilda Brick who has super strength has power as well, she succeeds in [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter matching and briefly overpowering]] Mr. Incredible himself when BrainWashedAndCrazy. Although she’s clearly DumbMuscle which contributes to her defeat.

!!Examples

* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' separates this out from enhanced strength. Enhanced Strength applies to all abilities using strength such as increased lifting capability, melee damage, and skill checks and for all practical purposes, just directly increases your strength score. Super-strength only applies to lifting and "feats of strength" involving sustained force like forcing open doors, grappling, etc, but is available at a fifth of the price. It's also traditional used for power stunts like super-breath, {{Ground Pound}}ing, and the like. The reason for this is that a raw Strength score so high the character could do things like lift a freight train would be a GameBreaker of epic proportions, so it was mechanically easier to create a separate power for increasing carrying capacity and the like. Third Edition just uses Enhanced Strength (Limited to lifting), due to the greatly accelerated progression of carrying capacity.

* Represented in the old ''TabletopGame/MarvelSuperHeroes'' RPG with a good roll for your Strength stat...if you were playing a character type with access to the upper echelons, that is. (Incredible is about Spider-Man strength. Monstrous or...whatever the level after that was...lets you hit people with ''oil tankers''.)

* The Paramount Strength gift in ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}''. You can also take it as an Affliction, in which case you [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength won't know your own strength]].
* In the ''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'', this is simply a matter of having a high enough Strength ''stat''. Every +5 doubles the amount of weight the character can normally lift (an average human in good shape at STR 10 is considered able to briefly lift, if not really move with, up to 100 kilograms or about 220 pounds; thus, the usual by-the-book human maximum of 20 is already four times that), and Strength is pretty cheap as characteristics go (one character point per +1, twice that past 20 for "normal" people). As a result, superstrong "brick" characters are a perennial stock archetype especially in the superheroic genre where normal human characteristics maxima don't apply.
* The ''ComicBook/AtomicRobo'' RPG, which runs on Fate, uses Absolute Physique for this. It lets you bypass most or all rolls of Overcome for Physique and just lift something automatically. Note that you'll need another Stunt to do more damage, though - Overcome actions are largely independent of Attack ones. (Robo himself handles this with a Weapon rating on his melee attacks.)
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', there are magic items that increase a wearer's strength, like the Gauntlets of Ogre Power and Belts of Giant Strength (there's a different belt for each type of giant). In most editions, they set the wearer's strength score to peak human capability (Gauntlets of Ogre Power) or beyond (the belts). The Belt of Storm Giant makes the wearer to near the limit of the game. Third Edition just causes them to give strength boosts, but that edition had no upper limits to how high someone's ability scores could get so it was easy for a high-level fighter or Barbarian to have super strength already.

** Saber of Red/Mordred is strong enough to block strikes from stone golems and hit them hard enough to shatter them.
** Rider of Red/Achilles is strong enough to stop and push back a falling airliner. Later still, when he and Archer of Black/Chiron duel each other on another airliner, their strikes are strong enough to punch ''through'' the plane's walls (and send each other flying through them).

** Saint Martha is strong enough to lift the dragon Tarasque and hurl him.
** Asterios the Minotaur is strong enough to grapple with Heracles himself.
** During the [[TournamentArc Holy Samba Night event]], Anastasia, who is a [[SquishyWizard Caster with E Rank Strength and the light build to match]], is able to carry Ivan the Terrible on her back without visible strain for their combination wrestling move. Ivan the Terrible is an ice giant over 5 meters tall and canonically weighs over ''2.5 metric tons''. She does cheat somewhat in that she uses her ice Magecraft to let her skate on the ice to achieve high-speed movement, but that does nothing for the weight she's carrying.

* Another of Heracles' opponents, Antaeus, was the son of Gaia the earth goddess. He was incredibly strong, but only while he is touching the ground. Hercules figured out his secret and defeated him after lifting him.
* Theseus, who was Heracles' cousin, started his adventures as a young teen and was strong enough to lift a huge boulder and defeat several bandits, many of whom were giants, in fights. In some versions, he defeated the minotaur bare-handed.

** ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': All Servants are notably stronger than humans (in fact, an E Rank in Strength means you're technically 10x stronger than the strongest living human), but two stand out even among Servants. Berserker is insanely strong, as a result of Mad Enhancement increasing Hercules' already spectacular strength. Rider has the ability Monstrous Strength, which increases her strength at the cost of [[spoiler:slowly transforming into the Gorgon]].
** ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'': Rider of Red/Achilles is strong enough to stop and push back a falling airliner. Later still, when he and Archer of Black/Chiron duel each other on another airliner, their strikes are strong enough to punch ''through'' the plane's walls (and send each other flying through them).
** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': During the [[TournamentArc Holy Samba Night event]], Anastasia, who is a [[SquishyWizard Caster with E Rank Strength and the light build to match]], is able to carry Ivan the Terrible on her back without visible strain for their combination wrestling move. Ivan the Terrible is an ice giant over 5 meters tall and canonically weighs over ''2.5 metric tons''. She does cheat somewhat in that she uses her ice Magecraft to let her skate on the ice to achieve high-speed movement, but that does nothing for the weight she's carrying.

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' all Servants are notably stronger than humans, but two stand out even among Servants. Berserker is insanely strong, as a result of Mad Enhancement increasing Hercules' already spectacular strength. Rider has the ability Monstrous Strength, which increases her strength at the cost of [[spoiler:slowly transforming into the Gorgon]].

* Magni the son of Thor and giantess Járnsaxa from Myth/NorseMythology thanks to being a [[SemiDivine half-Æsir]] and half Giant is incredibly strong even by god standards. In ''Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál'' after Thor slays the giant Hrungnir, he is crushed by the massive weight of the fallen giant and nobody not even fellow Æsir can free the God of Thunder. Then Magni, who was only [[SuperStrongChild then three nights old]] came along and effortlessly lifted Hrungnir off his father.

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', there are many races that are physically stronger than humans. The classic examples are dwarves and orcs/half-orcs.

* [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Heracles/Hercules]], [[Literature/TheBible Samson]], [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]], and a host of other heroes from [[OralTradition legend and myth]] have all had it. Likewise for virtually every ancient myth's [[PhysicalGod gods]].

* [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Ginormica]] from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' has SuperStrength as side-effect of her growth in size, able to muscle her way through an energy field, punch through enormous metal doors and lift a falling chunk of machinery that probably weighs a good 500 tons.

* One of Hercules' opponents, King Diomedes of Trace, was said to be strong enough to fight evenly with him because he is the son of Ares the God of War.
* Another of Hercules' opponents, Antaeus, was the son of Gaia the earth goddess. He was incredibly strong, but only while he is touching the ground. Hercules figured out his secret and defeated him after lifting him.

Likely the most primal [[{{Superhero}} super-power]]. In a way, it's [[OlderThanDirt one of the oldest "super-powers" that mankind came up with]]; ancient myths have plenty of tales about mighty warriors and demigods, apparently normal humans but with strength beyond any human limits.

* SuperStrength/WebComics

* Folk tales and tall tales get on it too, of course, with giants or just strong people. Some of the more famous ones include Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack and owner of a lumber company so strong he could bash mountains with his ''fist'', Pecos Bill, a cowboy who could hug a bear to death while a young kid, and lassoed a cyclone to get the rain out, and various other legends of giants in folklore.

* In ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Quasimodo is quite strong for a man of his size. Some of his feats include picking up an armored man with one hand, sliding a massive stone slab aside, scaling a cathedral wall with one hand while carrying Esmeralda and Djali in his other arm, and even ''breaking down brick walls''.

* One of Stitch's powers in ''Disney/LiloAndStitch''. He is stated to have the capacity to lift 3,000 times his own weight (which, granted, is seemingly lower than that of a grown man). [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries The series]] played with this by saying that this was the ''exact'' amount he could lift: Gantu flicks a piece of paper onto a heavy weight Stitch is holding up and [[TheLastStraw Stitch immediately collapses]].
* Implied in ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'' when Ariel manages to move an underwater boulder (most likely sealed shut with an imbalanced volume on both sides) blocking her Grotto with relative ease.

* The title character from ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' can smash more then just windows. For instance, he easily splits a jawbreaker that Vanellope says is indestructible and trashes ''most of the racing stadium''.