"It is interesting we have not met before, you and I, having been foes for so long. I expected you to be taller."
— Ysanne Isard, Isard's Revenge
"So, you're the captain of Deep Space Nine, and the Emissary to the Prophets. Decorated combat officer, widower, father, mentor... and oh, yes, the man who started the war with the Dominion. Somehow I thought you'd be taller."
— Senator Vreenak, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "In the Pale Moonlight"
"Does it bother you that you are shorter than most heroes?"
— Ranking Machine, Ratchet: Deadlocked
"A king in Denmark was called Hrolf Kraki, and he was the most famous of all kings in the old time. (...) A poor fellow, called Vogg, once came to King Hrolf's hall when the king was still a young man and of rather delicate growth. Vogg went before him and looked at him. The king said: What do you mean to say, fellow, looking at me this way? Vogg answered: 'When I was at home, I heard say that King Hrolf at Hleidra was the greatest man in the Northlands, but now here sits in the high-seat a little stick and they call it their king!'"
"You’re shorter, looking at you like this. Tall for a girl, but… not tall."
— Clockblocker, talking to Skitter (with whom he has never before interacted without her trying to shove insects down his throat), Worm
"I had heard that you were a wise, regal vampire, several centuries old. I was slightly intimidated at the prospect of meeting you, truth be told. But sitting here... I find that you are actually very... cute."
— Angel Anevant, during an audience with Mina Tepes, Dance in the Vampire Bund
"That? That is the whelp? You mean to tell me this girlish boy is the devastator of my army? I don't believe you. I refuse to believe you. I have better warriors than that in slave collars!"
— Queen Maeve, The Cattle Raid of Cooley
The Clown: How are you? I'm fear incarnate, the living embodiment of terror stretching back a billion years. The most base of all emotions.
Captain Janeway: Heh. I thought you'd be taller.
Captain Janeway: Heh. I thought you'd be taller.
Peter Pan: I remember you being a lot bigger.
Captain Hook: To a ten year old, I'm huge.
—Hook
Scrooge: Who are you?
Jiminy Cricket: Why, I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past.
Scrooge: Oh. I thought you'd be taller.
Jiminy: Hmph! Listen, Scrooge, if men were measured by kindness, you'd be no bigger than a speck of dust!
Karla: I've seen you on the viscasts of course, but you look different somehow — you're taller than I expected.
Deeta: I usually stand in a hole.
Deeta: I usually stand in a hole.
— Blake's 7, "Death-Watch"
Mr. Muggleton had read reports and romances about the Great Criminologist, who sits in his library like an intellectual spider, and throws out theoretical filaments of a web as large as the world. He was prepared to be led to the lonely chateau where the expert wore a purple dressing-gown, to the attic where he lived on opium and acrostics, to the vast laboratory or the lonely tower. To his astonishment he was led to the very edge of the crowded beach by the pier to meet a dumpy little clergyman, with a broad hat and a broad grin, who was at that moment hopping about on the sands with a crowd of poor children; and excitedly waving a very little wooden spade.
— Father Brown, "The Pursuit of Mr. Blue"
President: By the way, he was quite different from what I expected.
Kremmen: Oh really?
President: Yes, I thought from your report that Gort would be short!
Kremmen: Well I too sort of thought that Gort would be short before we fought and he got caught and his evil came to naught, but I guess I'm just fraught, taut, and a little overwrought since I brought Gort back to port.
— Captain Kremmen of the Star Corps
I'm Gangrel, King of Plegia! You the Summoner? Hahahaha! Thought you'd be taller!
— Gangrel, Fire Emblem Heroes
Apparently, when a king sent an envoy specifically to meet with the fabled Dragon Hero—and he was going to strangle Chestnut for that saga if he ever caught the skald alone in a room somewhere—they expected the Hero (capitalized; you could hear it) to look the part!
Scrooge: Who are you?
Ghost of Christmas Past: I am the spirit whose coming was foretold to you.
Scrooge: ...You don't look like a ghost.
Ghost: Thank you.
Ghost of Christmas Past: I am the spirit whose coming was foretold to you.
Scrooge: ...You don't look like a ghost.
Ghost: Thank you.
