History Main / ExpectingSomeoneTaller

* ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': When the residents of the hotel meet [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], the ruler of and most powerful being in Hell, they see that he's actually shorter than most the staff, including his own daughter Charlie.
-->'''Alastor:''' ''[while making a pinching motion with his fingers]'' You ''are'' much shorter in real life.

* ''Franchise/{{Touhou}}'':

** Speaking of ''Touhou'', the twelfth game, ''VideoGame/TouhouSeirensenUndefinedFantasticObject'' has Shou with this exchange:

Can be TruthInTelevision - research has shown that people make links between people's height and their perceived success, even if they know nothing about them.

-->'''Kana''': The real Yamada-san... '''''ain't she kinda huge?'''''

-->'''Fubuki''': Oh, are you disappointed after seeing the real thing? Everyone who hears about those rumors assumes I'm a big guy or something...

-->'''Jimmy''': I only really saw you in the dark, but look, I even did my hair to look like yours. Hey, what happened to your hair? And your boots, you're not wearing the long boots. I like the long boots better.\\
'''Johnny''': Either my hair burned off in hell, or I sleep-shaved it during a really stupid dream. As for the boots they were hurting my feet.\\
'''Jimmy''': Like I said, I only saw you in the dark, but still, I thought you'd be paler than you are. And you're shorter. I always thought you'd be a bit taller than--

-->'''Darth Vader''': I thought you'd be ''better''.\\
'''Mace Windu''': And I thought you'd be taller.\\
'''Darth Vader''': ... Touché!

--> '''Alien''': Ah. You must be that Earth Potentate that gave everybody such a hard time. Huh. I kind of pictured you taller.

-->'''Pit''': That's it? I thought it would look more... imposing.\\
'''Viridi''': Well, what were you expecting? An EldritchAbomination so hideous [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm you can't grasp its true form?]]\\
'''Pit''': Something like that, yeah.

-->'''Lady Amelia''': So you're the famous Shen I've heard so much about. [...] You're taller than I thought you'd be.

-->'''Asajj''': Cade Bane... Thought you'd be taller.\\
'''Cad Bane''': Asajj Ventress. Thought you'd be ''hotter'', way Kenobi went on about you.

-->'''Jacob:''' You know, I thought the one called 'Trollslayer' would be quite a bit taller.\\

-->'''Bruce''': "You Blake?"\\
'''Blake''': "Yes."\\
'''Bruce''': "I thought you would be taller."

* Referenced and PlayedForLaughs in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm.''
-->'''Tony:''' Wow. Thor, [[Literature/HarryPotter your sprog]] is short.\\

** In the sequel ''Ghosts of the Past'', you get this snark gem of Harry's cousin Joshua [[spoiler: a.k.a. Jesus]] - everything about whom is medium, average, ordinary, or downplayed; except height (he's short even for the time he's from) - commenting on Renaissance paintings of himself:
--> while superb pieces of art [they] seem to be of the firm belief that I [[LooksLikeJesus was]] about six feet tall [and had] enviably manageable hair. Not so much.
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim''--based on what he's heard about [[VillainProtagonist Zim]], [[BountyHunter Havok]] expected him to be shorter. There are multiple insults there, given how Irkens equate height with competence.

-->"Didn't you bring somebody big with you? Like the police?"

-->'''Fiona:''' ''(disappointed)'' You're... an Ogre!\\
'''Shrek''': ''(awkwardly)'' Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming?\\
'''Fiona''': ''Yes'', actually...! [[note]]It would later turn out that [[spoiler:she meant this quite literally]].[[/note]]

* After the FinalBattle of ''Film/TheAlamo2004'', when David Crockett has been captured and is offered the chance to beg for his life before General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
-->'''Crockett''': You San'Tanna?\\
'''Mexican Interpreter''': ''(nods)''\\
'''Crockett''': ... I thought you'd be taller.
* ''Film/Aquaman2018'': Two examples in Arthur and Orm's first duel.

-->'''Kaffee''': I'm sorry, it's just... I was expecting someone older.\\
'''Aunt Ginny''': So was I.

-->'''Peter''': I remember you being a lot bigger.\\
'''Hook''': To a ten-year-old, I'm huge.

-->"I imagined you taller."

---->'''Steve''': I though you were dead!\\
'''Bucky''': ''(confused)'' I thought you were smaller.

''({{beat}})''\\

--->'''Reepicheep''': We were expecting someone, you know, taller.\\
'''Trumpkin''': ''(looking down at him)'' You're one to talk!\\
'''Reepicheep''': What is that, irony?

--->'''Peter''': Well, if you like, we can come back in a few years.
* In ''Film/RoadHouse1989'', Creator/PatrickSwayze's character -- a legendary bouncer -- gets this from several characters, who mention that they "thought he'd be bigger" at completely random intervals and as if they were [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike somehow aware that several people have said it to him before and are joking about it now]].

-->'''Rool''': ''That's'' Raziel?\\
'''Franjean''': I don't know, I was expecting something a little more grand, a little less...\\
'''Rool''': Fuzzy!

* In ''Gamebook/{{Suspects}}'' by Steven Thraves, you (the reader) plays the part of a detective investigating a murder. On meeting you, the suspect Giles Blade says "You look a bit young: I was expecting someone older", as the reader is likely to be a child.

-->'''Illyria''': You are the Qwa'ha Xahn.\\
'''Knox''': I am your priest. I am your servant. I am your guide in this world. I've taken your sacraments and placed them close to my heart according to the ancient ways. That's why you were called to me. We're bound together.\\
'''Illyria''': ''(dismissively)'' My last Qwa'ha Xahn was taller.
* Subverted in ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'':
-->'''Alex Drake:''' You're taller than I imagined.
-->'''Gene Hunt:''' [[DoubleEntendre I'm bigger in every department.]]

--->'''Jenny''': The part that gets me, though, is where Buffy is the Vampire Slayer. She's so ''little''.

--->'''Anwar''': ''You're'' Westen? I thought you would be taller.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors "The Three Doctors"]], the First Doctor calls Two and Three "A dandy and a clown" (not necessarily in that order).
** In [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], the War Doctor initially thinks Ten and Eleven are his future ''companions'' because of their youth:

'''War:''' Even that one? [''points to Eleven'']\\

** In [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], the First Doctor struggles to accept that Twelve is a future incarnation, ironically for the opposite reason as in the previous example: he looks too ''old''.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E6TheSeedsOfDoom "The Seeds of Doom"]], the scientists who discover the Krynoid pod expect the UNIT specialist to be some old crank who's been dug out of retirement. When Creator/TomBaker turns up...

-->'''Draco''': So you're the infamous Silverthorn. I imagined you'd look tougher.\\
'''Silverthorn''': Looks aren't everything.

-->'''Judge Stone''': Well, the way you were just talking about him, I got the impression that he was, you know, here.\\
'''Bull''': He is, Your Honor. ''([[AshesToCrashes places a small urn on the bench]])'' This is Mr. Huebner.\\
'''Judge Stone''': [[DeadpanSnarker Gee, he's a lot shorter than I expected.]]

-->'''Dr. K''': What? You thought I'd be taller?

-->'''Rahad''': Mr Cowley! I have heard of you. You are... much smaller than I imagined.\\
'''Cowley''': So was Henry the Eighth.

-->''"It's exactly like I always imagined, only much shorter."''

-->'''Eric''': You look taller in your photographs.\\
'''Sherlock''': Take the precaution of a [[IconicOutfit good coat]] and a [[TheWatson short friend]].

-->'''Medb''': Why comes he not, Fergus?\\
'''Fergus''': Cuchulain is there before you.\\
'''Medb''': I see no one at all save one young lad. I cannot see a warrior near or far.\\
'''Fergus''': That young lad ''is'' that who has done damage to your hosts.

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
* Swedish stand-up comedian Johan Glans once said something about people coming up to him and pointing out that he looks taller on television, and he somewhat [[SarcasmMode sarcastically]] wondered how you reply to that: "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll shape up, I promise."
* Jack Dee (appx 5ft6): ''"People come up to me and say'' (sarcastic voice) ''Oooh, you're not as big as you look on the telly. To which I say, "How big's your ***ing telly?!"''
* In the same vein, the ''Series/CashCab'' guy once remarked that he should hire a dwarf version of himself to walk in front of him at all times, so when people came up to the dwarf, they would say, "You look ''exactly'' the same size..."

-->'''Ineptune''': Ah, you must be Spyro! You're ''larger'' than I expected.\\
'''Spyro''': ... Huh? Normally people I fight say I'm smaller than they expected. You know -- trying to psyche me out.

--->'''Nathaniel''': Aren't you supposed to be ten feet tall with lightning bolts shooting out of your eyes?

-->'''Rookie One''': Hey, aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?\\
'''Ru Murleen''': Shut up.

* The bonus boss of ''VideoGame/TouhouShinreibyouTenDesires'' is the youkai's trump card against the resurrected saint who served as the FinalBoss. The four heroines of the game expected youkai such as the [[{{Kaiju}} giant]] [[DemBones skeleton]] known as a Gashadokuro. Instead, they got Mamizou, a {{Tanuki}}. Granted, she's one of the strongest examples of her species and is as powerful as one would expect from a {{Superboss}}, but well, as [[DeadpanSnarker Marisa]] put it...
--> '''Marisa''': Aren't you supposed to be the youkai trump card? I figured you'd be amazing, but you're just a tanuki youkai. \\
'''Mamizou''': Oh, I hope you're not making light of tanuki. We have quite a bit of influence in youkai society. You might even call us elite. \\
'''Marisa''': Elite? \\
'''Mamizou''': And in addition, my [[ShapeShifting transformation]] power is among the top three tanuki of Japan. \\
'''Marisa''': Sure, but you're still a tanuki, right? The kind that [[LetsMockTheMonsters drums on their bellies on the night of the full moon]], right?

--> '''Shou''': You're the human who gathered the flying treasure? You look a lot more scrawny than I imagined.\\
'''Reimu''': How rude.\\
'''Shou''': I'm sorry, you're quite right. I simply thought that if you made it this far, maybe you were some sort of ascetic scholar.

--> '''Conker''': Aren't you a little short to be a Grim Reaper? \\
'''Gregg''': Well, how many Grim Reapers have you met before, mate? What am I supposed to look like?

--> '''Goblin Tinkerer''': I thought you'd be taller.

--> '''Sebastian:''' ...I thought you'd be taller.\\

--> Why does everypony say that?
* In ''Podcast/PastDivision'', when the party meets Thorn, he says the trope almost verbatim.
-->'''Thorn''': Well, you must be the new recruits. I have to say, I thought you'd be taller.

* Aang, from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is supposedly a 112-year-old master of all elements. Thanks to being a HumanPopsicle for a hundred years, he's really a 12-year-old kid who likes penguin sledding. This is commented on by Zuko the first time they come face to face:
-->'''Zuko''': You're just a child!\\
'''Aang''': Well, you're just a teenager!

** This is how Joker reacts when he meets Batgirl for the first time in the episode "Brawn". The fact that he was ''several times her size'' at the moment, thanks to using Bane's Venom apparatus on himself, wasn't helping.

--->'''Jesus''': Okay, everybody, uh, I know you were expecting something else, but as science will tell you, people were a lot shorter 2,000 years ago.

---> '''Lois (Leia)''': (to Luke) Aren't you a little fat to be a stormtrooper?\\
'''Chris (Luke)''': Well, stay here and rot, you stuck-up bitch.\\
'''Lois (Leia)''': Wait! Who are you?\\
'''Chris (Luke)''': I'm Luke Skywalker. Me and Han Solo and Obi-Wan are here to rescue you.\\
'''Lois (Leia)''': Wait! Obi-Wan Kenobi?\\
'''Chris (Luke)''': Yeah. Suddenly I'm not so fat, huh?

-->'''Opera Singer''': ''You're shorter than I remember.''\\
'''Milo''': ''This is the physique that I was cursed with''.\\
'''Opera Singer''': ''I'll admit that I'm confused,/You're not the one that I rehearsed with''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}}'': Rare villainous example in Season 4's Supervirus [[BigBad Daemon]]. Given what [[OneWingedAngel Supervirus]] [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Gigabyte]] looked like and that Daemon was even MORE powerful, few were expecting a [[AffablyEvil sweet]], [[LightIsNotGood shiny]], [[BrightIsNotGood brightly-colored]] JeanneDArchetype.
-->'''Mike''': [[OhCrap You're... Daemon, aren't you?]]\\
'''Daemon''': (gently) Yes. Did you expect something else?\\
'''Mike''': Oh, actually... yes. I mean, where are the [[FemmeFatalons talons]] and the [[FangsAreEvil teeth]] and the [[SpikesOfVillainy spiky things]]? You're a little small for a supervirus, aren't you?

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E04BrothersOfTheBrokenHorn "Brothers of the Broken Horn"]], after Ezra introduces himself to Hondo Ohnaka as Lando Calrissian, Hondo remarks:
-->"So, at last I meet the semi-famous Lando Calrissian! A little younger than I expected."

* ''Film/TheRoom2003's'' Creator/TommyWiseau. Given his broad shoulders and overall musculature, you'd be surprised to find out he's no more than 5'5".

* In a famous anecdote UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat was said to have visited the Persian harem shortly after the Battle of Issos alongside his dearest friend and probable lover, Hephaistion. The vanquished Darius' mother, Sisygambis was said to have begged for her life not from Alexander but from Hephaistion, mistaking him for the king, since Alexander was much smaller, and from all accounts younger looking and less intimidating than Hephaistion. When she realized her mistake, Alexander corrected her by saying " You weren't wrong. He is Alexander too."

* UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, The General Secretary of the Soviet Union, was only 5'4 in height, and a combination of a propaganda-driven {{cult of personality}} prone to hyperbolic exaggeration, an iron-clad grip on information coming and going out of the country and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the use of heights in his shoes]] meant that foreigners were often surprised to discover that he was shorter than they thought when meeting him in person. President UsefulNotes/HarryTruman was reportedly one of them.

** In the adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', a band of soldiers hear of this great swordsman who has the Ocarina of Time and are hoping to beat him, but instead get the child Link. Their leader does warn them about appearances, accepts Link and allows him to train with them, whereupon he trumps them all.

* ''Fanfic/EarthAndSky'': Blueblood says this to [[spoiler: Chrysalis]].

---> '''War Doctor''': You're me? Both of you?
---> '''Ten and Eleven''': Yeah.
---> '''War''': Even that one? [''points to Eleven'']
---> '''Eleven''': Yes!
---> '''War''': Am I having a midlife crisis?

---> '''One''': I assumed I'd get, er... younger.
---> '''Twelve''': I AM younger!

--->'''Samuel''': This is Castiel? You're scrawnier than I pictured.\\
'''Castiel''': [[MeatPuppet This is a vessel]]. My true form is approximately the size of your Chrysler building.

-->'''Peter''': I thought you'd be taller.\\
'''Mozzie''': Me too.

-->'''Reyes''': Agent Mulder.\\
'''Mulder''': Agent Reyes?\\
'''Reyes''': You're taller than I thought.\\
'''Mulder''': You keep on alluding to a time that we've met and I don't remember.\\
'''Reyes''': I was there when they found you in the woods. You were... Uh... Yeah. I'm not surprised you don't remember.

'''Bull''': He is, Your Honor. ''([[AshesToCrashes places a small urn on the bench)'' This is Mr. Huebner.\\

* In the [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa manga adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', a band of soldiers hear of this great swordsman who has the Ocarina of Time and are hoping to beat him, but instead get the child Link. Their leader does warn them about appearances, accepts Link and allows him to train with them, whereupon he trumps them all.

* Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}} to [[ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan Ultimate]] Spidey in ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions''. [[spoiler: Mysterio takes it a step further, and openly mocks him for it with recycled [[YourMom Yo Mamma]] jokes.]]

* Rorschach from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': super strong, intelligent, horrifying scourge of the underworld; also rather short, homely, [[RedHeadedStepchild red-haired]] and freckled. When he's caught by the police they discover he wears lifts.
* The scene where Mmy met Nny in ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'':

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': The Hulk's son, Skaar, said this when he first met his father on Earth.
* In ''The Rabbi's Cat 2,'' when Malka of the Lions says he wants to be admired, his [[spoiler:wife]] tells him he's a legend. Malka replies "So I hear. But every time people see the real thing, they're disappointed."
* Happens constantly with Characters/{{Batman|TheCharacter}}. It's not so much that he's not as imposing or impressive as expected, just everyone seems to mention it. Even [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]] and [[Characters/NightwingDickGrayson Dick Grayson]] get told this on occasion! It's even funnier after Dick Grayson becomes Batman... he's actually four inches shorter than Bruce Wayne, so for once it's actually accurate.
* Set up as a MythologyGag in the ''ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel'' issue that celebrated the 25th anniversary of the original action figure line by reintroducing the original [=G.I. Joe=], Joseph Colton; when he reveals his identity as the original "Joe" to the current team, one of the newer members, Muskrat, comments "I always thought you guys were... bigger", referencing the original 12" toys compared to the modern 3 3/4" figures.
* Charles Fort's response to meeting UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla's nuclear-powered atomatic man (aka ComicBook/AtomicRobo) is to remark that he looked taller in the pictures.
* [[Characters/MarvelComicsFrankCastle The Punisher]] gets this from time to time (The current Marvel universe stats list him as 6'1" while the [[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX MAX version]] was 6'6"). Not surprising given [[TheDreaded the legend]] that surrounds him as "8 feet tall and bulletproof with a million guns and a giant skull for a head" and the fact that most gangsters who see what he really looks like [[VigilanteMan don't live to talk about it]].
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:
** Inverted in ''ComicBook/SpiderMen'' when [[Characters/MarvelComicsMilesMorales Miles Morales]] of Ultimate-verse and [[Characters/MarvelComicsPeterParker Peter Parker]] of 616 meet: Miles blurts out, during a bout of giddy fanboy babbling, that he was expecting Peter to be ''shorter''. Made especially hilarious by the fact that Miles himself is thirteen and quite frankly tiny.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateWolverine'': The agents complain that Gregory Lee looks taller on TV.
* [[Characters/TheFlashWallyWest Wally West]] as ComicBook/TheFlash got this from people in ''ComicBook/{{Legends|DCComics}}'' when [[TakingUpTheMantle he took on the role]] after [[Characters/TheFlashBarryAllen Barry Allen]]'s [[ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths death]].
* Dragon, the star of the eponymous ComicBook/SavageDragon, is superstrong, super-durable, and has arms larger than most people's torso. His teammate turned girlfriend was surprised that, if you discount the fin on his head, he's 5'10'', completely average for an American male.

* Characters/{{The Punisher|FrankCastle}} gets this from time to time (The current Marvel universe stats list him as 6'1" while the [[ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX MAX version]] was 6'6"). Not surprising given [[TheDreaded the legend]] that surrounds him as "8 feet tall and bulletproof with a million guns and a giant skull for a head" and the fact that most gangsters who see what he really looks like [[VigilanteMan don't live to talk about it]].

** Inverted in ''ComicBook/SpiderMen'' when [[Characters/UltimateSpiderManMilesMorales Miles Morales]] of Ultimate-verse and [[Characters/SpiderManPeterParker Peter Parker]] of 616 meet: Miles blurts out, during a bout of giddy fanboy babbling, that he was expecting Peter to be ''shorter''. Made especially hilarious by the fact that Miles himself is thirteen and quite frankly tiny.

* In ''Film/{{Sunset}}'', Tom Mix tells Wyatt Earp that he's not what he expected, being so cultured. Wyatt Earp replies that Tom's not what he expected either, he then ponders a moment before shrugging and resorting to this trope.