History Main / StoutStrength

* Gan Isurugi from the ''RivalSchools'' games

* While the Kingpin is said to be almost completely muscle (2% fat...even if this FailsBiologyForever), he LOOKS like an obese man. And while he doesn't have any superpowers, he's physically strong enough to beat Daredevil.

* In ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', Mandragora, one VillainOfTheWeek, was effectively a Kingpin {{Expy}} and then some: Black Canary's Canary Cry--which could kill someone if she uses it too close to them, even at a distance can flip a truck end over end, and once ''destroyed an entire arena''--does no damage besides ''ripping off his shirt''. ([[BrainBleach Thanks for that]].) Then again, his son [[BatmanBeyond eventually became a high-powered psychic]], [[EpilepticTrees so]].

* Italian actor ''Bud Spencer''

** Let's not forget that in the same first appearance where he broke down the door, he bent a freaking rife barrel into a knot without visible effort.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* From the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', Bouncer is a [[KidHero Kid Villain]] whose incredible strength is matched by his incredible bulk. His "super-fat" makes him almost impossible to physically hurt.
** Bouncer has no idea that his father is the second-string villain known as The Walrus, who had the same powers.
** The Fat Man absorbs kinetic energy, which manifests as fat after absorption. He's nearly eight feet tall and weighs close to a thousand pounds, and can lift small buildings over his head.

* Steven Seagall, martial artist and film star, has infamously gained weight from his early days but is still able to kick the crap out of people.

This is, in fact, TruthInTelevision. There's a reason why most weightlifters in the Olympics don't look as polished as the bodybuilders you see in magazines. The latter don't merely have to build their muscles; they also have to keep fat from hiding them in order to achieve that chiseled look. However, strength is determined by the muscles themselves, ''not'' whether there is fat as well; losing it is mostly a matter of showmanship for bodybuilders.

This is, in fact, TruthInTelevision. There's a reason why most weightlifters in the Olympics don't look as polished as the bodybuilders you see in magazines. The latter don't merely have to build their muscles; they also have to keep fat from hiding them in order to achieve that chiseled look. However, strength is determined by the muscles themselves, ''not'' whether there is fat as well; losing it mostly a matter of showmanship for bodybuilders.

* Henry VIII, he of the six wives. There's an ongoing debate as to how much he went to seed, but one thing everyone can agree on is that he was ''absolutely massive''.
** Toward the end of his life, that is.
** Modern scientists believe he was suffering of Cushing's syndrome, a hormone illness which include heavy weight gain. Of course he WAS an athlete when he was younger.
*** Henry VIII suffered a very serious leg wound that crippled him enough to prevent him doing most of the sports he had enjoyed (or doing them well enough for him to enjoy them) so he had more time to feast and was doing less exercise. As he was a tall man (for the time) the weight gain looked impressive.
*** There's also the fact that he overate from depression after his third wife, Jane Seymour, died in childbirth. Given all these factors, it's no wonder he gained weight

* The relevance of body fat (along with body size, structure and total mass) is obvious, for example, in all of the Western-type martial sports. In boxing, it is implied that a heavyweight will quickly obliterate the lightweight while taking all the punishment the latter can throw at him (hence the weight classes). There are, of course, considerations of movement speed and, more importantly, stamina (heavy fighters can do their best for shorter time). But the sheer force of their hits, consisting of larger total moving mass and more muscle mass, hardly compares to lightweight fighter's punch. In other martial arts and in real-life hand-to-hand combat there IS a lot of variation: smart tactics, improved stamina and crippling moves can score a win for a light, agile, wiry opponent; but large people also can train themselves to be very fast, endure long exertion and use effective crippling techniques, while it costs them much less to make a mistake in a fight. So the fictional tendency of [[DavidVersusGoliath Goliaths]] to be always defeated by small and agile Davids is not always realistic. Essentially, in a real-life brawl, a trained stout man is just like a Boss in a video game: capable of taking a lot of punishment, unlikely to topple, and dealing out a lot of damage very quickly (which is the essence of street fighting).

* Once pudgy and useless, Henchman 21 of TheVentureBrothers [[TookALevelInBadass transforms himself]] into a big, beefy brawler capable of holding his own against the show's resident ass kicker,[[MadeOfIron Brock Samson]].

* Fezzik in [[ThePrincessBride The Princess Bride]] is a good example.
** Also a RealLife example since he was played by a wrestler.

[[TeamFortress2 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Heavy.jpg]]
[[caption-width:318:IT IS GOOD DAY TO BE '''[[GiantMook GIANT MAN]]'''!]]

* PoulAnderson's space merchant tycoon Nicholas Van Rijn ''looks'' like a tub of lard, but most of that is muscle earned in a lifetime of hard work and brawling.