History Main / StrongAnts

* [=McDonald's=] has a super-strong ant as part of its "Funky Farm" character lineup.

* The Chimera Ants from ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. The Chimera Ant Queen eats other animals and crosses their DNA to born {{Mix And Match Critter}}s. The Chimera Ants introduced in the series are ''[[BigCreepyCrawlies human sized]]'' and the queen ate humans as well, so most Chimera Ants who appear in the story are humanoid animals who don't look like ants at all. Not only they have the traits of (strong) animals, they also gained the ability to control [[BattleAura Nen]], thanks to the human DNA, that makes them the most dangerous beings in the world. The queen's son, the Chimera Ant King, is the most powerful being ever [[spoiler:until he's killed by a cruel, toxic, atom bomb-like bomb, ''The Poor Man's Rose: Miniature Rose'']].
* Parodied in ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'' with the Ant Soldier, the third guardian of the Pyramid: Emerald describes him as one of the strongest Soldiers ever produced, with a body harder than diamond and herculean strength, capable of lifting weights several times bigger then him. Upon opening the room's door we see the Soldier welcoming Yaiba with a huge throw boulder... only to reveal that the Ant Soldier, while hard and strong, is also ''small'', barely the size of Yaiba's foot. After an awkward pause, the group walks around him and proceed to the next door, while the poor guy begs them to wait.]]

* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' comic had an army of ants carry off a baby. Then get berated by their leader for bringing back something that won't fit down the anthill. Originally it was supposed to be an adult man, but his editor didn't allow it.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' [[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/2012/08/18 was about to take a nap when some ants appeared and he feared they'd carry him away.]] One of the ants said [[SubvertedTrope they'd need heavy machinery]].

* Happens in a horrifying manner in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', where a horde of carnivorous ants carries an unfortunate Soviet soldier into their nest. While colonies of ants are known to carry large prey back home, an entire human being getting dragged head-first into an ant nest is a bit much.
* The kids recruit an Ant to help them in ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' after specifically citing their lifting strength. This being despite the fact that their using the Ant to pull them like a horse, not lift them, which ants are not at all built for, and that humans who were the size of ants would likely be stronger then ants anyways (if you ignore the inevitable death that shrinking a human to ant size would cause in real life).

* Creator/MarkTwain once wrote in a story that although ants are very strong, they're also very stupid.

* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'', Randy muses about ants being able to lift things, and how they must be so ripped and get laid a lot. This inspires Earl, who is temporarily broke after being let out of prison and married to Billie, and needs to get Joy's trailer up after he tipped it over on a bender. He enlists the help of other people in Camden, who would ''never'' have done anything like that for him before he did The List.

* Mentioned during one clip on ''Series/WorldsDumbest'' -- when a man in a nightclub lifts a much larger woman, Brad wonders out loud if the man's partially a carpenter ant.

* In Creator/NeilCicierega's song "Spiral of Ants" off of ''Spirit Phone'' there is the line of "Lift up and carry your weight"

* In the game ''VideoGame/{{Anthill}}'' you can have your ants bring gems back to the anthill, something that's probably too heavy for real ants to pick up.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAntAndTheAardvark'', by the makers of ''WesternAnimation/ThePinkPanther'' cartoon series.
* Taken to extremes with ''WesternAnimation/TheAtomAntShow''.
* Some WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck cartoons have this trope, including one in which a whole colony of ants comes and picks up a sleeping Donald and carries him away.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{The Flintstones}}'' episode "The Snorkasaurus Hunter", Wilma and Betty had a picnic which was invaded by ants. The ants march to the tune of the ''ColonelBogeyMarch'' as they abscond with all the food except for one olive. [[note]]At least one airing of this episode on {{Creator/MeTV}} edited out this scene.[[/note]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short ''WesternAnimation/BallotBoxBunny'', Bugs tries to woo voters by hosting a picnic. His opponent, Yosemite Sam, releases a package of "Assorted Picnic Ants" to spoil it.
** More relevant to this trope, the foods are carried off by groups of ants-- except for a watermelon being held by a single determined ant.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E22FraudcastNews Fraducast News]]", after Mr. Burns [[DefaceOfTheMoon projects a laser of Lisa kissing Milhouse on the moon]], he says it's "as easy as crushing an ant". He then tries to actually step on an ant to prove his point, only for the ant to grab his foot and topple him over. In this case, the gag is more to make fun of Burns's comical weakness than highlighting the ant being ridiculously strong.
-->'''Mr. Burns:''' ''(frightened)'' Take my wallet and leave me alone!

--> '''Dr. Entmann''': And let me tell you somethin' about ants! You know that whole "Ants can lift a hundred times their own weight" thing? It's a myth! Think about it. What's an ant weigh? Like, nothin'. What's nothin' times a hundred? ...It's nothin'!

In Creator/NeilCicierega's song "Spiral of Ants" off of ''Spirit Phone'' there is the line of "Lift up and carry your weight"

* Ant of WesternAnimation/WordWorld is very strong.

* Three ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' shorts (''Cat Napping'', ''Pup on a Picnic'' and ''Barbecue Brawl'') have ants who are not only strong but whose synchronized marching can set up destructive vibrations.
* Discussed in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' by Dr. Entmann.

'''Vi:''' This went from worst job to best job pretty quick...If you're an ant, at least.

** The ''Caterpillar'' spinoff has three boys based on green tree ants, and out of all the ant-based characters they're the ones shown to have abnormal grip strength thanks to being cloned in some fashion from Kabutomushi, a crazy-strong girl, and wearing a device on their hands that helps stick things to them.

** Dinoponera, named after the largest ant species (though her motifs are mixed up with her father's; Dinopo [[SeldomSeenSpecies appears to be the first dinoponera in fiction]] and [[SomewhereAnEntomologistIsCrying most people have no idea]] what distinguishes the two "bullet ant" genera from each other), is a cute GenkiGirl who [[IJustWantToHaveFriends wants friends]]. She's [[CuteButPsycho also]] a psychotic LightningBruiser of a {{Child Soldier|s}} who sees no value in anyone she deems weak and really enjoys torturing people with her poisonous stings and armored fists. She is consistently portrayed to be practically immune to blunt damage, and can knock out musclemen way larger than her in a single hit.

** The sequel plays this UpToEleven, with ladybugs able to singlehandedly lift apples into the air.

* ''Film/AntMan'' and ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' have Scott using his powers and some helpful nanotechnology to control Strong Ants. Semi-realistic in that he still needs a large swarm of them to carry anything that's large enough to be useful when he's full-size.

-->--''VideoGame/BugFables''

** Paraponera, named after the ants with stings that deal massive 24 hour-long pain, was an extremely agressive and infamous mercenary who only lived for the sake of killing people in times of war. His upbringing of war orphan Dinoponera turned out [[PetTheDog oddly well]], all things considered.

Frequently overlaps with AntAssault.

->''Oh we're the ants who ruin your dinner.\\
We're always here to mess up any day.\\
When we're around, every camper gets thinner.\\
'Cause if we get the chance,\\
we will taaaaake, your food away.''
-->-- '''The Ants''', ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' The Picnic Panic

* Normally in many early cartoons ants are portrayed as a single-file line that has a "{{Determinator}}" quality. They have two versions, the first being that they don't stop for anything and pick up anything that happens to be in their way. The second being food hunters that won't stop until their desired target is obtained. They both are usually unstoppable, are a plot driving force, and defy physics by marching up perfectly flat surfaces or carrying objects MORE than 10 times their size. Occasionally a colony may also be portrayed as an army, with a commander and everything.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' [[https://garfield.com/comic/2012/08/18 was about to take a nap when some ants appeared and he feared they'd carry him away.]] One of the ants said [[SubvertedTrope they'd need heavy machinery]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Looney Tunes}}'' short ''WesternAnimation/BallotBoxBunny'', Bugs tries to woo voters by hosting a picnic. His opponent, Yosemite Sam, releases a package of "Assorted Picnic Ants" to spoil it.

Ants are able to carry several times their own body weight. In fiction, especially in cartoons, this is exaggerated for fun, making them able to carry a whole pie/banana/chicken/watermelon/whatever. Often, they'll steal some picknickers' food.

Ironically Ant's are the only species that seems to get this distinction, despite most small insects having similarly high retaliative lifting ability. In the most erroneous cases humans shrunk to ant size will recruit ants to do heavy lifting despite humans actually being better built for lifting proportionate to their size.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{The Flintstones}}'' episode "The Snorkasaurus Hunter", Wilma and Betty had a picnic which was invaded by ants. The ants march to the tune of the ''Colonel Bogey March'' as they abscond with all the food except for one olive.

* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/{{Antz}}'', where the protagonist Z mentions he's one of the weakest ants, as he's barely able to lift 10 times his weight.