History PintsizedPowerhouse / AnimeAndManga

** Son Goku, up until he was around eighteen or so, was maybe half the size of most of the other characters in [[Manga/DragonBall the original manga]]. He introduced himself to Bulma by throwing her car. Even at adult age, he is only 5'7.
** Krillin, while not quite as powerful, was still a force to be reckoned with, and was no taller than Goku.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
** How about a piece of candy? Majin Buu turned Vegeto into a piece of candy to eat him, but [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth was just as powerful]] ''and'' too small to hit! Buu was forced to turn him back.
** There's also Young Gohan, Young Trunks, Goten, The Saibamen, The Cell Jrs., and, probably the clearest example, Kid Buu who is half Goku's height and blew up planets for fun.
** First form Frieza was probably the major example in ''Dragon Ball Z''.
*** And his final form too.
** And Goku again in ''Anime/DragonBallGT''.
** You could probably include Pan on this list too. She's not as much a powerhouse as her dad or grandfather - and is a more defensive fighter, much like her mother was - but she has her moments. ([[WordOfGod Akira Toriyama]] stated that the only reason she never obtained a Super Saiyan form was because he had no idea how he would draw a female character as such.)
** Vegeta. Woe betide anyone who dared to mock [[OmnicidalManiac Majin]] [[BloodKnight Vegeta]].
** Chiaotzu and Krillin were weak when compared to the protagonists but they were stronger than every common person and that included many taller than them. Even Krillin, who is 5'0, could hold his own against Freeza's second form.
** Videl too..she's 5'1 and she can hold her own in fights.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' gives us Gatomon -- a Champion-level Digimon with the size and appearence of a Rookie.

* Yugi Mutou, from ''Anime/YuGiOh''. Granted he does have an extremely powerful alter ego in his head [[spoiler: but the final episode of the series proved that he could kick ''his'' ass as well.]]

** The president of the Karate Club in Fumoffu seems to be even better in the martial skills. His casual practice usually consists of taking down his three subordinates, capable and Very big guys.

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': How about a piece of candy? Majin Buu turned Vegeto into a piece of candy to eat him, but [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth was just as powerful]] ''and'' too small to hit! Buu was forced to turn him back.

** What about Chiaotzu and Krillin? They were weak when compared to the protagonists but they were stronger than every common person and that included many taller than them. Even Krillin, who is 5'0, could hold his own against Freeza's seconf form.

** ''Anime/DragonBallZ'': How about a piece of candy? Majin Buu turned Vegeto into a piece of candy to eat him, but [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth was just as powerful]] ''and'' too small to hit! Buu was forced to turn him back.

** There's also Young Gohan, Young Trunks, Goten, The Saibamen, The Cell Jrs., and Kid Buu.

** Actually the major example would be Kid Buu, who is half Goku's height and blew up planets for fun.

* 8* And his final form too.

** And his final form too.

** In general, One Piece averts this trope more than almost any other series, with most short and average height characters being weak bystanders, civilians and {{Mooks}}. It gets to the point that Hancock and Mihawk who are both pushing 195 cm (which would be very tall for Mihawk if he existed in real life, and extremely tall for Hancock who is a woman) are both pint-sized powerhouses among their fellow Shichibukai.

** You could probably include Pan on this list too. She's not as much a powerhouse as her dad or grandfather - and is a more defensive fighter, much like her mother was - but she has her moments. ([[WordOfGod Akira Toriyama]] stated that the only reason she never obtained a Super Saiyan form was because he had no idea how he would draw her as such.)

* [[Manga/DragonBall Son Goku]], up until he was around eighteen or so, was maybe half the size of most of the other characters. He introduced himself to Bulma by throwing her car. Even at adult age, he is only 5'7.
** [[DragonBallZ How about a piece of candy?]] Majin Buu turned Vegeto into a piece of candy to eat him, but [[TooSpicyForYogSothoth was just as powerful]] ''and'' too small to hit! Buu was forced to turn him back.

** First form Frieza was probably the major example in ''Dragonball Z''.

* [[{{Gon}} Gon]], a tiny T-Rex who commands respect from every other member of the animal kingdom with his ridiculously powerful jaws and his ability to survive pretty much anything unscathed, *is* this trope.

** A certain amount of FridgeBrilliance sets in when you realize that Negi learned his martial arts from Ku Fei, herself a PintsizedPowerhouse. Due to her small stature and petite frame, Master Ku would naturally know plenty of techniques designed to fight larger opponents.

** A good deal of the team's main Pokémon tend to be this (and if they're lucky, will kick the butts of their evolved forms down the line!). Of course, there's the sheer irony in Brock's [[GooGooGodlike Happiny]] being one of the physically strongest when the games have its physical Attack with the likes of Shuckle and its evolution Chansey. Misty's Psyduck can often be the most powerful member of her team [[DisabiltySuperpower if it has a headache]].

** A good deal of the team's main Pokémon tend to be this (and if they're lucky, will kick the butts of their evolved forms down the line!). Of course, there's the sheer irony in Brock's [[GooGooGodlike Happiny]] being one of the physically strongest when the games have its physical Attack with the likes of Shuckle and its evolution Chansey. Misty's Psyduck can often be the most powerful member of her team [[DisabiltySuper if it has a headache]].

** A good deal of the team's main Pokémon tend to be this (and if they're lucky, will kick the butts of their evolved forms down the line!). Of course, there's the sheer irony in Brock's [[GooGooGodlike Happiny]] being one of the physically strongest when the games have its physical Attack with the likes of Shuckle and its evolution Chansey.

* Tamaki Kawazoe is pretty much the central focus of ''BambooBlade'' for the fact that, despite being a first-year in high school (and a tiny girl, at that), she's easily the most competent fighter on the kendo team (since she had been trained by her father from a very young age). In one match, she sends a competitor twice her size flying '''''with one deft strike.'''''

* Underneath his kimono, Manga/InuYasha is so thin he's almost scrawny. And he can easily kill a mountain oni five times his height. When monkey sprites adhered a boulder to his right hand that was nearly as tall as he was, it only slowed him down.

* Edward Elric from ''FullmetalAlchemist''- but don't point it out. He doesn't like [[BerserkButton to be called]] [[TheNapoleon short]].
** [[spoiler: after he crosses the BishonenLine, Father simultaneously has the power of God, and looks like/is the same height as Ed.]]
** Also Mei Chang

** And Rinku. And Shishiwakamaru can shrink. And some of the guys from the various tournaments. But with the exception of Genkai they're all demons, so they could be considered to be cheating.
*** Not really cheating, given that they can go up against ''fellow demons'' who are much larger, and hand them their asses.

* Luffy from ''Manga/OnePiece'' is one of the shortest male humans in the series and can kick the ass of people many size his height and do things he damn sure shouldn't be able to do with his [[SuperStrength inhuman strength alone]].
** To be fair Luffy isn't actually short, his height is about average (172 cm). There are just [[LargeAndInCharge a lot]] of big mofos walking around the One Piece world (and that's not even counting the [[OurGiantsAreBigger giants]]).
*** He would be somewhat average in RealLife but seeing that he is shorter than almost every other character, there's no way he's average in his fictional world. Thus, he fits this trope to a T.