History PintsizedPowerhouse / RealLife

* The 5'7" (170 cm) Lionel Messi and the 5'5" (165 cm) Diego Maradona are generally agreed to be two of the 10 greatest soccer players ever. Lorenzo Insigne, an Italian international who joins Toronto FC in UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueSoccer during that league's 2022 season after signing the richest contract in league history, is shorter still at 5'4" (163 cm).

* The Skyros pony is a rare breed, and is short and sturdy; it is even said that they pulled the chariot of [[TheIliad (Literature) Achilles]].

* The Skyros pony is a rare breed, and is short and sturdy; it is even said that they pulled the chariot of [[Literature/The Iliad Achilles]].

** Martial arts masters, physical trainers, etc. all universally note that the key to Lee's power wasn't the unnecessarily large muscles one usually associates with "strong men;" instead, Lee's body was toned so perfectly that he had somewhere in the range of 0 to 5% body fat, with every muscle being trained solely for absurd explosions of strength and speed without any wasted effort or force. [[UpToEleven The result was a musculature more defined and proportionally perfect than most anatomical models]].

** The wolverine is maybe about the size of a medium-sized dog or a large badger and can take down reindeer. Wolverines have been seen bullying an entire pack of wolves and stealing their food, and there have even been documented cases of them fighting off ''bears''! Against a wolverine's hell of a bad temper, the [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} eponymous]] SociopathicHero is comparatively more of a DeathbringerTheAdorable.

* A common misconception about medieval warhorses/destriers is that they were tall and lumbering draft-types, but [[SocietyMarchesOn historians constantly correct it]] since they're far closer to this type: Horse-armor finds usually fit short or mid-sized horses at 15 or 16 hands high, and their key conformation was an ''extremely'' muscular build at 1200-1300lbs (compared to average riding horses, who are easily 200lbs lighter). Another aspect is that most records of warhorses would match up to Iberian/Spanish-type horses, who kept much the same height and build as their ancestors, and were famously sought for their agility, speed, and NervesOfSteel--something that draft horses, being {{Gentle Giant}}s, are ''not'' known for.

* South Korean golfer KJ Choi is a bit on the short side at 5'8'', especially standing next to peers like 6'4'' Ernie Else or 6'5'' Dustin Johnson. Despite this, he's always had a reputation as a reasonably long hitter (though not as long as Johnson), probably as a result of him being a competitive powerlifter as a junior, who could squat 350 lbs as a 95 lbs 13-year-old.
* Dustin Pedroia, who played his entire MLB career with the Boston Red Sox, is known for his short stature. His listed height nowadays is 5'8'', though USA Today once listed him as 5'7'' when he was in college. The ambiguity isn't helped by his rumored desire to be measured while wearing his baseball cleats, standing on a hard surface. Either way, Yankees fans gave him endless shit about his height and he was one of the best second basemen in the league. In addition to being a very good fielder and "contact" hitter, he had surprising power at the plate.
* 4 of the most prominent members of the Bones Brigade, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero, were kids at the time when they were recruited but Steve was the most prominent example as Stacy commented in Film/TheBonesBrigadeAnAutobiography that Steve was the smallest skateboarder he ever seen, even compared to other kids like Tony Hawk, yet Steve is able to do tricks that he shouldn't be able to do, hence the reason why Stacy wanted him to be on the Bones Brigade. [[http://www.allisports.com/images/uploads/steve-caballero-chris-miller-masters-bowl-practice-dew-tour-portland.jpg Even when all grown up he is still consderably shorter than most people]].
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mirMEsFI07o Kacy]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfZFuw7a13E Catanzaro]], the only woman to complete a City Finals course on ''Series/AmericanNinjaWarrior'', is 5'0'', 100 lbs of badass.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Newhouse Robert Newhouse]] was 5'10'' and 209 lbs. for a fullback, but played 12 years and retired as the Dallas Cowboys' fourth-leading rusher.

* Creator/AudieMurphy At 166cm/5'6", the Marines and paras rejected him for being too short. His company commander tried to have him sent to a cook and bakers' school after basic, but he'd have none of it. He went on to win every military award (some multiple times) in the US up to and including the Medal of Honor. And a few French and Belgian decorations on top of all that (little trinkets like the ''Légion d'honneur''). And he had malaria at the time.
* UsefulNotes/SimoHayha, at 5'3" (160cm), was likely the greatest sniper of all time. He is officially credited with killing 705 Soviet soldiers over roughly 100 days of combat.

* The Voltigeurs of the [[UsefulNotes/TheNapoleonicWars Grande Armée]] were a whole unit of these. They could be no taller than 5'3' but had to be extremely sturdy and skilled with a musket. There were also specially selected for their aggressiveness, so you could say that they were soldiers of Napoleon's army with an actual Napoleon complex.

* Taffy 3, a small group of destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers, which fought off a major Japanese assault on the Leyte Gulf landings during the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Battle Off Samar]]. Their opponents included the enormous battleship ''Yamato'', which alone exceeded the displacement of the entire task group ''combined''. Taffy 3 fought with such ferocity that the captain of the ''Yamato'' was forced to retreat because he believed that he was fighting a much larger group and couldn't sacrifice one of the three most expensive ships the [=IJN=] had.
** The destroyer USS ''Johnston'' fought so hard that when she was sunk she was reported by the Japanese as being a heavy cruiser of the ''Baltimore''-class, a ship class nearly seven times the displacement of the typical World War II destroyer. ''Johnston'' not only managed to cripple the Heavy Cruiser ''Kumano'' by blowing off its bow, forcing the heavy cruiser ''Suzuya'' to stop to assist it, then after already taking heavy damage, but she also engaged a Japanese cruiser and destroyer column in order to save the retreating escort carriers. Her actions so impressed the Japanese that the crew of one of the Japanese ships that finished her off [[WorthyOpponent manned the rails and saluted]] as she sunk.

** The escort carrier ''White Plains'' and an unknown aircraft finished the job for the little ''Sammy B,'' ''White Plains'' blowing up ''Chokai'''s type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes with a well-placed 5/38 shell (5 in. diameter, 38 cal. length barrel) — in the only engagement in history in which an aircraft carrier destroyed another ship with direct gunfire — and the aircraft dropping a bomb in the forward machinery room, according to the Other Wiki. The destroyer ''Fujinami'' had to scuttle her. ''Chokai'' lost all hands, while ''Fujinami'' was later blown up with all hands, which, by the way, still had all of ''Chokai's'' survivors aboard.

* Israel is one of the tiniest countries in the Middle East. It's also a well known [[UsefulNotes/IsraelisWithInfraredMissiles military powerhouse]] and is acknowledged for having the uncontested best-trained airforce in the world. Likely because it is almost always dealing with violence in some way or another.

* Nepalis are known for their small size. Despite that, the Gurkhas have a remarkable reputation as soldiers. During the 60s the Gurkhas usually carried the American M16, rather than the British SLR. The reason for this was that the M16 was lighter and easier for the Gurkhas to fire.
* Finnish Air Force. Never consisting of more than two fighter regiments, one bomber regiment, and one reconnaissance regiment, it nevertheless managed to score more than 1500 confirmed victories against the Soviets and create 106 [[AcePilot fighter aces]] in WWII (many of them flying obsolete Brewster Buffalo fighters). Even today, Finnish pilots flying F-18 Hornets managed to score 100-6 against their NATO opponents in Frisian Flag 2013 exercize.

* [[UsefulNotes/EquestrianSports Show jumping and eventing]] at the international level often favor taller (16.2 and up), more powerfully built horses, because their longer legs make it easier for them to get over the very high jumps in use at this level[[note]]this isn't an issue at lower levels, or in hunter-jumper classes, where fences are shorter and most breeds of horses and taller ponies can compete on equal ground[[/note]]. Yet the silver medalist in show jumping at the 1968 Olympics was Stroller, a 14.1-hand pony. Similarly, the 14.2-hand Theodore O'Connor captured team and individual gold medals in eventing at the 2007 Pan-American games. The 16-hand, slightly-built thoroughbred mare Touch of Class won individual and team gold medals in showjumping at the 1984 Olympics (over the 17-hand Trakehner stallion Abdullah), and the 15.3hh mare Headley Brittania is one of only a handful of horses to have won all three of the top eventing competitions in the world (Badminton and Burghley in the U.K and Kentucky in the U.S).

* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi_Lancer_Evolution#UK_models "FQ" series]] produces anywhere from 300 to '''400''' horsepower. The engine is a two liter straight-4. Most consumer level cars with that engine produce under 200 horse power.
** Modern UsefulNotes/FormulaOne engines are restricted to under three liters. They produce well over 600 horsepower.
** Most modern turbocharged engines (as in "designed from scratch to be turbocharged", not as "someone added a turbo") are incredibly strong and also ''light'' for their size: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Volkswagen_Group_petrol_engines#1.8_R4_20vT_110-221kW VW/Audi 1.8T]] (it can be easily modified to run over 400hp), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_Impreza#WRX_STI Subaru 2-liter boxer]] (even street versions kick serious ass, but it has been modified for drag racing to give a whopping '''700''' hp), [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_M%C3%A9gane_Renault_Sport Renault Megane RS 2-liter turbo]] and so on.

* For a while during the later parts of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, the [[CoolPlane Panavia Tornado]] could certainly count. Although it wasn't small by European standards, it's smaller than many ''American'' Fighters, and could carry more ordinance then most of them until very recently. However, where an American attack on an Airfield could require several aircraft performing various tasks to take out, RAF and Luftwaffe doctrine only required two Tornadoes, each packing a JP233 Bomblet Dispenser. After just one pass by both aircraft, a Runway would be both cratered, and [[LandMineGoesClick mined]], rendering it useless for days or weeks. Oh, and to add insult to runway cratering injury, the Tornado is a multi-role aircraft and is just at home in a dogfight as it is in a Runway attack.
** The JP233 has since been pulled from service citing several advances in cruise missile technology that can mitigate the risk to the Tornado and its crew. On top of that, when the bomblets are dropped, the JP233 has to be carried back to base, not exactly a good thing to have when you're trying to outrun a bunch of very pissed off fighters that managed to get off the runway before you ensured they couldn't return to it.
** Oh, and to really give some nightmares, the Tornado can also carry up to ''four'' B61 Nuclear Weapons. In short, one Tornado can level four cities in one mission. Sleep well enemies of NATO!
* While not exactly a small aircraft by any standards, the [[CoolPlane B-25 Mitchel]] of US Army Air Force fame in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was still smaller than most other bombers of the war, but it was probably the single most versatile bomber of the war as a result. The most widely used version, the B-25J, was used in just about every attack role imaginable. Aside from the defensive machine guns (which the B-25 had in abundance), the bomber also had 4-6 .50cals fixed forward for strafing duties, with a later version even mounting a 75mm cannon in the nose. It would be this bombers small size, and still impressive bomb capacity (3,000lbs), that would make it the perfect choice to launch the Doolittle Raid with, since the bomber was small enough, and[[note]]after shedding unnecessary weight[[/note]] light enough to launch from the Aircraft Carrier Hornet. Compared to the damage B-29s would do some years later, the raid itself did little physical damage, but B-25s were still able to send the message to Japan that they really DID wake a sleeping giant.
** It should be noted that B-25s were so versatile, easy to fly, and so maneuverable, that several foreign Air Forces bought up surplus Mitchels, or bought some during the war and held onto them. The last B-25 was retired from active service in ''1979.'' Not bad for a medium bomber that first flew in 1940.
* Quiz: What's 40ft long, 27.5ft wide, 15ft tall, flies at .85mach, has a pair of 20mm cannons, and can level a few small cities with B61 Nukes? If you guessed the A4 Skyhawk, then you'd be right. This tiny bomber first flew in 1954, and wouldn't stop serving until 2015. And despite being designed as a 'light' bomber, it saw use in nearly every role imaginable thanks to its simple design, including serving as an agressor aircraft for dissimilar combat training.

* Muggsy Bogues managed to hold his own against many of the best basketball players in the NBA despite being 5'3" (160 cm) tall - the shortest man to ever play in the league. Bogues had several pictures of him with the ''tallest'' NBA player ever, the 7'7" (231 cm) Manute Bol. [[http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/nba.cbk.remember.when.hoops.style/images/manute-bol-muggsy-bogues.jpg There was a 28-inch (71 cm) difference between their heights]]. Bogues and Bol were actually teammates for one season--Washington Bullets owner Abe Pollin was the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Veeck Bill Veeck]] of the NBA. [[note]] It helped that Bogues and Bol had been friends right from the time they entered the NBA [[/note]]
* The 5'7" (170 cm) Lionel Messi and the 5'5" (165 cm) Diego Maradona are generally agreed to be two of the 10 greatest soccer players ever.

* Tim [[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail "The Enchanter"]] Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, a skinny rod of a guy if there ever was one, is one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball today. [[HilariousInHindsight When he was in college, most major-league scouts thought he was too small to play major-league ball]].

* Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox is known for his short stature. His listed height nowadays is 5'8'', though USA Today once listed him as 5'7'' when he was in college. The ambiguity isn't helped by his rumored desire to be measured while wearing his baseball cleats, standing on a hard surface. Either way, Yankees fans give him endless shit about his height and he's one of the best second basemen in the league. In addition to being a very good fielder and "contact" hitter, he's not entirely without power at the plate.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Newhouse Robert Newhouse]] was 5'10'' and 209 lbs. for a fullback, but played 12 years and retired as the Dallas Cowboys fourth-leading rusher.

* Muggsy Bogues managed to hold his own against many of the best basketball players in the NBA despite being 5'3" (160 cm) tall - the shortest man to ever play in the league. Bogues had several pictures of him with the ''tallest'' NBA player ever, the 7'7" (231 cm) Manute Bol. [[http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/nba.cbk.remember.when.hoops.style/images/manute-bol-muggsy-bogues.jpg There was a 28-inch (71 cm) difference between their heights]]. Bogues and Bol were actually teammates for one season--Washington Bullets owner Abe Pollin was the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Veeck Bill Veeck]] of the NBA. [[note]] It helped that Bogues and Bol had been friends right from the time they entered the NBA [[/note}}

* Muggsy Bogues managed to hold his own against many of the best basketball players in the NBA despite being 5'3" (160 cm) tall - the shortest man to ever play in the league. Bogues had several pictures of him with the ''tallest'' NBA player ever, the 7'7" (231 cm) Manute Bol. [[http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/0908/nba.cbk.remember.when.hoops.style/images/manute-bol-muggsy-bogues.jpg There was a 28-inch (71 cm) difference between their heights]]. Bogues and Bol were actually teammates for one season--Washington Bullets owner Abe Pollin was the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Veeck Bill Veeck]] of the NBA.

* The Blue-Ringed Octopus. A very tiny species of octopus, topping out at 8 inches and 100 ''grams'' at biggest. But also happens to be one of the most lethally venomous creatures on the entire planet. Its bite bringing death within minutes. ''Single digit'' minutes.

* The Blue-Ringed Octopus. A very tiny species of octopus, topping out at 8 inches and 100 ''grams'' at biggest. But also happens to be one of the most lethally poisonous creatures on the entire planet. Its bite bringing death within minutes. ''Single digit'' minutes.

* MMA fighter and current UFC featherweight champ and former rugby player [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Volkanovski Alexander Volkanovski]] is 5'6 and began his career fighting at welterweight against significantly taller and bigger opponents before slowly slimming down to 145 pounds, where he is still usually the smaller fighter in the ring. Through a combination of skill, cardio, power for his size and smart tactical decisions, he has been able to defeat many larger fighters. This also extended to his rugby career where he played as a forward prop, a position usually occupied by the largest members of a rugby team.

* Boxer Manny Pacquiao is 5'6", and tends to come weighing in the mid-140-pound area. He's one of the best boxers in the world. You can underestimate him because of his size, goofy smile and friendly manner if you want to, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEPtojKdQuU but he will fuck you up if you do]].

* Finnish Air Force. Never consisting of more than two fighter regiments, one bomber regiment, and one reconnaissance regiment, it nevertheless managed to score more than 1500 confirmed victories against the Soviets and create 106 [[AcePilot fighter aces]] in WWII (many of them flying obsolete Brewster Buffalo fighters). Even today, Finnish pilots flying F-18 Hornets managed to score 100-6 against their NATO opponents in Frisian Flag 2013 excercize.

* Mustelids in general fit under this category, the [[WickedWeasel entire]] [[BadOlBadgerspecies]] has a [[KillerRabbit reputation of taking down prey much larger than themselves]].

'''Martial Artists'''

'''Sports other than martial arts'''

'''Individual Soldiers'''

'''Single ships & small naval groups'''

'''Countries & national armed forces'''

'''Animals'''

* The wolverine is maybe about the size of a medium-sized dog or a large badger and can take down reindeer. Wolverines have been seen bullying an entire pack of wolves and stealing their food, and there have even been documented cases of them fighting off ''bears''! Against a wolverine's hell of a bad temper, the [[ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} eponymous]] SociopathicHero is comparatively more of a DeathbringerTheAdorable.

* The Ratel, or [[FluffyTheTerrible Honey Badger]], is an animal only three feet long. It is also [[TheDreaded the most feared animal in Africa]]. [[MemeticMutation Honey badger don't give a shit]] about lions, cobras, etc. since their skin is thick enough to protect them against most animal stings and bites and actually too tough to be pierced by a spear or an arrow and it can withstand several machete blows, they have been known to chase away adult lions and steal their kills, they raid henhouses by actually tearing off the planks from their walls... short of actually being bulletproof, there is little they can't withstand. They are also related to the above-mentioned wolverines.

'''Machines'''