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Slow to start a fight. Quick to end it. — Flavor text for the Golem card, Monster Rancher CCG
He's big, muscular and angry-looking. He might even be an actual monster. People are often fearful of him. But he's got a heart of gold. He loves children and puppies, and frequently abhors unnecessary violence. He probably has a few unexpected hobbies. He's the Gentle Giant. However, when push comes to shove, he's great to have on your side in battle.
This is a subversion of common sense that has become an archetype in its own right. We are all used to thinking of big people and giant creatures as frightening and mean. Starting back as far as Frankenstein's monster or earlier, the seven-foot shambling hulk of a man is almost always gentle inside, and misunderstood by society at large.
This archetype is so common it's probably more surprising for the musclebound hulk to turn out to be an irreconcilable jerk or bloodthirsty killer. Unless he's black.
Two out of three examples of The Big Guy from the Five Man Band are likely to be this type. (The other is usually a Genius Bruiser.)
The typical Gentle Giant is quiet and, while not "book smart" (and sometimes outright stupid), is usually Closer To Earth. An occasional subversion of this is to make him the most intelligent member of the group, either as a scientist and tech guy or as a cynic. He may also like things that other guys will think of as "un-manly", and woe to you if you mock him for that.
If someone manages to push him too far, bad things will happen.
Contrast The Napoleon. Not to be confused with the rock band named Gentle Giant .
Examples
Anime and Manga
- Randall from Pumpkin Scissors.
- The half-human, half-horse demon Jinenji from the Inuyasha episode "Jinenji, Kind yet Sad" probably fits the bill as well.
- Muay Thay god of Death Apachai Hopachai, from Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple, has this trope´s name carved in his forehead.
- Just about any Zentradi on Macross after the original series.
- Especially shown in Frontier, seeing as the majority of Zentradi tend to be average people while having average people look like dolls next to them. A specific example being Alto and Sheryl hanging out with Klan, while having to be on a third story just to talk to face to face.
- Alphonse from Full Metal Alchemist. When he does get riled up, he's at least as good a fighter as his brother... but his mind and soul are still those of a young boy. The giant suit of armor makes it easy to forget that.
- Major Armstrong also fits this role like a glove. Despite his immense raw power and efficiency on the battlefield, ultimately, it's Armstrong's compassion for the enemy that's preventing him from ever being promoted.
- Sakaki in Azumanga Daioh is a Huge Schoolgirl who's often perceived as brooding, scary and unapproachable, when in reality she's just shy, self-conscious and absorbed in thinking about stuffed animals and other girlish matters. Although she has little interest in sports, she is a natural athlete who almost always wins when asked to compete.
- Takashi "Jumbo" Takeda from the Yotsuba&! manga is a really big guy, but he's friendly and quite harmless... except when he feels he's been exploited or tricked, like when he asked Yotsuba to invite Asagi to a water park but she only brings Fuka and Ena, causing an angry outburst when Fuka tries to take the flowers he had brought for Asagi. He's never actually tried to hurt anyone, but he can be kinda scary...
- Android 16 in Dragon Ball Z. He seems to be between 10-11 feet tall, has massively broad shoulders, wears chunky green armor, and has harsh facial features and a mohwawk. But he gets a couple of Pet The Bird moments, drops his homicide mission in order to try to kill the main villain, Cell, and eventually attempts a Heroic Sacrifice, which turns out to be futile, except for pushing Gohan into enough of a rage to go Super Saiyan 2.
- There's also Android 8 from the original DragonBall he is a tall imposing figure who happens to look exactly like Frankenstein's Monster and was built as a destructive killing machine, but as it turns out he's a gentle soul who loves every living thing but what ever you do don't put his friends in danger General White learned this the hard way.
- Geronimo Jr./005 from Cyborg 009. He's HUGE, has a mohawk and possesses super strength and stamina even bigger than 009's, yet he's a very level-headed and soft-spoken pacifist and very often is the voice of reason in the team.
- Choutarou Ohtori (sweet, quiet, gentle violinist and the sensitive guy to Shishido's Manly Man... in a way) and Munehiro Kabaji (Atobe's closest friend from childhood time, very close to his older sister) from The Prince Of Tennis. Both are members of the Hyoutei team.
- Yasutora "Chad" Sado of Bleach. Huge, powerful, and completely unwilling to use his power to defend himself, but will readily bring the pain to anyone who wants to hurt his friends. And he's obsessed with cute things.
- He only quite subverts the not-so-intelligent part, being 11th in the top 50 Freshmen grades (out of almost 400 students), and having some quite smart plans of himself; but then again, in Bleach, everybody is a nerd. Sort of...
- From the Shinigami side, according to the data books, Komamura Sajin apparently owns a dog he called 'Goro' and takes it for a walk whenever he has free time.
- And don't forget Hachigen Ushoda of the Vizards.
- Kenpachi Zaraki might be this at the deepest bottom of heart, if there is any truth to that one scene in the Houki Boushi anime ending theme (11th Division version), where he's calmly watching the sunset from what seems to be his private room, while his Vice-Captain (and unofficial adoptive daughter) Yachiru is on the floor drawing stuff like a NORMAL child. Had it been for what they are, it could easily mistaken be as a typical father-daughter scene.
- Senri, a bear-man (well, he can turn his arm into a bear arm, at least), from the manga +Anima. He's extremely large and powerful, but his personality is probably best summed up by his character data. "Likes: small flowers." No, really. He likes to press them and use them as bookmarks in his diary. He's also The Quiet One.
- Isaku from Blade Of The Immortal.
- Lafarga from Magic Knight Rayearth, when not Brainwashed And Crazy.
- Most giants in One Piece take after the Vikings in their behavior. The most extreme case being two that have kept up century-long battle of honor where the original reason for the fight is long-since forgotten and irrelevant. However, we have an exception in Jaguar D. Saul, a giant Nico Robin met in her childhood. Though he still had a fighting role as a Marine vice-admiral, he was a fair and compassionate individual overall. Just as the trope describes, when he finally got angry, he began tossing around battleships.
- Fudoh of Fist Of The North Star. A giant Goshasei warrior that towers over even Raoh. Oh, and he's the gentle and loving caretaker of many orphaned children.
- Shuh and Toki also follow this trope to a less obvious degree, although not quite as tall.
- Zafira of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. A huge Wolf Man, a Big Badass Wolf, and, if Vivio and Hayate are to be believed in the third Megami Sound Stage, someone who's really good with children.
- Well, considering the fact that he helps babysit Vivio in the anime, that's not hard to believe.
- And as the Yagami family-centric M4 Sound Stage shows, he spends his free time playing around with the neighborhood kids and teaching them magic or martial arts. This is also the only time he's out of his wolf form after he joined the TSAB.
- Ryu "The Owl" Nakanishi in Gatchaman.
- Gateau Mocha in Sorcerer Hunters, especially in the manga.
- Tatsuya's boxing buddy Shohei Harada in the manga/anime Touch. He's big, tough, intimidating, and isn't into anything gentle or "feminine" but he has a real heart of gold.
- Jason Ozma from Hajime No Ippo looks like a huge Scary Black Man, but is extremely gentle and polite even to his rivals... Which leads to a hilarious scene in his introduction to Ippo.
- Berwald aka Sweden from Axis Powers Hetalia is one of these, although most of the other countries don't notice because of his grunt-like speech pattern and constant deathglare/stoic expression. Basically, Sweden is a Huge Schoolgirl in the body of a Big Guy.
- Kurita from Eyeshield21. His teammates are terrified... of his hugs.
- Subverted with Kurita's rival Gao, while having Kurita's size (spread out differently of course) is definitely Blood Knight of the series.
- The main character from Slam Dunk, Hanamichi Sakuragi. He's an ex delinquent and looks really scary, but he's very gentle and respectful towards women and, if he likes you, he'll be your friend through thick and thin. Just make sure to not hit his Berserk Buttons and you can't have a better friend than him.
- In Zatch Bell, one of the book keepers is a huge guy, whom Kiyomaro initially thinks of as the "demon". Turns out he's a nice, shy boy being manipulated by the demon (who turns out to be the nice looking boy and wants to blow up the big guy's old school) because the big guy was picked on as a kid and didn't have the personal strength to stand up to his bullies.
- Fuji from Rurouni Kenshin. He's a genuinely gentle guy (his first flash back moment in the anime involves him placing a bird back into its nest) who was nearly killed simply because he was so massive (like towering over buildings) that he freaked people out, and was manipulated by a cunning old man into fighting for one of the villains. Once he's free from the other's control, thanks to Warrior Therapist Hiko Seijuurou, Fuji cuts a deal with the Meiji government and becomes a rural guard in Hokkaido, finally getting the peaceful life he has yearned for.
- Gakushuu from Ikki Tousen: Big and muscle-bound, but really a nice guy with a fondness for sweets.
- The Daidarabochi from Hell Teacher Nube is a literal giant, over ten stories tall, with the supernatural ability to rearrange the topography of a region as though it had always been like that. Miki Hosokawa, one of Nube's students, is able to call on it for a little while in order to improve the landscape of Domori to her liking: such as widening the streets to make them safer, moving a construction site so it won't deprive some flowers of sunlight, and taking a communications tower from the city out to the countryside just so the baby birds nesting there have a better environment to grow up in. Unfortunately for her sanity, she's the only one who remembers the previous look of the city, so nobody (not even Nube) believes the story of Daidarabochi, at least until it saves her from falling when she tries to climb up to the nest herself.
- Why is Totoro not here yet? And the Catbus, for that matter?
- Belle from Meiken Jolie (Belle and Sebastian) is a female example: an enormous white dog who is incredibly gentle and loves kids, but can easily make a short work of a pack of wolves threatening her boy Sebastian, unfortunately she is also actively hunted by the authorities (who call her The White Demon) because they believe her to be dangerous.
- Rocket from Ginga Densetsu Weed. While not buff, he's very tall and one of the sweetest dogs in Weed's pack after his Heel Face Turn
- Juugo from Naruto when he's not in Axe Crazy mode.
- Ouran High School Host Club has
Bossa Nova Casanova Kasanoda. He's a scary looking Yakuza heir who has a soft spot for living things and takes up gardening (because his face frightens animals). Mori might fit this, too, since he's tall and stoic, although no one really finds him scary. In any case, Mori loves animals and takes care of a little chick and later an orphaned tanuki in the manga.
Comic Books
- Hank "The Beast" McCoy from X-Men is a good example of the super-intelligent giant subversion.
- Similarly, Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin is a young mountain of a man even before he turns into steel, but at heart is a gentle-souled artist unless brain-damaged or subjected to Complete Monster levels of provocation.
- Marmaduke "Moose" Mason from Archie Comics. Unless he thinks someone's messing with his girlfriend.
- Nuklon/Atom Smasher in the DCU started out this way... until he did a brief Face Heel Turn and helped Black Adam invade Khandaq, murdering a bunch of people along the way, frequently by stomping on them. He's back on the right track, though.
- Obelix from the Asterix comics is huge, has superhuman strength, and terrifies all the bad guys. He's also a sweetie that often gets described as "a big kid". Sure, he beats up Romans all the time, but he sees it as a game and is surprised because they don't seem to like it.
- Just don't hurt his dog, or imply anything about his weight, and you'll be fine.
- Calibretto, the bird loving War Golem from the comic Battle Chasers.
- The Hulk can sometimes be the epitome of this trope. Sometimes.
- Sam Simeon, the ape of Angel and the Ape, is a 249 kg talking gorilla, but he's more of a thinker than a fighter and would rather just draw comic books anyway; his lovely partner Angel O'Day is a crack shot who can take care of herself.
- The shapeshifting Hulkling of the Young Avengers is more often than not a big guy, and is generally the nicest, sweetest person on the team. Unless you hurt and/or threaten his boyfriend.
- Guido from X-Factor. Overbulging with muscles due to malfunctioning superpowers. Has to sit on the floor a lot because he's just too tall to function in most rooms. Brainwashing had him kill a man and he took it horribly bad until the victim's own wife forgives him. Like the others in this sub list, nice and sweet until innocents/his friends are threatened, then things get smashed.
- Some comic book characters are gentle giants by necessity. Captain Britain is contanstly aware that a slip-up could turn a handshake into a crushed hand. Superman, when he was ill and not thinking straight, warns several squishy villains not to proceed, since at that point in time he is unsure whether his punches would take their heads off.
- Kuga the Lion Killer from Jack Kirby's Satan's Six. The name might be off-putting, but he secretly loves animals far too much to harm them or let any harm come to them.
Film
Literature
- Rubeus Hagrid from the Harry Potter books. Unless you insult Dumbledore, Harry, or anybody else he cares for.
- Though he's very much not one in his first appearance, Grawp, Hagrid's half-brother, learns by Hagrid's patient and determined example to be a Gentle Giant, at least when dealing with people. If the people he cares for are hurt or killed, he is the first to utterly break down crying. He's much more tender and caring than any of the main characters.
- The giant squid living in the Hogwarts moat seems to be a friendly monster- it's first introduced putting an overboard student back in the boat, and Fred and George have been seen tickling it. Although Harry still hopes not to see it when he swims in the Hogwarts moat.
- Fezzik from The Princess Bride.
- The literary archetype for this sort of character is probably Lennie in Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck.
- Although he's more of a subversion of the whole "gentle" part, seeing how many animals he kills by accident.
- The Ogier in the Wheel Of Time books are an entire race of gentle giants, though not those in the service of the Seanchan.
- Similarly, the Giants in the Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant are an entire race of Gentle Giants.
- Roald Dahl's title character in The BFG. All the other Giants are evil though.
- Played straight with Hodor of A Song Of Ice And Fire, who is about seven feet tall but has the mind of a young child and is completely incapable of defending himself. Sandor Clegane, a massive and ferocious man, is described as being "not ungentle" when dealing with the innocent Sansa. He'll still chop most men in half for looking at him cross-eyed, though. There are a number of other huge men who are quite cruel. Actual giants are not particularly gentle.
- In Terry Pratchett's Discworld, or at least in Ankh-Morpork, many civilized trolls adopt a Gentle Giant demeanour when dealing with other, more breakable races, but mostly out of convenience, not niceness. One member of the City Watch, though, a troll constable named Bluejohn, is the largest the commander of the Watch has ever seen, much bigger even than normal trolls, and "like many big people" is really quite gentle and diffident. He's so massive and tough he can function as an impromptu riot shield for a squad of coppers. However, this is by no means universal, as plenty of trolls find employment as hired goons, and there are more that a few troll criminal masterminds who operate out of the meat refrigeration areas.
- Also, Captain Carrot is six-feet-six, broad-shouldered, and immensely strong due to growing up in a dwarven mine, but he's just about the nicest guy you'll ever meet.
- Lady Sybil Ramkin is an unfailingly polite and gracious Valkyriesque dragon breeder who, by the fact of being large and kind, is sometimes misinterpreted as being "stupid" (or "deaf").
- Constable Dorfl is a golem, and has chosen to be nonviolent. So far he is also quite possibly the strongest person/thing on the watch, as golems have been described as capable of ripping trolls in half. While golems in general are this way because they have the functional equivalent of the Three Laws embedded in their heads, Dorfl does not, and is very specifically nonviolent by choice alone.
- Jason Ogg, son of Nanny Ogg and Lancre's premier blacksmith, is huge and strong (so that it is hard to believe he was born and not, say, constructed), and definitely a gentle giant, though this doesn't stop the local pub owner from calling on him to break up drunken brawls by knocking the combatants together "in the friendliest way possible."
- From Glen Cook's Garrett series we have seven- (or nine, if you ask Garrett) foot-tall imposing black man named Playmate, who does not have "a mean bone in his body" and Saucerhead Tharpe who, while earning a living as a strongarm specialist, is very civil to the people he knocks out.
- The Giants in The Fionavar Tapestry are so pacifistic that they won't fight back against people actually killing them. The reason is complicated, but it involves an ancient curse.
- The Giants in CS Lewis's Narnia are usually depicted as dumb or evil (specially in The Silver Chair), but in the first book (The Lion, The Witch And the Wardrobe) we meet a very gentle and polite one: Rumblebuffin, who was Taken For Granite by Jadis the Witch specially because of this. Aslan revives him and he joins the cause of the Pevensies immediately.
- Joe from Charles Dickens's Great Expectations fits this trope. He doesn't hurt anyone, except Orlick who he knocks out in one punch after Orlick kept insulting his wife.
- The Ents of JRR Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings are, like trees, stolid, slow to move, and strong enough to crack rocks. They're eventually rallied into war, but it takes a lot of talk.
- The Hork Bajir in Animorphs qualify. Despite being 7 feet tall, covered in blades, and being used as alien brain slugs' foot soldiers, they have no aptitude for fighting, and use their blades to slice and eat tree bark.
- Boxer from Animal Farm.
- In Simon Spurrier's Warhammer 40000 novel Lord of the Night, Cog. As long as Mira isn't threatened and you don't call him an ogryn.
- In Ken Follet's novel World Without End, Mark Webber, the Kingsbridge weaver, is regularly described as a gentle giant.
- In Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures series, one of the members of M.Y.T.H. Inc., is Chumley, a huge green-furred troll. Although he works as muscle-for-hire under the persona of 'Big Crunch,' he's actually the most erudite and poetic of the M.Y.T.H. Inc. crew.
Live Action TV
- Lou from The King Of Queens, lampshaded in the quote above.
- The overweight lovable slob Hurley from Lost fits this to a T - he's also quite resourceful. He made a golf course on the island early on.
- Lead from Sapphire And Steel.
- Mr. T's character B.A. on The A Team had a Gentle Giant side, in which his fear of flying forced the others to drug him whenever they needed to get him on a plane. He was also revealed as a Genius Bruiser in episodes that featured his skills as an electronics and gadgetry whiz.
- Mr. J from Kamen Rider Faiz is probably this too. He's a large, powerful black man... who is mainly working for the bad guys because he's forced to. He's shown to be a very sweet guy and loves his doggy.
- Willy on Mission Impossible mostly fits, although it can be assumed he was just as intelligent as the others.
- One could argue that David Palmer in 24 is an example of this trope. He does act that way at times and he's not particularly vicious.
- Nick Stokes, CSI. Evident when Greg Sanders was attacked in the episode "Fannysmackin'"; normally a gentle soul, Nick went berserk at the kids who were taunting him. For a few seasons, some fans joked that the constantly tormented Nick would have his "Day of Justice."
- Olag Gan from Blake's 7, who is also a Technical Pacifist due to having his brain altered by the Federation.
- The massive Detective Vera from Cold Case fits this trope. Despite being snarky, he's amazingly good with children and as Rush tells a rape victim: "He only looks like a Neanderthal."
- Hoss Cartwright from Bonanza fits the trope; in addition, he is quite naïve.
- Junior Gorg from Fraggle Rock.
- Kubiak from Parker Lewis Can't Lose.
- Although he starts as a bully.
- Lurch from The Addams Family
- Marshall from How I Met Your Mother. He's played by 6'4" Jason Segel, but he's the most sentimental (and sympathetic) male character on the show, but winds up coming in handy when Ted and Barney try to pick a fight outside the bar.
- Toberman from the Doctor Who story "Tomb of the Cybermen".
- Dagwood from Sea Quest DSV/2032 was a failed prototype of a brand of genetically engineered soldiers. Not only was his intelligence lower than his creators expected, he was so gentle that when the rest of the crew had their aggression heightened, he remained the same because there was "not a mean bone" in him.
- D'Argo of Farscape. Though he was primarily a Warrior Poet, he tended to be very much a gentle giant around children- his friendship with Cyntrina in "Different Destinations" being the most obvious example.
Mythology
Professional Wrestling
- Surprisingly, this has been used on occasion in pro wrestling. When Andre The Giant got older and couldn't really wrestle anymore because of his gigantism, he became this trope. Also, the Oddities (Golga, Kurrgan, and Silva) from the late 90s WWF were pretty much this trope after their Heel Face Turn from a Circus Of Fear to a bunch of happy-go-lucky lets-have-fun dudes.
- Also, the APA appeared to care more about drinking beer and playing cards in their "office" than wrestling. That is, until you hired them. Or spilled their beer.
Web Comic
- Thog from the webcomic, The Order of The Stick is a possible subversion. A massive half-orc, he loves puppies and ice-cream and is very child-like. Then we realise that he's a mass murderer who's too stupid to realize what he's doing and goes into a berserker rage if he runs out of sprinkles to put on his sundae.
- While the "Monster in the Darkness" is a gentle giant played straight. Terribly powerfull and scary, but turns out to be a nice guy.
- Adam from Girl Genius (also known as Punch) is a mute Frankensteins Monster style creature, often depicted as a lumbering moron in plays and stories. People who know him however describe him as a wise and gentle soul who spent his spare time making toys for orphan children.
- Also Dr. Dim, who is actually stupid, but harmless, and makes and cherishes his teddy bears.
- He's not exactly stupid—it's implied that Klaus Wulfenbach lobotomized him.
- And that can't have made him stupid?
- The rock giant Paddington Rumblebottom the Third from the webcomic The Dreamland Chronicles.
- Roofus the robot, Rocko Sasquatch, and Goona in The Inexplicable Adventures Of Bob.
Video Games
- Video game example: Zhong the Ox carrier from Jade Empire, an ogre — a member of a normally brutal and territorial race - that ran away from home because he accidentally killed one of his master's oxen. Another example is Chai Ka; a demon that inhabits the body of a little girl.
- Potemkin in the Guilty Gear series is an example; he also has mild Genius Bruiser leanings, being highly intelligent and rather philosophical, although sometimes rather naive.
- Subverted in the game Sly Cooper 3. During the preceding game, Murray was quite fond of destruction, being a big bruiser. In the third, he had taken to the path of peace ... until his friends help justify destroying things (here, pumps that spew sludge into Venice's canals). Eventually ... The Murray returns true to form.
- Generally, the characters belonging to the Fighter, Warrior and/or Berserker classes (all of them axe users) in Fire Emblem are sort-of different subversions of the Gentle Giant. The closest are:
- The Knight Arden and General Hannibal (FE 4);
- The Knight Bors, the Bandit Gonzales and the Warriors Geese and Bartre (FE 6)
- The Berserkers Hawkeye and Fargus, the Warrior Geitz, Dart the Pirate; a young Bartre and his best friend Dorcas, both Axefighters (FE 7);
- Garcia the Axefighter and his son Ross the Journeyman, Dozla the Berserker (FE 8).
- Nolan is the philospher and is Team Mom of La Resistance. Brom is a Closer To Earth farmer who is also heavily decked in armor when he's forced to fight. (FE 10).
- Golem, Seere's pact-partner in Drakengard, is under this category. He only becomes angry if anyone ever threatens his Kid With The Remote Control.
- Shigen of the Last Blade series is extremely large and powerful, and, with his stone abilities, he can partially become an even more powerful Living Statue. Despite his fearsome appearance, he's a dutiful father to his adopted daughter Kotetsu.
- The Big Daddies of Bio Shock are enormously gentle and overprotective of the Little Sisters they've been programmed to safeguard, to the point where the Little Sisters consider them close friends, and the worst they'll do to anything not a direct threat to it or the Little Sister (including you as long as you don't attack it or the Sister) is either shove it out of the way or try to intimidate it by basically shouting at it. This makes the immensely violent and destructive shift they undergo when the Little Sister is in danger all the more shocking and disconcerting.
- Double H from Beyond Good And Evil is a Gentle Giant to the letter. He's an archtypal Big Guy (albiet one without a Five Man Band) with an insane dedication to his military code of actions and morals, yet he cares like crazy about his allies, he has an almost boyish love of hovercraft racing, and he plays with the orphaned children at the shelter the heroine Jade works at.
- Boman Delgado from Rival Schools. He looks like a Scary Black Man at first, but the game reveals he's actually religious and hates unnecessary fighting.
- Victor von Gerdenheim of the Darkstalkers series is a kind-hearted Frankensteins Monster who loves his "father" and his Dead Little Sister Emily. Basically the only reason he fights is to find a way to revive Emily, which he eventually does by sacrificing his own life.
- Super Mutant Marcus from Fallout 2.
- Super Mutants Fawkes and Uncle Leo from Fallout 3.
- War Craft's Tauren are nearly an entire race of Gentle Giants. No, you'd be best not to trust those vicious promotional images they gave you. Trust me.
- MASK De Smith of killer7. A huge, burly man in a suit, cape and wrestling mask, armed with two grenade launchers that burn his enemies to the ground, but he's a surprisingly nice, mellow guy under the mask.
- Subverted with The Heavy from Team Fortress 2:
Like a hibernating bear, the Heavy appears to be a gentle giant. Also like a bear, confusing his deliberate, sleepy demeanor with gentleness will get you ripped limb from limb. Though he speaks simply and moves with an economy of energy that's often confused with napping, the Heavy isn't dumb, he's not your big friend, and he generally wishes you'd just shut up before he has to make you shut up.
- According to his entry in the Megaman and Bass robot database, Gutsman is one of these. Specifically, it states that he is sentimental, hates arguments, and likes karaoke.
- Snorlax from Pokemon is enormous, but is also said to be so gentle (unless it's hungry, that is) that small children can actually play on its massive belly.
- Heck, due to the Nature (IE: Personality) aspects added to the more-recent games, it's possible to get ANY large Pokemon with a "Docile" or "Gentle" nature. IE: Snorlax, Dialga, Onix, Lugia, and, yes, even your Skitty-loving Wailord can all be gentle giants in the game.
- In the anime, Ash's Muk is a foul-smelling Blob Monster that loves to hug people (especially Professor Oak, its primary caretaker).
- Chunky Kong of Donkey Kong 64. He has a rather childlike demeanor, and yet he's the biggest and burliest of the playable kongs. In fact, his musical instrument is the triangle.
- Will Powers from the Ace Attorney series.
- Sabin is a Bare Fisted Monk, and well-muscled enough that Terra initially mistakes him for a bear; yet he's easily one of the most upbeat and forward-thinking characters in the party.
- Xu Zhu in Dynasty Warriors 5. In his ending he is shown to be tossing a giant boulder away from some land for some farmers.
- In real life too. He was nicknamed "stupid tiger/tiger fool/other translations", because he was simple-minded and honest outside of battle, but he was as ferocious as a tiger in it.
- Minsc from the Baldur's Gate series. Easier to provoke than most of these examples, though.
- It's rare to have a Boisterous Bruiser who fits this trope, but then again, few examples of any trope get distracted from a lecture on serving nature with dignity by the sight of squirrels playing.
- A villainous example, Lexaeus from Kingdom Hearts sort of fits this trope, as outside of battle he is shown to be a calm and disciplined schemer.
- Yeto, the mountain-dwelling cook and snowboard enthusiast in The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, is shown to be one of these. His wife Yeta also fits the bill, when she isn't possessed by the soul-eating powers of a piece of the Mirror of Twilight.
- Vigk Vagk the Troll in Ninety-Nine Nights is a massive beast captured by the Orcs and a miniboss in the other characters' campaigns. When he becomes unlockable, he's actually shown as a gentle creature at nature who befriends a weak-willed Goblin soldier.
Western Animation
- Eduardo from Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends; he was created by a little girl who lived in a bad neighborhood and needed an imaginary friend who was scary-looking enough to frighten off thugs and bullies, but gentle enough to help her throw tea parties for her baby brother. Later, she realized her subconscious had a secondary purpose in inventing Eduardo's personality: he's such a coward that she eventually had to find her own inner courage and step up to protect him. (She was later shown to have grown up to be a police officer.)
- Manfred the mammoth from Ice Age and its sequel Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. As well as sloth-like creature Cholly from Ice Age 2. Momma T Rex from Ice Age 3 could count as well, as long as you aren't whoever she wants for dinner...
- Modo from Biker Mice From Mars is a very fine example of this. Although Limburger's dimwitted henchman Grease Pit could also count.
- Sully from Monsters Inc. Especially considering he takes of advantage of his fearsome appearance to scare kids to collect their screams as power.
- The difference between his job persona and his amiable personality is pulled off very well; when we've become used to him as an Ugly Cute fatherly figure, it's quite a shock to see him in full-on scare mode, where he is terrifying.
- Beast from Disney's Beauty And The Beast, after he is moved by the love of a beautiful woman.
- Dim from A Bug's Life. Heimlich too.
- Film example: the title character of The Iron Giant.
- Grin from The Mighty Ducks, an ardent follower of Zen philosophy.
- Rhinox from Transformers: Beast Wars, also a Genius Bruiser and both a tech-head and a spiritual guru. Push him just that one inch too far, though, and you'll find out just how tough he really is.
- Bulkhead in Transformers Animated. He causes a lot of collateral damage despite his best efforts, though, mostly do to clumsiness, and it makes him kinda self-conscious. He's also voiced by the guy who voiced Patrick.
- He also turns out to be something of a Genius Bruiser, in that he's somehow the foremost expert on space bridges.
- Like the Discworld example above, most Autobots tend to use Gentle Giant mannerisms when dealing with humans. Decepticons... not so much.
- Mikey from Recess is much larger than the other kids - yet loves poetry and wouldn't hurt a fly. And has a singing voice exactly like Robert Goulet. In one episode though a rumour started that Mikey had pushed a boy into the girls' bathroom, which everyone believed.
- A rumour he started himself, mind. He was tired of people pushing him around, and the story took on a life of its own...
- Chin-Po from Disney's Mulan is soft spoken, talks an angry friend into chanting to control his emotions, but his strength comes in handy when needed.
- Rex from We're Back! A Dinosaur Story.
- Gnarrk from Teen Titans.
- Also Thunder, looking past the fact that he and his brother Lightning love destroying every inanimate object in sight.
- Jeff the Spider from The Grim Adventures Of Billy and Mandy
- Shrek.
- First mate Mr. Arrow from Treasure Planet. He's an enormous creature apparently made out of rock, yet he's the most approachable member of the crew. Until he gets killed, that is.
- To an extent, old Silver himself from the same movie, though his level of "gentleness" is questionable, given that he's something of a villain character. He's not the most villainous character in the movie, though. That'd be Scroop, the scorpion... thing. So Yeah.
- Po from Kung Fu Panda.
- Pumbaa from The Lion King and to some extent Mufasa.
- Female example: Eva from Igor. She's a lumbering giant but very sweet.
- Winsor Gorilla from My Gym Partner's A Monkey. He's also somewhat of a genius.
- Baby Huey in the old Harvey cartoons.
- Grape Ape
- Gor from Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys. He really hates to fight, and often does so only if his friends are in danger. His pacific nature causes him to try and talk to the villains, but it rarely works (except in one Aesop episode); and there have been occasions where his own friends goaded him into transforming into Gormungus, a hulk-like creature, to win battles or save a crew member, usually Spydor.
- This troper recalls that he actually managed to talk several gladiators (at least one on screen) out of their job in the episode where he received his Gormungus mutation- up until then, pushing his Berserk Button resulted in something more like an Unstoppable Rage.
- In one episode of The Backyardigans (appropriatedly called "A Giant Problem"), Tasha is one. Literally.
- Booster in ''Buzz Lightyear Of Star Command is an Ascended Fanboy with a tendency to be clumsy.
- Ginormica and Insectosaurus from Monsters Vs Aliens.
- Tiger from An American Tail. Double points for being the lone friendly cat to the Mousekewitz family.
- DJ from Total Drama Island. He's the largest and most muscular of the males but wouldn't hurt a fly.
- Cindarr from Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, always eager to Pet The Dog and in general gives the vibe of playing for the wrong team. It seems he persists to be a Darkling Lord only because of his oath to Darkstorm.
- Looney Toon's Abominable Snowman wasn't exactly gentle... But he meant well.
Web Original
- Marcus Roddy of Survival Of The Fittest - he is absolutely massive, yet wouldn't hurt a fly. However, due to various exceptions, it's easier to say that when dealing with very large characters in Survival Of The Fittest, roughly half are subversions of this trope, and the other half are played straight. Vesa Turunen started as straddling the border between playing this straight and subverting it, but eventually turned into a Blood Knight and Death Seeker.
- The giantess fetishism is divided in two branches: "gentle" and "violent". The "gentle" side of macrophilia derives sexual pleasure simply from a woman growing to giant size, or the giantess having sex with a regular-sized male (and yes, this is possible). The "violent" side of macrophilia has the giantess destroying cities, stepping on people or eating them.
Other
Real Life
- Real life examples: John Goodman and Brad Garrett.
- Real-life example: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, a Hawaiian singer famous for his hit cover of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", was incredibly fat, and was also a kind, happy person; as a result, he was known as "the Gentle Giant".
- Jay Leno. Jay's an incredibly nice, charming guy despite what people think of him. He happens to be quite lovable.
- Ultimate real life example: John Candy. This man was tall, weighed somewhere around 300 lbs., and had a very sweet lovable caring nature. He was also a great dad. He played this type of role in some if not most of his films.
- Andre the Giant. With the exception of when he acted as an "evil wrestler" (who wasn't that evil, by the way) he had always been adored by fans and wrestlers alike for his kind, gentle nature. Goldman, a wrestling fan, based the character Fezzik in his novel The Princess Bride on Andre.
- Really, listening to anyone who knew Andre talk about him, he sounds more like a perpetually drunken, but occasionally likable, prick.
- The crew for the comedy movie Without a Paddle described character actor Abraham Benrubi (6'7" and built like a padded bank vault) as one of the best-natured actors they'd ever worked with. Ironically, his character in the film was a hulking thug.
- Nature's examples:
- The Hickory Horned Devil caterpillar, the largest caterpillar in North America. It's five inches long, covered in menacing-looking spines from head to end, and yet it's completely and totally harmless.
- The Whale Shark. Not only the biggest shark, but the biggest fish alive today, period, at forty feet long. Gentle towards human divers, and friend to all living things except its natural prey - plankton.
- A smaller example is the Mola Mola, aka Ocean Sunfish. These odd-looking creatures grow to about the size of a car, but subsist entirely on jellyfish and crustaceans, and are very curious and gentle, often examining divers and even letting them touch them.
- Many large dog breeds, like St. Bernards, Newfoundlands, Old English sheepdogs, etc., are quite playful and friendly - in fact, much training involves teaching them that no matter how happy they are to see you, they still shouldn't knock you over.
- To back up the large dogs, I present this guy!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULlsVcW5bRI
- Ironically, it has been scientifically proven that smaller dogs are actually MORE agressive than most bigger breeds. Too bad they don't have the strength to back it up.
- Most large herbivores. Even when threatened, many of them would rather flee than fight back.
- Many of the comments on this post prove this is very much Truth In Television.
- Robert Wadlow was a 7 + foot boy scout at one point, and the tallest human on record in his adulthood.
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