History Main / BiggerIsBetterInBed

->''"It's so BIG..."''

This trope is the reason why CompensatingForSomething is, by its very nature, an insult: everybody knows that a ''real'' man is packing (or at the very least, isn't coming up short in that department). A heroic character, when his penis is mentioned (which isn't all that often, except by [[DoubleEntendre innuendo]]), will usually have a big one. Naturally, this is also the reason why villainous or [[StrawLoser loser]] characters are portrayed as having a [[TeenyWeenie small penis]], or a small [[PhallicWeapon something else meant to represent a penis]]. It's a deficiency that makes them bad people, or at least not cool like the heroes are, and may be [[FreudianExcuse the reason they're so frustrated with the world]]. By further extension, [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex heroes have good sex]] to some degree ''because'' they're so well equipped. Some authors even provide length and girth numbers for this uberpenis, conjuring the mental image of a [=PoV=]-character breaking out a measuring tape at a romantically inappropriate moment.

->''"It's so big..."''

"The bigger the penis, the better the sex."

This assumption is a staple of modern fiction when it comes to SexTropes. The basic (mistaken) rationale seems to be that a woman's erogenous zones are located solely in the deepest, darkest, most unexplored reaches of her nethers, where only equipment of sufficient size (i.e. length) is capable of reaching. Anything less may as well not be there at all.

This trope is the reason why CompensatingForSomething is, by its very nature, an insult: everybody knows that a ''real'' man has a big penis (or at the very least, an average one). A heroic character, when his penis is mentioned (which isn't all that often, except by [[DoubleEntendre innuendo]]), will usually have a big one. Consequently, this is also the reason why villainous or [[StrawLoser loser]] characters are portrayed as having a [[TeenyWeenie small penis]], or a small [[PhallicWeapon something else meant to represent a penis]]. It's a deficiency that makes them bad people, or at least not cool like the heroes are, and may be [[FreudianExcuse a key to their underlying motivation.]] By further extension, heroes have good sex to some degree ''because'' they're usually well-endowed. Expect many authors to give us the exact dimensions of this uberpenis, conjuring the mental image of a [=PoV=]-character either breaking out a measuring tape at a romantically inappropriate moment or somehow possessing their own finely-calibrated genitals.

SuperTrope to BlackIsBiggerInBed, which is the erroneous assumption that black men are "gifted" with bigger penises than men of other ethnicities. When a large penis has comedic value instead of (or in addition to) sexual value, see GagPenis. Contrast with TeenyWeenie, which is a penis that is smaller than the average, and often leads to mockery of the guy who has it because of this trope, and with BigPrickBigProblems, when a large penis is shown to cause problems for its owner. The female equivalent to this trope is BuxomBeautyStandard. Often related to IKEAErotica and RagingStiffie. When taken to extremes can become a case of AnatomicallyImpossibleSex or alternately of WritersCannotDoMath.

* In Creator/DavidDrake's ''Cross the Stars'', Don "Mad Dog" Slade dismisses the notion that a large penis equals sexual prowess ("It's not the size of the tool, it's the skill of the workman") but not until after the author mentions that his army buddies briefly called him "Tripod" before an earlier nickname reasserted itself. Drake is actually asserting this trope under the guise of dismissing it.

* In ''The Hellfire Club'' by Creator/PeterStraub, the villain SerialKiller Dick Dart is repeatedly stated to have this. He's awfully proud of it, too, saying that his name was [[PunnyName rather appropriate]]. He claims that women are crazy about him because of it, and he's shown to get ''very'' frustrated when he can't make Nora climax.

* Deconstructed in Graham Swift's ''Waterland''. One character's too big for sex.

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', Vace proud of his BioAugmentation, which makes him well-endowed.

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', although Rin actually freaks out when she sees Shirou naked, she was a virgin and ''extremely'' nervous (so was Shirou, for that matter); Saber and Sakura are admiring, but not shocked. [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Shiki]], on the other hand, managed to impress even the relatively experienced Kohaku.

* ''VisualNovel/SlowDamage'' has WordOfGod admit that all of the route love interests of Towa's have a rather impressive size to their manhood, though in-game it's clear that Rei has the biggest one.

* Comes up at least OncePerEpisode in ''Franchise/DragonAge''

* ''VisualNovel/SlowDamage'' has WordOfGod admit that all of the route love interests of Towa's have a rather impressive size to their manhood, though in-game it's clear that Rei has the biggest one.

** Tyrion Lannister boasts of this trope to a prostitute in his EstablishingCharacterMoment as a DepravedDwarf. "The Gods gave me one blessing." This becomes a BrickJoke when it saves his life several seasons later after a slaver decides to kill Tryion and sell his cock to a merchant because a dwarf penis is rumored to have magical powers. Tyrion quickly points out that the merchant will have no way of knowing the penis came from a dwarf if it wasn't still attached to him.

* Played seriously in Harlan Ellison's short story "Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream", in which one of the main characters, Benny (a formerly gay and very handsome scientist), is transformed by AM into an apelike creature with horse-like genitalia. This may be ValuesDissonance in action, as gay men can be as fond of this trope as straights (see, for example, the work of Tom of Finland); Ellison implies that AM made Benny ugly and partially retarded ''because'' he was handsome and smart, and that making him over-endowed was to make him appealing to the one woman trapped in AM.

* Actually averted [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/93809/a-pleasant-surprise in this fanfic.]] The [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/kalash93 author]] has actually had sex, so he they know how it really goes. The story, [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/93809/1/a-pleasant-surprise/a-pleasant-surprise A Pleasant Surprise,]] is simultaneously one of the sweetest and most realistic depictions of sex in fanfiction. It's explicitly stated that being too large is quite painful.

* Actually averted [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/93809/a-pleasant-surprise in this fanfic.]] The [[http://www.fimfiction.net/user/kalash93 author]] has actually had sex, so SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome happens. The story, [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/93809/1/a-pleasant-surprise/a-pleasant-surprise A Pleasant Surprise,]] is simultaneously one of the sweetest and most realistic depictions of sex in fanfiction. It's explicitly stated that being too large is quite painful.

* Sites like ''Website/{{Literotica}}'' have a real problem with writers submitting stories where men have bizarrely proportioned genitals. Like a penis ten inches long and eight inches wide.

* ''Series/{{Obliterated}}''. Ava, the strait-laced CIA team leader of The Squad, gets drunk during the post-mission celebration and decides to have a one-night stand with [[MrFanservice Chad]], who grabs a condom only to say that it's regular and he takes XL. Ava is unimpressed by his posturing, saying she's drunk, not blind.