History Main / MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong

->''"The physical and mental attributes of the Russian soldier are such as to make them the best people of all for war. They are long-enduring, tough, and insensitive and they find it easy to withstand the hardships of campaigning. They devour great quanities of raw and uncooked food, and their physical constitution is so hard that they bathe in rivers in the coldest weather."''

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Far Überwald (A canonical region populated by people with a rather Russian aura to them) is a place of freezingly cold winters, parchingly hot summers, endless Steppe, a city called Blondograd that endured a long terrible siege, and of course [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. When witches start to come out of Far Überwald in significant numbers to train in Lancre, they demonstrate traditional dances at the Witch Trials. This includes long sharp sabres, intricate dance moves, and an element of DualWielding verging on {{Flynning}}. Lancre's Morris Dancers are suitably impressed.

* The title character of ''Literature/MichaelStrogoff'' could be the poster boy for this ntrope: able to appears stoic during his travel in Siveria and [[spoiler:even to [[ObfuscatingDisability look and act as if he was effectively blinded by the Tartars]]]].

** Russian army footware. Almighty Allah! The old jackboots, ''sapogi'', were heavy, stiff, came up near to the knee, and have a fit best described as 'well, the foot stays in there without too much trouble. Soldiers who wore these didn't even get socks; they got footwraps called ''portyanki''. These are just rough rectangles of cloth about the size of a kitchen towel. They work great, provided you wrap them properly. If not, or if they come loose, or if your feet are just soft, you'll be in blister city in the first ten minutes. ''Kirza'' and ''botinki'', which are less extreme, are generally far from comfortable and thanks to having to be able to accomodate just about anyone of a certain foot size, expect them to still be wide and tall, even if they are in your size lengthwise. Wearing any of these without at least double layer of socks is painful, and the hard soles will batter your feet and the weight will strain your legs. [[DifficultButAwesome But once you're used to them, they make absolutely wonderful, supremely durable marching boots]]. In Russia, you get broken into your boots.

* Viktor Vasko from ''Webcomic/LackadaisyCats'' invokes this trope, even though he was born in Austria-Hungary. He's a large, stoic enforcer for a speakeasy who doesn't smile much.

* Alexei Stukov from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is decidedly from Russia, with the name, accent, and references to his homeland to boot, to the point where his introduction scene mentions his love of [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. He is the ''only'' Terran in the entire franchise who retains his free will after being infested by the Zerg (even Kerrigan had to be freed from the Overmind's influence first) and gained great power in the process, [[spoiler:to the point that he can annihilate a [[PhysicalGod Xel'naga]] with a single blast]].

* Rank 3 in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle''is a Soviet cosmonaut who got stuck in space until well after the Soviet Union's fall. He's notable for being the first boss in the game with a OneHitKill.

* The RussianOverkill plugin for ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' is made of this trope, among many others.

** Dagestan, home of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Zabit Magomedsharipov and Muslim Salikhov, has become a more localized version of this; the region is home to almost 100 ethnic groups, a hotbed for Islamic insurgency (with heavy participation in the UsefulNotes/TheChechnyaWars), and also known for its economically poor population. Combat sports such as wrestling are part of the culture and a way of life; it's telling that about 3/4 of the entries in the Wikipedia page for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notable_people_from_Dagestan "Notable people from Dagestan"]] are wrestlers, sambists, judokas, kickboxers and MMA fighters.

* Oh, and while we're on the military topics, Russia will still retain {{Conscription}} for the conceivable future, resulting in a considerable portion of the male able-bodied population being ([[RedshirtArmy somewhat]]) trained soldiers[[note]]According to Russian YouTuber NFKRZ, the army is so corrupted that conscripts aren't even trained to become soldiers at all. They are instead used as glorified cheap laborers by corrupt Russian officials for the duration of their service.[[/note]].

* Russia from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers''.
--> "Everyone will become one with Russia!"

* Team Russia from ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' is led by the world's strongest lifter. [[TheWorfEffect He gets beaten by a middle schooler just a few chapters later.]]
* Briggs from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''; the Easterners they keep the border on also seem to fit this, as their soldiers seem tougher than the Amestrians.
** Even moreso because Drachma (the alluded-to eastern nation) is pretty plainly a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Russia.

* A one-shot parody of the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics called ''The Man of Rust'' has the Lex Luthor expy summon all the Man of Rusts from all the alternate Earths. One of these is from Soviet Earth. When all the Men of Rust start fighting each other, and one of them uses his Freeze Breath on the Soviet Man of Rust, he just shrugs it off and says, "Bah! Your freeze breath is nothing compared to Siberian winters!"
* Bizarre example (from a bizarre character) in ComicBook/{{Nova}}. Richard ends up on a space station called Knowhere and ends up teaming up with Cosmo, a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot telepathic Russian Cosmonaut dog]], against a ZombieApocalypse. When Cosmo is fighting the zombies, he says:
--> "Come on then, ugly zombies, if you think you can bite harder than Russian dog."

* ''Fanfic/ScarTissue'': [[OriginalCharacter Dmitri]] is a Russian {{Child Soldier|s}} that is portrayed like a tough, extremely competent SuperSoldier and a rude smartass. Reinforced trope, since the author chose making him a Russian because he could not think of something more badass-sounding than a [[HumongousMecha giant robot]] Russian pilot.
* In ''LetsPlay/AScotsmanInEgypt'', the Highlanders under Angus the Mauler who invade Novgorod, find to their horror that no matter how much they cut or dismember their Russian attackers, [[{{Determinator}} they just keep coming]]. One Russian soldier gets the top of his skull smashed off, exposing his brain, and he ''still'' has the energy to swing a cudgel at the Highlander responsible. [[spoiler:Too bad Angus was even tougher... [[ManBitesMan and even crazier]].]]

* ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'' features a Cossack who simply refuses to give up.
* The MMA fighter Koba from ''Film/{{Warrior}}'' is based on the real MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko, who was also a stoic, undefeated and greatly feared Russian. He borrows his ''nom de guerre'' from Stalin, who in turn borrowed it from a notorious Georgian outlaw.

* Aleksis and Sasha Kaidonovsky, the Russian married couple that pilots [[HumongousMecha Cherno Alpha]] in ''Film/PacificRim'', are the only people in the entire Shatterdome that don't run off in a panic when another skyscraper-sized mech accidentally powers up its building-sized PlasmaCannon and points it right at them. They do leave the premises as well, but in a calm and collected manner without any sign of fear. That's the definition of 'stoic' right there. They also go down swinging later in the movie without even considering a retreat, sacrificing their lives for the survival of Hong Kong and possibly humanity at large.
* In ''Film/{{Downfall}}'', Adolf Hitler believes in his dying testimony that the hardy, determined Russians are the stronger and more deserving race [[YouHaveFailedMe than the Germans]], and that their victory will then [[{{Foreshadowing}} put them into conflict against the decadent democracies of the west]] where they will prevail as well.

* Barrayarans in the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' are in many ways Russia RecycledInSpace. At the beginning of the series they are presented as warlike, ferocious, and superstitious, hard-bitten folk who live on a planet just entering into civilization.

* Creator/AndreiBelyanin's ''[[Literature/TsarGorokhsDetectiveAgency Tsar Gorokh's Detective Agency]]'' series has Dmitry "Mit'ka" Lobov, a huge oaf from a village whose brain is inversely proportional to his body. As a rule, the protagonist (a modern day ByTheBookCop stuck in fairy-tale Russia) and Literature/BabaYaga mostly use him for manual labor and to assist in apprehending villains and forbid him from attempting to exercize his brain, as that usually leads to disaster. His enormous strength (it's frequently mentioned that he bends horseshoes with his bare hands for fun) isn't seen as that unusual for a village boy. When the protagonist decides to introduce Medieval Russia to hockey, Mit'ka is made a goalie, as his enormous bulk blocks most of the goal to attack. For a visual, see [[http://img12.nnm.me/6/7/4/8/4/9ab0d1f5385c99e1baafb902299.jpg this]] cover art (Mit'ka is the big guy on the left).
* The titular character of ''Literature/MichaelStrogoff'' could be the poster boy for this ntrope: able to appears stoic during his travel in Siveria and [[spoiler:even to [[ObfuscatingDisability look and act as if he was effectively blinded by the Tartars]]]].

* Mikhail on ''Series/{{Lost}}'': stoic, evil, gives Sayid a run for his money in combat, and nigh unkillable. He also has Dharma vodka at the Flame (a sentence that allegedly means something).

* Asserted by prisoner Nikolai Stanislofsky in ''Series/{{Oz}}''. After seven years in a Russian gulag, he expects no trouble from Oz. He didn't expect [[MagnificentBastard Ryan O'Reily]].
* Invoked in an early episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' featuring a Russian FemmeFatale (and [[ItMakesSenseInContext sodomy with a banana]]) -- one character actually said that any woman who had survived for any length of time in UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia ''couldn't'' be anything but a self-preserving borderline sociopath.
* ''Series/{{Danger 5}}''. Spoofed with ActionGirl Ilsa, who shrugs off being whipped by Nazi torturers. "This is nothing compared to Siberia." Later when facing {{doppelganger}}s of the team, the fake Claire is exposed by a test that plays on her emotions, but it's noted that the test won't work on Ilsa as "Russians don't have emotions".
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s Worf, while already strong as a Klingon, likely got the strength to [[TheWorfEffect survive the alien of the week]] from his adopted Russian parents. He even mentioned that his father took him camping in the Urals during his childhood.
* Red from ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'' is one of the most badass inmates and effectively the boss of them in season one.
* In ''Series/TheWestWing'' episode Galileo (S2E9) Bartlett berates the Russian Ambassador for being stubborn, and asks where she gets the nerve. Her reply: 'A long harsh winter, mister President'.
* Vladimir and Anatoly Ranskahov in ''Series/Daredevil2015'' do start off as this trope when it comes to dealing with the man in the mask, but they are no match for Wilson Fisk. Lampshaded when James Wesley visits their taxi company's garage on Fisk's behalf to solicit an offer.
-->'''James Wesley:''' ''[motions to a nasty cut on Anatoly's forehead]'' Oof. Those look like they hurt.
-->'''Anatoly Ranskahov:''' I've had worse.
-->'''James Wesley:''' I know how much your people delight in extolling the amount of pain they can endure but, maybe next time you could ''try'' ducking?

* In ''Tabletopgame/WarhammerFantasy Battles'', the counterpart culture to Russia is made up of hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guys in furs, with wild beards and pet bears.

* The people of Khador (the local FantasyCounterpartCulture of Russia) in ''[[TabletopGame/IronKingdoms [=Warmachine=]]]'' tend to be tough-as-nails hard-fighting bearded men in fur pelts and carrying [[AnAxeToGrind big axes]].

* Page picture: Soda Popinski (originally VodkaDrunkenski) from ''VideoGame/PunchOut''

** Before him, Zangief of WCW.

* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', Female Voice 2 for [[PlayerCharacter the Boss]] is Russian. Some of her idle chatter if the controls are left untouched for a while has her hearken back to her HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood, claiming it made her into who she is today.
* The Omar from ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar''. Descended from Russian scientists finding a way to survive the Collapse, they are immune to environmental hazards like fire, toxins, & radiation, although they are rather mediocre combatants.
** [[spoiler:In an ending where the Dentons, Templars, & Illuminati were destroyed, they inherited the Earth after humanity destroyed themselves in a nuclear war.]]
* Ivan from ''VideoGame/DevilsThird'' is a heavily-tattooed, always-shirtless badass with a thick Russian accent.
* Alexei Stukov from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is decidedly from Russia, with the name, accent, and references to his homeland to boot, to the point where his introduction scene mentions his love of [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. He is the ''only'' Terran in the entire franchise who retains his free will after being infested by the Zerg (even Kerrigan had to be freed from the Overmind's influence first) and gained great power in the process, [[spoiler:to the point that he can annihilate a [[PhysicalGod Xel'naga]] with a single blast]].
* A female example is Zarya from ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' (overlapping with BrawnHilda), who was a champion Russian weightlifter before becoming a soldier. Her record for the Snatch and Clean & Jerk is 512kg, which is higher than even the Men's current real-world record. She's so strong that she uses a Particle Cannon, which is normally vehicle-mounted, as a [[HandCannon hand-held weapon]]. Notably has cross-universe dialogue in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' when teamed up with Stukov above.
* The RussianOverkill plugin for Doom is made of this trope, among many others.
* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': Russia was the only country to survive in the first [[AlternateHistory Lostbelt]], a world where a meteor strike caused a brutal ice age. The {{Arc Villain}}s of the Lostbelt are Ivan the Terrible, who's become more [[{{Kaiju}} giant mammoth]] than man, and Anastasia, who's Spirit Origin was corrupted in exchange for power. Both of them fall back on Russia's ability to survive brutal winters when it comes to boasting, with Anastasia proclaiming Chaldea's home base of Antartica being nothing compared to Lostbelt Russia.

* Viktor Vasko from ''Webcomic/LackadaisyCats'' invokes this trope, even though he was born in Austria-Hungary. He's a large, stoic enforcer for a speakeasy who doesn't smile much.

* A common practice is to take a {{Creepypasta}} and rewrite it to take place in Soviet Russia (with FunetikAksent to match). The main joke being that whatever horror is supposed to be menacing the protagonists of the pasta is no big deal if they are Soviet Russians, because [[RussianGuySuffersMost they live through worse on a daily basis]].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Steve befriends an ex-Soviet spy who helps him build a rocket for a competition. To toughen him up, he teaches him to eat Russian turnips, which are so tough Steve's mouth begins to bleed upon biting into one.
* Boris from the ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' episode "The Princess and the Bounty Hunters" is the most large and muscular of the bounty hunters.

* Zangief, ''VideoGame/StreetFighter''.

And before the Cold War it was a Wild Communist, and even before, in the [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia XIX century]], it was a hard-fighting, heavy drinkin', boorish guy in furs, with a wild beard and a pet bear. So this trope [[OlderThanTelevision predates the television by some 150 years]] (it goes all the way back to 1813, in fact). And it would be probably even older if people outside the country itself before 1813 had registered Russia's existence.

* Russia from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia''.

* Team Russia from ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' is led by the world's strongest lifter. [[TheWorfEffect He gets beaten by a middle schooler just a few chapters later.]]

* Simon Brezhnev, the kind and thoughtful but also [[ScaryBlackMan very intimidating]] sushi hawker in ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}!!''

* Dimitri Rascalov of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' seems quite amiable at first. Then, he bitch-slaps you and [[spoiler: starts betraying and backstabbing every single person he comes across.]]
** Also, Rascalov's apparent calm and impassivity even in the worst circumstances fits the trope of Russian toughness. [[spoiler: It is revealed he's actually a huge thorazine addict.]]

* Alexei Stukov from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is decidedly from Russia, with the name, accent, and references to his homeland to boot, to the point where his introduction scene mentions his love of [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. He is the ''only'' Terran in the entire franchise who retains his free will after being infested by the Zerg (even Kerrigan had to be freed from the Overmind's influence first) and gained great power in the process, [[spoiler: to the point that he can annihilate a [[PhysicalGod Xel'naga]] with a single blast]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}'': [[spoiler: Stella, Claire, and through them Ginger]]. It's also stated that even Russian [[{{Uke}} subs]] tend to have a dominant streak.

Most Russian characters in media, at least since the UsefulNotes/ColdWar started, are depicted as hard fightin', [[VodkaDrunkenski heavy-drinkin']], manly, boorish creatures. Even their females border on being TheBaroness or the FemmeFatale (or alternatively as BrawnHilda). The only [[SensualSlavs soft and sophisticated Russian]] is most definitely TheSociopath.

** Valery is a Russian ex-Spetnaz who seemingly gets his throat crushed and his head shot, yet still manages to escape into the pine barrens, never to be seen again.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Far Überwald (A canonical region populated by people with a rather Russian aura to them) is a place of freezingly cold winters, parchingly hot summers, endless Steppe, a city called Blondograd that endured a long terrible siege, and of course [[VodkaDrunkenski vodka]]. When witches start to come out of Far Überwald in significant numbers to train in Lancre, they demonstrate traditional dances at the Witch Trials. This includes long sharp sabres, intricate dance moves, and an element of DualWielding verging on Flynning. Lancre's Morris Dancers are suitably impressed.

* Invoked in ''Series/TheSopranos'': A one-legged very strong-minded Svetlana remarks that Americans don't know what a real problem is: they live an easy existence compared to the average miserable life in Russia/USSR and yet they are wimpy complainers. And then there is Valery, a Russian ex-Spetnaz who seemingly gets his throat crushed and his head shot, yet still manages to escape into the pine barrens, never to be seen again.

* Fedor Emelianenko, long-reigning [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts PRIDE FC]] heavyweight champion and frequent Sambo tournament champion. Having gone undefeated for nearly ten years, he has widely been called the best fighter of all time and was certainly the most dominant fighter of his era. His personality was notably stoic, and his DissonantSerenity in the ring was often called chilling. The Japanese fight scene made a lot out of his Russian heritage. He was given the nickname "the Last Emperor" and walked out to "The Cossack's Parable," often accompanied by graphics of falling snowflakes.

* Oh, and while we're on the military topics, Russia will still retain {{Conscription}} for the conceivable future, resulting in a considerable portion of the male able-bodied population being ([[RedshirtArmy somewhat]]) trained soldiers[[note]]According to Russian YouTuber NFKRZ, the army is so corrupted that conscripts aren't even trained to become soldiers at all. They are instead used as unpaid laborers by corrupt Russian officials for the duration of their service.[[/note]].

* Oh, and while we're on the military topics, Russia will still retain {{Conscription}} for the conceivable future, resulting in a considerable portion of the male able-bodied population being ([[RedshirtArmy somewhat]]) trained soldiers.

* Ryszard Kapuściński, a Polish journalist, describes his travels through Soviet Union in its final years in his 1993 book "Imperium" ("The Empire"). Between harsh weather and even harsher rulers before, during and after Soviet times, he argues multiple times that the Russian national character is a mixture of apathy and passitivity with the will to endure anything. For example, Kapuściński recalls a conversation with an old lady trying to sweep out mud that keeps flowing in through her front door:

:: The old lady's response translates roughly as "we're breathing!", but can be taken to mean pretty much "we're [still] alive!".