History Main / SicklyChildGrewUpStrong

* ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'': In ''ComicBook/{{Origin|2001}}'', it's revealed that as a child, young James Howlett was incredibly sickly and had to spend large parts of his childhood bedridden, though this quickly went away as soon as his mutant abilities started manifesting. As an adult, he has a HealingFactor and is easily one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel-universe.

* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'': In ''ComicBook/{{Origin|2001}}'', it's revealed that as a child, young James Howlett was incredibly sickly and had to spend large parts of his childhood bedridden, though this quickly went away as soon as his mutant abilities started manifesting. As an adult, he has a HealingFactor and is easily one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel-universe.

* Prior to becoming ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, Steve Rogers was such a weakling that he was rejected from the military. As a child, he was often ill with asthma and a weak heart and not expected to live past 25.

* In ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'', Superman tells Piotr that contrary to popular belief, he was not born with his full powers, and was in fact quite sickly for most of his childhood.
* ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} was very weak and sickly as a child. As an adult, he has a HealingFactor and is easily one of the most powerful superheroes in the Marvel-universe.

* [[Music/{{Eminem}} Marshall Mathers]] was once a small, sickly child who spent a lot of time off school due to mysterious stomach problems (which he would later discover was due to his mother [[MunchausenSyndrome spiking his food with drugs to make him sick]]), and was considered stupid in school. He would eventually grow up into an athletic, intelligent adult who would be considered one of the greatest rappers to ever hold a mic. Many of Eminem's SelfEmpowermentAnthem songs are about this transformation, with many paying particular attention to the fact that it was the things about Eminem that he thought were flaws (his horrible childhood and his obsessive, raging personality) that would end up making him into the megastar he became.

* [[Music/{{Eminem}} Marshall Mathers]] was once a small, sickly child who spent a lot of time off school due to mysterious stomach problems (which he would later discover was due to his mother [[MunchausenSyndrome spiking his food with drugs to make him sick]]), and was considered stupid in school. He would eventually grow up into an athletic, intelligent adult who would be considered one of the greatest rappers to ever hold a mic. Many of Eminem's SelfEmpowermentBallad songs are about this transformation, with many paying particular attention to the fact that it was the things about Eminem that he thought were flaws (his horrible childhood and his obsessive, raging personality) would end up making him into the megastar he became.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'': When he was a child Soren almost died to an illness, as a grown man he's a [[TheBigGuy physically fit]] member of Katlois' [[PraetorianGuard Crownguard]] who takes any opportunity he can to [[FitnessNut work out]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''-franchise by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, Hiccup (the main protagonist) is a scrawny BlackSheep in the first film and in the second film, it's mentioned by Valka (Hiccup's long-lost mother) that he was apparently born premature and she was worried that Hiccup wouldn't make it. However, by the end of the first film, Hiccup becomes the first known Viking to actually tame a dragon (and a ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Night Fury]]'' at that, which are widely considered to be '''the''' most dangerous species of dragon out there) and becomes the best inventor in his village. [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 And in the sequel]], Hiccup's grown more into himself and eventually becomes the chief of his village.

* ''Literature/DearAmerica'': In ''Color Me Dark'', Nellie Lee Love was born prematurely and small enough to fit in her father’s hands. In the present day, she’s a strong and outspoken young girl.

* Creator/BruceLee was a tiny fragile child, who later grew up, thanks to his hard training, into one of the greatest Martial Arts stars.

* This is used in Shao Kahn's (now General Shao in the New Era) new backstory in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 Mortal Kombat 1]]''. In his youth, Shao was born sickly and and frail, though he is a brilliant prodigy and eager to follow in his military family's footsteps. His father, displeased with the results of Outworld's doctors and physicians, created an [[TrainingFromHell extreme training program]] that, in time, molded Shao into a physical colossus with an iron will. As an adult, he is now the esteemed general of Outworld's armies and a decorated war hero.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''-franchise by Creator/DreamWorksAnimation, Hiccup (the main protagonist) is a scrawny BlackSheep in the first film and in the second film, it's mentioned by Valka (Hiccup's long-lost mother) that he was apparently born premature and she was worried that Hiccup wouldn't make it. However, by the end of the first film, Hiccup becomes the first known Viking to actually tame a dragon (and a ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Night Fury]]'' at that, which are widely considered to be the '''the''' most dangerous species of dragon out there) and becomes the best inventor in his village. [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2 And in the sequel]], Hiccup's grown more into himself and eventually becomes the chief of his village.

* ''WebOriginal/LoomingGaia'': Evan was a frail and sickly child who needed crutches and leg braces to walk and spent most of his childhood in bed. Then he contacted lycanthropy, [[CursedWithAwesome which significantly improved his muscle mass and health]].