Adaptational Slimness

"Now Casting: Professional Bodybuilders Only"

In most adaptations, a character's body shape is drastically altered, being made a lot more curvy, plumpy, or muscular, hence Adaptational Curves. Then there's the opposite of that trope; a character with a well-developed appearance in terms of weight, muscles, or bust size is made a lot more scrawnier or slender in the derivative work.

This can go both ways:

• A character was designed with an exaggerated appearance that would be extremely difficult to replicate in live-action, due to the role being cast by an actual person with non-exaggerated proportions. It's especially notable if the character in question is consistently depicted as having a particularly exaggerated trait, meaning that even if a comic book heroine had, say, a well-endowed figure, it would mean nothing unless it is an explicit part of how the character is identified.
• A character's portly body type is drawn as natural as possible, but they're still slimmed down regardless.

Nevertheless, this trope can be used for narrative purposes as well, oftentimes changing the character's personality as a result. Examples range from the Hunky Mr. Fanservice becoming a wimp with a Geek Physique, the well-endowed and proud about it Ms. Fanservice becoming a slender, flat-chested girl with a bad case of the A-Cup Angst, and the Fat Bastard becoming a skinny jerk. This can also relate to Hollywood Thin and Hollywood Pudgy, where a character's underweight/average body is considered "average"/"fat" by other characters and the work itself.

The logical inverse to Adaptational Curves, though in some cases, both tropes could overlap with each other (e.g. an adaptation slimming down a woman's body but simultaneously increasing her breast size). Often overlaps with Adaptational Attractiveness. Compare Ability over Appearance, Age Lift, Adaptational Ugliness, and Beauty Inversion.

Examples:

Anime & Manga

• The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Karane started the manga with a small cup size that was drawn progressively flatter as the first few volumes progressed. The anime makes her flat from the first episode.
• Fullmetal Alchemist (2003):
  • Edward Elric in the manga and Brotherhood is fairly muscular and hits a large growth spurt near the end. In the 2003 anime, he has a decently muscular but slim build and he doesn't grow nearly as much as he does in manga canon (he's dwarfed by both Noah and Winry in The Movie), making him look more like a Bishōnen than his manga counterpart as a result.
  • Scar is given a younger and more Bishōnen redesign compared to his more muscular manga version.
• High School D×D: Ravel Phenex in the original light novels had a more shapely figure to contrast her small height. In the anime, she is depicted with smaller-than-expected breasts, apparently to make her look more like the "little sister" niche she was actively filling (long story). Ishibumi has gone on record stating he considers this artist error, and her appearances in later seasons give her a chest more in line with novel illustrations.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Due to Hirohiko Araki changing his art style for the series from one full of Heroic Builds for the men to more realistic proportions, his depictions of Jonathan and Joseph Joestar in later artwork are considerably leaner than their original depiction.
• While still very fit, Link in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016) manga adaptation doesn't start with the Heroic Build of his game counterpart, instead sporting a thinner, more boyish frame reflecting his youth and inexperience. He's more than caught up by the end, however.
• My Hero Academia: All of the Class 1-A girls (Momo, Mina, Uraraka, Asui, and Jiro) have their stomachs and curves slimmed down◊ in the anime.
• In Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja, Lady Tsunade, one of the bustiest characters in Naruto, is depicted as having a flat chest.
• A lot of characters from Parasyte fell victim to this trope in the animated adaptation. Most notably Mitsuo and Shimada, who had a more muscular build and broad shoulders in the manga.

Comic Books

• The New 52 was criticized because it turned previously non-conventionally attractive characters into much more conventional Ms Fanservices:
  • Suicide Squad: Amanda Waller, famously nicknamed "The Wall" because of her weight and strong force of personality, is redesigned with a much skinnier appearance than she ever had.
  • Justice League (2011): Etta Candy is also made to be skinnier than her original depiction as a Big Beautiful Woman.

Fan Works

• Neither a Bird nor a Plane, it's Deku!: Due to possessing his Kryptonian Super-Strength from an early age, Izuku rarely needed to truly exert himself and most of his ten months of training consisted of refining his control rather than increasing his raw strength. As a result, he keeps his Geek Physique when he gets into U.A.

Films — Animated

• Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children: While in the original game, Tifa had exaggerated breasts, the follow-up movie reduced her cup size because they would have looked jarring on the more realistic character models. Of course, even with reduced breasts, Tifa is still enormously busty.
• Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay: Amanda Waller is once again slimmer than she is in the comics. This is justified in-universe, as she is fighting a terminal disease that has caused her to lose weight.
• Wonder Woman (2009): Etta Candy is not only much more hostile towards Diana than most incarnations but is also skinny unlike her chubby comic counterpart.

Films — Live-Action

• Done famously in Batman (1989). The skinny and unimposing Michael Keaton was cast as Bruce Wayne who had an iconic Heroic Build in the comics, much to the woe of comic book fans at the time. This was a case of Ability over Appearance and it wasn't until Christian Bale that muscular builds became more compulsory for actors playing Batman in films. Although The Batman (2022) has Robert Pattinson playing a similarly slimmer and less burly Bruce Wayne as well, doesn't affect his ability to kick ass at all though.
• In Blonde, Ana de Armas was cast as Marilyn Monroe. While both women are beautiful and shapely and Ana de Armas certainly does her best to do Marilyn justice, the Real Life Norma Jeane was simply more thick set 50s-style while de Armas is more petite.
• Cinderella (Rodgers and Hammerstein): In the original live telecast, Howard Lindsay portrayed King Maximillian as an Adipose Rex, declaring in "Your Majesties" that "The wine of my country is beer!" The prerecorded 1965 and 1997 remakes respectively cast Walter Pidgeon and Victor Garber as slimmer kings, and cut out any mention of the character having a beer belly.
• In the Dennis the Menace (US) comic strip, Mr. Wilson was fat, leaving him to many jokes about his weight from Dennis. In the 1993 live-action film by Warner Bros., Mr. Wilson was played by Walter Matthau, a thin man.
• Dragonball Evolution:
  • Son Goku is one of the most iconic examples of Shōnen heroes with a Heroic Build and his physique is often idolized by anime fans and Gym goers (to the point that the Goku's gym meme exists) and he constantly suffers Clothing Damage to show off his impressive physique. Movie Goku has a very average slim build. The story arcs the movie is adapting had a less muscular Goku, but that is because Goku was a lot younger in the source material during the King Piccolo saga. The movie gives him an Age Lift, but leaves out his muscular physique, presumably to portray him as a loner/loser.
  • Similar applies to supporting character Yamcha, whom, whilst comparatively more muscular than the Movie's version of Goku, is still much less beefy than his ripped counterpart in the source manga.
• Harry Potter:
  • Oliver Wood is described as "burly" in the books but is fairly average in the films.
  • Fred and George are described in the books as being on the shorter, stockier side, compared to their younger brother Ron, which makes sense for their Quidditch positions as beaters. In the films, they are skinny and taller than Ron, even in the later films when Ron has grown up.
• Holes: Justified when skinny beanpole Shia LaBoeuf was cast as the fat Stanley Yelnas IV, as director Andrew Davis thought it would be too taxing on LaBoeuf to have to gain a great deal of weight for the role only to lose it during filming^note Stanley loses a lot of weight during the course of the novel due to performing manual labor in the hot sun.. The author of the book, Louis Sachar, agreed with the change for the sake of LaBoeuf's health.
• Horns: In the novel, Glenna is a big voluptuous girl, with the narration noting she could be a plus-size model if she wanted. The film has her played by smaller actress Kelli Garner (though keeps the scene where Ig's horns make her gorge on donuts).
• In the 2019 Kim Possible movie, Wade's actor, Issac Ryan Brown, isn't slim but he's noticeably less rotund than his cartoon counterpart.
• In Let the Right One In, Oskar is played by the normal-sized Kare Hedebrant, whereas in the original book, Oskar is overweight.
• Resident Evil Film Series:
  • Chris Redfield in Resident Evil: Afterlife is marginally skinnier than his game counterpart. While Wentworth Miller is obviously no beanpole, by this point in the games Chris had gained a more bulky figure that can best be described as a "boulder punching physique" that his film counterpart lacks.
  • Jill, Claire, and Ada aren't quite as curvaceous in the films as they are often depicted as in the games.
• Sin City: Nancy Callahan is drawn in the comics as an extremely curvaceous woman◊ with a very large bust, which particularly explains Hartigan's gob-smacked "She grew up and filled out" comments. In the film, she's played by the much skinnier◊ Jessica Alba. In modern modeling parlance, comic Nancy would be described as "thick", movie Nancy as "toned".
• When she first debuted in Space Jam, Lola Bunny was depicted with an Impossible Hourglass Figure that all of the other characters would swoon over. In Space Jam: A New Legacy, which is said to be a Stealth Sequel to the original film, Lola has a more slimmer body and a more modest attitude to go with it. According to director Malcolm Lee, this change was done to "de-sexualize" the character, as every prior and subsequent adaptation would tone down her seductiveness.
• Spider-Man 3: Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) is nowhere near as buff as the comics version, who was already a dedicated bodybuilder before he joined with the Venom symbiote. This was to make Eddie more clearly an Evil Counterpart to Peter Parker himself.
• Street Fighter: With the exceptions of Guile, Ryu, Zangief, and Vega, most of the characters from the games are nowhere near as ripped and athletic as they are in the games. Dee Jay being the most prominent example, being a skinny dweeb while his game counterpart is a beefy kickboxer.
• Suicide Squad (2016):
  • Zigzagged with Rick Flag, in the 2016 film he inverts this being pretty lean compared to the comic where he has the standard Heroic Build. Averted in the 2021 film thanks to Joel Kinnaman being more bulked up he's Truer to the Text.
  • Savant, Blackguard, Mongal, and Weasel lack the muscly physiques of their comic versions with Savant in particular being out of shape due to being played by Michael Rooker.
• Super Mario Bros. (1993): Bowser, the hulking fire-breathing turtle from the games is played by the unimposing and averagely-built Dennis Hopper.
• Tomb Raider films:
  • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider made a lot of effort to have Angelina Jolie resemble the voluptuous main character, especially as Jolie is well endowed herself. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life decided to forgo the extra padding and stay with Jolie's natural appearance.
  • Tomb Raider still fell into this with Alicia Vikander, but was based on the Tomb Raider (2013) video game reboot where Lara had more realistic proportions.
• X-Men Film Series:
  • Magneto is often drawn as a very fit and buff Silver Fox, if not with outright bodybuilder proportions. Ian McKellen was chosen because of the gravitas he would bring to the role, who has always had an average build.
  • Rogue is an interesting example, because in the comics she underwent a Fanservice Pack until she was a statuesque super model and one of the curviest X-girls on par with somebody like Emma Frost. In the first movie, Rogue is aged down to a teenager and played by Anna Paquin, who is much shorter and skinnier than the southern bombshell from The '90s. Even her hairstyle is changed to make her look smaller, from '80s Hair to a flat, straight style.

Live-Action TV

• A Song of Ice and Fire:
  • Game of Thrones:
    • In the books, Brienne has a stocky, masculine physique and no bosom at all. Osha is lithe and barely looks like a woman. Both have more feminine figures in the show.
    • In the books, Lord Wyman Manderly is described as being incredibly obese, even being mockingly called "Lord Too-Fat-To-Sit-On-a-Horse." In his brief appearance in season 6, his build is stocky, but nowhere near as massive as the books.
  • House of the Dragon:
    • In Fire & Blood, Viserys I is described as an Adipose Rex with a Big Fun personality. At the time of his death, he's said to have been too large to fit on the Iron Throne. In the show, however, he's rather thin, and only grows thinner and frailer as he's gradually ravaged by a leprosy-like disease.
    • Viserys's daughter Rhaenyra is described in the book as having gained weight as a result of several pregnancies, but in the show, her weight does not change after having her children.
• American Gods: The novel emphasizes Easter as curvaceous, with an extremely buxom, plus-size body and making Shadow blush when she says the tops of her thighs rub together when she walks. In the series, she's played by Kristin Chenoweth, who has a much slimmer build.
• The Boys (2019): In the comics, Homelander has a traditional Heroic Build completed with a Lantern Jaw of Justice. Here, he's portrayed with an angular jawline and is surprisingly thin, which is hidden behind the Fake Muscles padding of his costume.
• The Flash (2014):
  • Barry Allen is usually drawn as a highly muscular man in the comics (although some artists, logically enough, make him look more like a runner), but is given a skinny-but-fit Geek Physique.
  • Francisco "Cisco" Ramone trades his bodybuilder-like figure for a shorter, slightly stouter frame.
  • Savitar is drawn as a Walking Shirtless Scene with the muscles to match, but the show gives him the same scrawny build as Barry, since Savitar is just an alias used by Barry's evil future self.
• Goosebumps (1995): In the book A Night in Terror Tower, the Lord High Executioner is a very muscular man, which is to be expected given his line of work. In the episode based on it, he is more of a Lean and Mean figure, although with a Beard of Evil and sinister black clothing.
• Guest from the Future:
  • In One Hundred Years Ahead, the gym teacher is extremely overweight to the point Alice and Yulia mistake him for Fat Bastard Jolly U from a distance. In the series, he is quite lithe and fit (the plot point of them mistaking him for a pirate is still kept since the series gives Jolly U Voluntary Shapeshifting powers).
  • Downplayed with Kolya Sadovsky. In the book, he is described as "not fat, but not thin either ? better to say, soft". In the series, his actor is most definitely slender.
• NOS4A2: Downplayed. In the book, Lou Carmody is extremely fat, to the point where he risks having a heart attack in the second half while trying to help Vic find Charlie Manx. In the show, his actor is still heavyset, but not to the point of being physically unhealthy.
• Sherlock: Mycroft Holmes is described in the original Sherlock Holmes novels as a "much larger and stouter man" than Sherlock. The series, set in the 2010s, turns him into a skinny fitness nut, though there are several passing implications plus Word of God that indicate he's actually Formerly Fat. Justified, since when the original novels were published, Mycroft being fat was an indication of his wealth and status as a government employee, since he could afford to eat more. In the 2010s, the opposite is seen as the case, so Mycroft's appearance was adjusted to continue to reflect his wealth. This is supported by the trope's subversion in "The Abominable Bride", an Only A Dream special set in the Victorian era where Mycroft is as fat as his book counterpart.
• The Watch (2021): In the Discworld novels, Lady Sybil is a Big Beautiful Woman. In the show, she has a much slimmer build.
• In The Woman in White, Count Fosco is very obese. In the 2018 miniseries adaptation, in addition to becoming about twenty years younger, he is also slender and athletic. Most likely, it was done to make his canonical attraction to Marian slightly less one-sided than in the book and allow him to try invoking a Dance of Romance with her.

Multi-Media

• The Kingpin in Marvel Comics is usually depicted as being as wide as he is tall, but deceptively strong despite his fat appearance. He ended up being played by Michael Clarke Duncan in the Daredevil film and Vincent Donofrio in the Daredevil series, both tall, heavy-set guys but are more obviously well built compared to the grotesquely obese original version.
• Masters of the Universe: The original He-Man toy was noted to have absurd proportions, the creators boasted that if he was the same height as bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger he would be about 400 pounds, over 150 pounds heavier. He had more realistic bodybuilder proportions for his first animated show He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and appeared shorter and more slender for The New Adventures of He-Man. Dolph Lundgren played him in the Masters of the Universe film and while a fairly large guy he had a more athletic build.
• Sonic the Hedgehog has done this with a handful of characters over the years.
  • Doctor Eggman has twice had his physique toned down during adaptions. In Sonic Boom his egg shape is flipped on its head, giving him more of an extra fluffy Heroic Build and slimming him down in the process. Then in Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) the role of Doctor Robotnik is filled by Jim Carrey with no attempt to replicate the doctor's massive heft.
  • In Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics) following the continuity reboot in 2013, Rotor the Walrus was re-designed to adhere more to mainline Sonic the Hedgehog design sensibilities and in the process his heavyset, pear-shaped physique was changed to a slimmer and more muscular physique similar to characters like Vector the Crocodile and Storm the Albatross. This change also came with him being slightly re-tooled into being a more active fighter on the front lines rather than being mostly a Gadgeteer Genius as he was pre-reboot.

Theatre

• The Prince of Egypt: Hotep is noticeably thinner here than he was in the animated film where he was quite obese.

Video Games

• Double Dragon: Linda Lash in the original arcade game had noticeable muscle tone on her arms, whilst still being slimmer compared to the male characters. Whilst a few adaptations, like the NES version, exaggerated Linda's muscular build, many adaptations like Double Dragon Neon, instead made Linde very lithe and slim without any visible muscle tone.
• Final Fantasy VII Remake: Tifa has a more visibly toned build and a slightly more modest bust, in contrast to the original game and its spin-offs, where she had a huge rack. ^note (for the record, Tifa is still very well endowed in the remake (as seen with her revealing cocktail dress and her swimsuit in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth), she's just not on the same larger level that she was in the original game's FMVs, or it could be due to the fact that she's now wearing a sports bra that might make her chest look smaller).
• Tomb Raider has a complicated history with this. The main character was famous for being very busty and subsequent games were always trying to make her more realistic without [[Fanservice sacrificing that appeal]], often making her very tall and muscular to compensate. The reboot Tomb Raider (2013) redesigned Lara extensively, slimming her down and while still curvy, it wasn't an Impossible Hourglass Figure.

Visual Novels

• Hiveswap Friendsim: Inverted with Terezi, who is drawn the same as the other characters in Homestuck, but is visibly chubby here.

Western Animation

• Masters of the Universe:
  • The original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an egregious case of Clark Kenting: "He-Man" is just the super-muscular Prince Adam with a tan and a Stripperiffic costume, yet people can't tell that they're the same person. New adaptations, including the 2002 series, the 2021 series and Masters of the Universe: Revelation all have "Adam" as a slim teenager who becomes the buff, adult "He-Man" when he transforms.
  • Revelation also does this with Teela. In the '83 show, she has the same body type inherited by the cast of She-Ra: Princess of Power, while here she is a distinctly muscled fighter visibly taller and more robust than Prince Adam.
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, a 2018 reboot of the original 80's cartoon, gives its female characters more realistic proportions as opposed to the same pinup/fashion doll body type (understandable, for a toyline cartoon), in addition to aging them down into teenagers instead of adults.
• Teen Titans (2003) depicts the titular team as being shorter and slimmer (except for Cyborg, who traditionally was supposed to be a football player), making them look like actual teenagers. This is in contrast to the original comic book, where the characters tended to look more like they were in their mid-20s (and in some cases, they were).
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The previous versions of Bebop have traditionally been fat/muscular and big, while Anton Zeck (this show incarnation of Bebop) is slim and fit (and smaller), even after becoming a warthog mutant. This makes sense, given that warthogs aren't that fat in real life, and are actually smaller than rhinos.

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