Big, Thin, Short Trio

The Magus Sisters. L-R: Mindy, Cindy & Sandy.

Boggis, Bunce and Bean
One fat, one short, one lean
Those horrible crooks
So different in looks
Were nonetheless equally mean

— Fantastic Mr. Fox

Usually a Power Trio of secondary characters, if there are three of them, chances are that one will be large and/or fat, one will be skinny, and one will be short. The big one will generally be good-natured, the short one will generally be grumpy, while the thin one generally remains as a middle ground between the two.

The tall, thin guy will usually be the leader, the short one will be the brains (unless he's The Napoleon), and the big guy will be the right-hand or the brawn. Compare Beauty, Brains, and Brawn, and Nice Mean And In Between.

Sister Trope to Fat and Skinny and Big Guy, Little Guy. Compare with Terrible Trio, which is usually composed of two "skinny" members (one male, one female) and one "short" one.

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Examples:

Advertising

• Count Chocula (thin), Frankenberry (big), and Boo Berry (short) of the Monster Cereals.

Anime & Manga

• The main 3 characters in the original TBS version of Aggretsuko are Retsuko (short), Eaglette/Washimi (thin), and Ape Admin/Gori (big). Fitting with the trope description, Ape Admin/Gori is generally good-natured, Eaglette/Washimi is The Stoic, and Retsuko... well, let's just say they call it Aggressive Retsuko for a reason.
• The three boys in the "Detective Boys" in Case Closed. Genta is Big, Mitsuhiko is Thin, Conan is Short.
• Arguably, the three sister goddesses, Urd, Belldandy, and Skuld, from Ah! My Goddess! Skuld is short, Belldandy is skinny, and while Urd is only slightly taller than Belldandy, she has a much more voluptuous figure.
• Somewhat averted in R.O.D the TV: Michelle is buxom and bubbly, Maggie is quiet and thin, and Anita is small, young, and grumpy.
• Warera, Konda, and Rori respectively, from Super Dimension Fortress Macross, aka Bron, Konda, and Rico from Robotech.
• Eyeshield 21 has a few:
  • Hakkai, Gojyo, and Goku.
  • Kurita, Hiruma, and Sena.
  • Yamabushi, Unsui/Agon, and Ikkyu to an extent.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Zygor, Sid, and Bonz definitely qualify for this.
• Jose (big), Placido (skinny) and Lucciano (short) from Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. Although the usual personalities for the short and big ones are inverted here as Jose is the grumpy one, and sort of good-natured Lucciano.
• Foxy (short), Porche (skinny) and Hamburg (big) from One Piece. Foxy isn't that much shorter than Porche, but he is still about the height of Luffy, which makes him VERY short for a grown-up male (Porche is female) One Piece character.
  • The 3 Captains: Eustass Kidd (big & muscular), Trafalgar Law (lean) and Monkey D. Luffy (short..even shorter after he used his Gear)
  • The Non-Human Straw Hat Pirates: Fishman Jinbe (Big), Skeleton Brook (Thin) and Reindeer Chopper (Short)
• Ed, Al and Winry from Fullmetal Alchemist are this for the bulk of the story. Al is obviously big, while Winry, due to only being a teenager, still has a rather slight figure, and Ed is The Napoleon.
• Attack on Titan has the Titan Shifters sent to infiltrate the military. Reiner is built like a linebacker, Bertolt is tall and thin, and Annie is surly and pint-sized.
• Kirby: Right Back at Ya! features a trio of animators known as the Otakings, whose members are: Biggie (Piggie in Japan, obviously the big), Boney (the thin) and Sleepy (the short).
• GoLion: Saido (big), Kurogane (thin) & Suzuishi (short).
• Yo-Kai Watch has Bear (big), Nate (thin), and Eddie (short). Bear has some mild bully traits but is mostly a sweet kid while Eddie is a smart kid. Nate is the Ridiculously Average Guy protagonist.
• Smile PreCure! does this with the Quirky Miniboss Squad: Wolfrun is thin, Akaoni is big, and Majorina is short. This gets averted once Majorina gets a new, younger form.
• In Doraemon, the human boys in the main cast (Doraemon, Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, and Suneo) form a trio like this, with Gian being the big one, Nobita being the thin one, and Suneo being the short one.
• Tweeny Witches: Out of the special task force, Nerabu is big and muscular, Biris is a slim woman of medium height, and Barunn is the shortest of them all.
• Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! has Sayaka Kanamori (who is a Huge Schoolgirl), Tsubame Mizusaki (who is at an average height), and Midori Asakusa (who is very short).
• Dragon Ball:
  • The Namek Saga has the Pint-Sized Powerhouse Frieza (though he grows in stature as he transforms) accompanied by his Co-Dragons, the Fat Bastard Dodoria and the Long-Haired Pretty Boy Zarbon.
  • The Golden Frieza Saga introduces three of Frieza's minions: the diminutive Sorbet, the Big Red Devil Shisami, and the Lean and Mean Tagoma.
  • Whenever a Terrible Trio appears in one of the non-canon movies, it's all but a guarantee they'll take this trope's form as well.
    • Dead Zone downplays it; while Nicky is fairly thin, Sansho is only slightly buffer than the others, and Ginger is just a bit shorter.
    • Lord Slug exaggerates it with the titular villain's main henchmen; Angira is a Long-Haired Pretty Boy who can stretch his arms like rubber, Dorodabo is a Fat Bastard who's wider than he is tall, and Medamatcha is a Depraved Dwarf who can create even smaller clones of himself.
    • Cooler's Armored Squadron from Cooler's Revenge have it as well; Doore is a musclebound brawler, Neiz is a gangly freak, and Sauza is a short Pretty Boy.
    • The titular villain of Android 13 is of medium height and athletic build, Android 14 is musclebound, and Android 15 is very short.

Asian Animation

• In Happy Heroes, any time Huo Haha is with the main villains Big M. and Little M., the group is rounded out into this kind of trio. Big M. is the big one, Huo Haha is the thin one, and Little M. is the short one.
• Tobot Galaxy Detectives: The humans on Team Mayhem consist of the tall Thin Eeny, the Short stout Meany, and the Big muscular Miney.

Comic Books

• Big Figure, Lawrence and Michael from Watchmen. Big Figure is short, Lawrence is fat and Michael is thin, or at least not short or fat...
• In Spider-Man, the Enforcers: Ox (big), Montana (thin), Fancy Dan (short).
• Supergirl:
  • In Supergirl: Being Super, the best friends of Kara Danvers -alias Supergirl- are Jennifer -big and tall- and Dolly -short and chubby-. Kara is thinner than Dolly and shorter than Jen.
  • In Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade, Lena is short and a little chubby. Belinda is tall and big. Linda is thinner and taller than Lena.
  • In Adventure Comics issue #400, the Black Flame's minions: Inventor (tall and skinny), Toymaster (chubby) and L. Finn (short).
• Casper the Friendly Ghost: Casper's three uncles Stretch (thin), Stinky (short), and Fatso (big) from the comics/movie.
• Patience, Prudence and Plenty, the ladies-in-waiting of Castle Waiting.
• Mac, Tony and Tim in Les Innommables.
• The Badd Lads, Boss (short), Knuck (big) and Fingers (thin) from now-defunct UK comic The Beezer.
• The main protagonists of WILQ – Superbohater: Entombed, Alcman, and Wilq respectively.
• Urbanus: Stef, Staf and Stylo are a gang consisting of three thieves who differ in length.
• Benito Jacovitti's 3P (Pippo, Pertica & Palla) are this but their personalities are a little different than the example. Pippo, the short one, is the group's leader, passionate and courageous. Pertica, the tall one, is clever and rational. Palla, the fat one, is a kind-hearted scaredy-cat.
• Fatty and Plug are the only two Bash Street Kids to avert Pint-Sized Kid. This makes them the respective big and thin to everyone else's short.
• Back in the 40's, Smash Comics had this in its "Purple Trio" segment. Warren the ventriloquist was thin, Rocky the strongman was big, and Tiny the dwarf was short.

Eastern Animation

• The Soviet/Ukrainian animated shorts Cossacks feature three Zaporozhian Cossacks — one who's tall and thin, one who's short, and one who's big and strong.
• The Soviet-made Treasure Island (1988) exaggerated this trope with Dr. Livesey, Jim and Trelawny, to the point where it became a meme.

Fan Works

• A Diplomatic Visit: When the group arrives at an apple farm in the Packlands, they're greeted by a trio of wolves who match this. Big-Cheer is the big (being the widest), Thin-Tall is the thin (and far calmer than his companions), and Little-Growl is the shortest and youngest.
• A lot of Super Mario Bros. fanart portray Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and Rosalina as this (with Daisy also frequently being drawn as chubby). In the actual canon they're all skinny, though Daisy is slightly bigger than the other two. Peach and Daisy are of similar height while Rosalina is extremely tall.
• Total Drama All-Stars Rewrite: Owen, Noah, and Dawn, with Owen being big, Noah being thin, and Dawn being short.
• In Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail the Red Lotus Trio fits this nicely: Lexi (Big as his papers together give him the appearance of a teenage boy), Chloe (Thin, for being a ten-year-old girl) and Atticus (Short, for being a dog).

Film — Animation

• A Bug's Life: Heimlich (big), Slim (thin), and Francis (short). They seem to share acts in the circus together, and appear as a group on the circus flyer, like Rosie and Dim or Gypsy and Manny.
• Fantastic Mr. Fox: Boggis, Bunce and Bean / One fat, one short, one lean...
• The trio of hunters, Misha, Yasha, and Vladimir, from the short Peter and the Wolf in Make Mine Music.
• Flushed Away:
  • The Toad (short and bad-tempered) and his henchrats Spike (thin) and Whitey (big and good-natured).
  • Removing the Toad and substituting his other prominent henchrat Thimblenose Ted preserves the dynamic but switches the types around some. Spike now becomes Short, Whitey becomes Big and Ted is thin.
• Flora (big), Fauna (thin) and Merriweather (short), the good fairies from Sleeping Beauty.
• The bullies from The Land Before Time III: The Time of the Great Giving. Hyp (thin), Nod (short), and Mutt (big).
• Mr. Bug Goes to Town has the portly C. Bagely Beetle (Big) and his lackeys, the tall and lanky Smack the Mosquito (Thin) and the diminutive Swat the Fly (Short).
• Mulan: fellow recruit characters Yao (short), Ling (thin), and Chien-Po (large and fat). They also conform to grumpy/good-natured personality pattern.
• The three antagonists in Beauty and the Beast form a trio of this kind - Gaston (big), Monsieur D'Arque (thin), and LeFou (short).
• Cars apparently features three types of pitty [forklift] body styles: tall (i.e., Guido), short (i.e., My Name is Not Chuck), and wide (i.e., Wide Chick Pitty).
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame:
  • The gargoyles: Hugo is the Big (fattest gut), Victor is the Thin (slimmest gut) and Laverne is the Short (shorter than Hugo).
  • Between the three main protagonists, Phoebus has a muscular build, Esmeralda has a thin physique and Quasimodo is short and hunched.
• The frog hunters from The Princess and the Frog: Darnell (Big), Two-Fingers (Thin) and Reggie/"Pa" (Short).
• Big Hero 6: The three male members of the titular team (not counting Baymax): Wasabi (big), Fred (thin) and Hiro (short).
• Brave has the lords of clans MacGuffin, MacIntosh, and Dingwall, as well as their sons. Lord MacGuffin and his son are tall and hefty, Lord MacIntosh is scrawny and his son has the wiry build of a sprinter, and Lord Dingwall is quite short, with his son taller but shorter than most everyone else.
• The Boxtrolls has Mr. Snatcher's lackeys: Mr. Trout (Big), Mr. Pickles (Thin), and Mr. Gristle (Short).
• Encanto: Julieta and Agustín's daughters: Luisa is big & strong, Isabela is slim & beautiful and Mirabel's official height is stated to be 5'2", which is relatively short for a 15-year-old.
• The Great Mouse Detective: the jolly and portly Dr. Dawson is the Big, the lanky Basil of Baker Stree is the Thin, and the child Olivia is the Short.
• Hercules: There is Hercules (big) and Philoctetes (short). The "thin" role is taken over either by Pegasus and Megara depending on the scene.
• The main trio from The Jungle Book (1967): Baloo (big), Bagheera (thin), and Mowgli (short).
• In Peter Pan (Burbank Films), the big one is a black man who is muscular rather than fat, the thin one wears an open vest and the short one is Mr. Smee.
• Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius has Carl (big), Sheen (thin), and Jimmy (short) in that order, though Jimmy compensates for his short stature with a combination of both his big skull and his tall, swirly hairdo.
• Ice Age:
  • Manny (a huge woolly mammoth), Diego (a sleek saber-toothed cat), and Sid (a tiny ground sloth). Manny and Sid thoroughly invert the usual grumpy/good-natured roles.
  • Soto's henchmen are Zeke (short), Oscar (thin), and Lenny (big).
• Honest John (thin) and Gideon (short) from Pinocchio whether they're with Stromboli or the Coachman. With the Coachman, they have a tavern scene similar to the one in Beauty and the Beast with the short character's role remaining the same, but the roles of the big and thin characters reversed.
• The voyaging trio in Moana - Maui (big), Moana (thin), and Heihei (short).
• The Madagascar franchise has the lemurs, consisting of Maurice (Big), King Julien (Thin), and Mort (Short).
• Monsters, Inc.: The three monsters connected to the "Scream Extractor" scandal: Mr. Waternoose (big), Randall Boggs (thin) and Fungus (short).
• The witch antagonists of My Little Pony: The Movie (1986): Reeka is big (though she's more fat than big), Draggle is thin, and Hydia is short.
• The Lion King (1994) has King Mufasa (big) and his advisors Rafiki (thin) and Zazu (short).
  • Also, there's Pumbaa (big), Simba (thin) and Timon (short).
• The villains of Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: The Tiger Prowess consist of Lord Japper the tiger (big), Leopold the leopard (thin), and Counselor Gecko (short).
• Shrek:
  • In the first movie when Fiona is in her human form, the three protagonists are Shrek who is the big, Fiona who is the thin and Donkey who is the short.
  • There's also Fiona's three suitors are Shrek (big), Prince Charming (thin) and Lord Farquaad (short).
• The three main males from Frozen: Kristoff (big), Hans (thin), and Olaf (short).
• Tarzan: Tantor, Tarzan and Terk respectively.
• In Toy Story 3, Daisy's toys consisted of Lotso Huggin' Bear (Big), Big Baby (Thin), and Chuckles the Clown (Short).
• In Barnyard, the Jersey Cows consist of Igg (Big), Eddy (Thin), and Bud (Short).
• In Little Witch Academia: The Enchanted Parade, Jasminka (Big), Amanda (thin), & Constanze (short) are the secondary trio in the film.
• In Turning Red, Mei's friends consist of Priya (Big), Miriam (Thin) and Abby (Short).

Film — Live-Action

• The three most iconic Slasher Movie Villains: Jason Voorhees is always depicted as a hulking juggernaut (Big), Michael Myers is typically tall and gaunt (Thin), and Freddy Krueger is generally played by 5'9" Robert Englund and 5'5" Jackie Earle Haley in the remake (Short).
• The three Strangers in Dark City, Mr. Wall is tall, Mr. Hand is thin and Mr. Sleep is short.
• The Hobbit:
  • There's a sibling trio consisting of Bifur (short), Bofur (thin) and Bombur (big) who appear to be this.
  • The Three Trolls who appear as Starter Villains. William is the biggest and tallest as well as Large and in Charge (Big), Tom is skinny for a troll (Thin), and Bert is the shortest of all three (Short).
• Most of Jackie Chan's earlier films from the 80s would team him up with Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, in which case they are Big (Sammo), Thin (Jackie) and Short (Yuen).
• The goblins in Legend (1985): Blix (Thin), Blunder (Short) and Pox (Big).
• The Olsen Gang: Egon (short), Benny (thin), Kjeld (fat).
• Fezzik (Big), Inigo (Thin) and Vizzini (Short) in The Princess Bride.
• Star Wars: the three prominent non-human characters in the original trilogy form such a trio: Jabba the Hutt (big), Chewbacca (thin), and Yoda (short).
• Perhaps stretching the trope too far, but Sabretooth (big), Mystique (thin), and Toad (short) from X-Men.
• The Fat Man: Runyon is Exactly What It Says on the Tin. His assistant Bill Norton is tall and skinny. He also has a very short-statured underworld informant named Shifty.

Literature

• As in the movie, Fezzik, Inigo, and Vizzini in The Princess Bride.
• Boggis, Bunce and Bean ("one fat, one short, one lean") from Fantastic Mr. Fox.
• The Sienkiewicz Trilogy has Wołodyjowski, Zagłoba and Podbipięta , the supporting characters in the first part of the trilogy. However, one of them dies midway through the first book, while the another is promoted to a more prominent role in the sequels.
  • Interestingly, the genesis or these characters ostensibly came about because Sienkiewicz himself was part of a Big, Thin, Short Trio IRL.
• The (arguably) main three characters of Winnie the Pooh: Pooh, Tigger and Piglet.
• Stoney Man: Doom Prophecy had trio of hitmen who include a dwarf weapons designer, a giant brute, and a skinny Psycho for Hire.
• Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth features a brief appearance by the Triple Demons of Compromise: "one tall and thin, one short and fat, and the other exactly like the other two."
• In the later books of the Don't Call Me Ishmael! series, when Ishmael and Razza are closer to each other than to the rest of their group, Bill, Ignatius and Scobie become this. Bill's weight is frequently noted and he's bullied for it. Even when he loses weight, he is still very big. Ignatius is very tall and lean. Scobie, the smartest of the group, is also the shortest.
• In Jingo, after Vetinari enlists Colon and Nobby to go to Klatch, they form this (if you leave out Leonard of Quirm, who doesn't go ashore with them). Vetinari is thin, Colon is fat and Nobby is short.
• Captain Underpants gives us the Robo-Boogers Carl (thin), Trixie (short), and Frankenbooger (big). Carl is the first of the three to die, reducing it to Huge Guy, Tiny Girl.
• Greg and his eight cabinmates in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Old School form a 27-way example: Rowley, Emilio, and Jeffrey and the big ones; Greg, Gareth, and Jordan are the thin ones; and Julian, Graham, and Timothy are the short ones.
• The three villains from the A to Z Mysteries book The Haunted Hotel who want to buy the Shangri-la Hotel: Rail is medium-sized, Eatch is tall and skinny, and Roock is short and fat.
• The trio of main characters from Hope: A Fairytale. Nadya is petite, Peter is medium-sized and thin enough to be underweight (he Forgets to Eat), and Ivan is the tallest with a rotund midsection. While the Ivan follows the stereotype as the Big Fun, Nadya is a Princess Classic and Shrinking Violet while Peter is a sullen and sarcastic Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• In some versions of Goldilocks, the three bears are described as this — the father bear being the big one, the mother bear being the thin one, and the young bear being the short one. In fact, in the original version, this was the only manner in which the bears, who were all adult males, were described as being different.
• The first book in the Ferals Series, The Crow Talker, features the Spinning Man's followers, Jawbone (big), Mamba (thin), and Scuttle (short).
• In 'The Quest For Paradise', the second in the Kingdom of Fantasy series of Geronimo Stilton books, Geronimo is captured by three aptly-named witches in the Howling Owl Woods of the Kingdom of the Ogres, each with different nail colors; the diminuitive, black-nailed Shorty, the rotund, purple-nailed Portly, and the tall, green-nailed Stalky.
• A Bohemian fairy tale called Long, Broad and Sharpsight is named for the three companions of a prince on a quest to save a princess from a wizard. Long is the Thin, (and can make himself taller), Broad is the Big (and can make himself bigger), while Sharpsight is of average size, only relatively short when the others are using their powers (his own gimmick is being able to see long distances and destroy things with a look).
• Jacques, Karen, and Lin form a Power Trio in Bems and Bugs. Jacques is long, lean, and tries to present himself as a Loveable Rogue, complete with cape and mustache. Karen is a trans woman who yearns to be shapely and feminine, despite her tall, broad shouldered frame. Li is short, surly, and bluntly honest.

Live-Action TV

• The famous "Class" sketch from The Frost Report starred John Cleese (thin [and tall]) as Upper Class, Ronnie Barker (big) as Middle Class, and Ronnie Corbett (short) as Working Class.
• Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Warwick Davis in ads for Life's Too Short, such as this one. Also, any time the three appear together in the series.
• In the The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, the three remaining former Doctor actors that team up to try to get back onto the 50th Anniversary Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy respectively.
• The Power Trio from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mike and Joel are big (compared to the bots, at least), Crow T. Robot is thin, and Tom Servo is short.
  • Gypsy can be considered the 'big' member of the bot trio.
• The White Queen: The three sons of York look like this, with King Edward IV as the Big (he's the tallest, and he gets fatter as the series progresses), George of Clarence as the Thin (he's less accomplished as a warrior than his brothers, so his slimmer build reflects this) and Richard of Gloucester as the Short (he's The Baby of the Bunch and the least extroverted amidst his siblings).
• In Seinfeld, Kramer, Jerry and George respectively.

Video Games

• Both installments in the Dusty series, with the titular rabbit as the "short".
  • Dusty Revenge: Dusty's partners, Rondel the bear (who's as big as you'd imagine) and McCoy the basset hound (who's taller and skinnier than Dusty)
  • Dusty Raging Fist: Dusty has two new partners, Darg the horse as the big one while Kitsune the fox is the thin one
• Sonic the Hedgehog:
  • Sonic Heroes:
    • Team Chaotix features Vector (Big), Espio (Thin), and Charmy (Short).
    • Team Rose has Big (err, Big), Amy (Thin), and Cream (Short).
    • Team Dark consists of Shadow (Short), Omega (Big), and Rouge (Thin).
  • The Babylon Rogues of Sonic Riders follow this pattern as well, with Jet the Hawk (Short), Wave the Swallow (Thin), and Storm the Albatross (Big).
  • In the first Zone of Sonic Lost World's final world, Zazz (Thin), Zomom (Big) and Master Zik (Short) attack Sonic sequentially in a Boss Rush.
  • In the Sonic Boom video games (as well as the cartoon of the same name), as part of the character redesigns, the main trio of Team Sonic consists of Knuckles (Big), Sonic (Thin), and Tails (Short).
• Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys: Of the undead trio, Finnigan is big, Lori is thin, and Zack is short (mainly due to having no lower part of his body).
• Billy's friends in Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg: Bantam, Rolly and Chick.
• Ratchet & Clank:
  • Main characters Qwark (Big), Ratchet (Thin) and Clank (Short), most notably in Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault where they're each individually playable.
  • Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction's Talwyn (Thin), Cronk (Big) and Zephyr (Short), too.
• The Curse of Monkey Island has Haggis McMutton (Big), Edward Van Helgen (Thin), and Cutthroat Bill (Short), the three singing barbers on Plunder Island who Guybrush recruits to be his crew.
• Final Fantasy:
  • The Magus Sisters in Final Fantasy IV. Cindy, the oldest, is round and fat. Sandy is tall and skinny. Mindy, the youngest, is tiny.
  • The Magus Sisters return in Final Fantasy X as a trio of insect-themed Aeons. Cindy is round and modeled after a ladybug. Sandy is tall and modeled after a praying mantis. Mindy is petite and is modeled after a bee.
• Super Mario Bros.:
  • The Hero, the Damsel in Distress, and the Big Bad which have existed since the beginning of the franchise: Mario (short), Peach (thin), and Bowser (big).
  • In Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Iggy (thin), Lemmy (short), and Morton (big) are paired together this way.
• Kirby's three main level helpers in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards. Waddle Dee is short, Adeline is skinny and King Dedede is big. Ribbon is also one of Kirby's supporters, but she doesn't show up to help in levels except to grab Crystal Shards.
• While Fatal Fury's Kim Kaphwan isn't particularly skinny, he cast himself in the thin role by teaming up with big Chang and short Choi in The King of Fighters.
• The Legendary Starfy: Snips, Ronk, and Papes. Snips is skinny, Ronk is big, and Papes is short.
• Pikmin 3: The three main characters are the big, stout Charlie, the tall but thin Brittany, and Alph, the shortest of the group.
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: The residents at Lon Lon Ranch: Talon (big), Ingo (thin), and Malon (short). However, this trope does not apply seven years later, when Malon is an adult and equally as tall as Talon.
• Tibarn (large), Janaff (short), and Ulki (thin) from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. In this particular example, the short one, while certainly not calm, is friendly and likes joking quite a bit, and is clearly the least serious member of the group. Also, while the large one is certainly heroic, he is also extremely aggressive and revenge-prone.
• Mega Man X2 has the X-Hunters, consisting of Violen (big), Agile (thin), and Serges (short).
• Pokémon X and Y features five characters at the start of the game, as opposed to the usual three. In addition to the male and female player choices, you have Tierno (Big), Trevor (Short) and Shauna (Thin)◊.
• The main non-opponent characters in Punch-Out!! for Wii: Little Mac (short), Doc Louis (big), and the Referee (thin).
• Feedback (short), Goggles (thin) and Lugnut (big) from Toonstruck.
• Advance Wars:
  • The first three Blue Moon COs — Olaf is fat, Grit is skinny, and Colin is small (although he's quite a bit younger than the other two).
  • Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: The muscular Flak, the slender Adder, and the shrimpy Lash.
  • Advance Wars: Dual Strike: Jugger, Kindle, and Koal, the Terrible Trio.
• Banjo-Tooie: Gruntilda joins with her Fat and Skinny sisters (though Blobbelda is the "short" once Gruntilda joins) to form this sort of trio. The personalities aren't a typical match, though: Gruntilda, the "big", is the leader of the trio, and definitely not good-natured.
• Sly Cooper has the main three members of the Cooper Gang: Murray (big), Sly (thin), and Bentley (short).
• Chrono Cross: Solt, Peppor, and Ketchop.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl: In The Subspace Emissary, the trio that goes to save the trophificated heroes consists of King Dedede (big), Luigi (thin), and Ness (short).
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution: The Tyrants have this dynamic. Barrett is big, bulky (though by no means fat) and a little bit dim, Federova is even taller than Barrett, slender and completely emotionless, and Namir, the shortest of them all, is also the brains of the operation.
• In the Toy Story 2 Licensed Game, the final level, "Prospector Showdown" features a battle against the Terrible Trio of Blacksmith (Big), Gunslinger (Thin), and Stinky Pete (Short), all three of whom were fought individually as mini-bosses in previous levels.
• In the first two Golden Axe games, the three main protagonists are Ax-Battler (Big, Barbarian Hero), Tyris-Flare (Thin amazon warrior), and Gilius-Thunderhead (Short, lightning-wielding dwarf).
• In Persona 5, the robots in Okumura's Palace serve as this. The smallest robots, the "short" ones, generally serve as mooks, and are about the same size as the party. The medium-sized "thin" robots and the largest "big" robots are the bosses. In this case, both the "thin" and the "big" members of the trio are about the same height(with the exception of the Executive Director, which serves as the main opponent in the boss battle with Shadow Okumura) but the "big" type is noticeably broader-shouldered.
• The three non-Warden male companions in Dragon Age: Origins fit this description in appearance: Sten is Big, Zevran is Thin, and Oghren (being a dwarf) is Short. The personalities, however, do not match the trope.
• In the opening cutscene of Donkey Kong 64, King K. Rool is seen talking to three of his minions: Klump (Big), Kritter (Thin), and Kasplat (Short). Also, the three new playable Kongs: Tiny (Short), Lanky (Tall when on his hands), and Chunky (Big), obviously.
• In the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion, Agent 8's allies riding the train with them are Captain Cuttlefish (Thin), CQ Cumber (Short), and Iso Padre (Big). Agent 8 themselves could be considered the Big (they might not be physically bigger, but they do most of the fighting) in a trio with Pearl (Short) and Marina (Thin).
• Metroid:
  • Metroid: Zero Mission: The three main bosses in the game; Kraid's big, Ridley's thin, and Mother Brain's short (She's shorter than Kraid, at least, and since she's just a head, you can't exactly call her "thin").
  • Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: The three bounty hunters Samus teams up with are Ghor (Big), Rundas (Thin), and Gandrayda (Short).
• In Seven Samurai 20XX, major villain Zwei is served by three warriors who not only are based on this trope but are even aptly named in German, with an ironic naming thrown in: the Big is Klein (Small), a huge armored warrior with a gauntlet shaped like a dragon's head. The Short is Weite (Wide), the smallest-looking of the group who fights with speed and a combo of sword and shield. The Thin is Lange (Long), a tall and lean sorcerer in a goat's mask.
• Street Fighter:
  • In the comics, Ibuki's own group of Gal Pals sees Ibuki (thin) Makoto (short) and Elena (big)◊.
  • Karin's group in Street Fighter V alongside Ibuki, who is much shorter than her stated height. Birdie is big, Karin is thin, and Ibuki is short◊.
• Dion, Max, and Jack from the Super Famicom-exclusive Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima reflect this trope in their overworld abilities. Dion (short) can fit into small places, Max (big) can lift heavy objects, and Jack (tall and thin) can reach objects that are high up.

Web Animation

• Starshine Carly has examples like this.
  • Sir. Sparkles (Big), Thunder (medium sized), and Waddle (short).
  • Scorbunny (tall), Grookey (medium sized), and Sobble (short).
• Smosh Babies has the Terrible Trio of three-year-old playground bullies, consisting of Lenny (Big), Melvin (Thin), and Bruce (Short).
• Eddsworld: If the character designs from the episode "Saloonatics" are canon, then Edd, Matt and Tom fit under this category—the episode had a radically different artstyle (bordering on Animesque) than the series normally does due to having a guest animator, and the designs depicted Edd as somewhat chubby (putting him in the "Big" category), Matt being the tallest and somewhat leaner (putting him in the "Thin" category) and Tom being the shortest (putting him in the "Short" category, obviously). It's a rare case where the "Big" character is the leader.

Webcomics

• Ménage à 3 has its central characters; DiDi is big, Gary is thin, and Zii is short. They're not much of a team, but thie visuals work fine.
• Problem Sleuth, Ace Dick and Pickle Inspector, from Problem Sleuth.
• Soil That Binds Us' protagonist trio fit this: Dandelion is thin, Petunia is big, and Faye is short.
• Batu, Prill, and Nyneve from Witchy.
• The trio of delinquents that form a group with the protagonist in Weak Hero. Ben is stocky and one of the strongest brawlers in the series; his best friend Alex is short and thin, and makes up for it by being quick on his feet; and then there's Gerard, who's extremely tall and skinny and takes advantage of it with his kick-based fighting style.

Web Original

• SuperMarioLogan:
  • Jeffy (Big), Rosalina (Thin), and Mario (Short).
  • Bowser (Big), Chef Pee Pee (Thin), and Bowser Junior (Short).
• The main trio in The Adventure Zone: Balance: Merle, being a dwarf, is short, Magnus, being the team tank, is big, and Taako is described as being "a very slight man".
• Britsune Garden Series:
  • Lilie (Big), Malorie (Thin), and Hana (Short).
• Cobra Kai: In the second season, each of the Rival Dojos has one: respectively, Mitch, Hawk, and Bert for Cobra Kai; and Chris, Demitri, and Nathaniel for Miyagi-do.
• Achievement Hunter's Team Lads: Michael Jones (Big), Gavin Free (Thin), and Jeremy Dooley (Short). Jeremy's predecessor Ray Narvaez Jr also counts as Short as he was slightly shorter than Michael and Gavin.
• Looming Gaia: The original three Freelance Good Guys (not counting Zeffer): Evan is big, Lukas is thin, and Glenvar is short.

Web Video

• A rare example where the three characters in question aren't on the same side occurs in one episode of Epic Rap Battles of History featuring a three-way brawl between iconic action movie heroes: the average height and muscular John Rambo, the tall and slender John Wick, and the tall and muscular John McClane.

Western Animation

• Adventure Time: Jake (big, usually when he uses his size shifting powers to grow), Finn (thin) and BMO (short).
• Bromwell High: The main character trio consists of Keisha (big), Latrina (tall and thin), and Natella (short, and the smartest).
• Chowder: The three workers of Mung Daal's Catering Company: Schnitzel (big), Mung (thin) and Truffles (short).
  • For all the male characters that work at the aforementioned catering company, Chowder would take the role as the "Short".
• Gravity Falls: Mabel with her two friends (Grenda and Candy), Grenda is the big one, Mabel is the thin one and Candy is the shortest of the group.
• Oggy and the Cockroaches has the three eponymous characters forming such trio.
• Chris (big), Elise (thin) and Dan (short) from Dan Vs.
• SpongeBob SquarePants:
  • SpongeBob (short), Patrick (big) and Squidward (thin).
  • The Krusty Krab trio as well, with SpongeBob and Squidward's boss Mr. Krabs taking over as the "big" role of the three.
  • Sandy's chimpanzee bosses in the episode "Chimps Ahoy": Dr. Marmalade (big), Professor Percy (thin), Lord Reginald (short).
• Those Scurvy Rascals has Smelly Pete (big), Sissy LePoop (thin), and Shark Bait (short).
• The main trio in Courage the Cowardly Dog, Courage, Muriel and Eustace (short, big and thin, respectively).
• Chow, Finn and Ratso in Jackie Chan Adventures (short, thin and big respectively).
• Ed, Edd n Eddy, in that order.
• The Trio from Gargoyles. Broadway is the good-natured fat guy. Brooklyn is lean muscle, but one less charitable gargoyle described him as "scrawny". Lexington is short, though maybe more prissy than grumpy.
• The Simpsons:
  • The bully trio, Jimbo (skinny), Dolph (short), and Kearney (large). Often they will be joined by Nelson Muntz, who is a little fat but not short, and not tall either, so he's kind of unclassifiable - fitting for an often stand-alone character.
  • The three characters introduced in the episode "Principal Charming": Hans Moleman (short), Squeaky-Voiced Jeremy (thin), and Groundskeeper Willie (muscular).
  • The three lawyer characters: Lionel Hutz (big), the Blue-Haired Lawyer (thin), and Gil (short).
  • Doug (fat), Gary (tall and thin) and Benjamin (short).
• The three guards of Agrabah who show up most often in Aladdin: The Series. There are more guards, but the three main guards are Razoul (big), Hakim (skinny) and Fazal (short and fat).
• Taurus Bulba's goons Hammerhead (big), Hoof (thin) and Mouth (short) in the first two episodes of Darkwing Duck.
• TaleSpin:
  • Don Karnage's three henchmen Mad Dog (thin), Dumptruck (big) and Gibber (short).
  • On the heroic end of the scale, there is the main trio of Higher for Hire, consisting of Baloo (Big), Rebecca Cunningham (Thin), and Kit Cloudkicker (Short).
• The Cattanooga Cats has Groove (Big), Scoots (Short) and Country (Thin).
• The Sun Riders, from Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! The big, muscular one is Super Quasar, the thin, curvy one is Aurora Six, and the short dorky one is Johnny Sunspot.
• Rocko's Modern Life has Heffer (big), Filburt (thin without the shell), and Rocko (short).
• The main characters of Time Squad. Tuddrussel is big and muscular, Larry is thin and sleek, and Otto is short (well, he is a little kid).
• Harold, Stinky, and Sid in Hey Arnold! are the big, thin, and short respectively, being friends who typically hang out together.
• Aaahh!!! Real Monsters: The three main characters and True Companions are Oblina (thin, smart), Krumm (large, cheerful), and Ickis (short, Mood-Swinger).
• Regular Show: Mordecai (thin) and Rigby (short) when they're with either Muscle Man or Skips. Lampshaded when they try to infiltrate an abandoned radio studio; the AI detects them as no threat because Muscle Man is fat, Mordecai is skinny and Rigby is short.
• Avalanche (Thin, Leader), Toad (Short), and Blob (Large) from X-Men: Evolution, tend to get set apart from Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch (who are Magneto's kids). For at least one episode they were the only members of the Brotherhood (Pietro had defected to the Acolytes and Wanda had left to find them). They also have at least three times fought the X-Men just by themselves and did a Team Power Walk together in the finale.
• Although they are part of the main group more than anything, Bulkhead, Prowl and Bumblebee from Transformers: Animated fit this. Bulkhead is wide as he is tall, Prowl is the most slender of the cast and Bumblebee is the shortest of the team and incredibly sensitive about his height.
• Shakey (short), Salty (thin) and Mooch (big) from Alpha and Omega are a heroic comic relief version of the trope.
• Looney Tunes:
  • The shorts involving The Three Bears feature Junyer (Big), Ma (Thin), and Pa (Short).
  • The Wartime Cartoon The Ducktators features waterfowl versions of Axis leaders Benito Mussolini (big), Adolf Hitler (thin), and Hideki Tojo (short).
  • Granny's pets consist of Hector the Bulldog (Big), Sylvester the Cat (Thin), and Tweety Bird (Short).
• Tiny Toon Adventures:
  • Nasty (Big), Slim (Thin) and Lardo (Short), Concord Condor's older brothers from the "Concord the Kindly Condor" segment of "Toons From the Crypt". All three of them are much bigger than Concord in comparison.
  • Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation features the Boo Sisters, a trio of man-hungry alligator girls who mistake Buster for a gentleman caller: Big Boo (Big), Sissy Boo (Thin), and Li'l Boo (Short).
• CatDog has the Greasers: Cliff (Big), Lube (Thin) and Shriek (Short).
• Steven Universe:
  • Garnet (Big), Pearl (Thin) and Amethyst (Short).
  • The three main humans (or half humans): Greg (big), Connie (thin), and Steven (short). Other than Steven, Greg (doofy fun guy) and Connie (smart) also follow character conventions. However, by Steven Universe: The Movie, Steven is just as tall as Connie.
  • The first three Homeworld Gems we meet are Jasper (big), Lapis Lazuli (thin) and Peridot (the shortest when introduced, even shorter when she loses her limb enhancements). Following Bismuth's introduction, she forms a Power Trio with Peridot and Lapis, taking Jasper's place as the big one.
• Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: Dr. Robotnik (Big), Scratch (Thin) and Grounder (Short).
• Jimmy Two-Shoes: Jimmy (Thin), Beezy (Big), and Heloise (Short)
• Stone Quackers: Whit (Thin), Clay (Short), and Barf (Big).
• The Proud Family has the Gross Sisters: Olei (big), Nubia (thin), and Gina (short).
• League of Super Evil: Voltar is the short, Doktor Frogg is the thin, and Red Menace is the big.
• Los Trotamúsicos: Chef is the tall leader of the gang. Bestia is the obese thug and Tapon is the small one.
• The Dreamstone: Sergeant Blob (Big), Frizz (Short) and Nug (Thin) of the Urpneys.
• PB&J Otter: Peanut (Big), Baby Butter (Short), and Jelly. (Thin)
• Teen Titans: The three original HIVE students the team faces - Mammoth (Big), Jinx (Thin) and Gizmo (Short).
  • The male Titans are also this - Cyborg (Big), Robin (Thin) and Beast Boy (Short).
• Total Drama: Initially, the male contestants on the Heroic Hamsters in the All-Star season were Sam (big), Mike (thin) and Cameron (short).
• Voltron: Legendary Defender has Hunk (big), Lance (thin), and Pidge (short). Hunk is the good-hearted big guy, Pidge is the smart one, and they were in the same training group together at the Galaxy Garrison.
• DuckTales (1987): The Beagle Boys' female cousins the Beagle Babes in the episode "The Good Muddahs" consist of Bouffant (big), Boom-Boom (thin) and Babydoll (short).
• In DuckTales (2017), the three main Beagle Boys (a.k.a. The Original Classics) are Bouncer (big), Burger (thin) and Bigtime (short).
  • Episode 4, "The Beagle Birthday Massacre", shows that this theme is actually consistent throughout the Beagle Boy cliques, though some play around with it — for example, the Tumblebums, a Monster Clown clique, have the Short use stilts and arm extensions to tower above the rest of his brothers.
• Garfield and Friends:
  • In the U.S. Acres segments, Orson Pig’s older brothers feature Gort (Big), Wart (Thin), and Mort (Short), but all three of them are much bigger than Orson by comparison.
  • The Buddy Bears consist of Bertie (Big), Bobby (Thin), and Billy (Short).
• The Jelly Trio in Camp Lazlo - Lazlo (thin), Raj (big) and Clam (short).
• Codename: Kids Next Door: The male operatives of Sector V, Numbuh 2 / Hoagie (Big), Numbuh 1 / Nigel (Thin) and Numbuh 4 / Wallabee (Short).
• The Powerpuff Girls:
  • The series gives us the Not-so-Terrible Trio of The Amoeba Boys, consisting of Bossman (Big), Slim (Thin), and Junior (Short).
  • There's also the Ministry of Pain from the episode, "Fallen Arches", consisting of Counterpart (Big), Mastermind (Thin), and Cohort (Short).
  • The three members of the Gangreen Gang voiced by Jeff Bennett are Big Billy (big), Ace (thin), and Grubber (short).
  • The Powerpuff Girls (1998):
    • At the end of "Telephonies", Fuzzy Lumpkins, HIM, and Mojo Jojo respectively form this kind of trio when they team up to defeat the Gangreen Gang, who had earlier tricked the Powerpuff Girls into attacking them when they were minding their own business with their prank calls.
    • In "Impeach Fuzz", Fuzzy is revealed to have three relatives that fit this dynamic; Fluffy (Big), Furry (Thin), and Hairy (Short).
• Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series gives us the three Saurian minions, Siege (big), Wraith (thin), and Chameleon (short).
• A couple of Mighty Mouse shorts had Mighty Mouse fight a trio of feline criminals known as the Catnip Gang. The individual members were Julius "Pinhead" Slovodka (Big), No Chin Charlie (Thin), and Shorty the Runt (Short).
• The Real Ghostbusters occasionally featured battles against a trio of ghosts where one was large and obese, one was skinny as a rail, and one was shorter than the other two.
  • "Ghosts R Us" had a family of ghosts named Slug (the short father), Snarg (the skinny mother), and Zunk (the fat son).
  • While Egon, Ray, Peter, and Winston deal with a giant imp in "Janine's Day Off", Janine and her hired temporary replacement end up having to deal with an obese ghost, a thin ghost, and a tiny ghost who grab hold of a proton pack and start firing it at everything in sight.
  • The titular pizza-loving troublemakers from "The Mean Green Teen Machine" consist of Guggenheim (big), Chicoloni (thin), and Baravelli (short).
• Class of 3000 has Eddie (Big), Philly Phil (Thin), and Kam (Short). Of note, however, is that Eddie is only slightly taller than Kam.
• Catscratch has Gordon (Big), Waffle (Thin) and Mr. Blik (Short).
• The three boys from The Backyardigans: Tyrone (big), Austin (thin), and Pablo (short).
• The three main male imaginary friends from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Eduardo, Wilt, and Bloo, respectively. "Room With a Feud" lampshades this when a new bedroom becomes available to anyone who wants it, and Mr. Herriman says the new room goes to the biggest, as they need the most room. Bloo insists that Herriman meant "Biggest for your size", and Eduardo tells Wilt that he's the tallest, not the biggest.
• The three main characters of Toonsylvania were a pudgy Frankenstein monster named Phil, a tall and skinny scientist named Dr. Vic and a short hunchback named Igor.
• Monsters at Work: The three male MIFTers: Fritz (Big), Tylor (Thin) and Duncan (Short)
  • There's also Sulley (Big), Celia (Thin) and Mike (Short) who now run Monsters Inc.
• The Smoggies: Polluto (big), Emma (thin), and Clarence (short).
• Puff the Magic Dragon: At the start, the Draper family is meeting with three doctors who match this - a tall, red-headed man (thin), a bald and bearded man (short) and a bushy-haired, friendly and rather wide man (big).
• In the Pinky and the Brain episode, "Pinky and the Brain... and Larry", Larry is the Big, Pinky is the Thin, and Brain is the Short.
• T.U.F.F. Puppy:
  • The three main T.U.F.F. agents consist of Dudley (Big), Kitty (Thin), and Keswick (Short).
  • Verminious Snaptrap's henchmen consist of Francisco (Big), Ollie (Thin), and Larry (Short).
• The Cleveland Show has the Tubbs-Brown siblings: Cleveland Jr. (big), Roberta (thin), and Rallo (short).
• The Belcher children of Bob's Burgers form this dynamic: Louise (the smallest and youngest) is Short, Gene (the fattest) is Big and Tina (the oldest and tallest) is Thin.
• My Gym Partner's a Monkey: Adam's three male friends are Windsor (big), Slips (thin), and Jake (short).
• The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers
• Beast Machines does this twice - first with Tankor (big), Jetstorm (thin), and Thrust (short), and then in the second season with Strika (big), Obsidian (thin), and Thrust (again, short.)
• The three main aliens of Pet Alien: Gumpers is Big, Swanky is Thin and Dinko is Short.

Real Life

• British sketch troupe (and host/team captains of Pappy's Flatshare Slamdown) Pappy's: Tom (Big), Ben (Thin), and Matthew (Short).
• The three Progressive Era presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson, were short, big, and thin, respectively. Downplayed with Roosevelt since, despite being on the shorter side of US Presidents in general, he was still above average in height.
• Hosts of American comedy podcast The Flophouse Stuart (Big), Dan (Thin), and Elliott (Short).
• Four-liter, two-liter, and one-liter milk cartons, respectively.
• The Perissodactyl (odd-toed ungulate) order of mammals comprises rhinos (big), equines (thin), and tapirs (short, although some equines are shorter).

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