My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

I have always had a fascination with giants.

 

My very first Champions character was a giant named Titan. My most recent Champions character is a giant called Big Guy. (As you can see, my naming prowess is unparalleled.) In Champions terms I mean characters with the power Growth. I would like to take some time to look at giants as they exist in super heroic fiction and gaming.

 

This is an ongoing project. I welcome any and all comments and contributions. I know that there are surely published characters that I don't know about since I don't read all comic companies so any help in this area is especially appreciated. I look forward to stories of your gaming characters when we move on to that area as well.

 

Gigantic Criteria

 

The first thing I need to do is define my criteria for the modern giant character. I'm only going to be looking at human giants, so monsters, gods and robots are not included. These were all influential characters on me in my childhood, but for the purpose of this project they are not included at this time. This also excludes humans that transform into gigantic non-human forms.

 

I'm only interested in characters that have growth is a defining ability. Other characters that can use mimicry, magic or the power cosmic to become gigantic are excluded as it is not their primary ability. There are simply too many characters that have potential growth that they cannot possibly be included here. Additionally, the extra effects really dilute the spirit of the project.

 

Finally, and this may be obvious, they should truly be superhuman in proportion. Therefore, in this project at least, Andre is no giant. (Sorry, Mr. Roussimoff.)

 

A Small History of Big People

 

A quick look at the history of giants in story bears mention. My first exposure to giants was through the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm. As a child I had some wonderful collections with stories such as Jack the Giant Killer, Seven in one Blow, and of course Jack & the Beanstalk. Later I became enamored with the American tall tale of Paul Bunyan. The giants of myth followed as I started to get into Dungeons & Dragons. I loved the giants in the classic Monster Manual and pursued the stories of their legendary inspirations.

 

Thanks to a box of an uncle's comic books that we had I became acquainted with my foremost super hero giant. Hank Pym was trapped at a height of twelve feet tall and he created the identity of Goliath for the first time. That blue and yellow uniform is still one of my favorite costumes. To this day, in my mind The Avengers are simply not The Avengers without a giant on the team.

 

There are two giants that aren't on my list but deserve mention. Without them I doubt the list would exist. The modern giant was born into pop culture in 1957 with the science fiction movie classic The Amazing Colossal Man. In 1958 the follow-up movie, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, became a true cult classic. The characters in these movies are indisputably the father and mother of the modern giants.

 

Is Giant-Size a Man Thing?

 

In 2009 Monsters vs. Aliens hit the big screen. The main character from this excellent movie was Susan Murphy, aka Ginormica. The entire move is a tribute to 50s and 60s era science fiction, and Ginormica is a pastiche of the 50 Foot Woman. Shortly after this movie came out it occurred to me that I had actually seen a lot of female giant characters lately. I only discovered Stature from The Young Avengers a short time ago. A few years back I recalled seeing the Wasp, Janet van Dyne, turn her powers around and become a giant. I could actually name more giant women than giant men for the first time.

 

I always saw giants as a very masculine archetype. If you look at the brief history above you can see where I would get that impression. Even though I could think of some female giants I always thought of them as the exception rather than the rule. After Monsters vs. Aliens, though, I began to wonder if this was actually the case. Things seemed to be changing. Are female giants the majority now?

 

This is the question that sparked off this entire project. I decided to really investigate the issue by collecting some actual data. A few days later I had the following lists. I went looking for giant characters from comic books and similar sources, heroes and villains, according to the criteria presented above.

 

* * *

This essay grew way beyond what I originally anticipated. It's honestly too long to post here, so I have created a website for it. In fact it's growing into a big ongoing project. I invite you to read the rest and make contributions. You can add comments here or (I think) there: The Ginormicon

 

In addition, tell us about your giants here!

[Matt Holck]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

Ultraman was my childhood super hero giant energy projector

warding of all those giant monsters

 

"Using the Betta capsule Hayata becomes Ultra-Man"

 

 

"The tremendous energy Ultraman gets from the Sun diminishes rapidly in Earth's atmosphere

The warning light begins to blink

if it stops completely, it means Ultra-man will never rise again."

 

http://10kbullets.com/reviews/ultraman-series-one-volume-one/

[BNakagawa]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozRYgw6Nlpk

 

Big Man Japan / Dai Nihonjin (Masaru Daisatou)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WM1ihaPJok&feature=related

 

Ultimate Girls (3 girls get crushed by an Ultraman-esque defender who revives them but now they must defend Earth from monsters. Unfortunately, their costumes diminish rapidly in Earth's atmosphere...) (Silk Koharuno, Vivienne Ohtori, Tsubomi Moroboshi)

[Doc Samson]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

The first growing characters I can remember were Apache Chief and Giganta. Strangely enough, I liked Black Goliath enough to collect his (short lived) book but wasn't much of a Pym fan. Wikipedia used to have a list of Growing comics characters but some toolbox deleted it.

 

While I love reading about the growing characters, I have tried several times and have found playing them in Champions to be challenge.

 

@Matt Holck - I just saw that they released the first 20 episodes of Ultraman series one on a single DVD for $5 at Target.

[Matt Holck]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

damage negation would work well for giants

after all no matter how many bullets armies shot into Godzilla

(s)he keeps walking all over them

[teh bunneh]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I always liked Colossal Boy from the LSH. Gim Allon, young Science Police officer in training, joins the Legion after exposure to a strange glowing meteorite!

[SSgt Baloo]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I have always had a fascination with giants.

 

My very first Champions character was a giant named Titan. My most recent Champions character is a giant called Big Guy. (As you can see, my naming prowess is unparalleled.)

 

I would go so far as to say your naming prowess is unperpendiculared, as well.

[Enforcer84]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

One thing I've noticed about Giants (in regards to superhero comics) with the exception of Erik Josten in his Goliath identity (his non growth powers were reduced or ignored for the most part once he became Atlas), giants - unless the only brick on their team - aren't generally the premier brick. Though I didn't read Doom Patrol. No one ever thought of Pym as the strong man of the Avengers and Colossal Boy and Apache Chief never had a chance. In fact the main effect of giant heroes (villains are somewhat different IMO) is psychological. There's a good reason why the Growth power used to include a PRE bonus. Champions was simulating superhero comics.

 

The only time giants really shine is Presence attacks and encounters with other giants, though again this his more for heroes, villainous giants (like Josten as Goliath) can be highly effective and tackle groups of heroes.

 

I could be overstating this but it was what my recent research (helping Log-Man find more comicbook examples) indicated. The number of One or two appearance giants is staggering. It's an easy power to illustrated, you see a giant in the group you know what they generally can do. Anything else is novel.

 

Also, I spent way too long last night seeking more comic book giants for Log's list

[Bloodstone]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

No love for Micromax?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromax

 

And I wouldn't be surprised if the push for more Giantesses has to do with the large (ha!) fetish subculture that surrounds them.

 

Oh, and Eric O'Grady was a member of The Initiative the first time he ever used his giant size.

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

No love for Micromax?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micromax

Missed him the first time around. Definitely adding him to the list though, and a lot more!

And I wouldn't be surprised if the push for more Giantesses has to do with the large (ha!) fetish subculture that surrounds them.

I definitely think that's a big (*snicker*) part of it. A recent shot of Stature fighting Big Zero had 'fetish' written all over it.

Oh, and Eric O'Grady was a member of The Initiative the first time he ever used his giant size.

You know the issue #? I'm having trouble finding this specific type of info since I don't own the issues myself.

[Bloodstone]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

You know the issue #? I'm having trouble finding this specific type of info since I don't own the issues myself.

 

I'll double check, but I have a strong feeling it's Issue #8

 

http://marvel.com/images/103065.AVENGERS_THE_INITIATIVE_8/from/content.comic_issue.17397

[Bloodstone]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

And...

 

[ATTACH]34722[/ATTACH]

 

confirmed!

[Hermit]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I'm not sure what I have to add to your excellent article. I'm a big fan of size changers myself. I even play one in the west coast avengers next gen campaign on Hero Central.

 

Maybe it is just me, but it often seems that Giant superheroes either start with or end with a heck of a handicap built into their personality or powers. Atom Smasher, if I recall, had his bones broken and reformed as he grew and it hurt like heck. Henry Pym could be the study for a psychology major's thesis, and Atlas was never too stable. Growth is often depicted as tiring someone out, or causing brief disorientation particularly if you grow too fast. Bill Foster actually seemed a lot more together than most psychologically, so they gave him cancer...you know, before Clor blew his heart out.

 

I'm sure folks can bring up plenty of other archetypes that come with such problems built in, but it has always seemed more noticeable in giants to me. The ladies with growth often seem to fare better, at least in modern times, but that maybe a karmic reward for their sister superheroines having to put up with the damsel /hostage role in some of the older comics.

 

Then there's the 'worf syndrome' ...only magnified. If you want to show how badass a villain is, but don't want him to show up the primary brick (I think Enforcer is onto something with that) have the villain take down the team giant. It's always dramatic, often on a splash page, to see someone uppercut the big guy and send him tumbling back onto whatever hapless scenery is behind him.

 

Between the jobbing and the mandatory problems with dealing with size changes (Be it mental or physical coping we're talking about) I sometimes have to wonder if there isn't something in writers and readers alike that insist that every Giant be cut down to size once in awhile. Again, I could be wrong, but it seems to happen even more often than with standard sized strong men.

 

However, to be sure of it, you'd have to do more research than I'm willing to spend the effort for

[Bloodstone]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I think a big part of the problem with Growth is it has a ton of inherent drawbacks, but it's inherent advantages can be easy to overlook, especially in a team environment. And many of the drawbacks don't impact villainous bricks to the same degree.

 

All that extra reach? Well, to make the fights interesting we're going to have to let the little opponents get inside that reach and deal some damage.

 

Giant has a huge stride? Well, normal sized brick can fly or jump for miles.

 

Giant is so big and tough that normal weapons don't hurt him? Normal brick is too, but he can still do his thing in a building.

 

Heroic Giants have a terrible time with property damage and generally have to watch where they step. It's often played for laughs. Just look at the movie the Iron Giant. By contrast, villainous giants can just cut loose and revel in the destruction.

 

Myself, I alwyas make sure the giant has around 20-40 pts of STR up on the normal sized brick, since I know the growth brick won't be able to use his full strength anywhere near as often...

[Checkmate]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

One of my favorite PC Giants was a guy that had absorption to growth. Every time he got hit he got bigger. While this would work better in a comic book, in an RPG, not so much. I mean once a villain hits you and you get stronger, he's probably gonna stop hitting you, so you're left trying to hurt him with your 30 STR.

 

I think Enforcer is dead on. It was exactly what was going through my mind when I read the first post.

[Lucius]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

Is Giant-Size a Man Thing?

 

[ATTACH]34747[/ATTACH]

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary will refrain from making the obvious joke about Lucius Alexander's Giant Size Man Thing and will simply observe that logarithmic growth is probably a Log-Man thing

[Logan D. Hurricanes]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I knew I had to work a Giant Size Man Thing joke in there somewhere

 

I've added prominence ratings to the master list and I'm working on a new column about giants and presence (in game and out).

 

 

 

 

Tell the palindromedary to quit looking at my Log-Man thing.

[Enforcer84]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I think a big part of the problem with Growth is it has a ton of inherent drawbacks, but it's inherent advantages can be easy to overlook, especially in a team environment. And many of the drawbacks don't impact villainous bricks to the same degree.

 

All that extra reach? Well, to make the fights interesting we're going to have to let the little opponents get inside that reach and deal some damage.

 

Giant has a huge stride? Well, normal sized brick can fly or jump for miles.

 

Giant is so big and tough that normal weapons don't hurt him? Normal brick is too, but he can still do his thing in a building.

 

Heroic Giants have a terrible time with property damage and generally have to watch where they step. It's often played for laughs. Just look at the movie the Iron Giant. By contrast, villainous giants can just cut loose and revel in the destruction.

 

Myself, I alwyas make sure the giant has around 20-40 pts of STR up on the normal sized brick, since I know the growth brick won't be able to use his full strength anywhere near as often...

 

yeah Heroic giants have far more limitations than their villainous counterparts but this is true of most archetypes to some degree.

[megaplayboy]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I wonder how tall a giant character can be while still being able to comfortably walk down a typical 6 lane wide major city street? A lane is anywhere from 9-12 feet wide, there's usually 4 lanes plus the sidewalks on each side. So, would 75-150 feet tall(or 25 to 50 meters) be about right?

[JmOz]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

Atom-smasher is infinity inc/JSA not All star squadron (His god father the Atom wore a similar costume, but did not grow)

[Doc Samson]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I always liked Colossal Boy from the LSH. Gim Allon' date=' young Science Police officer in training, joins the Legion after exposure to a strange glowing meteorite![/quote']

I always thought is was funny that he claimed his power was actually shrinking (he's naturally huge).

[Bloodstone]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I always thought is was funny that he claimed his power was actually shrinking (he's naturally huge).

 

Isn't his power technically Shrinking though? I thought he gets bigger if he's knocked out... (Trigger for Growth, since actually giving him Shrinking probably screws things up)

[Bloodstone]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I wonder how tall a giant character can be while still being able to comfortably walk down a typical 6 lane wide major city street? A lane is anywhere from 9-12 feet wide' date=' there's usually 4 lanes plus the sidewalks on each side. So, would 75-150 feet tall(or 25 to 50 meters) be about right?[/quote']

 

You know, somebody with greater skillz than myself needs to write a program that will calculate the size and weight as a character grows.

 

Preferably something with a visual component.

 

That way I can just look at a character and figure out how tall he has to be in order to use a city bus as roller skates or something equally fun and ridiculous.

[megaplayboy]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

You know, somebody with greater skillz than myself needs to write a program that will calculate the size and weight as a character grows.

 

Preferably something with a visual component.

 

That way I can just look at a character and figure out how tall he has to be in order to use a city bus as roller skates or something equally fun and ridiculous.

 

well, I'd think someone 2 meters tall could walk comfortably down a path 1 meter wide, and without much difficulty down a path .5 meters wide, but would have to shuffle sideways and at half speed (or less) down a path .25 meters wide(about the length of the average male foot). A lane of traffic is 9 to 12 feet wide(3 to 4 meters being a very sloppy approximation), so a 16 meter giant could comfortably walk down a 2 or 3 lane road or maybe 2 lanes of an interstate highway. If they were stepping carefully, they might be able to walk down a single lane of an interstate or a lane and a half of a city street. If they hugged themselves up against a building and slowly shuffled sideways, they might be able to stay on the sidewalk.

The widest interstate highways are about 8 lanes (32 m) wide. So a 64m giant could walk them comfortably, a 128 m giant could walk one with little difficulty, and a 250m tall giant would be struggling not to trample on the surrounding scenery. Basically, I think the width of the average freeway is probably a reasonable practical limit on how big a giant superhero could get before they just are too big to safely fight crime anymore. Of course, if your game is located in space, or lots of battles take place in wilderness and otherwise deserted areas, the sky is literally the limit. I did a little extrapolation of the size increase/growth levels, for 8km tall giants(that's the level, from ultimate metamorph, where the giant "enters the macroverse")--IIRC, it cost something like 5250 for the permanent stat boosts, with most of that being spent on reach(3999 meters worth!), and the area effect on STR was literally megascale(1 m = 1 km). Bought as a power rather than a perpetual state of being, it costs a slightly less outrageous 2300-2400 points. Only a couple characters in comics ever got this big--Exitar the exterminator of the Celestials(20,000 feet tall(about 6400 m)), and probably the Living Monolith. Galactus has scaled himself up to macroversal levels before, too--and the Spectre as well.

[Lawnmower Boy]

Re: My Heroes Have Always Been GIANTS! (Long)

 

I wonder how tall a giant character can be while still being able to comfortably walk down a typical 6 lane wide major city street? A lane is anywhere from 9-12 feet wide' date=' there's usually 4 lanes plus the sidewalks on each side. So, would 75-150 feet tall(or 25 to 50 meters) be about right?[/quote']

 

 

 

This, following the "Giant Sized Man-Thing" discussion raises disturbing images.

Disturbing, but somewow funny.