"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, henceAdaptational Curves. Then there's the opposite of that trope; a character with a well-developed appearance in terms of weight, muscles, orbust 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, oftentimeschanging the character's personality as a result. Examples range from theHunkyMr. Fanservice becoming a wimp with aGeek Physique, thewell-endowed and proud about itMs. Fanservice becoming a slender, flat-chested girl with a bad case of theA-Cup Angst, and theFat Bastard becoming askinny jerk. This can also relate toHollywood Pudgy, where a character's average body is considered "fat" by other characters and the work itself.
The logical inverse toAdaptational Curves, though in some cases, both tropescould overlap with each other (e.g. an adaptation slimming down a woman's body but simultaneously increasing her breast size). Often overlaps withAdaptational Attractiveness. CompareAbility over Appearance,Age Lift,Adaptational Ugliness, andBeauty Inversion.
Examples:
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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 themanga andBrotherhood 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 inThe Movie), making him look more like aBishōnen than his manga counterpart as a result.
- Scar is given a younger and moreBishōnen 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 toHirohiko Araki changing his art style for the series from one full ofHeroic Builds for the men to more realistic proportions, his depictions ofJonathan andJoseph Joestar in later artwork are considerably leaner than their original depiction.
- While still very fit, Link inThe Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016) manga adaptation doesn't start with theHeroic 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 theirstomachs and curves slimmed down
◊ in the anime. - Naruto:
- A lot of characters fromParasyte 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.
- Sgt. Frog's anime adaptation tones down Aki Hinata's bust size; while she's still well-endowed, her breasts aren't as exaggeratedly large as they are in the manga.
Comic Books
- Absolute Universe:
- FromAbsolute Wonder Woman, there's Etta Candy. Whereas in the main universe, Etta has a fairly plus-sized body, this version of the character has an average build.
- The titular character ofAbsolute Superman gets hit with this, in an ironic inverse tothe other two members of the trinity in this universe. Superman of the main universe has a classicHeroic Build, while his depiction in this universe, while still muscular, is noticeably less bulky.
- FromAbsolute Flash, there's the Trickster. While the main universe Trickster is a tall, well-built man, this universe's depiction of Jesse is shorter and incredibly lanky.
- TheNew 52 was criticized because it turned previously non-conventionally attractive characters into much more conventionalMs 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 aBig Beautiful Woman.
- Two characters first depicted inX-Wing Rogue Squadron, Huff Darklighter and Cesi (Doc) Eirriss, are both big. Huff is balding and fat with a double chin. Doc (shown in aprequel chapter) is a stocky female Twi'lek, with aprominent lumpy forehead
◊ much likemale Twi'leks do. In the comicDarklighter, which is about, well, the life of Biggs Darklighter, Huff is a skinny older man with a full head of hair and Doc is thin, wears less, and has the more smooth humanlike forehead common to Twi'lek women. The artist also likes to render her butt and have her hang slinkily off of her wingmates. The X-wing comics take place several years after Biggs' death, so Huff may have gained that weight and lost his hair in that time, but there's not really an excuse for Doc.
Fan Works
Films — Animated
- Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children: While in theoriginal 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 onlymuch more hostile towards Diana than most incarnations but is also skinny unlike her chubby comic counterpart.
Films — Live-Action
- Done famously inBatman (1989). The skinny and unimposingMichael Keaton was cast as Bruce Wayne who had an iconicHeroic Build in the comics, much to the woe of comic book fans at the time. This was a case ofAbility over Appearance and it wasn't untilChristian Bale that muscular builds became more compulsory for actors playing Batman in films. NeitherVal Kilmer, norGeorge Clooney packed on a considerable amount of muscle for their stints either. AlthoughThe Batman (2022) hasRobert Pattinson playing a similarly slimmer and less burly Bruce Wayne as well, doesn't affect his ability to kick ass at all though.
- InBlonde,Ana de Armas was cast asMarilyn Monroe. While both women are beautiful and shapely and Ana de Armas certainly does her best to do Marilyn justice, theReal Life Norma Jeane was, simply put, 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 anAdipose Rex, declaring in "Your Majesties" that "The wine of my country is beer!" The prerecorded 1965 and1997 remakes respectively castWalter Pidgeon andVictor Garber as slimmer kings, and cut out any mention of the character having a beer belly.
- In theDennis the Menace (US) comic strip, Mr. Wilson was fat, leaving him tomany jokes about his weight from Dennis. Inthe 1993 live-action film byWarner Bros., Mr. Wilson was played byWalter Matthau, a thin man.
- The Kingpin in the comics is a big example of beingAcrofatic andEvil Is Bigger, being built like a sumo wrestler. While the lateMichael Clarke Duncandid put on weight for the role inDaredevil (2003), he only had a pot belly and his Fisk was still conventionally muscular compared to the comics.
- Dragonball Evolution:
- Son Goku is one of the most iconic examples ofShōnen heroes with aHeroic Build and his physique is often idolized by anime fans and Gym goers (to the point that theGoku's gymmeme exists) and he constantly suffersClothing 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 anAge 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.
- The titular kaiju inGodzilla: Final Wars is much slimmer than his Heisei andGodzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack! counterparts — but this doesn't mean he's any less powerful. In fact, he's aOne Kaiju Army for most ofFinal Wars, easily beating foes that other incarnations would have trouble dealing with.
- 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.
- Hercule Poirot (Kenneth Branagh): The short and plump detective from the original novels becomes quite taller and slimmer when played by Branagh.
- Holes:Justified when skinny beanpole ShiaLaBoeuf was cast as the fat Stanley Yelnas IV, as director Andrew Davis thought it would be too taxing onLaBoeuf to have to gain a great deal of weight for the role only to lose it during filmingnote 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 ofLaBoeuf'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 actressKelli Garner (though keeps the scene where Ig's horns make her gorge on donuts).
- The Iron Claw: The real KerryVon Erich was the most famous for hisHeroic Build among the brothers. WhileJeremy Allen White put weight and muscles for the role, his lack of mass is still notable if you compare him to pictures of the real deal.
- In the 2019Kim Possible movie, Wade's actor, Issac Ryan Brown, isn't slim but he's noticeably less rotund than hiscartoon counterpart.
- The King of Fighters: In the games, Mai Shiranui is known for being quite curvy and big-breasted, to the point of constantGainaxing. In the film, she's portrayed byMaggie Q who, while undoubtedly very beautiful and shapely, is more petite and has a comparatively smaller bust size.
- InLet the Right One In, Oskar is played by the normal-sized Kare Hedebrant, whereas in the original book, Oskar is overweight.
- One Hundred Years Ahead: Jolly U, aFat Bastard inthe books, is quite slender here.
- Resident Evil Film Series:
- Sin City: Nancy Callahan is drawn in the comics as anextremely curvaceous woman
◊ with avery large bust, which particularly explains Hartigan's gob-smacked"She grew up and filled out" comments. In the film, she's played by themuch skinnier
◊Jessica Alba. In modern modeling parlance, comic Nancy would be described as "thick", movie Nancy as "toned". - When she first debuted inSpace Jam,Lola Bunny was depicted with anImpossible Hourglass Figure that all of the other characters would swoon over. InSpace Jam: A New Legacy, which is said to be aStealth Sequel to the original film, Lola has a 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 wouldtone 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 theVenom symbiote. This was to make Eddie more clearly anEvil Counterpart to Peter Parker himself.
- Street Fighter (1994): 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):
- Amanda Waller, as played byViola Davis is quite slim in the DCEU, contrasting with her notoriously heavy-set self from the comics.
- Zigzagged with Rick Flag, in the 2016 film he inverts this being pretty lean compared to the comic where he has the standardHeroic Build. Averted in the2021 film thanks toJoel Kinnaman being more bulked up he'sTruer 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-builtDennis Hopper.
- Tomb Raider films:
- X-Men Film Series:
- Magneto is often drawn as a very fit and buffSilver Fox, if not with outright bodybuilder proportions.Ian McKellen was chosenbecause of the gravitas he would bring to the role, not for his build. Granted, finding a man ofMcKellen's age, with both the same gravitas and a superhero physique, would be next to impossible. The filmmakers make up for it by castingMichael Fassbender, a knownMr. Fanservice with the appropriate built similar from the comics, as his youngerTime-Shifted Actor in the prequel films.
- Rogue is an interesting example, because in the comics she underwent aFanservice Pack until she was a statuesque super model and one of the curviest X-girls on par with somebody likeEmma Frost. In the first movie, Rogue is aged down to a teenager and played byAnna Paquin, who is much shorter and skinnier than the southern bombshell fromThe '90s. Even her hairstyle is changed to make her look smaller, from'80s Hair to a flat, straight style.
- In the comics,Wolverine is very short and also very muscular, almosttoo muscular for such a short frame.Hugh Jackman is a good foot taller than Logan is in the comics, and has a much lankier, yet far more idealized physique
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.
- Lysa Tully was said to havegone to seed and grown thick-waisted due to multiple stillbirths and miscarriages. This doesn't apply in the show, where she's stick-thin.
- In the books,Old Maid Lollys Stokeworth was frequently mocked by other characters for being fat, in additionher other multiple unfortunate circumstances. In her one scene in the show, she's played by a slim and petite actress.
- House of the Dragon:
- InFire & Blood, Viserys I is described as anAdipose Rex with aBig 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.
- Rhaenyra's half-siblings Aegon and Helaena get this too. In the book, Helaena was described as plump, and Aegon had a stout body like his father (perhaps aided by being aBig Eater with a drinking problem). In the show, both are played by thin-to-average-size actors.
- American Gods: The novel emphasizes Easter ascurvaceous, 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 byKristin Chenoweth, who has a much slimmer build.
- Arrowverse:
- Arrow has yet another example of Amanda Waller being slimmer than she is in the original comics.
- 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 arunner), but is given a skinny-but-fitGeek Physique.
- Francisco "Cisco" Ramon trades his bodybuilder-like figure for a shorter, slightly stouter frame.
- Savitar is drawn as aWalking Shirtless Scene with the muscles to match, but the show gives himthe same scrawny build as Barry, since Savitar is just an alias used by Barry's evil future self.
- Blackadder the Third: the famously obese George, Prince Regent, is played by skinnyHugh Laurie, though that doesn't stop the fat jokes from being thrown around.
- The Boys (2019): In the comics,Homelander has a traditionalHeroic Build completed with aLantern Jaw of Justice. Here, he's portrayed with anangular jawline and is surprisinglythin, which is hidden behind theFake Muscles padding of his costume.
- Goosebumps (1995): In the bookA Night in Terror Tower, the Lord High Executioner is a very muscular man, which is to be expected given his line of work. Inthe episode based on it, he is more of aLean and Mean figure, although with aBeard of Evil and sinister black clothing.
- Guest from the Future:
- InOne Hundred Years Ahead, the gym teacher is extremely overweight to the point Alice and Yulia mistake him forFat 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 UVoluntary 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.
- Orphan Black: 7 Genes: Makio Iwaki's counterpart fromthe original series Paul Dierden is (frequently) shown to have aHeroic Build, whereas Makio is also fit but notably leaner.
- Sherlock: Mycroft Holmes is described in the originalSherlock 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 plusWord of God that indicate he's actuallyFormerly 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", anOnly A Dream special set in the Victorian era where Mycroft is as fat as his book counterpart.
- The Watch (2021): In theDiscworld novels, Lady Sybil is aBig Beautiful Woman. In the show, she has a much slimmer build.
- InThe Woman in White, Count Fosco is very obese. In the 2018 miniseries adaptation, inaddition 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 aDance of Romance with her.
Multi-Media
- The Kingpin in Marvel Comics is usually depicted as being as a giant of a man, obese butdeceptively strong. He ended up being played byMichael Clarke Duncan in theDaredevil film andVincent D'Onofrio in theDaredevil series. They're both tall, heavy-set and musucular, but neither can match the pro-wrestler build of the original.
- 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 bodybuilderArnold Schwarzenegger he would be about 400 pounds, over 150 pounds heavier. He had more realistic bodybuilder proportions for his first animated showHe Man And The Masters Of The Universe and appeared shorter and more slender forThe New Adventures of He-Man.Dolph Lundgren played him in theMasters 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. InSonic Boom his egg shape is flipped on its head, giving him more of an extra fluffyHeroic Build and slimming him down in the process. Then inSonic the Hedgehog (2020) the role of Doctor Robotnik is filled byJim Carrey with no attempt to replicate the doctor's massive heft. Effort was made to have him become fatter across each movie in order to better resemble the doctor, but the difference in artstyles ensures that he is still not as bulky as his canon counterpart. The same goes for Gerald Robotnik in thethird movie, since he is also played by Carrey.
- InSonic 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 aslimmer 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 beinga more active fighter on the front lines rather than being mostly aGadgeteer Genius as he was pre-reboot.
Theatre
Video Games
- Double Dragon: Linda Lash in theoriginal 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 likeDouble 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 tothe 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 inFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth), she's just not on the same larger level that she was in the original game'sFMVs, or it could be due to the fact that she's now wearing a sports bra that might make her chest look smaller).
- President Shinra was aFat Bastard in the original game. In the remake, he sports a leaner physique.
- 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 withoutsacrificing that appeal, often making hervery tall andmuscular to compensate. The rebootTomb Raider (2013) redesigned Lara extensively, slimming her down and while still curvy, it wasn't anImpossible Hourglass Figure.
Visual Novels
Western Animation
- Masters of the Universe:
- The originalHe Man And The Masters Of The Universe is anegregious case ofClark Kenting: "He-Man" is just the super-muscular Prince Adam with a tan and aStripperiffic costume, yet people can't tell that they're the same person. New adaptations, includingthe 2002 series,the 2021 series andMasters of the Universe: Revelation all have "Adam" as a slim teenager who becomes the buff, adult "He-Man" whenhe transforms.
- Revelation also does this with Teela. Inthe '83 show, she has the same body type inherited by the cast ofShe-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 ofthe 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 toaging 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 originalcomic book, where the characters tended to look more likethey were in their mid-20s (and in some cases,they were).
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The previous versions of Bebop have traditionally beenfat/muscular and big, whileAnton 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.