# Fictional heroes who are overweight **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2021, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366 "2021-07-13T04:09:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/41 "2021-07-13T15:54:25Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Jupiter Jones, from the Three Investigators books I loved when I was a boy This is who I thought of too! Then I was going to suggest Mycroft Holmes, but I don’t know that “hero” is a good description. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/42 "2021-07-13T16:05:33Z")
From Marvel Comics: Thor’s companion Volstagg (who is an homage to Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff). Roger Bochs, who controls a robot called Box, in the Alpha Flight comics. Zhu Bajie, aka Zhu Wuneng, aka Pigsy, from _Journey to the West_. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/43 "2021-07-13T16:08:52Z")
And here’s an illustration of [The Amazing Bubbles](https://www.wildcardsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/amazing_bubbles_from_wildcards_by_jamaligle-d680q4g-300x373.jpg) from Wild cards ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/44 "2021-07-13T16:15:21Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Perry Mason, especially in the television series. And Robert T. Ironside. My favorite overweight fictional hero is the Dashiell Hammett detective known as the Continental Op, who could handle himself with fists and a gun despite being less than physically imposing. As a bad guy said to him after coming out on the losing end of a an encounter: _“'Fore God, Fat Shorty, you done hurt me!”_ ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/45 "2021-07-13T16:20:44Z")
Sometimes a villian, sometimes a hero, but always a legend in his own mind - [Henchman 21 from The Venture Bros](https://venturebrothers.fandom.com/wiki/Henchman_21). Hench 4 Life. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/46 "2021-07-13T17:14:33Z")
The original – Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock Holmes’ older and arguably smarter brother. He’s never been portrayed in the movies as actually very fat – the actors playing him haven’t been that heavy. Nero Wolfe was portrayed by William Conrad (mentioned above as Frank cannon) and, on radio at least, by Sidney Greenstreet. Rex Stout didn’t like the series, but he said he liked the actor. I suspect this was because Greenstreet famously played Guttman in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon, and I suspect that the character of Guttman inspired Nero wolfe. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/47 "2021-07-13T17:27:58Z")
As to Mycroft- “\*Heavily built and massive, there was a suggestion of uncouth physical inertia in the figure, but above this unwieldy frame there was perched a head so masterful in its brow, so alert in its steel-grey, deep-set eyes, so firm in its lips, and so subtle in its play of expression, that after the first glance one forgot the gross body and remembered only the dominant mind.[[4]\*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycroft_Holmes#cite_note-Last-4)” The best Wolfe was Maury Chaykin as Nero Wolfe. Umm, no, since Stout started writing NW in 1933. In the 1931 film version, Guttman was played by Dudley Digges, who is not really “fat”, and that film wasn’t very good. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/48 "2021-07-13T17:39:28Z")
I was going to mention him. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/49 "2021-07-13T17:45:19Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The best known book in the series is the first, _The House with the Clock in Its Walls_ , which was made into a movie (Jack Black played the uncle). Speaking of Jack Black: Ignacio from **Nacho Libre**. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/50 "2021-07-13T17:49:32Z")
Horace Rumpole, from the _Rumpole of the Bailey_ series by John Mortimer. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/51 "2021-07-13T17:53:52Z")
OMG! Herbie! I haven’t thought about Herbie in decades. Those comics rocked! ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/52 "2021-07-13T17:55:49Z")
I’m rereading Stephen King’s IT. Ben Hanscomb is definitely heroic (although he’s only fat as a kid). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/53 "2021-07-13T17:58:18Z")
Nick Frost is fairly obese and he has had quite a few roles where he has played a “hero”, including his films with Simon Pegg like _Shaun of the Dead_ and _Hot Fuzz_. Most notably though I think of his character in the TV series _Into the Badlands_ where he was a surprisingly believable (to me at least) martial artist who can kick butt despite his atypical body type. On that note, [Sammo Hung](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammo_Hung) is a martial artist (he was trained with Jackie Chan at the China Drama Academy when both were small children) and he has starred in a number of films as a martial arts hero despite his weight, and had a starring role in the American TV show _Martial Law_ for more than a decade. I realize that this thread is about “fictional heroes” that are overweight, and not actors, but obviously when overweight actors play that role then the characters they portray fit the subject. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/54 "2021-07-13T17:58:35Z")
Took me ages to track it down, as I could remember the premise, plotline and main actor, but Henry Crabbe, from Pie in the Sky definitely fits that bill: > **[Pie in the Sky (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_in_the_Sky_(TV_series))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Pie in the Sky is a British police comedy drama starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997, as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries. > The protagonist, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty, "semi-retired" policeman (much against his will), is also the head chef at his wife's restaurant "Pie in the Sky", set... ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/55 "2021-07-13T18:01:01Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Speaking of Jack Black: Ignacio from **Nacho Libre**. And quite a few other Jack Black characters: Po, from _Kung Fu Panda_. JB, from _Tenacious D_ (in the movie, at least, he’s fairly heroic) Professor Sheldon Oberon, from _Jumanji_ Eddie Riggs, from the _Brutal Legend_ video game ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/56 "2021-07-13T18:07:23Z")
[Red Tornado Ma Hunkel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_Hunkel) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/57 "2021-07-13T18:56:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Umm, no, since Stout started writing NW in 1933. In the 1931 film version, Guttman was played by Dudley Digges, who is not really “fat”, and that film wasn’t very good. Um, yes – **The Maltese Falcon** was serialized in 1929, and appeared in book form in 1930, three years before Nero Wolfe. Guttman is described as fat, and he “interlaces his fingers over his center mound” when thinking, just as Wolfe did. That Greenstreet played the best interpretation of Guttman, and later went on to portray Wolfe on the radio are, I suspect, connected with Stout’s evaluation of him as the best Nero Wolfe. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/58 "2021-07-13T19:04:19Z")
It is true that the book **The Maltese Falcon** came out shortly before NW published the first NW tale. That does not mean that it inspired Stout. Greenstreet was good, I admit. ---
**Author:** ![TheCuse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thecuse/32/2854_2.png) [@TheCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheCuse)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/59 "2021-07-13T19:05:57Z")
Captain Chaos (Dom DeLuise) in the Cannonball Run movies was a fictional hero who was overweight. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366/60 "2021-07-13T19:20:54Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > > [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > > > Lewis stayed a nerd in the movie, but he wasn’t overweight there. > > You see that a lot. See “Ready Player One” as an example. Heaven forbid we have a female protagonist who is overweight See Sybil Vimes (née Ramkin). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fictional-heroes-who-are-overweight/946366.md?page=4)